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Consumer Watchdog has created a new anti-Google video portraying Google CEO Eric Schmidt has some kind of evil ice cream man. The video is a commentary on what the group perceives to be Google’s lack of regard for consumer privacy. 

Google and Facebook are two of the biggest companies on the web, whatever you think about the privacy practices of either company, both have received a great deal of criticism in this area (though some think the concern about Facebook has been sensationalized by the media). Which do you trust more – Google or Facebook? Comment here.

Google is planning to launch a mobile music download service that would allow users to access songs wherever they have access to an Internet connection.

According to Reuters, Google has been in discussions with the major labels about reaching licensing agreements.  Google has not yet signed any licensing deals but the major labels are reportedly interested in seeing a competitor to Apple’s iTunes launch.

"Finally here’s an entity with the reach, resources and wherewithal to take on iTunes as a formidable competitor by tying it into search and Android mobile platform," said a label executive who asked not to be identified.

"What you’ll have is a very powerful player in the market that’s good for the music business."

Andy Rubin, Google vice president of engineering hopes to have the music service launched by Christmas, according to “people familiar with the matter.”

“We’re cautiously optimistic because Google has great scale and reach but doesn’t have a track record in selling stuff," said another label executive who declined to be named as the talks are still ongoing.
 

Update 2: Swisher reports that Facebook blocked API access to Ping after failing to strike an agreement with Apple, so Apple removed the feature after launch. She credits "sources familiar with Facebook’s platform" with this information. 

Update: With regards to Facebook and Ping, Dan Frommer points out that the screenshots Apple used in its prsentation actually did show Facebook integration. MG Siegler also notes that he actually was able to connect to Ping with Facebook, but then it disappeared. It appears that Apple may have pulled Facebook from it at the last minute. Siegler writes:

I can tell you for sure that yesterday Facebook Connect was a part of Ping — because I used it.

When I first loaded iTunes 10 yesterday and started up Ping, connecting with Facebook was the first thing I did to find friends. At first, I will say that it didn’t work. I hit the Connect button, entered my credentials, and nothing happened. But I tried again and it worked perfectly. I found a handful of Facebook friends who had just started using Ping as well and connected with them.

He also claims that he’s still connected to the Ping app from within Facebook and that while Facebook isn’t on iTunes, it’s still live. 

Original Article: At Apple’s music event yesterday, where the company launched a new version of iOS, a new version of iTunes with a new social network (Ping), a new line of iPods, and a new version of Apple TV, Steve Jobs took a shot at Google involving numbers of smartphone activations.

Last month, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that Android gets over 200,000 devices a day.

"People throw out a lot of numbers about how many devices they’re activating per day," Jobs is quoted as saying. "We are doing 230,000 activations a day.  We think our friends may be counting upgrades – if we were counting upgrades, that would be way higher."

Fortune has a quote from a Google spokesperson responding to those comments: "The Android activation numbers do not include upgrades and are, in fact, only a portion of the Android devices in the market since we only include devices that have Google services."

Ping, the iTunes social network, is like Facebook or Twitter meets iTunes. That’s the way Jobs described it in the announcement, anyway. While that may be the case, and it may even resemble Facebook, there is no integration with either Facebook or Twitter (or other social networks).

Kara Swisher was able to speak to Jobs about this, who said Facebook wanted "onerous terms that we could not agree to." When asked about integrating Facebook Connect to help people find their friends, Swisher quotes him saying (or shrugging rather), "We could, I guess."

She also got this statement from Facebook on the matter: "Facebook believes in connecting people with their interests and we’ve partnered with innovative developers around the world who share this vision. Facebook and Apple have cooperated successfully in the past to offer people great social experiences and we look forward to doing so in the future."

Om Malik at GigaOm calls Ping "the future of social commerce". "From a content perspective, there are three different types of media we love to talk about: movies we see, music we listen to and books we are reading," he says. "These are accepted social norms. In fact, many relationships are made on the basis of collective love of a movie and many friendships have started with mixed tapes."

Boxee, whose Boxee Box is due out in November, had some comments on Apple’s Apple TV announcement. These two are now direct competitors. On the Boxee blog, Avner Ronen writes:

We think people want to be able to watch anything that they can watch on their computer, only on their bigscreen TV.  There is an overwhelming consumer expectation that the content we can consume in our cubicles, our dorm rooms, and in our laps should be available in our living rooms, in full 1080p with a gorgeous interface.  It’s a simple premise, but the challenge is to do it in a way that makes sense in that space, so you can put your feet up, grab a remote and start watching. No keyboards, mice, windows or labyrinthine menus. It should be calm and it should be beautiful. And it *must* be open.

We think it’s worth it.

NewTeeVee has a comparison of Apple TV, the Boxee Box, and Roku, which some have also said is superior to the new Apple TV.

When it comes to Street View and the collection of sensitive WiFi data, Google is, at least to some degree, safe from serious penalties in New Zealand.  A police investigation has determined that the company didn’t violate any laws.

Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff referred the matter to police in June, which seemed to put Google in a precarious position.  Logic dictated that Shroff wouldn’t call in law enforcement for no reason, after all.

But fortunately for the search giant, New Zealand police said in a statement today, "An investigation by Police has determined that there is no evidence to suggest a criminal offence has been committed."

Detective Senior Sergeant John van den Heuvel of the Police National Cyber Crime Centre just suggested, "Anyone using Wi-Fi needs to ensure they have appropriate security measures in place.  People should not underestimate the risk that information they broadcast might be accessed by others, either inadvertently or for more sinister purposes."

Now the ball is back in the privacy commissioner’s (figurative) court, and she hasn’t made clear whether her office will take further action or not.

We’ll be sure to report any other noteworthy developments that occur.

Google announced today that it is making public its help documentation for Local Shopping inventory for Google Merchant Center. This is a feature that allows retailers to let consumers know about what they have in stock right from the web. 

"One weekday evening a few weeks before our son was born, my wife commissioned me to find a box of raspberry red leaf tea for the delivery," says Google Product Search business product manager Paul Lee, explaining the usefulness of such a feature.  "I promptly drove to the nearest grocery store, which has an awe-inspiring wall of tea. After diligently scanning the wall and not finding the tea, I began to wonder if it even existed. Was the similarly-labeled raspberry tea the same thing? What about red leaf tea?" 

"Stumped, I pulled out my phone and looked up ‘raspberry red leaf tea’ on Google," he continues. "Beneath the ‘Shopping results,’ I saw a red map marker for a nearby Vitamin Shoppe and a link, ‘In stock nearby,’ next to a picture of Alvita Raspberry Red Leaf Tea. I hopped back in the car, and 15 minutes later had accomplished my mission. Two weeks later, my wife accomplished her much more important mission and we welcomed Benjamin, a healthy and happy baby boy, to our family."

Keep in mind that Google doesn’t accept all retailers who apply for listing this information, but there is a form you can fill out to do so. If you aren’t accepted, Google will keep you on file for potential future inclusion. 

You’ll be asked to submit a complete and accurate data feed, including unique product identifiers. You’ll also need to be listed and verified in Google Places.