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When it comes to Google TV, you have to wonder if Google went too big too soon. And while the company wasn’t wrong to try and own the TV interface, here are some lessons it should take into account as it fine tunes its platform. Read More »

Google and Microsoft traded more barbs today in their patent squabble. Google said Microsoft’s offer to jointly bid on the Novell patents was a trick. Microsoft said today Google is only interested in using patents against others. The rhetoric, however, doesn’t improve Google’s fighting position. Read More »

 
 

I recently wrote that Google had passed on an opportunity to signal a stronger defense of Android during its earnings call. Today, Google reiterated its plans to defend Android and let loose a broadside attack against competitors who are targeting the operating system with patent suits. Read More »

Google has snapped up The Dealmap, an aggregator of nearby shopping deals, in an acquisition that furthers its Google Offers ambitions. The purchase, whose price was not disclosed, shows that Google is proceeding even without its unsuccessful $6 billion bid for Groupon last year. Read More »

Microsoft’s online business lost $2.6 billion for its fiscal year, mainly due to its investment in search. Yet even with Yahoo’s outsourced search business, Microsoft barely cracks 30 percent in market share, according to comScore. Last week, a Reuters Breakingviews piece that was picked … Read More »

Most travel search sites share pretty much the same layout: They’re cluttered with search boxes, radio dials, and drop-down menus galore, and of course, ads. Lots of them. Google’s new Hotel Finder has a refreshing approach. It’s clean, uncluttered, and totally sans ads. Read More »

Azumio, a mobile health startup whose first app, Instant Heart Rate, was downloaded 8 million times, has just raised $2.5 million from Founders Fund, Accel Partners and Felicis Ventures. It shows that there’s a lot of opportunity ahead in mobile health applications. Read More »

Facebook has launched Facebook for Business, a step-by-step online guide aimed at helping small businesses use the social networking site. The timing is interesting, as it comes just a week after Google began shutting off all company profiles on its Google+ social network. Read More »

Google+ is the talk of the town. It is on everyone’s lips, even though not everyone has access to Google+ just yet. Epipheo Studios has created this awesome tongue-in-cheek video to explain what is Google+ and why eventually we will all end up using it. Enjoy! Read More »

As it rolls out its Google+ social network, Google has been cracking down on its requirement that users have “real” names, just as Facebook has — but are we losing something valuable as a society as a result of this stamping out of online anonymity? Read More »

The future of coupons is moving toward digital and mobile, something that startup SavingStar is taking full advantage of. The company told me it has hit half a million users since it launched its ecoupon product in April, putting it on a faster pace than Groupon’s. … Read More »

Yahoo growth options dwindle

Yahoo reported another disappointing quarter, with core revenues down 5 percent to just over $1 billion. Its display advertising business was up 5 percent, but it appears to be losing share to companies like Google and Facebook. Yahoo is still one of the biggest … Read More »

More Must Reads

Gojee, a recipe search site that knows what I have in my pantry and uses that knowledge to deliver fresh ideas for dinner, has reached 50,000 users. But it may be most useful as a lesson on bringing big data to applications and the masses. Read More »

The tech industry’s movers and shakers have been saying for months now that the HTML5 mark-up language is very important. New research data released Friday indicates that HTML5 is not just going to be big, it’s going to be huge — and it’s coming fast. Read More »

Microsoft just released its Q2 results, and it’s clear the 360 has gone from being a drag on financials to contributing in a positive way. But one surefire way to expand the market further is by making the 360 available at the $99 price point. Read More »

There’s been a lot of sound and fury about Google and its handling of Google+ branded pages, but there is a serious issue underneath the griping, namely that Google can make or break a company’s presence online by virtue of its control over the web-search market. Read More »

When most people think about Google and Facebook, they think about California’s Silicon Valley. But according to newly filed disclosure documents, the tech industry’s titans are spending increasing amounts of time and money making their voices heard in Washington, D.C. Are they crossing the line? Read More »

Maybe it’s the influence of Google+, but suddenly everyone seems to be talking about what’s wrong with Twitter. First, blogger Robert Scoble said it was “boring,” and now Slate columnist Farhad Manjoo says it needs to lose the 140-character limit. Both are missing the point. Read More »

AT&T activated 3.6 million iPhones during the second quarter, with Android and BlackBerry devices making up the remaining 40 percent of Ma Bell’s smartphone sales. Those high-end handsets are generating more money for AT&T in other ways — such as increasing texting and MMS revenue and … Read More »

ZestCash, a next generation loan-service for the underbanked led by former Google CIO Douglas Merrill, has raised $19 million to expand its data-driven approach to offering short-term loans. The company uses online data to help determine the credit worthiness of customers. Read More »

Ever since co-founder Larry Page took over as CEO in January, Google has been getting more businesslike, shutting down projects like Google Health and now Google Labs. While this may be a sign of maturity, it could also make the company less experimental — and less … Read More »

Google just announced it is ending its Labs program in an effort to focus more on its existing products, and a collective gasp went up around the Internet. My first thought was, ā€œOh my God, what will happen to my multiple inboxes and Auto-advance features?ā€ Read More »

Twitter wants to be “the world in your pocket,” according to CEO Dick Costolo — but more than anything, it wants to be the engine of mobile and real-time commerce in your pocket, judging by his comments at the Fortune BrainstormTech conference in Colorado on Tuesday. Read More »

Google revenues were up 32 percent, to a record $9 billion. Android activates 550,000 devices a day. Google+ had 10 million users in less than two weeks of limited availability. But Google can’t ease up on the accelerator. Though GoogleĀ dominates search, U.S. query … Read More »

A new consumer survey found that Apple has slightly widened its preference lead among smartphone owners preparing to buy a handset in the next three months. It shows that expanded distribution is helping the iPhone sell and become more of an option for more consumers. Read More »

Those who questioned whether European regulators were right to open an antitrust investigation into Google’s activities last year should take a look at the data again, as the company’s dominance across the continent reaches new heights — and new depths, too. Read More »

A lot can go wrong during the development and release of a mobile application, from poor project planning to faulty APIs. Often, the biggest mistakes happen before the first lines of code are ever written. HEre are seven ways to make the process better. Read More »

The ITC has ruled that Android manufacturer HTC has infringed on two Apple patents, handing the iPhone maker an early victory that could have large implications on HTC’s business in the U.S. and potential impacts on the overall Android platform. HTC is appealing. Read More »

New research seems to show that our memories are less accurate when we know the information is stored somewhere else. Some feel this is going to make us less human in some way, but I for one am glad to outsource parts of my brain. Read More »

Google CEO Larry Page addressed a question about what Google’s plans regarding Android’s patent situation, but generally side-stepped the query, pointing to Android’s momentum before finishing with a modest commitment to the platform. It seems like a missed opportunity to signal support to manufacturers and developers. … Read More »

Astrid is best known for making a popular web and mobile app that allows users to create to-do lists with social features. But with a new batch of funding from Google Ventures and others, the San Francisco-based startup has a much bigger picture in mind. Read More »

Google+ has gained 10 million users in the few weeks since its launch, but it has a long way to go to catch up with Facebook. So why is Google CEO Larry Page convinced Google+ will be a major competitor in the social space? Read More »

According to multiple reports, Twitter is close to launching in-stream advertising, including a self-serve platform that will allow companies to inject ads into the network in real time. But how will users react to this intrusion? Forrester Research’s CEO says the move is a big mistake. Read More »

Google released its second-quarter financials on Thursday, hitting its first quarter with more than $9 billion in revenue. But on a call with financial analysts, it gave a whole bunch of nonfinancial metrics for how its various businesses are growing. Read More »

Its fans say Google+ improves on Facebook in terms of privacy protections, because it allows you to filter people into groups or “Circles.” But is this really a big improvement? Not everyone is convinced it is — some argue that it actually makes things worse. Read More »

Apple’s hold on developers has gotten stronger with the apparent help of the iPad 2 and Verizon iPhone, cutting into gains from Android, according to Flurry. The latest numbers suggest that even with the fast advance of Android, developers still like their prospects on iOS, Read More »

Comments from some prominent ex-Googlers seem to show the company still sees social networking as an engineering problem. While it’s nice the web giant is paying attention to social behavior at all, can it ever understand social networks if it just sees them as data-producing engines? Read More »

WhitePages’ new local discovery app is launching on Android first, in part because the platform allows it the ability to better track the efficacy of location-based ads. It’s another sign that Android is appealing to more developers. Read More »

If you’re curious about the technology behind Google+, you’re in luck. The project’s technical lead, Google engineer Joseph Smarr, is currently hosting an online question and answer session about the service, sharing details about the social platform’s development, technology, and plans for the future. Read More »

Location-based social network Foursquare has been trying to move beyond the “check in” for some time, and new partnerships with daily-deal operators like LivingSocial could be a major step forward. Now all it has to do is land Groupon, and fight off Google and Facebook. Read More »

Facebook has shut down a service from Open-Xchange that allowed users to export the email addresses of their contacts, which makes the Germany company the latest to run afoul of the social network’s ongoing attempts to maintain control over the information of its users. Read More »

When Google discontinued support for QR codes in its Places product earlier this year, many saw it as an early death knell for the barcode scanning technology. But Google’s latest acquisition is evidence that the company may not be completely abandoning QR technology just yet. Read More »

A lot of the attention on Google+ has focused on whether it’s a “Facebook killer,” but it’s actually more likely to become a competitor for Twitter than Facebook. Is the Google network just benefitting from “shiny new object” syndrome, or could it pose a real threat? Read More »

A source familiar with Google’s Blogger division told us that contrary to web rumors, the search giant has no plans to send the Blogger brand on its way. Or to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of Blogger’s death have been greatly exaggerated and re-tweeted. Read More »

The Android Express has taken Google and a number of manufacturers on dizzying ride to the top of the smartphone market. But with Android’s patent strength increasingly under fire and companies lining up for their share of licensing fees, is the platform headed off the tracks? Read More »

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