So, yesterday, in case you hadn’t heard, Google got dragged before the Senate to discuss its business model and the fact that it, de facto, controls the Internet. Some good points were made, some bad points were made, overall not much happened.
But it raises the point: is Google evil?
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Google hasn’t been the same for some time now. Back when it first launched, it was like Google was reading your mind, taking you to exactly where you wanted to be. Then there was a problem: other websites and companies began reading your mind too, and Google’s. They tried to figure out every possible search that you’d ever have and design their content in such a way that it’d flood the front pages of Google, draw in hoards of visits and generate dollar upon dollar of ad revenue.
Great for them, not so good for you. Not if you wanted to actually search and find valuable results, anyway.
Well Google’s addressing the situation.
The Internet has so much potential, but isn’t quite harnessing it yet. A worldwide communication system that can bring us real-time video and information from anywhere in the world should really be capable of delivering live sporting events that we may not be able to get on TV. Like out-of-market football, baseball, basketball, etc. And if it could do it without a rigid, season-long subscription where I have to pay for every single game of the season even if I only want to watch a particular team or match-up, that would be really great.
If you had any doubts that Apple and Google have become the Yankees and Red Sox of the tech world, today’s news should relieve you of those. Google has announced its One Pass subscription service, just a day after Apple introduced its own solution for in-app subscriptions.
And as is typically the case, Google delivers more control and flexibility to the actual content providers than Apple. While Apple plans to hang on to customer data, Google is giving that data to publishers. Google will only take 10 percent of subscription sales for its platform–one third of the 30 percent that Apple is grabbing.
Google has released an Android version of its popular Blogger platform. You can now write posts and post pictures from anywhere you happen to be. The native app is designed to make using Blogger via mobile phone easier than ever. Once finished, you can save the post as a draft or publish it straight from your phone. Just one more way to keep the world up on the real-time minutia of your life.
Want to browse and demo Android apps on a bigger, more powerful device? Wish granted. Google announced today that it is launching a Web-based Android Market. The website is market.android.com.
Previously, Android owners could only browse and buy apps through their mobile device, so the Web market will provide one more way of getting apps. And to avoid any headaches brought on by buying apps and then having to physically download them, the new Android market will include wireless functionality for sending apps directly to phones without any hard connection required.
By now you’ve undoubtedly heard about the drama over in Egypt. Even if you don’t follow Middle Eastern affairs (isn’t there always turmoil and protests over there), Egypt’s unprecedented move of all but shutting down the entire Internet in the country has got to have your interest piqued.
It also has tech companies that are all about open communication and flow of information innovating ways of getting around Egypt’s stranglehold. Google recently acquired SayNow, a mobile voice-messaging start-up, and with the help of Twitter has launched a speak-to-tweet service aimed specifically at the embroiled nation. The new service allows foraccounts from the ground via a telephone-based tweeting service.
Remember when Google actually innovated exciting, market-leading products? I miss those days because it seems like lately all Google does is release second-rate versions of products that already exist. Things like Google Buzz. Or the Nexus One (good product, terrible infrastructure around it).
Well we may have one more to add to that list. Google has confirmed that it will offer a new email deals service similar to Groupon. The service will be called ‘Google Offers’.
We don’t cover many corporate personnel changes here at GadgetCrave. And that’s because they’re about as boring of news as has ever been reported on. Really, who cares–give me working gadgets, make them affordable, support them when I need help and I really don’t give two donkey sh@ts who’s running your company. But when your company is as huge as Google and when your CEO as off-the-wall as Eric Schmidt has been lately, I have enough interest to throw you a headline.
