google +_

Intellectual Ventures is coming back for seconds in another lawsuit against Google-owned Motorola Mobility.

The controversial Bellevue, Wash.-based company that's made headlines for accumulating a massive trove of software and design patents, sued Motorola Mobility in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Wednesday.

The complaint targets several Motorola phones including the Atrix HD, Electrify M, and Photon Q 4G LTE, accusing those devices of infringing key parts of seven different patents. IV says the lawsuit comes after the company was "unable to reach an agreement with Motorola."

Motorola, not mincing … Read more

Feedly has completed its next wave of Web site upgrades designed to serve as a spiffy, new welcome mat for users of Google Reader, which is shutting down.

Existing users of the Feedly news aggregator and those migrating from Google Reader will now find a refreshed site compatible with all major browsers, Feedly said in a blog post Wednesday. The overhauled site adds support for Internet Explorer and Opera and boasts a new interface that doesn't require plug-ins or browser extensions.

In line with its new cloud, Feedly is no longer shackled to Google. Previously, the site depended on Google Reader's servers for its back-end technology. … Read more

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The modest two-story bungalow on State Line Road looks like the typical twenty something, post-college "share house."

The house is old; the decor is very basic. Like most homes to post-college grads, it's furnished with second-hand furniture. Several fake leather recliners line the walls in the living room and a big oversized sectional couch sits in the corner, offering plenty of room for geeks with laptops to comfortably park themselves while writing code. A big white board on the wall displays the email addresses and Twitter handles of the many hackers who have … Read more

The dulcet tones of Apple's Siri and Google Now are getting high marks from most users, but Siri's enticing them to more tasks more often, according to a survey by market research firm Parks Associates.

Adoption rates for voice control are up from last year, climbing to about a fifth of broadband users, and both Apple's Siri technology and Google Now are commonly used for many functions.

But in most cases, save for sending text messages, Siri edges out Google Now in adoption.

Among Siri users, 48 percent turn to the feature for five or more activities … Read more

The new Google Glass technology is raising privacy concerns around the world, prompting privacy officials in six countries to write to Google for more details about the high-tech specs.

While Google Glass' capabilities are largely limited at this point, privacy and security are two of the major concerns for the device. Users could seemingly videotape or photograph others without their knowledge, leading to bans by bars and casinos.

In a letter addressed to Google CEO Larry Page, privacy commissioners in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Switzerland, and Israel want to know how Google intends to use the information collected by … Read more

Fox Broadcasting is broadening how online viewers can watch its scripted-drama franchise WIGS, expanding the most popular series "Blue" and others to Hulu, beyond just YouTube.

"Blue" has blown past 20 million views on Google's video site, but expanding the program to a lesser-watched platform suggests YouTube's recent push for premium-style content can be complicated.

Ad-supported Hulu and subscription service Hulu Plus now have the first two seasons of "Blue" available. The show, which stars Julia Stiles as a mom who is also an upscale escort, is in a longer, TV-like format … Read more

Google Street View has ways of getting places. There are its fleet of cars, its tricycles for places without roads, SCUBA divers for the ocean, and even user-generated content.

Nevertheless, there's always, inevitably, an end to the road. Naturally, sometimes this is because the land just plumb runs out. But there are a number of other reasons Google's cameras have not been able to proceed, from the natural to the man-made. The Atlantic's Alan Taylor took a pictorial look at the reasons why. See them in our gallery below. … Read more

Google has asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to lift a gag order, saying it has the constitutional right to clear its name by discussing government data requests.

The company filed a five-page motion before the court on Tuesday afternoon, arguing it has "a right under the First Amendment to publish" summary statistics about requests made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, sent an open letter last week to Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller asking for "transparency" -- but was unable to reach an … Read more

Will annoying online drug pitches ever go the way of pop-up ads? Probably not. But Google revealed on Tuesday some behind-the-scenes techniques it uses to decrease the visibility of rogue online pharmacies.

"Rogue pharmacies continually adapt their online marketing practices, meaning this is an ongoing battle," wrote Google legal director Adam Barea in a blog post about how the company combats these pharmacies.

Google stringently scrutinizes online pharmacy ad buys, including using the third-party tool LegitScript to create a higher bar for pharmacies. Since 2010, only ads from accredited U.S.-based online pharmacies have been approved. The … Read more