Editor’s Note: Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Google overtaken by Yahoo! in US website visitors for first time in two years (The Guardian)
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) attracted more website visitors in the United States than Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) during July, pushing the company to the top of the online league for the first time in two years. Nearly 197 million individuals visited a Yahoo! website last month, according to rankings from comScore, versus 192 million for Google. The last time Yahoo! outperformed Google was in May 2011.
As Google Ventures Invests $250 Million In Uber, What’s Next? Driverless Cars On Demand? (Forbes)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Ventures, Google’s supposedly early-stage investment arm, just pumped more than $250 million into the on-demand car service Uber, according to AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher. Along with other investors, principally private-equity firm TPG, Uber now commands a stunning valuation of about $3.5 billion. That valuation is amazing enough, if not entirely surprising given that it was revealed last month–and given its apparent momentum as an alternative to taxis. But what’s most intriguing is the heavy involvement of Google Ventures. The $250 million-plus it’s putting into Uber is pretty close to its entire annual commitment of funding of $300 million.
Every call you take, I’ll be watching you: Google withdraws boyfriend-spying app over complaints of privacy abuse (but not before thousands download it) (MailOnline)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Play has been forced to remove a Boyfriend Tracker app from sale in Brazil in response to complaints about privacy abuses, as well as its potential to be used for extortion or stalking. Brazilians were outraged when they learned their country was a top target of the U.S. National Security Agency’s top secret overseas spying operation, but it seems that all bets are off when it comes to catching cheaters.k
Google Buys Patents From Apple Ally Hon Hai (The Wall Street Journal)
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., known for its close ties to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), said Friday it sold some display patents to Google Inc. The Apple andc assembler didn’t specify a value for the deal or expound on details, except to say the patents sold to Google included head-mounted technology that allows a virtual image to be superimposed on a “real-world view.”
Google Glass has ‘zero chance’ of becoming mainstream, says Khosla Ventures’ Keith Rabois (The Next Web)
Khosla Ventures’ partner Keith Rabois appeared on Bloomberg TV today to talk about a variety of things, but there’s one particular piece that caught our ear. In the nearly eight minute conversation, he said that there was ‘zero chance’ of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Glass ever becoming mainstream. Glass is Google’s foray into the world of wearable computing and is going a different route from other companies, which are targeting watches, wristbands, and the like. But it hasn’t received worldwide acclaim — it has received both supporters and critics, including those who think it’s creepy, a tool to invade people’s privacy, and just costs too much with a current price tag of $1,500 (this isn’t the final consumer price, as some say it will be $299 at release).
