LIVE COVERAGE: Google I/O
Google Inc said it will shut Google Reader on July 1, citing declining usage for the application that aggregates content served by web feeds, as it forges ahead with its strategy to focus on fewer products that have more impact.
What retired applications, websites and services do you miss?
Several Google Inc Web products, including the popular GMail service, appeared to go dark for users on several continents on Monday.
Google confirmed that “service disruptions” had affected GMail and Google Drive, its online storage service. The two products are part of Google’s Apps suite, a Microsoft Office rival that caters to both consumers and businesses.
By 10:10 a.m. Pacific Time (18:10 GMT), Google’s Apps Dashboard monitoring service reported that GMail and Drive service had resumed. The company did not specify how many users were affected, or where, but the outage prompted widespread complaints on social media on both coasts in the U.S. and other major markets, from the United Kingdom to Brazil.
Early success for the iPhone 5 smartphone has helped Apple to overtake Google’s Android software in the United States, research firm Kantar WorldPanel said on Tuesday.
Apple’s U.S. market share in the 12 weeks to October 31 more than doubled from a year ago to 48.1 percent, putting it within reach of the record 49.3 percent it managed in early 2012.
Android’s share dropped to 46.7 percent from 63.3 percent, Kantar WorldPanel’s data showed, but it continues to dominate in key European markets. The platform 74 percent market share in Germany and 82 percent in Spain.
Its combined share of the top five European markets rose to 64 percent, from 51 percent a year earlier, while Apple’s share edged up by one percentage point to 21 percent.
READ ON: Apple takes smartphone top spot from Google in U.S.
Google has officially released their Q3 earnings report, adding that the initial report was erroneously released early and “financial results reported in the prior Form 8-K have not changed.”
Quote from Larry Page: “We had a strong quarter. Revenue was up 45 percent year-on-year, and, at just fourteen years old, we cleared our first $14 billion revenue quarter. I am also really excited about the progress we’re making creating a beautifully simple, intuitive Google experience across all devices.”
READ ON: Google filing error shocks investors, exposes process
Google Inc reported net revenue of $11.3 billion for the third quarter, below Wall Street’s expectations.
The surprise announcement, which had been expected after the market close, helped send its shares down 9 percent to $688.
Google Inc’s Motorola Mobility unveiled three smartphones to help compete with bigger rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co for the holiday shopping season.
Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile provider, will sell all three devices - the Droid Razr HD, the Droid Razr Maxx HD and the Droid Razr M - the companies said on Wednesday.
The smartphones will use Google’s Android software. Motorola showed off the phones at a press event in New York, its first big media gathering since Google bought Motorola in May. Google has said that the handset maker will remain a separate subsidiary and will make fewer phones than before.
The unveiling was part of a flurry of mobile device launches ahead of the holiday season throughout the industry. Earlier on Wednesday, Nokia Oyj and Microsoft Corp unveiled their flagship phone, the Lumia 920, which uses the latest Windows Phone operating software. Nokia did not announce any wireless operator partners for its device.
Amazon.com Inc is expected to unwrap new Kindle Fire tablets on Thursday, and Apple is expected to unveil the latest version of its seminal iPhone on September 12.
Google Inc CEO Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been conducting behind-the-scenes conversations about a range of intellectual property matters, including the ongoing mobile patent disputes between the companies, according to people familiar with the matter.
The two chief executives had a phone conversation last week, the sources said. Discussions involving lower-level officials of the two companies are also ongoing.
Page and Cook are expected to talk again in the coming weeks, though no firm date has been set, the sources said. One source told Reuters that a meeting was scheduled for this Friday, but had been delayed for reasons that were unclear.
The two companies are keeping the lines of communication open at a high level against the backdrop of Apple’s decisive legal victory in a patent infringement case against Samsung, which uses Google’s Android software.
EXCLUSIVE: Apple, Google bosses hold talks over patent issues
Marissa Mayer’s appointment caps a tumultuous year at Yahoo. In May, Scott Thompson resigned as CEO after less than 6 months on the job as a controversy flared up over his academic credentials.
Thompson replaced the controversial and occasionally foul-mouthed Carol Bartz, fired in September after failing to revitalize Yahoo.
“She’s going to bring in a different perspective. It’s pretty clear Yahoo needs a new direction and really a new vision,” said Paul Buchheit, a Google engineer who helped create Gmail and now a partner at startup-incubator Y-Combinator.
