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Ten days ago, Prof Edelman published a blog that questioned the business model of the Aim-listed video internet company and wiped 40pc off the value of its shares. Blinkx disputed the research. In his new blog, the academic, who has previously been engaged by Microsoft, claims to have unearthed evidence that shows Google's contracts with smartphone makers "suppress competition".
He has published a contract with HTC Corporation that details the conditions that must be met if the Taiwanese smartphone maker wants to distribute any of Google's applications. He claims that HTC cannot pick Google Search, Gmail or Maps individually, but "devices may only be distributed if all Google applications … are pre-installed".
And HTC must also set Google Search as the "default search provider for all web search access points".
In his blog, Prof Edelman points to an exchange between Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman, and US Senator Herb Kohl, when Mr Schmidt said that "Google respects the freedom of manufacturers to choose which applications should be pre-loaded on Android devices".
Prof Edelman accepts that phone makers can choose to install entirely different apps but claims that Google's policy of insisting that all its apps must be installed even if only one is wanted crushes competition. "Alternative vendors of search, maps, location, email, and other apps cannot outcompete Google on the merits," he argues.
Google told The Sunday Telegraph that it was correct that phone makers have to install Google apps as a package, but denied this was anti-competitive or contradictory to Mr Schmidt's comments.
A spokesman said: "As our settlement advances with the European Commission, Microsoft and their proxies are trying to shift attention to other parts of our business. We are discussing this with the EC, as we've done in Korea and the US, where the regulators investigated Android and Google apps and found no cause for concern."
via Technology - Google News http://ift.tt/1kK10UT
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