Google’s Sundar Pichai recently sat down with Forbes to talk about the Mountain View company’s ambitions in China, its relationship with Apple, and what its overall vision looks like. Some interesting quotes from Google’s Android and Chrome head have surfaced as a result, and among other comments, Pichai took a moment to respond to constant criticism from Apple that Google is in the business of monetizing its users. Pichai also touched on Google’s aspirations in China as well as the sponsored ad program it is testing in Google Play…
Google has been signing up a lot of Google Apps for Government customers over the last year, including Colorado and the US Naval Academy, and today The Boston Globe reports that Boston is soon making the switch from Microsoft to a Google Apps environment for city employees.
As noted in the report, Boston was previously relying on Microsoft’s Exchange for much of its tasks and making the switch to Google will save the city around $280,000 a year:
It’s not just the gee whiz factor: It’s also a matter of money. It will cost Boston around $800,000 to move over to Gmail, Google Docs for word processing, and Google’s cloud service for storing documents. But by dropping some Microsoft products, the city government will save at least $280,000 a year.
Microsoft responded to the decision in a statement to the Boston Globe, claiming, “Google’s investments in these areas are inadequate, and they lack the proper protections most organizations require.” Expand Expanding Close
According to the Associated Press (viaWinnipeg Free Press), Google’s Eric Schmidt attended a press conference during his first visit to South Korea since 2007 on Tuesday where, among other things, he was asked his opinion on Steve Jobs’ claims that Android is a “stolen product”. While calling Jobs a “fantastic human being” and saying he is still “very sad and recovering from the sense of loss”, he had this to say regarding claims that Google ripped off key features of the iPhone for Android:
“I decided not to comment on comments that are written in the book after his death. I don’t think it’s right…Most people would agree that Google is a great innovator, and I would also point out that the Android efforts started before the iPhone efforts. And that’s all I have to say.”
It was revealed prior to the release of the authorized Steve Jobs bio penned by author Walter Isaacson that Jobs shared with Isaacson his opinions on Android’s blatant copying of innovations Apple first debuted in the iPhone. Here’s the full quote from the book:
If you haven’t heard by now, Google has shocked many this week with their acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, which still may have to pass regulatory review for GOOG to avoid an unusually high $2.5b reverse termination fee. However, while there might be a few hoping the deal falls through, Microsoft is taking this time to convince smartphone makers the Windows Phone platform is the only “truly open mobile ecosystem”.
President of Windows Phone division, Andy Lees, provided the following statement (via WinSuperSite) following the Google/Motorola acquisition announcement:
“Investing in a broad and truly open mobile ecosystem is important for the industry and consumers alike, and Windows Phone is now the only platform that does so with equal opportunity for all partners..”
This comes after Microsoft announced a deal with Nokia in February that would see Windows Phone 7 become Nokia’s primary OS for smartphones (a deal that appears to give Nokia an unfair advantage over other partners). As a result, Nokia will be working closely with Microsoft and integrating a ton of their own content into the OS including their content and application store, and the Nokia Maps app. The handsets will also receive the Xbox Live, Zune music store, and Bing search treatment from Microsoft.
While the deal isn’t exclusive (allowing Microsoft to partner with other manufacturers and Nokia to make devices powered by another OS), it certainly gives the two companies an unfair advantage over other OEMs considering the Windows Phone platform… and seems to contradict Lees’ statement of the OS being an “equal opportunity for all partners”. Google’s acquisition of Motorola may have a bigger impact down the line depending on their plans for the company… but for the time being the Google/Motorola partnership doesn’t provide any less incentive for new Android partners than the Microsoft/Nokia deal does for potential Windows Phone manufacturers. Expand Expanding Close
Update: As expected, outspoken Microsoft Corporate Vice President Frank X. Shaw has responded to Drummond’s response from earlier today. There isn’t much to learn here, but Shaw’s tweets pretty much speak for themselves and Microsoft’s stance on the issue. We’re bound to hear more from Google execs on the issue, stay tuned for the latest. Shaw’s tweets after the break, if you’re interested.
Google Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond has taken to the official Google blog once again to respond to Microsoft’s Brad Smith’s claims Google backed out of the opportunity to jointly bid for Novell patents.
“A joint acquisition of the Novell patents that gave all parties a license would have eliminated any protection these patents could offer to Android against attacks from Microsoft and its bidding partners”
Drummond points out the U.S. Department of Justice has now intervened, forcing Apple and Microsoft to provide an open-source license in order to “protect competition and innovation in the open source software community.”
Its clear Google doesn’t want to pay for patents that aren’t going to help them defend Android from competitors in the future. A joint bid would have essentially forced them to do so, which is the reason they claim “competitors are waging a patent war on Android”. Expand Expanding Close
With Google execs stepping out of character to share their frustrations with Microsoft and Apple “banding” together to acquire patents, it seems at least a few execs in Redmond are determined to set the record straight, and for good reason given the fact the company is slated to earn more off Android than their own Windows Phones, according to analyst Horace Dediu.
In response to the open letter from Google’s Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond accusing Microsoft and Apple of “banding” together to acquire mobile device related patents, Microsoft’ general counsel Brad Smith posted the following via his Twitter account this morning:
“Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no.”
Microsoft surely doesn’t want to tarnish their relationship with Google, with Android-based HTC phones bringing in three times as much profit in the second quarter in comparison to their own Windows Phone devices. It makes you wonder why Microsoft is spending billions developing and bringing Windows Phone handsets to market when Android devices are clearly their bread and butter in the mobile space. Expand Expanding Close
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Google’s Android and Chrome lead comments on Apple relationship, China, Google Play ads
Google’s Sundar Pichai recently sat down with Forbes to talk about the Mountain View company’s ambitions in China, its relationship with Apple, and what its overall vision looks like. Some interesting quotes from Google’s Android and Chrome head have surfaced as a result, and among other comments, Pichai took a moment to respond to constant criticism from Apple that Google is in the business of monetizing its users. Pichai also touched on Google’s aspirations in China as well as the sponsored ad program it is testing in Google Play…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Boston drops Microsoft, switches 20,000 city employees to Google Apps
Google has been signing up a lot of Google Apps for Government customers over the last year, including Colorado and the US Naval Academy, and today The Boston Globe reports that Boston is soon making the switch from Microsoft to a Google Apps environment for city employees.
As noted in the report, Boston was previously relying on Microsoft’s Exchange for much of its tasks and making the switch to Google will save the city around $280,000 a year:
Microsoft responded to the decision in a statement to the Boston Globe, claiming, “Google’s investments in these areas are inadequate, and they lack the proper protections most organizations require.”
Expand
Expanding
Close
Eric Schmidt: “Android efforts started before the iPhone efforts. And that’s all I have to say”
According to the Associated Press (via Winnipeg Free Press), Google’s Eric Schmidt attended a press conference during his first visit to South Korea since 2007 on Tuesday where, among other things, he was asked his opinion on Steve Jobs’ claims that Android is a “stolen product”. While calling Jobs a “fantastic human being” and saying he is still “very sad and recovering from the sense of loss”, he had this to say regarding claims that Google ripped off key features of the iPhone for Android:
It was revealed prior to the release of the authorized Steve Jobs bio penned by author Walter Isaacson that Jobs shared with Isaacson his opinions on Android’s blatant copying of innovations Apple first debuted in the iPhone. Here’s the full quote from the book:
Expand
Expanding
Close
Microsoft responds to Google/Motorola acquisition: Windows Phone is the only “truly open mobile ecosystem”
If you haven’t heard by now, Google has shocked many this week with their acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, which still may have to pass regulatory review for GOOG to avoid an unusually high $2.5b reverse termination fee. However, while there might be a few hoping the deal falls through, Microsoft is taking this time to convince smartphone makers the Windows Phone platform is the only “truly open mobile ecosystem”.
President of Windows Phone division, Andy Lees, provided the following statement (via WinSuperSite) following the Google/Motorola acquisition announcement:
This comes after Microsoft announced a deal with Nokia in February that would see Windows Phone 7 become Nokia’s primary OS for smartphones (a deal that appears to give Nokia an unfair advantage over other partners). As a result, Nokia will be working closely with Microsoft and integrating a ton of their own content into the OS including their content and application store, and the Nokia Maps app. The handsets will also receive the Xbox Live, Zune music store, and Bing search treatment from Microsoft.
While the deal isn’t exclusive (allowing Microsoft to partner with other manufacturers and Nokia to make devices powered by another OS), it certainly gives the two companies an unfair advantage over other OEMs considering the Windows Phone platform… and seems to contradict Lees’ statement of the OS being an “equal opportunity for all partners”. Google’s acquisition of Motorola may have a bigger impact down the line depending on their plans for the company… but for the time being the Google/Motorola partnership doesn’t provide any less incentive for new Android partners than the Microsoft/Nokia deal does for potential Windows Phone manufacturers.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Updated: Google responds to Microsoft’s claims in Novell patent dispute: “Our competitors are waging a patent war on Android”
Update: As expected, outspoken Microsoft Corporate Vice President Frank X. Shaw has responded to Drummond’s response from earlier today. There isn’t much to learn here, but Shaw’s tweets pretty much speak for themselves and Microsoft’s stance on the issue. We’re bound to hear more from Google execs on the issue, stay tuned for the latest. Shaw’s tweets after the break, if you’re interested.
Google Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond has taken to the official Google blog once again to respond to Microsoft’s Brad Smith’s claims Google backed out of the opportunity to jointly bid for Novell patents.
Drummond writes:
Drummond points out the U.S. Department of Justice has now intervened, forcing Apple and Microsoft to provide an open-source license in order to “protect competition and innovation in the open source software community.”
Its clear Google doesn’t want to pay for patents that aren’t going to help them defend Android from competitors in the future. A joint bid would have essentially forced them to do so, which is the reason they claim “competitors are waging a patent war on Android”.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Microsoft makes more money from Android than Windows Phones, claims Google said no to joint bid on Novell patents
With Google execs stepping out of character to share their frustrations with Microsoft and Apple “banding” together to acquire patents, it seems at least a few execs in Redmond are determined to set the record straight, and for good reason given the fact the company is slated to earn more off Android than their own Windows Phones, according to analyst Horace Dediu.
In response to the open letter from Google’s Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond accusing Microsoft and Apple of “banding” together to acquire mobile device related patents, Microsoft’ general counsel Brad Smith posted the following via his Twitter account this morning:
Microsoft surely doesn’t want to tarnish their relationship with Google, with Android-based HTC phones bringing in three times as much profit in the second quarter in comparison to their own Windows Phone devices. It makes you wonder why Microsoft is spending billions developing and bringing Windows Phone handsets to market when Android devices are clearly their bread and butter in the mobile space.
Expand
Expanding
Close