| Verizon Reportedly Negotiating to Use Google As Its Phone-Search Provider | San Jose Mercury News Aug 22, 2008 | Aug. 22--Simplified searching: It's bad enough having to hunt around the house for your misplaced cell phone (we suggest checking between the sofa-seat cushions or under your month-old pile of dirty laundry).
That brings us to our first item, which is that Verizon reportedly is nearing an agreement to make Google the default search provider on its cell phones, a deal that would give the Mountain View Internet giant a share of Verizon's ad revenue.
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| | Verizon, Google Close To Mobile Search Deal | | The Wall Street JournalAug 22, 2008 | Verizon Communications Inc. is nearing an agreement with Google Inc. on a wide-ranging partnership, according to people familiar with the situation, in what could be a much-needed jolt for the anemic mobile search business.
The deal under discussion, which would make Google the default search provider on Verizon devices and give it a share of ad revenue, is aimed at dramatically simplifying what is now a confusing set of search options for cellphone users.
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| Microsoft Launches Free Photosynth for Combining Shots into One Picture | | The Seattle TimesAug 21, 2008 | Aug. 21--Two years ago, Microsoft wowed audiences with technology to explore the world through digital photos.
The company demonstrated Photosynth, software that arranges photo sets in their real-world, 3-D context and allows people to navigate smoothly around the canals of Venice, for example, or zoom in to read the serial numbers on the space shuttle's heat shields.
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| | Intel, Yahoo Target Web Services on TV | | The Wall Street JournalAug 21, 2008 | Intel Corp. and Yahoo Inc. unveiled an ambitious effort Wednesday to marry the TV with the Internet, a goal that has eluded technology and media companies for more than a decade.
The software complements a new chip from Intel designed to enable interactive features on TVs, set-top boxes and other gadgets, though it can work with devices that use other chips.
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| FCC Orders Comcast to Stop Blocking Some Large Files; Carrier Testing New Web Traffic Restriction | | The Washington PostAug 21, 2008 | Comcast is testing new technologies that would slow the transmission of Internet files for its biggest users by as much as 20 minutes during times of heavy network congestion.
The tests come as the Federal Communications Commission yesterday released an order that forces Comcast to stop its earlier efforts to block transmission of certain Internet files, a ruling that public interest groups hailed, saying it would prevent network operators from acting as gatekeepers of the Web.
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| | Google's Speech-to-Text Technology is Huge Search Advance | | Detroit Free PressAug 20, 2008 | This is huge: A new speech-to-text technology from Google in which you type in a word or a phrase and it searches through YouTube videos to find all the instances where someone said it.
Right now, it's being used on YouTube's You Choose video page (youtube.com/youchoose) and applied to all of John McCain and Barack Obama's YouTube videos, both those produced by their campaigns and by everyday folk.
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| Consumers Moved To Action By Local Online Ads | | .Aug 20, 2008 | "Local media may be suffering a bit in this weak advertising market--even in the online space.
But consumers are still moved to action, especially by established local brands.
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| | Google, Other Tech Giants Start Battle With Broadcasters | | San Jose Mercury NewsAug 18, 2008 | Aug. 18--Google's campaign to involve consumers in the "white spaces" debate has a web site: www.freetheairwaves.com
WASHINGTON -- Using YouTube videos and old-fashioned lobbying, Google launched a campaign Monday to mobilize public support for opening up unused portions of the TV spectrum for unlicensed Internet devices and expanded broadband access.
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| T-Mobile, Google Join on Handset | | Chicago TribuneAug 19, 2008 | T-Mobile said Monday that it plans to launch a mobile phone powered by Google Inc.'s Android software, making it the first operator to do so and posing a direct threat to Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone.
A spokesman for Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Mobile's German parent, declined to comment on the launch date for the device from HTC, a maker of mobile phones.
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| | Campaign '08: Google Will Offer Services for Bloggers at the Conventions | | The Wall Street JournalAug 19, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- Google Inc. will help set up a two-story, 8,000 square-foot headquarters for hundreds of bloggers descending on the Democratic convention in Denver next week, and it will offer similar services at the Republican convention in September, as new media gain influence in politics.
Its high-profile presence at both conventions this year mirrors the growth of new media, which will provide their takes on events and compete with established media companies via Google's YouTube video site and other social-media outlets.
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| | U.S. News: McCain Tech Plan to Continue Hands-Off Approach to Regulation | | The Wall Street JournalAug 14, 2008 | Under fire for being a technophobe, John McCain will unveil a technology agenda that bundles previously announced pro-business proposals with continued support for a hands-off approach to regulation.
At the same time, it will reiterate Sen. McCain's opposition to Internet taxes and new laws guaranteeing net neutrality, the idea that Internet providers must treat all legal Internet traffic equally.
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| Yahoo selects Biondi, Chapple as new board members | | Associated Press/AP OnlineAug 15, 2008 | SEATTLE - Yahoo Inc. said Thursday it will add the former chief executives of Viacom and Nextel Partners to its board of directors as part of the company's deal to ward off a proxy fight with billionaire investor Carl Icahn.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company selected Frank Biondi Jr. and John Chapple, former chief executives of Viacom Inc. and Nextel Partners, respectively, from a list of nine recommendations from Icahn.
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| | Technology & Health: Google Faces Defamation Lawsuit in India | | The Wall Street JournalAug 15, 2008 | MUMBAI -- A small Indian construction-equipment company is demanding that Google Inc. disclose the name of a person who used its blogging service, in a case that could change the way the Internet giant does business in India.
Google's Indian subsidiary, Google India Private Ltd., is being sued in Bombay High Court by Mumbai-based Gremach Infrastructure Equipments & Projects Ltd., for alleged defamation.
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| Woman Profiled in People Magazine After Losing Weight | | Leader-TelegramAug 14, 2008 | Aug. 14--Anne Quinn's passion for the music video game Dance Dance Revolution landed her on the pages of People magazine.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt may be on the magazine cover with their new twins, but the former Anne Sykes of Chippewa Falls is featured inside in a story about people who lost weight playing video games.
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| | Apple's Market Cap Surpasses Google's | | San Jose Mercury NewsAug 13, 2008 | Aug. 13--"â?°Now Apple can add a little more swagger to its iPod shuffle.
On Wednesday, Apple became Silicon Valley's most valued company, nudging out Internet behemoth Google by what amounts to pocket change among the tech giants.
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| Fund Sells 70% of Its Yahoo Stake | | Los Angeles TimesAug 14, 2008 | Yahoo Inc. shareholder Paulson & Co., a hedge fund that backed billionaire Carl Icahn's unsuccessful bid to unseat the board, sold 70% of its stake in the Internet company.
Paulson held 15 million Yahoo shares as of June 30, according to a regulatory filing.
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| | Liberty Media Interested in AOL Dial-Up Business | | The Washington PostAug 13, 2008 | Just days after Time Warner said it had cleaved off AOL's dial-up Web access division and was in a position to sell it, another big media company has expressed interest in a deal.
On Monday, John C. Malone, chairman and chief executive of Liberty Media, an $8 billion New York media giant that holds substantial stakes in IAC/InterActive, DirecTV and others, said the AOL access division would be an "attractive" investment.
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| Yahoo Introduces Services That Lets Users Broadcast Their Location | | San Jose Mercury NewsAug 13, 2008 | Aug. 13--Yahoo executive Tom Coates recently went to England and rendezvoused with more than 100 random friends who just happened to be in Old Blighty as well.
Coates found them thanks to Fire Eagle, a new database service Yahoo launched Tuesday.
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| | Google | | South Florida Sun-SentinelAug 11, 2008 | Internet users will now have an easier time finding sites that rely heavily on the popular Flash video format.
Adobe Systems Inc., the format's developer, has released a customized version of its Flash Player software that allows Google Inc.'s search engine and others to see the elements of Web pages embedded with Flash content the same way a human would.
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| Corporate News: Liberty Media Open to Discussing AOL Deal | | The Wall Street JournalAug 12, 2008 | Liberty Media Corp. said Monday it is open to discussing a deal to exchange its stake in Time Warner Inc. for the media conglomerate's AOL dial-up Internet business.
Reporting a rise in second-quarter revenue across all three of its business units, Liberty Media said an exchange with Time Warner would offer a tax- efficient deal for both parties.
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| | Yahoo Hasn't Sought State Tax Help | | Omaha World-HeraldAug 11, 2008 | Aug. 11--Nebraska's business incentives package allows it to compete successfully for computer data centers and other sought-after business developments, State Tax Commissioner Doug Ewald said.
A person close to Gov. Dave Heineman confirmed on Aug. 2 that state and local officials are negotiating with Yahoo to build a data center in the Omaha metropolitan area.
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| Google-Yahoo a Suffocating Prospect | | South Florida Sun-SentinelAug 10, 2008 | The anti-trust investigations into the Google-Yahoo joint venture in online search advertising are appropriate and encouraging.
A Google-Yahoo partnership would give Google control of nearly 90 percent of Internet search.
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| | Corporate News: Yahoo to Let Users Opt Out of Targeted Ads | | The Wall Street JournalAug 09, 2008 | Yahoo Inc. said it will allow users to stop receiving targeted ads based on factors like what Web pages they visit or other ads they click on, following a congressional probe into whether such online advertising violates consumer privacy.
The letter asked the companies, including Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., to respond to a number of questions related to their ad-targeting practices -- including how many of their customers have received ads targeted to their Web browsing habits and whether those ad systems draw on sensitive personal data like health information.
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| | Yahoo to Make Targeted Ads Optional; Lawmakers Scrutinize Impact of Data Collection on Privacy | | The Washington PostAug 08, 2008 | Internet giant Yahoo is set to announce today that it will allow users to shut off targeted advertising on its Web sites, a move that comes as a congressional committee continues to air concerns about consumer privacy.
Last week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked Yahoo and 32 other Internet companies to provide more information about the surfing data they collect from Web users and how the data are used to customize advertising.
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| | AOL Remains Sticking Point for Time Warner | | The Wall Street JournalAug 07, 2008 | Seven months into the job, Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes's biggest move to reinvent the company has been a spinoff of the cable business.
Time Warner reported a 26% decline in second-quarter net income Wednesday, as its Time Inc. publishing unit burned a hole in earnings, countering strength in its television networks and movie studio.
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| Yahoo Hosts Fan-Centric Music Series | | Los Angeles TimesAug 07, 2008 | That's what put a kid-in-the-candy-store grin on veteran bluesman Buddy Guy's face Tuesday night when he stepped on the Fox Studios soundstage in Century City.
He was there to tape a live performance for the "Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo!
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