Google alumnus and others

Should Google be running scared from Apple? CNNOverheard When Tim Armstrong left Google to head AOL in early 2009, many thought he was inheriting a basket case. Revenue and traffic were dropping as dial-up subscribers defected. But AOL's shares are up 47% since its late 2009 spinoff from Time Warner, beating Nasdaq's 43% gain and trouncing Yahoo's 3.5% decline. AOL has even outperformed Mr. Armstrong's former employer, up only 17%. His secret? Deals. Despite an expensive Huffington Post deal, Mr. Armstrong's coup was selling off the family silver, a portfolio of patents, for $1.1 billion. Monday, it said how it would return the cash to shareholders. That said, AOL still has to show it can stabilize its share of U.S. display advertising, which ThinkEquity puts below 5% and falling. So investors shouldn't get carried away with the idea of fellow Google alumnus Marissa Mayer pulling off the same trick at ailing Yahoo, which now says it may reverse a decision to return more than $4 billion to shareholders. That's the gist of Google's message following Apple's $1 billion victory over Samsung in a California patent suit. The search giant is doing its best to quell fears that its Android operating system could be the next target for Apple's lawyers. And you ... See all stories on this topic »

Google Uses Its Home Page to Push Nexus 7 Tablet New York Times (blog) Google is running an ad on Google.com for the Nexus 7, its 7-inch, $199 tablet computer that competes with the Kindle Fire. It shows the tablet popping up from what looks like a slit cut through the home page and announces, “The playground is open. See all stories on this topic » New York Times (blog)

Google Reinstates Controversial Music-Streaming App Grooveshark Wall Street Journal (blog) More than a year after Google Inc. removed the controversial Grooveshark music-streaming service from its app store for Android smartphones, the app was quietly reinstated Tuesday afternoon, despite ongoing copyright infringement lawsuits against the ... See all stories on this topic »

Google-rola agrees to license 3G-related patents to Apple in Germany Ars Technica Google may be distancing itself from Motorola Mobility's previous claims that standards-essential 3G wireless patents are lethal "bullets" it can aim in the direction of its competitors. In particular, Motorola Mobility—now a Google-owned subsidiary ... See all stories on this topic » Ars Technica

'Google Earth pyramids' revisited NBCNews.com (blog) "The features in Google images are well-known since 1925, when they were surveyed by G. Caton-Thompson and E.W. Gardner," Paola Davoli, an Egyptologist at Italy's University of Salento and co-director of the Soknopaiou Nesos Project, told me in an ... See all stories on this topic » NBCNews.com (blog)

Google Wallet Will Store Boarding Passes One Day NBC Southern California (blog) In its current state, Google Wallet is a handy mobile payment system that lets you buy things with your NFC-enabled smartphone. In the future, Google would like Wallet to replace more than just your cash and credit cards. The company wants Wallet to be ... See all stories on this topic »

Google Makes Voter Registration Easy With TurboVote Partnership ABC News (blog) Today Google announced the launch of its Online Voter Guide, a portal that allows Google users to register to vote easily. In addition to its YouTube Elections Hub and its Google Politics & Elections site, this page will provide easy access to ... See all stories on this topic » ABC News (blog)

Google launches crisis map anticipating hurricane Isaac Fox News "When disaster strikes, people turn to the Internet for information," explains Google's Crisis Response project, an offshoot of the of the Google.org philanthropy arm, which aims to aid in times of need. The forecast track for Isaac has the storm aimed ... See all stories on this topic »

Google will now bug you with birthdays like Facebook does Los Angeles Times Google has begun to show birthday reminders on search results for people in users' Google+ circles. The company told The Los Angeles Times that it is beginning to roll out the new features to users over the next few days. Users will see reminders when ... See all stories on this topic »

Time Warner Cable invests $25M to build 1Gbps fiber network CNET Time Warner Cable invests $25M to build 1Gbps fiber network. Time Warner Cable is following Google's lead with a 1Gbps fiber network in New York City, except Time Warner will focus on business customers and it hasn't yet announced pricing. Marguerite ... See all stories on this topic »

Samsung Case Puts Apple Closer to Google Fight New York Times SAN FRANCISCO — Steven P. Jobs minced no words when talking about Android, Google's mobile operating system, which he saw as too similar to the iPhone's. He told his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that Android was “a stolen product” and said, “I'm ... See all stories on this topic » New York Times Google girds for battle in wake of Apple's legal victory Los Angeles Times SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. bought ailing mobile device maker Motorola Mobility this year to stockpile patents for the war that was heating up with rival Apple Inc. But those patents may not be much help in defending challenges to its Android mobile ... See all stories on this topic » Los Angeles Times Hisense taps Google TV set-top box market with $99 Pulse CNET Like other Google set-top boxes, the Pulse will offer access to content on YouTube, Netflix, and Pandora and comes preloaded with Google TV apps like Chrome, Google Play, and Search. The Pulse will feature a double-sided remote control with a touchpad ... See all stories on this topic » Google Names Names in Oracle Case But Denies Paying Bloggers PC Magazine The new list includes "all commenters known by Google to have received payments as consultants, contractors, vendors, or employees," as well as commenters employed by organizations that receive money from Google, according to a document filed Friday ... See all stories on this topic » Tracking Isaac with Google's crisis map Los Angeles Times Tropical Storm Isaac appears to be making a beeline for New Orleans and the southern coast of Louisiana. And the National Weather service warns that by the time the storm makes landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday, it will no longer be a tropical ... See all stories on this topic » Postini Competitors Go After Google's Customers PCWorld However, Google maintains that it's going about this migration in way that will let it retain its Postini clients. "We don't want to lose these customers," said Adam Swidler, a senior manager with Google's Enterprise division. Postini is used to ... See all stories on this topic » Hottest bar in Tampa: Google's free espresso bar Washington Post (blog) The hottest bar at the Convention Center was Google's espresso bar, which is giving out free designer caffeine to anyone with a credential. The web behemoth teamed up with the RNC and will repeat the perk at the DNC convention; lines started at 9 a.m ... See all stories on this topic » Yael T. Abouhalkah | Google Fiber problems become more evident Kansas City Star With two weeks to go to register for Google Fiber service, some questions about the well-publicized initiative are crystallizing with more Kansas Citians. Yes, the digital divide that people thought was out there really exists: People in low-income ... See all stories on this topic » Google Now Feeling More Than Just Lucky eWeek Then Google introduced the Instant predictive search feature, providing cascading query answers in the results box as the user types in a search. That made search refinement even better, leaving the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button to become a second thought ... See all stories on this topic » Google Translate 2.5 (for Android) PC Magazine Pros Clean, simple user interface. Fast. Stable. Voice dictation. Accepts input from text, voice, and optical character recognition (camera), depending on language. Cons Very few languages accept all three input methods. Optical character recognition ... See all stories on this topic »