Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Every Monday, Bryan Glanzberg contributes The Water Cooler, a column that bridges the gap between technology and business.

Ok…so I think we all can tell by now that I nor anyone else has any idea what Google is doing.  Trust me, I have been a proponent of them from the start.  Until recently, I was telling everyone I knew to get on that stock NOW! At $400/share I was still game for it. But in the last few weeks, boy am I glad I laid off considering the stock is almost $120 off of it’s 52-week (and all-time) high. 

Now that they raised all this capital, Google has started a random string of buyouts which would make any internet start-up very, VERY happy.  Their most recent acquisition is @Last Software which specializes in 3D technology on the internet, an interesting addition to Google Earth and other search features….wait…search features?  What could you possible search for in 3D that extends beyond Google Earth?  I am very interested in feedback on this one because I do not see where the synergies lie in this arena unless Google is trying to stop Microsoft or Yahoo from doing something else. Maybe @Last has a substantial amount of intellectual property that is hidden in a vault somewhere. Who knows…but this software runs for approximately $500 and seems just to be a plug-in for Google Earth in order to enhance imaging. 

I guess once they integrate this, you can watch your kids every move from satellite…Wave hello to the terrorists while you are playing baseball in the yards boys.

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