2012年10月31日 星期三

News for Google

Google's Search Pages Evolve
New York Times
Google's look has changed significantly since it started in 1997. While the search engine originally returned basic blue links to other Web pages, it now also shows ads, photos, maps, answers to questions and other information. While Google says this ...
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New York Times
Google Wallet Gets Real
InformationWeek
The Google Wallet Card is intended for circumstances when customers cannot use their software-based, mobile phone-bound Google Wallet, due to a merchant's lack of support for NFC payments. The website Android Police has published screenshots that ...
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Google's John Hanke and Field Trip app think social
San Jose Mercury News
My favorite thing about my colleague Brandon Bailey's Q&A with Google guru John Hanke is the talk about managing the tension between paying attention to our mobile gadgets and paying attention to our surroundings. The Field Trip app that Hanke and his ...
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Holiday gadgets: Microsoft phones, Google gadgets
Chicago Daily Herald
NEW YORK — Microsoft launched its new Windows phone system and Google unveiled new devices under its Nexus brand. Both part of an effort to grab more of consumers' holiday-shopping dollars. Last week, Microsoft started selling its Windows 8 ...
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Linkpost | 11.3.2012
Houston Chronicle (blog)
Google Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 Performance Preview – AnandTech looks at the performance ofGoogle's new Nexus phone and tablet. Also Google Nexus 10 review and Nexus 4 review. • Exclusive: Inside Android 4.2′s powerful new security system – It ...
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Google's Android software in 3 out of 4 smartphones
DAWN.com
SAN FRANCISCO: Three out of every four smartphones sold in the third quarter featured GoogleInc's Android mobile operating system, as the gap between Google and Apple Inc-based phones widened further, according to a new research report. Shipments ...
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Google Adds Hurricane Sandy Images of Destruction of N.Y., N.J.
eWeek
Google has quickly posted new aerial photographs of the shoreline areas along the East Coast that were decimated by Hurricane Sandy from Oct. 28 to Oct. 30, including hard-hit areas in New Jersey and New York. The images are available on Google's ...
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eWeek
How to: Voice Search on Google Using Your iOS Devices
Blogote (blog)
Though we have to type words in Google to search the web, mobile users may find it difficult to type longer phrase through their onscreen keyboards, and sometimes they end up making mistakes. Typing is so old-fashioned, at least that's what Google ...
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Google, YouTube to get Russian site blacklist updates
TwoCircles.net
By IANS/RIA Novosti,. Moscow: Google and YouTube will receive updates regarding "blacklisted" websites in Russia, the country's communications oversight agency said. The agency's press release confirmed that Google Inc and YouTube LLC had formally ...
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Android, Untethered
Wired
It's a truly exemplary piece of hardware that showcases the best of what Google can offer in a smartphone when crufty user interface skins from hardware makers and bloatware from carriers are cut out of the equation. It's as close to perfect as I've ...
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Wired
Google's Android on 3 out of 4 smartphones, survey finds
San Jose Mercury News
NEW YORK -- Google's (GOOG) Android software for mobile devices was running on 75 percent of smartphones shipped in the third quarter, as the search company extended its lead over Apple (AAPL), according to research firm IDC. Apple's iOS system ...
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Microsoft vs Google trial raises concerns over secrecy
Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two weeks before a high-stakes trial pitting Google's Motorola Mobility unit against Microsoft, Google made what has become a common request for a technology company fighting for billions of dollars: A public court proceeding, ...
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It's Alive! Google's iOS Search App Shows Hints Of Self-Awareness
TechCrunch
It may not have a cool name like “Siri,” but you can't accuse Google's Voice Search app of lacking personality. Or self-awareness, for that matter. In case you missed it, Google upgraded its iOS search app on Tuesday with improved voice search ...
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Intel, Google, And Amazon Win All The Mobile Marbles
Seeking Alpha
Apple (AAPL): Apple has a two front war already underway with Samsung and Google (GOOG). Apple has eliminated Samsung from their supply chain in all products except the all-important "A" chip application processors. Apple has eliminated Google Maps ...
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Amazon, Google Cloud Outages Highlight Bigger Risk
Wired (blog)
Just when you thought the list of possible gotchas causing cloud outages could not get much longer, a post-mortem of the recent Amazon outage that took out Reddit and Heroku, among others, fingered a memory bug. The finding follows a Google outage on ...
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Wired (blog)
Google and Rosetta Stone Settle, Consumers Win
E-Commerce Times
After three years of litigation, Rosetta Stone and Google have settled their trademark case over rival products appearing in sponsored search results. The settlement ultimately benefits consumers, said Sands Anderson attorney Donna Ray Berkelhammer.
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Mercury News interview: John Hanke, vice president and head of Google's ...
San Jose Mercury News
John Hanke went from running small tech startups to managing products for Google's (GOOG) sprawling Geo division, which includes Google Earth, Maps, Street View and other services. Now he's back with a small startup team -- this time within Google ...
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Google in Dispute With French Tax Authorities
NASDAQ
PARIS--French tax authorities and Google Inc. (GOOG) have been locked in a months-long dispute over the Internet giant's operations in the country, according to court documents that emerged Friday. At the heart of the dispute is whether Google should ...
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Google Nexus 10 review
ZDNet (blog)
With the launch of the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10, Google's flagship Android brand is fully equipped for the consumer battle — but still not enterprise-friendly. It may have arrived the week after the iPad 4, Apple's most advanced iPad, and buck the trend ...
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Google Search App Vs. Apple Siri: 8 Questions
InformationWeek
Google's technical improvements in speech recognition are due to the massive amount of anonymized search query data it collects, and to data available on the open Web. Google research scientist Ciprian Chelba notes in a blog post that the company's ...
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FTC Staff Said to Formally Recommend Google Patent Suit
Businessweek
Google Inc. should be sued by the Federal Trade Commission for trying to block competitors' access to key smartphone-technology patents in violation of antitrust law, the agency's staff told commissioners in a formal recommendation, according to four ...
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Google Nexus Mobile Devices: How They Shape Up Against Apple Products
eWeek
Google is ready for a fight with Apple. The company recently announced two new devices in its Nexus line—a smartphone called the Nexus 4 and a larger tablet that will be known as the Nexus 10. As one might expect given recent naming conventions in the ...
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eWeek
With Rosetta Stone Settlement, Google Gets Closer to Legitimizing Billions of ...
Forbes
After 3+ years of litigation, Google ($GOOG) and Rosetta Stone ($RST) settled Rosetta Stone's trademark lawsuit over Google AdWords. The settlement terms are confidential, but a joint statement published in Reuters says that the parties will ...
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Google Outage: Six Minutes of Terror
Wired
At about 10:47 p.m. British time on Wednesday, Paul O'Brien couldn't reach Google. At all. “Strange,” he said, with a post to Twitter. “My phone just completely lost connectivity to all Googleservices. Anyone else?” The response was immediate. “Same ...
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Google Wallet may get physical... with a real card, rumors say
CNET (blog)
Android Police says an anonymous tipster sent in screenshots from the new app showing the option to request a credit card from Google that syncs with any accounts you've connected to the Wallet service. Designed to be used when NFC-enabled tap and ...
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Google Search, Maps Now Bring up Amber Alerts
eWeek
Google Search and Google Maps inquiries will now also bring up critical local Amber Alerts in the user's community to help authorities spread the word about child abductions as they happen. "Today we are launching Amber Alerts coordinated by National ...
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eWeek
Aussie's Google win could open the floodgates
Sydney Morning Herald
Websites that link to offensive material may no longer be able to hide behind the defence that they are not technically publishers, after an Australian man successfully sued Google for defamation. Michael Trkulja won a landmark defamation case against...
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Sydney Morning Herald
Google Updates Android Distribution Numbers for November, Jelly Bean Up to ...
Droid Life
It's the first of the month which means Google has updated the Android distribution numbers from the previous month. As you would expect, Jelly Bean's share has jumped slightly to 2.7%. Since there are so few phones running 4.1, the slight bump from 1 ...
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Google Earth 7 adds more 3D imagery to desktop app
PCWorld (blog)
Google has updated the desktop version of Google Earth with 3D imagery that was previously only available to mobile users of the mapping program. A new tour guide feature—also included in theGoogle Earth update—allows you to fly over given areas ...
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Google's Nexus 4: Hands-on impressions
Computerworld (blog)
In terms of basic hardware and form, Google has clearly taken the best parts of LG's Optimus G -- the foundation upon which the phone is based -- and polished them to near-perfection. This is truly a melding of LG's basic hardware and Google's sense of...
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Computerworld (blog)
Google Introduces New Emergency Resources in Response to Sandy
New York Times (blog)
Google has scrambled to post online resources for people who want information about the deadly storm Sandy, including maps showing evacuation routes and shelters and a new service that sends emergency alerts to Google users. On Monday night, the ...
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New York Times (blog)
Google ties Apple with 700000 apps
CNET (blog)
Apple had long led the rest of the market, but Google had been quickly catch up. By comparison, Microsoft said yesterday that it now has 120,000 apps for it Windows Phone OS. That's a pretty big figure for the company but it significantly lags Android ...
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A Clash Across Europe Over the Value of a Click
New York Times
Google said such laws would undermine its commitment to an open Internet and the free flow of information. It would also invert the company's main business model. A majority of the company's $38 billion in annual revenue comes from the sale of ...
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Google Sending Public Alerts For 'Sandy'-Related Searches
Huffington Post
Google is now sending public alerts to users searching for terms related to Superstorm Sandy. The results will appear on Google Search and Google Maps in desktop browsers and on Google Maps for Android mobile devices, as well as on Google Now for ...
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Tablet makers obsess over every last pixel
CNET
Google has made the screen of the Nexus 10 tablet its chief selling point. At a resolution of 2,560x1,600, or 300 PPI, the tablet it produced with Samsung boasts the highest resolution on the market. To Google, this is the kind of gee-whiz feature that ...
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Google Chromebook ideal for students and users on a budget [Video]
Los Angeles Times
The third time may be the charm for Google, which with its third-generation Chromebook has built a computer consumers might actually buy. The Mountain View, Calif., company began selling the $249 Chromebook last week in preparation for the holidays, ...
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Google and Microsoft Launch New Products (In the Middle of Hurricane Sandy)
Minyanville.com
MINYANVILLE ORIGINAL If you launch a product in the middle of a hurricane, does it make any noise? No. Not even if you launch it on the West Coast, three thousand miles out of the path of Hurricane Sandy. Here's a summary of technology industry news ...
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Asustek: Nexus 7 Sales Approaching 1 million a Month
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Sales of Google Inc. 's Nexus 7, made by Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc. , are closing in on 1 million units a month, the Taiwanese maker revealed. GoogleGooglehas two new Nexus devices it unveiled this week — a 10-inch tablet and a smartphone — to ...
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Wall Street Journal (blog)
New York's Silicon Alley makes do after Sandy
Businessweek
On Tuesday, companies from small startups to major players such as Google and Facebook, scrambled to balance employee safety with attempts to conduct business as usual. With laptops, smartphones and a dash of ingenuity tech companies powered ...
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谷歌如何讓無人駕駛汽車合法化
更多科技的文章 »
華達州女議員瑪麗蓮•唐德羅•魯普(Marilyn Dondero Loop)記得谷歌公司(Google Inc.)的一名說客去年第一次找到她時﹐她對自動駕駛汽車表示懷疑﹐對其可能引起的危險有些擔憂。

但是在那之後﹐谷歌向擔任州眾議院交通運輸委員會主席的唐納德•魯普引薦了曾經駕乘過該公司自動駕駛汽車的人﹐並給她放映了一段有人從自動駕駛汽車前走過時汽車剎車的視頻。

唐納德•魯普說﹐“那一刻我發出了‘啊哈’的一聲驚嘆聲。”她的委員會後來提出一項議案﹐為這種汽車在內華達州的大街上合法行駛舖平了道路﹐這項提案很快在2011年6月獲得通過﹐成為法律。

谷歌在其它各州上演了同樣鼓舞人心的一幕﹐同一大撥當地的院外說客和院內政策專家一道﹐通過實物展示和親身駕乘這種奇異汽車的方式來尋求州議員們的支持。


Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
圖為5月,華盛頓街頭的一輛谷歌自動駕駛汽車。
谷歌已經在內華達州、佛羅里達州和加利福尼亞州取得立法成功﹐同樣的議案現在也擺在了夏威夷州、新澤西州、俄克拉荷馬州和哥倫比亞特區的議員面前。

在這一過程中﹐這家位於加利福尼亞州山景城(Mountain View)的公司逐漸積累了精明的政治操縱者的資歷。明尼蘇達大學(University of Minnesota)漢弗萊公共事務學院(Humphrey School of Public Affairs)副院長弗蘭克•杜馬(Frank Douma)說﹐谷歌在掌控州議會方面“相當在行”。他說﹐在自動駕駛汽車這件事情上﹐谷歌“很清楚先在內華達州取得進展對他們意味著什麼﹐”之後才到更大的州進行接洽﹐“如果你在第一個州搞砸了﹐你就真的遇到麻煩了。”

成功實現自動駕駛汽車技術的合法化對谷歌公司來說具有更廣泛的意義。遊說州議員的過程中所學到的技巧可以幫助該公司在其它需要本地決策的事務上取得進展﹐其中包括在有線電視公司主導的市場里擴張谷歌光纖網絡和電視服務。

熟悉這項技術的人說﹐自動駕駛技術在若干年時間里還不能廣泛普及﹐現在判斷機器人汽車是否會成為谷歌公司的賺錢大戶還為時過早﹐但是在州級層面所做的努力正在為未來制訂指導自動交通工具的聯邦法規奠定基礎。

根據聯邦文件的記錄﹐谷歌在2012年上半年總共花費了近900萬美元就各種各樣的問題在華盛頓展開遊說﹐包括找美國運輸部(U.S. Department of Transportation)官員和國會議員談論自動交通工具技術的相關事宜﹐接近該公司2011年全年用於遊說所花費的968萬美元。

谷歌遊說各州官員所花費的總金額是多少不得而知﹐該公司沒有透露這方面的數據。谷歌公司的公共政策經理萊斯利•米勒(Leslie Miller)說﹐對於在全國範圍內讓自動駕駛汽車通過立法批准﹐“我們沒有一個擬定好的總體規劃。”她說﹐公司的目標是建立“一些參數﹐讓這一設想能夠以一種非常週全的方式進入市場。”

2009年﹐谷歌公司在工程師塞巴斯蒂安•特龍(Sebastian Thrun)的主持下開始測試自動駕駛汽車﹐特龍之前與斯坦福大學(Stanford University)的教師一起從事過這項技術的研究。谷歌共同創始人拉里•佩奇(Larry Page)和謝爾蓋•布林(Sergey Brin)力促特龍完善這項可以讓汽車在激光、攝像頭和其它裝置的輔助之下自動行駛的技術。

上個月﹐布林說他預計自動駕駛汽車可望在五年內廣泛普及。他說﹐自動交通工具比有人駕駛的汽車更安全﹐這項技術可以防止交通事故﹐幫助殘疾人出行﹐減少交通堵塞和汽油消耗。

通用汽車公司(General Motors Co.)、寶馬汽車公司(BMW AG)和豐田汽車公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)等汽車製造商也在競相發展這項技術。

谷歌爭取這種汽車合法化的努力始於2010年的拉斯維加斯消費電子產品展(Consumer Electronics Show)。谷歌公司汽車項目的工程師安東尼•萊萬多夫斯基(Anthony Levandowski)在那裡與院外活動人士大衛•戈德華特(David Goldwater)會面﹐討論了自動汽車合法化過程中的障礙以及為何在谷歌公司所在的加利福尼亞州的更大、更受到密切關注的立法機構開始遊說會更棘手。

谷歌公司的一名發言人說﹐萊萬多夫斯基後來之所以讚同谷歌應該在內華達州試水﹐部分原因是由於該州的老齡化人口可以受益於自動駕駛汽車﹐而且內華達緊挨著加利福尼亞。

2011年1月﹐戈德華特找到唐德羅•魯普和內華達州眾議院交通運輸委員會﹐遊說他們提出一項議案﹐指導該州的機動車管理局(department of motor vehicles﹐簡稱DMV)起草有關自動駕駛交通工具的法規。

他說他是這樣告訴議員們的﹐“我們並不是說:‘讓這玩意兒上路。’我們的意思是﹐‘這是一項合法的技術﹐’我們正在讓DMV對它進行測試和認證。”

內華達州的議案通過以後﹐其它州的議員開始對類似的立法表現出興趣。於是谷歌再次拿出了它的原始配方﹐並且還另外加進了配料:從十多輛自動駕駛汽車中挑選一輛﹐讓議員們體驗一下駕乘的感受。

佛羅里達州眾議員傑夫•布蘭德斯(Jeff Brandes)回憶說﹐“我們讓汽車以每小時70英里的速度行駛﹐感覺它的駕駛技術比你自己還好。”布蘭德斯在該州提出的自動汽車議案在4月份獲得通過。

在加利福尼亞州﹐一項自動汽車議案在上個月成為了法律﹐儘管有來自美國汽車製造商聯盟(Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers)的反對聲﹐該聯盟成員包括通用、寶馬和豐田等12家最大的汽車製造商。該組織此前對佛羅里達州的議案投了讚成票。

汽車製造商聯盟的發言人丹•蓋奇(Dan Gage)說﹐加利福尼亞州通過的法案允許公司和個人用自動駕駛技術改裝現有的汽車﹐這樣做可能會引發故障﹐而且汽車製造商在由此引發的訴訟案中無法獲得法律保護。蓋奇說﹐“那些汽車不是由谷歌製造的﹐他們會用非預期的方式改裝我們的汽車。”

但是根據公共檔案的記錄﹐過去一年中谷歌在花費了14萬美元對議員和加利福尼亞州的相關機構進行遊說之後﹐推動議案獲得了通過。谷歌公司還把自動駕駛技術宣揚成預防交通事故、拯救生命的一種手段。

在加利福尼亞州提出議案的參議員亞歷克斯•帕迪拉(Alex Padilla)說﹐“那種宣傳對兩黨都有吸引力。”

Amir Efrati

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