Unfazed by rival Microsoft winning a race to partner with online phenomenon Facebook, Google wooed analysts on Wednesday with plans to wring even more riches from the Internet.
"There are plenty of companies using the notion of social community," Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said during an annual briefing day for analysts at the Internet giant's headquarters in Mountain View, California.
"It is pretty obvious people will be members of multiple networks; which is why our world won't collapse with any one network," he said.
Schmidt declined to discuss Microsoft's deal with Facebook or rampant rumors about Google planning to release an advertising-supported mobile "G-phone."
"I'm using the iPhone," quipped Schmidt, who is on the board of iPhone-maker Apple Inc.
Schmidt confirmed that Google is likely to bid for the 700 megahertz broadcast spectrum to be auctioned off by the US Federal Communications Commission.
"It is perfectly possible the best strategy will be to bid with one or several partners," he said.
Schmidt, Google co-founder Serge Brin at his side, vowed that Google wouldn't buy a broadcast spectrum, build a telephone network and take to selling an array of mobile devices.
"We are not planning on getting into the telephony business," Schmidt said. "The auction is a tactic to an outcome and the outcome is end user choice."
Schmidt said Google has no plans for a stock split, which would double the number of shares but halve the price.
"We'd rather have investors who do the arithmetic than those who are buying just on price," Brin said of Google stock, which was US$675.30 a share in after hours trading.
Schmidt is optimistic that US and EU regulators will clear Google's purchase of online ad-targeting firm DoubleClick, which it made a deal to buy after winning a bidding war against Microsoft.
Brin also said that restrictions placed on Internet content and traffic makes doing business in China difficult.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
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