Google Inc. bought Waze Ltd., a company that develops mapping applications with real-time updates, for about $1 billion US, Reuters reported. Google made the announcement on its blog on Tuesday, in a post by Brian McClendon, vice-president of geo. He wrote that “we’re excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhancing Waze with Google’s search capabilities.” Waze, an Israeli company with offices in Palo Alto, Calif., adds a crowd-sourcing element to mapping, allowing users to contribute data about the route they are taking by driving with the app open, as well as contribute additional information on road conditions like accidents and traffic jams. For now, the product development team will operate separately, staying in...
The federal Competition Bureau told Google Inc. that it will launch a formal inquiry into the international Internet search giant’s Canadian business practices, Google spokeswoman Leslie Church said. In an emailed statement Tuesday, Church said Google had received notice of the bureau’s intentions to formally investigate the company. “We will work cooperatively with the Competition Bureau to answer any questions they may have,” said Church, the company’s senior manager of global communications and public affairs in Canada. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google has...
Google Inc. launched a new U.S. music streaming service that allows users to access unlimited music online for $10 US per month, the company said. The new service, which the company announced Wednesday at its annual developers...
Three Canadian production companies will charge monthly fees for subscriptions to their YouTube channels under a new pilot program announced by Google Inc. this week. In a post on its blog Thursday, YouTube, owned by Google, said...
Google Inc. will roll out subscription channels on its YouTube Inc. online video service as early as this week, the New York Times reported Monday, citing sources with knowledge of the plan. Under...
Google Inc. acquired University of Toronto-based technology startup DNNresearch Inc. In a release Tuesday, the university said the startup owned by Geoffrey Hinton, a professor in the department of computer science, and two of...
Google Inc.’s online application store is providing app developers with detailed personal information of customers who purchased their products, an Australian developer said. In a blog post last week, application developer Dan Nolan said the Google Play store provided him with the full names, email addresses and postal code information of customers who purchased his “Paul Keating Insult Generator” application. “If you bought the app on Google Play (even if you cancelled the order) I have your email address, your suburb, and in many instances your full name,” he...
Google Inc. reached an agreement with a group of publishers in France that involves the company creating a 60-million euro fund to support digital media publishing initiatives for French readers, Google said on its blog Feb. 1....
Major United States technology companies launched a new website Wednesday to promote patent reform. The website, called Patent Progress, was created by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), whose members...
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has invalided an Apple Inc. smartphone patent covering touchscreen "bounce backs" when users scroll beyond the edge of a page, Reuters reported Tuesday. The patent, one of six that...
Google Inc.'s YouTube video service expanded its “original channels” program to Europe with at least 60 new channels in France, Germany and the U.K., the company said. In a post Sunday on YouTube's blog,...
Canadian consumers increasingly use smartphones and tablets running Google Inc.’s Android operating system, a new Ipsos-Reid poll said Tuesday. In a release, Ipsos said its latest Mobil-ology study found Android-powered...
Leading Android smartphone manufacturers may delay new device launches as they analyse a $1.05-billion patent verdict against Samsung and attempt to “design around Apple's patents,”...
The strength of available apps and platform simplicity will be key factors determining the success of Apple Inc., Google Inc., Roku Inc. and Boxee Inc. as they compete for customers in the emerging...
Worldwide smartphone sales increased year-over-year by 42.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 despite a 2.3 per cent decline in overall cell phone sales, research firm Gartner Inc. said in a new...
Mobile operating systems by Google Inc. and Apple Inc. powered 85 per cent of all smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2012, the International Data Corporation (IDC) said Wednesday. IDC cited its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report and said Google's Android platform held a 68.1 per cent market share of all smartphones shipped during the quarter. That represents a year-over-year rise of 106.5 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2011, IDC said. Second to Android was Apple’s iOS, IDC said, with a 16.9 per cent share of the market. Apple’s iOS...
Google Inc.’s Toronto office has added Leslie Church, Michael Ignatieff’s former communications director, as a senior manager on its communications and public affairs team. Church—who served as the former...
Google Inc. unveiled a new tablet, dubbed the Nexus 7, at the Google I/O Conference for developers in San Francisco on Wednesday, marking the company’s entry into the tablet business. The 7-inch tablet, designed by...
Canada's over-the-top television landscape will become more competitive this summer as Sony Corp. launches Google Inc.'s Google TV product in the country for the first time. Sony Canada...
Canadian digital media companies tend to be small and face problems finding private-sector financing, but new opportunities like TV app development continue to arise, new consultants’ reports...
Data compiled through user-generated tests on Google Inc.’s Measurements Lab (MLab) project show Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. are two of the world’s most frequent throttlers of BitTorrent traffic. Rogers was the fourth-highest throttling Internet service provider (ISP) in the world during the first three months of 2012 and Bell was the sixth-highest in MLab data released Thursday by Syracuse University's School of Information Studies. The MLab project allows Internet users to test speed, quality, and other characteristics of their Internet connections. The...
Google Inc. said Wednesday it has reached a deal with Paramount Pictures to rent movies in the Google Play app store used on its Android mobile phones and tablets. “Today we’re pleased to announce a new...
Television distributors that offer personal video recorder (PVR) services say the Conservative government's copyright reform Bill C-11 could prevent the launch of TV recording and playback...