Mashable has reported that Google is planning to offer a similar service to Groupon and LivingSocial. Consumers will be able to receive notifications about local deals in their email. Just like with Groupons deals there will be a time limit on taking this offer up.

The online deal industry burst into life with Groupon last year and has gone from strength to strength since then. In December, Amazon invested more than $175 million into Groupon-rival site LivingSocial.

This investment showed first results this week when LivingSocial offered a $20 Coupon for Amazon for just $10. The company’s initial report on the success of the offer shows that more than $1 million worth of card were purchased in 24 hours.

Google’s actions may actually validate the long term sustainability the success of this business model with its decision to build its coupon service.

A spokesperson for Mashable said Google was testing the waters by getting in touch with small local businesses and initiating pre-paid voucher programs. The spokesperson said that this was another example of Google’s new product initiative, in line with Offer Ads (beta) and others.

Google’s site is desperately trying to participate in the social networking craze, but so far all of its attempts to enter that space have failed.  The Google coupon site potentially change that by combining Google’s massive marketing reach and its relationships with millions of advertisers.

Shares had previously gained 2 points after the quarterly results released on Thursday, January 20, reflected positive growth for the search engine giant. The announcement also included CEO Eric Schmidt being replaced by Page.

However the stock market didn’t maintain confidence in Page’s ability to rejuvenate Google and stocks fell by $1.08 on midday Friday, January 21.

Analyst Colin Gillis said that Page was probably going to invest in property, which would be a positive long-term move, but would not benefit the company in the near future.

Page will take over the position of CEO in April. Google hopes that the new CEO can put the company back on track against fresh competition from Facebook and Twitter. Technology saviors believe that the change in CEO is a sign that the still young Google is going into mid-life crisis.

Tech-savvy Chris Dixon asked the question of whether Page coming to Google was like Steve Jobs or Jerry Yang returning to Apple.

Steve Jobs was able to rejuvenate Apple Inc when he returned to his start-up company in the early 1990s. Since then Jobs has become synonymous with Apple and the company is now the most dominant company in the tech world.

On the other hand, Jerry Yang made a similar attempt to return to his failing company, Yahoo, but did not manage to revive his once-thriving company’s fortunes.

JP Morgan said that investors shouldn’t place so much importance on the head of the company and should be comforted by the fact that the core management team remained the same.

Google is already having a dispute with Oracle about Java patents and copyright material, and this could very well be a large blow against Google’s case.

One blogger examined the files in question and found not just one he felt that was in violation, but rather six files that seemed to have been copied directly from Java. These both exist in Android 2.2 “Froyo” and Android 2.3 “Gingerbread.

Google has taken these licenses and placed them instead under the Apache Software License that it requires all of its users to agree to. It is unlawful to license these files under another name.

There has been some evidence of difference in the code, but unfortunately it can all be traced back to a decompiler rather than to actual differentiation in the code. Google has not replied to these allegations.

These charges were brought against Google sometime in August. Oracle, the new owner of Sun and thus Java, has filed these complaints, but Google claims them to be baseless and deny the infringement.

If Oracle is found in the right, Google will have to pay a licensing fee for each copy of the software, meaning every mobile device loaded with Android would have to pass on some of its money to Oracle. If Google were to put a price on its operating system, it would perhaps detract some companies from using it as it would lose it’s nicest feature: It’s free.

The application is called Facebook for Feature Phones. According to Facebook’s blog press release, the app is compatible with over 2,500 mobile devices from major companies like Sony Ericsson, LG, Nokia and more.

The Facebook for Feature Phone app was built in conjunction with Snaptu. Facebook’s Mobile Program Manager, Mark Heynen, says the app will give Facebook users a more integrated Facebook service since users can synch their contacts, navigate their home screen, and view photos and friends’ updates faster.

Facebook is eager to maximize availability, so they have worked out deals with 14 mobile device operators so that users won’t be charged data transfer fees for 90 days.

The details of the Feature Phone app are available on the Feature Phone site. The 14 mobile phone operators that are co-operating with the scheme are: Life (Ukraine); StarHub (Singapore); Dialog (Sri Lanka); Play (Poland); Tunisiana (Tunisia); STC (Saudi Arabia); Viva (Dominican Republic); Three (Hong Kong) and Vodafone (Romania).

Facebook is currently in the process of launching a similar deal on 5 more operators: Vivacom (Bulgaria); Mobilicity (Canada); Telcel (Mexico); Reliance (India); and TIM (Brazil).

The new app is just one of several features that Facebook has launched recently to make their social networking site more accessible to mobile users. In December 2010 Facebook released dashboard controls for mobile which allowed users to fine tune application interaction on their smartphone device.

In a statement, Google said that they constantly trying to improve their customers’ experience. In the same statement Google said that the test for number porting was going to be available to Voice users.

Google said that they hoped to offer the feature as a fully integrated part of Google Voice in the future, but couldn’t comment as yet on the launch date.

The feature currently costs $20, which can be paid for on Google Checkout.

By using number porting customers are able to use their mobile phone number as their Google Voice number. This is a service that many industry watchers have been waiting for.

Choosing Google Voice number porting does have consequences. Customers who choose this plan will in essence be canceling their mobile device service. This means that customers will suffer early termination costs.

The service is not without its difficulties and Google has not yet resolved all of the issues related to number portability. This is the reason why the service is very cautiously tested with only a few selected clients.

Google Voice has seen several changes recently. Google added iPad and iPod support to the feature. This means that Apple users can access free texts and free voice calls on their mobile devices.

A developer by the name of 9to5mac found a file named “Media Stream”. It took a little digging into the system, but what 9to5mac seems to have found was information pertaining to a feature called “Photo Streaming” that would allow users to create their own “Photo Streams”, posting images and allowing friends to see. It’s believed to be something similar to a Twitter feed.

This may be linked to the new “Find my Friends” function, using GPS data to locate other mobile users. This will likely be linked with Apple’s cloud-based storage system Mobile Me.

In addition to this, there seems to be a patent Apple has for something by the name of iGroups. This promises to be another addition to the social networking that iOS4.3 already seems to be pushing so much effort into.

FaceTime has changed its icon, causing some to speculate that this will mean an improvement on functionality. Whereas before, both users had to be using iPhone 4s with a Wi-Fi network, this update could mean expansion to the iPad, iPod touch, and Mac computers.

The new iOS also includes proof that new iPads will have at least a back camera, if it doesn’t have a front one as well.

An icon for Photo Booth has also been found on the new iOS and this adds to the number of apps and software that has been rumored at or announced. This in addition to iPhoto and Garage Band, as well as the iOS 4.3 turning all iPhones into Wi-Fi hotspots this could be a huge update for all iPhone owners.

This year’s doodle theme is ‘What I’d like to do someday’

Vice President for consumer products, Marissa Mayer, posted on her blog that the current student body would be the future in technology innovation and invention and that the company was excited to see what they were thinking.

There is a $15,000 scholarship up for grabs, as well as a $25,000 technology grant for the school.

This year’s contest has seen adjustments in the rules. Both parents and guardians are able to register students directly now. On top of this, schools that are directly registered have an unlimited submission cap (although they may still only enter one entry per student). Boys and Girls clubs of America and Girl Scouts of the USA are also joining in the effort.

Registration must be complete by March 2 and entries can be sent in until March 16.

The doodles will be judged by Google employees and celebrity judges, including Garfield artist Jim Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, and ice skater Evan Lysacek. These judges will select 40 regional finalists. The finalists will all get a trip to New York and receive a visit from Google in their hometown. On top of that, their doodles will be exhibited in the Whitney Museum of American Art.

On May 20 the winning doodle will appear on Google’s homepage.

A full set of rules and details are available on the Google 4 Doodle website.

Trading was restrained due to worries of Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, who announced he was taking a leave of absence on medical grounds. Apple and Jobs have not indicated how long he will be absent from the company.

During the Tuesday earning call with Apple none of the analysts asked about the leave of absence.

Apple stock closed on Friday with a record-breaking figure of $348.46. This was before Jobs announced his leave.

Wall Street was closed on Monday as the US celebrated Martin Luther King Day. On Tuesday Apple made its announcement about the 78 percent increase in quarterly income.

Although the company is usually conservative in it quarterly forecast, this quarter they have issued guidelines that exceed analysts’ forecasts. This is probably due to the expected launch of the iPhone 4 on Verizon.

J.P. Morgan representative, Mark Moskawitz, said on Wednesday that although the news of Jobs medical absence was a worry, the company was in a very strong position and was experiencing unparalleled growth.

Oppenheimer rep, Yair Reinier, put in another good word for Apple when he pointed out that the company had out-performed every estimate Wall Street had predicted. This includes on the delicate field of Mac sales, which some feared would be overshadowed by demand for the iPad.

Analysts seem to agree that with a 400 percent growth in China and with the launch of the iPhone on Verizon in February, Apple is looking healthier than ever.

This payment option can be used in conjunction with a Starbucks Card Mobile App. The application is downloadable from the Apple Store. It can also be downloaded from the Starbucks Web site.

Once users have the app on their device they are able to load their app card with money using a credit card. If their Starbucks card is loaded the user can then hold their device in front of the Starbucks countertop scanner to scan the barcode of their purchase.

Although the Starbucks Card Mobile App has been available in some parts of the country for several months, the scheme is now available to users nationwide. Starbucks has also been running a payment test in Northern California, New York, and Seattle.

Apple devices will need to have the iOS4.0 or above to make use of the mobile payment app. Blackberry users will have to text 70845 with the word ‘GO’ to access the service. They can also visit a Starbucks site. Compatible Blackberry devices are the 8800 series, the Storm and Storm 2, and the Blackberry Curve, Tour and Gold.

Starbucks made a statement saying that a fifth of their payments are made with the Starbucks Card. Starbucks hopes that this new app will make their customers’ experience even more convenient.

The company said that $1.5 billion was loaded onto Starbucks Cards last year. This is a 21 percent increase on the 2009 figures.

The charge is called a Premium Data add-on. Many believe that this add-on charge was inevitable considering that Sprint is the US’s cheapest carrier for unlimited plans. The charge is due to the large amount of data transfer taking place on Sprint’s Smartphones, and it is believed that other carriers will soon be following suit or placing data caps on their phones.

Jack Gold from Gold Associates said that the charge is essentially viewing data as a commodity. Gold also sad that the economics behind the price hike were similar to those driving up prices in the airfare industry. If the service is full it must mean that there is a demand and if there is demand then the airline can afford to raise the rates.

The increase will affect Sprint Smartphones across the board and will be instituted on January 30th. It includes BlackBerry, Android, Window Phone 7 and Palm devices.

Regardless of the charge Sprint will remain the cheapest network in the US. Their unlimited data plan, which include free calls and unlimited data transfer is $79.99 p/month. That is $20 than their nearest competitor, T-Mobile, who has a similar package for $99.99 per month. The equivalent plan on Verizon is $40 more expensive.

Some analysts believe that the Premium Data add-on represents Spirit’s renewed confidence in itself because the company has experienced positive growth since the last few months of 2010.