Open Web Developer News Desk

Google, whose shares hit a record of $641.41 a week ago, reported that sales in its third quarter had surged by 57% compared with the period a year ago, and net income by 46%. "We are very pleased with the impressive growth we experienced across our business," said CEO Eric Schmidt, who also told analysts, drily: “It is obvious to us that our model continues to work very well.” "Our core search advertising business experienced continued momentum driven by growth in monetization and traffic, and we are creating a wider and deeper ads system through our focus on innovation, bringing more ad formats to our advertisers," Schmidt (pictured) explained in a statement accompanying the results. "Our efforts to offer more products and services in international markets as well as effectively grow our technology infrastructure and add to our deep talent base during ... (more)

Google Goes On Disrupting: Last Week OpenSocial, This Week Open Phones

In a move likely to be hailed as the final blow for the walled gardens favored till now by the wireless operators, Google is said to be leveraging Linux and Java to open up the wireless handset market in the same way that it just launched OpenSocial to break open social networking and get beyond the walled garden approach of, for example, Facebook. According to USA Today this morning,  Google today "plans to announce the formation of an 'open phone' coalition, with the goal of developing an operating system for the so-called Google Phone." In the key quote from the article, Morgan ... (more)

Will Google Gears Be the Basis for Online/Offline Version of Gmail?

Google Gears, the open source browser extension – still in beta – that enables web applications to provide offline functionality using JavaScript APIs, might be the key to an upcoming online/offline version of Gmail. Google Gears specifically allows AJAX web apps to run offline without a net connection. An open source runtime, it allows you to build offline Web applications, so presumably the bright folks at the Googleplex are keen to eat in their own kitchen. Such, anyway, are the current rumors circulating round the blogosphere. Meantime, Google Gadgets Architect Adam... (more)

Google's OpenSocial Initiative Gains Massive Momentum

OpenSocial, the industry-backed application programming interface (API) developed by Google to promote interoperability and shared data across all online social networks, is gaining momentum at a rapid pace. The sites that have already committed to supporting OpenSocial - Bebo, Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, mixi, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, Wink.comand XING - represent an audience of about 200 million users globally. “The web is fundamentally better when it’s social, and we’re only just s... (more)

Google and 34 Others Launch Android Platform, Form the Open Handset Alliance

A broad alliance of leading technology and wireless companies today joined forces to announce the development of Android, calling it "the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices." Google, T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola and others have collaborated on the development of Android through the Open Handset Alliance, a multinational alliance of technology and mobile industry leaders. This alliance shares a common goal of fostering innovation on mobile devices and giving consumers a far better user experience than much of what is available on today's mobile pla... (more)