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All Entries Tagged With: "Google"
Is Apple Blocking Google’s Chrome Browser on Me.com?
Last month I made the change from an Exchange hosted service to Apple’s MobileMe / Me.com . So far, I’ve been pretty impressed with the services, the cost, and the reliability of the sync process. Apple has clearly made some headway since the disastrous launch last year.
However, all is not good in Google Chrome and Me.com land.
Android Netbook on the Way?
I’m sure we are going to see this sooner or later, and I’d vote for sooner rather than putting it off. Netbooks, or whatever we are going to end up calling them, seem to be tailor made for something like Google’s Android. After all they started out as a Linux alternative to Windows.
Should Enterprises Be Wary of Cloud Computing?
Ovum, a tech analyst consulting firm, is recommending that enterprises take a cautious approach to Cloud Computing, citing outages from Amazon and Google, as well as management challenges, as examples.
“Enterprises are right to be cautious about relying on such consumer/SME-oriented suppliers for anything resembling a mission critical application or service,” said research firm Ovum in a report.
“A spate of service outages on the Amazon and Google platforms has increased enterprise caution about the reliability of consumer-market-oriented cloud providers.”
Personally, I see Cloud Computing taking a few hits on the chin next year as firms take a wait-and-see on what Web 2.0 firms will make it. Trusting data to a company that might not see the end of 1st quarter 2009, is enough reason to hold on to that precious data and keeping it local.
Netbooks, The Bottom, and Apple Speculation
MacWorld is around the corner, there are more rumors than in baseball’s Hot Stove League, and many of them are centering on whether Apple will enter the Netbook market or not. Intriguingly some of the speculation focuses on the device profit margins (or lack thereof.)
Google’s Chrome Browser Comes Out of Beta
Google has just released the “official” version of their Chrome browser, removing the beta tag.
From the Google blog:
We have removed the beta label as our goals for stability and performance have been met but our work is far from done. We are working to add some common browser features such as form autofill and RSS support in the near future. We are also developing an extensions platform along with support for Mac and Linux. If you are already using Google Chrome, the update system ensures that you get the latest bug fixes and security patches, so you will get the newest version automatically in the next few days. If you haven’t used Google Chrome for a while, now might be a good time to give it another spin.
Download Google Chrome and try it out.
GMail Stickers
I’ve never been a sticker fan, but maybe others are, and if that’s the case, and you’re also a GMail fan this might be on interest.
Some folks at Google created GMail stickers and once others outside of the Google enclave started seeing them a demand was created.
So, they created more and, as it looks for the price of a return envelope, you can get yours as well. For those who have trouble remembering keyboard shortcuts, there are even stickers to aid you in that area as well.
Get the details and get your stickers here.
The G1 Phone App That Warns of the Flu in Your Vicinity
Now this is an interesting use of a mobile phone. The T-Mobile G1 phone now has an app made by Matriix (the a maker of Zicam over the counter remedies) called the Zicam Cold and Flu Companion will tell you approximately how many folks in your area are suffering from respiratory illnesses, along with what symptoms are being exhibited.
Stupid Headline Writing 101: Wall St Journal and Google Gears
We’ve had some bad headline writing here at GBM on occasion and no one is really immune to a bad day, but you would think that the Wall St Journal would know better. This morning they published a headline that stated Google Gears Down for Tougher Times.
More on the G1 and Multi-Touch
We posted about the G1 being able to support multi-touch awhile back, and quite a few folks pointed out that the info we linked to that in that post was no big deal. Ever since there’s been some debate about whether this was possible or not. At the moment it looks like things are coming down on the side of yes, multi-touch is possible on the G1. As the post points out this might be on some G1’s and not all. Ah, evolution.
Video after the jump.
An End To the Beta Culture Nonsense: Could it Happen?
I’m going to issue a rousing second, or amen, or here-here, to Jesus Diaz’s Call For Revolution Against Beta Culture. I am in absolute agreement with Jesus on this. Things have gone a bit too far as we now accept inferior, not quite ready hardware and software as the norm when things are released, knowing that a fix is being planned for the next release or update.
Jesus correctly points out that this Beta Culture has guilty parties all around, including those of us who feed the beast by writing about the latest and greatest gear that pops onto the market, the consumers, the manufacturers and their ridiculous and overlapping product cycles. But at the heart of this, is something simple and pure. When we plunk down our dollars for a piece of gear or software, we just want it to work straight up. Here’s the money quote:
Update on that Google Mobile Voice Search App
Lots of hullabaloo on Friday about Google bringing voice search to the iPhone. Friday came and went, the blogs and media all jumped, and yet, no app appeared in the iPhone store. What’s up?
Weekend Discussion: Biggest Tech News Story of the Year
It has been a very interesting year in terms of technology news: threats of buyouts, mergers, rumors of new devices, layoffs, phones, marketing campaigns, founders leaving, new mobile pcs, economy, netbooks, social media, cloud computing, CTO office in the White House, windows 7, multi-touch, app stores, and much more.
In your opinion, what has been the biggest tech story so far this year, and what will we still be talking about next year?
Is The Android G1 Capable of Multi-Touch?
Interesting. From this video, (and another one on the site), it looks like it might be. But the catch is there is no software for the platform to take advantage of it.
Google Unveils GMail for Mobile 2.0 for Mobile Devices
If you’re a Blackberry user or your phone supports J2ME, and you use GMail, then you’ll be smiling today. Google has updated GMail Mobile to version 2.0. They’ve bascially rebuilt the entire client and focused on making it a speedier and more reliable mobile mail experience.
Here’s what they are touting as being new:
- Overall performance improvement: You should experience significant raw speed improvement, smoother scrolling, and no freezing.
- Multiple accounts management: If you have both a Gmail and Google Apps email account, you can easily switch between them quickly. You will no longer have to use two different mobile apps to access personal and work emails.
- Multiple mobile email drafts: You can save multiple email drafts in your mobile phone, so that you can pick and choose what you would like to send later.
- Powerful shortcut keys: If you have a QWERTY phone, you can use shortcut keys. Hit ‘z’ to undo, ‘k’ to go to a newer conversation, and ‘j’ to go to an older conversation. See Menu/Help in the app for more shortcuts.
- Basic offline support: Can’t get a signal? Not a problem. You can compose and read your most recent emails even when there is no signal. Also, any outgoing messages will be saved in the outbox on your phone and sent automatically when you’re back in coverage.
GMail 2.0 now supports over 35 languages as well. Check out more on the Google Mobile Blog or download it for you phone at m.google.com/mail.
Google Gears Gets Geolocation API
The new update to Google Gears will now work with Location Based Services. Up until now, this has really been used with cell phones, such as Google Maps, to find things close to the phones triangulated location. Now, developers can use Google Gears on your laptop in conjunction with your WiFi access point to do the same thing. I’ve used this type of thing on my iPhone and ATT Tilt in the past trying to find places to eat while traveling, it could be interesting to see what type of applications make use of this on a Laptop/Tablet PC/Netbook.