Jordan Kahn

Google announced a partnership with virtualization software maker VMware today that will bring Chromebook users access to Windows desktops and apps. The deal means enterprise Chromebook users will have access to Windows apps through VMware Horizon DaaS and an upcoming Chrome Web Store app:

Cloud applications allow flexibility, scalability and security and enable a work-anywhere environment, but many of our customers still use traditional desktop applications. Desktop as a Service (DaaS) helps bridge the gap between the cloud and a traditional desktop by allowing you to run your traditional software in the cloud and have applications appear on your Chromebook similarly to how they run today. An example might be your Windows based accounting application.

It might sound a little bit like Google is admitting that enterprise customers need more than just Chrome apps to get the job done, but it’s also embracing the upcoming end of life for Windows XP and encouraging business customers to upgrade to Chromebooks. Giving businesses access to the Windows apps many rely on is certainly a good argument for upgrading to Chromebooks. In a statement in VMware’s press release, Google’s president of enterprise Amit Singh said “Chromebooks can save businesses about $5,000 per computer when compared to traditional PCs.”
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Research firm IDC is out today with its latest report on the worldwide smartphone market highlighting shipments and marketshare by operating system for last quarter and all of 2013. Together Android and iOS made up around 95.7% of all smartphone shipments in the last quarter of 2013 (up from 91.2% in the year ago quarter), but the real story is how much Android has grown compared to iOS. As of last quarter, Android made up almost 80% of that 95.7% and shipped close to 800 million of the billion smartphones shipped during 2013. 
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Have you ever wondered how much of your phone is actually screen? That is, how much of your phone is usable screen real estate in relation to the overall size the device? The chart above from @somospostpc shows you exactly that for some of the most popular devices from LG, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Motorola and Apple. The LG G2 comes out on top at 75.7% display compared to 60% and below for the current lineup of iPhones. If the rumors are true, we could start to see manufacturers try to increase screen real estate by eliminating even more of the bezel. 
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With Google Glass finally available to just about anyone willing to sign up and throw down the $1500 purchase price, we’re seeing more and more professionals take advantage of the handsfree, head-mounted computer to make daily tasks more efficient. The latest to trial Glass, according to a report from TheDailyMail, is Virgin Atlantic airlines in a test at London’s Heathrow airport. Staff of Virgin’s Upper Class lounge are apparently using Glass to identify passengers in order to greet them by name and pull up relevant trip information:
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Samsung announced today that it’s releasing a couple variations of its Galaxy S4 and S4 mini smartphones that introduce the faux “leather-style” backside that first made an appearance on the new Note 3 at IFA in September. The new devices are dubbed “Black Edition” and come with wallpapers to match, but otherwise are the same 5-inch and 4.3-inch Galaxy S4 devices that have been on the market for nearly a couple years now. Samsung says the special Black Editions will be available in select markets starting this month.
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Photo: websummit.net

After announcing that it had acquired smart thermostat maker Nest for $3.2 billion in cash last month, Google’s purchase was of course still subject to the normal regulatory approvals. Today the deal has finally been made official with the FTC granting approval of the acquisition through an “early termination” of the commission’s review of the purchase. It looks like the FTC has no concerns over the deal violating antitrust laws so pending any other regulatory body jumping in before the 30-day waiting period is up, Google shouldn’t have any issues closing the deal.

Google had already invested in the company through its Google Ventures arm, but the purchase means Nest will officially become a part of Google. In its original statement announcing the acquisition, Google noted that Nest will continue “its own distinct brand identity” and that founder Tony Fadell will continue to run the company.
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Google announced today that ASUS is releasing a new “Chromebox for meetings” that comes bundled with a camera, microphone, and speaker as an all-in-one meeting room solution for using Google+ Hangouts and accessing Google Apps:

Chromebox for meetings comes with a blazing-fast Intel Core i7-based Chromebox, a high-definition camera, a combined microphone and speaker unit and a remote control. Set up your entire room in minutes and easily manage all meeting rooms from a web-based management console. All you need is the display in your room, and you’re good to go.

Walk into the room, click the remote once and you’re instantly in the meeting. No more complex dial-in codes, passcodes or leader PINs. Share your laptop screen wirelessly, no need for any cords and adaptors. Integration with Google Apps makes it easy to invite others and add rooms to video meetings, directly from Google Calendar.

Google says the new Chromebox for meetings will allow businesses to outfit 10 or more rooms “for the same price that companies have typically paid for one meeting room.”

The new Chromebox for meetings from ASUS (pictured above) is available in the U.S. starting today for $999 and other Chromebox for meetings products from HP and Dell will be released in the months to come. It’s also planning to launch the products in other countries later this year including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the U.K. Some of Google’s partners are also releasing new tools to make it easy for existing meeting room solutions to access Google+ Hangouts.
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Now that Google’s Glass Explorer program is open to just about anyone in the U.S. that wants to signup for the $1500 head-mounted computer, we’re bound to see more and more people test the product in new scenarios. Today we get word from a VentureBeat report that The New York City Police Department has invested in a few pairs of the wearable in order to test Glass as a surveillance tool during patrols. 
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After appearing in a developer build of Chrome last month, Google announced today that this week it will be rolling out Google Now notifications to the desktop through the latest beta version of Chrome. Google Now notifications were previously available to Android and iOS users, but can now be accessed through the Chrome notification center on Mac as well as through Chrome on Windows and Chromebooks. Google notes that Chrome will show a a subset of the cards that appear on iOS and Android including “weather, sports scores, commute traffic, and event reminders cards.” Here’s how to enable it:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiUERHMWrWE]

Google has just announced the fourth quarter earnings result for the holiday quarter announcing consolidated revenues of $16.86 billion, up 17% since the year ago quarter, earnings per share of $12.01, and net income of $3.38 billion. That compares to analyst estimates that averaged somewhere around $16.75 billion revenue and $12.26 earnings per share.

“We ended 2013 with another great quarter of momentum and growth.  Google’s standalone revenue was up 22% year on year, at $15.7 billion”, said Larry Page, CEO of Google.  “We made great progress across a wide range of product improvements and business goals.  I’m also very excited about improving people’s lives even more with continued hard work on our user experiences.”

Following yesterday’s news that Lenovo would be purchasing Google’s Motorola handset business (minus some patents and the Advanced Technology and Projects group), the biggest question leading up to today’s earnings call is losses related to Motorola. Google will presumably address the sale more in its full earnings call later today, but it did report a loss of $384 million for Motorola Mobile during the quarter:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXDTlJ3j9eo]

Google today announced some updates to its Google Play for Education program that launched back in November. The program gets Android and Chromebook devices into classrooms and offers a special curated version of Google Play as well as tools for teachers to distribute apps and manage devices. It originally launched with support for just three tablets, but Google announced today that its partners will soon be launching new devices for students. The devices include a new Galaxy Tab just announced by Samsung and a couple of new Chromebooks from Lenovo and Toshiba. 
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After letting us know last month that it was getting ready to release a toolkit to let developers easily bring their Chrome web apps to iOS and Android, today Google released a developer preview of the tool. In its blog post, Google explains the tool is based on open-source framework Apache Cordova, which allows devs to build native apps for iOS and Android using CSS, HTML, and Javascript. It’s also making a lot of its own core Chrome APIs available to developers through the preview. It essentially means devs will be able to bring their Chrome web apps to the App Store and Google Play, but it will also let them build new cross platform apps in CSS, HTML, and Javascript. Google explained how it works:
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New documents leaked by Edward Snowden and reported by The New York Times, The Guardian and ProPublica detail how the NSA and its British counterpart can collect users’ personal data through smartphone apps. The reports specifically mention popular apps like Angry Birds, Twitter, Google Maps and Facebook and claim the NSA is capable of intercepting information ranging from location, age, and sex of users to address books, buddy lists, phone logs, geographic data and more:
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As announced previously, Motorola will be offering a special $100 off the off-contract Moto X today only for orders placed between 3PM ET to 4PM ET or while supplies last. That brings the cost of the 16GB Moto X down to $299 and the 32GB down to $349. If the deal works anything like Motorola’s Cyber Monday deal you’ll receive a promo code via email shortly after signing up for the discount. Keep an eye on Motorola’s discount page as we get closer to the sale. 
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Following preorders of the device going live at AT&T last week, T-Mobile just announced that the new 6-inch curved LG G Flex smartphone will arrive on its network starting February 5. While AT&T is offering the Flex for $299 on its usual two-year contract, T-Mobile will offer it for $0 down with monthly installment plans of $28 for 24 months. The carrier is listing the full retail price of the device at $672 and T-Mobile notes that LG is offering customers 6 months of free Netflix access with the deal. Preorders kick off today through T-Mobile’s website. 
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