google

One of our hits from 2007 was Google Gears, and our predictions for it was that many Web applications would begin to integrate it over the course of 2008. Already that prediction looks to be coming true, with what appears to be the first signs that Gears is coming to Google Docs and Spreadsheets. The discovery was made earlier this week by Google Blogoscoped's Tony Ruscoe. He was able to edit document names and star them, but not open or create any documents without getting sent to blank browser pages.

Ruscoe's not letting anyone in on how he … Read more

The reserve price on a valuable sliver of spectrum was reached in the Federal Communications Commission's 700MHz auction on Thursday, triggering rules that would make the spectrum accessible to any device or software application.

After the 17th round in the auction, a bidder for eight licenses in the "C" block of the 700MHz spectrum auction surpassed the minimum reserve price of $4.64 billion, which had been set by the FCC before the auction began. The current bid is now at $4.71 billion. The minimum bid for round 21 is $5.18 billion, according to the … Read more

This post was updated at 3 p.m. PST with comments from a conference call.

Google on Thursday said its fourth-quarter revenue rose more than 50 percent and profit rose 17 percent, but the figures were just short of Wall Street expectations. Shares were down more than 8 percent in after-hours trading as a result.

Meanwhile, executives said their business had not been affected by any slowdown in the U.S. economy, despite worries of spending cuts in online advertising during an economic downturn. In fact, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told analysts in a conference call that he is optimistic … Read more

European regulators are expected to approve Google's proposed acquisition of online ad firm DoubleClick in February despite circulation of a threat assessment report, according to a research note released Thursday by Stifel Nicolaus.

Google was given the go-ahead by U.S. regulators late last year, but it's still waiting for approval from the European Union.

Staff members in the competition department of the European Commission have prepared a draft "Statement of Objection" that assesses how the takeover could pose threats to competition. "It is a necessary, but not sufficient, step in the EC merger review … Read more

In the last few months, both Google and eBay unit PayPal have quietly rolled out new online-payment solutions that specifically target Internet-based political-campaign contributions.

While the companies primarily pitch their new products as methods for "attracting more supporters" and "increasing online giving to your campaign," the Internet titans have also laid the groundwork for phishing-resistant campaign contributions.

In a research paper released last year, Markus Jakobsson, Oliver Friedrichs, and I wrote about the looming threat of phishing Web sites posing as legitimate political-campaign sites.

The phishing problem is a particular threat to campaign sites, for a … Read more

The California Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will consider an age discrimination lawsuit filed against Google by a then-54-year-old manager who was fired six months before the company went public in 2004.

In his lawsuit, Brian Reid alleges he was told he was not a "cultural fit" when he was being fired from his job in February 2004. He also claims that his colleagues referred to him as "old man" and "fuddy-duddy."

Google has declined to comment on the matter but says Reid was let go because the in-house graduate degree program department … Read more

Dell has long been rumored to be working on a handset, and the latest speculation is that Google will be part of those plans.

MarketingWeek reported Wednesday that the two companies are teaming up on a handset based on Google's Android mobile platform, and the official announcement will come at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The report cites "senior industry sources," but notes that Google insiders are denying any such announcement is imminent.

Dell isn't talking either. Company spokesman David Frink told CNET News.com that the Marketing Week report is "speculative&… Read more