Archive for Google
by Ewan Spence
July 21, 2008 at 6:56 am · Filed under Google, Convergence, Advertising, Hardware
I’ve just updated my Sony Playstation Portable (PSP). It’s one of the smoothest upgrade processes I’ve seen for any electronic device. You just selected the ‘Network Update’ option on the menu bar, the PSP scurries off onto the internet (via Wifi) and checks for the latest Firmware. If it’s newer than the machine, it’ll download the file, and you can choose to install it then, or later. And it doesn’t wipe out any setting or preferences on the PSP.
One day, all mobile phones will be like this.
But that’s an aside. Rather than talk about basic infrastructure, I wanted to look at Sony’s approach to the PSP, and a rather tantalizing addition to the PSP’s internet menu – Google Search.
Windin back a PSP to v1.00 and you’ll find a machine that is significantly less feature rich than the current v4.05. It could play games (which is a good thing) and play music, albeit only in Sony’s own proprietary ATRAC format (essentially the compression format used for minidiscs). But as firmware versions kept coming, improvements and additions were made. MP3 support was added, Windows Media (unencrypted first, then encrypted), a web browser was bundled in, a streaming MP3 client for podcasts (which saved to disk for offline usage in the subsequent firmware). In short even though there were tens of millions of PSP’s out there Sony continued to develop the device capabilities. Interestingly, all these new features never cost the users anything extra. Perhaps the lawyers behind the iPod Touch should get in touch with Sony and ask how they made that work?
Anyway, on to the addition of Google Search under the network tab – labeled Internet Search, but powered by Google, from a programmers point of view this allows you to enter a search term in the PSP user interface, which is passed cleanly to the web browser and presents you the results. It also keeps a history of your search terms so you can
Google again whenever the need takes you.
Why do I think this is a good sign of things to come? Two reasons, the first is the continued improving of a product after it leaves the factory. Apple may get the plaudits for the iPhone, Nokai may be doing the donkey work on millions of Symbian handsets, but it’s Sony and the PSP that have made a workable, user friendly updater and are seriously using it to help the product.
The second is Google wants to be everywhere, and are making sure that if a device gets on the internet, then the user will be handed a search page that belongs to Google. Given that Google’s affiliate program passes a tiny fraction of a dollar to its partners for each search term they pass them, be it through a PSP icon, or the search bar in Firefox, there is an inducement to companies to add Google. Tiny fractions add up when you have the software installed on millions of devices. And of course there is still a ‘market choice’ in providing search to devices, and Sony could have went to anyone. Honestly.
So the device owners get a recurring income stream, the users get easy access to search, and Google continues to get a nice big percentage of the new search avenues before they become truly profitable. Which might prove contentious down the line, especially to other search providers and online advertising companies.
by Ewan Spence
April 7, 2008 at 6:14 am · Filed under Google, Communication, Convergence, Email, Gmail, Android
Remind me again what use Google Android is? I mean, I know what the party line is, to create an open platform, to have a standard approach, to let it run on lots of handsets, to give the Linux community another White Knight OS running on standard phone hardware (as opposed to OpenMoko, or Sava JE, or whatever Motorola’s Strategy department liked using last month), there may be another useful side effect.
While it will be good news if Google succeeds in getting a foothold into the Handheld OS market, it won’t be because they have a standard platform. With all the best will in the world, Apple’s market hare of mobile phones in the US could not be described as a standard; a foothold, yes. Even Symbian’s worldwide share of the total mobile market (and not just the ‘smart’ section) has a long term goal to reach 10% (2007 sa their share rise to 7%). So I just don’t see how Google can manage to make any ground selling handsets.
Maybe they have something else in mind? After all, Google’s strength is in advertsing. What they need is eyeballs over their sites and properties. It is leveraging the mobile search space with browser tie ins and plug in search widgets – all driving browser footfall back to Mountain View. If the fragmentation in the mobile space continues, then one of the key applications is going to be using the phone as a think client, via the web or small Java applets, back to destinations such as Google Maps and Google Mail.
If Google can keep the tech elite switching between devices like the iPhone, the Nokia NSeries, and now Android, then these cross platform properties become more and more useful to the users, they gain more presence and become even more sticky. So people can squabble all they like over the Operating System. Google will keep gathering knowledge via the Android project, but the real value comes from keeping everyone arguing over a lot of systems, while the tools used continue to stay with Google.
by Imran Ali
March 25, 2008 at 12:47 pm · Filed under Google, Nokia, Chumby, Yahoo, UK, Android, Events, London
London continues to be a hotbed of mobile hacking and innovation, with next month’s Over The Air, taking place on April 4th + 5th at Imperial College.
Organised by BBC Backstage’s Ian Forrester and Vodafone’s Daniel Appelquist and backed by Nokia and Google, amongst others, Over The Air will be playing host to around 450 attendees across 48 hours of hands-on hacking and code-campery!
iPhone, Openmoko, Android sound like they’ll be strong themes, but expect to see a bunch of sessions on user experience design as well as some masterclasses from handset and software companies, including Nokia, Microsoft, Adobe and Yahoo! on day one.
Head on over to the Over The Air blog for more information on the schedule and how to register…
by Imran Ali
January 28, 2008 at 11:03 am · Filed under News, Google, Nokia, Open Source, Greenphone, Android, Linux
A few hours ago, Nokia announced its proposed $153m acquisition of TrollTech…a curious and surprising development. So what does this mean?
- What will happen to Trolltech’s famously open source handset, the GreenPhone (that predates even the OpenMoko platform)…will we see some Linux-based Nokia handset in 2008?
- Nokia’s press release focusses on TrollTech’s cross-platform development technology - will the adoption of Qt be Nokia’s defence against Google’s Android?
I have my fingers crossed that this acquisition is Nokia’s ‘openness moment’ 
by Ewan Spence
November 23, 2007 at 10:47 am · Filed under Devices, Mobile Tech, Platforms, Software, ARPU, iPhone, Google, Apple, Instant Messaging, Openmoko, Communication, Convergence, Symbian
The launch of Android, and the Open Handset Alliance (primarily with Google and over 30 other partners) has prompted a huge amount of discussion around the internet, from Telecoms Analysts, Industry Watehrs, Developers and enthusiatic bloggers. That’s been reflected here on Mobile Messaging 2.0.
So what exactly is the impact of this in the mobile space? Debi Jones and I sat down to discuss that very topic in our latest podcast.
Google, Android and the Implications - MM2.0 With Debi Jones and Ewan Spence:
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by Ewan Spence
November 21, 2007 at 8:57 pm · Filed under Google
Back when the UK Telecoms Regulator (Ofcom) was selling the licences for the 3G networks in the Uk, they hired a Game Theorist to maximise their return and get as much of a digital dividend from the telephone companies as they could. This eventually became the UK’s fabled “3G auction†where ten companies (including the four incumbent operators of Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and Cellnet) were forced to take part in a sealed envelope auction for five 3G operating licences that would be the next wave of telecoms operations.
By pretty much being forced to bid against each other for air, UK Government with the help of their theorist who created the rules to maximise the money that would be bid, received a windfall of around 22.5 billion pounds. It crippled the operating companies to a large extend, forcing huge cuts in staffing, R&D and infrastructure to pay for it.
All of this came to mind when I saw a post on Moco News that Google has hired their own game theorist for their potential bid on the US auction space coming up. This is a strong sign to the incumbent networks that they’re ready to play ball. Given both the cash reserves of the company, and the recent movement they’ve made into the mobile software space with Android, Google could be as strong an entrant in the US market as Hutchinson’s 3 network in the UK. 3 won the fifth 3g licence in the UK, at a competitive cost and proceeded to make a number of firsts, including the first 3g video mobile service in the UK
With no existing GSM network to maintain, and no devices to market either, the idea of Google working this open spectrum for all could have the same unpredictable effect as the crippling costs and hidden burdens that encumbered the UK and European networks at the start of the 21st century.
What’s the name of the game for Google? That’s a tough one, and victory is not yet assured, especially as I doubt they’ll want to bring on a partner to help fund the bid. But I’m certainly rooting for Google to win the auction, if for no other reason than to see what sort of disruptive effect they will bring to a telecoms market that is coasting on momentum.
by Ewan Spence
November 9, 2007 at 3:07 pm · Filed under Devices, Platforms, Google, Nokia, Palm, Symbian, Motorola
Google’s news on the Open HandsetAlliance last week (www.openhandsetalliance.com) is a little bit like a firecracker. A big bright glow of news, and then a long wait until the results are seen in handsets – tentatively penciled in for Q4 2008 (but expect that to slip). Much like the iPhone, there are contrasting views around the telecoms world on just what this announcement could mean to the landscape.
Let’s face it, this isn’t the first time that a Linux operating system has been proposed… to name one high profile candidate how about Access (nee Palm’s) vapourware like version of Palm OS? Nor is it one with a Java middleware or application suite – Sava JE went down that road (and actually had Java right to the kernel as well). That set the world alight in case you hadn’t noticed.
Symbian, initially the company with the most to loose, have already decried the endeavour as lacking experience. “About every three months this year there has been a mobile Linux initiative of some sort launched,†Symbian’s VP of Strategy, John Forsyth, tells the BBC. “It’s a bit like the common cold. It keeps coming round and then we go back to business. We don’t participate in these full stop. We make our own platform and we are focused on driving that into the mobile phone market at large ever more aggressively.â€
And as long as Nokia continue to use Symbian, they’ll be okay.
What’s more interesting to watchers of Symbian (launched in 1999 with Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Psion all holding an equal stake), is that two of the current licencees, Samsung and Motorola, are involved. While Samsung has always kept Symbian at arm’s length, the involvement of Motorola is going to, yet again, draw attention to Motorola’s haphazard strategy for smartphones. Only last month saw Motorola invest heavily into the Symbian ecosystem with their purchase of 50% of UIQ, an interface layer from Symbian OS.
Of course Symbian now has 8 manufacturers licensing their ‘Open Mobile Operating System,’ and a further 134 partners in their Platinum Program (which includes Google!). That puts the Open Mobile Alliance’s 34 partners into context. While yes, platforms have come and gone, they always say past performance is not an indication of future prospects, we shouldn’t be writing off Google just because we’ve seen something similar before.
After all, Altavista was pretty good as well.
by Ewan Spence
October 25, 2007 at 12:30 am · Filed under Devices, MMS, Events + Conferences, Podcasts, iPhone, Mobile Advertising, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Convergence, CTIA
The second day at CTIA IT and Entertainment 2007 in San Francisco, and Debi, Paul and I meet up at the end of the day to discuss the major issues as we see them. In this podcast, we’re talking about the resurgence of voice, but in applications; the new forms that mobile messaging could take; monetisation and making mobile payments; why aren’t we talking about MMS as the new message?; Microsoft’s $240 million dollar deal with Facebook; what that deal means for Google and their opening up of mobile; and a few points about hype.
by Ewan Spence
October 10, 2007 at 6:47 am · Filed under Google, Jaiku
A brave new world for Jaiku, clenched to the generous bosom of their new Mama Morton in Google? Perhaps stepping back and thinking again might be more appropriate, because it’s a lot easier to come up with companies purchased by Google and then have one or two jewels cherry picked out by the Mountain View, CA based company, with everything else left to wither. Ars Technica reminded me of Urchin – purchased by Google, the online component became Google Analytics and the rest of the Urchin services, including the paid for server based versions, well… stagnated.
Many have wondered why Google plumped for Jaiku and not Twitter – well if you’re going with the assumption that Google is not wanting everything in the system. But just a few rough diamonds, then it could become clearer. In recent weeks Google has not only switched on its mobile Adsense product, but picked up Zingku, a mobile social network. It certainly strengths their depth in the mobile telecoms structure. Jaiku not only has a good platform of users , but has managed to successfully integrate a web based community with a mobile based community built around ‘presence.’
A handful of commentators, and myself among them, are considering that buying Jaiku isn’t a technology play, but a Human Resource play.
Looked at through this lens, the value in Twitter is minimal, given that founder Evan Williams has already been through the Googleplex and been spat out the other end with Google’s purchase of Blogger. Grabbing the minds behind Jaiku, who themselves are former Nokia engineers is probably worth the rumoured $12 million price ticket You can argue either way in the comments if this is a sign of an impending GooglePhone, a big mobile Operating System play, or something more sinister with wireless spectrum and presence applications. In summary, it does mean Google is doing something with mobile.
But this of course could leave Jaiku going down the same route as Urchin, Jot and others, by going absolutely nowhere again in terms of software updates. At least it has a full feature set that we can still use – I just wish that they’d manage to get the S60 client running over WiFi as well as a cellular connection.
by Imran Ali
October 9, 2007 at 4:51 pm · Filed under Platforms, Google, Twitter, Jaiku, Yahoo
Google! Yahoo! Google! Yahoo! Goohoo! Yoogle! Yahoo! Yeeaaaaaarrghh! It seems every service I use these days - Flickr, del.icio.us, Feedburner, Upcoming, Writely - is swallowed up whole by one of the two giants ot the Web Cold War…fighting their proxy wars, startup by startup!
Earlier today Jyri Engstrom’s Jaiku was acquired by Google, for an undisclosed sum, notaby to integrate Jaiku’s ‘Activity streams and mobile presence…where we believe Google can add a lot of value for users…a great addition to Google’s current application and mobile teams’.
It’s perhaps no accident that mobility is namechecked twice - a revealing comment, with the recent uptick in speculation that Google’s telephony play is less a handset and more a handset-agnostic OS or application suite.
Jaiku’s life stream has always been more elegantly implemented than its more popular counterpart, Twitter, enabling users to blend external RSS feeds with Jaiku posts; indeed, my own Jaiku account is automated, simply scraping RSS from Twitter, Flickr, my blog and other personal RSS sources.
Augmenting this life stream with Google’s suite of applications paints a compelling vision…
- Address books - GTalk user statuses set automagically; kinda like Tim O’Reilly’s vision of a smart address book.
- Blending social networks - bringing Jaiku’s life streams to the Orkut community, particularly its booming Asian and South American communities could help accelerate adoption of Google’s much vaunted Facebook-killer.
- Location aware contacts - user’s post their location via Jaiku, instantly marking themselves on Google Maps; great for iPhone users!
- Presence-based telephony - know the availability of a GTalk user, or Gmail contact, before placing a call
- Work status - let colleagues know when you’re working in Google Docs; perhaps great for timekeeping!
- Photocasting - let Jaiku syndicate your recently posted Picasa photos to your social network.
Couple this with Jaiku’s support for third-party data sources through RSS and you have a very powerful multiplexing engine; an open platform for signalling social and personal presence across the web and across mobile networks.
With these possibilities in mind - Jaiku may be one of the most significant acquisitions Google has ever made.
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