Bits Blog: Google to Sell Its Own Version of Samsung’s Galaxy S4

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Hugo Barra of Google said the company would sell a version of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 running its own “stock” version of Android.

11:46 a.m. | Updated This post was updated to add the price of Google’s version of the Galaxy S4 phone.

Samsung Electronics, the biggest phone maker in the world, has been instrumental in making Google Android the most popular mobile operating system. But the search giant still wants to have Android its own way on Samsung’s new flagship phone, the Galaxy S4.

Google on Wednesday said it would sell a version of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 running its own “stock” version of Android, not Samsung’s modified version. The device will go on sale in Google’s online store, called Play, on June 26, according to Hugo Barra, vice president of product management for Android. The phone will cost $650 and will come unlocked.

“This is Google’s take on Android, and it feels really awesome on the Galaxy S4,” Mr. Barra said in front of an audience at the company’s annual developers conference, called Google I/O.

It’s unclear what Google’s strategy is behind selling Samsung’s phone in its own store with a high price tag. Google’s past efforts to sell phones through its own online store — without the support and promotion of wireless carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless — have not been successful.

Jan Dawson, a telecom analyst at Ovum, said Google was probably selling the Samsung phone with its own version of software to quell common complaints that the Nexus phones that Google sells are often not ideal — they have had poor cameras or they have lacked compatibility with the latest fourth-generation wireless network, for example. The Samsung phone with Google’s stock version of Android could appease influential people in the Android community, which would improve the overall image of the operating system, he said.

“This is a way for Google to say, ‘We’re going to make one of the best Android devices out there available unlocked with stock Android’ to negate those complaints once and for all,” he said. “It’s never going to be a huge seller, but it resolves a common complaint for a disproportionately influential part of the base, which will have wider-reaching benefits for Google and the ecosystem.”

Coverage of the annual Google I/O conference for developers, May 15-16, 2013.

Microsoft Unveils Touch-Based Version of Office

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft on Monday unveiled a new version of Office, its cash-cow suite of applications, which it has redesigned to take advantage of several of the biggest trends in technology, including touch-based devices, social networking and cloud computing.

At a press event here, Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, demonstrated the new software for the first time, describing it as “the most ambitious release of Microsoft Office that we’ve ever done.” Microsoft posted a preview version of the new Office, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other applications, on the Web.

While Office can run on more traditional computers with mice and keyboards, Microsoft also designed the product so that it can be used on touch-screen devices to compose documents, take notes and work on spreadsheets. The new Office will also allow people to use a stylus to enter data on touch screens.

The new version will automatically upload all Office files to a Microsoft Internet storage service called SkyDrive. This is meant to allow users to more easily work on their Office files regardless of which device they are working on.

Microsoft said it had also integrated the Yammer corporate social networking service into the new Office. Microsoft recently agreed to acquire Yammer in June for $1.2 billion in an effort to better compete with Salesforce.com and other companies that are supplying social networking tools for businesses.

Along with Windows, Office is one of Microsoft’s most important products, accounting for nearly 60 percent of its operating profits in its most recent quarter.