Google Becomes a Teenager – Happy 13th Birthday

Posted by Sam in Google, Technology

Google becomes a teenager as it celebrates it’s 13th birthday with a Google doodle. Expect tantrums & arguments followed by long periods of them ignoring you.

Yes, the company that has changed the way we live life and consume information has just become a teenager.

It seems only yesterday that people were asking “what’s Google?”, in fact it was and I had to explain to my mother that the term is a play on the mathematical term googol (1 followed by 100 zeros).

I went on to explain that Google owns the way people find information and has done pretty much since it first officially came to market in 1998/9.

It has made most of it’s money through advertising, but now has it’s fingers in so many segments of the economy that it is practically impossible to avoid them.

Google was officially incorporated in September 1998 by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Thanks to the Internet Archive, we can revisit those early days as if we had a time machine (which is looking more possible than ever before by the way, see here Einstein we have a problem).

Here is the Google homepage from November 1998, then hosted at google.stanford.edu but pointed to by google.com

At the time it all ran on hardware including, for the techies out there: (quotes captured by the internet archive in 1998, sadly the pictures were not captured so you will have to use your imagination)

“These are both 300 MHz Dual Pentium II Servers with 512MB of RAM. There are 9 9G drives between the two machines. The main search used to run on them. These were donated by Intel.”

This is an IBM donated F50 IBM RS6000 with 4 processors and 512MB of memory. It has 8 9G drives internal.

The left box has 3 9G drives, and there are 6 4G drives on the right (the original storage for Backrub). These are attached to our Sun Ultra II.

This IBM disk expansion box has another 8 9G drives. This was donated by IBM.

This is our faithful Sun Ultra II with dual 200MHz processors, and 256MB of RAM. This was the main machine for the original Backrub system.

This is our homemade disk box which contains 10 9G SCSI drives.

Google’s teenage years may be a it’s most difficult yet as it starts to face anti competitive investigations in Europe. It takes on Facebook in the social arena and Apple in the mobile arena as well as a brewing mobile patent war.

It will be interesting where Google will be for it’s sweet 16 in 3 years time.

Google Buys Motorola Mobile Division

Posted by Clive in Business, Google

Google have announced that they are to purchase the Motorola mobile division known as Motorola mobility.

It’s a significant move for Google as up until now they have been a software provider (except for some speciality server technology and Google mugs & t-shirts!).

Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility, for $12.5 billion subject to shareholder and regulator approval, marks a significant shift in their mobile business model.

They are now able to produce the mobile hardware that can host their mobile Android software. It also allows Google to become a full service business as Motorola produce tablets as well as mobiles.

How this will affect Google’s current Android partners is yet to be ascertained, although Google produced a document signed by several welcoming the news.

With Microsoft’s new mobile OS snapping at the heals of Apple and Google as far as features go, some manufacturers might feel it is time to look elsewhere.

Google Patent Problems

Google have also had problems with technology patents, Apple is very active in the courts challenging other phone manufacturers that it says are infringing it’s patents. The most successful Android based manufacturer, HTC has recently lost a court battle with Apple that affects all it’s handsets.

It’s possible that this was a driving force for Google as it wants to insulate itself as much as possible against this kind of action by purchasing a hardware supplier they can then control to ensure supply. It also won’t have passed their attention that Motorola mobility owns well over 20,000 patents themselves.

Shares in Motorola Mobility jumped 57% when the news was announced and troubled phone manufacturer Nokia also had a significant share rise as they are seen as ripe for takeover themselves.

Before Apple came along with their iPhone and redefined the market, Nokia were the no. 1 mobile manufacturer, but it has since seen it’s market share trampled on by the iPhone and Android handsets.

Various Nokia operating systems have failed to deliver the required stability, function and features shown by Google or Apple’s software and now required in today’s competitive market.

Google Enters Social Networking Arena… Again

Posted by James in Google, Technology

Google has entered the social networking arena again with their Google+ service, currently invite only. Will it work this time and can they catch Facebook?

The last time Google tried to launch a social network it was called Google Buzz. Launched with a big fanfare, they infuriated their customers by automatically signing them up.

Even worse, the Google Buzz network had some privacy issues which meant that not only were you automatically signed up, you could also come a cropper when it opened up things to others in your network that you didn’t necessarily want to share. Even the FTC got involved concerned that it may have violated it’s own privacy policies.

What was supposed to be a new phase in Google’s business quickly turned into a PR nightmare and subsequently never got off the ground.

More recently there was the Google +1 button launch (you can +1 this article for instance, you can see the +1 button on the left), which in hindsight can been seen as phase one for their new effort, launched with a small fanfare (no press conference, no speeches, just a blog post) last week called Google+.

It was an invite only affair and it seems at the time of writing, demand has meant that even invites are currently closed.

So, tick one in the box for Google PR. Create demand and (Google) buzz for your new product.

So, what is Google+ ?

At it’s heart is a grouping function that they call Circles (as in social), which allows you to group people into smaller sets of friends allowing a more precise type of sharing and interaction.

They also have something called Hangouts where you can pop into a video chat much like you might in a bar or pub.

With the Huddle feature they add the ability for group messaging across your social circles.

Can it catch Facebook?

Well it certainly has the muscle power to compete and as you can see, this time it’s a well thought out product. It sounds like there are promising signals coming from the 1st users of the system and meanwhile, Facebook are facing problems of their own.

To alot of people, Facebook is a platform for people that they used to know, LinkedIn are people that they do know and Twitter is for people that they would like to know. Will Google+ cross all of these boundaries in one giant leap?

Only time will tell and in an ever moving environment, Facebook have hinted that they have a big announcement to make of their own next week…watch this space.

Google Launches Chromebook Total Cloud Computing As Your Desktop PC Replacement

Posted by James in Google, Technology

Google Launches Chromebook with it’s partners Samsung and Acer, bringing the idea of total cloud computing to the desktop with no locally stored data.

Samsung and Acer are the first companies to produce the hardware that Google’s software can run on but before the year is out, there is likely to be many more manufacturers getting involved.

The software is built around the chrome browser and the advantages of such a cloud based system are numerous.

• Fast bootup time
• Data accessible from anywhere
• Automatic updates
• No Anti-virus or other security software to run
• Backups done for you
• Lower hardware costs
• Long battery life
• Potentially no support costs

Removing the local software and hard drives from the machines also removes the subsequent support issues and power consumption. Software, security and backups will all be taken care of in the cloud by Google.

The dis-advantages are not so numerous in number, but never the less very important and relevant in today’s world.

• Data security
• Data confidentiality & privacy
• The need for continuous internet access

Sony hit the headlines recently for losing the data of close to 100 million people, data breaches seem to happen every week whether it is a group or person hacking into a server, or someone leaving a USB stick on a train.

A question everyone will have to ask seriously over the next few years is how much of their data are they willing to let corporations hold in return for the benefits they receive.

This used to be a question that one would only be asking of governments but in the 21st century that line is moving constantly.

The first machines will go on sale in the UK, US, France, Netherlands, Italy Spain and Germany on June 15th 2011.

Google Doodle Celebrates Charlie Chaplin’s Birthday

Posted by Clive in Celebrity, Google

The Google Doodle team have created a homage to Charlie Chaplin, the star of the silent film era who was born 122 years ago today.

Chaplin was born in 1889 in London and went on to become on of the biggest film stars in history during the pre-sound, silent movie era. He never managed to make the same impact after sound was introduced in Hollywood but his movies are still popular today in many countries around the world.

These days the lack of sound actually helps Chaplin’s films to cross borders to people and places Hollywood wouldn’t normally reach. Many people, such as Rowan Atkinson with his Mr. Bean character, have been massively successful in the modern era following the same principles.

Chaplin died in 1977 but it is testament to his influence that his baggy trousers, big shoes, cane and derby hat is still on of the most recognisable characters in the world today.

If you would like to read more the wikipedia has more information.

Google Search Goes Social with Google +1 Button

Posted by Gary in Google, Technology

Google search goes social with the Google +1 Button in a bid to evolve their search engine, improve their results algorithms and engage their audience.

Facebook showed the way with their ‘Like’ button and their 500 million user base, suddenly Google had a major competitor in the search arena from a totally unexpected quarter.

As a nod to the benefits of such a human driven system, and as an attempt to catch up with the social goliaths such as Facebook, Google have launched their own version of the Like button called the +1 button.

If you have a Google account you will be able to vote using the +1 button, voting up the sites that you find useful and voteworthy. Any of your connected friends will be able to see these votes and, I presume, the votes will likely have an impact of everyone’s Google results listings as it would be an obvious addition to their main search algorithm.

Matt Cutts, Google’s main spokesman for all things search related said, “When someone recommends something, that’s a pretty good indicator of quality.”

They have also decided to add the +1 button to Adwords ads where testing has shown an increase in clicks when this functionality was added.

Webmasters will also be able to add a +1 button to their web properties, it is likely that you will see it soon at doubletimemedia.com, don’t forget to vote!

Google Announces Quarterly Revenue of $8.44 billion

Posted by Gary in Business, Google

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has announced it’s results for the last quarter of 2010 with revenue showing a large increase over 2009 results.

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google commented,

“”Q4 marked a terrific end to a stellar year, our strong performance has been driven by a rapidly growing digital economy, continuous product innovation that benefits both users and advertisers, and by the extraordinary momentum of our newer businesses, such as display and mobile. These results give us the optimism and confidence to invest heavily in future growth. Investments that will benefit our users, Google and the wider web.”

Google reported revenues of $8.44 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, representing a 26% increase over fourth quarter 2009 revenues of $6.67 billion. Google-owned sites generated revenues of $5.67 billion, or 67% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2010. Representing a 28% increase over fourth quarter 2009 revenues of $4.42 billion.

Google’s partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $2.50 billion, or 30% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2010. This represents a 22% increase from fourth quarter 2009 network revenues of $2.04 billion.

Revenues from the United Kingdom totalled $878 million, representing 10% of revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010; slightly down when compared to 12% in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of any AdSense partners, increased approximately 18% over the fourth quarter of 2009 and increased approximately 11% over the third quarter of 2010.

Average cost-per-click, which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of the AdSense partners, increased approximately 5% over the fourth quarter of 2009 and increased approximately 4% over the third quarter of 2010.

The also took the opportunity to announce changes at the top of the organisation. Eric Schmidt will take on the role of Executive Chairman from April, while Larry Page will take over as CEO and Sergey Brin will take charge of strategic projects.

Worldwide Google employs 24,400 full-time employees, an increase on the 23,331 full-time employees as of September 30, 2010 and are currently ramping up a large recruitment drive for 2011.

Photo: Google Inc.

Jane Austen Gets A Google Doodle

Posted by James in Entertainment, Google

Google today celebrated what would be the 235th birthday of Jane Austen with a google doodle on their homepage.

The English author has today more prominence than she could have ever imaged when she was alive after having most of her novels turned into films loved by millions around the world.

Indeed, a first edition of her classic book, Emma, fetched almost £80,000 (approx. $91,000) in an auction this month.

Published in 1815 this particular book was sent by Jane Austen to a fellow author the same year, the book has been keep in the same family up until the auction.

Jane Austen herself was born 16th December 1775, she was educated by her father, older brothers and by her own appetite for reading.

She wrote extensively up until she was 35 but had produced nothing of note, unfinished novels and abandoned writing styles are more in keeping with this stage of her career where she was finding her feet.

Then, between 1811 and 1816 she suddenly found her way in spectacular fashion. In 1811 she produced ‘Sense and Sensibility‘, in 1813 she published ‘Pride and Prejudice‘, in 1814 came ‘Mansfield Park‘ and in 1816 ‘Emma‘ became an instant classic.

‘Northanger Abbey‘ and ‘Persuasion‘ were published posthumously while another book remained unfinished when she died in 1817.

Google Makes a Doodle of Robert Louis Stevensons Birthday

Posted by James in Entertainment, Google

Google is celebrating the birthday of the famous novelist, today is the 160th anniversary of his birth and the famous google has gone all treasure island on us.

Born in Scotland in 1850 he spent most of his short life travelling the world eventually settling in Samoa with his wife.

He has left a great literary legacy. His most famous works are, of course, Treasure Island and Dr. Jakyll and Mr. Hyde.

Thanks to http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/ for the following list. A more comprehensive bibliography is available on their website.

A Short List of Works by Decade

1870s

* An Inland Voyage (1878)
* Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes (1878)
* Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879)
* “The Story of a Lie” (1879)

1880s

* Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers (1881)
* Familiar Studies of Men and Books (1882)
* New Arabian Nights (1882)
* Treasure Island (1883)
* The Silverado Squatters (1884)
* “The Body Snatcher” (1884)
* A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885)
* More New Arabian Nights: The Dynamiter (with Fanny Stevenson, 1885)
* Prince Otto (1885)
* Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
* Kidnapped (1886)
* The Merry Men (1887)
* Memories and Portraits (1887)
* “The Misadventures of John Nicholson” (1887)
* Underwoods (1887)
* The Black Arrow (1888)
* Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin (1888)
* The Master of Ballantrae (1889)
* The Wrong Box (with Lloyd, 1889)

1890s

* Ballads (1890)
* Father Damien (1890)
* A Footnote to History (1892)
* Three Plays (1892)
* The Wrecker (with Lloyd, 1892)
* Across the Plains (1892)
* Island Nights’ Entertainments (1893)
* Catriona (1893)
* The Ebb-Tide (with Lloyd, 1894)

Posthumous Works

* The Amateur Emigrant (1895)
* Songs of Travel and other Verses (1895)
* Fables (1896)
* Weir of Hermiston (1896)
* In the South Seas (1896)
* St. Ives (1898)
* Letters (1898)