Google owns Jaiku, one of many Twitter-like services on the web, so when it decided to do a collaboration with Twitter over today’s election news, it left a number of people confused. The Google Maps mashup, which shows updates from voters (and anyone else) mapped on a Google Map as they are sent in, providing a real time commentary from the voting public on the election.
While the map obviously wouldn’t be that useful if enough people weren’t using it, and Twitter seems to have the largest audience, it still seems strange that Google would choose not to use its own in-house product. Valleywag seems to think that Google just doesn’t care anymore about Jaiku, and might be looking to buy Twitter. The way Google is doing nothing with Jaiku, at least half of that seems pretty accurate.
February 5th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Google Maps, Services |
no comments
Engadget has a great article explaining exactly what the rules are for open access on the 700 MHz wireless spectrum Google and the telecoms are fighting over. You may think you know what open access means, but you probably won’t fully understand it until you’ve read up on it.
They explain how the frequency’s ability to penetrate buildings makes it so valuable, what open networks would have meant (I’m actually glad that was shot down), Google’s possible Sprint trade for some WiMAX band, why the iPhone can’t be such an ass on an open device band, and what open applications will do, among other things. Go ahead, take a few minutes, it’s worth it.
photo by connectologist under CC under CC license
February 5th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Mobile |
no comments
Google has released today a number of packages that provide hosted services for security and regulatory compliance, powered by Postini. These packages are designed for companies that use Google Apps, as add-ons to complete their Apps email service. The packages:
- Message Filtering - checks incoming email, filtering it for security, anti-virus, anti-spam and messaging threat protection. Protects against Directory Harvest Attacks and Denial Of Service attacks, with signature-based real-time virus, phishing and spyware detection & blocking. Cost: $3 per user per year.
- Message Security - provides everything in the Filtering package, plus outbound email processing for viruses and policy controlled content, and email encryption. Also manages file attachment permissions (like limits on file sizes, blocking), content-based rules, compliance lexicons (like blocking social security and credit card numbers) and regular expression matching (data pattern matching rules). Cost: $12 per user per year.
- Message Discovery - provides everything in the Filtering and Security packages, plus one year of message retention, auto-purge, and extendable retention; archive searching, exporting, discovery flag, storage and audit reports. Also, individuals get access to their personal archives with intuitive search features, and message consolidation is available for data from multiple sources. Cost: $25 per user per year.
Sounds good, and the prices seem reasonable, though I don’t know how it compares to other companies and their prices. The Discovery package has some important features, but few additions over the Security package, and feels like it should be five bucks cheaper. Non-profit and educational institutions get a 66% discount, so schools and charities can get it for pretty cheap.
Companies and organizations that use the free Standard Edition of Google Apps can pay to add these services in order to protect their communications and meet important goverment regulations, and those that pay $50 per user account per year can increase their costs up to $75 per user/year with the full package.
If a company is upgrading its software every three years, is $225 per employee using Google Apps cheaper than Microsoft Office and an Exchange Server? Google may be slightly cheaper or slightly more expensive, but there’s no doubt that it isn’t blowing anyone away on price with Google Apps. At least there’s no need to maintain and support the system with Google, so long as Google can avoid any bad uptime problems.
February 5th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Apps, Products, Security |
no comments
Google ran this Doodle logo to celebrate Carnival, an annual five day long bash that sweeps Rio de Janeiro and other places in Brazil.
Also, because Orkut is the biggest thing on the internet in Brazil, it too ran a special logo to mark the event.
(via Zorgloob)
Some people say Carnival is bigger and wilder than Mardi Gras, with celebrants pruchasing expensive, elaborate costumes, and foreigners buying the costumes so they can join in (and embarrass themselves with poor dancing, often).
images by Jesse The Traveler and carf under CC license
February 5th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Doodles, Culture, Orkut, Services |
one comment
The FCC’s wireless spectrum auction continues with some heated bidding, and an unusual and somewhat unexpected turn of events appears to have left absolutely no one with the provisional winning bid for the coveted C-block of spectrum.
Both Google and Verizon, and possibly AT&T, have been cautiously bidding for the national package of C-block. Under the rules, companies who are not the high bidder must bid in every round (or use one of their only three waivers) or they exit the auction, so bidders will often bid on the cheaper regional divisions of the spectrum in order to avoid having to commit to the expensive national package.
Whichever is bidded higher, the national or divided regions of the spectrum, goes to the winner, with the lower segment being ignored. It was assumed the bidding on the national package would almost certainly be higher than the regional bids, so they were a non-issue, to be used only in bidding strategy.
That all changed today, when regional bidding topped national bidding in aggregate dollar value, leaving the auction in some very unpredictable hands. If the spectrum goes to each region’s winner seperately, it could be split up in some strange ways, rendering it either useless or a great, open network. That is, unless a single bidder actually won in every region, or someone panics at the idea and ups their national bid.
Currently, the national bid (Package 50 states, 1-8) is at $5.21 billion. The regional bids are:
WU-REA001-C Northeast 52,530,000 $565,624,000
WU-REA002-C Southeast 48,639,000 $498,476,000
WU-REA003-C Great Lakes 57,568,000 $1,209,715,000
WU-REA004-C Mississippi Valley 28,742,000 $1,725,930,000
WU-REA005-C Central 39,958,000 $800,358,000
WU-REA006-C West 51,966,000 $367,770,000
WU-REA007-C Alaska 528,000 30 $1,918,000
WU-REA008-C Hawaii 1,185,000 $43,253,000
That makes for a total of: $7.125 billion. Google only wanted to spend just under $5 billion, so in theory, Google is way out of this auction. If they win with over $7 billion, I’d be shocked.
image “Spirit of the Radio” by _mpd_ under CC license
February 5th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
General |
no comments
Google’s stock price closed today below $500 for the first time in almost six months, ending the day at $495.43 (and another two dollars lower in after-hours trading). The stock has been in freefall since late December, losing $215 in a little over a month, $250 in ust under three. The last time Google’s stock was this low was August 16, 2007. The stock has now dropped a complete 1/3 of its value, with no end in sight.
How long will it take Google to recover? The end of the recession? One good earnings report? Whatever the case, Google is a bad buy today, tomorrow, and any day until the stock finally bottoms out and starts climbing, if it still has it in it. All I know is, less than sixty bucks, and Google falls below its 52-week low.
February 5th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Stock Market |
2 comments
