The Year in Review: Google

 

Late in 2011, Google's Eric Schmidt insisted that the company did not dominate in search or mobile, but a quick look at the tech headlines this year might suggest otherwise. Android devices are flying off the shelves, the company seems to finally be making headway in social, and companies still rely heavily on Google placement for online success.

But those victories did not come without controversy. Talk of Android fragmentation did not die down, while stories about Android malware seemed to pop up every few weeks. The company's search policies also prompted regulatory inquiries about possible anti-competitive behavior.

Oversight of these issues fell to Larry Page this year, who took over as Google CEO in April, leaving Schmidt to be executive chairman, or the public face of the company. And he was certainly never at a loss for anything to discuss. Let's take a look back at the year in Google.

A New Era

"In this new role I know he will merge Google's technology and business vision brilliantly. Larry, in my clear opinion, is ready to lead," Schmidt wrote in a January blog post.

That new leadership included a focus on products, particularly those that were no longer bearing fruit. Throughout the year, Page cleaned house and shut down everything from Google Labs to Google Buzz.In April, it was reported that Page would tie a quarter of Google employees' annual bonuses to the company's performance in social efforts. A week earlier, Google had unveiled the Facebook Like-esque +1 button, and by June, Google released its full-fledged social network, Google+.

Prior to Google+, the search giant had few successes in social. No one really understood Google Wave and Google Buzz ran into some privacy issues that eventually resulted in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. But after taking a page from Facebook, incorporating a few new innovations like Circles, and keeping initial access to a select few, users finally started to take notice, and a Google+ invite became the hottest ticket in town.

The social network opened to the public in September, and by October, Page said Google+ had 40 million users. That hardly compares to the more than 800 million Facebook users, but it wasn't bad given previous, lackluster outings; see the slideshow above for more.

Regulators Take Note

The Google Buzz FTC settlement, meanwhile, was not Google's only encounter with regulators this year. In June, the company revealed that the agency was conducting a "review of our business." The full extent of the inquiry has not been revealed, but the focus is believed to be Android and search.

In August, Google also reached a $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice over AdWords sales that allowed U.S. residents to access ads for online Canadian pharmacies.

Congress also wanted some answers. After some public wrangling, Schmidt finally agreed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, where he answered questions about whether or not Google favored its own products in its search results, among other things. Schmidt denied it, insisting that the search market is highly competitive.

Earlier in the year, however, Google ruffled some feathers when it changed its search algorithm to de-emphasize results from so-called content farms. The effort, dubbed Panda, was intended to surface more relevant Web sites but some businesses worried about how a drop in Google search rankings might affect their businesses. Demand Media, for example, reportedly experienced a 40 percent drop in traffic after Panda was put into effect.

In February, there was also a bit of a controversy over whether Microsoft's Bing was copying Google's search results. To test its theory, Google took a phrase that the average Google user was unlikely to search—like "mbzrxpgjys"?and manually paired it with an unlikely search result, like the homepage for RIM. These dummy search results were added to Google and days later, about 9 of the 100 tests added to Google were showing up on Bing. Microsoft denied it and accused Google of engaging in a honeypot attack and going after Bing because it was worried about its growth.

That was not the only time Google tangled with Microsoft this year. In March, Redmond joined an EU antitrust complaint against Google, accusing the company of restricting access to YouTube, content from book publishers, advertiser data, and more.

BT Sues Google Over Android-Related Patents

 

British Telecom (BT) has filed suit against Google, arguing that the search giant's Android operating system infringes on six of its patents.

The suit covers a variety of Google services, including Google Maps, Google+, Google Music, and more.

"BT brings this action to recover the just compensation it is owed and to prevent Google from continuing to benefit from BT's inventions without authorization," BT said in its suit (below), filed Thursday in a Delaware district court.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Patent blogger Florian Mueller broke down the six patents BT is asserting, the first of which covers a product that relies on Wi-Fi or network connectivity, like Google Music and Android Market downloads.

"Google Music maintains data relating to whether a particular music service is available or unavailable to its user based on whether is located in, and connected to, a WiFi hotspot or a cellular data network," BT said.

The second patent covers a system, like Google Maps, that provides up-to-date information over a mobile connection, including public transportation data, tourist attractions, and traffic information.

The third patent covers services generated via user preferences, which Mueller described as "broad." On this, BT mentions Google Maps, Google Search, Google Places, Google's location-based advertising, Google Offers, and Google+.

The fourth patent deals with an information service that stores customer data and is "essentially, a digital rights management patent," Mueller wrote. The Android Market, for example, "utilizes user identities in Google's servers," and keeps a list of things, like Android apps, that a user can access.

The fifth patent goes back to mapping, particularly one that can alter its results based on transportation systems—Google Maps results for driving, walking, or taking public transportation, for example.

Finally, the last patent deals with location-based information, particularly that provided via Google Maps and Google Maps Navigation.

According to Mueller, BT is the fifth large, publicly traded company to file a patent suit against Google after Apple, Oracle, Microsoft, and eBay.

"Android already had more than enough intellectual problems anyway. Now Google faces one more large organization that believes its rights are infringed," Mueller wrote. "BT probably wants to continue to be able to do business with all mobile device makers and therefore decided to sue Google itself."

Google employees receive a special edition Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Christmas

You know what’s a byword for Christmas? Presents. And Google likes to give them to its employees come Christmas and this years’ is no exception.

As a “Thank you for your hard work throughout the year”, every Google employee in the company’s offices in London and Zurich has received a special Christmas gift in the form of an exclusive Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

What makes this particular Galaxy Nexus exclusive is its battery cover. It sports an unique pattern with various Android icons, specially designed for the hardworking Googlers. Sadly, however, hardware specs of the device remain unchanged.

I don’t know about you, but I am not entirely convinced that this is the best battery cover design Google could have created. In addition, as this is Google’s internal matters, it’s not yet confirmed if this is the only bonus all the 20,000+ Google employees are going to receive this Christmas season.

Reportedly, last years’ Christmas holidays, all 20,000 Google personnel received an $1,000 individual bonus plus 10% increase in salary as of January 1, 2011. But, you know, a Galaxy Nexus isn’t so bad either.

Santa Uses Siri, Accepts Messages Via Gmail, Google Voice

 

Even in the age of ubiquitous personal computers, when you can find almost any answer on the Internet, some holiday secrets still hold sway over children (and even some adults who like to recall their childhood). Google has once again decided to add to the holiday fun surrounding the story of the bearded gift giver by letting you interact with Santa Claus, this time with a special twist.

A new ad (below) from Apple, meanwhile, suggests that the man in red is using Siri this year to help make deliveries.

Fans of Google Voice will remember last year when Google gave Santa his own phone number. This year you can call Santa's Google Voice number (855-34-SANTA) directly from your Gmail account and leave a message. And if you want to send a child or friend a message from Santa, you can visit Send A Call From Santa. The Google-run site takes you through a simple step-by-step process that allows you to send a phone message from "Santa" that is not only customized by gender and name, but also lets you add little touches that speak to the recipient's particular style.

For instance, if your friend is a yoga practicing, sushi lover, there are audio customizations for that, and if your friend is a rap music fan with a taste for expensive car rims and "gangsta" slang, Santa will also accommodate that approach. Once you start playing around with the different options, it's actually quite fun. Of course there are also plenty of options to tailor the audio as a kid-friendly message for children, sans any hipster irony. There are also options for those who don't celebrate Christmas, including Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and various other non-specific holiday greetings.

On that front, those who search for "Hanukkah" on Google.com (without quotes) will see Hanukkah lights across the top of their search results. The Jewish holiday runs from Dec. 20-28 this year.

The calls from Gmail are free for U.S. and Canadian users, but will cost $.01 per minute, plus any applicable value-added tax (VAT), everywhere else. If you want to hear a sample message before you try it out, you can listen to one on Google.com.

Apple's Christmas-themed Siri ad, meanwhile, shows Santa using his iPhone 4S and Siri to: ask for directions to a particular child's house; request the weather report in various U.S. cities; search email for the naughty and nice list; access a message from Mrs. Claus; and ask for the day's schedule (3.7 billion appointments, of course).

Google Ships 'Ice Cream Sandwich' Partner Update, Adds Social Stream

Google formally announced Android 4.0.3 on Friday, the base version of its "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system that will be provided to partners.

Although Google described the new version as a mix of optimizations and bug fixes, the real significance is that the new OS will be the baseline version that will be rolled out to partners interested in developing phones and tablets around the new OS. It also appears to possibly include Facebook Ticker-like functionality.

"Going forward, we'll be focusing our partners on Android 4.0.3 as the base version of Ice Cream Sandwich," Xavier Ducrohet, the Android SDK Tech Lead, said in announcing the new version. "The new platform will be rolling out to production phones and tablets in the weeks ahead, so we strongly encourage you to test your applications on Android 4.0.3 as soon as possible."

In addition to incremental improvements in graphics, databases, spell-checking, Bluetooth, and other features, the new OS includes a new social stream API.

"Applications that use social stream data such as status updates and check-ins can now sync that data with each of the user's contacts, providing items in a stream along with photos for each," Ducrohet wrote. "This new API lets apps show users what the people they know are doing or saying, in addition to their photos and contact information."

Apps can now add colors to calendar events, Ducrohet added, and improvements were made to screen readers.

Smartphone cameras also received a key improvement: the OS now supports video stabilization, a feature of many point-and-shoot cameras. QVGA resolution profiles were also added.

Which phones will be receiving Ice Cream Sandwich? Hit the link to find out. And then check out the related explanations from Sony Ericsson and Motorola on why it will take so long for those updates to arrive.

Google Calculator can now graph functions, still won’t do your math homework

Google added another feature to their constantly growing bag of tricks – the simple calculator feature of Google Search has grown a graphing calculator. You just type in a function (e.g. sin(x) * x) and you’ll get an interactive plot of the function as the top search result.

You can pan around and zoom in and out, check the value of the function at any point you like and even plot multiple functions (separate them with a comma). All this is done with HTML5 plus SVG, there’s no Flash used (so it should run problem-free on devices without Flash support).

Now, the calculator is pretty simple – it won’t plot inequalities, or functions of multiple variables or anything complex like that. What you do get is to use all the functions that the Google Calculator has and there are quite a few of those.

So, while it won’t replace proper graphing calculators or sites like Wolfram Alpha, it’s the quickest way to see what the plot of a function looks like. Go on, try it. You know you want to try out that Batman equation to see if it works.

Androidland launches in Melbourne courtesy Google and Telstra, lets you get your droid on

Google and Australian telecommunications company Telstra have joined forces to launch the world’s first store dedicated to Android. Called the Androidland, it’s not just a place to buy Android devices but also where you can experience all the different features in the OS and just enjoy yourself.

There is a lot to do in this Android-themed store, decked in the traditional Android green color. You can play Angry Birds on a giant touchscreen display, Androidify yourself or check out the world on a massive display using Google Earth. They have even gone as far as to have a gingerbread scent in the store and a grass scent where there is grass. And then of course, you have handsets from all the major manufacturers, which you can try out for yourself.

This store is one of a kind and can be found on 246 Bourke Street in Melbourne, Australia but if this one is a success Google may want to invest in more of these around the world.

Google employees taste Ice Cream Sandwich on their Nexus S, mere mortals not far from getting it on theirs

Ever since Google announced the Galaxy Nexus and along with it Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, those of us with a Nexus S have been salivating at the chance of getting it on our own devices. Unfortunately, Google did not give any official date as to when the update will be made available for download.

It seems now, however, that it won’t be too long now. A Google employee posted on Google+ that he got the Ice Cream Sandwich on his Nexus S and that ‘it’s looking great’. The update was later on deleted from the site but you can see a screenshot below.

Usually when a product is near completion it is given to some of the company employees for testing, a process known as dogfooding and by the looks of it this is exactly what is happening with the ICS update for Nexus S. I guess it won’t be long now and if I have to make a guess we should see the update come out in this month itself.

Of course the impatient ones have had the option to install the custom ROM for quite some time now but there’s nothing like getting the goods directly from the factory.