Tag Archives: Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin: “I’ve Been Accused of Vaporware”
Posted on 20. Jan, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey. 
1 Comments
As I was listening to Google’s fourth quarter earnings call, which featured an introduction that addressed the leadership change at Google, I was struck by Sergey Brin’s comment about vaporware. I wouldn’t really say that it’s him personally, but the fact that there have been many rumored projects in the works by Google that have not come to fruition. As he starts his newly appointed role of managing new products, maybe he’s just taking responsibility.
Sure, many of these new projects are definitely being tested internally, but for those of us outside the Googleplex, it appears as if nothing is going on, which is likely far from the actual scenario taking place.
Google has been long rumored to be working on a social product that has been identified as Google Me or more recently Google +1. This is expected to be a competitor to Facebook. One analyst said not long ago that the company has “given up on social“, possibly sparking the vaporware remark by Brin since he did say it on an earnings call with a bunch of, you know, analysts. But surely we can expect to see it in 2011, but only time will tell when. Brin did allude to social during the call today, saying that they have only touched one percent of what social search can be.
Google Reports Strong Fourth Quarter, Bright 2011 Outlook
Posted on 20. Jan, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
In a fourth quarter earnings call that featured in the beginning some comments from Eric Schmidt, Larry Page and Sergey Brin about leadership restructuring, the outlook and overall strategy seems to be in a good place for the company. 2010 was an excellent financial year for Google, and a fantastic fourth quarter. The company saw revenue of $8.44 billion, which is a 26% increase from 2009′s fourth quarter. Net income was $2.54 which is up over 2009 when that number was at $1.97 billion.
The company talked a bit about expansion plans, citing the New York building purchase which cost the company over a billion dollars. They plan on continuing to hire both engineers and product managers at a steady clip.
One of the elements that CFO Patrick Pichette talked about aggressively expanding into included Chrome and Chrome OS. He also did not shy away about talking about moving away from projects like Wave and 1-800-GOOG-411, citing that Google will take on risky projects knowing that analysts and the media alike will let the company know when a product offering is not working out.
You can see all of the earnings details here.
Google Founders Profiled by Bloomberg Game Changers
Posted on 28. Oct, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 2 Comments
Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page will be profiled tonight in a Bloomberg series entitled “Game Changers”. The show has don an episode on Steve Jobs already.
It’s intriguing to see the mentality that went into starting Google. The company didn’t fit the mold, and thus other technology companies of that time weren’t interested in buying it. Alas, I don’t have the Bloomberg channel so I’m going to miss out on this one.
Can Android be a Compliment to Chrome OS or Vice Versa?
Posted on 02. Aug, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
News out today that the adoption of Android is up over a staggering 886% from last year is leading me to wonder: what place will cloud devices that run Chrome OS have in a future world where a smartphone operating system is so prevalent? Can Chrome OS and Android work together, or are they rivals being pitted against each other by a single company?
Remote Devices
Phones and tablets that run Android are remote devices, something that, in theory can be put into your pocket and taken anywhere.
We’ve seen in a demo how Android will work with Google TV – it can be used as a remote device that can control the set-top box controlling your television. Remember that while Google TV will run Android, it will also have the Chrome browser as the main application running video. Here is an example filmed by Phandroid on how this will work.
While this demo shows an iPhone, it’s clear that an Android phone will be able to do much more based on the open standards between devices such as the Chrome to Phone cloud platform.
Cloud versus Phone
People are still going to need devices that are bigger than what Android can provide, plus being able to offer a cloud interface where the web is a platform that everyone can develop on. Witness some of the games like Asteroid and collaborative drawing tools that are being made for the browser totally free for people to use in Chrome Experiments, a website that I admit I promote often here because of the potential it holds.
I’m fully convinced that Android can offer a cloud experience like Chrome OS can; there has to be a division between screens that are small and those that are larger. Perhaps Android running Chrome browser could bridge the gap, but that really goes against the convention of cloud computing at this point.
Conclusion
So where will these two operating systems fit in with each other? Perhaps it is best to think of Chrome OS as an experimental platform whereby the browser is all there is: a starting point, if you wish, on the future of computing.
Sergey Brin has already come out and said that webapps will replace native ones, but technological progress in speedy broadband technology is going to be required. Companies such as Clear, which is spending billions on a 4G rollout that Sprint is utilizing, will probably have a major role in this space as 2010 continues onward towards the holiday season.
Surprise – Google Recently Surpasses Yahoo in Time Visited
Posted on 13. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
Silicon Alley Insider’s recent chart showing the amount of time spent on major sites displays a strong push for both Google and Facebook, while the previous (shocking) champ Yahoo is experiencing a steady overall drop.
Yahoo and AOL are in steep decline, while Microsoft is simply staying afloat, most likely bolstered by spending hundreds of millions on marketing their Bing search engine. Apple, which is rumored to be preparing for a more cloud-based approach, isn’t even on this list.
Facebook has really pulled up close with Google, but co-founder Sergey Brin recently said the company is unfazed by Facebook’s growth.
“The indications that we have show that when Internet users become Facebook users they actually do significantly more searches on Google,” Brin told Reuters in Sun Valley, Idaho last week.
But Google isn’t resting on their laurels in regards to competing with Facebook. That would explain this recent release of a huge 216 slide presentation by Google UX researcher Paul Adams on the problems and opportunities of social networking.
Google Wouldn’t Just be Leaving the Chinese Search Market
Posted on 15. Jan, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
It was clearly a strong point of deliberation between the leadership at Google on what to do related to last month’s intrusion into the Gmail accounts of a few Chinese activists. Apparently, Google CEO Eric Schmidt attempted to convince those around him that staying the course in China was the best route of action in response to what was a sophisticated attack on the company’s infrastructure in order to gain unauthorized access. Sergey Brin was most vocal about no longer censoring any search results at Google.cn, and based on the official statement, many other top-level executives agreed with him.
It makes sense that this topic would be a heavy point of deliberation. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Chinese market has 338 million internet users, more than any other country. And while Adsense makes up a majority of revenue for Google, in China the best engine of growth will most likely be in software and the mobile phone market as the company only has 36% of the search market, with local competitors like Baidu owning the lion’s share.
Since purchasing an iPhone product in China is so expensive, China Mobile, which is the country’s largest wireless operator, was hoping that the lower-cost Android would penetrate the market. That would be a problem if Google decides to exit the market entirely as China Mobile is a state-owned enterprise.
The fate of Android in China will most likely also seal that of Chrome OS as well. Seeing as how the country has a higher adoption rate for wireless technologies, Chrome OS smartbooks that are low-cost could potentially be a boon in the region. Unfortunately, there is now so much uncertainty in the Chinese market for Google because of this recent news that it’s hard to say where the market will go in China.
What will probably remain for Google is what other multinationals deal with in the Chinese market – a lot of knock of products. Home-grown versions of Chrome OS and Android could become a standard there. One thing is for certain: the components required to build devices that run Google’s software will still need to be made in Chinese factories.
The Top 10 Questions For Chrome OS in 2010
Posted on 31. Dec, 2009 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
As we wrap up what has been an eventful 2009, I thought that now would be a great time for some reflection on where Chrome OS is going and some of the big questions that do not have concrete answers yet. An official release by Google is at least six months away for Chromium but even so that leaves a lot left to the imagination at this point. So here is a review what are the biggest issues relating to the Chrome operating system and my best attempt to try to explore them. Enjoy and here’s to a great 2010!
Who will manufacture the GoogleBook?
A look at the third quarter 2009 market share for netbook manufacturers puts Acer out in front with a 38.8% piece of the pie. But Asus is not far behind at around 30%. I don’t believe that a brand like HP or Dell would want to slap a Google logo on hardware that they’ve designed, so my bet right now is that Asus is Google’s HTC in the netbook market. However, a contract supplier such as Foxconn or Flextronics could offer a sweeter deal and have no qualms about branding issues.
Will it be subsidized?
As we’ve already seen with Google’s Nexus One Android Phone pricing, subsidizing and partnering with a wireless provider looks like the best path for the GoogleBook. It doesn’t look like Google wants to eat any cost trying to release this product, and why should they? There should be enough hype prior to an official launch. And don’t forget that open source developers will have had their hands on Chromium, release their own builds. This project is starting to mirror in some degree the path that Android took to completely blowing up this year, and I mean that in a good way.
Will it be secure?
It’s going to need to be. McAfee has already reported Chrome OS as a top vulnerability of 2010. In a hacker’s eyes, Microsoft is no longer the big daddy, since they have gotten their security up to snuff in the past couple of years. Now it’s time for the focus to be shifted onto software that is complementary to operating systems, such as Adobe’s Flash or Reader. Since Chrome OS will be both the OS and the applications, that’s where the concern is. Basically, cybercriminals are going to target the software that has the lowest level of protection in terms of security, and I think that McAfee has now put Google on alert with their report.
Will there be hardware options?
No, there won’t. Just kidding. But it’s interesting to see Google deciding what hardware is going to work with their operating system. I don’t blame them, because they want to make something that is simple and just works. Microsoft has spent so much time trying to be everthing to everyone in terms of hardware support, and although I don’t blame them, I am curious to see how creating specific standards for Chromium could potentially make this operating system so simple to use there’s no thinking about it.
What about the competition?
Amazingly, there are a lot of options out there for operating systems designed with netbooks in and mind that there too many for me to list here. We just did a review of Moblin, Intel’s open-source foray into the realm, and we plan on posting more soon. A little competition never hurt anyone, especially in the tech market since that is just going to make products that are better for us end users. This is especially true when you consider that sales for netbooks is expected to grow by 297% within the next three years.
Is Chrome OS a marketing ploy?
You have to start wondering if Chrome OS is supposed to be a conduit to everything Google. If you think about it, the operating system complements things that Google has been working on for years. Take Google Apps. While it has been out for 2006, and it did experience an outage this year, it appears that Apps is starting to gain some traction with large companies such as Genetech implementing it. Now give users a Google-branded device that doesn’t have Microsoft Office and what do you get? Instant adoption of Apps by a wide range if users. This method could potentially be used for an array of other Google offerings.
What about Android?
It’s difficult to figure out the strategy on this one, because although Sergey Brin says they’ll eventually converge, it feels like there is a chasm that is further separating these two especially as Android begins to take off in the mobile phone market. Along with a tepid review for the Acer One D250 netbook loaded with Android, it feels like for the time being these two are going to be very, very separate in terms of functionalities. Besides that, I keep wondering about the human-computer interaction element of the two that makes them fundamentally different: for a netbook to be really useful, it needs a full keyboard which is not a feature that is in any way desirable on a phone.
How does Chrome OS affect privacy?
It wouldn’t be surprising if Google CEO Eric Schmidt would like to take back his recent comments on privacy in terms of search, but he has not retracted them as far as I know. While it’s a great idea that cloud computing can allow someone to log onto a machine and get their data from wherever they are, let’s not forget that the logon you use is your Google account. The information from your account is currently used to target advertising while you search and use Gmail. If that is the case now, in the future who knows what else? Did I mention that the login to Chrome OS is your Google account as well?
What will open source developers’ impact be?
We’ve already seen iterations of Chrome OS developed by open source developers, and there is already a 64-bit version out there to try out. This leads one to wonder where this will go in the next six to eight months before there is an official release. Since Chrome OS is open source, it’s entirely possible that techies out there will run there own builds that allow them to do more than a commercial version would. Regardless, open source is the way to go. Developers outside of Google will make this a legitimate competitor in the netbook market, and we shall soon see if it will either quickly dominate or not.
How will Microsoft fight back?
Although Steve Ballmer doesn’t seem particularly concerned with Chromium, there are some indications that Microsoft is going to have embrace more open source projects in order to stay relevent in a market that is increasingly on the moving towards that direction. For example, Windows4all is a browser based version of Windows 7 that has been developed by Microsoft’s open source community called Codplex. Also, They are releasing Office 2010 with browser based versions. They are going to attempt to stay in the game, but really it seems like all they are doing is trying to not fall completely behind.
