Google DocVerse Buy Builds Bridge For Google Apps, Microsoft Office
Stepping up its fight against Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. acquired DocVerse, a technology startup that allows people to edit Microsoft Office files online.

Google paid around $25 million for the San Francisco-based company, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In an interview, Jonathan Rochelle, group product manager for Google Apps, said Google acquired DocVerse to make it easier for people to transition from desktop software to online software. The latter is an area where Google is trying to get a leg up over Microsoft, with its Google Apps service, which includes online word-processing and spreadsheet software. He declined to comment on the deal’s price.

Google Buzz now embedded in Gmail:
Today, we’re launching Google Buzz, a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting and share updates, photos, videos and more. Buzz is built right into Gmail, so there’s nothing to set up — you’re automatically following the people you email and chat with the most.
If you’re new about Google Buzz, here’s what it’s all about:
Google Buzz is a social integration and messaging tool by Google, designed to integrate into the company’s web-based email program, Gmail. Shared links and messages show up in the user’s inbox. Buzz focuses on integrating photos, videos, and links as part of the “conversations” aspects of Gmail like conversation threading.

Buzz allows users to choose to share publicly with the world or privately to a small group of friends each time they post. Picasa, Flickr, Google Reader, YouTube, Blogger, and Twitter are currently integrated. The creation of Buzz was seen by industry analysts as an attempt by Google to compete with social networking websites like Facebook. Buzz also includes several interface and interaction elements from other Google products (e.g. Google Reader) such as the ability to like a post.
In a word, Google Buzz is a Google Facebook.

Wether it’s able to compete with Facebook or just another Google’s product failure remain to be seen.

This is good. Competition triggers the best out of you. It will certainly arrive in Indonesia in the near future. via AP
Microsoft Corp. is releasing an updated version of its mapping service with street-level views and new “apps” that tack on tweets, traffic and other location-specific data.

The new version of Bing Maps, released Wednesday in a “beta” test mode, offers slicker technology so users can zoom in more smoothly from the high-up graphical map to the close-up views showing actual streets from a pedestrian or driver’s viewpoint.

With this version of Bing Maps, Microsoft matches Google Inc. in sending cars with cameras down streets to capture images of every block. Microsoft is offering that in 56 U.S. cities for now, while Google has hit all 50 states and expanded the feature overseas.

Microsoft also used lasers to scan the buildings and constructed a three-dimensional map of those cities.

the Justice Department remains concerned that the fact the settlement gives Google immunity from lawsuits related to orphan works may be anticompetitiv. via WSJ
Google Inc. and two author and publisher groups submitted a modified version of a controversial settlement over digital books, but it appears likely the fight over the agreement will continue.

The revised pact submitted late Friday would allow Google to distribute millions of digital books online, but would cut the number of works covered by the settlement by at least half by removing millions of foreign works.

Yet the issue of whether it is fair for the settlement to let Google distribute books whose legal rights owners haven’t been identified—known as orphan works—is still drawing criticism.

Google Inc., stepping up its push to sell more advertising on cellphones, said Monday it will purchase mobile advertising start-up AdMob Inc. for $750 million in stock.

The purchase—one of Google’s largest deals—underscores how the search giant is trying to get more creative to extend its dominance in Internet advertising to mobile phones. Via WSJ

Motorola Droid vs. Apple iPhone 3GS: finally, a contender?
Initial response to the new Motorola Droid smartphone on the Verizon Wireless network have been very good, thanks in large part to the updated Android 2.0 operating system.

The new updated version of the open-source operating system offers new Android phones a series of enhancements as well as improved performance. The updated software is being credited with enabling many of the cool new features, such as the updated version of the Google Maps service, which allows for voice command turn-by-turn directions.

The Motorola Droid for Verizon will be the first device that will use the new software. Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA will also be selling Android devices this holiday season, but neither carrier has announced a device that will use the updated version of the operating system.

Google Lets the Music Play in Search Results
Google is changing the way it resolves music-related search queries through a variety of partnerships designed to help it provide more relevant and useful results.

The updates are significant, given that Google gets millions of queries every day about recording artists, albums and songs, the company said on Wednesday.

The results will now include links to audio previews of songs, thanks to partnerships with Lala.com and MySpace, which owns iLike. Google said it will also be better able to recognize snippets of lyrics, which could be useful when people know a few lines from a song but not its title. And its search results will include links to music sites Pandora, iMeem and Rhapsody.