News

• Microsoft, Compal sign patent deal covering Android, Chrome

  Microsoft has signed a patent agreement with Taiwan's Compal Electronics that provides coverage under its patent portfolio for Compal's tablets, mobile phones, e-readers and other consumer devices running Android or the Chrome platform, the company said Sunday.

• Quanta latest to license patents from MS for Android, Chrome

  Quanta Computer, the Taiwanese contract computer manufacturer, is now the ninth company to license patents from Microsoft for its Android devices, the companies said Thursday.

• Google adds VPN and virtual desktop to Chromebook

  Google has added virtual private network (VPN) and secure WiFi support in its latest stable Chrome OS release for its pay-as-you-go laptops.

• Google launches Chrome OS, says Windows is 'torturing users'

  Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Windows and other traditional PC operating systems are "torturing users" at Google's Chrome OS launch event Wednesday, where the company claimed 75 per cent of business users can be converted from Windows to Chrome OS right away.

• Google: Chrome OS could someday duel with Android

  While Google currently does not see any conflict between its Android vision for tablets and smartphones and its Chrome OS cloud-based laptop vision, a company official acknowledged today that there is potential for such a conflict in the future.

• Why Google's Windows ban doesn't make sense

  Google's move to ban Windows for internal use was ostensibly for security reasons. But that looks more like a convenient excuse than anything else, because there are plenty of reasons the ban doesn't make sense.

• Google to release Chrome OS in fourth quarter

  Google plans to release its Chrome operating system late this year, initially targeting laptop users, the head of the project said Wednesday.

• Touch input rumoured for Google's upcoming Chrome OS

  Google has been focusing development on the netbook and tablet markets for some time now, using Android OS as a stepping stone into the sub-laptop operating system market. The first tablets featuring the Android OS have already arrived, with more on the way for 2010, which that begs the question: What of Google's other mobile software project, Chrome OS? Will it make its way onto tablets too?

• Chrome netbook specs stretch believability

  Interest in Google's Chrome OS is heating up with the emergence of new rumors about specs for an upcoming netbook. The device would supposedly have a 10.1 TFT HD-ready multitouch display; 2GB RAM; and WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G connectivity. As if that wasn't enough, this netbook would also have a 64GB solid-state drive, according to IBTimes (more on that source in a minute). By the sound of it, the Chrome OS netbook sounds like a great device, but there's only one problem: in my view these rumors aren't very believable.

• Computerworld Top 10 Most Influential 2009 — #6 Google

  oogle posed a bit of a challenge to the panel — its inclusion in the Most Influential list was a gimme given its dominance. Identifying a single event, person or product that stood out in 2009, however, looked like it would prove tricky. But the search giant rallied in the latter half of the year.

• Intel is working with Google on Chrome OS

  The world's largest chip maker is working with Google on the Chrome operating system and has been privy to the project for some time, a spokesman for the company said Friday.

• Google Chrome OS shows limitations of Android

  Google's decision to create a new Internet-centric OS for netbooks shows the limitations of the Android mobile OS for netbooks and raises questions about its future on those devices, developers and analysts said.

• Google's OS security claims called 'idiotic'

  Google, while announcing its new Chrome operating system late Tuesday, said users would no longer have to worry about viruses, malware and security updates, but security experts disagreed on whether Google can deliver on those promises.

• Google's new OS raises privacy, antitrust concerns

  Google's announcement Tuesday that it is developing an open-source operating system raised questions among privacy advocates about the amount of personal data Google will be able to collect.

• Google is already working with PC makers on new Chrome OS

  Google plans to announce within the next day or so the names of PC makers in Taiwan and China that have already signed on to work with its new Chrome operating system, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.