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Google Chrome provides air travelers with free Gogo Inflight Internet for the holidays
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Nov. 8, 2010) – Today, the Google Chrome browser team announced that it has teamed up with AirTran, Delta and Virgin America, to provide free Gogo® Inflight Internet to their passengers throughout the holiday season. Travelers flying on AirTran, Delta or Virgin America between November 20, 2010 and January 2, 2011 will have free Wi-Fi on any of their domestic flights to check email, watch videos and surf the web from 30,000 feet above the ground.
As the three airlines that have outfitted their entire domestic fleet with in-flight Wi-Fi, this promotion will bring free Internet service to more than 700 planes and approximately 15 million expected passengers this holiday season.
“We are constantly working to help provide a better web experience to users around the world,” said Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management at Google. “Whether it be building a better browser with Chrome or bringing free Wi-Fi to air travelers this holiday season, we are constantly innovating to ensure users’ access to the web is fast, simple and seamless.”
This season marks the second straight year that Google has provided free Wi-Fi to travelers over the holiday season. Last year, Google worked with Virgin America as well as more than 50 airports to provide free Internet both on the ground and in the air. This year, the Chrome team is continuing that mission by joining with AirTran and Delta in addition to Virgin America, to concentrate on connecting travelers while they’re in the sky.
First launched just over two years ago, Google’s web browser, Chrome has become known worldwide for its speed, simplicity and security. With a sleek user interface, cutting-edge speed improvements and an innovative security architecture, Chrome lets users browse the modern web faster and safer than ever before.
To read more about the promotion, please visit: www.freeholidaywifi.com
To learn more about Google Chrome, please visit: www.google.com/chrome
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.
Offers subject to change. Use of the Gogo Inflight Internet service is subject to terms of use available at www.gogoinflight.com.
Eitan Bencuya
Google Corporate Communications
+1 (650) 930-3555
ebencuya@google.com
Google Chrome provides air travelers with free Gogo Inflight Internet for the holidays
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Nov. 8, 2010) – Today, the Google Chrome browser team announced that it has teamed up with AirTran, Delta and Virgin America, to provide free Gogo® Inflight Internet to their passengers throughout the holiday season. Travelers flying on AirTran, Delta or Virgin America between November 20, 2010 and January 2, 2011 will have free Wi-Fi on any of their domestic flights to check email, watch videos and surf the web from 30,000 feet above the ground.
As the three airlines that have outfitted their entire domestic fleet with in-flight Wi-Fi, this promotion will bring free Internet service to more than 700 planes and approximately 15 million expected passengers this holiday season.
“We are constantly working to help provide a better web experience to users around the world,” said Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management at Google. “Whether it be building a better browser with Chrome or bringing free Wi-Fi to air travelers this holiday season, we are constantly innovating to ensure users’ access to the web is fast, simple and seamless.”
This season marks the second straight year that Google has provided free Wi-Fi to travelers over the holiday season. Last year, Google worked with Virgin America as well as more than 50 airports to provide free Internet both on the ground and in the air. This year, the Chrome team is continuing that mission by joining with AirTran and Delta in addition to Virgin America, to concentrate on connecting travelers while they’re in the sky.
First launched just over two years ago, Google’s web browser, Chrome has become known worldwide for its speed, simplicity and security. With a sleek user interface, cutting-edge speed improvements and an innovative security architecture, Chrome lets users browse the modern web faster and safer than ever before.
To read more about the promotion, please visit: www.freeholidaywifi.com
To learn more about Google Chrome, please visit: www.google.com/chrome
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.
Offers subject to change. Use of the Gogo Inflight Internet service is subject to terms of use available at www.gogoinflight.com.
Eitan Bencuya
Google Corporate Communications
+1 (650) 930-3555
ebencuya@google.com
Enhanced Integration with Google TV Available to DISH Network Customers This Fall
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – May 20, 2010 – Google and DISH Network L.L.C., America’s fastest-growing pay-TV provider, today unveiled the launch of Google TV, an open platform that seamlessly integrates multichannel television with rich web media content. This technology brings the full power of the Internet to the television viewing experience.Google TV merges traditional TV programming with the wide amount of content on the web, allowing viewers unprecedented access, control, and flexibility over all forms of digital content. DISH Network subscribers using Google TV can simultaneously search for content across DISH Network, the Internet and their DVRs. They can overlay online content related to television shows, movies, actors and more; and also hyperlink web content back to multichannel TV.
“DISH Network has enjoyed a strong partnership with Google for many years, built on a common foundation of innovative thinking and risk-taking,” said Charlie Ergen, Chairman, Presidentand CEO of DISH Network. “DISH Network’s integration of Google TV marks the next evolution in television, and DISH Network customers will be able to enjoy the best of TV and the web in one platform using their existing HD DVR receivers and a Google TV device.”
“We are excited to bring the web to television and enable developers to innovate on the Google TV platform,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google. “With DISH Network’s contributions, Google TV delivers a richer user experience and a compelling product for consumers.”
The DISH Network Google TV integration is the outcome of a joint development process between the two companies. The companies began their collaborative trial over a year ago by beta testing the technology with more than 400 DISH Network and Google users. Based on continuous feedback from the trial, Google and DISH Network built the Google TV experience that seamlessly integrates traditional TV programming with rich web content.
Google and DISH Network plan to make the optimized Google TV experience available to customers later this fall. DISH Network will integrate the software to enable this advanced integration on all HD DVR receivers. Users can then simply connect their Google TV devices to their DISH Network receivers via HDMI. For more information, visit www.dish.com/googleTV.
Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
DISH Network L.L.C., a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH), leads the pay-TV industry in technological breakthroughs and provides more than 14.3 million satellite TV customers, as of March 31, 2010, with the highest quality programming and technology at the best value. Customers have access to the most HD channels and award-winning HD and DVR technology including the ViP 922 SlingLoaded DVR, the world’s only DVR with TV Everywhere functionality. DISH Network Corporation is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 200 company. Visit www.dish.com.
Eitan Bencuya
Google
650-214-6231
ebencuya@google.com
Kathie Gonzalez
DISH Network
720-514-5351
press@dish.com
Tokyo, Japan and Mountain View, Calif. (May 20, 2010) – Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) today announced an alliance to provide a range of new and rich entertainment experiences that combine Google’s open-source Android OS platform with Sony’s expertise in technology and product design. The two companies are exploring the joint development of compelling new Android-based hardware products for the home, mobile and personal product categories
Through this alliance, Sony aims to leverage the stability, future growth potential and open-source accessibility of Google’s Android platform to further optimize its product development processes while also providing consumers with an open, expansive and evolving user experience.
The alliance will enable Google to draw on Sony’s cutting-edge technologies, renowned engineering quality, groundbreaking design and diverse product and content portfolio to gain a comprehensive platform from which to drive the adoption of its Android OS across the CE industry.
“The combination of Sony’s industry-leading product design, engineering and development expertise with the flexibility and growth potential of Google’s innovative, open-source Android platform will provide consumers with a world of new and exciting Internet user experiences. Through this alliance, Sony will deliver new levels of connectivity and Internet integration across our range of assets and product categories,” said Howard Stringer, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Corporation.
“We believe that open systems lead to more innovation, value and choice for consumers, which is why we are so proud to work with Sony to bring the power of the Android platform to more consumers around the world,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google Inc.
As the first step in this collaboration, Sony will introduce “Sony Internet TV,” the world’s first TV to incorporate the "Google TV" platform. Through an easy-to-use interface, consumers will be able to search and access content from their TVs and across the Internet – a rich Internet experience on consumers’ TVs. “Sony Internet TV” is scheduled to first launch in the U.S. the Fall of 2010 with the lineup featuring both a standalone TV model and set top box-type unit incorporating a Blu-ray Disc drive.
Going forward, Sony and Google aim to maximize their respective industry-leading technological expertise to deliver products and services that empower users with easy access to compelling content, whenever and wherever they require it. The two companies are also exploring extending the alliance in connection with Sony’s wide range of entertainment assets to establish new forms of cloud-based user experiences.
Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $78 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010. Sony Global Web Site: www.sony.net.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top Web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall Web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.
Corporate Communications
Sony Corporation
+81-3-6748-2200
sony.pressroom@sony.co.jp
Anthony House
Google
509-720-8525
anthonyh@google.com
###
Google, Google TV and Android are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
Google, Intel, Logitech and Sony Join Together to Deliver Google TV Platform
DISH Network, Best Buy, Adobe to Support Bringing Devices to Market
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (May 20, 2010) – Today at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco, leading industry players announced the development of Google TV – an open platform that adds the power of the web to the television viewing experience, ushering in a new category of devices for the living room. Intel, Sony, and Logitech, together with Best Buy, DISH Network and Adobe, joined Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) on stage to announce their support for Google TV.
Over the past decade, the Internet has created unprecedented opportunity for innovation and development across the world, but so far the web has largely been absent from living rooms. With Google TV, consumers will now be able to search and watch an expanded universe of content available from a variety of sources including TV providers, the web, their personal content libraries, and mobile applications.
Google TV is based on the Android platform and runs the Google Chrome web browser. Users can access all of their usual TV channels as well as a world of Internet and cloud-based information and applications, including rich Adobe® Flash based content – all from the comfort of their own living room and with the same simplicity as browsing the web. When coupled with the Intel® Atom™ processor CE4100, Intel’s latest system-on-a-chip designed specifically for consumer electronics, the new platform will offer home theatre quality A/V performance. Sony and Logitech said they would be delivering products based on the new Intel Atom processor and running Google TV later this year. While Google TV is designed to work with any TV operator, at launch the user experience will be fully optimized when paired with DISH Network.
Google TV expands video choice from the hundreds of channels available today through a pay TV provider to the vast storehouse of video content available through the web and streaming videos. The Google TV experience is complemented by the ability to watch streaming video from leading content platforms, including Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and YouTube. Google TV will also have the capability to run apps from the Android Market.
To navigate the array of content that will now be available through a single device and on a single screen, Google TV introduces an integrated search experience to help viewers easily find relevant content across over-the-air and pay-TV channel listings, DVR, and the Internet, as well as a picture-in-picture layout to access multiple windows simultaneously. Google TV also features an innovative home screen to help viewers quickly organize their favorite content and personalize their TV viewing experience. Some of these features are only available with advanced integration from DISH Network.
Eric Schmidt, Google Chairman and CEO said, “We are very proud to be working with this distinguished set of partners, all of whom have decades of experience in hardware, design and retail.”
Sony announced plans to introduce “Sony Internet TV,” the World’s first TV lineup incorporating the Google TV platform. The first models are planned to be introduced in the U.S. market in the Fall of 2010 with the lineup featuring both a standalone TV model and set top box-type unit incorporating a Blu-ray Disc drive.
Howard Stringer, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Corporation said, “I am delighted to announce the unique alignment of Google’s rapidly growing, open source Android platform with Sony’s unparalleled expertise in the field of TV design and technology. The addition of ‘Sony Internet TV’ will further bolster Sony’s comprehensive TV lineup and will fuse new levels of enjoyment and interactivity into the TV experience.”
Logitech will introduce a companion box that brings Google TV to existing HDTV home entertainment systems, easily integrating with any brand of HDTV and set-top box. The companion box will incorporate Logitech’s Harmony® remote control technology, and will include a controller that combines keyboard and remote control capabilities. The company also has plans to introduce an HDTV camera and video chat for Google TV, along with additional choices for navigation and control, including apps to turn a smart phone into an advanced controller for Google TV and home-entertainment systems.
Gerald Quindlen, President and CEO, Logitech said, “We committed to Google TV early on because it aligns with our strategy to support open platforms that enable new immersive experiences in the digital living room. While Google TV enables seamless discovery of all your content, Logitech enables seamless control over how you experience that content. We look forward to continued collaboration with Google and the developer community to create new Google TV experiences that have yet to be imagined.”
The Intel Atom CE4100 processor will power both the Logitech and Sony devices. Paul Otellini, Intel President and CEO praised the collaborative effort and said TV as we know it was being “reinvented.” "Today marks the next step in the evolution of TV to Smart TV. TV’s are becoming smarter as a result of the microprocessor and the Internet. Traditional TV programming will be merged seamlessly with the infinite amount of content on the Internet to enable every viewer to determine what they want to watch, when they want it. This is Moore’s Law transforming television, powered by the performance of Intel microprocessors."
DISH Network has been a key partner with Google on advanced integration development for Google TV. The two partners began a joint trial over a year ago with more than 400 DISH Network and Google beta users. Based on the continuous feedback from the trial, Google and DISH Network have built the optimized Google TV experience that seamlessly integrates traditional TV, DVR and web content.
Charlie Ergen, Chairman, President and CEO of DISH Network, said, “Google TV marks the next evolution in television, and we are excited to be the first to partner with Google to bring this experience to our customers. Only DISH Network Google TV customers will be able to enjoy a unified search across TV, DVR and web; easily find related content; and manage their entire TV viewing experience. Additionally, the advanced integration will allow developers to create new and exciting applications to enrich the TV viewing experience.”
Best Buy will bring their retail experience and consumer expertise to the project, with Google TV devices being sold at Best Buy locations nationwide later this year. “Every day, our 180,000 Blue Shirt store employees and Geek Squad Agents work with our customers to get them the best home theater experience possible”, said Brian Dunn, CEO Best Buy, “We are thrilled about the new and exciting experiences smart TVs, like Google TV, provide to our customers – and we are looking forward to showcasing those experiences in our store and ensuring customers get connected to all the products and services that bring those experiences to life.”
Finally, Adobe Flash Player 10.1 will be integrated directly into the Google Chrome browser on Google TV, enabling viewers to experience tens of millions of web pages with rich Flash content including games, animations, applications, videos, audio and more. Shantanu Narayen, President and CEO, Adobe said, “An open web ecosystem offers endless opportunities for creativity and innovation. Flash Player 10.1 extends the advantages of full web browsing and consistent, rich experiences to smartphones, tablets, netbooks and Internet-connected TVs. We’re thrilled to be part of the Google TV initiative with other industry leaders who share a common vision of enabling access to the best web experiences possible.”
The demonstration at I/O highlighted the unique opportunity developers have to help shape the future of Google TV. Today Google announced that they would soon release a set of TV specific APIs for web applications, encouraging web developers to begin building unique web applications for use on television sets. Later this year Google will also release an updated Android SDK, which will support applications built for Google TV.
Google also plans to open source the Google TV platform to help spur innovation in the industry and so that other developers can benefit from the project. The long term goal is to collaborate with the entire developer community to help drive entertainment in the living room forward and to introduce the next generation of TV-watching experience.
For more information about the project visit google.com/tv.
Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom and blogs.intel.com.
Logitech is a world leader in products that connect people to the digital experiences they care about. Spanning multiple computing, communication and entertainment platforms, Logitech’s combined hardware and software enable or enhance digital navigation, music and video entertainment, gaming, social networking, audio and video communication over the Internet, video security and home-entertainment control. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).
Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $78 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010. Sony Global Web Site: www.sony.net/
Eitan Bencuya
Google
650-214-6231
ebencuya@google.com
Bill Calder
Intel
503-709-8734
Bill.calder@intel.com
Pamela McCracken
Logitech
510-713-4003
pamela_mccracken@logitech.com
Corporate Communications
Sony Corporation
+81-3-6748-2200
sony.pressroom@sony.co.jp
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (20 May, 2010) – Today at its annual I/O Developer Conference in San Francisco, Google announced Android 2.2. Codenamed Froyo (short for Frozen Yogurt), it is the latest update to the first open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.
Android 2.2 offers valuable new features for consumers, including portable hotspot functionality, support for Adobe Flash within the Android Browser, and improvements to Android Market.
Android 2.2 also delivers powerful new tools and options for developers. These include performance & speed enhancements; new enterprise capabilities; the addition of the V8 Javascript engine to the Android browser; and a rich new set of APIs and services.
Also this morning, Google offered a preview of an upcoming web-based version of Android Market and an update to the native Music app, which will allow users to access their music from Android-based handsets.
“The growth of the Android ecosystem continues to exceed our expectations,” said Andy Rubin, VP, Engineering. “Every day, 100,000 new people start using Android-based handsets. There are now more than 180,000 active Android developers who have contributed over 50,000 apps to the Android Market. Froyo is another step toward making Android an even better platform for developers, enterprises and consumers.”
Developers can download the Android 2.2 SDK and Android NDK, Revision 4 now from the Android developer site. Froyo will be made available to OEMs and the open source community in the coming weeks.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.google.com.
Google Press Center
press@google.com
+1 650 930 3555
###
Google, Google I/O, are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
Google Announces New Development Tools and Opportunities to More Than 5,000 Attendees at Annual Developer Conference
SAN FRANCISCO (May 19, 2010)– Today Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) opens I/O 2010, its largest developer conference of the year. The event, which sold out 10 weeks in advance, is being held May 19 and 20 at Moscone West in San Francisco. More than 5,000 attendees from 66 countries will take part in close to 100 technical sessions, breakouts, and fireside chats. I/O 2010 will feature more than 200 speakers, as well as a number of informal opportunities to meet with engineers from Google and partner companies, including demonstrations from more than 180 different companies and a special after-hours event.
This year’s I/O event is a recognition and celebration of the web’s evolution into the software development platform of choice. It’s also an opportunity for Google to share its work in moving the web forward and keeping it open. The web has become more powerful in more places – from enterprise deployments to mobile handsets.
"Think of how far the web has come since last year’s Google I/O, where we demonstrated the potential of HTML5," said Vic Gundotra, Google vice president of developer platforms. "Since calling attention to HTML5 last year, we’ve been thrilled to see the industry rally around making the web faster, more capable, and available in more places. From enterprises to consumers, from the smallest form factors to the largest, the web’s reach and increasing capability make it the platform for the future."
Google’s announcements today enable developers to take full advantage of the web platform:
An open, global platform means better performance and broader access for all applications
The web is ready for enterprise-class app development
Also this year, more than 180 different companies will participate in the "Developer Sandbox," a place for the developer community to showcase applications they’ve built and share their experiences in working with the latest web and mobile technologies. As always, Google I/O will include a mix of practical, hands-on advice for building web apps, as well as opportunities to learn about and discuss emerging trends. Sessions will cover tools developed both inside and outside of Google, and topic areas will include: Android, App Engine, Chrome, Enterprise, Geo, Google APIs, Google Web Toolkit, Social Web, and Wave.
More information about Google I/O 2010 is available at code.google.com/events/io/.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.google.com.
Google Press Center
press@google.com
+1 650 930 3555
###
Google, Google I/O, are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (17 May, 2010) – Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Global IP Solutions (GIPS) Holding AB (publ) (OSE:GIPS) today announced that they have entered into a transaction agreement under which Google Acquisition Holdings Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Google, will make a recommended voluntary public cash offer to acquire all the issued and to be issued shares of GIPS for NOK 13.0 (USD 2.12) in cash per share, or an aggregate price of approximately NOK 421 million (USD 68.2 million) based on the currently issued and outstanding share capital of GIPS.
“The Web is evolving quickly as a development platform, and real-time video and audio communication over the Internet are becoming important new tools for users,” said Rian Liebenberg, Engineering Director at Google. “GIPS’s technology provides high quality, real-time audio and video over an IP network, and we’re looking forward to working with the GIPS team at Google to continue innovating for the Web platform.”
“This is an exciting milestone for GIPS as we join Google with a shared vision to transform and accelerate IP communications,” said Emerick Woods, Global IP Solutions CEO. “With Google’s global reach, scale and widely recognized leadership, we are confident that our existing customers will continue to be fully supported while we continue to enhance and extend our products and technology at Google.”
The offer price represents a premium of 142.1% over the closing share price of GIPS stock (adjusted for the rights issue in GIPS completed in March 2010) on January 11, 2010, the last trading day prior to GIPS making a public announcement of strategic interest from a potential buyer, a premium of 170.8% over the subscription price per share of GIPS stock in the last rights offering completed in March 2010 and a premium of 27.5% compared to the closing share price on 14 May, 2010, the last trading day prior to the offeror’s public announcement of its intention to make the offer. Furthermore, the offer price represents a premium of 54.6% compared to the adjusted volume weighted average market price for the last three month period prior to the announcement of the transaction.
The completion of the offer will be subject to the satisfaction or waiver by the offeror of customary conditions, including acceptance of the offer by the holders of at least 90% of the GIPS share capital on a fully diluted basis. The transaction is not currently expected to require approval by competition authorities in any jurisdiction. The offer will not be subject to any financing condition and will be funded from Google’s existing cash resources.
Following the successful completion of the offer, the offeror intends to cause GIPS to submit an application to delist the GIPS stock from the Oslo Stock Exchange and to initiate compulsory acquisition proceedings with respect to the remaining minority shareholdings in GIPS in accordance with Swedish law.
An offer document setting forth in detail the terms of the offer is expected to be published and distributed to all GIPS shareholders on or about 20 May, 2010, following review and approval by the Oslo Stock Exchange. The expiration date of the offer is expected to be on or about 4 June, 2010, as it may be extended by the offeror in accordance with the offer document and applicable law. In the event the conditions to the offer are not satisfied or waived by the offeror prior to 31 August, 2010, the offer will lapse.
Based on the information provided on the date hereof, the board of directors of GIPS has made a resolution to recommend the offer. The statutory required statement from the board of directors of GIPS will be included in the offer document. Certain GIPS shareholders, including Kistefos Venture Capital AS and Kistefos Venture Capital II DA, have irrevocably committed to accept the offer with respect to approximately 50% of the outstanding shares and votes of GIPS.
GIPS has entered into a transaction agreement with Google which, among other things, regulates the offer process, imposes restrictions on certain actions by GIPS outside the ordinary course of business and contains non-solicitation provisions. The transaction agreement also provides that the board of directors of GIPS may only withdraw its recommendation on certain terms and conditions.
SEB Enskilda is acting as Google’s sole strategic and financial advisor in the transaction and as the receiving agent for the offer. ABG Sundal Collier Norge ASA is acting as financial advisor to the GIPS board of directors.
Investor Contact, Google:
Maria Shim
+1 650 253 7663
marias@google.com
Media Contact, Google:
Andrew Pederson
+1 650 214 6228
andrewpederson@google.com
Investor and Media Contacts, GIPS:
Joyce Kim
+ 1 415 746 1125
joyce.kim@gipscorp.com
Ditlef de Vibe, Chairman
+47 2311 7000
ditlef.devibe@kistefos.no
Emerick Woods, CEO
+1 415 397 2555
emerick.woods@gipscorp.com
# # #
The description contained herein is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of GIPS. On or about 19 May, 2010, the offeror plans to publish and distribute to all GIPS shareholders of record an offer document setting forth the terms of the offer. The offer document will contain important information about the offeror, GIPS, the transaction and related matters. Investors and GIPS shareholders are urged to read the offer document carefully when it becomes available.Investors will be able to obtain free copies of the offer document by contacting SEB Enskilda, the receiving agent for the offer, at +47 21008500 or by visiting www.sebenskilda.no.
The offer will not be made in any jurisdiction in which the making of the offer would not be in compliance with the laws of such jurisdiction.
Global IP Solutions (GIPS) provides best-in-class voice and video processing in IP communications. GIPS enables its customers to deliver unmatched quality, with a faster time to market and less risk than alternative solutions. GIPS serves application developers, service providers, and network equipment vendors. Its customer list includes Nortel, Oracle, Samsung, WebEx, Yahoo!, AOL and other key players in the VoIP market. The company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Stockholm, Boston and Hong Kong. More information at www.gipscorp.com.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.
This document includes certain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the expected timing of the transaction, Google’s and GIPS’s ability to complete the transaction, and the expected benefits of the transaction. These statements are based on the current expectations or beliefs of managements of Google and GIPS and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein due to (1) changes in economic, business, competitive, technological and/or regulatory factors, (2) failure to receive required approvals for the transaction, (3) failure to compete successfully in a highly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace, (4) failure to retain key employees, and (5) other factors affecting the operation of the respective businesses of Google and GIPS. More detailed information about these and other factors that may affect current expectations may be found in filings by Google with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Google’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and in filings by GIPS with the Oslo Stock Exchange, including GIPS’s most recent annual and quarterly reports. Google and GIPS are under no obligation to, and expressly disclaim any such obligation to, update or alter their respective forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Announcement
April 26, 2010
Starting today, Google Maps features a new, immersive experience for its hundreds of millions of users worldwide: Earth view.
Google Maps users can now swoop down from space to explore their favorite parts of the planet in 3D. Earth view offers a true three-dimensional perspective which lets users experience mountains in full detail, 3D buildings, and first-person dives beneath the ocean.
Using Earth view in Google Maps is similar to using Google Earth. Users can
– fly to the location of their choice
– zoom, pan and tilt using the navigation tools on the left side of the screen
– explore 3D buildings and terrain
– search for businesses and get directions
To access Earth view, users simply click the new “Earth” button in Google Maps. If they do not yet have the Google Earth Plugin downloaded, they will be prompted to do so the first time they click the button.
Because Earth view is built right into Google Maps, users can easily toggle between Map, Satellite, and Earth views, making it simple to switch between a cartographic view, a top-down satellite view, or a 3D perspective using Earth view. For instance, users can find a biking trail using the bike maps feature, then look at it in Earth view to see how hilly the route is. Or they can find a vacation spot by searching for the most attractive beaches in Earth view, then switch back to the Maps view to get a quick sense of what the nearest towns have to offer.
Earth view uses the same technology that powers the Google Earth desktop application. Google built the new feature on the Google Earth API and browser plugin, tools that make it easy for web developers to include Google Earth in their own web sites.
To learn more about Earth view and experience the wonder of an immersive, 3D view in Google Maps visit maps.google.com/earthview. The site features a collection of 36 particularly striking locations to visit in Earth view.
Read more about the evolution of Google Earth at the Official Google Blog, and then get more detail on what Earth view has to offer at the Google Lat Long Blog.
Announcement
April 20, 2010
Every day, Google connects millions of people with businesses in their local communities. We help people find these businesses when they search Google and discover Place Pages, and we help business owners manage their Place Pages on Google through a tool we call the Local Business Center.
Today, we’re renaming the Local Business Center to Google Places and adding a number of new features. In addition to these new features, Google Places will continue to offer the same tools as the Local Business Center, such as helping a company verify and supplement business information including hours of operation, photos, videos, coupons and product information; providing a way to communicate with customers; and giving businesses new insights that enable it to make smart decisions.
The new Google Places name simplifies the connection with Place Pages and reflects our ongoing commitment to providing business owners with powerful yet easy-to-use tools to help people discover them when they search.
“Getting customers through Google makes my job great. It’s incredibly valuable to have all those listings grouped together in one place,” according to Chris Gallagher, owner of Bean & Leaf in New London, Connecticut. “It shows you how important Google Places is because we want to truly reflect the attention we pay to our business to our customers.”
Today we’re introducing several new features to Google Places:
Over the past few months we’ve also added the ability for business owners to post real-time updates to their Place Page. They can promote sales, special events, or anything else customers need to know right now, and this feature lets businesses communicate that directly to their customers. They can also provide extra incentive by adding coupons, including ones formatted for mobile phones.
To keep track of how a business listing is performing on Google, we offer a personalized dashboard within Google Places that includes data about how many times people have found your business on Google, what keywords they used to find it and even what areas people traveled from to visit their business. With the dashboard, a business can see how the use of any of these new features affects interest in the business and can make more informed decisions about how to be found on Google or how to interact with your customers.
One out of five searches on Google are related to a user’s location, and very often people are looking for local businesses. Google Places is just the beginning of what’s to come from our efforts to make Google more local. To learn more, you can visit our blog post on Google Places or see our newly updated Help Center. We’ll also be posting on the Lat Long blog throughout the week to give a deeper dive into many of our newest features. To get started now, go to google.com/places.
The 9,620km submarine cable system linking Japan and the West Coast of the US completes testing and is ready for service
31 March 2010 – USA / 1 April 2010 – Asia – Unity, a consortium of six international companies, together with its suppliers NEC Corporation and TE SubCom (formerly Tyco Telecommunications), today announced that the Trans-Pacific Unity submarine cable system has successfully completed comprehensive end-to-end testing and is now ready for service.
“Following months of testing to ensure that the cable system meets the rigorous transmission standards specified, the Unity cable system is now ready to deliver the much anticipated capacity to meet the Trans-Pacific connectivity needs of members of the consortium,” said Chris Wilson, Chairman of the Unity Executive Committee.
The Unity cable system provides direct connectivity between Chikura, located on the coast near Tokyo, and West Coast network Points-of-Presence in Los Angeles, Palo Alto and San Jose. At Chikura, Unity is seamlessly connected to other cable systems, further enhancing connectivity into Asia.
Through the deployment of state-of-the-art submarine cable technology, the five fiber pair Unity cable system is designed to deliver up to 4.8 Terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth across the Pacific, with each fiber pair having a capacity of up to 960 Gigabits per second (Gbps).
Construction of the system was first announced in February 2008 by the Unity consortium which comprises of Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, Google, KDDI Corporation, Pacnet and SingTel. The Unity cable system was constructed at a cost of approximately US$300 million.
The name Unity was chosen to signify a new type of consortium, born out of potentially competing systems, to emerge as a system within a system, offering ownership and management of individual fiber pairs.
Unity is an international consortium that developed the 9,620 km undersea cable system connecting Japan and the United States. The system provides much needed capacity to sustain the increased growth in data and Internet traffic between Asia and the United States. Members of the consortium include Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, Google, KDDI, Pacnet and SingTel. NEC Corporation and TE SubCom (formerly Tyco Telecommunications) are the main suppliers for the Unity project.
Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, is among Asia’s leading integrated telecom services providers with operations in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In South Asia, the company had an aggregate of over 134 million customers as of end February 2010, including 124.6 million mobile customers in India. Bharti Airtel has been ranked among the six best performing technology companies in the world by BusinessWeek. Bharti Airtel is structured as four strategic business units – Mobile, Telemedia, Enterprise and Digital TV. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. Airtel’s national high-speed optic fibre network currently spans over 118,337 Rkms across India. Airtel’s international network infrastructure includes ownership of the i2i submarine cable system and consortium ownership in five global undersea cable systems, SEA-ME-WE 4, EIG, I-ME-WE, AAG and UNITY.
Global Transit is part of a Kuala Lumpur based telecommunications group with a specific focus on providing robust wholesale and enterprise services. Its investments include TIME dotCom, an infrastructure rich carrier & Malaysia’s No 2 fixed line operator. Global Transit was founded in 2005 by a small group of technology entrepreneurs.
Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
KDDI is the only Japanese information and communications company that comprehensively provides all communications services, from fixed to mobile. KDDI is aggressively working towards realization of the coming Ubiquitous Network Society through its ability to develop leading-edge fixed and mobile communications networks, and services to support them, and through the ability to carry out technical R&D; at a level unsurpassed anywhere.
NEC Corporation has devoted more than 100 years of technological innovation to serving people around the world. The NEC Group’s concept of a “C&C; Cloud” integrates Computers with Communications and provides services that contribute to the advancement of society, individuals and business. NEC combines IT and network technologies to deploy solutions with the scalability, capability and affordability to meet the complex and ever-changing needs of business and to empower society.
Pacnet is Asia’s leading independent telecommunications service provider, formed from the operational merger of Asia Netcom and Pacific Internet. Pacnet owns and operates EAC-C2C, the region’s largest privately-owned submarine cable network at 36,800 km, with a design capacity of 10.24 Tbps. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of industry leading IP-based solutions for carriers, large enterprises and SMEs. Pacnet is headquartered in Hong Kong and Singapore, with offices across Asia and in the US and Europe.
SingTel is Asia’s leading communications group providing a portfolio of services including voice and data solutions over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms as well as infocomm technology and pay TV. It has a network of 37 offices in 20 countries and territories throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and the United States. Together with its regional partners, SingTel is Asia’s largest multi-market mobile operator, serving more than 285 million mobile customers in eight markets.
TE SubCom (formerly Tyco Telecommunications), a business unit of Tyco Electronics and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology and marine services, is a leading global supplier for today’s undersea communications requirements. Drawing on its heritage of technical innovation and industry recognized performance, the company delivers the most reliable, high-quality solutions to organizations with undersea communications needs vital to their core mission. In more than five decades of operation, TE SubCom has designed, manufactured, and installed more than 100 undersea fiber optic systems around the world.
Bharti Airtel
Sandipan Ghatak
Tel: +91 124 4243052
Fax: +91 124 4243252
Mob: +91 9810776182
sandipan.g@airtel.in
www.airtel.in
Global Transit
Mah Siew Yan
Tel : +603 2031 4988 ext 337
Fax : +603 2031 8948
siewyan.mah@globaltransit.net
www.globaltransit.net
Google
Yoshi Funabashi / Jake Hubert
Tel: +81 (3)6415-5842 / +1 650 488 4807
funabashi@google.com/ jakehubert@google.com
www.google.com
KDDI
Shin-ichiro Itoyama
Public Relations Department
Tel: +81-3-6678-0690
www.kddi.com
www.kddi.com/english/index.html
NEC
Joseph Jasper
Corporate Communications Division
Tel: +81 (0)3 3798 6511
j-jasper@ax.jp.nec.com
www.nec.com
Pacnet
Lorain Wong / Roland Lim
Tel: +852 2121 2973 / +852 2121 2975
lorain.wong@pacnet.com/ roland.lim@pacnet.com
www.pacnet.com
SingTel
Dylan Tan
Corporate Communications Manager
Tel: +65 6838 8772
dylantan@singtel.com
www.singtel.com
TE SubCom
Courtney McDaniel
Tel: +1 973 656 8000
info@tycotelecom.com
www.tycotelecom.com