Google Acquires AdMob For $750 Million In Stock

Just in case you were in a coma this week: Google acquired AdMob for $750 million in stock on Monday.

When the news hit on Monday we of course jumped on it to bring you some of our own thoughts, as well from our mobile sponsor, Millennial Media.  You can follow the original coverage at these posts below.

Google Acquires AdMob For $750 Million In Stock

Another One Bites the Dust, AdMob Acquired By Google

In short, while the joining of the Google ad service with AdMob will bring new venues to Google, it probably won’t propel them into first place. Our prediction is that the new AdMob/Google will end up being a strong second, but if they have some unexpected tricks up their sleeve, who knows what could really end up happening.

And by “unexpected”, we mean …

Google Acquires Gizmo5

Google continued the week by purchasing Gizmo5, a maker of soft phone technology for VoIP calls.

While this may not necessarily be a mobile story, this news first appeared as a rumor on Monday, and then became a reality on Thursday, and we felt it was worth pointing out due to the the pending integration with Google Voice.

I spelled out my thoughts on the possible ramifications of the purchase in my original post on the purchase:

My personal big question is if we will see this coming to mobile devices also.  Could we possibly see an Android device that just has the soft phone built-in and no actual cellular service?  Say, something akin to an iPod Touch, but with Google Voice as a phone solution?  Mind you this is pure speculation on my part, but I wouldn’t put it past someone coming up with this.

The more I think about this, the more sense it makes.  Mark my words, at some point in the not too distant future, Google Voice will be able to make calls from an Android device that doesn’t even have cellular capabilities.  There is currently no Android device like this, but you can almost feel it in the air.

Google Issues New Developer Distribution Agreement

Developers for the Google Android platform were notified this week of changes of the distribution agreement for the Android Marketplace.

According to Android and Me, the new agreement needs to be agreed to be Dec. 11th or your applications will be removed from the marketplace.

You are receiving this email because you have applications published in Android Market.

We’d like to let you know that there is a new Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA) for Android Market. The next time you sign in to the Android Market publisher website, you’ll be asked to agree to these new terms before continuing. If you have not accepted the new DDA by Friday, December 11, 2009 12:00:00 AM Pacific Standard Time, your application(s) will be unpublished from the Android Market.

You can view and accept the new agreement by visiting http://market.android.com/publish/ddaUpdate. Please do not reply to this message.

Thanks,
The Android Market Team

It seems the only changes may have been to the carrier charges section, but it should be read by all Android developers just to make sure.

If you are an Android developer, do not delay.  I doubt anyone wants to wake up on Dec. 12th and discover their apps removed because they forgot to do this!

Microsoft Adds New Features To Windows Marketplace For Mobile

Both developers and consumers got some new features this week in the Windows Marketplace.

According to the Windows Mobile Developer Blog, the new updates include “easier uploading of images, greater insight into account status and several other refinements based on feedback from developers.”  However, one of the biggest changes for developers is the addition of new anti-piracy measure to help protect your apps.

For developers to  take advantage of the new measures they need to follow the steps outlined in the anti-piracy whitepaper (PDF link).  There are two levels of protection, standard and advanced, and the process for each is spelled out step-by-step.

For the consumer side of things, users can now browse the marketplace from any web browser and choose apps to be downloaded to their devices.  This works like the Xbox 360 marketplace, but one has to wonder if this somewhat speaks to the difficulty users have mentioned to browsing for apps from the actual phone.

Apple Suffers The Wrath Of Developers Who Are Unhappy

It seems that not all iPhone developers are very happy with the way things are going over at the iPhone App store.

There were two very public defections from the iPhone App store this week by unhappy developers.  The first, and the biggest splash by far, was the news that Facebook developer Joe Hewitt, the head of Facebook’s popular iPhone app, was leaving the project over philosophical differences with Apple over how it manages the app store.

In a statement to TechCrunch, Mr. Hewitt spelled out his thoughts:

My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.

The web is still unrestricted and free, and so I am returning to my roots as a web developer. In the long term, I would like to be able to say that I helped to make the web the best mobile platform available, rather than being part of the transition to a world where every developer must go through a middleman to get their software in the hands of users.

While this is just one person saying this, and Facebook is certainly now leaving as a whole, it seems to be the first of what could possibly be more.

9 to 5 Mac was reporting on Friday that Rogue Amoeba, makers of the app Airfoil Speakers Touch, were leaving over an extremely long delay in the review process for releasing a bug fix update.  The problem seemed to stem over the use of Apple copyrighted icons, but their usage is actually allowed under Apple’s own rules.

The app was first released in July, and then when some bugs were discovered, a bug fix was prepared and submitted to Apple.  The process became frustrating because the icons were brought into question again, and the update was delayed from getting to users for three and a half months.  The entire saga is detailed on their company blog, and it makes for some interesting reading.  At this time Rogue Amoeba will continue to issue bug fixes, but expect them to be rare.  There are also no plans to release any new apps for the platform.

Apple has a definite PR problem on its hands.