Google Buys SageTV to Boost Google TV

Google has purchased popular DVR-maker SageTV. Neither the price Google paid for SageTV nor any other details about the sale have yet been announced. What is SageTV? Digital trends explains:

Started in 2002, SageTV has produced versatile DVR software that works with Mac OS X, Windows and Linux operating systems. The software’s fexibility makes it possible to turn almost any computer with a TV tuner card into the primary hub of a home entertainment system.

SageTV software accepts nearly any audio, video or photo file format tossed its way, so a machine loaded with SageTV becomes one of the most powerful consumer products available. Some popular features included Internet video and Netflix support; commercial auto-skip and clean, easy navigation. And since the company has also produced set-top boxes that can play media directly from a USB drive, SageTV became a hit amongst the tech-savvy crowd.

What’s the purpose of Google purchasing the product? “….a quick integration by Google would allow the company’s free TV software offering to benefit from features it currently lacks, including SageTV’s ability to function as a DVR and media placeshifter.”

Google Buys Admeld for $400 Million

Google on Monday confirmed that it has purchased online ad firm AdMeld, which the search giant said will help publishers simplify the ad management process. In Google official blog it says

“We’ve been investing in our publisher tools to try and improve this landscape and have made great progress, but we think we can do even better…

Providing better ad management services to publishers is an area that has seen a huge amount of investment in recent months. Formed just over three years ago, the Admeld team is an example of the huge strides the industry is making—it has quickly developed a great service that is helping many major publishers manage their ad space more efficiently and profitably.

For how much? Google doesn’t say. PCmag learns it’s about $400 million.

Google Chromebooks on Sale

Google Chromebooks will be on sale on 15 June 2011.

Google Chromebooks have finally gone on sale at Best Buy and Amazon. Available for pre-order in the United States at this stage only, the devices will start shipping from the 15th June; just under a week’s time.

Students, however, will be able to buy a Chromebook for $20 per month. Nevertheless, it is a relatively sweet deal for those in education; roughly equating to $180 throughout the academic year.

People Widget in Google Gmail

Google adds People Widget in its free email product Gmail

Gmail official blog has more

… over the next two weeks we’re rolling out a new people widget located on the right hand side of your messages. The people widget surfaces content from friends, family and colleagues that is already available to you but may be hard to find and makes it easier to connect with them.

Next to every email message you can now see contextual information about the people in that conversation including recent emails you received from them, relevant Buzz posts, shared documents and calendar events. You also have quick access to a variety of ways to communicate with individuals, start a group chat or schedule a meeting with groups of people.