Google 3D Driving Directions Makes Trip Planning More Fun

Bem-vindo à Ipanema!

Ever since the first Model T rolled off Henry Ford’s assembly line, we have been driving around this earth of ours town wondering, “Am I lost? Which way do I go? I could’ve sworn that right turn was coming up…” Travel maps sure did help, as did the local gas station attendant, but now there is a navigation tool available that – in addition to suggesting efficient routes and providing step-by-step directions – allows you to not only determine your course of attack, but also preview the drive in an engaging, movie-like experience.

A few weeks ago, Google released a revolutionary mapping service that takes driving directions into the 3^rd dimension. With the Google Earth plug-in, you can get a bird’s eye perspective of your proposed route.  Google’s 3D driving directions leverage data and images from a variety of sources to build real-time videos tracking your proposed route. The video can be paused at any point, so you can stop and explore the local landscape or familiarize yourself with an area from different angles. Continue Reading»

Google’s Acquisition of Zagat Feeds Push to “Local”

Zagat posted this cheeky review upon the Announcement of the acquisition

The rest of us might be keeping a tight grip on the purse strings as we weather the storms of this epic recession, but not Google. The search giant has been on a spending spree as of late, and its latest two acquisitions of Motorola Mobility and Zagat show its commitment to growth and innovation regardless of the economic environment. I think that it will be particularly interesting to see how Google integrates Zagat, a company that will give Google another foot in the door of the “local” services market, because Google is so well positioned to compete against other B2B restaurant service providers such as OpenTable.

Zagat put itself up for sale in 2008, when it was said to be valued at $200 million, but Google acquired the company for considerably less (many commentators have noted Google must have paid less than $66 million because there was no automatic FTC antitrust review).  The restaurant grading service was one of the most influential tastemakers in the world of haute cuisine long before the advent of user-generated content on online platforms such as Yelp (which, coincidentally, Google tried to acquire in 2009 for ~$500 million), but has since ceded popularity to competitors.

A Zagat guide in a hungry consumer’s hands can drive dining decisions, but what about a Zagat business in the hands of Google? Continue Reading»

“Hello, Moto”: Understanding Google’s Largest Acquisition

Last week, after weeks of secret talks, web juggernaut Google announced plans to acquire Motorola “Mobility” (otherwise known as the ones who make the cell phones).

What will the search giant do with Motorola Mobility?

At a price tag of $12.5B cash, this is no small investment and many have questioned the logic behind it.

There are however some good reasons why Google pulled the trigger on this deal. From now on, Google will be able to dream up the ideal mobile experience for its consumers and then design smartphones and operating systems that are perfectly balanced in terms of form and function. If this approach sounds familiar, it should – this is the model that Apple uses for its iPhone, now the best-selling smartphone in the world. Continue Reading»