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Unlike my blogger peers, I'm not usually wont to skewer a so-called scoop. And I won't start doing so, but I will point out that two intriguing pieces in the The Wall Street Journal came off as old news, warmed over instead of hot stuff. First is this piece about the Google cloud storage drive--something first unveiled over five years ago:

Drive allows people to store photos, documents and videos on Google's servers so that they could be accessible from any Web-connected device and allows them to easily share the files with others, these people said. If a person wants to email a video shot from a smartphone, for instance, he can upload it to the Web through the Drive mobile app and email people a link to the video rather than a bulky file.

I guess the news is that it is coming in weeks or months. I'm thinking that this will provide some interesting competition for Dropbox and Box.net, especially if the service is free for most consumers and businesses. Next up is a more recent development. The Journal noted that Google is building a home entertainment system that streams music through the home, using WiFi. Now I know for a fact that this is no shocker. I attended the same Google I/O show at the Moscone Center last May and saw Google's streaming music system for the home in action. Heck, Silicon Filter nails the point in its headline here: Then it was called Android@Home because, well, it consisted of Android-powered devices in the home. It may start with stereo systems, but Google anticipates powering lights and thermostats and household appliances, such as dish washers and refrigerators. The thing that's interesting about the Journal's story, and this is what makes it a mini-scoop, is that Google will supposedly market the system under its own brand. That's interesting; Google makes Android, but co-brands only pure Google experience phones. Some think this is the same device, compared to Sonos systems, that Google lodged a patent request for with the FCC last year. This brings me to my next point: You didn't think Fiber was just a speedy broadband test did you? Well, it is, but if it works as Google hopes it will, it will be used to power devices such as the streaming music server in users' homes. The streaming music server would be fueled, of course, by Google Music, with perhaps an assist from Sirius. Google wants to own the user experience, from desktop to mobile and back to the home, from Google TV and the music system to household appliances. All of these would be controlled and accessed by smartphones and tablets. This streaming appliance could launch later this year, which in my mind would make a late June launch at Google I/0 a distinct possibility. I expect Google Drive sooner. How about you?

Filed under: Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, Google Apps Tips, Hello, Android, Tech News by Google Watch dot com (RSS Source)

Could Google Glasses one day join Google Goggles in the pantheon of the company's popular products? Perhaps. But, please, enough p-words. 9to5 Google said Google is building special glasses that look like Oakley's Thump MP3 sunglasses that actually have the computing firepower and features of today's high-end smartphones: That means voice input, output and a navigation system on board. There is a display with a computer interface and control buttons, but while a smartphone is a super communicator, Google envisions augmented reality that leverages Google's location services, said 9-to-5Google:

A user can walk around with information popping up and into display Terminator-style based on preferences, location and Google's information. Therefore, these things likely connect to the Internet and have GPS. They also likely run a version of Android. These glasses, we heard, have a front-facing camera used to gather information and could aid in augmented-reality apps. It will also take pictures. The spied prototype has a flash--perhaps for help at night, or maybe it is just a way to take better photos. The camera is extremely small and likely only a few megapixels.

Maybe it's the sci-fi geek in me thinking--I do love me some Terminator--but these glasses sound great. I can imagine taking these into a store, looking at stuff, learning prices and then clicking to buy something, all from the glasses. I imagine this is a throw-it-against-the-wall product, a new form factor for a smartphone. Will Google sell them? How much? What augmented-reality apps might we see? I ask because the 2012 CES was loaded with this kind of stuff (see Natalia SmartGoggles) and there's like no market for it. None. So maybe it will stay a prototype in Google X labs, or be relegated to hobbyists. We'll know more after the beta program, so long as the beta program involves people who aren't geeks/hobbyists. Sign me up!

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One of the leading knocks on Google's freewheeling, open approach to the Android Market is that it's leaves the application store more susceptible to malware and lots of spammy apps. Indeed, Symantec, Lookout Mobile and other security firms have reported a significant rise in Android Market malware in the last 12 months. And with over 200 million Android devices in the market, with 700,000 being activated daily, and over 300,000 Android apps in the Market, there are a lot of mobile targets for perpetrators to exploit. Google's automated app approval process is a popular vector for attack. To help combat the malware rise, Google created Bouncer, an anti-malware service that automatically scans the Android Market for potentially malicious software. Bouncer, which Google has been using in its Market for all of 2011, scans new and old applications and developer accounts. Hiroshi Lockheimer, vice president of engineering for Android, explained how it works:

Once an application is uploaded, the service immediately starts analyzing it for known malware, spyware and trojans. It also looks for behaviors that indicate an application might be misbehaving, and compares it against previously analyzed apps to detect possible red flags. We actually run every application on Google's cloud infrastructure and simulate how it will run on an Android device to look for hidden, malicious behavior. We also analyze new developer accounts to help prevent malicious and repeat-offending developers from coming back.

The result? Android malware downloads decreased 40 percent through 2011, which is when Symantec, Lookout and others reported malicious apps were on the rise. I wonder if Symantec, Lookout and others knew about this feature? It's unclear, but Lockheimer did tell AllThingsDigital that Google has no plans to embrace the manual app approval process Apple and Microsoft employ to vet apps in their stores. This makes sense. Manual approvals bog down the works, which is anathema to Google, whose culture is built on speedy development and expedient delivery to market. I can't imagine Android head Andy Rubin or CEO Larry Page would ditch the automated, machine-based practices, even for malware. Which is why it needed the Bouncer. We'll see if it helps combat the spate of Netflix malware and other issues.  

Filed under: Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, Google Apps Tips, Hello, Android, Tech News by Google Watch dot com (RSS Source)

Google Apps, the cloud-based collaboration software for businesses, is set to turn 5 years old next month. Google celebrated early in landing BBVA as its largest Google Apps deployment to date, spanning 110,000 employees. BBVA, which is short for Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A., is the second largest bank in Spain and seventh largest financial institution in the Western world, according to Wikipedia. BBVA operates in over 40 countries. So it's darned big. Importantly, those seats are paid. The simple math shows that at $50 per user per year, the cost of the contract is at least $5.5 million. That's revenue that doesn't come from advertising, Google's lifeblood. Given its size, it's natural BBVA has a lot of employees spread across remote offices using a lot of computing infrastructure. They won't need as much of it now with Google hosting Gmail and other tools for the company. BBVA CIO José Olalla wrote in a blog post for Google:

Integrating the Google Apps for Business suite with our own tools will allow us to introduce a new way of working where employees have access to all the information they need with just one click, no matter where they are or what kind of device they use, and can reap the benefits of using advanced collaboration tools.

A BBVA spokesperson confirmed for me BBVA replaced Microsoft Outlook/Exchange systems with Gmail for the company's intranet, and will use Google Talk, Google Sites and Google Docs for communication and collaboration. The migration is ongoing. Any way you slice it, this is a big win for Google, whose largest paid Apps deployment before BBVA was Ahold at 55,000 users. More importantly, it's a win over Microsoft, especially now. Why? A couple years ago, Microsoft didn't really have a cohesive cloud collaboration play. Now it does -- Office 365 is a solid, solid product by most accounts. So Google was able to poach BBVA from Microsoft despite the presence of a competing Microsoft cloud collaboration suite. Not too shabby. Google could use more of these, and less of the Los Angeles partial contract fiascos, in 2012. If the company starts to tack on more banks or government institutions where the install bases are large, the momentum could snowball for paid Google Apps.

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