Google released a new updated interface for the iPhone and iPod Touch that lets Google Apps users easily access everything they need in an integrated environment: Google Calendar, Google Docs, Reader as well as Google Apps like Google Notebook, Google News and Blogger.

Google also announced that it is now available in several languages. They also implemented search query suggestions, and email auto complete.

If you have Google Apps for your domain, you can bookmark or set http://www.google.com/m/a/your-domain.com as your default page for quicker access to the information you find the most useful. This specific functionality is new, but the interface you will be using is actually a few months old.

References:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=1026

The move follows the discovery of images of the Fort Sam Houston army base in Texas on Google Maps. A Google spokesman said that where the US military had expressed concerns, images had been removed. Google has now been barred from filming and conducting detailed studies of bases, following the discovery of detailed, three-dimensional panoramas online - and in particular, views of the Texan base.

"Images include 360-degree views of the covered area to include access control points, barriers, headquarters, facilities and community areas," said the defence department in a statement quoted by AFP news agency. It said such detailed mapping could pose a threat.

Google spokesman Larry Yu said the decision by a Google team to enter the Texas base, which is in San Antonio, and undertake a detailed survey, had been "a mistake".

Military officials are currently looking into exactly what imagery is available - though it may not be able to order its removal if images are taken from public streets. Among the popular mapping services offered by Google are Street View, which allows web users to "drive" along virtual US landscapes with ground-level views, and Google Earth, which offers detailed satellite and 3D images of locations around the world. In this case, it was imagery offered on Street View that caused the concern. Also both have provoked complaints - from individuals depicted in the images and from governments concerned that satellite images could compromise security.

Gary Ross, a spokesman for the US Northern Command, told AFP that although such services could be useful, "there has to be a balance". But Mr Yu said Google would listen to concerns about privacy and security.

The OpenID Foundation announced that Google (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News), IBM (NYSE:IBM - News), Microsoft (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News), VeriSign (NasdaqGS:VRSN - News) and Yahoo! (NasdaqGS:YHOO - News) have joined as its first corporate board members. The main purpose of joining is to strengthen the industry-wide effort to empower users with portable Web identities, or OpenIDs. This step is to advantage of an open and interoperable Internet that helps people take control of how their personal information is shared on-line and aids on-line businesses to attract and retain more users by simplifying and securing the management of digital identities.

According to Yahoo Finance, OpenID simplifies the on-line user experience by eliminating the need for multiple user names across Internet sites, enabling individuals to take more control and ownership of their digital identities. This user-centric digital identity technology helps users reduce the pain of managing dozens, even hundreds of user-names and passwords, and provides more control over what personal information they share with Web sites when they sign-in using an OpenID.

The data shows that there are more than 10,000 Web sites that support OpenID log-ins, and an estimated 350 million OpenID enabled URLs currently exist.

"With this support from the new company board members, the OpenID Foundation will be able to continue to promote and protect the technology and its community moving forward," said Bill Washburn, Executive Director, OpenID Foundation. "The community has clearly expanded since the inception of the Foundation and these companies will help bring OpenID into the mainstream markets."

This progress in this process has been made with donations of legal resources by Microsoft and various contributions from Google, IBM, VeriSign and Yahoo!.

"Google shares the OpenID Foundation's vision of a Web that's easy to use and built on open standards available to everyone," said Brad Fitzpatrick, a software engineer at Google who created OpenID while at Six Apart in 2005. "OpenID was always intended to be a decentralized sign-on system, so it's fantastic to join a foundation committed to keeping it free and unencumbered by proprietary extensions."

"Privacy concerns have been escalating rapidly because of repeated incidents involving unexpected personal information loss and user identity theft," said Anthony Nadalin, IBM Distinguished Engineer and chief security architect, IBM Tivoli software. "As a leader in identity, access and federated identity management and open standards-based software, this is an important step in IBM's collaboration with other industry leaders to continuously enhance open source projects for user-centric identity. This effort is intended to provide users with more control and to help them better manage and protect their digital identities."

"The OpenID community is a key constituency in solving the digital identity problems Internet users face, and will benefit from being represented by the OpenID Foundation," said Kim Cameron, Microsoft's Chief Identity Architect. "Since Bill Gates and Craig Mundie announced our collaboration with the OpenID community last February at RSA, Microsoft has played a leading role in establishing the Foundation's open policy framework that allows everyone to participate in the development and use of OpenID specifications. Now, we look forward to working with the community to refine and drive adoption of the specifications."

"OpenID enables consumers to take control of their online identity, which in turn will drive trust, privacy and security on the Internet," said Nico Popp, vice president of Innovation at VeriSign, Inc. "Networked identity and authentication services are core elements of VeriSign's current and future service offerings. Because of this, we applaud the creation of the OpenID foundation and we look forward to contributing to its mission."

"Yahoo! believes that a truly open Web is the key to the next-generation of Internet experiences; OpenID furthers this cause by delivering a free, standards-based solution that the entire industry can embrace," said Ash Patel, executive vice president of platforms and infrastructure at Yahoo!. "Over the last year we have worked closely with the OpenID Foundation to develop the organization's intellectual property framework, finalize the OpenID 2.0 specification and to adopt OpenID for all 248 million active registered Yahoo! users worldwide. We look forward to collaborating with the OpenID Foundation, its board and community to further simplify the consumer experience of the Web and empower users to take control of their online identity with OpenID."

Microsoft has pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo with an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion, seeking to join forces against Google in what would be the biggest Internet deal since the Time Warner-AOL merger in 2001.

The surprise offer of $31 per share, made late Thursday and announced Friday, seizes on Yahoo’s weakness while Microsoft tries to muscle up in a high-stakes battle with Google likely to define the technology landscape for years to come.

In a statement Friday, Yahoo said it will "carefully and promptly" study Microsoft's bid.

With its profits steadily sliding, Yahoo’s stock slipped to a four-year low this week, and a new management team has been trying to steer a turnaround but sees more turbulence through 2008.

The announcement of the Microsoft bid lifted Yahoo’s share price by almost 50 percent in Friday trading, while Google fell almost 8 percent, dragged down by a fourth-quarter earnings report that missed Wall Street expectations.

In conference call Friday morning, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer indicated he won’t take no for an answer after Yahoo rebuffed takeover overtures a year ago. “This is a decision we have - and I have - thought long and hard about. We are confident it’s the right path for Microsoft and Yahoo.”- Ballmer said.

To underscore its resolve, Microsoft is offering a 62 percent premium to Yahoo’s closing stock price Thursday. If the deal is consummated, it would be by far the largest acquisition in Microsoft’s history, eclipsing last year’s $6 billion purchase of online ad service aQuantive.

Jordan Rohan, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said there was no way Yahoo shareholders could turn down the offer: "The company has been floundering, and this is a great way to save face. Management has no reasonable out here."

Microsoft publicly disclosed its cash-and-stock offer in hopes of rallying support from Yahoo’s shareholders, making it more difficult for Yahoo’s board to turn down the bid.

"It puts a lot of public pressure right at the point where Yahoo’s management seems vulnerable," - Rohan said.

In a letter released Friday, Ballmer pointedly noted Yahoo’s financial performance has deteriorated since Microsoft was spurned a year ago. At that time, Ballmer said he was told Yahoo believed it was better off on its own. “A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved,” - Ballmer wrote in his letter.

Microsoft sent its latest takeover offer to Yahoo late Thursday, shortly after Semel resigned as chairman.

In a prepared statement, Yahoo said its board : “will evaluate this proposal carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo’s strategic plans and pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders.”

Microsoft views Yahoo as its best chance to thwart Google, which has leveraged its leadership in Internet search and advertising to emerge as an increasingly serious threat to the world’s largest software maker’s persuasive influence on how people interact with computers.

Google already controls nearly 60 percent of the U.S. search market, and has been widening its lead, despite concerted efforts by both second-place Yahoo and third-place Microsoft. By combining, Microsoft and Yahoo would have a 33 percent share of the U.S. search market, according to the latest data from comScore Media Metrix.

Nevertheless, the potential acquisition of Yahoo would raise questions on competitiveness about everything from search engines to online advertising, analysts said. A federal judge this week extended by 18 months court oversight of Microsoft’s market power, which began in 2002 after a landmark antitrust settlement.

“If this deal goes through, there will be a lot of very close scrutiny ... there appears to be lots of overlap,” - said Harry First, a professor at New York University’s School of Law. “It’s complicated and very big, and a lot of enforcement agencies will be interested.”

But Keith Hylton, a professor of antitrust law at Boston University, said Google’s success in online search and advertising means a combined Microsoft-Yahoo would have significant competition. “The fact that Google dominates this business will be a big factor in their (Microsoft’s) favor in trying to get this approved by the regulators,” - Hylton said.

By joining forces, Microsoft and Yahoo also would widen their narrowing advantage over Google in providing free e-mail accounts - a service that helps foster more loyalty with users and create more advertising opportunities.

Advertisers around the world are expected to double their spending on the Internet during the next three years as more people get their news and entertainment on the Web instead of television, radio, newspapers and magazine. The trend is expected to create an $80 billion online ad market in 2010, up from an estimated $40 billion last year.

Despite an aggressive push in recent years, Microsoft’s online advertising expansion hasn’t paid off. Last week, the Redmond, Wash.-based company reported a 79 percent jump in its overall profit, but its online division’s loss widened to $245 million.

And Yahoo has been struggling to attract more advertising even though its Web site attracts one of the biggest audiences. The Sunnyvale-based company’s profit has declined for five consecutive quarters, prompting plans to cut 1,000 jobs later this month, a 7 percent reduction of its 14,300-employee work force.

Besides helping to boost its online ad revenue, Microsoft believes it could mine more profit from Yahoo by jettisoning workers and eliminating overlapping operations.

Microsoft said it sees at least $1 billion in cost savings if it buys Yahoo. Combined with Yahoo's profits that would generate free cash flow of $2 billion a year on an investment of $45 billion for a return of nearly 5 percent, according to Rohan of RBC.

"This doesn’t change the popularity of the Yahoo or MSN brands in the eyes of consumers, but what it does is it creates one large, more efficient competitor to Google," - Rohan said.

Microsoft executives deflected questions about how many jobs might be lost, but the company emphasized retention packages will be offered to Yahoo engineers and other key employees, including some executives.

The fate of Yahoo’s brand also is unclear if Microsoft takes over. Both Ballmer and Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft’s platforms and services division, hailed Yahoo’s strong brand value but didn’t commit to keeping the name alive.

The Georgia Institute of Technology, one of the nation's premiere research universities, ranked seventh among U.S. News & World Report's top public universities, announced the report of Emerging Cyber Threats for 2008. The report outlines the top five areas of security concern and risk for consumer and enterprise Internet users for the coming year.

According to the GTISC forecasting the five key areas in which cyber security threats are expected to increase evolve:
• Web 2.0 and Client-Side Attacks – including social networking attacks and new attacks that
will exploit Web 2.0 vulnerabilities
• Targeted Messaging Attacks – including Instant Messaging attacks and malware propagation
via online video-sharing
• Botnets – specifically the spread of botnet attacks to wireless and peer-to-peer networks
• Threats Targeting Mobile Convergence – including voice spam, vishing and smishing
• Threats to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems – evolving and varied threats in
this emerging technology sector

Mustaque Ahamad, director of GTISC says: “As newer and more powerful applications enabled by technologies like Web 2.0 continue to grow, and converged communications applications increasingly rely on IP-based platforms, new challenges will arise in safeguarding these applications and the services they rely on. The GTISC Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2008 highlights those areas of greatest risk and concern, particularly as continued convergence of enterprise and consumer technologies is expected over the coming year. We wish to thank the esteemed members of the GTISC Security Summit panel who assisted us with the creation of this report.”

The GTISC Security Summit on Emerging Cyber Security Threats and Countermeasures Summit was attended by more than 200 corporate executives, industry leaders and technologists from across the country It was keynoted by Dr. Vint Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist at Google. The research and the discussion aimed to educate the audience on the proliferation of cyber threats, including those listed in the report, and highlighted possible countermeasures to safeguard the user and business communities.

When Ms Brown began working in Google as a part-time masseuse, the company was just a small Silicon Valley start-up with 40 employees. Together with the $450 a week she got a pile of Google stock options, which she never thought would be worth a penny.

However after five years of work Ms Brown retired a wealthy woman, with the millions of dollars on her bank account, and the stock options which are still rising in value. 52 years old former Google employee now lives in an enormous house in Nevada and hires her own masseuse and a private Pilates instructor. Ms. Brown set up a charity foundation and traveled all around the world. More then that she wrote a book, still unpublished, about her lucky job: “Giigle: How I Got Lucky Massaging Google.”

Ms. Brown is not the only employee-millionaire from Google. Although no one has officially counted the exact number, there are approximately 1000 people who own more then $5 million worth Google stock.

The fact is, the Google present and former employees hold stock options cost about $2,1 billion all. The current employees, in addition, have the so-called unvested options, the options which can not be immediately cashed. The value of these unvested options hits $4 billion.

The considerable portion of Google stock options, however, belong to the chief staff. For example, one of the Google founders, Larry Page owns $20 billion stock, while another, Sergey Brin holds $19,6 billion. Three Google senior vice presidents together hold $160 million worth of options.

However unlike Ms. Brown the new employees nowadays are not granted with thousands of Google options in their exercise price, or the determined price which would have the employees to pay for purchasing the stock, set in pennies. The half of the Google’s 16000 employees have been working for less than one year, and their options have a $500 exercise price. However they can already see the rise of price on their options. The number of stock options granted to the new employee of the company are usually determined by the latter’s new position and his/her salary level.

The rise in Google’s stock is affecting the deepest reaches of the company. “It’s very clear that people are taking nicer vacations,” said one Google engineer, who asked not to be identified because it is also not Googley to talk about personal fortunes made at the company. “And one of the guys who works for me but has been there longer showed up at work in a really, really nice new car.”

Although the tale of Google Cinderella- Ms. Brown is not likely to be repeated in future, the general well-fare of its employees will steadily rise, together with the values of the Google stock options they hold, and the years they will spend working for the company.

The giant in a searching system, Google, enhances position in social network . Google, as one of the innovators and strong competitors on world wide market, launches OpenSocial, a new open API for social network system. It consists of three parts: people, storage, and activity stream. The purpose of it is to allow developers to create applications for different social networks.

The main comport Google’s OpenSocial provides, as the name "OpenSocial" says already, in difference to Facebook, is that the developers have opportunities to write apps in HTML or javascript rather than in some new programming language. At the same time, the apps are meant to be portable and the system is designed for maximum flexibility.

Open nature of the system makes us come to the conclusion that OpenSocial System will not be a new network in a number of networks (Orkut, LinkedIn, Plaxo) but It is expected to be a new paradigm for the social web.

Recently the Wall Street Journal has reported that Google was showing a prototype mobile phone to cell phone manufacturers and cellular service providers.

The search engine giant's entering in the mobile communication's market won't be extremely unexpected. After all, we have a precedent of Apple introducing iPhone.

At the moment the information about the "Google Phone" is just a rumor. But some rumors are quite in a range of possibility and frequently materialize. If this is the case with "Google Phone", we may see in a couple of months.

Personally I do not see a reason why Google could not produce a high class mobile phone. If Apple succeeded in it, why Google should not? Moreover, if we take into account the innovative and sometimes rather wild ideas coming out of the Google Labs, the Google's cell phone may really become an iPhone killer.

Google has acquired GrandCentral and the communications company is now officially a part of the search giant.

"Dear Mr. Schmidt, You may be aware that Privacy International yesterday published its first privacy ranking of leading companies operating on the Internet. Google Inc performed very poorly, scoring lowest among the other major companies that we surveyed."

This is a beginning of an open letter sent by Privacy International's Director Simon Davies to the Google's CEO Mr. Eric Schmidt.Privacy International is a London based human rights group formed in 1990 as a watchdog on surveillance and privacy invasions by governments and corporations alike.

Privacy International released a report on Saturday where Google has ranked at the bottom of the list containing 22 companies. According to Privacy International, other companies have problems with their privacy practices, however none of the 22 companies sunk to the Google's level.Google has certainly made a message that Privacy International's report was based on numerous inaccuracies and misunderstandings about Google's services.

According to Privacy International "Google has embarked on a smear campaign within the media to discredit both PI and the report".Well, research methodologies are not always 100% accurate. Even if we assume and agree on that Privacy International has no interest in placing Google at the bottom of the list, there is a chance that the survey had some inaccuracies and misunderstandings.

However, Privacy International is not alone. An independent European panel is already inquiring into Google's policies to make sure they conform to Europe's privacy rules. Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick Inc. has already alerted a number of consumer groups in the USA and the nation's regulators are under pressure to make Google change some of its privacy policies.

If you carefully think about the amount of data that Google gathers, matches and analyzes, it may sound fair to put the search giant at the bottom of the list. In my opinion no other company has such powerful facilities to collect, match and analyze the user data than Google has.

Deciding if this is good or bad is up to you. If the data collected will be used to improve the service and overall user experience, I have nothing against. If users won't benefit, that's another story.

A week has not passed since eBay's acquisition of StumbleUpon and we have another one - FeedBurner has been acquired by Google. FeedBurner, a privately-held Chicago company that syndicates more than 700,000 bloggers and podcasters has been acquired by the search giant and after a week of speculation and rumor it is a fact now.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed, however a rumoured amount is $100 million.

If in eBay's case it was not immediately clear how StumbleUpon would be integrated into eBay, in FeedBurner-Google duet the synergy it is crystal clear. By acquiring FeedBurner, Google will be able to track and place ads on feeds that are processed through the FeedBurner system - a perfect combination. Add to this Google Analytics along with the Blogger service and you have a full circle.