• Ross Fadner, Oct 18, 2007, 10:45 AM
  • Google Unveils Health Plans Information Week Google on Wednesday unveiled plans for its long-awaited health initiative, which is now set to appear in early 2008, said Marissa Mayer, the company's head of search. Mayer said Google hopes to enhance the way medical records are stored and organized; she pointed out that its search engine is already the starting point for the majority of health-related searches on the Web.

    Google's biggest competitor in online healthcare will be Microsoft, of course. Earlier this year, the software giant acquired Medstory, a health-related search startup. It unveiled plans to create a personalized, customized health care page for every person, containing medical records, insurance information and relevant third-party information (and advertising) culled from keywords on the page. Google's tool also incorporates personal medical records with health care-related searches. Other elements include diet and exercise information and a localized "find a doctor" application. She said the business model is still being worked out; some parts of the system will be free, while others may require a subscription. Read the whole story...
  • Group Agrees To Copyright Guidelines The Wall Street Journal A group of major traditional and Web media companies today entered into a pact to fight rampant copyright violation on the Internet. The consortium, which includes Microsoft, NBC Universal, News Corp., Viacom, Walt Disney Co. and the video sharing company Dailymotion, agreed to a set of guidelines protecting copyright holders.

    Conspicuous by their absence were both Google and its video-sharing site, YouTube, which pretty much started and is mostly responsible for the copyright mess. Google was involved in discussions about joining the initiative, but has not yet done so.

    Among other things, they all agreed to use digital fingerprinting technology to eliminate copyrighted videos before they become public. Incidentally, Google has also jumped on that bandwagon, announcing a new copyright detection technology earlier this week. However, the company said its technology cannot yet prevent infringing content from being posted initially, but can pull flagged content "in a matter of a few minutes." Read the whole story...
  • Skype Moves Into Mobile Business Week The cell phone business has been another big growth area for large tech companies. Apple and Google have both charged into the space in the last year, and they're now being joined by Skype, the Web's largest voiceover IP provider. The eBay company is apparently developing a customized cell phone to run on telecom giant 3 Mobile's network, which spans Europe, Asia and Australia. The device, codenamed the "white phone," will be introduced by late October in Britain, then Hong Kong, Italy and Australia. The phones have a large button above the regular keypad that brings up Skype's mobile software.

    It's interesting that a major carrier would back a product coming from a company whose technology is potentially disruptive to the telecom business model. Indeed, most carriers have blocked Internet phone services on their networks because they fear services providing phone technology at such a low cost.

    Which is why Skype's entry into the mobile market would be a serious threat to Verizon and AT&T. However, there is no plan for the company to enter the market in North America. That could change if eBay decides to bid on the open spectrum that goes up for auction in January. Read the whole story...
  • MySpace, iPhone Open To Developers Los Angeles Times/Reuters When it opened its platform to third-party developers in May, Facebook started a Web-wide trend. Today, both Apple and News Corp announced they would open their software development kits to outsiders: Apple for its iPhone handset and News Corp. for its Facebook competitor, MySpace. The latter's move was expected, but Apple was a surprise because the iPod maker is a notoriously closed-door company.

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the developer tools would be released in February after the company had them as virus proof as possible. "We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third-party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones," Jobs wrote on Apple's Web site. The move is a win for consumers, who have complained that they weren't allowed to install software on the iPhone as they could on a computer.

    Meanwhile, MySpace is also set to open its doors to outside developers over the next couple of months. CEO Chris DeWolfe said the News Corp site would offer a more lucrative environment for third-party software developers, due to the company's size (more than 110 million members) and available ad tools. Read the whole story...