WebProNews » Schmidt

Google’s Android Going to Set-Top Boxes

Chris Crum — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:36:49 +0000

Google is expecting a good year for Android, and it’s got plans for the mobile operating system. The company is planning "significant" products and partnerships.

"Overall, it looks like Android is going to have a very, very strong year," Eric Schmidt is quoted as saying during Google’s earnings call. More from Schmidt (via Seeking Alpha):

There are announcements happening between now and the end of the year that are quite significant from operators and new hardware partners in the Android space, which I won’t preannounce except to say that they really do fulfill much of the vision that we laid out more than a year ago.

On the netbook side, there are a number of people who have actually taken Android and ported it over to netbook or netbook-similar devices. So we think that’s another one of the great benefits of the open source model that we’ve used. We’re excited that that investment is occurring. And again, largely outside of Google, which we think is great.

Six or more Android phones are rumored to be on the way this year from Orange. The operating system is even going to set-top box form, courtesy of Motorola.

Now that is interesting. This device, called the "au Box," will play DVDs and CDs, transfer music and video to a mobile device, and rip/store files according to InformationWeek. It will be interesting to see where this leads. So far, it’s being made for a Japanese ISP – KDDI. I would assume that more will be on the way eventually.

Google Applauds Chinese Talent Pool

Doug Caverly — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:14:52 +0000

In America, much of Google’s success is attributed to its brilliant employees. In China, there’s no reason that the situation would be any different, but as a bonus, the company could gain a competitive edge by hiring locals.

Google’s poor understanding of Chinese culture has been pinpointed as a reason for its failures in that country; an old Baidu commercial even portrayed Google as a Westerner with embarrassingly poor Chinese-language skills. Hiring Chinese citizens might be an ideal way to overcome this image.

Furthermore, the practice could be beneficial to Google in many other areas. “[T]he nation has such a huge talent potential,” Kai-Fu Lee, the president of Google China, told the AP. “I think there will undoubtedly be innovation in China.”

Innovation is exactly what Google needs – the company’s search market share is approximately one-third of Baidu’s, and has shown little improvement over the past six months. Also, Google’s a bit weak in the mobile department, and cell phones and texting are absolutely taking off in China.

Of course, nothing’s guaranteed to work – it’s not like Google hasn’t tried to reverse its fall in China before. Eric Schmidt has given the division a pretty long leash, however, so no heads are likely to roll in the near future.

Google Eager To Please European Regulators

WebProNews Staff — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:16:52 +0000

The company’s DoubleClick deal hit an unexpected snag when European Commission members decided to draw out their review to April 2008.

Neelie Kroes and her fellow Competition regulators on the EC must have missed the relentlessly positive post Google put up, showing why their DoubleClick acquisition shouldn’t be any problem to anyone.

Kroes said competition, not privacy, would be what reviewers considered in assessing the impact of the $3.1 billion deal. Though it appears US regulators stand ready to rubber-stamp it, Kroes extended the investigation by 90 working days.

In Google’s SEC Form 8-K filing about this little snag, the search advertising company is the emboiment of eager helpfulness:

The European Commission (“EC”) has initiated a second-phase investigation into the proposed acquisition of Click Holding Corp. (“DoubleClick”) by Google Inc. Google and DoubleClick are working closely to cooperate fully with the EC’s continuing investigation into Google’s proposed acquisition of DoubleClick.

If this were Microsoft being vexed by Kroes again, we would suggest chairs were being thrown with great frequency in Redmond. Googlers probably don’t throw beanbag chairs too often, mostly because they are bulky and hard to toss.

When Eric Schmidt expressed hope the deal would close by the end of the year, the company was more concerned about the US antitrust investigation. The EC’s reluctance to wrap up its review quicker probably caught Google by surprise.

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Schmidt in German Tabloid

Philipp Lenssen — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:18:50 +0000

Bild, Germany’s biggest tabloid (disliked by many German intellectuals for its often hyped reporting) is running a multi-part interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt this week.

In the piece published today, Eric Schmidt was asked about mobile phones, censorship and more. Some points of interest (quotes are with my translation & emphasis):

What’s Google? “With Google we can find answers for nearly all questions we might have. Who built this castle? Where does this road lead? Who’s this person?” Google’s biggest promotion factor is word-of-mouth.

It’s hard to predict the internet in 10 years, but it will be faster, allowing the quicker transmission of “huge data quantities, like videos.” Eric also says the net will become more secure.

“Online everybody has a voice – good people, but also bad people, even though we would prefer not to hear from latter. But the net is deeply democratic because all around the world, people using it are able to tell their opinion, and have access to all information.“

Is the internet able to prevent wars? “Yes, because the internet knows no country borders and is therefore one of the strongest forces of freedom. I think in this day and age it’s impossible to attack a country and cut it off from the rest of the world. The internet is causing a very difficult life for dictators and unjust regimes. A good example is North Korea, one of the last remaining countries without internet.”

Bild reporter Oliver Santen: “China too is massively censoring the internet.” Eric: “Nevertheless sooner or later, the Chinese will get all information they search for and need. The internet is forcing governments to be transparent and keep their promises.“

Asked about his biggest wish in regards of the internet, Eric replies that he hopes to get rid of all the different mobile gadgets currently needed to do different stuff. Eric, who carried not one but several mobile devices with him during the interview (including an iPhone, one or two other mobile phones, and two Blackberry devices), says “In the future everyone should only have a single internat-capable mobile phone able to handle everything that’s important.”

All in all Eric paints a very rosy picture of the web, e.g. saying that around the globe all people are people are able to voice their opinion online, when actually doing so can get you jailed in some countries. Also, the transparency online coverage brings is not always followed up by actual real-world change.

[Thanks TomHTML! Photo CC-licensed by Sebastian Hirsch.]

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Schmidt Speaks From the Lion’s Den

WebProNews Staff — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 21:35:20 +0000

It’s one thing to talk about Net Neutrality and a little regulation to a crowd of digerati idealists. It’s quite another to bring that up at the Masters of the Universe Ball.

That’s the pet name I have for a number of billionaire and powerbroker gatherings that take place throughout the year – my personal favorite is Camp Allen up in Idaho – but this one, the Progress & Freedom Foundation’s annual Aspen Summit, is no slouch.

In fact, if you’ve ever wondered what happened to the minds behind Reaganomics (because they sure as hell ain’t talking to W. these days), they’ve transferred their posts to the board of the PFF, an organization focused on deregulation of the nation’s vital industries, lowering corporate taxes, and promoting competition in a free market economy.

The list of PFF supporters is a veritable who’s-who of telecommunications, media, technology, and Internet companies. In short, when AT&T, Verizon, Cisco, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and Comcast are in the room, it might be a little uncomfortable to bring up hot button issues like Net Neutrality and spectrum auctions.

But Google CEO Eric Schmidt did, while also half-promising to bid on a swath of 700 MHz wireless spectrum. You can watch the 55-minute video at the Google Public Policy Blog, or you can take Global Communications and Public Affairs manager Adam Kovacevich’s word for it, who writes:

In the policy arena, Eric offered three specific calls to action. First, he said we need to defend freedom of speech as more speech comes online – and give teeth to the issue by pressing governments to classify censorship as a trade barrier. Second, we need to continue working toward universal broadband access, by government collaborating with industry and making sure that networks remain content neutral.

The Yahoo rep must have thought his collar a little tight when Schmidt mentioned the censorship thing…the irony of Google bringing it up notwithstanding.

Schmidt Talks Freedom; China Still Out Of Luck

WebProNews Staff — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:17:42 +0000

Google CEO Eric Schmidt ascended to the Aspen Summit to discuss what freedom and openness means to his company and its customers.

The Google Public Policy blog has been spinning the company’s mantra about net neutrality, open access to the 700MHz wireless spectrum, and now the simple concept of freedom. Their latest post features a video of Schmidt addressing The Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Aspen Summit about Google’s views on those topics.

This is the talk where Schmidt suggested Google will “probably” bid on the 700MHz spectrum when the auction takes place. We’ll be surprised if they don’t participate, either as a bidder or in partnership with one or more entities.

A video of his presentation opens with an introduction that references Schmidt’s history with Sun and Novell, two companies that have fallen into corners of the tech industry where they once held dominant positions. Fortunately for the CEO, Larry Page and Sergey Brin rescued Schmidt from Utah to helm the pre-IPO search engine.

The blog summarized the essential points Schmidt wanted to make about the Internet and freedom, noble aspirations to be certain:

First, he said we need to defend freedom of speech as more speech comes online

Eric Schmidt Becoming A Media Mogul

WebProNews Staff — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:52:55 +0000

Google will become a distributor of original content through its AdSense network, with contributions from ‘Family Guy’ creator Seth MacFarlane and Disney Channel star Raven-Symon

‘Web 3.0,’ Apparently, Has Interchangeable Parts

WebProNews Staff — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 22:32:36 +0000

If Eric Schmidt’s right, the business world is in for another love-hate relationship around the bend: so-called Web 3.0. I say "so-called" because it’s kinda silly. But Schmidt’s interpretation of this hypothetical means, inherently, even more control for the consumer, and less for the seller/marketer/developer.

‘Web 3.0,’ Apparently, Has Interchangeable Parts

At the Seoul Digital Forum, while addressing a room of suits, Schmidt was asked, nearly in jest, what would the next phase, you guessed it, Web 3.0 entail.

"Web 2.0 is a marketing term," he replied, "and I think you just invented 3.0."

Who knew he could be funny?

To answer the question, Schmidt differentiated the two by saying Web 2.0′s underlying architecture was/is AJAX. With 3.0, however, applications are pieced together from relatively smaller units gathering data from "the cloud," accessible via PC or mobile, and are customizable.

Sort of like what happened in the Industrial Revolution? Interchangeable parts and all that? Sounds like it.

And here’s where traditional business entities get really steamed (after losing the control over marketing, data, and device): People won’t be purchasing these applications at the store, but will be notified and enabled by friends to use them, as they join in the viral campaigns originating at social networks and ending in email inboxes.

That means, according Schmidt, Web 3.0 is less centralized than Web 2.0, and marketers are going to have a heck of time reorganizing their strategies.

Hat tip to Richard MacManus at Read/WriteWeb (where you can see the video).

Google Seeks Edge In Voice Traffic Talks

WebProNews Staff — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:40:22 +0000

As part of Google’s ongoing efforts to broaden its network, the company has been actively seeking strategic negotiators for submarine networks, and for IP transit services.

Google Seeks Edge In Voice Traffic Talks

Job postings that appeared on MediaBistro at the end of July for Google indicate they are taking more aggressive stances in making deals for network services. Of particular interest: Google has tagged one of the two Strategic Negotiator positions as ‘Voice Focus – Global Infrastructure.’

Though Google has received attention recently for its proposed ‘white-label’ mobile phone hardware, we’ve always believed Google has much more in mind for wireless communications. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said several times the growth and revenue available through mobile has been part of the company’s strategy.

Even though the job title for one position has been labeled as Voice Focus, the job description reads far more generically when it comes to networking services. This is part of the description:

Negotiation and purchasing of IP transit services in North America, Europe, Asia, and/or Latin America; negotiation of partnerships with Internet exchanges, regional peering providers, and paid peering arrangements with major carriers.

Pretty common stuff, yet Google hints at deeper desires in the job title. We’re going to count this as another piece of speculative evidence that Google plans a challenge on the wireless industry. Imagine being able to pick up an iPhone-like mobile device that has its web and VoIP service supported by Google advertising, running on a Google-branded network.

Who could resist the price of free for service, along with a range of hardware delivered by Google’s partners in the wireless device industry? Google could become a global utility provider of wireless service, while selling mobile ads that Schmidt called “twice as profitable” as their non-mobile counterparts.

The submarine networking position doesn’t look as sexy as the voice focused one, but it’s just as important. Getting Internet traffic from continent to continent means sending it underwater. A truly global voice/VoIP solution means Google needs some favorable deals here as well.

Google Cracking Under Pressure from Viacom?

Andy Beal — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:04:01 +0000

It’s interesting to follow the Viacom lawsuit against Google. While Google’s faced many legal challenges before, it appears Viacom’s is the one that is troubling the search engine. It’s somewhat out of character to see Google CEO Eric Schmidt talk ugly about a company that is suing them – Google tends to comment via legal counsel – and it suggests the suit is a worry to him.

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, speaking with reporters at a hotel bar at the 25th annual Allen & Co. moguls meeting, said litigation was the foundation of the company that owns the MTV Networks, Paramount movies studio and video game developer Harmonix.

“Viacom is a company built from lawsuits, look at their history,” Schmidt said on early Friday.

“Look who they hired as CEO, Philippe Dauman, who was the general counsel for Viacom for 20 years,” he added.

It’s not surprising that Google’s concerned about Viacom – it’s a $1 billion law suit after all – but it’s still strange to see Google launch a character attack in an effort to undermine the cable company’s image.

What do you think? Is Google starting to crack?

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