Roundup: Google to float cellphone towers in air? Google to buy Ukraine portal?

Matt Marshall — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:29:51 -0800

Here’s the latest action:

1. Google sending balloons up to act as cellphone towers?
2. Google to sell ads on third-party sites’ Web videos
3. Google acquiring Ukranian portal for $100M?
4. Google gives patients control of online medical records
5. EU invests $22 million in BitTorrent client for TV
6. EBay boycott continues
7. Intel, Sun, Nvidia and AMD named in patent lawsuit
8. Sharper Image, electronics retailer, files for bankruptcy

Google to send balloons up to act as cellphone towers? — The WSJ reports, though citing a single anonymous source, that Google has considered teaming up with Space Data Corp., a company that sends balloons carrying small payloads of electronics about 20 miles up to act as cellphone towers covering thousand of square miles below. This, even though the balloons reportedly burst quite often. See image left: The yellow balloons are quite Googlesque, no?

Google to sell ads on third-party sites’ web videos — The project is still in testing mode, according to the WSJ; but Google ads will appear on BobVila.com, blip.tv and Tremor Media, in two formats: graphical and animated on the bottom fifth of the video. In a separate test this week, a small percentage of Google users will be able to click to view video ads alongside their Web search results, the WSJ said.

Google acquiring Ukranian portal for $100M? – That’s the latest rumor. A Ukranian report said Google is acquiring Bigmir)net, the largest Ukrainian portal with over 2.5 million unique monthly users. Some are saying that Google is making the move because it is smarting from having missed an opportunity to invest in Mail.ru, a web portal of Ukraine’s neighboring country, Russia, with more than 30 million unique monthly users.

Google forming partnership to give patients control over online medical records — Google has partnered with nonprofit academic medical center Cleveland Clinic to give up to 10,000 of its patients the right to securely share clinic information about prescriptions, conditions and allergies on a Google health-profile online, according to the WSJ. Because it is web-based, users will be able to access the profile from any computer.

The European Union invests $22 million in BitTorrent client for TV — The BBC, universities, businesses and government-backed organizations in Europe will use a BitTorrent client called P2P Next, a project of startup Tribbler, that aims to support live-streaming videos. TorrentFreak has more.

EBay boycott continues, and may or may not be having effect on listings — Details here.

Intel, Sun, Nvidia and AMD all named in the same patent lawsuit — Details here.

Sharper Image, the SF-based electronics and specialty goods retailer, files for bankruptcy — Details here.