Google started the week by celebrating 13 years in the industry.  I did a piece highlighting theirs feats in the span of those 13 years.  While most were game-changing, some were just viewed as projects–it seems those Googlers get bored at work sometimes.

The company has been shaking things up for the past couple of weeks, and it doesn’t look like they’re about to stop anytime soon, as they just decided to put to rest more of their services.  Super Poke! Pets players were furious at Google when they announced the killing of Slide and its apps but no violent reactions were generated when Google announced the death of 10 more of its services.

I’ll see you in court

Google and Oracle will soon meet in court once again for the lawsuit Oracle filed against Google just over a year ago.  Oracle claims that Google used their Java script to make the Android platform, and they could have evidence showing that Google did so with intent.  Apple made public that they are willing to help Oracle win and cited their case with HTC as to how they could win against the search giant.

At the end of August, Google sold a few of their patents to HTC for an undisclosed amount and it was just this week that the public was made aware of the reason for the patent sale.  Google is helping HTC with their case against Apple.  Since Apple clearly stated that it supports Oracle, Google is also helping HTC’s battle.  The Google patents sold to HTC could actually help them win this time.

Google left to its own devices

It’s no secret that Google does play favorites with OEMs, but the company made waves when actual proof was submitted in court.  Google submitted a document in court for their trial against Oracle that stated the company proposes to give early access of new versions or updates to partners that adhere to their specifications, in which they cited Motorola and Verizon as examples.  So the mentioned partners will clearly get non-contractual “time-to-market advantage.”

Google also launched an iOS version of their Google Music service, which has been available to Android users as a beta app for some time now.  The iOS version is not a native app but actually a web app.  Users will have to use the Safari web browser to access the music app, but the good thing about this is that even if you exit Safari, the music will keep playing.  Plus you can control the music using the iOS music controls.  It’s a cloud-based music player and you can access it by directly going to music.google.com in the Safari browser.

The search giant also made a deal with Zagat, known for their burgundy restaurant guide compiled of ratings from friends, relatives and acquaintances, for an estimated amount of $100 to $200 million.  It is not clear as to what Google plans for Zagat as it offers paperback guidebooks and a paid subscription to their website.

“All of these are users wondering where they should go, where they should spend their time, so to be able to offer accurate information is important, and that’s why we’ve been getting focused on reviews,” Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president for local, maps and location services, said in an interview.

Greener pastures

And to end the week, Google defends itself as a green company though their electric consumption for 2010, which amounted to 260 megawatt hours.  Google defends itself by saying that yes, it is a massive electric consumption company, but it resolves to reduce its energy consumption.

“We’ve worked hard to reduce the amount of energy our services use. In fact, to provide you with Google products for a month—not just search, but Google+, Gmail, YouTube and everything else we have to offer—our servers use less energy per user than a light left on for three hours. And, because we’ve been a carbon-neutral company since 2007, even that small amount of energy is offset completely, so the carbon footprint of your life on Google is zero.” – Google