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Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Google, Verizon Close to Mobile Search Deal
Google is nearing a wide-ranging partnership with Verizon Communications that would make it the default search provider for all the company's devices, The Wall Street Journal has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The deal would see Verizon (NYSE: VZ) replace its homegrown mobile search engine with Google's, creating an all-in-one service that would allow users to access the Web and applications such as ringtones through the same interface, with the companies sharing ad revenue.
The Journal reported that the companies have yet to agree on how much information about users' searches Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) would be able to access. Detailed search histories would help Google better target its ads, but carriers like to keep their subscriber data in house.
Mobile search ads remain a nascent market. Research firm eMarketer estimates spending on mobile search ads to hit $102.3 million this year, though it expects that figure to jump to $1.4 billion by 2012.
For years, analysts have been heralding the imminent explosion of mobile ads, though the breakthrough has yet to arrive, due in part to slow connection speeds, poor interfaces and carriers' reluctance to open access to their networks to content and service providers.
That last condition has been the root of some friction between Google and Verizon. When the Federal Communications Commission was crafting rules for the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction last year, Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), took to the courts to nullify a condition requiring the winning bidder to open its network to all types of software and devices.
The FCC held its ground, and the open-access rule remained in place for the auction, provided that the bidding for that portion of the spectrum reached a minimum price. Thanks in part to Google's participation in the auction, that floor price was reached, so the open-access requirement will force Verizon, which won about half of the spectrum available, to open its network to all comers.
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has maintained that it was prepared to take home a slice of the airwaves if it won, though the company admitted that the main reason for its participation was to trigger the open-access requirement.
Verizon has indicated that it would begin opening up its networks to third-party devices and applications on its own, and even said it would support Google's forthcoming Android platform, but following the spectrum auction, Google filed a petition (PDF) asking the FCC to ensure that Verizon honored the open-access requirements.
With a forthcoming ad partnership, much of that bad blood could be behind them.
For Google, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story, the deal would give it a major inroad into a market that it expects to be huge. By subscribers, Verizon is the second-largest mobile provider in the country, and the rumored deal earned some early praise from Wall Street.
"We think such a relationship would potentially be a material positive for Google, as it pursues market share and growth in a category that Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt recently described as possibly a bigger opportunity than the more traditional Internet, due largely to the number of mobile handset and devices worldwide," Standard & Poor's analyst Scott Kessler wrote in a research note.
The largest carrier, AT&T (NYSE: T), has an extensive partnership with Yahoo, which also has ambitious designs on the mobile market.
Verizon is interested in eventually placing the Google search bar on its home screen, and could seek to extend the partnership to Verizon's Web properties and its FiOS TV service, the Journal reported.
Citing company policy, a spokesman said "Verizon is not commenting on rumors and speculation."
By: Kenneth Corbin
The deal would see Verizon (NYSE: VZ) replace its homegrown mobile search engine with Google's, creating an all-in-one service that would allow users to access the Web and applications such as ringtones through the same interface, with the companies sharing ad revenue.
The Journal reported that the companies have yet to agree on how much information about users' searches Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) would be able to access. Detailed search histories would help Google better target its ads, but carriers like to keep their subscriber data in house.
Mobile search ads remain a nascent market. Research firm eMarketer estimates spending on mobile search ads to hit $102.3 million this year, though it expects that figure to jump to $1.4 billion by 2012.
For years, analysts have been heralding the imminent explosion of mobile ads, though the breakthrough has yet to arrive, due in part to slow connection speeds, poor interfaces and carriers' reluctance to open access to their networks to content and service providers.
That last condition has been the root of some friction between Google and Verizon. When the Federal Communications Commission was crafting rules for the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction last year, Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), took to the courts to nullify a condition requiring the winning bidder to open its network to all types of software and devices.
The FCC held its ground, and the open-access rule remained in place for the auction, provided that the bidding for that portion of the spectrum reached a minimum price. Thanks in part to Google's participation in the auction, that floor price was reached, so the open-access requirement will force Verizon, which won about half of the spectrum available, to open its network to all comers.
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has maintained that it was prepared to take home a slice of the airwaves if it won, though the company admitted that the main reason for its participation was to trigger the open-access requirement.
Verizon has indicated that it would begin opening up its networks to third-party devices and applications on its own, and even said it would support Google's forthcoming Android platform, but following the spectrum auction, Google filed a petition (PDF) asking the FCC to ensure that Verizon honored the open-access requirements.
With a forthcoming ad partnership, much of that bad blood could be behind them.
For Google, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story, the deal would give it a major inroad into a market that it expects to be huge. By subscribers, Verizon is the second-largest mobile provider in the country, and the rumored deal earned some early praise from Wall Street.
"We think such a relationship would potentially be a material positive for Google, as it pursues market share and growth in a category that Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt recently described as possibly a bigger opportunity than the more traditional Internet, due largely to the number of mobile handset and devices worldwide," Standard & Poor's analyst Scott Kessler wrote in a research note.
The largest carrier, AT&T (NYSE: T), has an extensive partnership with Yahoo, which also has ambitious designs on the mobile market.
Verizon is interested in eventually placing the Google search bar on its home screen, and could seek to extend the partnership to Verizon's Web properties and its FiOS TV service, the Journal reported.
Citing company policy, a spokesman said "Verizon is not commenting on rumors and speculation."
By: Kenneth Corbin
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Intel Inside Your TV
Intel is moving forward with its ambitious plan to spread the Intel Architecture (IA) to places it's never been. At this week's Intel Developer Forum (IDF), for example, the chip giant announced plans to put Intel inside your TV.
Eric Kim, senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Home group, announced during yesterday's keynote, the Intel Media Processor CE 3100, the first System on a Chip (SoC) Intel's specifically built for consumer electronics devices, in particular high definition televisions.
Kim noted that prior efforts to bring the Internet to televisions always involved a browser, evoking memories of Web TV, the set top box and keyboard that provided Internet access through the television, but had an extremely primitive interface that was not particularly well received.
The CE 3100 would allow for a direct pipeline of content, no browser needed, such as high-definition video, home-theater quality audio and advanced graphics, plus all the benefits of Internet connectivity. Kim said it could go into a set-top device, television or any connected device, like a DVD player.
The tiny chip, smaller than a penny, contains a three-channel DDR2 memory controller, dedicated multi-channel dual audio DSPs (define), a 3D graphics engine and support for multiple peripherals, including USB 2.0 and PCI-Express, plus support for high definition video codecs (define) like MPEG-2, H.264 or VC-1.
Intel isn't going alone with the CE 3100. Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced it will make a framework, called the Widget Channel, available for TV's with the CE 3100. Similar to Yahoo's Widgets for Windows desktops, it will allow you to put different content widgets on your TV for quick access to information, like news and weather.
The Widget Channel will use the same Yahoo Widget Engine, also known as Konfabulator, to run the software on your TV. Widgets written for PCs will apparently work with the TV version of the software. Among the widgets is the Sidebar, which docks to the right side of the screen, just like the Vista desktop.
here will also be a Blockbuster widget, letting people view high definition movie trailers before they go out to rent movies, one for Yahoo's Flickr photo hosting site, and one for Twitter, the popular networking application.
To support this new embedded processor, Intel also announced the formation of The Intel Consumer Electronics Network, which will support developers of content for Internet-connected CE device.
Intel plans to ship the Media Processor CE 3100 to consumer electronics manufacturers beginning next month. It has already lined up TV makers Samsung Electronics and Toshiba as customers.
Eric Kim, senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Home group, announced during yesterday's keynote, the Intel Media Processor CE 3100, the first System on a Chip (SoC) Intel's specifically built for consumer electronics devices, in particular high definition televisions.
Kim noted that prior efforts to bring the Internet to televisions always involved a browser, evoking memories of Web TV, the set top box and keyboard that provided Internet access through the television, but had an extremely primitive interface that was not particularly well received.
The CE 3100 would allow for a direct pipeline of content, no browser needed, such as high-definition video, home-theater quality audio and advanced graphics, plus all the benefits of Internet connectivity. Kim said it could go into a set-top device, television or any connected device, like a DVD player.
The tiny chip, smaller than a penny, contains a three-channel DDR2 memory controller, dedicated multi-channel dual audio DSPs (define), a 3D graphics engine and support for multiple peripherals, including USB 2.0 and PCI-Express, plus support for high definition video codecs (define) like MPEG-2, H.264 or VC-1.
Intel isn't going alone with the CE 3100. Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced it will make a framework, called the Widget Channel, available for TV's with the CE 3100. Similar to Yahoo's Widgets for Windows desktops, it will allow you to put different content widgets on your TV for quick access to information, like news and weather.
The Widget Channel will use the same Yahoo Widget Engine, also known as Konfabulator, to run the software on your TV. Widgets written for PCs will apparently work with the TV version of the software. Among the widgets is the Sidebar, which docks to the right side of the screen, just like the Vista desktop.
here will also be a Blockbuster widget, letting people view high definition movie trailers before they go out to rent movies, one for Yahoo's Flickr photo hosting site, and one for Twitter, the popular networking application.
To support this new embedded processor, Intel also announced the formation of The Intel Consumer Electronics Network, which will support developers of content for Internet-connected CE device.
Intel plans to ship the Media Processor CE 3100 to consumer electronics manufacturers beginning next month. It has already lined up TV makers Samsung Electronics and Toshiba as customers.
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