Some breaking news in the patent world. Samsung, the world’s biggest handset maker, has announced that it has signed a 10-year patent deal with Google, the maker of Android, the world’s biggest mobile operating system, covering all current and future technology patents.
There are a few key reasons why this is an important piece of news:
Last year was an important one for Android. We saw the platform shift from around 50 percent market share to over 80. Meanwhile, the leading Android-based devices enjoyed big improvements to performance and functionality. Google's Nexus 5 seems to be the very embodiment of Android's progress.
Despite the many uses for Google Glass, this new class of wearable devices is inevitably meeting some growing pains (pictured above is 7'3" Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, a Glass wearer who has experienced some growing pains) as the world gets used to them. One wearer successfully fought a traffic ticket recently and now another early adopter suffered the "embarrassing" experience of being removed from a movie theater for bringing the accessory.
Google removed two Chrome browser extensions from its web store after it was discovered the software included code that served people ads in a way that violated the company’s terms of service.
While security startup Impermium doesn't have the hot name cache of Nest, it is Google's latest corporate buy.
Impermium specialized in helping Web sites fight spam, something that Google is already an industry leader at doing, but it had chops at stopping fraud and abuse as well.
Google’s acquisition of Nest for $3.2 billion this week has been heralded as the company’s big move into home automation. Nest has made overtures about customer privacy, but given the size and profitability of its new owner’s advertising and personal data business, the new relationship needs a closer examination.
Google is moving into your home. On Monday, the Internet company said it was acquiring Nest, a maker of smart smoke alarms and thermostats, in a move that gives Google a strong foothold in a hot new market known as the "connected home."
The idea behind the connected home is to connect heating systems, lighting systems and appliances such as refrigerators to the Internet so that they can be made more efficient and controlled from afar. In the process, companies can collect more data about people's habits, something Google loves.
Google has released the official statistics regarding the usage of the various versions of Android. Continuing the trend spotted in the previous month's report, those devices that are running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and Android 4.4 KitKat are on the rise. Like the last report, most Android devices are running a version of Jelly Bean. Beginning April 2013, the distribution data charts are now based on the data collected from each device when the user visits the Google Play store.
Google has acquired Nest, a company that makes a home thermostat that can be programmed from people's mobile phones, for $3.2 billion in cash, Google said on Monday.
The founders of Nest, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, "have built a tremendous team that we are excited to welcome into the Google family," Google CEO Larry Page said in a statement.
The Commission Election of India (CEI) has decided not to select Google as a partner to create an online voter registration tool that would also provide information about voting locations and card numbers.
“Google made a presentation to the Commission for electoral look up services for citizens... However, after due consideration, the Commission has decided not to pursue the proposal any further,” wrote Dhirendra Ojha, the director of the commission, in a statement on Thursday.
