Google has announced today the completion of their purchase of 111 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, valuing the property at $1.9 billion.

The property is 2.9-million-square-feet and is the biggest deal in 2010 for a single building purchase in the U.S.

Google currently occupies 500,000 square feet in the building, and shares the space with Nike, Lifetime cable, WebMD and many telecoms.

The search giant is said to have won the contract because of its ability to close before the end of the year. The company has already put down a deposit in excess of $200 million.

111 used to be the headquarters for the Port Authority of NY and NJ.

Says Google of the deal:

Google New York started in a Starbucks on 86th Street with one person in 2000—a scrappy, highly-caffeinated sales "team." After moving to a larger office in Times Square, in 2006 we relocated to our current home in Chelsea, at 111 Eighth Avenue—a former Port Authority building. In June of 2008, we took additional space in the Chelsea Market building at 75 Ninth Avenue. Now we have more than 2,000 Googlers working on a variety of projects in both sales and engineering—and we're hiring across the board.

Today, we're pleased to announce that we've closed a deal with the partnership of Taconic Investment Partners, Jamestown Properties and the New York State Common Retirement Fund to purchase 111 Eighth Avenue (also known as 76 Ninth Avenue). As part of the deal, we've retained Taconic Management Company to continue the leasing oversight services and management of the building on our behalf, providing the same level of customer service the building's tenants have come to expect. We believe that this is a great real estate investment in a thriving neighborhood and a fantastic city.

Like the city, our New York office is a melting pot of cultures and ideas—it's home to Googlers from more than 35 countries who speak more than 40 languages. They live in the five boroughs and spread across the tri-state area. We're excited to continue to build our presence there.

(Pic via DCK)

Permalink | Comments

---

The patent holding group of Alcatel-Lucent has sued Apple, Canon, LG and TiVo this week, claiming each has violated patents on certain AT&T video codecs.

According to the complaint, all Apple devices and software violate the four hardware and software patents, including Mac computers, iOS devices, Final Cut, iLife and QuickTime

64 LG mobile phones allegedly violate the patents, as do Canon's Vixia camcorders and most of TiVo's DVRs and remote desktop apps.

The lawsuit even goes as far as to allege that LG's very new Optimus Android smartphone line violate the patents. Notably absent is the LG Optimus 7, which runs on Windows Phone 7. It appears that a past lawsuit brought against Microsoft may cover WP7 devices.

Each of the patents is related to encoding and decoding techniques for video.

It is important to note that two of the patents in the suit have already expired and may not be enforceable.

Permalink | Comments

---

In early 2009, when the operating system was still in its infancy, Google was sued over the trademark to "Android" by Erich Specht, who wanted monetary damages of $94 million.

Specht had run a company called "Android Data" from 1998-2002, before liquidating assets and abandoning the mark after the tech bubble in the stock market burst.

In 2008, when he became aware that Google was using the Android name, Specht put together a website as proof that he was still actively using the Android Data trademark he had left dormant since 2002.

The judge clearly saw through the attempt, throwing out the case and canceling Specht's original trademark, saying it may now be confused with Google's legal trademark.

Reads the judge's summary (via TC):

Moving to Google's Counterclaim, pursuant to the analysis above, Google is entitled to a declaratory judgment that Plaintiffs abandoned ANDROID DATA and the other Asserted Marks. Plaintiffs do not possess valid or enforceable rights to the marks. The Court grants Google summary judgment on Count III of its Counterclaim. In regard to Count I of the Counterclaim, a party that believes it may suffer harm because of a trademark that has been abandoned by its owner may move to have the registration cancelled. See 15 U.S.C. § 1064(3). Google became the senior user of the ANDROID mark when it began using it in commerce on November 5, 2007. Plaintiffs, however, resumed use of ANDROID DATA as the junior user after Google acquired its rights to ANDROID. Plaintiffs' use in commerce of ANDROID DATA creates a possible likelihood of confusion with Google's ANDROID mark pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1114(1)(a), as well as possible dilution by blurring of Google's mark under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c).

Google was pleased with the decision: "We are pleased to see this case dismissed, as it was baseless from the start."

Permalink | Comments

---

The WSJ is reporting today that Microsoft is prepared to discuss a new Windows operating system, one that will be optimized for tablets and other low-power devices.

Although the OS will be discussed next month at the CES event, the operating system will not be ready for launch until 2012.

The new Windows will be optimized for use on products that have chips from ARM and also x86 chip technology from AMD and Intel.

ARM designs have become favorites of smartphone makers as they consume the least power, giving batteries some room to breathe.

The sources say Microsoft has been working on the project for some time and it is part of "a broader push at Microsoft to make Windows more "modular" so that pieces of the operating system that are unnecessary for smaller, low-power devices like tablets can be easily stripped away to make the software perform snappily on the gadgets."

Microsoft's next desktop OS, Windows 8, is expected in 2012, as well.

Permalink | Comments

---

Skype, the popular Internet phone and video service, remains down for millions of global users, the second such widespread outage since 2007.

Beginning at around noon EST, many outraged took to Twitter to voice their complaints about not being able to sign in.

Skype acknowledged the outage very soon after: "Some of you may have problems signing in to Skype – we're investigating, and we're sorry for the disruption to your conversations. Our engineers and site operations team are working non-stop to get things back to normal — thanks for your continued patience."

In 2007, the service went down for a full 48 hours, but Skype has many more users now than it did then.

Just last month the company said it hit a significant milestone, 25 million concurrent users.

For those who are interested in what took the service down, Skype blogged it here:

Skype isn't a network like a conventional phone or IM network – instead, it relies on millions of individual connections between computers and phones to keep things up and running. Some of these computers are what we call 'supernodes' – they act a bit like phone directories for Skype. If you want to talk to someone, and your Skype app can't find them immediately (for example, because they're connecting from a different location or from a different device) your computer or phone will first try to find a supernode to figure out how to reach them.

Under normal circumstances, there are a large number of supernodes available. Unfortunately, today, many of them were taken offline by a problem affecting some versions of Skype. As Skype relies on being able to maintain contact with supernodes, it may appear offline for some of you.

What are we doing to help? Our engineers are creating new 'mega-supernodes' as fast as they can, which should gradually return things to normal.

Permalink | Comments

---

Sony has finally launched their music streaming service Qriocity, in an effort to take a share of the still growing online music market.

Called, in full, "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity," the service is cloud-based and allows subscribers to listen to 6 million tracks via their PS3, Bravia HDTVs and other Sony Internet-connected devices.

Additionally, the service can sync with your existing library.

Sony executive vice president Kazuo Hirai says the service will help enhance the appeal of their Internet-connected products over similar devices and TV from Samsung and others.

The Qriocity video-on-demand service has been available for some months now in Europe and the U.S.

Music Unlimited has two tiers; "basic" at £3.99 a month and "premium" at £9.99 per month. A premium subscription gives access to "Top 100" channels and the ability to create playlists and favorites.

The service is available now in the UK and Ireland and will hit Canada, Australia, Italy, Spain, France and the U.S. in 2011.

Permalink | Comments

---

Los Angeles' very own anti-piracy task force, under Operation Chimney Sweep, has arrested 10 people and seized over $4 million worth of pirated movies, music and counterfeit apparel.

L.A. city controller Wendy Greuel says the arrest and raids took place all throughout L.A. by "dozens of officers."

A number of trade group executives including Larry Hahn of the MPAA and Marcus Cohen of the RIAA were delighted by the news and thanked the LAPD for their "sustained commitments."

Adds Cohen (via THR):

"Their hard work has resulted in heightened consumer awareness, more criminals off the street, the implementation of meaningful new policies and -- during this holiday season and in this difficult economic time -- the preservation of many jobs of those in the creative community whose livelihoods are directly threatened by this theft. This historic holiday enforcement action sends a strong message to criminals that this kind of illegal activity won't be tolerated while raising a red flag for last-minute holiday shoppers."

To date, the task force has served "181 search warrants, made 498 arrests and seized $93.8 million worth of illegal goods" since being created in 2004.

If you combine the overall efforts of the LAPD, the task force and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department those numbers explode to 700 arrests and $305 million worth of counterfeit goods seized, notes Greuel.

Permalink | Comments

---