Google

The Department of Justice plans to share settlement money with law enforcement agencies that participated in an investigation about Google distributing online advertisements from Canadian pharmacies illegally selling prescription drugs to Americans.

According to the Associated Press (via Boston.com), the agencies that participated in the investigation include Rhode Island state police, National Guard, attorney general’s office, North Providence police, and East Providence police.

Google ponied up $500 million last year to settle the investigation. The DOJ detailed the settlement’s particulars on its website.  Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha scheduled a news conference for this afternoon to discuss the money’s distribution between agencies.

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Google, which seems to give every department a mission for today, has a bunch of great stuff (like every year):

Besides the 8 bit maps, above, we have:

Google Chrome multitask:

LLCoolJ makes a special appearance to explain Tap, the new Morse Code Keyboard for Android devices (Japanese version):

Google Self Driving NASCAR Racing:

Google Jargonbot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dP_Et8-pQNo

YouTube comes to DVD…

Fiber Bar for Kansas City:

Also, Google’s Really Advanced Search, weather control, Interplanetary Analytics, GoRo, Google Street Roo, underwater image search (Chinese), and Voice for Pets.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KhZKNZO8mQ&feature=youtu.be]

I was just thinking about something like this.

By the way, is that LL Cool J at the end?
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In case you were worried that 8-Bit Maps were the only new release today, fear not. Google is releasing the Google Racing Autonomous NASCAR racing team in a variety of flavors, including Android, YouTube, and Chrome.
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rznYifPHxDg]

Love this. And it is not “just for Nintendo.” It is for everyone.

(Also, notice the “Google Store”? That might not be a joke.)

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ye olde Nexus One Store circa 2010

The Wall Street Journal today reports that Google is in the process of building an online store to sell tablets running the Android operating system, including some with Google branding. We heard about the ASUS 7-inch Google tablet before, but the WSJ says Samsung may make devices too.

The Internet search company is planning to market and sell tablets directly to consumers through an online store, similar to rivals Apple and Amazon.com Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The move is an effort to turn around sluggish sales of tablet computers powered by Google’s Android software.Some of the online store’s future tablets are expected to be co-branded with Google’s name, said people familiar with the matter. Google won’t make the devices and its existing partners such as Samsung Electronics Co. and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. will be responsible for the hardware. One Android tablet that may be sold in the online store is due to be released later this year by Taiwan-based Asus, said one of these people. Some details about the project remain unclear, including when Google plans to unveil the online store. Google is expected to release the next version of its Android software, called Jelly Bean, in the middle of this year, people familiar with the matter have said.

Google killed its Nexus One mere months after opening it in 2010. However, the company said carriers were crushing its ability to sell the device (tablets often sell without contracts).

Oh, and they expect JellyBean to be announced mid-year (read: Google I/O).

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[youtube=http://youtu.be/90MIiBvXYcw]

World—meet Google Consumer Surveys: Just when it looks like Google has extended its reach into every dark corner of the Internet, the search engine launches a new service to reap more cash online.

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DuckDuckGo entered the search engine game in 2008, and it is averaging almost 1.5 million average direct queries per day and announcing system upgrades less than four years later.

The technology is simple: DuckDuckGo gathers results from crowd-sourced websites, such as Wikipedia and direct-competitor Bing, to display a host of search findings. It started as a privacy-conscious alternative to Google.

The chart to the right illustrates DuckDuckGo’s momentum. It just passed the 1 million mark last month, jumping from 630,441 average daily queries in January 2011 to 1,041,493 in February. Current calculations place the search engine at 1,468,690 average daily queries.

Due to the search engine’s success, Founder Gabriel Weinberg announced two major projects underway today that include better programming and speed. The company is even open sourcing more heavily and improving entry points.

“For speed, just this week we upgraded our whole caching system, which should significantly speed up a lot of queries,” wrote Weinberg on Hacker News. “This change should equalize a lot of the location differences, which is the main issue. In some parts of the world we were way slower.”

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Google gave a testimony to Congress last year claiming it earned two-thirds of its mobile revenue from iOS devices, but now it seems as though the company’s estimate might have been low.

Google made less than $550 million in revenues for Android between 2008 and 2011, while making four times as much revenue during the same period with Apple products that employ Google services like Search and Maps.

According to The Guardian, the settlement offer provided yesterday by Google to Oracle depicted Android’s revenue streams. Settlement discussions ordered by Judge William Alsup were derailed when Oracle rejected Google’s low offer to pay royalties on Android if alleged patent infringements deem true in court.

Reuters reported yesterday that the settlement stems from a 2010 lawsuit where Oracle claimed its Java-related patents were infringed by Android. Oracle acquired the intellectual property in question when it purchased Sun Microsystems in 2010.

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[youtube=http://youtu.be/YR_tckUfcEc]

Daria Musk is a singer-songwriter that joined Google+ last July and went from zero followers to over 1 million with the help of Hangouts in less than 8 months.

Check out the video above to hear this performer’s awe-inspiring story. It looks like YouTube isn’t the only Google service turning-out stars these days (ahem—Bieber). The official Google Ad Words blog also highlighted Musk in a post today about how to go global with Google+:

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Stemming from a lawsuit in 2010 where Oracle claimed Google was infringing on its Java-related patents with Android, a court document today reveals Oracle rejected Google’s offer to pay a percentage of Android revenue if the alleged patent infringement is proven in court. Reuters reported:

Google proposed to pay Oracle a percentage of Android revenue if Oracle could prove patent infringement of the mobile operating technology at an upcoming trial, but Oracle rebuffed the offer as too low, according to a court filing late on Tuesday.

As for Google’s offer, Reuters said the company would give approximately $2.8 million in damages to cover 2011, and a future 0.5-percent royalty of Android revenue for one patent that will expire in December. A second patent included in the case would provide Oracle with an additional 0.015-percent until it expires in April 2018. According to the court document, Oracle is holding out for a possible injunction:

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Just when the tech-world is seemingly about to explode with apps—apps for Android, apps for iPhone, apps for set-top boxes, apps for computers, apps for Facebook—Google adds to the bubbling pot with Google+ Hangout apps.

Google Product Manager Amit Fulay announced on Google+ today the first implementation of apps in the social network’s standout multi-person video chat feature:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZd_hIln1-I]

Today, Google Enterprise announced a new offering designed to aid Apps customers in managing information and preserving important data. “Vault” is aimed at easing document and email management as it relates to corporate litigation, regulatory investigation and compliance actions.

Businesses of all sizes need to be prepared for the unexpected. In today’s environment, using Vault to manage, archive and preserve your data can help protect your business. Litigation costs can really take a toll on a business when minor lawsuits can run up to many thousands of dollars, and larger lawsuits can cost even more. Significant litigation costs come from having to search and find relevant data, which is also known as electronic discovery (eDiscovery).

The tool costs $5/user/year and will knock down some walls of companies who would not have been able to get Google Apps if it were not for this tool.
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Google just launched a new feature called “Account Activity” that sends account-holders monthly encrypted reports about their signed-in frittering across the Web and Google services.

Once a user opts-in to the feature, Google will confirm and then send the first monthly report (see image below). The full-report gives Account information, such as locations, browsers, and platforms employed while Internet surfing.

The report also gives Gmail specifics, like most contacted addresses and to-and-fro message counts, and it breaks-down other Google services’ particulars, including Web history with users’ top searches, types, and queries, and a personal YouTube report on uploaded video activity and viewers’ location data. Users can also delete old reports or browse previous months as they begin to pile up.

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[brightcove vid=1532728417001&exp3=88243316001&surl=http://c.brightcove.com/services&pubid=88246127001&pk=AQ~~,AAAAFIvhCZk~,7xyzJ_9_m5Guzgt0rNZvDtr2oxJKW81f&w=586&h=512]

Epson America announced it is now shipping the world’s first Android-powered wearable display—the Epson Moverio.

With Google’s impending entry into the glasses space, Epson’s $699.99 offering is essential due to its 80-inch perceived projection display, Dolby Mobile surround sound, Wi-Fi connectivity, 6-hour battery life, 1GB of built-in storage, and 4GB microSDHC with accompanying slot.

Google’s mobile platform powers the track-pad controller and allows a user to watch YouTube or Vimeo videos, play apps and games, browse the Internet, and more. According to Epson America’s Director of New Business Development Anna Jen, there is even support for side-by-side 3D technology:

“The Moverio BT-100 see-through display is poised to significantly impact not only the way people interact with content for personal enjoyment, but the development of content for future applications – from virtual training platforms to a new way to interact with 3D CAD environments to visualizing 3D design renderings.”

The Epson Moverio BT-100 is now available through Epson’s retail website, select resellers, or by pre-order through Amazon. The Tokyo, Japan-based electronics manufacturer also recommended a few apps that take full advantage of its latest achievement, such as Netflix, Pandora, Amazon Kindle, and the Angry Birds suite.

The full presser and additional promo shots are below.

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The Cloud storage Google Drive has been an on-again, off-again rumor for years.

Today, GigaOm’s Om Malik says Google Drive will release to the public in the first week in April.

I am told the big day is sometime during the first week of April 2012…Google is going to offer 1 Gb of storage space for free, but will charge for more storage. The market leader Dropbox currently offers 2 Gb for free. Google’s product will come with a local client and the web interface will look much like the Google Docs interface. Interestingly, it will launch for Google Apps customers and will be domain specific as well. Google has also built an API for third party apps with this service so folks can store content from other apps in the Google drive. My sources are impressed, so far with what they have seen.

This could be the last piece of the Cloud puzzle.
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Google’s consorted undertaking to virtually preserve the extraordinary life of African leader Nelson Mandela finally went live today.

Google’s Cultural Institute Product Manager Mark Yoshitake took to the Official Google Blog this morning to announce the Nelson Mandela Digital Archive project. The Internet giant gave a $1.25 million grant to the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory of Johannesburg, South Africa last year to help preserve and launch documents and multimedia about Mandela online.

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A new report from The Next Web claimed a “source close to the product’s development” confirmed Google has a new commenting system in the works. With continued integration of Google+ into the rest of the company’s web services, the report claimed Google will likely aim to take on Facebook and its third-party commenting platform. The report explained:

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Google added its Google Play service to the black navigation bar found at the top of its search engine.

The “Play” link seems to only appear for users logged into their Google account. Moreover, the Mountain View, Calif.-based Company is likely rolling out the addition, because some users claim they are unable to see the new icon in the Google bar.

It is worth noting the link still does not appear on Google’s main search page—despite being signed-in.

UPDATE: The “Play” link now appears on Google’s main search page whether or not a user is signed-in.

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Princeton University’s Office of Information Technology recently polled 150 students who tested Google Apps’ Gmail and Microsoft Office 365 and results showed only two preferred the latter.

According to The Daily Princetonian, the undergraduate student government is collaborating with OIT to move the student body from its current email server Webmail to either Google Apps or Microsoft Office 365.

Google Apps is a cloud-based productivity suite that features several Web application user-interfaces similar to traditional office suites—like Microsoft Office 365. The services vary per edition but generally include Docs, Gmail, Calendar, Talk, Sites, Groups, Video, and Marketplace. Its popularity among students and educational institutions is rapidly increasing due to enhanced sharing features, accessibility, and cost.

Google Apps for Education is just one edition that offers 25 GB of storage space per user for free through K-12 schools, colleges, and universities with up to 30,000 users. Forty-million active users currently use Google Apps, and according to US News & World Report, 61 of the Top 100 schools have switched to the educational service.

USG IT Committee Chair Josh Chen said the University’s polled students prefer Gmail due to its “many benefits and no drawbacks.” Meanwhile, U-Councilor Lily Alberts said the poll’s results likely attribute to the student’s prior familiarity with Gmail during pilot testing. The group of 150 students piloted the two options, and those students came from a pool that replied to an earlier campus-wide email.

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Up until now, only Android users on Sprint had the luxury of integrating Google Voice into their main cell service. Due to a partnership with Google last year, users can enable Google Voice on their existing Sprint number providing them with access to better rates on international calling, visual online voicemail, personalized greetings, and the ability to use one number across all devices. According to a report from Cnet, Google’s Group Product Manager for Google Voice Vincent Paquet confirmed the company is in talks with other carriers about integrating the service:

“We are having discussions with other carriers about this.. Sprint integration has worked really well.. We have, since Day One, had a steady stream of people signing up for it.“

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