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5,710 'Google' stories January 2009 - February 2013

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Google looking to make strategic $50M investment in Vevo to keep its high-quality music content on YouTube

9to5 Staff Feb 6 2013 - 4:24 am PT

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2wQV2LeCqY&feature=youtu.be

Two weeks ago, we heard Google planned to invest in Vevo. Today, those rumors heat up with some specifics…

Bloomberg has the story:

Google Inc.’s YouTube is negotiating a $50 million equity investment in music video service Vevo LLC, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
Google would own less than 10 percent of the company, giving Vevo a valuation of at least $500 million, said the people, who asked for anonymity because negotiations are still early and an agreement may not be reached.
The investment would be part of a broader contract to keep Vevo’s music videos on YouTube, the people said. Vevo, formed in 2009 by Vivendi SA’s Universal Music and Sony Corp.’s Sony Music Entertainment, and Google last year extended their existing contract until April.

Some of the most valuable (and clicked) content on YouTube is from Vevo-associated Artists. Vevo previously threatened to leave YouTube, so the investment would be to secure long-term access to the content advertised on and monetized by affiliate links to buy music.

It is also important to Google’s ecosystem to have easy and cheap access to all of Vevo’s content.

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New YouTube One Channel design coming soon

Jordan Kahn Feb 5 2013 - 7:47 am PT

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YouTube has announced on its official Partners and Creators blog that the new YouTube One Channel, currently only available in limited beta to select content creators, will soon roll out to all. YouTube content creator iJustine made the announcement. A number of other channels are also using the new design, including: DeStorm, EpicMealTime, SORTED, MysteryGuitarMan, LOUD, and Geek & Sundry.

YouTube provided some tips for content creators who want to prepare for the new channel layout:

1) Create a channel trailer to get people to subscribe

On your new channel, you can show a trailer that will only appear to viewers who aren’t already subscribed to your channel. This is your chance to let visitors know what your channel is all about and tell them why they should subscribe! Keep it short and to the point, and include a clear call to action inviting your audience to subscribe.

2) Create some channel art

Channel art is how you can express the personality of your channel wherever it is seen, whether on a mobile phone, a tablet, a TV, or in a hovercard anywhere on the site! Here is a template and guidelines on how to start creating channel art that will look great.

Amazon announces ‘Coins’ virtual currency for Appstore purchases on Kindle Fire

Jordan Kahn Feb 5 2013 - 6:38 am PT

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Amazon today announced that it will soon roll out a new virtual currency, known simply as “Coins,” that Kindle Fire owners can use to purchase apps, in-app purchases, and other content from the Amazon Appstore. Amazon said the service will launch for users in the United States in May and noted developers will still take their usual 70-percent revenue for purchases made with Coins. For the launch of Coins, Amazon will give away “tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Amazon Coins” to Kindle Fire users. This is definitely good news for developers who submit their apps by the April 25 deadline.

Amazon Coins is an easy way for Kindle Fire customers to spend money on developers’ apps in the Amazon Appstore, offering app and game developers another substantial opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increase monetization even further.. Amazon will give customers tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Amazon Coins to use on developers’ apps in the Amazon Appstore—apps and games must be submitted and approved by April 25 to be ready when Amazon Coins arrive in customers’ accounts

HP unveils 14-inch Pavilion Chromebook, now available for $329

Jordan Kahn Feb 4 2013 - 6:17 am PT

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We posted a leaked spec sheet late last month that showed off what appeared to be an upcoming 14-inch Chromebook from HP. HP has officially announced the new Chromebook today. While it might have a 14-inch display two inches wider than any other Chromebook, it also happens to be more expensive than Samsung’s latest offering at $329. That’s significantly more than Samsung’s latest $249 model.

HP offered up full specs on the device that is available to order through the company’s website now. Not only is the HP Pavilion 14-c01us Chromebook more expensive, it’s also heavier than Samsung’s offering at 4lbs compared to 2.5lbs. Battery life is unfortunately the same story with an approximate 4.25 hours quoted compared to the 6.5 hours Samsung’s Chromebook offers. If you can get past that, the new HP device packs in a 14-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit (1,366-by-768-pixel), 1.1GHz Intel Celeron 847 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB SATA SSD, HDMI, USB 2.0, as well as an Ethernet port.

The Samsung Chromebook has been the top-selling laptop on Amazon since it launched; Acer reported that Chromebooks make up 5-10% of US shipments; and in the first two months of 2013 Google announced two new devices from two new partners, Lenovo and HP. In the Enterprise, Google just announced 2,000 schools have deployed Chromebooks and businesses like Kaplan, Dillard’s and Quality Distribution are using Chrome devices as well.

HP’s hoping consumers will opt for the larger display, keyboard, and additional ports for the extra $80, but we’re not too excited about the battery life.

FTC recommends Google, Apple, BlackBerry, Microsoft, & app devs improve mobile privacy disclosures

Jordan Kahn Feb 1 2013 - 8:08 am PT

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The Federal Trade Commission released a report today that recommends how owners of mobile platforms can better inform consumers about how their data is being handled. The FTC named a number of companies in its report, including: Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, and Microsoft, as well as “application (app) developers, advertising networks and analytics companies, and app developer trade associations.”

The recommendations follow the FTC updating its online child privacy law to require parental consent before collecting data from children under the age of 13. It also came as Path agreed to pay an $800,000 settlement to the FTC over last year’s privacy controversy.

In the report, titled “Mobile Privacy Disclosures, Building Trust Through Transparency,” the FTC issued a number of recommendations. The FTC recommended that all platform owners “Provide just-in-time disclosures to consumers and obtain their affirmative express consent before allowing apps to access sensitive content like geolocation.” It recommended app developers take the same measures in addition to having “a privacy policy and make sure it is easily accessible through the app stores.” The report also suggested that companies implement a ” a one-stop “dashboard” into their operating systems so consumers can easily view how their data is being handled by specific apps.

Other recommendations the FTC asked Apple and others to implement include new icons that “depict the transmission of user data” and a “Do Not Track” option for users to easily opt out of their data being sent to third parties.

“FTC staff strongly encourages companies in the mobile ecosystem to work expeditiously to implement the recommendations in this report. Doing so likely will result in enhancing the consumer trust that is so vital to companies operating in the mobile environment. Moving forward, as the mobile landscape evolves, the FTC will continue to closely monitor developments in this space and consider additional ways it can help businesses effectively provide privacy information to consumers,” the report states.

A full list of the recommendations made by the FTC for mobile platform owners, advertising agencies, and app developers is below:

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Google hands in settlement proposal in EU antitrust probe

Jordan Kahn Feb 1 2013 - 5:51 am PT

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As reported by Bloomberg, European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia today confirmed that Google was able to make yesterday’s Jan. 31 deadline for submitting a settlement proposal in the ongoing antitrust investigation. There is no word yet what exactly the proposed settlement might have included, but a spokesperson for Almunia said Google had sent a “detailed proposal.” Google said it continues to “work co-operatively with the commission.” The probe involves whether some of Google’s practices with its search and ad businesses create unfair competition and abuse the company’s dominance.

Almunia had asked Google to submit concessions by the end of January to address allegations that the company promotes its own specialist search-services, copies rivals’ travel and restaurant reviews, and has agreements with websites and software developers that stifle competition in the advertising industry. He first told Google in May that he wanted to settle the case

The issues at the heart of the investigation are not unlike those involved in the Federal Trade Commission’s recent antitrust probe in the United States. Earlier this month, the FTC announced evidence “does not support a claim that Google was abusing placement of search results” and officially closed its investigation. In that case, Google agreed to license its Motorola patents on fair terms to any other company and alter some of its search results “to let websites opt out of having their content scraped without being punished in overall search results.”

Google+ Android app updated with new notifications tray, community moderation features, more

Jordan Kahn Jan 30 2013 - 2:57 pm PT

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We told you earlier about a nice update to the Google Play Music app, and today we also get some welcomed new features to the Google+ Android app. Google employee Brian Glick shared the announcement on his Google+ page earlier today, noting that version 3.5 brings new features for managing communities, a redesigned notification tray, as well the ability to include links from clipboard when creating a new post.

As for the community moderation features:

– Promote, remove, or ban members from their community
– Restore or remove posts that were marked for review

The new, slick notifications tray that slides out from the right side of the screen is pictured in the gallery above. Google+ version 3.5 is available on Google Play now.

Google Play Music updated with improved widget, new default album art, and more

Jordan Kahn Jan 30 2013 - 1:38 pm PT

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Google has updated its Google Play Music app today with several new features and some fixes to bugs that many users have experienced. On top of now being able to continue playing instant mixes past 25 songs, Google also added a previous button to the widget that allows users to cycle backward through playlists without opening the app. Other improvements in the update include the “ability to shuffle an album, artist or playlist,” new default artwork for albums, and progress indicators on album and playlist pages for pinned tracks. Google also included a fix for freezing issues on the Galaxy S III.

Google Earth ‘Tour Guide’ feature adds 100K new tours & 1M user-generated photos

Jordan Kahn Jan 29 2013 - 1:07 pm PT

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Google announced today on the Google Earth Google+ page that it is launching a major update to the iOS, Android, and desktop Google Earth apps. Google is updating the tour guide and 3D imagery features it launched in October with Google Earth 7, and it announced the addition of 100,000 new tours of “popular sites, cities and places across 200 countries.” It is also adding as over 1 million user-generated Panoramio photos:

The new, richer tours combine 3D flyovers, Wikipedia snippets and – for the first time – place highlight and more than 1 million user-generated Panoramio photos in order to create an immersive and educational exploration of your favorite places. Each tour ends with a selection of photo thumbnails which were selected from Panoramio as the best representation of a given place. Clicking on one of the thumbnails enables a full screen photo experience.
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Report: YouTube to launch paid subscriptions between $1 and $5/month by spring

Jordan Kahn Jan 29 2013 - 8:32 am PT

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We heard last summer straight from YouTube chief Salar Kamangar that Google’s video service considered introducing subscription-based content that would rival traditional cable channels and see users paying a fee to access some partner channels. Today, a report from Ad Age, quoting “multiple people familiar” with YouTube’s plans, shared some additional details.

According to the report, YouTube will not only charge somewhere between $1 and $5 per month for access to certain channels, it will also charge for some “content libraries and access to live events, a la pay-per-view, as well as self-help or financial advice shows.”

YouTube has reached out to a small group of channel producers and asked them to submit applications to create channels that users would have to pay to access. As of now it appears that the first paid channels will cost somewhere between $1 and $5 a month, two of these people said. In addition to episodic content, YouTube is also considering charging for content libraries and access to live events, a la pay-per-view, as well as self-help or financial advice shows.

Ad Age’s sources said the service could launch as early as the second quarter of 2013 with around 25 channels and a 45-55 revenue split for content creators:
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Google Wallet updated with refreshed UI and performance improvements

Jordan Kahn Jan 28 2013 - 1:48 pm PT

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Google Wallet has been updated today with a few new features including enhancements to the overall user interface. As for the UI, the app’s navigation has been moved around slightly with loaded cards stored in the “My Wallet” tab apart from your default card.

Google also noted “improvements to the user interface, application stability, and battery life” in the update’s release notes and highlighted support for all cards from Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover.

Google Wallet is available on Google Play here.

Following FTC fines, UK iPhone users sue Google for bypassing Safari privacy settings

Jordan Kahn Jan 28 2013 - 7:26 am PT

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Google agreed to pay a record $22.5 million Federal Trade Commission fine in August following an investigation into whether it bypassed mobile Safari security settings to install tracking cookies without user consent. Now, twelve iPhone users in the United Kingdom have launched a lawsuit against Google that seeks compensation related to the tracking. They also want a “proper explanation” about how their personal information was used. The Telegraph via Business Insider has the full story:

It is thought the case, being brought against Google by law firm Olswang on behalf of the internet users, is the first of its kind in the UK. They say that cookies, small tracking files, were installed by Google on the Apple computers and mobile devices of those using the Safari internet browser without their knowledge .

Claimants thought that cookies would be blocked because of assurances given by Google in the time their devices were allegedly affected, from summer 2011 to spring 2012, and also because of Safari’s default settings.

“We hope that they will take this opportunity to give Safari users a proper explanation about what happened, to apologize and, where appropriate, compensate the victims of their intrusion.”

Temple Run 2 Android app now available on Google Play

Jordan Kahn Jan 24 2013 - 5:58 am PT

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After landing in the App Store for iOS users earlier this month and reaching over 20 million downloadsin just four days, the popular Temple Run 2 sequel from developers Imangi Studios has finally made its way to Android.

The app is now officially available to download from Google Play and, like the first game in the series, will be free to download with in-app purchases available to those who wish to enhance the free experience.

Court docs reveal email exchange between Eric Schmidt and Steve Jobs over poaching employees

Jordan Kahn Jan 23 2013 - 8:27 am PT

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Earlier this month, a U.S. District Judge in California ordered Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and others to give depositions in an ongoing private lawsuit. Employees brought on the private lawsuit alleging “no-poach” agreements the companies entered would drive down wages. Today, new details have emerged after a request to keep court documents secrets was denied by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh.

While emails exchanged between Steve Jobs and former Palm CEO Ed Colligan have been the focus on the documents, The Verge also pointed us to emails exchange between Jobs and Google execs. Below we have an email form Jobs to Schmidt asking to put a stop to Google recruiting employees from its iPod team, as well as one where Schmidt discussed not wanting to create a paper trail:
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Google CEO hints about upcoming Motorola phone features

Jordan Kahn Jan 22 2013 - 2:04 pm PT

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Google CEO Larry Page just wrapped up his opening comments during the company’s Q4 2013 earnings call taking place right now. While noting that “managing our supply better” is a priority (see Nexus 4 supply constraints), Page also hinted at some possible upcoming Motorola smartphone features. Page said Motorola is working on the following two areas: better batteries and impact-resistant designs.

I am excited about the business. In today’s multi screen world, the opportunities are endless. Think about your device. Battery life is a huge issue. You shouldn’t have to worry about constantly recharging your phone. When you drop your phone, it shouldn’t go splat. Everything should be a ton faster and easier. There’s real potential to invent new and better experiences.

Page also said Motorola’s new CEO, Dennis Woodside, has a built a “world-class team” that is currently exploring these new opportunities:
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Google Q4 2012 earnings call live [GOOG]

9to5 Staff Jan 22 2013 - 1:30 pm PT

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_p7w4cKdqTk#!

Larry Page’s voice was quite raspy still, but the news was good and the CEO is upbeat. Some notable bits he laid down on Motorola: “We’re working on batteries you won’t have to remember to charge and enclosures you don’t have to worry about dropping.”

I am excited about the business. In today’s multi screen world, the opportunities are endless. Think about your device. Battery life is a huge issue. You shouldn’t have to worry about constantly recharging your phone. When you drop your phone, it shouldn’t go splat. Everything should be a ton faster and easier. There’s real potential to invent new and better experiences.

Sounds good.

On the downside, Page noted, “Clearly there is work to be done managing our supply better, and that is a priority.” The fact that you can’t buy most of Google’s Nexus products right now clearly shows that.

GOOG stock price is up almost 5 percent.

Report: LG takes 2nd place from Apple in US handset market during December

Jordan Kahn Jan 21 2013 - 5:44 am PT

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The iPhone may have recently captured a record 53 percent of the U.S. smartphone market. However, when it comes to its steady second place position in the U.S. handset market (smartphones and feature phones combined), a new report claimed LG bumped Apple to third position during December on strong sales of its Optimus G.

Yonhap News covered the report from Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research, which said on Sunday that LG captured 13 percent of the U.S. market last month, bumping Apple to third place for the first time since the launch of the iPhone 4S. Apple recorded 12 percent of the market, which puts both Apple and LG well behind leader Samsung at 33 percent. LG recently announced sales of 1 million units for the Optimus G worldwide, but it’s unclear if the LG-made Nexus 4 from Google was a significant contributor to the company’s rise during December.

LG Electronics had maintained the runner-up position until the third-quarter of 2011 but fell to third place after Apple’s iPhone 4S hit the market… Market insiders attributed LG Electronics’ sales growth to the popularity of its latest Optimus G handset, with over 1 million units sold across North America.

(via TNW)

Google named top company to work for in 2013 by Fortune

Jordan Kahn Jan 18 2013 - 9:28 am PT

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Fortune is out today with its list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. While not many tech companies appeared near the top this year, Google was able to capture the No. 1 spot for the fourth time. According to Fortune, Google ranks No. 1 again this year due to some new additions to its campus including “three wellness centers and a seven-acre sports complex, which includes a roller hockey rink; courts for basketball, bocce, and shuffle ball; and horseshoe pits.” Google’s entry also noted the “100,000 hours of subsidized massages” in 2012, onsite childcare and fitness center, subsidized gym memberships, domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples, and its job-sharing program.

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Google confirms new UK headquarters coming to 2.4-acre plot at London’s Kings Cross

Jordan Kahn Jan 18 2013 - 8:24 am PT

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Reuters reported yesterday that Google purchased a 2.4-acre lot at London’s King Cross Central development with plans to build its new United Kingdom headquarters. Reuters has since updated its story with confirmation from Google Vice President for Northern and Central Europe Matt Brittin. According to the report, citing several unnamed sources, Google is spending 650 million to 1 billion pounds and expects to finish development of the site by 2016. It will also move its current U.K. offices to the new site when construction—slated to begin in late 2013—is complete.

“This is a big investment by Google, we’re committing further to the UK – where computing and the web were invented. It’s good news for Google, for London and for the UK,” Google’s Vice President for Northern and Central Europe, Matt Brittin, said in a statement.

Google will move from its current offices in the UK capital’s Victoria and Holborn districts in 2016 when the building completes. Construction on the site will start in late 2013 and the building will range in height from 7 to 11 storeys.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt ordered to give deposition in anti-poaching lawsuit

Jordan Kahn Jan 18 2013 - 6:22 am PT

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From 9to5Mac:

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been ordered by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose to give a deposition related to an ongoing private lawsuit that claims Apple, Google, and others entered “no-poach” agreements, as reported by Bloomberg. Cook isn’t the only executive named in yesterday’s order. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt will also be deposed on Feb. 20, as well as Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini later this month.

The judge said she was disappointed that senior executives at the companies involved hadn’t been deposed before yesterday’s hearing over whether she should certify the case as a group lawsuit. The class would include different categories of employees whose incomes, their lawyers argue, were artificially reduced because of the collusion. Koh didn’t rule on class certification.

At Koh’s request, the lawyers also agreed that Google Chairman Eric Schmidt will be deposed Feb. 20. Lawyers for the employees will depose Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini later this month, lawyers said.

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Google+ lands in 48 new countries and territories on iOS

Jordan Kahn Jan 18 2013 - 5:47 am PT

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Google’s Vic Gundotra just shared a post on his Google+ page that announced the iPhone and iPad apps for the company’s social network are now available to users in 48 new locations. With already more than half a billion users and 235 million active users daily, Google is hoping to expand its Google+ presence even further by making the iOS apps available to users in the following regions:

New countries & territories: Albania, Anguilla, Barbados, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chad, Republic of Congo, Dominica, Fiji, Gambia, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Liberia, Macau, Malawi, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Swaziland, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos, Ukraine, British Virgin Islands, Zimbabwe

AT&T offers $100 credit with Nexus 7 on two-year contract through Feb. 14

Jordan Kahn Jan 15 2013 - 7:25 am PT

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As noted by AndroidPolice, when purchasing the HSPA+ version of Google’s Nexus 7 tablet from the Google Play online store, AT&T users can now take advantage of a special $100 credit on orders through Feb. 14. You’ll have to sign up to a two-year contract and one of AT&T’s eligible plans (starting at $10 Mobile Share lines) and call AT&T after purchasing the Nexus 7 for full price from Google to get the bill credit.

Google Apps consultants Cloud Sherpas acquire Innoveer Solutions and Navigis

Jordan Kahn Jan 15 2013 - 6:58 am PT

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Cloud Sherpas, last year’s Google Enterprise Partner of the Year, which helped over a million users migrate to Google Apps, today announced it will acquire two companies to accelerate growth: advisory and technology consulting services provider Navigis, and top CRM advisory and cloud integration services firm Innoveer Solutions. The terms of the deals were not disclosed, but CloudSherpas issued the following press releases:

Cloud Sherpas Acquires Innoveer Solutions; Takes Leadership Role in Global CRM Market

Acquisition expands CRM advisory and cloud integration services in the U.S. and adds U.K. and India operations to cloud services brokerage

Atlanta, Georgia – January 15, 2013 – Cloud Sherpas has expanded domestically and internationally with the acquisition of Innoveer Solutions, a top CRM advisory and cloud integration services firm; terms were not disclosed. The transaction gives Cloud Sherpas its first physical presence in Europe, a growing market for cloud services according to Forrester, and squarely positions Cloud Sherpas as a leader in the cloud services brokerage ecosystem.

Innoveer is an award-winning global CRM consulting firm with over 750 customers and 2,000 successful deployments under its belt. The company was founded in 1998 and provides a range of services, including discovery and planning, CRM technology selection, business process improvements, implementation, change management and support focused on enterprise businesses in the Life Sciences, Insurance, Financial Services and Manufacturing sectors, among others. Key customers include Panasonic, Shire Pharmaceuticals and AXA, one of the largest installations of Salesforce worldwide. Innoveer pioneered a CRM Excellence Framework to help clients transform their customer-facing operations, and is well known for its expertise migrating clients from Siebel to Salesforce. Innoveer also offers in-depth advisory services, focused on CRM planning, process improvement and industry best practices.

Cloud Sherpas’ Salesforce business unit is growing rapidly. The firm offers CRM advisory services, implementation, integration and custom cloud development. Combined with Innoveer, Cloud Sherpas has migrated more than 5,000 customers to the cloud worldwide. The acquisition of Innoveer gives Cloud Sherpas greater geographic density in the northeast and central U.S., an operation in the U.K., an offshore delivery team in India and one of the largest practices of certified consultants worldwide. This is Cloud Sherpas’ second CRM-focused acquisition in the past month. Following this acquisition, the firm now has Salesforce.com Platinum Partner status in North America, Europe and Australia.

“Our clients are expanding their cloud application footprint,” said David Northington, CEO at Cloud Sherpas. “Many of our global customers have experienced success in one area of their business and are eager to apply cloud-based sales automation, customer service, call center support and collaboration throughout their organizations. With the acquisition of Innoveer, we bring more than 500 cloud strategists and technical experts to bear on the market across six countries, including a solid platform for European expansion.”

“We’ve helped hundreds of customers achieve their business objectives with cloud CRM,” said Adam Honig, founder and CEO of Innoveer Solutions. “Our customers are now asking us, ‘what additional value can we get from the cloud?’ As one of the world’s leading cloud services brokerages, Cloud Sherpas is uniquely positioned to help our clients aggregate, integrate and customize an increasingly wide array of cloud-based solutions, including email and collaboration, platform development, mobility solutions, single sign-on and data integration, just to name a few.”

Cloud Sherpas Stakes Leadership Claim to ITSM Market with Navigis AcquisitionPurchase of ServiceNow partner allows Cloud Services Brokerage to better serve customers adopting public cloud for IT service management

Atlanta, Georgia – January 15, 2013 – Cloud Sherpas has acquired Navigis, a leading global provider of advisory and technology consulting services to companies implementing ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW); terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition allows Cloud Sherpas, which has strong footholds in cloud advisory, messaging, collaboration and CRM, to expand its market and geographic footprints and capitalize on global interest among enterprise organizations in cloud ITSM.

Cloud Sherpas’ customers — now over 5,000 worldwide — are transitioning to cloud solutions from on-premise applications. These companies recognize the cost and productivity benefits of cloud software and want more of it. Acquiring Navigis allows Cloud Sherpas to meet this need by offering current as well as prospective customers the leading cloud ITSM solution. The acquisition also furthers Cloud Sherpas’ mission to provide best-of-breed cloud solutions to the enterprise as a leading Cloud Services Brokerage (CSB).

“Our number one job is listening to customers and providing them with the services they need to grow their businesses,” said David Northington, president and CEO at Cloud Sherpas. “Many of our customers have expressed an interest in cloud ITSM software, and acquiring Navigis – a strong operation that’s generating good profit and has doubled in size year over year – boosts our ability to support these companies. Between Google, Salesforce.com and ServiceNow, we’re establishing a ‘Sherpa stack’ of the top cloud solutions.”

Navigis has been a leader in IT Service Management since 1996. The company’s certified ServiceNow consultants provide value-added implementations, custom enhancements, administrative support and training to help ServiceNow customers automate their IT operations. Navigis clients include a roster of Fortune 500 enterprise IT customers and other leading edge companies. Navigis founder and CEO Philip Sidebottom will become president of Cloud Sherpas’ ServiceNow business unit with the acquisition.

“We’re thrilled to be joining Cloud Sherpas,” said Sidebottom. “The ITSM space and cloud in general are poised for massive growth. As part of the leading CSB, our customers will benefit greatly from Cloud Sherpas global scale and ability to aggregate multiple best-in-breed cloud applications, implement and integrate those applications, and customize them to meet the unique requirements of an industry or business.”

“Navigis has long been a trusted partner for ServiceNow and has provided considerable value to customers,” said David Schneider, senior vice president of worldwide sales and services, ServiceNow. “We look forward to continued success working with the new organization.”

“In cloud computing, the need for intermediaries to aggregate, integrate or customize cloud services grows as the number of cloud services and the rate of consumer adoption grow,” says Tiffani Bova, Research VP at Gartner in her November 2012 report, Service Provider Primer: Cloud Services Brokerage. “Cloud services brokerages (CSBs), will help organizations adopt and derive more value from multiple cloud services during the next five to 10 years.”

About Cloud Sherpas

Cloud Sherpas, the Google Enterprise 2011 Partner of the Year and a Platinum salesforce.com Partner, is one of the world’s leading cloud services brokerages. Since 2007, the company has helped over 5,000 customers adopt, manage and enhance cloud solutions from Google, salesforce.com, ServiceNow and other leading cloud vendors. Whether working with a global retailer to help them make their business more connected and collaborative with Google Apps or helping a financial services firm deploy Sales Cloud and Service Cloud to better manage their customer relationships, Cloud Sherpas has the experience and expertise to help organizations leverage the cloud and respond with agility to the rapid consumerization of IT. Cloud Sherpas is headquartered in Atlanta, GA with offices throughout the United States and operations in Australia, Dubai, India, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and the United Kingdom. For more information visit www.cloudsherpas.com.

Toyota, Lexus, and Audi to show off their own Google-like self-driving cars at CES

Jordan Kahn Jan 4 2013 - 6:43 am PT

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTJFdMO-DQA&feature=youtu.be

While Google often uses Toyota vehicles in its fleet of self-driving cars, Toyota is planning to show off its own autonomous car technology next week at CES. As noted by The Wall Street Journal, Toyota yesterday posted a short five-second clip of its advanced active safety research vehicle, a Lexus LS 600h, equipped with advanced cameras and sensors. Toyota confirmed to the WSJ that its system is being developed independently from Google. Audi is also said to have self-driving capabilities ready to demonstrate at CES in Las Vegas next week. We’ll be on hand with live coverage from Las Vegas, and we’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for any vehicles driving around by themselves.

Toyota’s prototype vehicle is a Lexus LS 600h fitted with radar and camera equipment that can detect other vehicles, road lane lines and traffic signals, giving the vehicle the ability to navigate streets without a driver. It also includes what appears to be the same roof-mounted laser that Google Inc. has been using on its autonomous research cars. Google began testing self-driving cars in 2009.

An Audi official also said the luxury-car company will be demonstrating autonomous vehicle capabilities at the Las Vegas show, including a feature that allows a car to find a parking space and park itself without a driver behind the wheel.

Earlier this year, Cadillac also showed off its own “Super Cruise” self-driving car technology.