Larry Page

Another instalment in Microsoft’s “Scroogled” smear campaign attempting to point out the downsides of using Google services. While Microsoft has released many ads attacking Gmail, search and other Google products as part of the 7 figures it plans to drop on the campaign, this one was apparently supposed to be an internal video for employees anyway.

Whether it was a controlled leak or not, the ad, which takes cues from one of Google’s own Chrome ads, has happened to make its way online right in the middle of Google I/O and it doesn’t appear that a take down notice is getting issued.

Google has responded to the ads several times calling Microsoft’s approach ‘misleading and intellectually dishonest.’
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Earlier this week Google confirmed that its head of Google Wallet will leave later this year, and today AllThingsD reports that the company is scrapping its plans for a physical credit card that would accompany its mobile payment service.

Google CEO Larry Page reportedly canned the physical card just last week after being dissatisfied with its reliability due to glitches.

The company was reportedly preparing to demo the physical card, which featured the colorful Google Wallet “W” branding, at Google I/O next week, so it is interesting that this report is surfacing so suddenly.

Larry Page reportedly cited more innovative approaches to mobile commerce from startups like Square, which seems to have solidified his decision to shred the company’s plans for a physical Google Wallet credit card.

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Robert Scoble isn’t mincing words on Google Glass. He thinks it will be big, big, big. His review after having Google Glass for two weeks reads like he’s had an epiphany and the only thing preventing these from ruling the universe is Larry Page’s inability to price these things as low as $200. His 6 points:

1. I will never live a day of my life from now on without it (or a competitor). It’s that significant.
2. The success of this totally depends on price. Each audience I asked at the end of my presentations “who would buy this?” As the price got down to $200 literally every hand went up. At $500 a few hands went up. This was consistent, whether talking with students, or more mainstream, older audiences.
3. Nearly everyone had an emotional outburst of “wow” or “amazing” or “that’s crazy” or “stunning.”
4. At NextWeb 50 people surrounded me and wouldn’t let me leave until they had a chance at trying them. I haven’t seen that kind of product angst at a conference for a while. This happened to me all week long, it is just crazy.
5. Most of the privacy concerns I had before coming to Germany just didn’t show up. I was shocked by how few negative reactions I got (only one, where an audience member said he wouldn’t talk to me with them on). Funny, someone asked me to try them in a bathroom (I had them aimed up at that time and refused).
6. There is a total generational gap that I found. The older people said they would use them, probably, but were far more skeptical, or, at minimum, less passionate about the fact that these are the future, than the 13-21-year-olds I met.

It is important to keep in mind the context of his perspective. He’s a uber-geek who spends his life immersed in technology. Some people will find the idea of wearing a computer on your face unsettling and there undoubtedly will be backlash. The wow factor will wear off and they will have to produce some value. Right now image and video taking are the key apps. As Scoble mentioned, other apps are coming fast and furious.

And, no, I don’t believe they won’t be $200 (unless there is a subsidy like phones). If Google is charging developers $1500/pop, there is no way Google can make them for $200, at least in the near future.

All of those disclaimers aside, I really do see a lot of opportunity for Google here. They’ve thought forward and this bet on the future of technology is going to change things.
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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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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.

[tweet https://twitter.com/vicgundotra/status/35182523650801664]

Google Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra, who is also known as the man behind Google+, admitted at the SMX Social Media Marketing conference last night that “his boss” asked him to stop tweeting on Twitter. 

Many reports assumed Google CEO Larry Page is the boss in question and further surmised that the above tweet is probably the reason behind his request. Gundotra’s tweet occurred around the same time Microsoft landed a strategic mobile partnership with Nokia that would replace Symbian with the Windows Phone operating system. The timing led to speculation that the tweet was a dig at both companies.

The Next Web published a transcript of Gundotra’s explanation:

No, actually I was asked not to do that by my boss. I tweeted a tweet about two companies that went viral, went very very viral and made a lot of headline news. And honestly, I didn’t anticipate that my comments would be interpreted in the way they were interpreted.

I thought I was speaking to a relatively small number of people who followed me, a developer-oriented group, and instead it went mainstream. And so, uhm, I’ve curtailed my usage since then.

Gundotra last tweeted in July 2011.

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During Google’s financial call today, which we have full coverage of in our liveblog, CEO Larry Page revealed that Google’s run rate for mobile is now at $8 billion. That is quite the increase from the $2.5 billion it announced last year:

This time last year I announced that our run-rate for mobile advertising hit $2.5 billion.  That seemed like a pretty big number — even for Google.  Now we have built up additional mobile revenue from users paying for content and apps in Google Play.  Including these new sources grossed up, I can announce our new run-rate for mobile is now over $8 billion.  That’s quite a business

However, CFO Patrick Pichette added that its run rate for the quarter also included ads and Google Play content revenue. Not surprisingly, the company noted the majority of that $8 billion figure comes mostly from ads. During the call, Page also confirmed there are still roughly 1.3 million Android activations daily:
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Beginning at 4:30PM EST, we’ll be getting the full break-down of Google’s earnings for the third fiscal quarter. In an odd turn of events, Google released its earnings early this afternoon due to a screwup with its SEC filing. The screwup caused Google to close down its stock for the better part of the afternoon, causing a steep drop. Google may discuss the situation on the call… stay tuned after the break:

Check up on Google’s numbers from earlier this afternoon.
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The NYTimes has the story:

• The appointment of Ms. Mayer, who was employee No. 20 at Google and was one of the few public faces of the company, is considered a surprising coup for Yahoo, which has struggled in recent years to attract top flight talent in its battle with competitors like Google and Facebook.
• Ms. Mayer, 37, had for years been responsible for the look and feel of Google’s most popular products: the famously unadorned white search homepage, Gmail, Google News and Google Images. More recently, Ms. Mayer, an engineer by training whose first job at Google included computer programming, was put in charge of the company’s location and local services, including Google Maps, overseeing more than 1,000 product managers. She also sat on Google’s operating committee, part of a small circle of senior executives who had the ear of Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Mayer has been on the outs for some time at Google, and she did not show for Google I/O this year. She moved up the food chain from being Google employee No. 20 and first female engineer. Mayer’s rise took her from engineer to project manager to Director of Consumer Web Services to VP of Search Products and User Experience, and finally to Location in a broad shift. She was also on the very influential “Operating Committee” of high ranking officers.

However, she was not promoted as one of Larry Page’s seven business heads when he re-took over the company last year.

[tweet https://twitter.com/marissamayer/status/224968460139114496]

Mayer is on Walmart’s board of directors, and she briefly dated Google CEO Page who said:

“Since arriving at Google just over 13 years ago as employee #20, Marissa has been a tireless champion of our users. She contributed to the development of our Search, Geo, and Local products. We will miss her talents at Google.”

Mayer said,

“I am honored and delighted to lead Yahoo!, one of the internet’s premier destinations for more than 700 million users.  I look forward to working with the Company’s dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalized experiences to users and advertisers all around the world.”

The press release is below. 

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Google’s Chris Yerga is on-stage now to announce Google Play numbers: The marketplace boasts over 600,000 apps and games, roughly 1.5 billion installs every month, and 20 billion total app installs to date.

The executive also said magazine subscriptions and television rental options are coming to Google Play. The magazine-reading experience is premium, Yerga touted, while explaining new interactive aspects to magazine thumbing on the newly unveiled Nexus 7. Television viewing is also exceptional due to download options for offline access. A few of the big television partnerships, Yerga said, include Disney, ABC, Sony, and Paramount.

The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST.

A picture gallery is below. 

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The above leaked image is of the widely rumored Nexus 7.

Reports about the Google tablet have circulated for months, but now we have solid evidence of its existence through a first look on Google’s Play Store servers. The live image surfaced just ahead of Google I/O this morning, and it only begs more questions to be answered.

The 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference starts today at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif., with events continuing until June 29 at 4:30 p.m. PST. We should have some more information about the Nexus 7 within the next hour during the event’s opening keynote.

The Asus-branded Nexus 7 tablet might run Jelly Bean, which is the latest version of Android expected to unveil at some point today. The user-interface in the leak resembles a tweaked Ice Cream Sandwich layout. The dock looks familiar, but notice it houses six apps now instead of four.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEfzwsPRk2k&feature=youtube_gdata]

One Wall Street analyst is calling into question Google’s co-founder, Larry Page, and his health, due to the executive’s notable absence from the company shareholders’ meeting on Thursday.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, who bequeathed his CEO title to Page in April 2011, told shareholders that the chief executive “lost his voice.” Schmidt further revealed Page would not attend the Google I/O developer conference next week or Google’s Q2 earnings call next month (as seen in the video above). Page will, however, maintain his post duties and continue an active role at Google while his voice recuperates over the next few weeks.

According to Canada.com, a Google representative explained that Page was “asked to rest.” No more information on the CEO’s mysterious voice condition is available at this time, but JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth debated Google’s excuse for Page in a note to investors today:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oPRJh3eCjA&feature=youtube_gdata]

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just granted Project Glass a patent that protects the trackpad feature of Google Glasses.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin appeared with his wife, Anne Wojcicki, on California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom’s Current TV show last month to briefly let the politician demo a pair of Google Glasses. During “The Gavin Newsom Show” interview (above), Brin gave the world a glimpse as to how the space-age spectacles work.

Viewers immediately noticed a trackpad-like control on the right side of the augmented-reality glasses, but the USPTO just protected the feature by granting Project Glass a patent for the trackpad. The patent covers a sensor device, for either side, that tracks gestures and finely controls the heads-up display. The Mountain View, Calif.-based Company also detailed several gestures that work with the trackpad—such as scrolling, tapping, or flipping—to provide visible, semi-transparent options.

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And war has begun: Facebook slammed Google’s Chrome browser today with the above unsupported web browser message [cache], which recommended Opera, among others, as a better alternative for viewing the social network.

FavBrowser first discovered the change and noted Facebook’s rumored plans to acquire Opera. This is noteworthy, because Google+ is Facebook’s direct competitor. The infant Google service is tackling Facebook head-on with its executives consistently criticizing Facebook, like when CEO Larry Page accused Facebook of holding users hostage last week. Only now it appears the back-talking has turned into actions, because Facebook no longer recommends Chrome to its nearly 1 billion active users.

According to StatCounter, Chrome passed Internet Explorer during the week of May 14 to May 20 to become the most popular browser in the world. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still has a commanding lead in the United States, but growth for Chrome is steadily increasing in regions like South America, India, and Europe. The browser also surpassed Internet Explorer, although for just a day, in March. These statistics indicate that Chrome is too large for Facebook to ignore.

Meanwhile, Google’s CEO Larry Page said in a statement to investors in April that the company’s own social network Google+ now has more than 100 million active users, which is up from 90 million total users in January. To him, the network is an integral product that will help Google bring the next generation of search to life. Despite these bold goals, Facebook still reins king in the social network market with its nearly 10 times larger userbase.

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According to a report from The New York Post, Google’s CEO Larry Page is considering extending the company’s relationship with label-backed music-video service Vevo by possibly buying an equity stake in the venture. The report claimed that Facebook is also considering making an investment in Vevo, which is reportedly currently valued at $1 billion and run by major labels including Universal Music Group and Sony Music.

Both Google CEO Larry Page and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg are exploring an investment in Vevo as part of a broader partnership with the music-video service, The Post has learned.

Vevo already has a deal with Google to host its content on YouTube, but the report noted that agreement lasts only through the remainder of 2012. Vevo is reportedly negotiating with YouTube to accept lower than the two-thirds of ad-revenue it currently receives from the Vevo content that it hosts. As The Post pointed out, recent stats from comScore listed Vevo as YouTube’s top partner channel in April with 48 million unique viewers during the month.

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Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page have sported a pair of Google Glasses while appearing on just about every major talk show/news outlet across the country at this point, but the company’s cofounders seem to do a lot of talking and not much showing.

However, Brin finally took the first step and let a non-Googler experience the augmented reality handset last week. He appeared with his wife, Anne Wojcicki, on California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom’s Current TV show on May 23 and briefly let the politician in on the secret. A video of the interview is above.

“You can easily forget you have them on, and sense the capacity of use in the future,” Newsom later told Wired, while detailing how the headset felt “incredibly light, comfortable and inconspicuous” on his head.

During his demonstration on “The Gavin Newsom Show,” Brin subsequently gave the world a glimpse as to how the space-age spectacles work. According to Wired:

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Image <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&biw=1443&bih=1024&tbm=isch&tbnid=3642QYSvxzGrcM:&imgrefurl=http://softsupplier.com/motorola-could-ban-xbox-and-windows-7-in-germany-116254/&docid=qRX9o3-WG3oxWM&imgurl=http://softsupplier.com/wp-content/plugins/jobber-import-articles/photos/135951-motorola-could-ban-xbox-and-windows-7-in-germany-2.jpg&w=640&h=480&ei=KF68T_20B-3G6AGOpIw9&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=712&vpy=557&dur=4896&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=166&ty=137&sig=110833262350628042404&page=2&tbnh=159&tbnw=217&start=28&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:28,i:144" target="_blank">via</a> Phandroid

An administrative law judge for the United States International Trade Commission has recommended a ban on Xbox gaming consoles from importing stateside.

According to the recommendation (PDF), which publicly released yesterday, the U.S. ban of 4 GB and 250 GB consoles would essentially penalize Xbox’s manufacturer, Microsoft, for allegedly infringing on Motorola’s patents. ArsTechnica noted the patents under dispute concern video transmission and compression on the Xbox and between controllers.

“[…] It is recommended that the Commission enter a limited exclusion order against infringing Microsoft products. It is further recommended that the Commission issue a cease and desist order. Additionally, it is recommended that Microsoft be required to post a bond for importation of accused products during the Presidential review period,” stated Administrative Law Judge David P. Shaw in the public recommendation.

Courthouse News emphasized that the bond sum suggested by the judge would equal to 7 percent of Xbox’s unsold inventory value already present in the country.

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Google just got its hands on four more Project Glass-based patents this morning.

As discovered by Engadget, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted patents this morning that detail the majority of Google Glasses’ right-side. The eye-hovering camera and its inner-workings hidden within the spectacle rim were successfully patented, as well as the nose-bridge sensor, and the function for illustrating sounds in the heads-up display with source, direction, and range details. The Mountain View, Calif.-based Company also got the rights to use both eye spectacles as separate displays. The patent’s included example, as shown above, depicts a map visible in one eye with navigation particulars streaming to the other eye.

Just last week, patents published by the USPTO showed Google successfully patented at least the ornamental design of its augmented reality glasses that were unveiled last month. The patents show a device that does not look exactly like the prototypes revealed in the concept videos, nor the pair worn by Sergey Brin, but most designs get altered before hitting the stores’ shelves anyway.

Meanwhile, in related news, according to the Wall Street Journal, eyeglasses designer Michael Pachleitner Group is jumping on the bandwagon by integrating technology to display information and imagery on to spectacles in its workforce. The Austrian company recently dressed its warehouse employees with $13,000 frames built by Knapp AG.

The devices provide visual details through a Wi-Fi connection, so warehouse workers can access over 1.4 million items stored in the facility. The eyewear company hopes to staff all six warehouses by July with employees who will wear the costly apparatus all day. The measure aims to cut “picking errors” by an estimated 60 percent.

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Google’s CEO Larry Page made headlines again this morning: He just officially announced Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, while confirming the joined companies will soon create the next generation of mobile devices.

The chief executive took to the official Google Blog to reveal the news:

It’s why I’m excited to announce today that our Motorola Mobility deal has closed. Motorola is a great American tech company that has driven the mobile revolution, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation, including the creation of the first cell phone. We all remember Motorola’s StarTAC, which at the time seemed tiny and showed the real potential of these devices. And as a company who made a big, early bet on Android, Motorola has become an incredibly valuable partner to Google.

Page appointed Googler Dennis Woodside as CEO of the newly acquired business, and claimed he has known the exec for over a decade, while adding, “He’s been phenomenal at building teams and delivering on some of Google’s biggest bets.”

The post is quick and to-the-point. The most important aspect to it, however, is the last line: “[…] I’m confident Dennis and the team at Motorola will be creating the next generation of mobile devices that will improve lives for years to come.”

That’s right. Google is now a hardware company.

Google made headway on the $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility acquisition late last week when China finally gave the merger a go-ahead. Motorola promptly filed an 8-K form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that specified the deal’s transaction would likely close today.

Check out the full announcement below—or jump over to Google’s blog. 

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHtPb1GEzF0]

Google’s CEO Larry Page went on the “Charlie Rose” show via PBS last night to discuss an array of topics, but he also made sure to scold newly-public Facebook in regards to users’ data.

According to Venture Beat, Page well-wished Facebook on its IPO, and then he jumped to, “I think it’s been unfortunate that Facebook has been pretty closed with their data.” He also mentioned Google’s openness, and he subsequently criticized Facebook for lacking the ability to import Google contacts when joining the world-popular social network:

“From a user’s perspective, you say, ‘I’m joining Facebook. I want my contacts.’ In Google, we said, ‘Fine. You can get them from Google.’ And the issue we had is that then Facebook said, ‘No, Google, you can’t do the reverse.’ And so we just said, ‘Well, users don’t understand what they’re doing. They’re putting data in, and they don’t understand they can’t take it out.’ So we said, ‘Well, we’ll only participate with people who have reciprocity. And we’re still waiting.'”

Long story short: Google wants to share its users’ contacts with Facebook—if Facebook does the same with Google.

“You don’t want to be holding your users hostage […] We think it’s important that you as users of Google can take your data, and take it out if you need to, or take it somewhere else,” Page added.

The chief executive also touched upon his excitement with Chrome becoming the No. 1 most popular Web browser, the search engine’s confidence in legal issues concerning Oracle and its Java patents in Android, the persistent European Union antitrust investigation, and his hopes for Google Glasses.

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