Google Maps & World Bank Join Forces, So Why Isn't Everyone Smiling? Google is now working with the World Bank to make Google Map Maker more accessible to government organizations, but some experts are questioning the terms of the arrangement.
The World Bank is an international money-lending and development assistance organization, which grew out of the need to rebuild Europe after World War II. Today, it provides financial support and technical assistance to developing countries or nations in crisis. Why the Google-Motorola Deal Is About More Than Mobile Phones. With its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, Google has shown that it is ready to take its investment in mobile to the next level.
It's important to remember, however, that Motorola Mobility does more than just make smartphones. Ostensibly, Google's decision to purchase Motorola has as much to do with increasing its patent portfolio as it is about getting into the hardware market, with Google already committing to running Motorola as a separate business. Still, we find it hard to believe that Google will just ignore the opportunity to potentially better couple its Android operating system with Motorola-produced tablets or smartphones. Google-Motorola Could Give Google TV a Fighting Chance Motorola is one of the biggest players in the set-top box space, and cable companies lease its cable boxes, DVR and IPTV components to customers. Google TV has failed, in part, because the product isn't very good and because it doesn't offer significant value to the customer. DOJ Approves Google's Motorola Purchase. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) approved Google‘s proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility Monday afternoon.
Earlier on Monday, Google announced via its corporate blog that the European Union had approved the $12.5 billion deal as well. The two major milestones make Google’s acquisition of Motorola all but certain. The deal will enable Google to produce its own line of smartphones to go with its immensely popular Android platform. Motorola is one of the leading producers of Android-based phones, and holds one of the mobile industry’s largest collections of patents. Google’s Vice President and Deputy Council Don Harrison said in his blog post announcing the EU approval that, “the combination of Google and Motorola Mobility will help supercharge Android.
“The division’s investigations focused on whether the acquiring firms could use these patents to raise rivals’ costs or foreclose competition,” the DOJ said later. See the DOJ’s full announcement here. Google Plus Motorola: The Gadget Geek's Dream Scenario. For the second Mobile World Congress in a row, Google's Android booth is the coolest in Barcelona.
Not just because it's big and bright, and features free snacks, but because it epitomizes Google's geekiness. There's the same slide to whiz down as Google had last year, and the same free smoothies. But this year, Google has also added a big robot that's crafting jewel-encrusted Galaxy Nexus faceplates while people watch. There are Android-shaped ice cream sandwiches, to honor the current "Ice Cream Sandwich" version of Android.
And there are now two Android-tablet-powered claw-game machines. See: it's geeky! From Disney to Pirate Bay, Google Realigns Its Media Relationships. Once upon a time, Google had a pretty nasty reputation among traditional media companies, many of whom lampooned the search giant for promoting piracy and even "stealing" content outright.
Much of the criticism was overblown, but it remains true that there is copyright-infringing content on the Internet and Google is may people's gateway to the Internet. Google is still not exactly adored by many media companies and rights holders, but they've gone to great lengths to appease those that have traditionally created and sold content to the masses.
In late August, Eric Schmidt spoke to a gathering of UK television executives and laid out a list of accomplishments Google has made in the fight against online piracy.