Google Wallet Review

Google Wallet is a mobile payment system developed by Google that allows its users to store credit cards, loyalty cards, and gift cards among other things, as well as redeeming sales promotions on their mobile phone.

Intel and Google in Android chip-making deal

Intel has set up a development partnership with Google to help improve how the Android operating system runs on its processors.

The move is aimed at giving Intel greater access to the fast-growing mobile devices sector.

Intel is the world's biggest chipmaker in the computer and server market.

However, it has so far played second fiddle to Cambridge-based designer ARM Holdings in the market for low power consumption chips.

'First-class citizen'

Google will buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion

(Reuters) - Google Inc said it will buy phone hardware maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc for $12.5 billion in cash to bolster the adoption of its Android mobile software.
In its biggest deal to date, Google said it would pay $40 per share, a 63 percent premium to Motorola Mobility's Friday closing price on the New York Stock Exchange.
"What it says is that Google wants to provide a total experience that's hardware and software (like Apple)," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

Google plus May Beat Twitter

The new social networking service is likely to pass Twitter and LinkedIn to claim 22 percent of online U.S. adults in a year, says a survey from Bloomerg/YouGov

(Bloomberg) — Google Inc.’s new social-networking service may grow to claim 22 percent of online U.S. adults in a year, passing Twitter Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. to be the second- most-used social site after Facebook Inc., a survey found.

Google And Microsoft Fight In Twitter

In an escalation of Android patent battles, Microsoft said it urged Google's legal team to join Microsoft in buying up hundreds of Nortel patents, but Google refused.
"Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no," Brad Smith, general counsel for Microsoft, tweeted Wednesday night.
Smith's tweet followed by several hours a blog from Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, who described Microsoft as one of a group of companies that are mounting a "hostile,organized campaign against Android."

Google paid $17,000 For Patches In New Chrome

Google paid $17,000 to security researchers for reporting 17 vulnerabilities that were fixed in the latest Chrome stable release. 
Google patched a record of 30 holes in the browser and released version 13 earlier today. Chrome is already considered to be a safe browser, but it seems as if Google is accelerating its security efforts even more.
Chrome 13 also includes two major feature additions to the browser, one of the being Instant pages and the other being the integration of Print Preview. The latter has been requested by users since the introduction of Chrome in late 2008 and has found its way into the browser finally after nearly 35 months.

Android Trojan records your calls

Criminals have increased the functionality of Android Trojans with a new strain that is capable of recording, and not just logging, conversations on compromised smartphones.
Previous mobile malware strains for Google's mobile platform had the ability to log the duration and numbers of incoming and outgoing calls. The new malware goes further than this by capturing the content of conversations before storing them on the SD-slot memory card of infected Android phones.

How Bing Plans to Beat Google

Bing is a big money-loser for Microsoft, shedding billions of dollars per year, but the company is far from giving up on beating Google in the search engine wars.
In a New York Times feature published over the weekend, Microsoft laid out its long-term plans for Bing and hints at new features to come. (The article follows an earlier Times opinion piece suggesting that Microsoft should abandon Bing entirely.)
Here's an overview of how Bing plans to take on Google in the years ahead:

Google has purchased 1,000 patents from IBM.

Google has purchased more than 1,000 patents from IBM in an effort to build up its intellectual property portfolio, possibly with an eye to fending off the increasing number of IP lawsuits the search giant faces from competitors such as Microsoft.
The 1,030 patents cover a wide range of technologies, including "the fabrication and architecture of memory and microprocessing chips," according to the blog SEO By The Sea, which first spotted the filings.
Google has said little about its motive behind the transaction. "Like many tech companies, at times we'll acquire patents that are relevant to our business needs. Bad software patent litigation is a wasteful war that no one will win," the company said in an emailed to InformationWeek. A Google spokesman declined to provide details about the price paid for the patents or the company's intent. IBM officials were not immediately available for comment.

Android Leaves Apple iOS In The Dust !!

Google Android is now well ahead of Apple's iOS for iPhone in the race for market share in mobile operating systems, new data released Thursday showed.
Android's total U.S. share for June came in at 39%, compared to 28% for Apple, according to data compiled by market watcher Nielsen. RIM's BlackBerry OS was in third place with 20% of the market. Meanwhile, Microsoft's fledgling Windows Phone 7 operating system, along with the remnants of the Windows Mobile OS, picked up 9% of the total market.

Google+ rattles Facebook, triggers 'social media' arms race

 Reuters
July 28 - Google+’s success has caught Facebook off-guard and with 25 million members, Google+ has become the fastest growing site in history, according to Wedbush Securities. Silicon Valley guru Steve Blank says a social-media ''arms race'' has begun

Has Google plus Already Peaked?

Average time on Google+ fell 10% in the last week, which might mean the service has peaked in usage, according to numbers from web analytics Experian Hitwise.
Google+ is racking in amazing signup numbers. 20 million users in one month! But that's relatively easy to accomplish for a service which is basically advertised on every page of the world's most visited site.

Why Google+ requires real names

A Google VP has apparently weighed in on the controversy over why Google+, still in its infancy following its arrival in late June, requires members to use their real names on the social network.
In a reported conversation Sunday night with tech blogger Robert Scoble, Google's senior vice president of social, Vic Gundotra, acknowledged that Google has made mistakes in its first pass with Google+. But he explained that the requirement to use real names is an attempt to set a positive tone, "like when a restaurant doesn't allow people who aren't wearing shirts to enter."