Daily Archives: September 23, 2008

Richard Waters Google/Yahoo ad deal “needs safeguards”

September 23, 2008 8:31 pm by Richard Waters

Time is running out for the internet companies to decide if they want to plough on regardless or put their deal on hold, possibly for good (as we explained here.) Today comes a white paper from the American Antitrust Institute calling on the companies to give an undertaking about their future behaviour before the deal is cleared:

The government should insist on a consent decree which preserves Yahoo’s incentives to remain in the paid search market. If such a consent decree cannot be achieved, then the government should seek an injunction to prevent Google and Yahoo from implementing their agreement. Read more

Posted in Internet |

Richard Waters Android: a first look

September 23, 2008 4:19 pm by Richard Waters

My colleague Paul Taylor will be writing a fuller hands-on review of the first Android phone, T-Mobile’s G1. For now, though, here are some initial thoughts from the press conference to unveil the phone, which has just ended in New York:

- The G1 looks like a playground for Google services, though T-Mobile has suppressed the Google brand in some cases. For instance, click on an address in the address book and go straight to a Google map. Click again, and see a Google Street View. If you pull down a separate Window and start a chat with a friend the familiar Google “Talk” bubble appears on the screen. In none of these cases, though, does the Google name itself appear. Read more

Posted in Tech |

Richard Waters IBM takes a blunt axe to its dealings with standards-setters

September 23, 2008 5:01 am by Richard Waters

ooxml-documentation.jpgTo most people, the setting of technology standards sounds like an arcane and generally dull pursuit best left to the experts. But tech companies have long realised that influencing the standard-setting process can bring huge competitive advantage: getting your technology preference adopted by the world at large brings immediate home-field advantage.

Which is why the new row that IBM is trying hard to whip up over international standards is so important. Read more

Posted in Software |

Richard Waters Google’s Android: forget the hype, it’s time for the phone

September 23, 2008 12:21 am by Richard Waters

htc-dream.jpgWill Android turn out to be a dud for Google?

That question has been percolating ever since November, when the mobile software plan was unveiled. It didn’t help that the early Android developer tools got a thumbs down from one of the key groups Google was hoping to win over with its “open” platform. With launch delays this year, the suspicion has been growing that this was a half-baked response to one of Google’s most pressing needs (to promote the use of mobile advertising) rather than a carefully thought through strategy for a new mobile internet platform. Read more

Posted in Internet, Mobile |