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Google wants to fill in the TV white spaces

Google is planning a conference call with journalists on Monday to discuss a company filing with the FCC regarding the use of unused portions of the TV spectrum band, known as white spaces.

On the 11:30 a.m. EST call will be Rick Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel.

Technology companies want to be able to use the spectrum between the TV channels for Internet access, and the FCC is considering opening up the white spaces for use by unlicensed Internet devices. But broadcasters oppose the move, saying it will cause interference.

The FCC has been running tests … Read more

Microsoft heads to 'Albany'

Microsoft confirmed Friday that it has started testing for a product code-named "Albany" but would not offer further details on the product, which may or may not be its ad-funded version of Works.

ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley posted a report earlier Friday saying that Albany is a consumer product in the Office family. She didn't get anything concrete out of Redmond either, but has some informed speculation of what it might be.

Microsoft said last year that it plans to test an ad-funded version of Works, following several years of exploring the idea. However, it is … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 686: Muselix of podcasts

Veronica's back, and we do spend quite a bit of time talking about DRM, patent law, the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction winners and other tech topics. However we finished on something of a low note regarding fiber. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 686

Verizon wins ‘open access’ licenses in FCC auction http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9899829-7.html

Dish Network to offer mobile TV service? http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/ 419-dish-network-to-offer-mobile-tv-service/

BitTorrent to Comcast: Let’s be friends http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9899677-7.html

PC game developer has radical message: Ignore the pirates http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080320-pc-game-developer-has-radical-message-ignore-the-pirates.html … Read more

Nazi uproar over YouTube leaving bad choices all around

Google has been caught up in a controversy over anti-Semitic videos that have been circulating on YouTube.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has gone to court to force the video-sharing site to permanently purge the files, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz. The paper quotes Stephan Kramer, secretary general of the Central Council, saying he believes Google was culpable for "aiding and abetting racial hatred and discrimination."

This question is especially freighted with extra historical baggage in Germany, where the Holocaust occupies a front row in the nation's historical consciousness. And as much as it … Read more

Spectrum Auction: Google wins by losing

The FCC's 700MHz spectrum auction is over and Verizon won. But so did Google, which made a bid that wasn't chosen.

There's a good chance that Google didn't even want to win, as my colleague Maggie Reardon suspected last year. It didn't make any sense for Google to get into the telecom business.

Why would Google bid if it didn't intend to win? By bluffing its way through the bid, Google was able to drive the price high enough to get the FCC to adopt open-access rules it pushed for that require the network … Read more

I wonder. What would Eric Schmidt say, post-Android?

What a magnificent bluff! After hearing about the outcome of the FCC's wireless spectrum auction (click for PDF), I have to marvel at the poker face Eric Schmidt assumed throughout the course of the last several months.

Since Eric the Silent rarely talks about what really goes on inside the inner sanctum, I've saved you the trouble of the guesswork and conducted my own imaginary Q&A:

Q: Thanks for taking the time, Eric. Did you ever seriously think about building your own wireless network in case Google actually won part of the spectrum auction? Imaginary Schmidt: … Read more

Verizon wins 'open access' licenses in FCC auction

It's official: Verizon Wireless has won licenses for nationwide coverage in the C-Block in the 700MHz spectrum auction conducted by the Federal Communications Commission.

This means that Verizon, not Google, will control the spectrum that is required by the FCC to adhere to special open-access rules.

Google had lobbied the FCC last summer to include several rules in the 700MHz spectrum auction that mandated open access. The FCC adopted only one of Google's proposed rules, which requires the winner to allow any device or application to connect to a network that uses this spectrum.

Google made good on … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 685: Do Androids Dream?

HTC has subtly referenced Phil Dick by naming their forthcoming Android phone Dream. But is it a replicate? We'll never know. And of course Google is crumbling because their search traffic grew. You heard that right. We'll explain that theory and attempt to debunk it on the show. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 685

comScore releases February 2008 U.S. search engine rankings http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2119

Google queries decelerated in February–comScore--Silicon Alley Insider http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/3/ google_comscore_says_queries_decelerated_in_february

Google data watch: Enough with the overanalysis http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8272… Read more

Google's in-house IT gurus

Question: What kind of machines do Google's thousands of engineers use? Which OS? And how do they keep a gigantic infrastructure protected from security risks, without impairing their famous creativity?

Answers: Several, numerous, and some sound planning ahead.

Read the interview with Google CTO Douglas Merrill at The Wall Street Journal: "Pleasing Google's Tech-Savvy Staff"