OMG Chrome Uses Black Magic Code from “Voldermort”…err Microsoft!

Another shocker for the world of purists…Google’s Chrome browser uses a bit of open source code from Microsoft.

(btw – the reference to Microsoft as “Voldemort” is a lighthearted nod to the reporter from the Chrome announcement press conference who made the same reference).

Rather than the shock and sadness others may feel about Google using the tools of “You-Know-Who”, I see it as another sign of the right technical decision made by Google while developing software they give away free to the rest of us.

It’s a smart move by Google to use an open source library native from the OS provider to make their code run the best on that operating system. I expect Google to make use of Mac libraries when it finishes its port to OS X and Linux libraries for its port to that platform.  Why would they do anything else?

Technical choices aside, there is a lingering touch of oddness about this in that like the Chrome announcement press conference, Google doesn’t like mentioning “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”…clearly something is behind that.

Then again, maybe they are just being polite and following their mother’s rule of “If you can’t say something nice…don’t say anything at all”.

Whatever the case may be, Chrome users everywhere should say “Thank you Microsoft for releasing the your ‘Windows Template Library’ as open source. Even if Google had to be nudged to give you you credit, we’re still grateful. And more more thing…we like this open source thing, please do more.”

(PS – if anyone knows the name of the reporter who called Microsoft “Voldemort” during the Q&A section of the Google Chrome press conference, please post it as a comment so I can include it here. TY).

Google’s Chrome and Android Stake Claim to Mobile “Real Estate”

Is Google staking their claim in mobile “real estate” with Chrome browser and Android operating system?

With everyone talking about Google going after IE and the Microsoft desktop, most people overlook how Google’s mobile strategy ties into everything they do.

Of course, many things at Google seem to tie into their bigger strategy, like their investments in an undersea telecommunications cable (Betanews.com) and wireless communication through satellite (NY Times), or their participation the recent telecom spectrum auction process (InformationWeek).

We can’t forget their actions to “Free the Airwaves” (see the post by Google’s own Minnie Ingersoll, Product Manager, Alternative Access Team).

In terms of mobile, if you think about the phone as the “computer everyone carries around with them” and that more and more power is coming to these small hand held devices, Chrome and Android again help place Google smack dab in the path of future progress.

Just like in real estate investing, it’s all about location, location, location.

Google has their “prime real estate” bought and paid for, now all they have to do is wait for progress to push the rest of us right to their doorstep.

PS – Unlike regular real estate though, Google is offering “free rent” on most of its properties (Chrome, Android, Gmail, etc).

Chrome’s Omnibox to go anonymous in 24 hours

On the Google Blog, Sr Vice President of Operations, Urs Holzle, announced today that IP addresses logged by the Google Suggest feature in Chrome’s Omnibox will go anonymous “within about 24 hours”.

The change comes about in response to criticism and concerns raised about Google storing IP addresses and search terms of Chrome users.

Good move Google!

Seriously though, Google also says that they were only holding data from 2% of the users. This means it wasn’t holding 98% of the data it received. Still, it’s great that Google stood up and did the right thing.

Separately, Sean Carlson, Google’s Australia public affairs rep, reportedly said that Google doesn’t capture any more information than what is already being captures by Microsoft (IE), Mozilla (Firefox), and Apple (Safari).

That may be true or it may not be true, but now at least we have an official policy from Google which provides us with an alternative.

You can read Urs Holzle’s full post here.

Chris Keall at National Business Review New Zealand has more about this topic in his article here.

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