Yahoo to buy Taiwan blog site Wretch

Wretch.cc is a popular site in Taiwan offering Web services most broadly defined as Web 2.0 that entails mixing user generated content and more multimedia applications such as video. The site offers blogs, video blogs and photo albums, and it further announces to expand its site to video publishing same as YouTube Inc. by coming year.

Teaming up with Yahoo would even help to invest in new services and give its users access to Yahoo technology and resources, the company said.

Yahoo! gives away desktop search for enterprises

Yahoo! and IBM OmniFind had decided to offer free enterprise search software. IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition could further even be used for searching intranets, local file servers plus corporate web site. This software will support up till 500,000 documents per server, and more than 200 file types and documents in 30 languages.

It could even run on 32-bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 4, Update 3, 32-bit SUSE Linux Enterprise 10, 32-bit Windows XP SP2 and 32-bit Windows 2003 Server SPI. Anyhow, you could in fact also run in a regular PC, as a more limited desktop search tool. Internet Explorer and Firefox are supported.

Google moves over Seattle area

It takes a while before Google moves over chief office tower in the Seattle area.

The expansion plans by Google have been subject to much speculation within the Seattle brokerage community for about a year. The California Company reportedly needs somebody with whom the plans could be discussed to sign a nondisclosure agreement. But Google said that there’s “nothing to announce at this time.”

Microsoft extends net with Baidu search engine alliance

Microsoft is dealing up with Baidu.com to hand out the search engine’s paid-for-listings on Microsoft pages. Microsoft would display Baidu’s paid listings, which would appear with search results when key words are typed in by users on Microsoft Websites including MSN, Live and other partner Websites in China.

The company then expects revenue of 270 million to 280 million Yuan in the fourth quarter.

Google, Baidu eye online video business in China

Google Inc. and Baidu.com Inc., its biggest rival in China, are now on their way to explore same options to expand their online video services in the world’s fourth-biggest economy. Both search engines already had discussed with some local video Web Sites for potential business cooperation or possible acquisitions. The Internet giant also has specific target to be achieved.

Is Google up with G-Phone?

According to a recent article by The Observer, Google might soon come with its own mobile phone, may name it as G-Phone by early 2008 if discussions between the search giant and Orange prove to be fruitful. It is said that phone would be co-branded and will carry much more advanced services than current services.

Google Adds Domain Name Registration for Your Domain

Google had recently announced that it has added domain registration services to Google Apps for Your Domain; it is a platform, which allows organizations to provide tools like email and shared calendaring.

Google had partnered with eNom and GoDaddy.com, who are industry’s giant in domain registration, to make easy for users to find, register and buy domain and start using Google services.

Google offers domains for $10 per year that includes private registration to protect the customer’s personal information. It currently support .com, .org, .net, .biz, .info, and hope to support more domains over time.

Google releases customized version of IE 7

Google Inc, has recently released the customized version of Microsoft Crop’s Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7) in which Google, not Windows Live Search will be the default search engine. In addition it also provides users with Google Toolbar and a Google homepage which could be personalized. Microsoft IE 7 is only for Windows XP also included in Windows Vista; anyhow it will be available to customers only by Jan. 30.

Google spurs real estate demand in Ann Arbor

ANN ARBOR – It about a week now that Google had decided to stay in its downtown office for at least four years, the home real estate firms anyways says commercial space near the search engine giant is in huge demand. The business is expected to be picked up in the neighborhood of Google’s new downtown AdWords office. The developer of residential projects expects about 300 to 400 employees to live in their buildings. There are 5,700 square feet still available in the McKinley Towne Centre, where Google would move in near March.

The $12 billion company has said the office would ultimately employ about 1,000 people. That makes Google the only biggest private office user to move to Ann Arbor’s central business district in years.

Google/NASA partnership approaching lift-off

Google and NASA put some more effort to the partnership, which they exposed by ample display last year. They went for a press conference at NASA Ames Research Center, at Moffett Field, to further discuss the detail about their cooperation under the Space Act Agreement.

Google also bet a claim to build up to 1 million square feet of office space at the Ames facility, just to accommodate its future growing work force.