Mitch Wagner's Most Recent Posts

The latest career move by Google's Marissa Mayer demonstrates that location-based services are strategic to Google. And a good thing too, because location services are the Next Big Thing on the Internet. Google has already stumbled big in that area, and faces tough competition.

Google's self-driving car is a wonderful invention. But why is Google messing around with this? Shouldn't it be paying attention to problems with its core business?

Google this weekend revealed an amazing technological breakthrough: A car that can drive itself. The revenue possibilities of the invention illustrate the new business realities of the Internet age, where simply selling things seems old-fashioned and quaint.

Google TV has an attractive set of capabilities, letting you watch video-on-demand, Web video, and surf the Web from your living room TV. But its complexity will keep it from growing beyond a niche product for enthusiasts.

For a classic showdown between Google and Apple products, take a look at Logitech's new Revue set-top box, which runs Google TV, and compare it to Apple TV. Google fans will like the Logitech unit because it's customizable and has lots of features, while Apple enthusiasts will praise Apple TV's simplicity and elegance.

Google acquired BindType, a company that's making great strides in solving one of the toughest problems in mobile devices: typing on those tiny little screens. The acquisition will help Android phones compete against Apple's iPhones and iPad.

Security researchers released a paper this week showing that Google Android apps leak user locations, phone numbers and other private information to advertisers, without user permission.

A top Gmail designer hinted at some possible upcoming refinements for the service's powerful recent upgrade at a recent presentation in Zurich.

Bloggers are rushing to Google's defense, saying the French court that convicted the company of libel is clueless and out of touch with technology. But in fact it's Google's defenders who are out of touch.

Talk show funny man Stephen Colbert introduced Eric Schmidt this way: "My guest tonight is the CEO of Google. At least that's what it said when I looked him up on Bing." In the midst of the yucks, Colbert and Schmidt got in a couple of minutes of serious discussion about Google and privacy.

Google is developing a split personality, with one part that's socially conscious and develops great products, and another that's evil, invading people's privacy and stealing trade secrets, argues a prominent search blogger. But Google's biggest problem isn't on the corporate level, the problem is the human beings who work there.

Google plans to update Google Docs in the next few weeks to allow users to edit documents on iPads and Android devices. But the company still has some big holes in its mobile apps line.

Twitter's overhaul of its home page will be a great benefit to users, and also turn up the competitive heat on both Facebook and Google. By making it easier to share photos and videos, Twitter butts heads with Facebook, because that's one of the main things people do there. Also, Twitter wants to become the place people go to find out what's going on. Isn't that Google's job?

Google Android phones are open, offering unlimited options for customization. That's why they're better than the closed-off, proprietary, locked-down iPhone. Just ask any Android fan, they'll tell you. But that's just plain wrong.

One of Second Life's biggest problems, says CEO Philip Rosedale, is that it's not enough like an iPhone. From the moment you open the box on an iPhone, it's fun to use, and in playing, you learn how to use it. The whole process is pleasurable. Second Life is nothing like that, learning to use it is a long process, and painful for many people.