Clint Boulton

Updated: Google’s Chrome Web browser lost market share for the first time ever thanks to upticks in July for both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Apple Safari. Chrome had steadily grown over the last several months, topping 7.24 percent through June, but through July the young Web browser had slipped a tad to 7.16 percent, according […]

The New York Times Aug. 1 published this nice piece about how Google is aping some of Microsoft Bing’s newer features. That’s something I’ve been tracking for awhile and been meaning to write about but backburnered for other newsy things. Good thing Google Watch lets me opine on others’ coverage. But I don’t think the […]

Google said it has added a real-time weather layer for Google Earth to help travelers plan their trips or see what the weather is like around the world. Downloaded by more than 700 million people around the world, Google Earth is a free desktop application that lets users search for satellite images of maps, terrain […]

No one doubts that Microsoft threatens to eclipse others in any market it enters. But until the company produces a tablet computer built from an operating system other than its new Windows 7 desktop operating system, few seem willing to give the software giant a shot against Apple and Google in the burgeoning tablet market. […]

Location-based social networks such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Brightkite are buoyed by a lot of hype that has yet to reach its potential for Web marketers, but some 84 percent of users surveyed are not familiar with these applications at all. That’s the gist of a market research report from Forrester Research analyst Melissa Parrish, […]

Motorola confirmed that Google’s Android 2.2 operating system, or Froyo build, will be pushed out to the original Motorola Droid beginning the week of Aug. 2. Motorola Forums Manager Matt wrote in a brief note on the company’s forum July 30: “I’m happy to report that Verizon Wireless will start pushing Android 2.2 (Froyo) to […]

Google is looking to target ads to smartphone users who often use Google Maps to get directions and find businesses. The company July 29 introduced new AdWords location extensions that let advertisers put their businesses’ location and phone number on an expandable map ad for mobile Websites and applications in Google’s content network. Google Maps […]

Twitter July 30 began testing “Suggestions for You,” a small but potentially engaging feature geared to expose users to more of the 100 million accounts on the microblog. Suggestions will appear under the Find People section sandwiched between the “Browse Interests” and “Find People” tabs on Twitter.com. Users who like a suggestion they see can […]

It’s just a small button on Amazon users’ recommendation Web pages, but the e-commerce giant’s integration with Facebook Connect could light the torch for a major social shopping shift. Beginning this week, when Amazon users click on the recommendations link from their Amazon home page, they see a new beta window on the right of […]

Sometimes patience pays off in this media business, even in the blogosphere where first and fast often equals leading the pack. Last night I watched TechMeme light up for an hour or so with this collection of stories about Google’s search being, again, blocked in China. Reuters led the pack in reporting that Google’s search, […]

Sprint confirmed that the HTC Evo 4G smartphone is getting the upgrade to Android 2.2 beginning Aug. 3, joining the Google Nexus One as the first handsets to get the “Froyo” build pushed over the air. Released to open source June 23, Android 2.2 includes faster browser performance, including a faster JavaScript engine, enterprise capabilities […]

Microsoft July 30 said it planned to challenge the Japanese Fair Trade Commission’s acceptance of Yahoo Japan’s search deal with Google. Yahoo Japan July 27 agreed to let Google power its search and search advertising platform despite the fact that its U.S.-based investor, Yahoo, is switching to Microsoft’s Bing’s search engine and ad platform in […]