Over the last year, Accelerated Mobile Pages have appeared almost everywhere on Android and iOS, including Google Search results and even some apps. The AMP Project is about to see a major expansion following its adoption by Yahoo Japan and Chinese search engines Baidu and Sogou.
In this week’s top stories, new Android phone leaks, Alphabet announces its Q1 2016 earnings, we go hands-on with the Oppo F1 Plus, LG G5 and much more. Head below for the quick links to all of this week’s top shared posts:
Baidu, China’s most popular search engine, like its US-based counterpart Google, is heavily investing in autonomous driving technologies and today it officially announced the launch of a self-driving car R&D center in Silicon Valley, right in Google’s backyard.
The company expects its team will grow to over 100 researchers and engineers by the end of the year. The company already moved several of its staff from its newly-created Autonomous Driving Unit (ADU) to Sunnyvale and recently hired a Tesla Autopilot software engineer.
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Google has said that its goal is to reach widespread distribution of its self-driving car by 2020, but Chinese search giant Baidu might beat the Mountain View company. Today, Baidu, often referred to as the “Chinese Google” announced that its self-driving car successfully completed its first route through Beijing.
We’ve covered the Chinese search engine giant Baidu before, commonly referred to as “China’s Google”, the search engine is one of the leading sites in web traffic in the country. Looking to further support its title as “China’s Google”, Baidu today made a significant hire. First reported by Technology Review, Baidu has hired Andrew Ng to oversee a new artificial intelligence research lab it is opening in Silicon Valley.
Andrew Ng is a Stanford professor who is most well known for his position at Google, where he was a key component in the company’s “deep learning” field. Ng also cofounded the online education company Coursera.
Google has been accused today of having too much power with the Android operating system in China, according to a white paper published by a group from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Reuters reported today that the technology ministry said “Google had discriminated against some Chinese companies developing their operating systems by delaying the sharing of codes.”
The white paper also claimed the country’s R&D in the mobile operating space is “too dependent on Android” and that there is an opportunity for China to develop its own operating systems.
The paper pointed to Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group, and Huawei Technologies as companies developing their own operating systems and claimed that Google has deals in place that “restrain the business development of mobile devices of these companies.”
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SearchEngineLand’s Danny Sullivan detailed today how Yahoo is not doing so hot with its Microsoft search deal and may soon go searching—no pun intended— for a new partner (a.k.a. Google) if performance doesn’t get better.
Yahoo’s new CEO, Marissa Mayer, a former top-tier Google Search exec, could encourage a partnership between the two polar search engines. On the other hand, Mayer brings a completely new level of knowledge to the fledging Yahoo due to her 13 years in Search with Google, so she could just help Yahoo to revamp Search with improved monetization.
Sullivan predicts some “hard renegotiating between Yahoo and Microsoft, with Google used as a cattle prod for Yahoo to shock Microsoft with.” Of course, we will have to wait and see whether Microsoft delivers on its search promises or if Yahoo will jump ship and snag a Google Search alliance—with Mayer leading the charge.
According to SearchEngineLand:
- Of course, Yahoo can’t walk away [from Microsoft] without finding another partner, and it has a real shortage of choices. There’s no one left in the US with the proven ability to deliver search queries at the volume Yahoo would demand.
- Ask.com? It’s largely outsourced to Google these days. Blekko? I’m sure it would love the job, but there would be a huge scaling-up challenge and, I’d say, much more work to do on the relevancy front. Maybe Yandex or Baidu could make a bid?
- It won’t be Yahoo. Yahoo has lost too much key search talent and hasn’t kept its core search technology up-to-date. When it gave itself over to Microsoft, Yahoo really left itself without a “Plan B.”
- My post from earlier this week, Ironically, Search Might Be Less A Priority At Yahoo As Google’s Marissa Mayer Takes The Helm, gets into these issues more — as well as the one realistic alternative to Microsoft. Google.
Sony’s rumored flagship smartphone, codenamed “LT29i Hayabusa,” is allegedly eyeing a summer launch, but a Chinese blog just unearthed a few purported pictures of the device (above) coupled with a bevy of specs.
The Hayabusa reportedly boasts a 4.55-inch HD reality display in 720p, a Snapdragon S4 processor, rear-illuminated 13-megapixel camera, HDR video recording (sample video below), a 2200mAh battery, Android 4.0, and a slew of connectivity features. Oh, and it is supposedly 7 mm thick.
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(via Baidu [Google Translate] and Brief Mobile)
Reports surfaced in China that claim Apple plans to integrate Baidu into iOS next month as the country’s possible default search function—suggesting iOS aims to become less dependent on Google’s services.
According to Chinese news website Sina Tech (machine-translation):
Sina Technology News on March 26 morning news, according to informed sources, Apple iOS operating system next month will be formally introduced Baidu search, Baidu and Apple between cooperation component in the China region.
Google’s Susan Creighton revealed last fall that two-thirds of the Mountain View, Calif.-based Company’s mobile search comes from Apple iOS devices.
Meanwhile, recent speculation claims Apple is moving to an in-house Mapping solution that would replace Google Maps. The firm also recently removed its publish to YouTube option in QuickTime for Mountain lion. If these latest rumors deem true, Apple’s move to Baidu would further indicate a significant effort to reduce Google’s presence in iOS.
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Baidu is China’s largest search engine with a not-so secret mission to dominate the global market, and while most chuckle at the thought of it surpassing Google, one might be surprised to learn the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet giant lost 7 percent of its search market share to Baidu last month.
According to the well-regarded statistics firm NetMarketShare, Google dropped 7 percent in Desktop Top Search Engine Share Trend in February while Baidu gained a little over 6 percent. Bing, Yahoo, and other competitors remained stagnant. As seen in the chart below the break, Google and Baidu have paralleled each other in terms of share fluctuations since November 2011.
Beijing-headquartered Baidu offers a range of Web services similar to Google, including maps, news, search ranking, e-commerce, Internet TV, a browser, and a smartphone operating system based on Android OS. The firm is adamant about its business not being a Google-clone, though.
Baidu’s Director of International Communications Kaiser Kuo explained to CNN (in the 2010 video above) that CEO Robin Li actually filed a hyperlink analysis patent before Google’s cofounder Larry Page. The filing indicates Baidu envisioned the future of search long before Google dominated cyber space…
We now know that Baidu Yi, a brand new mobile operating system unveiled Monday by Baidu, the dominant search engine company in China, is forked from Android. We knew it would be stripped of Google search, but we haven’t been aware of the extent of customization. A DigiTimes story from this morning indicates the software cuts all ties with Google services:
Baidu’s new software platform will feature map, e-book reader, cloud storage and search functions.
Baidu yesterday forged a partnership with Dell, which is expected to unveil first Baidu Yi-powered tablets and smartphones this November, in time for the holiday shopping season. Some even think Baidu Yi gear will roll out worldwide rather than in China only. The publication also highlights another interesting nugget we haven’t known, that Dell will preload devices with an Android-based app of its own.
Basically a storefront to the online Dell store, the app will allow for buying Dell computers online and giving ratings. No doubt Dell sees Baidu Yi both as an opportunity to drum up publicity for their ailing tablet business and upsell consumers to their computer products. No word on whether Baidu Yi will run a customized user interface atop Android, similar to Samsung’s TouchWiz or Motorola’s MotoBlur.
Dell discontinued its Streak 5 hybrid tablet, seen above, last November. The company is now leveraging its Baidu tie-in in the hope of re-entering the space in a meaningful way.
9to5Google yesterday reported that Baidu, the leading search engine in China, unveiled a brand new operating system dubbed Baidu Yi. Forked from Android and stripped of Google search and services (in much the same way the Amazon tablet‘s software is rumored to be), Baidu Yi aims to keep Google’s Android in China at bay. Following up, Reuters reported Tuesday that Baidu is partnering with Dell on tablets and phones that will run the new software. A Dell spokesperson told the news gathering organization:
We have a partnership with Baidu and you know we have the Streak 5 tablet, so the partnership will be in that space.
The first devices are expected to hit the marketplace early November. The surprising news comes at a time when the mobile industry flipped upside down.“It is really interesting to see Baidu forking its nemesis’ software and partnering with Dell here”, former Engadget editor Joshua Topolsky commented on Twitter. Computer maker Dell, which pulled its five-inch hybrid Streak 5 tablet last August due to poor reception, has some experience working with Chinese carriers and companies as their inaugural smartphone launched in China first. Evidently, both companies have their sights set on the recession-proof global mobile landscape and it’s easy to grasp why…
The Register reports that Baidu, the dominant Chinese search engine, has launched a mobile operating system of its own. It’s called Baidu Yi and is based on Android, but leaves out Google search and implants their own instead. It also has “Chrome-alike browser” and comes with Baidu-created web apps plus their mapping, cloud synch and music download services. The software is now featured on Baidu’s homepage. This may not be good news for Google.
Remember that Baidu recently partnered with Microsoft to provide Bing-powered English search results for their search engine in China. 9to5Google reported in June that Baidu might want to leverage Android to limit Google’s appeal in the country and further reduce Mountain View’s share of China’s search-based revenue. In January 2010 Baidu’s search-based advertising revenue share was at 63 percent versus Google’s 33 percent. The site was valued at $15 billion and enjoyed 300 million visitors.
Baidu isn’t alone in Android forking. Last week, TechCrunch reported that Amazon too will use a heavily customized Android version to power its upcoming mobile devices. Author MG Siegler saw prototypes and said “it looks nothing like the Android you’re used to seeing”, adding:
Bloomberg, The New York Times and Dow Jones today report that Microsoft and China’s Baidu have entered a cooperation pact for former to provide English language results for the the latter’s queries.
“This is not good news for Google,” said Jake Li, who rates Baidu shares “accumulate” at Guotai Junan Securities in Shenzhen. Most Chinese Internet users currently prefer Google’s English-language search results over Baidu, whose service will be improved by the partnership with Microsoft, he said.
The terms of the deal weren’t made public but the deal will likely work similarly to the Bing-Yahoo deal last year where both companies share the revenues from advertisements. Baidu is the dominant search provider in China, one of the few places that Google doesn’t reign supreme. It had previously signed a mobile only deal with Microsoft but rumors of this deal first surfaced a month ago.
The Baidu-Bing service will go live later this year.
A lot of potentially far-reaching developments happening right now in China where Baidu, the dominant search engine, is secretly cranking up a mobile operating system of its own. It’s based on – of all things – Android and code-named Qiushi, which means fruits in autumn, explains TechNode quoting a local report by Chinese-language TechWeb.
Baidu says it’s just “an under-developing mobile ad product”, but considering that several Android-built mobile operating systems already exist in the country (i.e. Xiaomi Tech’s MIUI and DianxinOS) – and taking into account that Android benefited a certain search giant in ways more than one – it isn’t so far-stretched a notion that Baidu is leveraging Android to attack mobile on all fronts and further reduce Google’s share of China’s search-based revenue. Should Google be worried? Read on…
