Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Google buys Youtube, Finally!
Google is buying video-sharing website YouTube for $1.65bn (£883m) in shares after a weekend of speculation that a deal was in the offing. The two companies will continue to operate independently, Google said as it announced the news on Monday.
YouTube, launched in February 2005, has grown quickly into one of the most popular websites on the internet.
It has 100 million videos viewed every day and an estimated 72 million individual visitors each month.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6034577.stm
------------Youtube gave a really tuff time to Google video, thus Google ended up buying it. Way to go youtube!
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Fossil Bluetooth Watch Eyes Caller ID
Fossil, in partnership with Sony Ericsson, today introduced a new line of Bluetooth-enabled watches that deliver the time in a traditional analog format, but connects to a user’s mobile phone wirelessly to do a whole lot more digitally. Based on existing Fossil designs, the water resistant timepieces include a bright OLED display to allow people to view Caller ID and number information plus a vibrating alert for incoming calls or SMS/MMS messages. There's also an out of range warning where the watch vibrates after 10 meters.
Full Story
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Nokia and Apple take gaming to new level
The battle for wireless gaming is hotting up with Nokia securing the rights to EA’s franchises and Apple unveiling a games download service for iPod.
EA will become a supplier to to Nokia’s Content Discoverer service – the online shopping ‘mall’ for mobile games, available on the handset manufacturer’s S40 and S60 systems. From today, customers can download seven existing EA titles, including Tetris, The Sims 2, Doom and FIFA 06.
The market leading games publisher has also promised custom-designed games for Nokia’s next generation mobile games platforms, which it says are already in development. “The line-up details are not finalised, but we obviously have the EA Sports line-up and a lot of other branded mobile titles to look forward to,” said Jaakko Kaidesoja, director of games multimedia at Nokia.
Meanwhile Apple entered the handheld space by adding games functionally to its latest iPod models and a download service via iTunes. Two new iPods, plus a refreshed iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle have been unveiled, all featuring increased battery life.
Users can purchase games via the iTunes store for $4.99 each and play them using the device’s scroll wheel. Titles featured in the initial range include Pac Man, Tetris, Bejeweled, Mini Golf and Texas Hold ‘Em.
Friday, July 07, 2006
From 'Google' to just plain google
One of Google's worst fears may have been realised. The latest edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary includes the word "google" which means to use the well-known search engine to look for information on the web.
The entry means that in addition to being a proper noun, the word "google" - without capitalisation of the "g" - is now a common transitive verb.
In the latest publicly available filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission made available earlier this week, Google identified the key risks it faced in seeking to to maintain its dominance in the search market and preserving its revenue growth rate.
Among the risks listed by Google in its what is called the Q-10 filing was a concern that there may be a downside to too much success.
To quote Google: "We also face risks associated with our trademarks. For example, there is a risk that the word 'Google' could become so commonly used that it becomes synonymous with the word 'search'. If this happens, we could lose protection for this trademark, which could result in other people using the word 'Google' to refer to their own products, thus diminishing our brand."
