CNET: Google opens Tokyo research lab

Google, the search engine company that seems to place research and new product development as its highest priority, will open up a Tokyo research center. "Not all great engineers live in Palo Alto," noted a Google official. The company also has engineering groups working out of New York, Switzerland, Ireland and has plans to hire more than 100 engineers in India.

The company's engineers-first culture contrasts starkly with other Internet firms, which seem to focus on product development and management strategies, with engineers brought in to develop to a specification.