Clint Boulton

Apple has purchased Web mapping software startup Poly9, which could mean the secretive company is looking to offer its own version of Google Earth. Poly9 makes Poly9 Globe, which it advertises here as a cross-browser, cross-platform 3D globe that does not require any download. Google Earth provides similar mapping technology, but requires users to download […]

Apple is not yet banning advertising technology providers from collecting data from iPhone applications, the vice president of Google’s mobile ad unit confirmed. Omar Hamoui, who sold his mobile display ad company AdMob to Google for $750 million in May, said AdMob’s advertising customers have successfully been able to place ads within iPhone applications. “They […]

Google July 13 said it has blended Picnik, the Web photo editing technology it acquired in March, with Picasa Web Albums. This means users using Picasa can click the edit choice from the Edit drop-down menu or from the Picnik icon to add funny comments to their photos in thought clouds, or add stickers and […]

Google July 13 launched its Google Fiber for Communities Website to keep people in the loop on the company’s plans to build ultra-high speed broadband networks. Google Feb. 11 said it will build these fiber meshes to hurtle Internet data at speeds of 1 gigabit per second. That’s more than 100 times faster than most […]

There’s not a whole lot of interest going on ahead of Google’s second-quarter earnings, which I will preview later. But the Website “Uneven Google” is the latest in a string of user interfaces that rattle the Google search engine cage: Here is what the query results look like: Yes, in answer to your question; the […]

Google retained its 66 percent U.S. market share through June, while Yahoo and Microsoft Bing notched 16.7 percent and 11 percent, respectively, according to adjusted numbers from market researcher comScore. Search share didn’t change much when comScore July 12 stripped away “contextually driven searches” powered by slide shows and contextual shortcuts on Yahoo and Bing. […]

Google is sure to face questions about its business abroad and snafus in the United States, such as the failure of its Nexus One smartphone to catch on in the market, when it announces second-quarter earnings July 15. The company will hold a call to discuss Q2 earnings July 15 after the market close. Analysts […]

In a nasty war of words between VOIP providers, Fring accused Skype of blocking it from letting users make video calls on Apple’s iPhone 4, Google Android and other smartphones and applied the “c-word” to the company. Fring, which has enjoyed interconnectivity with Skype for four years, called Skype “cowards” for allegedly blocking Fring from […]

10 Reasons Why Facebook Wont Challenge Google in Search by Clint Boulton Too Much Google, Too Little Time With Facebook’s Open Graph protocol, TripAdvisor.com and other Websites are showing up in Facebook’s search results, with links back to their Website. This symbiotic relationship means TripAdvisor is giving Facebook access to its site, while the travel […]

Help desk software maker Zendesk July 13 struck a deal with Twitter to let companies monitor tweets to connect with customers over customer service questions and concerns. Many businesses use Twitter, which has more than 100 million users, to see what their customers are saying about them. Employees have e-mailed tweets, the short message methods […]

Google July 9 made its 45° aerial imagery view, introduced to Google users in February in Google Maps Labs, available in select cities in the United States and worldwide to all users of Google Maps. As the name implies, 45° imagery shows a location from a 45° angle rather than from the top. Users can […]

Just days after supposition that Google could get into gaming, TechCrunch reported that Google has pumped at least $100 million into online gaming power Zynga, whose Farmville and Mafia Wars titles captivate millions of Facebook users. In a strategic deal, Zynga would serve as the centerpiece for Google Games when it launches later this year, […]