If you’re paying attention to what Google’s CEO says and the company’s actions, it’s “do no evil” credo is getting to be a tough sell for it’s PR people. That is at least where the right to privacy is concerned. Google’s Schmidt has stated bluntly that this right does not exist. As mere commentary or a matter of corporate policy, that kind of talk will guarantee plenty of reaction like the video above.

While the tech media lemmings continue to push a plethora of praise the the decidedly totalitarian Fruit Phone, consumers are voting with their dollars elsewhere. Open source makes for tremendous efficiency in the implementation an build process enabling a variety of choices versus a monoculture. This has created so much momentum behind Andriod, that it’s mobile OS dominance  has become something akin to Microsoft’s practical monopoly on the desktop.

Google’s Android platform has gone from activating 100,000 units a day in May, to 200,000 daily units as of today, according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Schmidt was speaking to journalists (pictured above) at the Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe, CA, and the technology blog TechCrunch managed to get some video of the chat (see below).

The activation growth shows impressive progress for Google’s mobile OS in the span of just a few months. Schmidt pointed to recent quarterly shipment numbers that showed Android phones outselling the iPhone in the last quarter as proof and said that he confirmed the number with Google’s own internal figures. (Mobile Beat)

While Android is open source, there are some big caveats that come with its dominance. It will be the top target for exploits. We still haven’t developed an effective way of policing them on the desktop, and many mobile users tend to be even less tech savvy than desktop users. Then there’s the fact that while the platform is open, implementation is crippled by carriers.That limits users choices on how they use their handsets and  allows carriers to continue to nickel and dime them for simple services that could be replaced by simple apps. Lastly, the Andriod project, while open is overseen by Google. Many of us will argue that this “do no evil” company is anything but. Searchzilla continues to unapologetically cook its search results to favor a political agenda along with pay for placement. Worse yet, Google’s CEO has repeatedly stated that we have no right to privacy online. It’s virtually certain that some of this attitude will be baked into Andriod if it’s not already present.

There is a silver lining. Open source projects tend to spawn forks and branches when the overseers overstep. Andriod and its inevitable variants are likely to dominate mobile for some time to come. This will put Apple back in the boutique business for mobile. In other words, if smart phones were shirts, we won’t all be forced to wear turtlenecks. It will also most likely make Google’s Chrome OS irrelevant.

Conclusion: look for the cloud in your pocket, soon,and cheap. It also means you’ll have many more choices than you have now.

There a few notes floating around the ‘Net that Google is testing bits and pieces of Google Voice internally. Even rumors that a possible upgrade to GMail may include a Google Voice client popup –

The new feature will allow users to make voice calls over the Internet and it’s likely that it won’t be limited to Gmail. In April, TechCrunch reported that Google “built a Google Voice desktop application to make and receive calls” and that the application is tested internally. Google used technology from Gizmo5, a VoIP service acquired by Google last year.

For now, Google Voice’s integration with Gmail is not publicly available.

A Google Voice VoIP service with land line tie in? The consequences are rather formidable –

• Google probably becomes the instant largest VoIP phone company on the planet. Assuming that they tie this to every GMail account, that is in the cards by default. GMail outclasses Skype by at least an order of 2X.
• The paid for VoIP service collapses? Or the price points become inordinately cheap. Why pay for it if I can get if for free?
• Skype’s propietary signaling format bites them back. What has kept most folks with Skype is market size. If a larger player shows up with open protocols, it makes Skype’s technical decision problematic. That become a huge problem for them as they are now a start up again.
• The Skype-Verizon deal is toast.
• It makes the job of the folks trying to control the Internet that much harder. Hard to enforce net rules is they are precluded 1st Amend. speech provisions, which is what the FCC was supposed to guard in the first place.

As a technology this is not earth shaking, its just VoIP. But if Google follows their usual — free basic, paid premium scenarios — it is a massive realignment of the VoIP space as a business. It would also portend a serious challenge to the big three wireless carriers. A smart upstart could offer a unlimited data plan coupled with Android/GMail/Voice/SMS and blow their competitors voice/data plan pairings out of the water. (Hear me out there T-Mobile??)

This is a dark swan for telecom.

Linky

Update:

You must appreciate the remorse I have when I read this –

When Google acquired Gizmo5, a Skype competitor, in November Google Voice users rejoiced – presumably they’d be getting a much needed soft phone on the desktop for users to make and receive calls through Google Voice.

We confirmed that the application had been rewritten and was being tested internally at Google in April. Some Google employees continue to use the app, we’ve confirmed.

But don’t expect it to launch publicly any time soon, we’ve heard from multiple sources. Why? an internal religious debate about desktop software.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin don’t want Google to be in the business of creating software outside of the browser, say our sources. And that’s consistent with Google’s product launches over the last several years.

Of course it ignores the efforts that Google is putting into developing their own Chrome browser, Chrome operating system and Android operating system, as well as a variety of mobile apps – all are software that installs on computers or mobile devices.

But there may be a hard line when it comes to pure desktop apps like Google Voice. So the team has been sent back to the drawing board to try to make a workable soft phone that will work entirely within the browser using HTML 5.

So the upshot is, it ain’t gonna happen this year or next. Damn! Apparently part of a religious war internally. Personally I think this is a bad move on Google’s part. There is only so much you can do with Search. But with telephony, when you can do it big, there are all sorts of avenues where not only is search manifest in telephony use but it provides yet another source of revenue apart from search. Smart companies diversify income streams.

I need a scotch…..

Linky.

Update II :

Ok, so my scorecard was only half right! The upshot is, Google Voice is out of the Labs and into the wild! Wow. Integrated with Google Mail? Nope. I want that, but the fact that I can freely sign up for Google Voice without the invite is a good start.

Will be a busy weekend. Have a few clients that want this integrated into their websites. Loving it. The current release of GV won’t however put Google in the MaBell business however. It depends on an existing phone line to operate. But merely as a call director it has many uses for lots of people.

When Google says “do no evil”, I suppose it also grants to itself to be the sole judge of what is “evil”. For example, street view’s visually revealing nature  has been under fire in the UK for many months now. The true irony is that the UK has more surveillance camera in place than any other nation on the planet. Maybe big brother just doesn’t like competition?

Now, in the former land of Nazi transmitter finder trucks, Google is alleged to be recoding Wifi information while recording imagery in it’s street view vehicles.

Google’s roving Street View spycam may blur your face, but it’s got your number. The Street View service is under fire in Germany for scanning private WLAN networks, and recording users’ unique Mac (Media Access Control) addresses, as the car trundles along.

Germany’s Federal Commissioner for Data Protection Peter Schaar says he’s “horrified” by the discovery.

“I am appalled… I call upon Google to delete previously unlawfully collected personal data on the wireless network immediately and stop the rides for Street View,” according to German broadcaster ARD.  (The Register)

Sure, your Wifi SSID and MAC address are pretty much public information anyway, but is it OK for a purveyor of location based services to be collecting them in mass along with other location specific data? Does anyone else see this as a big problem?

Combined with its stated belief that there is no right to privacy, Google’s endless online shadow gathering data on individual behavior is alarming. Even many who are not member’s of the foil hat club are beginning to search and use other Google services more carefully. This concern is beginning to manifest in the form of software and services that claim to restore lost privacy. Notable is Firefox add on Googlesharing:

The project, called GoogleSharing, is a Firefox add-on that uses an anonymous proxy service that gives Google false information when someone uses services that don’t require an account, such as its search, news, and images services, said Moxie Marlinspike , a security consultant and penetration tester with the Institute of Disruptive Studies.

Google collects a vast amount of information about its users, said Marlinspike, who gave a presentation at last week’s Black Hat conference. The company collects IP (Internet protocol) addresses, search requests, browser type and more. (Computerworld)

If this rumor is anywhere near accurate, then the days of the wireline Telcos are pretty much over. –

Last November Google acquired Gizmo5, a VoIP service that competed with Skype by making P2P VoIP calls as well as making and receiving calls with POTS (normal landlines) and mobile phones.

Gizmo5 fills some of the holes in the Google Voice product, particularly providing an endpoint for calls. Currently Google Voice users must assign their Google Voice phone number to an actual phone to make and receive calls.

Google never commented on how they might use Gizmo5’s technology. But we’ve confirmed that they have now built a Google Voice desktop application to make and receive calls. From a user perspective, this will let Google Voice users take calls right from their desktop.

Why? Convenience and cost. First you can’t beat free or near free. With Google’s dominance in the back haul internet market nearly all their backbone traffic is paid for or traded for. Then the sheer convenience of being able to marry Google Voice features to a VoIP client makes for a hard to beat combination.

If Google pulls this off, the Telcos are going to be forced to consider going before Congress for regulatory or tax relief or both. They can’t keep pouring monies down a rat hole of a technology that is losing users at a double digit rate. Nor can they continue to carry the recapture costs on their books from a tax perspective for a CO that will never see its useful life reached.

Linky.

I have a love / hate relationship with Gmail. I started using it when I became tired of updating my personal and business contacts every time I switch ISP’s. On the plus side, it’s free, reliable and offers what amounts to more storage than I will ever use.  Onthe minus side, I see eerie ads that parrot the content of messages on the sidebar, and I know Google’s official stand on privacy is that there is none within it’s walls. What can be especially scary is what happens when an activist government armed with the Patriot Act may extrapolate from the content of messages.

It has been telling to watch some of our peers in the press work the controversy over Senator Conroy’s criticism of Google’s privacy record on ABC radio last week as he was questioned on his internet filtering policy.

The headlines only illustrated the ferocity of opposition to Conroy’s nanny-state filter and just how well marketed Google’s “do no evil” mantra is. Scribes just couldn’t believe a minister would have the nerve to question Google.

Like or loathe his policy, the Senator has grounds to point out the contradiction Google is in. The search company condemns the Chinese Government for censoring its results and Australia for planning to do the same while it breaks faith with its users around the world by sharing their data with the US Government.

The Patriot Act introduced by President Bush - which allows US authorities to search telecommunications and email communications to fight the ‘war on terror’ - was not designed by Google. But complying with it places the company in an awkward position. (IT News)

If the misuse of information by the Bush administration worried you, there’s even more to be concerned about today. Our current attorney general who has stated that American Citizens are viewed as the greatest terror threat. That means Citizens messages could be scrutinized with prejudice.

Should you shift to another free provider like Yahoo? I’m sure other email services will share with the feds just as readily as Google. Let this serve as a reminder that the messages on any public email service are not secure - from criminals or the feds.

That’s Google Buzz of course. Google botched the first rule of Internet Service — let the customer choose. I was introduced to Buzz by it just showing up on my Gmail account. Which I promptly turned off.

Google has since come to its senses on the deployment issue and is working on resolving certain privacy concerns. Buzz itself clearly shows it underpinnings as a response by Google to its social rival Facebook. But it also shows that Google is not immune to the ‘absurdity at the edges’ that befall many companies. The idea being that taken to extremes good ideas like Search and Gmail can be extended into places that are really not a good fit. Buzz as service in Gmail being a prime example.

Buzz is probably a much better fit if it were part of Google Reader, Scholar and News. I am sure they will figure that out.

Lets just get to the meat of it ok. Then more after the jump —

Google is planning to launch an experiment that we hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We’ll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

From now until March 26th, we’re asking interested municipalities to provide us with information about their communities through a Request for information (RFI), which we’ll use to determine where to build our network.

That’s from the website.

Now notice this is not some high speed to the head end sort of offer. They specifically say FTH. So they intend to go right to the curb. Their testing will test some 50-500k patrons. What is not clear, is that a single site or a mix of smaller sites.

Google goes on to say they will provide —

* Next generation apps: We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it’s creating new bandwidth-intensive “killer apps” and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine.

* New deployment techniques: We’ll test new ways to build fiber networks; to help inform, and support deployments elsewhere, we’ll share key lessons learned with the world.

* Openness and choice: We’ll operate an “open access” network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we’ll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory, and transparent way.

What I find of particular interest is the commitment to an open transport layer. A place where anyone can play? ISP and Google? If true that would be a game changer in the data transport marketplace. Fact if true it would complete a vision that was the reason that this blog was created for — create an open backbone and permit service providers to battle it out in the marketplace of products and services.

We keep our fingers crossed.

Linky.

Yes Dear Reader a little TCO analysis can save you money. We have been saying for years that the shell game of free phone, payback is a b!@#$ thru the contract is a bear. It also hurts your wallet. –

He’s considering buying a data-only plan from T-Mobile and relying primarily on SkypeOut purchases, with a backup of free Gizmo5 calls through Google Voice, although new Gizmo5 sign-ups are currently suspended. That means little to no mobile calling (unless you used the free Guava app). Then again, Ben sees some significant savings by the end of what would be a two-year contract, and considers himself a “near-total” dependent on Google services. Could you imagine making the data-only jump?

Just go over to the lifehacker article and see for yourself. Keep in mind that the author is considering only going with a data only plan, 2yr contact. There are other considerations one can also employ. For instance, does your spouse have a phone with a carrier who does a Friend and Family deal? Why not punch the Google voice into the loop? Then the calls to her are free. And if perchance one has a small VoIP server then a VoIP app on the Nexus might avoid all the Gizmodo fiddling as well.

While we are on the subject. The Nexus Launch. A captured live blog feed is here with pics. Initial take — very iPhonish. But that seems to be where the jive is at the moment. The wise move being made? You can buy the phone separate and go with any vendor you wish. That’s a damn smart move, especially for the consumer.

I just hope the carriers are prepared for the bandwidth assault. This phone screams — Songbird App. But your data store staying on the home server and streamed to the Nexus as an audio terminal. Oh and anybody out there developing a multiparty audio remix app for the Nexus. It would sell.

We have projected for 2 years that it was time for unbundling the phone. We would have expected it to happen before the smartphones took hold. But I guess it takes the extra functionality of the smartphone to force the issue on the carriers. Hope I am right but wrong.

Nexus one analysis.