THE BROWSER: Truth and rumors from the tech world
Google gets a new Chinese name
The search engine wants to make sure its brand name isn't lost in translation. Plus: Calling on Skype's office in London proves a challenge
By Owen Thomas, Business 2.0 Magazine online editor and Oliver Ryan, Fortune reporter

SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0) - Google may be the most recognized new 21st century brand in the West. But in China, its name was a dog. Surfers had been pronouncing the unfamiliar "Google" as "gougou" or "gugou," among other variants - meaning "doggy" and "old hound." An easier-to-pronounce name is just one of the reasons why rival Baidu has been eating Google's lunch in China. That's why the company tweaked its iconic name yesterday as it opened a new engineering center in Beijing. Google renamed itself "Gu Ge" (pronounced "goo-guh"), which China Daily elaborately translates as "song of the harvest of grain." Google (Research) officials said the new name projected "the sense of a fruitful and productive search experience, in a poetic Chinese way."

Calling on Skype proves a challenge

New Macs could get a splash of color
After years sheathed in white plastic, laptops from Apple could come in a choice of shades. Plus: PayPal proves to be no tax haven. (more)

When San Francisco Chronicle reporter Thomas Frostberg set out to interview a Skype executive in the company's London office, he faced a challenge: Finding the place. Even Skype's public-relations rep didn't know the address, though 100 of the eBay (Research) subsidiary's 270 employees work there. Frostberg wasn't told the top-secret address - 7-11 Lexington Street - until a late-night call, hours before the interview was scheduled. Why the secrecy? Perhaps Skype employees don't want disgruntled customers dropping by to air complaints about spotty service.

Spitzer lawsuit shows more Yahoo adware links

New York State attorney general Eliot Spitzer is suing software maker Direct Revenue, alleging that the company's products are dangerous spyware, and documents from the suit show more links between Yahoo (Research) and the company. (Direct Revenue denies the charges, but also says it has stopped the practices Spitzer objects to.) Yahoo's keyword ads showed up in Direct Revenue's software through an intermediary, Walnut, that Yahoo says wasn't authorized to distribute the ads to Direct Revenue. But the revelations highlight the problems Yahoo has in policing its partners to make sure its ads - and the associated revenues - aren't finding their ways to companies whose practices some find unsavory.

Wireless for the great outdoors

While everyone else is riveted by citywide Wi-Fi experiments in San Francisco and Portland, wireless networks are finding uses in remote areas, too. Arcadian Networks has launched a wireless communications network in 23 states designed to serve "large geographic areas with widely dispersed physical assets." Silicon Beat reported in January that 45-year-old Israeli-American entrepreneur David Gilo, who previously sold a company to Intel (Research) for $1.6 billion, has raised $85 million for the venture. All that to make sure oil-rig operators and ranch hands don't get lonely? Top of page

To send a letter to the editor about this story, click here.

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.

Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
Manage alerts | What is this?

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.