Apple and Google alliance just got stronger

Apple and Google alliance just got strongerYesterday’s Apple press event saw the unveiling of new iMacs and major updates to the company’s iLife and iWork software suites. But it also provided further insight into the cosy relationship developing between Apple and Google, with greater integration between the two companies’ product lines.

What’s new? iMovie ’08 adds the ability to upload video direct to YouTube, and iWeb (Apple’s web page creation software) now integrates with Google Maps and YouTube, along with support for Adsense.

Combine these efforts with the existing iPhone tie-ins — Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail — along with AppleTV’s recently added support for YouTube, and we can see how the Apple/Google alliance is strengthening.

And there’s more to come.

iWeb and google maps | apple googleTaking questions from the floor, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was asked about the company’s partnership with Google, particularly in reference to Adsense. “We are working closer with Google, they offer back end services we want to tie into our offerings”, replied Jobs. “Google likes our products, too.”

So what might be next? With iWorks ’08 adding a user-friendly spreadsheet application, in addition to word processing, Google Docs integration could be a possibility. Google’s also thought to be developing its own web-based presentation software, so the same might apply to Apple’s Keynote software too. Along these lines we could also see Google Docs support coming to the iPhone, and were that to happen, then in many ways the much talked about GPhone would already exist, except it would be spelt with an “i”.

Apple’s real strength has always been in developing elegant hardware and easy-to-use client-side software, with Google taking the lead in “cloud” services, where data and applications are accessible over the Internet. It’s not hard to see how these two core competencies can continue to complement each other.

last100 is edited by Steve O'Hear. Aside from founding last100, Steve is co-founder and CEO of Beepl and a freelance journalist who has written for numerous publications, including TechCrunch, The Guardian, ZDNet, ReadWriteWeb and Macworld, and also wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary, In Search of the Valley. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

12 Responses to “Apple and Google alliance just got stronger”

  1. luca says:

    Think of contextual advertising coming up depending on the content of your docs or an “Upload to Google Docs” function available from iWork… I agree, this partnership is becoming more and more stronger.

  2. Kate says:

    Thanks for following this connection. I think your predictions sound plausible, and as a mac person I hope they come true. Right now not all google aps even work on Safari, which is a major bummer. I want my docs!

  3. Steve O'Hear (editor) says:

    @Kate I think the Safari 3 Beta solves the Google Docs problem along with a host of other web 2.0 type sites.

  4. Riddle says:

    In his Keynote presentation Jobs also mentioned ability to put Google AdSense and earnng money via their ads.

  5. David Mackey says:

    If only the Apple/Google friendship would drive the GDrive…That is the technology I await – it will hopefully force a revolution in pricing w/online storage like GMail did for email.

  6. nb says:

    Nice article. But I think you mean “complement”, not “compliment” in your final statement.

  7. Ryan Wagner says:

    With all of the Apple/Google love going around I would think that it would fuel Google to make addons for the Safari browser like they do for IE and Firefox.

  8. Steve O'Hear (editor) says:

    @nb I did, you’re right. Fixed! *coffee*

  9. Mark Bean says:

    The whole Web 2.0 / Office 2.0 phenomenon is about platform and location independence.

    It will only help companies like Apple and Google gain market share away from the traditional Microsoft platform.

  10. idannyb says:

    Will Google and Apple move to create a Web 2.0 streaming “video on demand” service?

    Google recently announced that it would be closing its Video Store effective August 15th. Clearly things changed for Google when they purchased YouTube (in October 2006). But why are they walking away from this business model now? One possibility is that the huge volume of free content on YouTube effectively diluted the value of their pay-or-rent download market. IMO that is not the whole story. There is clearly a market for video rentals (Blockbuster and Netflix) and a fledgling market for video downloads that has been enhanced by Apple iTunes in concert with Apple TV.

    What’s next? I think it is quite possible that Google re-launch their Video Store under a new business model – Web 2.0 streaming video service (no download).

    In announcing the shuttering of their Video Store (or at least the current iteration) Google and sent an e-mail to subscribers …..”In an effort to improve all Google services, we will no longer offer the ability to buy or rent videos for download from Google Video, ending the DTO/DTR (download-to-own/rent) program.” IMO the key word here is “download” ,,, That leaves open other options.

    So what’s next?! One interesting possibility might be an “on demand” (streaming vs download) Web 2.0 Video Store. There will be no video download … just streaming video available on demand. No need for DRM as the content stays on Google Servers … Will Google and Apple partner on such a venture or will we see competing Web 2.0 services? How will NetFlix and Blockbuster react? This business dynamic is all the more interesting given Universal’s recent announcement that Google would be a “partner” in their DRM-free music download venture and Apple iTunes would not. Hmmm?

    Other related notions …

    During Apple’s recent Media Event in Cupertino, Steve Jobs had a few interesting things to say about video via dotMac. How might iMovie ’08 and a new and improved dotMac (TBA – more than enhanced storage capacity) play into a new Web 2.0 streaming video business?

    A few Steve Jobs quotes from the event:

    Regarding dotMac –

    (dotMac offers an) “Incredible high quality web 2.0 experience … ”

    Regarding iMove 08 –

    “Super fast movie creations” … “You can view and share your movie almost anywhere … This is a real key. This is what people want to do these days. So, you can go to the Share Menu and say make a (movie) version to go in iTunes and once it’s in iTunes you can watch it on your computer, you can watch it on your iPod, you can watch it on your iPhone you can even watch it on your Apple TV … you can say iTunes is great (but) I want to put it out on my website for everyone to see … I want to make a dotMac web-gallery version and you can do that …. and you can decide to have it (the movie) encoded in multiple resolutions if you want – Tiny, Mobile, Medium and Large … Large resolution is higher resolution than a DVD. There’s not going to be anymore sending DVDs to friends or grandma … your going to put it on your dotMac web-gallery and they’re going to be able to see it instantly (snaps fingers) in higher resolution than they can watch it on a DVD. It’s really great! And you may decide that you want to send it out to the world … and you can send it (your movie) to YouTube … just by selecting it in the menu (Share Menu) it will encode it and send it to YouTube for you so that the whole world can see your movie. “

  11. Riddle says:

    In his Keynote presentation Jobs also mentioned ability to put Google AdSense and earnng money via their ads.

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