Tag Archives: Larry Page

Computers

The new Chrome App Launcher: Google's backdoor into the offline world

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The

On Friday, Google gave Windows users something that they’ve been pining for: A Start button. And even better than that, Google’s version keeps you on the desktop and actually opens a pop-up menu full of programs, unlike the nerfed Start button that’s slated to appear in the Windows 8.1 update.

No, Larry Page hasn’t decided to jump into the crowded Windows Start button replacement arena. Instead, Google’s engineers quietly dragged Chrome OS’s App Launcher—the Googlefied equivalent of a Start button—over to Chrome for Windows today. The seemingly simple addition is a major step in Google’s push to bring Web standards to walled gardens.

Big things in little packages

The Chrome App Launcher is exactly what you’d expect: A taskbar icon that lets you quick-launch Chrome browser apps, such as Gmail, the Play Store, Angry Birds, and yep, even Chrome itself. Simple, right? But the little launcher is a Trojan horse for much bigger ambitions—especially when paired with packaged Chrome apps.

Packaged apps are available now, but since Google has yet to highlight them in the Chrome Web Store, you might not be familiar with them. Packaged apps are programs built on the bones of the Chrome browser. They use traditional Web languages such as HTML5 and CSS, but they run as separate, standalone software that can also be used offline, unlike traditional browsers.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

How the innocent-seeming Chrome App Launcher is Google's Trojan horse into Windows

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Google gave Windows users something that they’ve been pining for today: A Start button. And even better than that, Google’s version keeps you on the desktop and actually opens a pop-up menu full of programs, unlike the nerfed Start button that’s slated to appear in the Windows 8.1 update.

No, Larry Page hasn’t decided to jump into the crowded Windows Start button replacement arena. Instead, Google’s engineers quietly dragged Chrome OS’s App Launcher—the Googlefied equivalent of a Start button—over to Chrome for Windows today, and the seemingly simple addition is a major blow in Google’s push to bring web standards to walled gardens.

Big things in little packages

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Larry Page defends Google's 'big bets' on Glass, driver-less cars

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Google’s core product may always be search, but the company is just as serious about providing in-the-moment information to users with emerging technologies such as Google Now, self-driving cars and Glass, CEO Larry Page signaled on Thursday.

Those products, along with others such as voice-based search, may comprise risky “big bets” at the company, but Google doesn’t just want to be focused on “incremental technologies,” Page said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

That mindset, he went on to say, “is why we’re investing in what appear to be speculative projects.”

“Companies tend to get comfortable doing what they’ve always done with a few minor tweaks,” Page said, though he refrained from citing any of Google’s Silicon Valley competitors.

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2035746/larry-page-defends-googles-big-bets-on-glass-driverless-cars.html#tk.rss_all

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Is Google's Facebook Nightmare Beginning?

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By Eric Bleeker, CFA, The Motley Fool

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In April 2011, Google  CEO Larry Page made a move that left no doubt how serious the company thought of social media as a threat. He sent out a companywide memo announcing that 25% of the bonus for all employees, no matter their department, was based on the company’s success in mobile. 

Google clearly sees social and Facebook  as one of the great threats facing the company. With Facebook launching its Facebook Home user interface, which sits on top Android, how threatened should Google feel? While Facebook Home still operates on Android, it also makes Facebook the center of mobile devices. The scary thought for Google is that early versions of Facebook Home are just examples of “toeing the water,” and future releases could go deeper into minimizing Google’s own services while featuring Facebook’s. 

Facebook Home in action. 

Is Facebook becoming the realization of what Larry Page fears? Is search even the main battleground that will emerge between these companies in the next couple years? Let’s take a look at Facebook Home and the threats facing Google today. 

Google’s best weapon: being the best
Back in 2011, when Page went all hands on deck in the battle against Facebook, Google was scared. It was scared because the identity and user habits provided by all the actions taken within Facebook has the potential to be such a strong determinant of search quality. While many see Google now as an entrenched habit of users — it’s not uncommon to say “just Google it” when referring to broad search — the threat is twofold. 

First, if social search could better tap into user habits to offer more relevant results, the company is more susceptible than ever to competitors. The most common threat mentioned when it comes to Google is Microsoft‘s Bing, but that threat might be too obvious.

Instead, consider the recent reports from The Wall Street Journal that Apple  is in negotiations with Yahoo! to feature its content in more iOS applications. The reports note that Yahoo! has been contemplating ways to strengthen a search alliance with Apple, but one of the major sticking points is that leaving Google would “sacrifice the quality of search results.” Google’s greatest threat right now isn’t necessarily Microsoft; it’s the frayed relationship it has with Apple.

Apple is a company that would love to abandon Google from a strategic standpoint but doesn’t have options to do so. Google’s greatest weapon remains not its brand, but its quality and lead in search. 

The early innings of Facebook and search
A second idea that’s connected to the first is how much time users spend on Facebook. Not only does that allow Facebook to collect excellent data on user habits, but it also means Facebook can offer search or other products without needing to boot Google out of being the default search on a browser. If a user is frequently on Facebook and the company offered a unique search offering, it could display a search box prominently within the content

From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/14/is-googles-facebook-nightmare-beginning/

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Facebook Just Dethroned Apple

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By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

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While Apple and Facebook are partners in many ways and don’t directly compete on any fronts, the social networker has just dethroned the Mac maker in an important way: CEO approval ratings.

Career site Glassdoor has just released its annual survey of employee approval ratings of major companies, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has shot up to claim the No. 1 spot. Zuckerberg earned a whopping 99% approval rating among professional Facebookers. Apple’s Tim Cook earned a 93% approval rating, down from 97% last year.

Other notable tech mentions in the 2013 rankings were Qualcomm‘s Paul Jacobs and Google‘s Larry Page, both of whom got thumbs up ratings from 95% of respondents. NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang wasn’t far behind, with 94% of employees backing him.

CEO / Company

2012 Approval Rating

2012 Rank

2013 Approval Rating

2013 Rank

Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook

N/A

N/A

99%

1

Paul Jacobs / Qualcomm

95%

3

95%

8

Larry Page / Google

94%

5

95%

11

Jen-Hsun Huang / NVIDIA

N/A

N/A

94%

15

Tim Cook / Apple

97%

1

93%

18

Source: Glassdoor. N/A = not available because CEO did not rank in top 25 for 2012.

The rankings have tightened as employee approval ratings climbed. Even though Larry Page earned a higher rating in 2013, Google’s overall ranking fell from No. 5 to No. 11 this year. The same is true for Paul Jacobs, since Qualcomm’s ranking also fell even though the CEO kept the same approval rating.

Neither Facebook nor NVIDIA ranked within the top 25 last year, but now the CEOs of both companies have jumped to earn respectable 2013 rankings. NVIDIA has increased its competitive pressure on Qualcomm over the past year, and employees seem to support Huang’s strategic advances. Tim Cook appears to be losing support from employees, even though investors should still believe in him.

Cook aside, is Apple still a buy? The Motley Fool’s senior technology analyst and managing bureau chief, Eric Bleeker, is prepared to fill you in on both reasons to buy and reasons to sell Apple, and what opportunities are left for the company (and your portfolio) going forward. To get instant access to his latest thinking on Apple, simply click here now.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Facebook's Zuckerberg Tops Highest-Rated CEO List

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By 24/7 Wall St.

Mark_Zuckerberg_2008

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Internet jobs site Glassdoor has released its list of the top 50 U.S. CEOs, based on employee feedback, for the past 12 months through February 27. The company asked the question, “Do you approve of the way your CEO is leading the company?” and received more than half a million responses.

The top-ranked chief executive officer this year is Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB). Others in the top five are SAP A.G. (NYSE: SAP) co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, McKinsey & Co. CEO Dominic Barton, Ernst & Young’s Jim Turley and Northwestern Mutual’s John Schlifske. Turley is the only repeater in the top five.

Last year’s top-rated CEO, Tim Cook of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), fell to 18th this year, although the decrease in his score was relatively small, from 97 to 93. Larry Page, CEO at Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), fell from fifth place a year ago to 11th place, but improved his score from 94 to 95.

Glassdoor’s CEO noted:

The CEOs who are most successful in gaining employee approval are those who paint a clear vision of what the company is setting out to achieve and how it’s going to get there. To be recognized by your employees as a strong leader also comes as a result of having a solid company culture that helps employees foster the skills necessary to move business forward and meet the needs of customers.

Glassdoor’s top 50 list is available here.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Corporate Governance, Research Tagged: AAPL, FB, GOOG, SAP

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Insider Selling at Michael Kors Hurts Investors

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By Andrew Marder, The Motley Fool

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Remember that fall that your son’s school football team made it to the state championship game? They worked so hard every day, practicing and running, with you sitting there on the sidelines cheering them on. Then they needed cash to get to the big game and you ponied up a few grand. They were so happy, they put your name on the jerseys.

Then the day came. Tickets to the sold-out game were going for $250 — this was going to be great! But you never found out, because $250 in your pocket was too hard to resist, so you sold your ticket and drank at the bar instead.

If that rings a bell, you might be the eponymous founder of Michael Kors . The man whose name graces the arms of celebrities and the gowns of first ladies has announced that his share of the company is going to fall even further because he could really do with another $185 million right now. After the transaction, he’s down to a mere 2.4% of the company — the company named after him. That’s down from a holding high of 11% before the company IPO in 2011. Investors aren’t happy, and there are good reasons not to be. What does Kors’ move say about the long-term prospects of his brand?

M.
I had to round up, but the letter M is a percentage representation of how much of the Michael Kors brand Kors owns after the sale. He owns the M in “Michael Kors.” I wrote about this a few weeks ago, right after the announcement, but I want to go back and look at the impact that Kors’ selling has had on the stock. Since the filing after close on Feb. 19, the company’s stock has fallen 10%. That’s about $1.3 billion in market cap lopped right off the top. And that’s a loss that goes right to shareholders, and which Michael Kors is largely responsible for.

The problem is perception. It’s entirely possible that nothing bad is happening. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin started dropping a whole bunch of shares back in 2010, but the company remained steady. Here’s an important difference, though — the sell-off left the duo with 48% of the voting rights. That means they were still heavily invested in the company, which displayed a strength of conviction in the brand to other shareholders. Kors’ move isn’t the same thing, because he’s down to such a small part of the company that he founded.

The precedent
The other things that have to be running through shareholders’ minds are the countless times it didn’t work out. In the news this week is the case of Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team who’s being accused of dumping shares in an Internet search company as it went under. He saved his own skin and let the rest of the world burn. There’s also …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Who Will Replace Tim Cook as Apple CEO?

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By 24/7 Wall St.

Apple-store

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There are not many companies that could have a 35% stock drop in six months where the CEO would be under tremendous pressure. That includes Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook. Although he was hand-picked by deceased former CEO and founder Steve Jobs, the Apple board many consider him a liability if Apple’s new products fail in the marketplace and the company misses a number of its financial forecast, and its share prices continues to fall rapidly. Apple’s board, like any other responsible one, has an obligation to pick the best person possible run the company. And Cook may have stumbled though enough tests that his ouster may be just months away.

Who would replace Cook? The list is fairly short, given Apple’s size and the complexity of its products and technology.

Apple would not turn inside the company to pick a new chief executive. Too many of Apple’s most senior management have been with the firm too long and are tainted with their association with Apple’s trouble.

Potential new CEOs for Apple:

John Chambers of Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is considered the dean of Silicon Valley CEOs. Chambers, who is almost 65, has captained Cisco since 1995. The firm’s revenue over that period has grown from less than $2 billion a year to nearly $50 billion. Cisco’s operations are vast, and among the most complex in the tech industry.

The dark horse for the Apple job is the chairman of arch rival Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) — Eric Schmidt. He is no longer CEO of Google, having been moved out of that job by the board and replaced by Larry Page. Google’s shares have reached an all-time high, and much of the reason for the firm’s success goes to Schmidt. But Schmidt may want a second act after being pushed upstairs at Google. If he joined Apple and turned it around, he could be considered the greatest CEO in tech history. That, by itself, could be an enticement. And Schmidt has another advantage. He is a former Apple board member.

Retired International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) CEO Sam Palmisano led one of the world’s largest technology companies through a transformation that helped it diversity into software and services and move it further away from hardware. He ran IBM during the mammoth integration of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting in 2002, considered one of the signature moves in reinventing IBM.

The most risky move Apple could take is to hire former Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) CEO Mark Hurd, who was pushed out of the company and is now co-president of Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL). Oracle founder Larry Ellison said that Hurd was one of the tech industry’s most skilled leaders and recruited him within weeks after his ouster from HP. Hurd is known as a hard-nosed operator who ran one of the most diverse tech companies in the world, and ran it well.

There is a slight chance Apple would turn to its own board. Chairman Arthur D. Levinson built biotech company Genentech. He was made CEO of that company in 1995 and is credited with making it into a …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Computers

Google's Page, Brin, and Schmidt to testify in employee antritrust case

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Google’s famed “triumvirate”—Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt—will give oral statements over the coming weeks as part of a private antitrust suit brought against Google and six other technology companies by former employees.

The civil suit, filed last year in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that Google, Apple, Intel, Adobe, and several other tech giants in the region conspired to enter into “no-poach” agreements to eliminate competition between them by restricting their hiring of each other’s employees.

Google CEO Larry Page and cofounder Sergey Brin are scheduled to give depositions on the charges on March 22 and March 19, respectively, a court document filed Feb. 15 said. Depositions are oral statements given under oath that are often taken to examine potential witnesses that could be used later in the trial.

Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt will also give his deposition on Wednesday at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld