financial-times

Google to make text jump off the page

Google has acquired multimedia company Apture to bring users beyond the realm of 2D in Chrome. Founded in 2007, Apture’s technology is designed to help users make ‘contextual searches’, where relevant information and text ‘jumps off the page.’ “We’ve always believed that by transforming flat web pages into interactive multimedia experiences, we could enable readers to see, hear and truly experience the ideas on the page,” Apture said. Apture’s in-page search technology gives users instant access to additional information including text, images and video from sources across the web without leaving the page – a feature that, when powered by Google , could prove an incredibly useful resource for Chrome users. The feature also gives publishers an added opportunity for revenue – for example, a mention of a local sports team on a webpage could prompt an Apture search of that team and return results for videos, images, and ticket sales. Apture’s past customers have included the New York Times, Financial Times and Reader’s Digest. Google has yet to disclose financial details of the merger or whether Apture will move from its headquarters in San Francisco to Mountain View

Read the original: 
Google to make text jump off the page

financial-times

Yahoo! hustles display ad deal to fend off Facebook

Carol Bartz may have just left the building , but Yahoo!’s newest CEO Tim Morse is already attempting to boost the portal’s performance and fill the firm’s coffers by flash-selling display adverts. According to The Financial Times , Yahoo!’s top brass are hustling to secure a mutual ad-selling arrangement with Microsoft and AOL in a bid to ramp up ad revenues and stop Facebook from toppling Yahoo! in the US display-advertising market. All three firms have remained tight-lipped on the issue, but industry sources let slip that the trio seem close to finalising a deal after making successful pitches to New York ad buyers earlier this week. Details are still thin on the ground but it’s thought that each of the firm’s mad men sold premium ad space on their own pages to Manhattan buyers, as well as second-tier slots on partner sites. The move could make buying display ads across Yahoo! , Microsoft and AOL as quick and easy as buying search-related ads on Google . However, critics have been quick to note that each firm can only guarantee premium space on its own network

More here: 
Yahoo! hustles display ad deal to fend off Facebook

financial-times

Dolby drops patent lawsuit against Blackberry makers

Dolby has withdrawn its lawsuit against BlackBerry makers Research in Motion (RIM), after the two companies reached an agreement on the use of patent protected technologies in the phones and in PlayBook tablets. The lawsuit was launched earlier this year when Dolby decided to sue RIM for use of its audio compression technology without having it licensed first. “Litigation was regrettably our last resort after RIM declined to pay for the use of Dolby’s technology,” said executive VP and general counsel, Andy Sherman, back in June. Dolby audio compression software, which greatly reduces file size, is used in a range of smartphones, tablets and music players, to allow for MP3 and AAC digital playback in such devices. During the ongoing patent infringement case, Dolby took steps to ensure that the Blackberry models and tablets that used their software were not sold in Germany and the United States. But now the suit has been dropped after the feuding companies managed to reach an undisclosed financial agreement, and RIM have sought licensing for the technology through Dolby subsidiary, Via Licensing Corporation

See the original post:
Dolby drops patent lawsuit against Blackberry makers

financial-times

Google Chief Admits Company "Screwed Up" in Data Privacy Controversy

After weeks of controversy, Google has admitted to significant security missteps involving the collection of personal computer user’s wireless data through its Google Street Cars. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in an interview published in the Financial Times on Friday that the company had “screwed up” and mapped every wireless network in Britain along with other countries for their own potential commercial use.

Originally posted here: 
Google Chief Admits Company "Screwed Up" in Data Privacy Controversy