The more things that are connected to the Internet, the more valuable Google's services could become.
That's what Norio Murakami, the chairman emeritus of Google Japan, asserted in an interview with Nikkei Electronics. The Internet of Things -- the futuristic web that will let refrigerators, TVs, demand response services and air conditioners talk and negotiate amongst themselves -- will create more opportunities for search services.
Although many sniffed at the automated home of the future a few years ago, it's coming. Appliance standards now being hammered out in the U.S. will lead to internet-enabled appliances in the foreseeable future. Several Japanese manufacturers, meanwhile, are readying dishwashers, fridges, fuel cells and LED controllers for worldwide consumption. (Next month, Greentech Media will chair a committee to pick the best smart grid and green IT technologies at Ceatec, Japan's version of CES. More on the conference here.)
Murakami also added that Google has no interest in large-scale power distribution or monopolizing data.
"We hear that a lot lately. 'The Google Conspiracy.' Needless to say, it has no basis in fact," he said. "Let me say right here and now that the information we collect belongs to the consumers. It doesn't belong to us in any way. The information is borrowing our cloud temporarily, but the consumer has to decide how it will be used.We have no plans to launch new services utilizing the power-related information we collect. That's a job for a different company."
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