Google Haze

I published this in the Alexandria Times. I guess I forgot to mention how they said, "No Comment," about the actual uses of the technology.

Alexandria Web

Google wins patent for wireless technology

By PETER MICEK Alexandria Times Special Writer

There could be a few more O’s in Google soon.

The company stepped toward a more diverse panoply of products by landing patent number 6,982,945 on Jan. 3 at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in Alexandria, for technology enabling faster transfers of voice and data wirelessly.

The “baseband direct sequence spread spectrum transceiver” uses CDMA technology, something developed to encrypt secret messages during the Second World War.

CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access, where signals spread over a variety of frequencies, rather than just one, to send messages as quickly as possible. In World War II, the Allies developed CDMA to send messages in pieces over several frequencies, making them harder to decode.

The patent application, filed in 2001, makes reference to possible uses of the new technology.

“With high speed wireless access,” it reads, “mobile users can obtain instant access to the Internet, business data (e.g., stock market quotes, sales reports, inventory information, price checks, customer data, emails, pages, etc.), and other real time data (e.g., traffic updates, weather information, sports news, etc.).

The goal is to provide cellular handsets, personal digital assistants, portable communications devices, etc. the ability to transmit and receive digital data as well as make conventional telephone calls. The trend is towards ever faster mobile data speeds to meet customer demands. With greater data speeds, it is possible to provide even more data to more users.”

Decoding Google’s intentions may be less difficult than reading the patent form. Though he admits he’s “no expert” on the wireless industry, Search Engine Watch blogger and news editor Gary Price asks, “Could licensing this technology to various wireless providers be a new revenue stream for Google?”

Another blogger, Om Malik of “Om Malik’s Blog,” links the new technology to Google’s unveiling of search and email services for mobile phones. All the data, Malik says, points toward the Mountain View, Calif.-based company moving into the wireless realm.

Google made headlines last year for its offer of wireless internet services free across the city. More recently, it denied the United States government a chance to view all the search terms entered into the search engine, while agreeing to help the Chinese government censor the information its citizens post and view.

News, not all of it good, piles up on search giant.

Though countries worldwide use its services, Google does 76 percent of its sales in the United States and Britain. Recent problems in British markets led to a temporary drop of nearly 20 percent in Google’s stock price. Business analysts see little chance for diversification in the short term.