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THE GOOG

By Kelly Faircloth 3/20 4:52pm

THE GOOG

(Photo: Google)

Google Dances on Reader’s Grave With the Launch of ‘Keep’

This morning, I logged on to my computer and looked for my Reader tab in my Google drop-down, and it was gone. All those years of devotion and suddenly the GOOG burying our history together. (Now you actually have to go to google.com/reader.) So you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t rush to embrace Google’s latest, greatest app: “Keep,” a new note-taking service.

Announced today in a blog post, Keep offers a replacement for your current, disorganized system of crumpled Post Its and emails to yourself: Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 10/11/12 10:36am

THE GOOG

Sick clock, bro. (flickr.com/doortoriver)

Report: Google Plans to Expand Its Chelsea Market Space

Looks like The GOOG will soon be expanding its New York City footprint. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that the company plans to lease an additional 94,000-plus square feet at the Chelsea Market.

The great irony is that, thanks to that swank employee cafeteria, Googlers are the techies least likely to be longing for proximity to the delicious smorgasbord that is the Chelsea Market. Why bother paying for a lobster roll when there’s suckling pig in the employee cafeteria? Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 8/13/12 11:37am

THE GOOG

It's a new day, baby. (Photo: flickr.com/annszyp)

Google Apparently Totally Psyched About Travel Guides, Buys Frommer’s

Could it be that Google hath the heart of a heretic and therefore doubts the power of that staple of Internet culture, the user-generated review? The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is buying travel guide maker Frommer’s from John Wiley and Sons, with an eye toward further beefing up its local reviews.

This comes on the heels of the company’s acquisition of restaurant review juggernaut Zagat.

No word on price yet, and it’s not clear whether those doorstoppers will continue to exist in print form. The whole brand might simply be folded into Zagat, which we’re sure employees of the storied Frommer’s brand will be simply thrilled about. Bernardo Hernandez, Zagat’s managing director of product management, told the Journal: Read More

By Jessica Roy 7/13/12 11:16am

THE GOOG

So wry, that Eric Schmidt. (Photo: Twitter)

Eric Schmidt Thinks Mainstream Adoption of Self-Driving Cars Will Depend on ‘How Drunk They Are’

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt shed some light on Google’s self-driving car experiment at the Sun Valley conference yesterday, reports TechCrunch. Mr. Schmidt thinks that it’s possible that self-driving cars will be the dominant form of transportation within our lifetimes. I know a lot of commuters with high blood pressure who will be happy to hear that. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 7/03/12 5:41pm

THE GOOG

The end. (Photo: flickr.com/caterina)

As You Crack Open That July 4th Beer, Pour One Out for iGoogle and Google Video

Google’s decluttering continues unabated. The latest products carted off to the garbage dump: iGoogle, Google Video, and Google Mini, plus Google Talk Chatback and the company’s Symbian Search App.

As the announcement explains, “we need to focus—or we end up doing too much and not having the impact we strive for.” To that end, one of the company’s most redundant offerings is finally reaching its logical conclusion: Whatever’s left on Google Video (which hasn’t even accepted uploads since 2009) will be relocated to YouTube later this summer.

Similarly, Chatback is being shut down in favor of the Meebo bar. Read More

By Jessica Roy 6/27/12 1:19pm

THE GOOG

(Photo: Google)

Google Debuts Nexus Q, A Media Streaming Device, But Will It Convince Anyone to Use Google Play?

At its I/O developer conference today, Google introduced a new hardware device that streams music and video to a variety of Wifi-connected devices. A black orb with a glowing blue stripe, the Nexus Q is not just pretty, it’s Apple-quality pretty. In fact, as AllThingsD reports, its two main developers boast Apple design pedigrees.

But design isn’t everything. Functionality and already-established technology habits could derail the Nexus Q’s goal of catching up to the success of Apple’s iTunes store. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 5/30/12 12:10pm

THE GOOG

Google+ Local (via screencap)

Ding Dong, Google Places Is Dead; Meet Google+ Local Instead

And so Google’s acquisition of Zagat finally bears fruit: Your parents’ favorite dining guide is now the backbone of Google+ Local, which is replacing Google Places. So SoMoLo.

Here’s the deal: Users can still write reviews. The integration with Zagat means those reviews will now be factored into the familiar score ranging from 1 to 30. Plus, expect some actual professionally written material thrown into the mix. (Imagine that.) The integration with Google+ means you’ll also see reviews written by anyone in your Circles. (The bad news is you’ll get the phantom ding from any unclosed Gchat conversations, which drives us batty.)  Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 5/24/12 8:19am

THE GOOG

Ms. Falque-Pierrotin (cnil.fr)

Now Google Is Pissing Off the French Authorities

Mere weeks after being slapped with a $25,000 fine from America’s own F.C.C., Google is antagonizing yet another government body with its tight-lipped, unhelpful responses.

All Things D reports that France’s C.N.I.L., the data protection organization investigating the company’s privacy policies on behalf of the EU, is none too pleased with the company right now. Whatever answers Google does provide are often “incomplete or approximate,” and that simply won’t do.

The C.N.I.L. sent Google a questionaire back in March; the company returned the questionaire in April. Representatives from the two organizations have also met in person. And yet, the French still don’t have the information they want. And so now C.N.I.L. head Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin has taken to the Internet with a chiding public letter for CEO Larry Page. She writes:  Read More