First Google announced their price cuts, then Amazon followed suit. Took a while, but that third domino finally fell.
Apple’s war on Samsung has Google in crossfire
New York Times:
Some features in Samsung devices that Apple objects to are part of Google’s Android operating system, by far the most popular mobile operating system worldwide, running on more than a billion devices made by many manufacturers. That means that if Apple wins, Google could have to make changes to critical Android features, and Samsung and other Android phone makers might have to modify the software on their phones.
Why Google is splitting their stock
On Thursday, April 3rd, Google will split their stock, creating two stocks, each of which will start at approximately half the current share value. I thought the logic behind the split was interesting.
Google’s 100 year study of employee happiness
Interesting. There’s potential to help fine-tune work environments to make employees happier and, presumably, more productive. There’s a big brother aspect to this. Hopefully, the “Don’t be evil” motto is still in effect at Google.
Search Google’s newspaper database
Back in 2008, Google started scanning and archiving old newspapers, making the archives searchable. Imagine seeing the newspaper from the day after we landed on the moon. Great resource!
Microsoft: The enemy of my enemy is my friend
An interesting take on the release of Office for iPad.
Popular Google Play apps are hacked, secretly mining Bitcoins, Dogecoins, and Litecoins
Every time I read about Android and malware like this, I shudder at the though of bringing an Android phone or tablet into my universe. I know Android is popular, but I just can’t get my head around why people seem not to care about this problem. Am I missing something?
App Annie releases monthly App Store and Google Play gaming numbers
There is a ton of great data to sift through. Amazing how big an impact Flappy Bird had on the App Store. Check the post for my top 3.
Google announces massive price drops for its cloud computing services and storage
These are pretty huge price drops. Google just become very competitive with Amazon on cloud services. Hardware prices have been plummeting, but cloud service prices have been slow to come down.
Google Glass joins forces with Luxottica Group, makers of Oakley, Ray-Ban, other high end eyewear
I think this is a logical move on Google’s part. Certainly this will improve the look of Google Glass, but there’s only so much you can do without reducing the footprint of the Glass module itself.
Tony Fadell, Nest founder, now with Google, interviewed by The Sunday Times
The interview is behind a paywall. You can read a few quotes shared by Loop reader Rob Richman on his blog.
Google founder Sergey Brin’s Stanford resume, with an Easter egg
I found this amusing. Someone posted a link to Sergey Brin’s Stanford resume, before he founded Google. That alone is kind of cool. But they also dug into the source code and found a little gem embedded in a comment in the resume code.
Google wearable videos and interface details
Take a look at the two videos embedded in the post. The first one is more of a commercial, showing different aspects of life with a Google watch. The second one is more detailed, a bit more of a mission statement. The linked blog post lays out four keys to Google wearables
Google watches and wearables will not run developer code, are notification devices
From Seeking Alpha (free reg-wall):
In effect, the watch is a device for using Google Now and cards that apps on the phone send to it.
This is an interesting model. It means that a Google watch is a satellite device that locks you in to the Google ecosystem. Since the watch without the phone is just a wrist-watch, or less, if it does not have the built in smarts to do its watch and alarm thing without its master.
The birth of a Google Doodle
[VIDEO] This is the story of how Google artist Jennifer Hom went about creating the Google Doodle for St Patricks Day. Good research, but even better artwork. Lovely stuff.
Why Apple’s app store still earns much more money than Google’s
Interesting piece from Seeking Alpha (free reg-wall) about the rise of mobile gaming and the projected financial future for Apple and Google. The real core of the numbers come from the annual App Annie report (free reg-wall) on mobile gaming trends, well worth the read if you are interested in the specifics.
iOS 7.1 Spotted in More Than a Quarter of iPhone and iPad App Traffic
Wall Street Journal on high implied adoption rates for iOS 7.1, especially when compared to KitKat, the latest version of Android.
How Apple fares at the annual Pwn2Own exploit festival
From the annual Pwn2Own exploit festival, held in Vancouver, the details on Safari takedown.
Time: More evidence that Apple won the app wars
Earlier today, we posted about United Airlines offering a free in-flight movie service, available to folks running iOS but not available on Android.
Now Time writer Harry McCracken uses that info to make the case that Apple has won the app wars. Not sure I quite see it the same way, but I do get his point. No matter the market share, the trend continues to be to develop for iOS first, if not only.
Google’s move to open a brick and mortar store in New York’s SoHo
This story has been making its way around both tech and commercial real estate circles. Google is said to be locking up a lease on 131 Greene St in SoHo for an 8,000 square foot retail space. I find it an interesting choice for Google. Here’s why.
From 25 years ago, here are the original web sites of some pretty famous companies
This is pretty cool. A collection of early on, old school web sites from companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, the BBC, CNN, and many more.
The evolution of malware in the Android marketplace
The Android malware universe is becoming as sophisticated as, say, the credit card resale black market. This creature is evolving. That’s scary.
Google Doodle celebrates International Women’s Day
Fair is fair. We took Google to task for the imbalance in their daily Google Doodles, which leaned heavily in one direction.
Today is International Women’s Day and Google did a nice job recognizing it. Follow that last link and don’t forget to click the play button.
Well done, Google.
Visualizing 15 Years of acquisitions by Apple, Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and Facebook
No specific conclusions leap to mind, but I did find this infographic fun to pore over. Obviously, the biggest circle on there is Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp. The second biggest? Take a guess, then follow the link and take a look.
Google locking down approval process for Chrome add-ons
This might seem like an obscure change in a small part of the Google universe, but it might just be signaling a sea change in Google’s stance on the apps and add-on approval process.
Google has been talking up the auto-removal of unsanctioned extensions since November, when the company characterized the policy as a security necessity, claiming that “bad actors” were using loopholes to continue installing malicious add-ons without user approval or knowledge.
Feminist group wants Google to correct the imbalance in their doodles
Google Doodles celebrate seen as biased in terms of both race and gender. Lots of examples. This is not new news. Google has had lots of time to fix this.
Kaspersky Lab reports top 20 mobile malware threats are all Android based
A total of 99.9% of new mobile threat detections target the Android platform.
Conflict over being recorded by Google Glass in public space turns violent
[VIDEO]I’m not bashing Google Glass, I certainly see the value of a heads up display that is hands free and connected to the internet. But this situation is inevitable. Who wants to be recorded without their permission? The 10 second video is in the post.
Google roadblocks distracted driver legislation
Google is lobbying officials in at least three U.S. states to stop proposed restrictions on driving with headsets such as Google Glass, marking some of the first clashes over the nascent wearable technology.
This angers me. If someone is killed because a driver was distracted by something on Google Glass, why is that any different than someone killed by careless texting? If your focus is held by an interaction with Google Glass, your focus is not on the road.
The indie operating systems place in the smart phone race
Apple and Google and, to a lesser extent, Microsoft, have a huge lead in the smart phone mindshare race. Some might argue that the lead is unassailable. This article digs into the logic of what the indie OS providers are pursuing. Good read.