Products
Android: Google's mobile operating system, a key part of the Google-led "Open Handset Alliance" of mobile phone makers, carriers, and equipment makers it launched in 2007. Google bought Android -- founded by former Sidekick guy Andy Rubin -- in July 2005, and is about to launch the first Android-powered phone, the HTC Dream, with T-Mobile in the U.S. A Google-sponsored contest got more than a thousand developers to write apps for Android, but many commercial developers are waiting to see how successful Android phones are before writing apps for them.
Dodgeball: Location-based mobile social network, acquired in May 2005. Founders quit Google in April 2007. Active -- barely.
GrandCentral: Internet phone service. One number calls all of your phones -- home, office, mobile, etc. -- at once. Google bought GrandCentral for $45 million in July 2007 and closed it off to new subscribers, while keeping existing accounts active.
GOOG-411: Get directory assistance data for free. Launched Sept 2007. Google doesn't serve ads on the service, but they've said they'll use the data to help them improve speech recognition so the company can index audio content.
Jaiku: Mobile micro blogging, bought in Oct 2007. It's like Twitter, except no one uses it -- perhaps because it's still in invite-only mode.
Mobilizer: Makes any Web site mobile friendly, launched January 2006. Useful for now, but a service like this becomes less relevant as mobile browsers become more sophisticated.
SMS: Text searches to Google and get responses texted back, launched Oct. 2004. Part of the Google Mobile suite. Fairly popular, especially among geeks without smartphones.
Acquisitions
Reqwireless: Mobile browser, bought in July 2005, became Google Mobile and Google SMS.
Dodgeball: Mobile social network, bought in May 2005.
Android: Mobile software maker, bought in July 2005.
Current Communications Group: Broadband internet access. Bought in July 2005 for $100 million for Internet backbone.
Skia: Graphics Software, bought in November 2005, became Android.
allPAY GmbH: Mobile software (Germany), bought in Dec. 2005, became Google Mobile.
bruNET GmbH: Mobile software (Germany), bought in Dec. 2005, became Google Mobile.
GrandCentral: VoIP, Google bought in July 2007 for $45 million, became Google GrandCentral.
Zingku: Mobile social network, bought in Sept. 2007, became Google Mobile.
Jaiku: Mobile microblogging (Finland), bought in Oct. 2007, became Google Mobile.
