Judge rules in favor of Google, APIs cannot be copyrighted

US District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco has ruled against Oracle in their lawsuit with Google. The judge declared that copyright law does not reside over APIs, specifically in this case, with Google’s use of Java when they developed the Android mobile operating system.

Last month a jury found that Android does not infringe on patents from Oracle. The search giant was being charged with eight counts of infringement that covered two separate patents. The jury determined that Google did infringe on 37 Java APIs when they were creating Android but they were unable to ascertain if its use constituted as “fair use” under copyright law. Without a ruling here, Oracle was unable to proceed and collect damages which is where this latest ruling comes into play.

Alsup said that Google didn’t copy Oracle’s programming code in Android but rather wrote their own code to replicate the same functions. Google reportedly used some of the same phrases in their code but it was necessary to maintain the same level of interoperability. He concluded that names, titles and phrases aren’t covered by copyright law which is what Google’s use amounted to.

Company spokesperson Deborah Hellinger told Bloomberg that Oracle plans to appeal the ruling.

“This ruling, if permitted to stand, would undermine the protection for innovation and invention in the United States and make it far more difficult to defend intellectual property rights against companies anywhere in the world that simply takes them as their own,” said she in an e-mailed statement.

Google is still responsible for using nine lines of Java code in Android but the charge is limited to statutory damages not exceeding $150,000, a far cry from estimated $1 billion payout Oracle was seeking.

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Posted in: cannot,copyrighted,favor,Google,Judge,rules

Google Voice gets "Anonymous" and "All Contacts" groups

It's not often we see new features rolled out for Google Voice, but yesterday the search giant announced it would be adding two new call groups to its service: All Contacts (people who are in your address book or circles) and Anonymous Callers. These features were based upon popular request, according to the blog.

What does this mean for Google Voice users? For starters, the addition of an All Contacts group will allow users to effectively eliminate telemarking and other potentially unwanted calls -- all without the need to screen your calls. It's worth noting that Google Voice's existing "Spam" feature works reasonably well already, however.

Users, for example, may now set rules which send to voicemail any caller who isn't found in the recipient's address book. Google Voice users will also be able to handle anonymous callers in special ways too. Special ringtones, custom voicemail greetings, ringing certain phones or even ignoring calls are all options for unknown and non-whitelisted numbers.

The last change to Google Voice, which was in February, added the ability to use Google+ circles for contact groups. While certainly not a bad feature, it serves as proof that no Google product or service will be left untouched by the company's "plusification" of everything.

Last year, Google and Sprint struck a partnership which integrated Google Voice into the carrier's wireless phone service. Although the blog doesn't say this specifically, there is little reason the new call groups won't also be rolled out to Sprint subscribers just as swiftly.

A few months ago, it was rumored that Google was in talks with other carriers about replicating their Sprint deal. As intriguing as that may sound, the telecommunications industry has a long history of playing hardball and maintaining tight control over its products and services. Google will have to offer a very sweet deal in order to entice major carriers to relinquish a portion of their control over subscribers.

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Posted in: Anonymous,Contacts,Google,groups,Voice

Judge rules in favor of Google, APIs cannot be copyrighted

US District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco has ruled against Oracle in their lawsuit with Google. The judge declared that copyright law does not reside over APIs, specifically in this case, with Google’s use of Java when they developed the Android mobile operating system.

Last month a jury found that Android does not infringe on patents from Oracle. The search giant was being charged with eight counts of infringement that covered two separate patents. The jury determined that Google did infringe on 37 Java APIs when they were creating Android but they were unable to ascertain if its use constituted as “fair use” under copyright law. Without a ruling here, Oracle was unable to proceed and collect damages which is where this latest ruling comes into play.

Alsup said that Google didn’t copy Oracle’s programming code in Android but rather wrote their own code to replicate the same functions. Google reportedly used some of the same phrases in their code but it was necessary to maintain the same level of interoperability. He concluded that names, titles and phrases aren’t covered by copyright law which is what Google’s use amounted to.

Company spokesperson Deborah Hellinger told Bloomberg that Oracle plans to appeal the ruling.

“This ruling, if permitted to stand, would undermine the protection for innovation and invention in the United States and make it far more difficult to defend intellectual property rights against companies anywhere in the world that simply takes them as their own,” said she in an e-mailed statement.

Google is still responsible for using nine lines of Java code in Android but the charge is limited to statutory damages not exceeding $150,000, a far cry from estimated $1 billion payout Oracle was seeking.

View the original article here

Read more »

Posted in: cannot,copyrighted,favor,Google,Judge,rules

Google Voice gets "Anonymous" and "All Contacts" groups

It's not often we see new features rolled out for Google Voice, but yesterday the search giant announced it would be adding two new call groups to its service: All Contacts (people who are in your address book or circles) and Anonymous Callers. These features were based upon popular request, according to the blog.

What does this mean for Google Voice users? For starters, the addition of an All Contacts group will allow users to effectively eliminate telemarking and other potentially unwanted calls -- all without the need to screen your calls. It's worth noting that Google Voice's existing "Spam" feature works reasonably well already, however.

Users, for example, may now set rules which send to voicemail any caller who isn't found in the recipient's address book. Google Voice users will also be able to handle anonymous callers in special ways too. Special ringtones, custom voicemail greetings, ringing certain phones or even ignoring calls are all options for unknown and non-whitelisted numbers.

The last change to Google Voice, which was in February, added the ability to use Google+ circles for contact groups. While certainly not a bad feature, it serves as proof that no Google product or service will be left untouched by the company's "plusification" of everything.

Last year, Google and Sprint struck a partnership which integrated Google Voice into the carrier's wireless phone service. Although the blog doesn't say this specifically, there is little reason the new call groups won't also be rolled out to Sprint subscribers just as swiftly.

A few months ago, it was rumored that Google was in talks with other carriers about replicating their Sprint deal. As intriguing as that may sound, the telecommunications industry has a long history of playing hardball and maintaining tight control over its products and services. Google will have to offer a very sweet deal in order to entice major carriers to relinquish a portion of their control over subscribers.

View the original article here

Read more »

Posted in: Anonymous,Contacts,Google,groups,Voice

Judge rules in favor of Google, APIs cannot be copyrighted

US District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco has ruled against Oracle in their lawsuit with Google. The judge declared that copyright law does not reside over APIs, specifically in this case, with Google’s use of Java when they developed the Android mobile operating system.

Last month a jury found that Android does not infringe on patents from Oracle. The search giant was being charged with eight counts of infringement that covered two separate patents. The jury determined that Google did infringe on 37 Java APIs when they were creating Android but they were unable to ascertain if its use constituted as “fair use” under copyright law. Without a ruling here, Oracle was unable to proceed and collect damages which is where this latest ruling comes into play.

Alsup said that Google didn’t copy Oracle’s programming code in Android but rather wrote their own code to replicate the same functions. Google reportedly used some of the same phrases in their code but it was necessary to maintain the same level of interoperability. He concluded that names, titles and phrases aren’t covered by copyright law which is what Google’s use amounted to.

Company spokesperson Deborah Hellinger told Bloomberg that Oracle plans to appeal the ruling.

“This ruling, if permitted to stand, would undermine the protection for innovation and invention in the United States and make it far more difficult to defend intellectual property rights against companies anywhere in the world that simply takes them as their own,” said she in an e-mailed statement.

Google is still responsible for using nine lines of Java code in Android but the charge is limited to statutory damages not exceeding $150,000, a far cry from estimated $1 billion payout Oracle was seeking.

View the original article here

Read more »

Posted in: cannot,copyrighted,favor,Google,Judge,rules

Google gets driverless licence

8 May 2012 Last updated at 11:27 Google has been experimenting with driverless Toyota Prius cars in the US Driverless cars will soon be a reality on the roads of Nevada after the state approved America's first self-driven vehicle licence.

The first to hit the highway will be a Toyota Prius modified by search firm Google, which is leading the way in driverless car technology.

Its first drive included a spin down Las Vegas's famous strip.

Other car companies are also seeking self-driven car licences in Nevada.

Accident

The car uses video cameras mounted on the roof, radar sensors and a laser range finder to "see" other traffic.

Engineers at Google have previously tested the car on the streets of California, including crossing San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge.

For those tests, the car remained manned at all times by a trained driver ready to take control if the software failed.

According to software engineer Sebastian Thrun, the car has covered 140,000 miles with no accidents, other than a bump at traffic lights from a car behind.

Human error

Bruce Breslow, director of Nevada's Department of Motor Vehicles, says he believes driverless vehicles are the "cars of the future".

Nevada changed its laws to allow self-driven cars in March. The long-term plan is to license members of the public to drive such cars.

Google's car has been issued with a red licence plate to make it recognisable. The plate features an infinity sign next to the number 001.

Other states, including California, are planning similar changes.

"The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error," said California state Senator Alex Padilla, when he introduced the legislation.

"Through the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle is capable of analysing the driving environment more quickly and operating the vehicle more safely."

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Posted in: driverless,Google,licence

Google Docs gains 450 new fonts, reviews April as a big month

Google's cloud-based office suite, Google Docs, has gained a whopping 450 choices to its once scarce selection of font types. The new fonts include Ubuntu, Android's Ice Cream Sandwich "Droid" font and a wide variety of others ranging from monospaced to cursive. The addition of 450 fonts is certainly a welcome extension of Docs, although Google may have performed a great public disservice by keeping Comic Sans on the list of available type faces -- just saying.

Although changes to Docs have been mostly gradual and incremental, Google has continued to improve the Google Docs experience over the years. Some recent examples of those improvements include Google Drive integration, pagination, cloud printing and support for additional file formats. 

Google also takes some time to look back at April, outlining a number of improvements that were made in just the past month. Amongst some of the April changes was improved screenreader compatibility, a default page size setting and improved scripting support. Additionally, Docs allows documents up to 50MB (as opposed to 2MB prior to this change), more image insertion features and a total of 60 templates for users to choose from. Google has even added OCR (optical character recognition) for many types of documents, including PDFs and images. Sorry, no handwriting recognition -- yet.

For users who haven't visted  Google Docs in awhile, the service took on a new layout courtesy of Google Drive. Gone is the "home page" which provided an uncategorized list of recently modified documents. Rather, Docs now displays your files in a hierarchical fashion relative to a root "folder" when you first load it up, much like you might expect your files to appear on your own computer.

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Posted in: April,fonts,gains,Google,month,reviews