11.03.2013

Mystery in the Bay Area...GOOFLE, I mean, Google Glass

G O O F L E at it again?

San Francisco's bay barge mystery: Floating data center or Google Glass store?
After CNET reported Google may be building a floating data center in San Francisco Bay, a report suggested it's actually a floating Google Glass store. Either way, it's almost certainly Google.



by


The structure that is almost certainly being built by Google, on a barge in San Francisco Bay.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
The mystery surrounding a large structure built on a barge docked in San Francisco bay is deepening. Is it a floating Google data center? A floating Google Glass store? Or something else altogether?
On Friday, I reported exclusively that a company, very likely Google, has set up shop on Treasure Island, located between San Francisco and Oakland, and has been building a large structure made from shipping, or cargo, containers on a barge. Some evidence suggests it might be a floating data center, including the fact that Google itself has a patent for such a concept.
Google has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

This structure, seen on a barge in Portland, Maine is very similar to a structure that is under construction in San Francisco Bay. Both projects were built on top of barges owned by the same company.
(Credit: John Ewing/Portland Press Herald)
The Portland (Maine) Press Herald also ran a story recently about a structure on a barge showing up there, and photographs taken by the newspaper look similar to what is being built in the San Francisco Bay. Plus, the barge being used in San Francisco and the barge in Maine are both owned by the same company, By and Large, which is leasing a large hangar adjacent to the Treasure Island pier on which the San Francisco barge is docked. I found that Tim Brandon, who was said by the Treasure Island Development Authority to be tied to By and Large, was also tied directly to Google.
Now, a report from KPIX -- the San Francisco CBS affiliate -- suggests that the Treasure Island project may not be a floating data center at all. Rather, KPIX -- owned by CNET parent CBS -- reported that the project is going to be a floating Google Glass store, and that the plan might be to tow it into San Francisco's Fort Mason for some indeterminate time.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57609509-93/san-franciscos-bay-barge-mystery-floating-data-center-or-google-glass-store/