Google Goes On The Offensive

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Edward Snowden (Photo: VentureBeat)

The NSA revelations from one strange cat named Edward Snowden and his enabler, the lawyer turned political activist turned commentator turned journalist Glenn Greenwald, put Silicon Valley's biggest brands on the defensive.

Reports by Mr. Greenwald writing about Verizon's breach of its customers' privacy (in the news hole of The Guardian) were quickly overshadowed by the even bigger news that Google, Facebook, Twitter and others also were clandestinely in bed with the NSA, and perhaps each other in coordinating a response to this very public affront to their corporate reputations.

I'm sure some of this will be raised today at Facebook's annual shareholder meeting, alongside the gripes raised by those protesting Mr. Zuckerberg's pact with the climate change deniers in order to get immigration reform done.

The public outrage over the NSA revelations reached such a pitch to prompt one very smart valley mainstay to turn the tables on the NSA in order to preserve its reputation, i.e., the trust it has built with the public. (After all, if your reputation is sullied, what else do you have?)

Google this afternoon didn't issue a press release, nor did it book CEO Larry Page on CNBC (or MSNBC).  As it's known to do, the company's general counsel posted a statement on its official Blogspot blog in effect calling for greater latitude in revealing what the NSA asks of its database.

It has a headline and read as follows:

Dear Attorney General Holder and Director Mueller

Google has worked tremendously hard over the past fifteen years to earn our users’ trust. For example, we offer encryption across our services; we have hired some of the best security engineers in the world; and we have consistently pushed back on overly broad government requests for our users’ data.

We have always made clear that we comply with valid legal requests. And last week, the Director of National Intelligence acknowledged that service providers have received Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests.

Assertions in the press that our compliance with these requests gives the U.S. government unfettered access to our users’ data are simply untrue. However, government nondisclosure obligations regarding the number of FISA national security requests that Google receives, as well as the number of accounts covered by those requests, fuel that speculation.

We therefore ask you to help make it possible for Google to publish in our Transparency Report aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures—in terms of both the number we receive and their scope. Google’s numbers would clearly show that our compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims being made. Google has nothing to hide.

Google appreciates that you authorized the recent disclosure of general numbers for national security letters. There have been no adverse consequences arising from their publication, and in fact more companies are receiving your approval to do so as a result of Google’s initiative. Transparency here will likewise serve the public interest without harming national security.

We will be making this letter public and await your response.

David Drummond

Chief Legal Officer

I learned about it from a tweet from Google's Rick Lau whom I've known since his days running Blogspot. He now toils in operations for Google Ventures.

"Google has nothing to hide." googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/asking…
— Rick Klau (@rklau) June 11, 2013

Net net: we have to give Google's communications consiglieres considerable credit for not laying back and letting the media echo chamber define its role in this nasty affair.

Apple Trashes a News Release

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Mossberg, Swisher, Cook (Photo: Asa Mathat D: AllThings Digital)

One has to appreciate the chutzpah of Donald Leka, chairman and CEO of Transmedia, maker of the Glide OS app that allows individuals to fluidly access their files no matter what mobile or desktop operating system they reside on. The company this week released its first app for the iPhone. (More on that in a moment.)

Maybe it's Mr. Leka's Long Island lineage, but over lunch at Balthazar a few months back, he told me how he once maneuvered his way into the office of the dean of all tech media, Walt Mossberg, for a demo of his agnostic platform. Nervously, he started to show his wares. Mr. Mossberg gave him ten minutes, after which he gave him another ten minutes, and then another, and so on and so forth.

That impromptu and fortuitous meetup led to Mr. Leka's onstage appearance at AllThingsD's vaunted D6 Conference where he chatted up Mossberg and his equally erudite collaborator Kara Swisher. To give you some perspective, at this week's D11 Conference, Mr. Leka was supplanted by the likes of Tim Cook, Dick Costolo, Elon Musk, Barry Diller, John Chambers, Sheryl Sandberg, and too many other tech luminaries to shake a memory stick at.

Here's how Mr. Leka performed five years ago:

 

Flash drive forward to this week's launch of the Glide OS app for iPhone. At the D11 conference, former BusinessWeek technology columnist Steve Wildstrom asked Tim Cook about whether "it was time for Apple to broaden its iCloud service to facilitate sharing for customers who are likely to own both Apple and non-Apple gear." Writing for Tech-Pinions, Wildstrom said:

"Cook didn’t bite. But Donald Leka...jumped in. In a press release announcing the release of a new Glide iPhone app that provides access to Dropbox, Microsoft SkyDrive, and Google Drive accounts, Glide said: 'Consumers really don’t care that much what platform they are on, where their files are stored, or what the file types and file formats are,' said TransMedia Chairman and CEO, Donald Leka. 'They simply want to be able to easily access and share a family photo, a letter to a friend, a favorite song or show.'"

Now here's where it gets interesting, at least for those handling PR chores for a new or soon-to-launch iOS app. Mr. Leka crafted a news release for his new app that succeeded in raising a few hackles in Cupertino. Wildstrom noted:

"This drew an email response from Tyler Stone of Apple Worldwide Developer Relations (shared with me by Leka): …We believe the best press releases for a product launch concentrate on that product. Your release is ostensibly for the launch of your iPhone app, but the copy actually references other apps on other platforms more often than it mentions the one being launched."

Huh? I know Apple is controlling, but to chastise the maker of a just-approved app for the language in its press release may be taking it a bit too far. But the Apple developer relations guy took it even further:

"And that brings me to my final point: the tone of your release and your product positioning is at odds with not just our primary marketing messaging, but the entire reason Apple exists... I’d encourage you to recast your messaging in this positive, affirmative way."

Apple's full explanation here, but I gotta hand it to Mr. Leka who pounced on Apple's answer to Wildstrom's most beneficial question. One piece of advice: Donald, when you send out a news release or any PR pitch to elicit media coverage, try not to include the names of all the reporters (me, among them) in the "To" section.

 Best of luck with Glide.

Google Glass's #1 Fan

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For an unreleased product whose initial price point (and utility?) remains a disconnect for most people, Google Glass (via Google+ and Twitter) certainly has garnered a boffo share of media attention - good, bad and geeky.

In Sunday's New York Times, two professors examine a new dimension of the Google Glass phenomenon: the dangers that real-time digital distraction to one's vision might pose in the conduct of our everyday lives. Professors Daniel J. Simons and Christopher F. Chabris wrote in their piece "Is Google Glass Dangerous:"

"Nonetheless, most agree that a smartphone-linked display and camera placed in the corner of your vision is intriguing and potentially revolutionary — and like us, they want to try it. But Glass may inadvertently disrupt a crucial cognitive capacity, with potentially dangerous consequences."

Sergey Brin adorned in Google Glass

Google co-founder Sergey Brin offers a more nuanced defense of his pathbreaking product from a company known to break many paths:

"In an impromptu TED talk and interview in March, Google co-founder Sergey Brin described a motivation for the new product. 'We questioned whether you should be walking around looking down' at a smartphone, he said. Instead, the company’s designers asked, 'Can we make something that frees your hands' and 'frees your eyes?'"

Neil Blumenthal & David Gilboa of Warby Parker (Photo: Todd Heisler, NYTimes)

Until now, the debate pretty much has focused on Google Glass's overall usefulness and its sales potential. The initial price tag of $1500 works fine for the Tesla-driving digerati in Silicon Valley, but less so for the Warby Parker-wearing hipsters in Williamsburg.

This week some 8000 wannabes have won the right to fork over the $1500 to officially join the ranks of the early adopters. (Let's hope they're cognizant of how some view those Glass-wearing geeks.)

Robert Scoble Loves His Glass

I had a chance to catch up with one of Google Glass's most enthusiastic ambassadors in New York City this week as part of Internet Week.  Robert Scoble, (aka Scobelizer), inadvertently did more than any other tech influencer to put Google Glass on the map.  He wore his in the shower (much to Google CEO Larry Page's chagrin, he later admitted.)  That picture went viral big time.

Scoble stopped by the Alley NYC offices of WPP-owned digital agency Possible to talk about the new "Age of Context" and a future comprised of hyper-anticipatory and personalized services, i.e.,

"Imagine a world where your broken washing machine books a repair appointment by looking at your calendar's availability, where you are reminded to purchase a gift for your mother's birthday as you approach a flower shop or where a restaurant is booked for your business lunch to fit with your client's latest diet." 

Scobleizer at Internet Week NY (Photo: Peter Himler)

Mr. Scoble envisions a world of sensors and real-time personalized data streamed (via your Google Glass) to not only make your work and personal lives more productive, but to give you a competitive edge in each. In fact, he and his "Naked Conversations" co-author Shel Israel are penning a new tome titled "The Age of Context" on this very subject.

Here are some notable quotables from Mr. Scoble's preso last week:

"On me right now, I have 20 sensors..."

"This product (@projectglass) is only serving me. It knows my stocks, my sports, etc"

"Google Now anticipates the needs I have before I even ask."

"Companies are all going to be 'Uber-ized' with inventory, customer data in real-time"

"I expect augmented reality is going to come back. @projectglass chose AR light given its short battery life."

"If you keep Google Glass on all the time, you have about an hour or two of battery life"

"Google Glass lets me take a pic, video, send text, RT, get awesome directions, phone calls"

"I've taken 1500 photos with my Google Glass"

"Google Glass feels like the APPLE II. It's a 20-year journey."

"My wife makes me take off my @projectglass in one place."

I also had a chance to grab some video with Mr. Scoble in which he talks about how he manages his overflowing inbox (much of which is PR spam), and shares what devices he currently had on his person:



As for Glass's prospects, this week CNN, Tumblr, Elle, Twitter, Facebook and others climbed onto the Glass bandwagon with new platform-specific apps. As for me, I'll wait for Warby Parker to introduce a Google Glass-infused pair of affordable specs!