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mobile
March 29, 2012
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Google generates four times more revenue from iPhone than Android

By on March 29, 2012 at 10:45 AM.

Google generates four times more revenue from iPhone than Android

According to legal documents for its upcoming hearing with Oracle, between 2008 and 2011 Android generated less than $550 million in revenue for Google. Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, which use Google Maps and search, generated more than four times as much revenue for the Mountain View-based company during the same time frame, The Guardian reported on Thursday. Roughly 100 million Android devices have been activated since the end of 2011, with an average of 850,000 devices activated each day, suggesting that Google pulls in slightly more than $10 per Android handset each year. Google CEO Larry Page said during an earnings call in October that the company was “seeing a huge positive revenue impact from mobile, which has grown 2.5 times in the last 12 months to a run rate of over $2.5 billion.” Page’s comments indicate that a large sum of Google’s mobile revenue comes from services outside of its Android ecosystem. Since the release of the iPhone, Google has had a deal with Apple to offer its Maps and search services on the popular handset, which may contribute largely to the company’s $2.5 billion in mobile revenue. More →

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Legal
February 28, 2012
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Apple and Google sued over ‘Street View’ on the iPad

By on February 28, 2012 at 8:40 AM.

Apple and Google sued over ‘Street View’ on the iPad

A Florida firm has filed a claim alleging that Google and Apple are both infringing on its mapping technology, PaidContent reported on Monday. PanoMap Technologies filed the complaint in an Orlando federal court, stating the use of Google Maps “Street View” feature in the iPad and iPhone violates U.S. Patent No. 6,563,529. The patent covers an “interactive system for displaying detailed view and direction in panoramic images.” The company wants Apple and Google to pay triple damages, asserting that the two tech giants knew about the patent but had ignored it. To support its allegations, PanoMap claims that Apple visited a website that showcased the patent in 2007 and Google cited the patent in its own recent patent application. The Google Maps Street View function allows users to zoom in and see an interactive photograph of houses, street corners and more. The patent was issued in 2003 and transferred to a shell company called Empire IP last year. In early February it was again transferred to PanoMap Technologies. The patent describes a technique to adjust a camera position from place to place and include it in a map image. More →

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Legal
February 2, 2012
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Google to pay €500,000 fine to French cartographer in Google Maps case

By on February 2, 2012 at 7:05 PM.

Google to pay €500,000 fine to French cartographer in Google Maps case

Google has been ordered to pay €500,000 to Bottin Cartographes, a French company that filed a lawsuit against Google France after it began providing its free Google Maps services to customers. Google is also responsible for paying an additional €15,000 in fees. The court found Google “guilty of abusing the dominant position of its Google Maps application,” Economic Times said Thursday. ”We proved the illegality of [Google's] strategy to remove its competitors… the court recognized the unfair and abusive character of the methods used and allocated Bottin Cartographes all it claimed,” Botton Cartographes lawyer Jean-David Scemmama said. “This is the first time Google has been convicted for its Google Maps application.” Google said it will appeal the decision. “We remain convinced that a free high-quality mapping tool is beneficial for both Internet users and websites,” a Google spokesperson said. “There remains competition in this sector for us, both in France and internationally.” Google was also fined €100,000 in France last year after a court found it guilty of collecting private information for the Street View feature of Google Maps.

More →

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mobile
December 12, 2011
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Facebook tops Google’s own offerings to become most popular Android app

By on December 12, 2011 at 9:00 AM.

Facebook tops Google’s own offerings to become most popular Android app

Beating out popular own-brand apps like Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube, Facebook holds the title as the most actively used Android app. Market research firm Nielsen on Monday published the findings of a month-long study to determine the most-used Android apps currently available for the platform. The study made use of Nielsen’s proprietary on-device monitoring software, which has been voluntarily installed by thousands of panelists across the country. Beyond the Android Market itself, Facebook was the most actively-used app on the Android platform over the past 30 days in all age brackets. Among users aged 18 to 24, Google Search was the second most used app in the firm’s new study with 77% of panelists having opened the app over the past 30 days. Gmail and Google Maps followed with 79% a piece, and YouTube slid in behind them with 64%. Following the suite of Google apps was Pandora Radio with a distant 30%. A similar study conducted by Nielsen in July found that Facebook was the third most popular app behind Google Maps and Gmail. Read on for more. More →

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General
November 15, 2011
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Google intros privacy solution for home routers, forces users to opt out

By on November 15, 2011 at 1:35 PM.

Google intros privacy solution for home routers, forces users to opt out

Google has announced a new privacy option that allows users to opt out of having their wireless routers included in the Google Location Server. That’s right, you have to opt out, not in. Here’s how Google Location Server works: when you’re walking around town trying to figure out your location using your smartphone and Google Maps, your phone can either use GPS or a faster, more battery efficient method that determines your location based on local wireless networks. Google maintains a database of local wireless access points but, if you don’t want to be included in it, you can simply change your router SSID (the network name that you broadcast) to include “_nomap” at the end of the access point name. Once you’ve done that, Google will not include your wireless access point in its Google Location Server database. “As we explored different approaches for opting-out access points from the Google Location Server, we found that a method based on wireless network names provides the right balance of simplicity as well as protection against abuse,” Google’s global privacy counsel Peter Felischer said in a blog post. “Specifically, this approach helps protect against others opting out your access point without your permission.” More →

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Software
November 2, 2011
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Google to charge for Google Maps access starting in January

By on November 2, 2011 at 9:45 AM.

Google to charge for Google Maps access starting in January

Beginning January 1st, Google will start charging a fee to developers and websites that frequently access its Google Maps API service, BBC reported recently. Developers will apparently be charged $4 for every 1,000 views after Google Maps is accessed more than 25,000 times in a single 24-hour period. BBC said Google expects the changes will only affect 0.35% of its user base. “We understand that the introduction of these limits may be concerning,” Google Maps product manager Thor Mitchell said. “However, with the continued growth in adoption of the Maps API, we need to secure its long-term future by ensuring that even when used by the highest-volume for-profit sites, the service remains viable.” More →

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mobile
September 13, 2011
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Who says men don’t ask for directions? Maps is top Android app for men, Facebook for women

By on September 13, 2011 at 7:00 AM.

Who says men don’t ask for directions? Maps is top Android app for men, Facebook for women

Market research firm Nielsen on Tuesday revealed the 20 most popular Android applications in the United States. Using data obtained from metered device usage as opposed to observations from surveys as most similar data is collected, Nielsen studied Android owners’ app usage over the past month. The result is a ranking of the platform’s top-20 applications by active reach, or the percentage of Android device owners who used each app within the past 30 days. Google’s Android Market topped the charts overall as well as among men and women alike, with a reach of nearly 91%. Google Maps was the second most popular app overall with a reach of 74.6%, and the app was No. 2 behind the Android Market for men with 77.1%. Gmail was third among men (75.5%), Google Search was fourth (72.4%) and Facebook rounded out the top-5 (66.9%). Among women, Facebook (81%) was second behind the Android Market, followed by Gmail (73.4%), Google Maps (71.9%) and Google Search (71.3%). More →

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mobile
July 21, 2011
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Google Maps for Android now offers 3D buildings in London, Paris, 16 other cities

By on July 21, 2011 at 4:48 AM.

Google Maps for Android now offers 3D buildings in London, Paris, 16 other cities

Google announced on Tuesday that it has added support for 3D buildings in 13 additional cities on Google Maps, including London, Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, Singapore, Lisbon, Boulder, and 11 cities in South Africa. Until Tuesday, the feature was available in just a handful of other metropolitan areas, including New York, Milan, and Zurich. To activate 3D buildings in one of the aforementioned locations, simply zoom in close to the city and the application will then show a 3D renders of the city landscape. A software update is not required if you already have the latest version of Google Maps installed on a device running Android 2.0 or newer. More →

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mobile
July 7, 2011
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Google Maps 5.7 for Android adds Transit Navigation, better search, photo viewer [video]

By on July 7, 2011 at 2:01 AM.

Google Maps 5.7 for Android adds Transit Navigation, better search, photo viewer [video]

Google took the wraps off of Google Maps 5.7 for Android devices on Wednesday, and the software update adds quite a few new features. The most noteworthy addition is Google’s Transit Navigation beta feature, which provides navigation instructions for public transportation in more than 400 cities around the globe. You don’t have to leave it open, either. Once you’ve started your trip, Transit Navigation will automatically remind you with an alert when your stop is coming up. Google also made it easier to find driving or walking directions in one click, improved search suggestions with category icons, and added a photo viewer to the Places feature of Google Maps. The update is available free from the Android Market for devices running Android 2.1 or newer. Hit the jump for a video of Transit Navigation beta in action. More →

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Business
June 27, 2011
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TomTom lowers guidance again as customers seek cheap, converged navigation solutions

By on June 27, 2011 at 8:54 PM.

TomTom lowers guidance again as customers seek cheap, converged navigation solutions

TomTom on Monday lowered its 2011 financial outlook again as consumer interest in dedicated navigation devices dwindles. Despite beating second-quarter revenue estimates, the Dutch company cut its full-year revenue guidance to €1.23 – €1.28 billion from its previously forecasted range of between €1.43 billion and €1.48 billion. This marks the second time this year that TomTom has lowered its 2011 guidance — the company had already reduced its full-year revenue forecast this past April. TomTom made a name for itself selling sleek Personal Navigation Devices that could be mounted in any car to provide the user with voice-guided GPS navigation. Following the emergence of smartphone-based solutions over the past few years, however, dedicated navigation companies like TomTom and Garmin have not been able to recover business lost to free solutions like Google Maps and inexpensive paid mobile solutions such as those offered by CoPilot and TalaNav. TomTom does offer a series of mobile applications, but the relative high price points and the flood of competition have proven to be difficult barriers. More →

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Featured
June 9, 2011
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Apple iOS 5: Day three

By on June 9, 2011 at 10:11 AM.

Apple iOS 5: Day three

After spending three days with iOS 5 on multiple devices now, I can confidently say that this is the mobile operating system to beat. It gives you just enough of what was missing, while still remaining solid (“closed” — a.k.a. fast, responsive, apps that don’t steal your data, etc). There have definitely been some slowdowns in daily usage due to the fact that the OS is in beta, and battery life has no doubt taken a hit, but this isn’t meant to be used on consumer devices. And even with those hiccups, it still out performs many Android handsets (though not the Galaxy S II, that battery is Teen Wolf). Hit the break for the rest of my thoughts after day three. More →

294 Comments
mobile
May 21, 2011
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Google updates browser-based Maps for Android and iOS

By on May 21, 2011 at 9:00 AM.

Google updates browser-based Maps for Android and iOS

Google — noting that 40% of its Google Maps users are on mobile devices — updated its Google Maps Web app for iOS and Android today. We’ve been pretty satisfied with the native applications on Android and iOS, but the website allows you to access many of the options that are available from a desktop browser, too. That includes the ability to view your location, search nearby areas with suggestions and auto-complete, get directions for driving, transit, biking, or walking, view different lays, view Place pages, and access your starred locations. We’re particularly excited about the option for accessing our starred locations, a feature that’s not available in the native iOS application. You can access the revamped interface by visiting maps.google.com from your iOS or Android device. More →

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mobile
April 14, 2011
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Google Maps for Android surpasses 50 million downloads

By on April 14, 2011 at 5:59 AM.

Google Maps for Android surpasses 50 million downloads

Google Maps has hit a new milestone as the first Android application to surpass the 50 million download mark. The free application has seen many revisions since its public introduction in 2008 — as part of Android 1.6 — and now includes 3D modeling with multi-touch zoom and panning, free voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, and support for Google’s Latitude and Places products. Given that it’s available on every iteration of Android — that we can think of — we’re not surprised to learn it’s the most downloaded application ever. Congrats to the Google Maps team.  More →

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