Sourcetool says Google violated U.S. antitrust laws
TradeComet.com, which owns the search engine SourceTool.com, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google Inc on Tuesday, accusing it of engaging in illegal predatory conduct to drive them out of business.
“TradeComet was forced to file the lawsuit when Google refused to stop engaging in predatory conduct to block search traffic by imposing massive, unjustified price increases,” the company said in a statement.
Google bans term "netbook" from Adsense ads
Google has banned the term “netbook” from being used in ads placed on its wildly popular Adsense network. Why, you ask? Well apparently, the term “netbook” is a trademark owned by Psion.
Anyone remember Psion’s Netbook Pro? No? You aren’t alone. Last year when the netbook world started heating up, Psion was warning manufacturers that it owned the trademark on “netbook” and I suspect that, considering the Psion netbook is nothing but a memory of a little bag of fail, the company may be looking to sell the trademark. Either that or they are hoping to launch a netbook people will actually buy and want to have the only “netbook” on the market.
Google Earth’s latest realm is under the sea
Google dove into the sea on Monday by releasing an updated 3-D mapping service that lets users explore the ocean as if they were dolphins, swimming past submerged volcanoes and through underwater canyons.
The enhanced Google Earth, available for download at earth.google.com, offers everything from photographs and videos of sea life to models of shipwrecks to water temperature data collected from buoys. Dozens of partners – including the National Geographic Society, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Scripps Oceanographic Institution – contributed information to the project, which is aimed at fostering learning, promoting conservation and, no doubt, increasing Google’s popularity.
Yahoo Rises as Yang Exit Sparks Microsoft Speculation
Yahoo! Inc., owner of the second- largest U.S. Internet-search engine, rose 8.7 percent in Nasdaq trading after Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang agreed to step down, opening the door for a fresh Microsoft Corp. bid.
Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, climbed 92 cents to $11.55 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The gain was the largest in a month.
Before today, the company’s market value had fallen by more than $20 billion since Yang took over last year as discussions with Microsoft failed, an ad partnership with Google Inc. collapsed and talks with Time Warner Inc.’s AOL stalled. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the resignation may fuel speculation of renewed talks with Microsoft or another suitor.
Wi-Fi in the Sky
American Airlines is the first U.S. carrier to offer wireless networking on multiple routes and aircraft. In August 2008, Aircell’s Gogo service became available on 15 of American’s Boeing 767-200 aircraft, flying in the U.S. from San Francisco to JFK; Los Angeles to JFK; and Miami to JFK. Gogo connects each aircraft’s wireless access points to a network of cell towers on the ground throughout the continental U.S.
In-flight Wi-Fi has been a long time coming. American began investigating wireless networking as a service in 1999, says Doug Backelin, the airline’s manager of in-flight communications and technology.
Google tool uses search terms to detect flu outbreaks
(CNN) — If you have a fever, headache and runny nose, you might go to Google and type the words “flu symptoms” to see whether you’ve come down with influenza.
Google knows that you might do something like that, and it also knows which U.S. state you’re in. Now, it’s putting that information together in a tool that Google says could detect flu outbreaks faster than traditional systems currently in use.
Google Cries Foul Over Coverage of Apps Outages
Recent outages affecting Google Apps have received a disproportionately large amount of coverage from the technology press, resulting in a misperception about the stability of this hosted collaboration and communication suite.
That’s the opinion of Matthew Glotzbach, product management director of Google’s Enterprise unit, who recently chatted about this issue with IDG News Service, one of the news outlets that Google feels has blown the problem out of proportion.
Google Adds Voice, Video Chat to Gmail, Apps
Fearful that the tone of your instant messages is sometimes lost in translation? Google on Tuesday announced that it is integrating a voice and video plug-in for it Gmail Chat offering that lets you see or hear the friend with which you are chatting.
Users will need to download and install a plug-in, and have access to a Webcam for video purposes. Google has partnered with Logitech and Buy.com to offer discounts of up to 30 percent on several cameras, as well as free shipping, until November 30.
Google Earth plumbs the depths of the oceans
Google Earth, the online mapping service that offers a bird’s-eye view of the globe, will now let users see underwater landscapes from around the world.
The new feature lets people go on a virtual dive, seeing some of the most endangered marine spots on the planet. The software, which can be downloaded now, comes with video streams, photo galleries and stories from marine protected areas across the globe.
It has been produced as part of the Google Earth Outreach programme, which gives charities and campaign groups access to Google’s data and programming resources. Previous projects have shown the sites of attacks on refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan and the environmental impact of mining in the Appalachian Mountains.
Google unveils $4.4 trillion Clean Power by 2030
Washington, Oct 4 (IANS) Search engine giant Google has unveiled a $4.4 trillion plan dubbed Clean Power by 2030 that calls for all energy in the US to come from renewable sources.
The web giant in a release posted on its site said: ‘While this plan will cost $4.4 trillion (in undiscounted 2008 dollars), it will ultimately save $5.4 trillion, delivering a net savings of $1 trillion over the life of the plan’.
The three basic elements of the clean energy plan are new transmission lines and policies like national renewable portfolio standard, new generation vehicles running on non-oil fuels and greater energy efficiency by installing smart meters and real time pricing.