Google Hits Back At AT&T Over New Google Voice FCC Complaint

Earlier today news broke that AT&T had filed a letter with the FCC asserting that Google is violating net neutrality principles with Google Voice by preventing users from calling certain numbers. Google has wasted no time in posting a responseto its Public Policy Blog to defend itself against the accusations.

For those who missed the initial letter: AT&T has long had to deal with local phone carriers who charge exorbitant prices to long-distance companies to connect their calls. These local carriers are further exploiting the system by partnering with phone sex operators and similar services to maximize the number of calls to these high-priced numbers. AT&T has tried to restrict such calls but was barred from doing so, and it’s angry that Google Voice — which does restrict calls to some of these pornographic numbers to save money — is getting away with it

AT&T Goes After Google Voice, Net Neutrality And Double Standards (Full Letter To FCC)

Well this is interesting. Fresh off a wave of good karma following the revelation that it was not behind blocking Google Voice on the iPhone, AT&T appears to be looking to draw the ire of consumers with regards to the service once again. The telco giant has sent a letter (attached below) to the FCC asking them to investigate Google Voice. Yes, you read that right. But this actually goes much deeper than that. Once again, this is about net neutrality.

While AT&T may have not blocked Google Voice from being on the iPhone, it clearly does not like the service (no surprise there). From AT&T’s letter:

According to Google, non-discrimination ensures that a provider “cannot block fair access” to another provider.9 But that is exactly what Google is doing when it blocks calls that Google Voice customers make to telephone numbers associated with certain local exchange carriers.

Twitter Closes Its $100 Million Round

The big news yesterday was that Twitter raised another $100 million. Today, Twitter CEO Evan Williams confirms in ablog post that the company did indeed close a new round of funding. The new investors in the round are Insight Venture Partners and T. Rowe Price. Existing investors Institutional Venture Partners, Spark Capital and Benchmark Capital also put in more money.

Williams did not disclose the size of the round or the valuation, but as we first reported earlier this month the valuation is believed to be $1 billion.

Twitter Needs An App Store, Oneforty Provides One

With the explosion of Twitter mobile apps, web-based clients, and desktop applications, it was only a matter of time before someone launched an actual Twitter-focused app store.Oneforty has built a marketplace to for basically all things Twitter, helping developers get their creations found and letting users access a centralized place to find and buy Twitter-based technologies. We have 100 invites to try out the site (OneForty is in private beta); just click here and use the code: TC140.

The site lists 1,332 free and paid applications and services built on Twitter’s API, where people can search for, rate and buy Twitter services. The site also features lists of the most popular apps on the marketplace, ad lists the “best” app for nine types of Twitter services, such as apps for business, url shortners, image sharing, news, and travel. The site also hopes to be somewhat of a social network, with users having the ability to create profiles of their favorite Twitter apps and services.

This Microsoft Windows 7 Launch Video Is, If Possible, Worse Than That Musical One

Either Microsoft’s sense of humor has gotten almost British in its sophistication and dryness, or this is the worst promotional video I’ve ever seen in my life. Yes, worse than their Songsmith video. I’m beginning to think Microsoft’s marketing department really is a thousand monkeys with a thousand high definition cameras. Or are we being punk’d?

As Google Looks To Get On The Acquisition Track Again, Here’s A Map Of Where It’s Been

For most of this year, Google has been holding back on its M&A activity. But its recent acquisitions of On2 Technologies in Augustand reCAPTCHA a week ago signal that Google is regaining its appetite for acquisitions. CEO Eric Schmidt told Reuters today that he wants to buy at least one small startup a month primarily because it is a great way to hire the best talent.

So what type of startups is Google likely to buy? One way to figure that out is to look at what kinds of startups its bought in the past. The Google acquisition and investment map below was created by the folks at MeetTheBoss (they’ve made similar visualizations forAmazon and eBay). There are a few deals missing like last week’s reCaptcha acquisition (see CrunchBase for a more complete list), but the subway-map visualization above gives the broad outlines of Google’s acquisition path.

Cloudera And Facebook Shed More Light On Hadoop Integration

For a startup that was founded less than a year ago, Cloudera has seen some pretty amazing growth. Backed by an impressive list of investors and advisors and run by a team of experienced technology veterans, Cloudera commercially distributes and services Hadoop. It’s similar in theory to Red Hat’s distribution of Linux.

Hadoop is a Java software framework born out of an open-source implementation of Google’s published computing infrastructure which is fostered within the Apache Software Foundation. Hadoop supports distributed applications running on large clusters of commodity computers processing enormous amounts of data. Cloudera helps distribute Hadoop, and provides services around the technology. Hadoop is currently used by most of the giants in the space including, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Amazon, AOL, Baidu and more. To date, Cloudera has raised $11 million in funding from Accel Partners and Greylock Partners.

The Bose QuietComfort 15 Headphones Are For the Non-Frugal Traveller

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my years of tech reporting it’s that you should never say Bose makes good products. Bose, like Apple, is a lightning rod for informed and uninformed attacks from both the pro and con camps and to say they do things well – or poorly – is a dangerous proposition. That said, I’m here to tell you that if you travel a lot then you should get the QuietComfort 15 headphones.

I tested these headphones during three long overseas flights. I’ve been a fan of the QuietComforts for a few years now and always wore the QC3s, the smaller version of the original QuietComfort headphones. However, the noise reduction built into the new model is quite staggering. In an airplane cabin turning these headphones on and off shows you how effectual they are. Instead of the steady, buzzing hum of the airplane you hear silence.

Finally, A Web Annotation Product That Makes Sense: WebNotes PR

I am not a big fan of Web annotation services that let people add their own virtual Sticky Notes or comments to Web pages for others to see. But Web annotation is back with the launch today of Google’s Sidewiki. To be honest, I don’t have high hopes for Sidewiki. Marking up the Web has limited appeal to the average consumer.

A better approach, if you are not Google, is to make Web annotation an enterprise product and go after a specific industry that will actually value (and pay) for it. Boston-based WebNotesis doing just that by shifting its focus from consumers to professionals. Today, it launchedWebNotes PR, which takes its basic Web annotation technology and turns it into a press clip service for public relations firms.

Nokia To Acquire UK Startup Dopplr

Nokia has been on an acquisition tear lately, albeit mostly small deals (Plum, Cellity and Bit-Side all this year). A source close to the deal says that they’ve just made one more acquisition: boutique travel social network Dopplr, headquartered in London.

The purchase price, we’ve heard, is between €10 million and €15 million ($15 million – $22 million based on current exchange rates). Dopplr cofounder and CEO Marko Ahtisaari was previously the Director of Design Strategy at Nokia.

We first covered Dopplr in 2007 when it closed on seed funding. The site has never grown to huge usage, but core users are passionate about the service, which lets them share travel plans with friends. And they’ve supposedly raised just €1.25 million or so in total funding

Compare Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader Daily Edition, And IREX DR800SG Wireless E-book Readers With This Handy Chart

Choosing a wireless e-book reader is getting tougher all the time! Well, maybe not all that tough but here’s a chart comparing the offerings from Amazon, Sony, and IREX. Each of these offerings are different in size, touchscreen, and price, but which one should you buy?

Microsoft To Open Cafe In Paris To Build Windows 7 Buzz (Pics)

Microsoft is close to opening retail stores in several major cities across the planet, but in Paris they’re doing something special in anticipation of the real shops and the imminent launch of the Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft France has surprised inhabitants and visitors of the French capital with the public preparation of a genuine coffee shop / cafe situated in the heart of the city (47 Boulevard Sebastopol).

The Windows Cafe, which will only be open to the public for a couple of weeks starting October 22nd, will boast a number of Microsoft products that visitors can play around with (Xbox, mobile devices and more) but they will not be able to purchase anything there besides snacks and drinks.

Google Steps Where Many Have Stumbled: Sidewiki

By 2001 web startup Third Voice, which let people annotate websites via a browser plugin, was done. Website owners just didn’t like the idea of people “defacing” their websites with comments they couldn’t control.

But the idea has lingered (really), and now Google is taking a shot at their own version of the service. It’s called Sidewiki, and it just launched.

Sidewiki is part of Google Toolbar (and it will be built directly into Google’s Chrome browser). Users activate the service by clicking on a button and a sidebar appears to the left of whatever website is being viewed. The user can then leave a comment on the entire page or a selected piece of text, and share the URL via email, Twitter or Facebook (stalwart Google partner MySpace is left off for now, but Google says they’ll add more partners later). Users can also embed videos into the Sidewiki.

Skype For SIP Interoperability With Cisco Gear Confirmed

GigaOm last night already predicted an announcement was forthcoming, but now it’s official: Skype has announced that the beta version of Skype for SIP has been certified as interoperable withCisco’s Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business.

This will enable SMBs who manage their networking and communications needs with the Cisco solution to communicate more efficiently by directing their outbound calls to mobiles and landlines over Skype’s VoIP service.

The integrated solution will also allow employees to receive inbound calls from Skype users (now over 480 million strong according to the release). Earlier this year, similar arrangements were struck by the eBay company with Shoretel and SIPfoundry’s sipXecs platform.

Dell Bulks Up On IT Consulting With $3.9 Billion Acquisition Of Perot Systems

Searching for growth and better margins, Dell is expanding its enterprise IT consulting business by acquiring Perot Systems for $3.9 billion in an all-cash deal. Perot Systems is the IT consulting and integration services company founded by Ross Perot in 1988 four years after selling Electronic Data Systems to General Motors. (EDS is now part of HP, which bought it last year for $13.9 billion).

The shift to consulting services will make Dell look more like IBM (and HP). Dell has an existing services division, which will be rolled into Perot Systems. Peter Altabef, the current CEO of Perot Systems, will run the combined IT Services business. Both Dell and Perot Systems are based in Texas, which should make the combination go smoother.

Google Is Searching For Beautiful Minds, But So Far No M.I.T. Students Have Broken Its Code.

It used to be that M.I.T was filled with code-breakers. Part of the movie A Beautiful Mind takes place there and in real life it’s always had close ties with the military and intelligence agencies. Tech companies also like to recruit there, and Google is no exception.

In search of some beautiful minds, Google has been putting up signs around the M.I.T campus with a code that say, “If you can figure this out, you may have a future at Google.” If they crack the code, which is a fairly simple substitution cipher (or not), it reveals a phone number where they can leave their contact information.

So far, no M.I.T. students have been able to crack the code, or at least they haven’t bothered to leave a voicemail. Maybe they need some help. The first person to crack the code gets a TechCrunch T-shirt, or maybe a job at Google if you call the number and leave your name.

Bing Keeps Pecking Away At Search Share And Making Gains

Every month since its launch, Microsoft’s Bing search engine keeps taking a little bit of market share. In August, Bing gained 0.4 percent to end the month with 9.3 percent of search query volumes in the U.S., according to comScore’s Qsearch estimates. Meanwhile, Google’s share came down 0.1 percent to 64.6 percent and Yahoo/s remained flat at 19.3 percent.

In other words, Bing showed the only significant gain, while everyone else stayed relatively flat. That $100 million marketing campaign must be working, or maybe it’s the improvementsBing is making to the search experience, or maybe it’s both. Whatever it is, it is translating into nearly a half-point market share gain every month for the past three months.

Celebrity News Search Increase Propels Google News UK Traffic To Record High

Last March, Hitwise highlighted how Google News UKpicks up more traffic from searches for celebrities than any other type of news, ensuring that the news search engine largely remains the greater source of traffic for News and Media websites. Now Hitwise has released some stats that clearly depict this trend, with thanks to the uptick of news related to a variety of celebrities that took the Internet by storm the past week.

According to Hitwise, Google News UK was the second biggest recipient of searches by UK-based Internet users for ‘patrick swayze’ and ‘kanye west’ (picking up 8.25% and 8.26% of traffic respectively), third for ‘katie price’ (9.29%) and fourth for ‘keith floyd’ (5.28%). As a result, visits to the regional news search engine increased a whopping 71% last week, with the site’s ranking reaching the one of 28th most popular overall (up from 46th the previous week).

In other words: last week was Google News UK’s busiest ever, and they have celebrities to thank for it.