GOOG: Google roundup: Waze, Chromebooks, Rockstar, robots

Google roundup: Waze, Chromebooks, Rockstar, robots • 1:21 PM

• Crowdsourced traffic/POI app leader Waze recently grew its workforce by 20% to 120, and plans to have 200 employees by the end of 2014, says CEO Noam Bardin. The company has been busy expanding the breadth of its crowdsourced data since its acquisition by Google (GOOG +0.6%), and has also begun integrating its data with Google Maps.
• Amazon reports Samsung and Acer Chromebooks represented two of its three bestselling laptops during the holiday season. The disclosure comes shortly after NPD estimated Chromebooks, which recently gained offline/local app support, accounted for 9.6% of U.S. commercial PC/tablet shipments from January-November, up from just 0.2% a year earlier.
• NPD previously estimated Chromebooks have grabbed 20%-25% of the sub-$300 U.S. laptop market. On the other hand, IDC believes only ~1M Chromebooks were shipped worldwide in Q3.
• Less than two months after Rockstar (owns/licenses patents on behalf of Apple, Microsoft, and others) filed suit against Google and several Android OEMs, Google has filed a complaint against Rockstar on behalf of its partners, and is seeking a declaratory judgment clearing it of infringement.
• Two robotics companies recently acquired by Google, Boston Dynamics (previous) and Schaft, dominated a DARPA competition meant to test the agility of legged robots in handling emergency tasks.
• The DARPA manager handling the contest sees major non-military applications for the robots. "My feeling is that where these robots are really going to find their sweet spot is care for folks at the home."

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