Microsoft, Google Top Asia Survey - WSJ.com

Microsoft, Google Top Asia Survey - WSJ.com:
"By CRIS PRYSTAY

Three years ago, Google Inc. had a marginal physical presence in Asia -- a handful of staff in sales offices in Japan, Korea and Australia. Flash forward to 2008: The company has 2,000 employees in 15 offices in the region, plus 11 research-and-development centers, where engineers churn out products and services for Asian markets as well as Internet users world-wide."

No more "what will be" from WalMart

read at Bloomberg.com: Worldwide:
"Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, reported January sales that exceeded its projection and said it will stop giving a monthly forecast, citing difficulty in predicting consumer behavior."

IBM partners with Google Health

read at he Technology Chronicles
"IBM partners with Google Health

People who use Google Health will now be able to automatically stream data from medical devices - such as those used to monitor glucose levels and blood pressure - into their personal health records.

In a partnership announced Thursday, Google Health users will be able to use IBM software to connect their personal medical devices to their health record. That will allow patients to exchange the data with their doctors or other authorized parties in real time."

Google Earth Blog: Google Earth 5 - Initial Reactions

Google Earth Blog: Google Earth 5 - Initial Reactions: "Google Earth 5 was released on Monday February 2nd. Overall, it appears the reaction globally has been very positive. Lots of excitement over the four major new features: Ocean, Recorded Tours, Historical Imagery, and Mars. Many other significant features have been discovered in the last two days especially for developers.

Here are some notes on initial reactions so far to Google Earth 5:"

Wal-Mart Tops Zogby Poll of Fave Stores

@ shoppingblog.com
: "A new Zogby poll asked consumers where they would shop if they could only shop at one store for the rest of their lives. The winner? Wal-Mart, followed by Target."

Google brings Gmail tasks to iPhone

@ Ars Technica:
"After introducing tasks for Gmail on desktop browsers, Google has produced an optimized Web app for managing Gmail tasks on your iPhone. It isn't quite as full-featured as its desktop counterpart, but Gmail users who are looking to get a little more productive will surely appreciate the gesture.
By David Chartier | Last updated February 3, 2009 10:40"

Doodle 4 Google calling all students | Webware - CNET

@ - CNET:
"Google announced its 'Doodle 4 Google 2009' competition Tuesday. According to the company, all kindergarten through 12th grade U.S. students can design a Google logo based on the theme, 'What I wish for the world.' Applications will be accepted until March 31 and the winner's doodle will be displayed on Google's homepage on May 21. The winner will receive a $15,000 college scholarship and a $25,000 technology grant for their school. Google will also award a school district $10,000 for the 'greatest quality participation.' Student drawings will be evaluated by a panel of independent judges and Google employees."

Google, NASA Launch Singularity University

@ MediaPost Publications 02/03/2009:
"Google and NASA have partnered to back a new school for futurists dubbed 'Singularity University.' Ray Kurzweil, 'whose predictions about the exponential pace of technological change have made him a controversial figure in technology circles,' will run the school, writes David Gelles. The school will sit at the Ames Research Center near Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., and offer courses on biotechnology, nano-technology and artificial intelligence."

Wal-Mart tests diesel-electric trucks

@ FT.com / Companies

"Wal-Mart is testing hybrid diesel-electric trucks in a step towards extending the energy saving technology to the workhorses of the US road transport system.

Chris Sultemeier, head of Wal-Mart’s transport, said on Monday the retailer would operate trucks in different US cities over the coming year, to “determine if these technologies will help reduce our environmental footprint, are viable for our business and provide a return on investment”."

Google Earth 5 - Video Showcase

@ Google Earth Blog: Google Earth 5 - Video Showcase:
"Here is some visual delights showing new features of Google Earth 5 by video (including three I created and added to my posts yesterday). You can download Google Earth 5 for free and try these features out yourself. Check out GEB's main post on GE 5 which includes links to other feature stories."

Google Earth Goes Deep With Ocean Simulations

@ NYTimes.com:

"On Monday, the ocean images will undergo the most significant of several upgrades to Google Earth, with the new version downloadable free at earth.google.com, according to the company.

Another feature, Historical Imagery, provides the ability to scroll back through decades of satellite images and watch the spread of suburbia or erosion of coasts."

Click a function called Touring and you can create narrated, illustrated tours, on land or above and below the sea surface, describing and showing things like a hike or scuba excursion, or even a research cruise on a deep-diving submarine.

Google Error Sends Warning Worldwide - NYTimes.com

read @ NYTimes.com:

"Google’s Internet search service malfunctioned for nearly 55 minutes Saturday morning, upending users around the world with search results that carried false safety warnings and Web links that did not work.

The company acknowledged Saturday that all searches produced links with the same warning message: “This site may harm your computer.” Clicking on any of the links led to an error message stating that the desired site could not be reached.

“What happened?” Google explained in its blog. “Very simply, human error.”

Google said it periodically updates its list of sites suspected of carrying dangerous software that could harm computers, and that Saturday morning a Google employee mistyped a Web address for one such site, causing all sites to be flagged harmful."

Shit happens.

Google releases Android open-source code: company

read at canada.com
"WASHINGTON — Google on Tuesday released the open-source code which powers its Android mobile operating system and invited outside programmers to tinker with the software to develop their own features."

YouTube And Google Earth Demo The Talk Of Davos

@ TechCrunch: YouTube And Google Earth Demo The Talk Of Davos:

"Last year I blogged about the YouTube corner at the World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland. They had prime real estate between the main conference area and private meeting rooms, and heads of state, business executives, Nobel Laureates and rock stars strolled by and stopped to leave a video."

Not really a surprise as it will probably be the infrastructure for a gezillion videos on demand on the Home TV.

Telephone+ TV+ Search + big filing cabinet = Internet.
Google owns Telephone and Search. If Gdrive works, that's the big filing cabinet. YouTube should be the TV part.

Next stop is publishing in the physical world. That means Print.

Wal-Mart Pushes Green Outside U.S. Borders - Environment

Wal-Mart Pushes Green Outside U.S. Borders - Environment

Wal-Mart Pushes Green Outside U.S. Borders
NaturalPath Media - found this 45 hours ago on www.environmentalleader.com (flag)
Wal-Mart announced this week goals to reduce phosphates in products in the Americas region by 70 percent by 2011. The move is part of a larger environmental plan for the region, which will also include more sustainable packaging. Phosphates, a chemical commonly found in laundry and dish

.."Maybe Wal-mart will buy some newspapers? Turn them into community based regional papers and set up Publishing Centers to attract new talent + change the perception of their brand?

Wal-Mart, other blue chips buck crisis in bond market | Reuters

@Wal-Mart, other blue chips buck crisis in bond market | Reuters: "By Dena Aubin - Analysis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As markets brace for the worst corporate defaults since the Great Depression, torrents of cash are flowing to America's highest-quality companies, pushing their borrowing costs to record or multiyear lows."

I guess they also missed the news about the financial meltdown. Wonder if they might be interested in being a channel for Community Based Publishing? Or maybe they would be interested in setting up Publishing Centers, next to their drug stores?

Wal-Mart Foundation Gives $800,000 in Grants Across Arkansas

@Wal-Mart Foundation Gives $800,000 in Grants Across Arkansas:

"The Wal-Mart Foundation today announced $843,000 in contributions to local non-profit organizations and projects across Arkansas."

Economic Stimulus anyone?

Wal-Mart to begin construction

MorganHillTimes.com | Wal-Mart to begin construction:

"Retail giant Wal-Mart pulled building permits this week from the City of Morgan Hill for its planned store in Cochrane Plaza.

Already, Wal-Mart's presumed contractor, Shales Construction, has erected green construction fencing around the old Target store, where the shop will be located."

I guess they missed the news that the sky is falling.

Google Gears = no more Office/OpenOffice for students | Education IT | ZDNet.com

@ Google Gears = no more Office/OpenOffice for students | Education IT | ZDNet.com:

"Every day, I look for ways to make the OS less relevant and make kids’ work accessible to them anytime, anywhere. I can’t do this just yet for my secretaries and some serious power users. They rely at least on the full feature set (or a significant subset) of OpenOffice, and a select few are using Office 2007/2008 for all it’s worth (detractors aside, it’s worth quite a lot)."

Google + Cloud Content + Dell, et al = deep shit for textbook publishers.

Why a 'Google Web Drive' Won't Kill Windows, the PC or Anything Else | Epicenter from Wired.com

@ Why a 'Google Web Drive' Won't Kill Windows, the PC or Anything Else | Epicenter from Wired.com:

"Rumors of the GDrive, Google’s supposed answer to online file storage, are bubbling up again. The fabled GDrive is by far the most clamored-for Google service that, so far anyway, has yet to see the light of day. We’ve been hearing about a Google Drive online storage solution for years, but lately some tell-tale signs seem to point toward GDrive becoming a reality."

Ya think?