Monday, February 9, 2009

Google's Beastly Week

Let's look at what Google's Mobile Team has introduced in the past week, from earliest to latest. Check them out. They're all game changers...

1) Gmail Tasks
Tasks lets you easily create and manage to-do lists right in Gmail. Now, you can access and manage your task lists from your phone, too.

2) Google Latitude
Latitude is a new feature of Google Maps for mobile, as well as an iGoogle gadget, that allows you to share your location with your friends and to see their approximate locations, if they choose to share them with you.

3) Google Book Search
Over 1.5 million public domain books in the US (and over half a million outside the US) are now available for perusing on iPhone and Android devices.

4) Google Sync Beta (if Gmail's any indication, this thing will be in beta until 2015).
For iPhone and Windows Mobile devices, Google Sync allows you to get your Gmail Contacts and Google Calendar events to your phone. Once you set up Sync on your phone, it will automatically begin synchronizing your address book and calendar in the background, over-the-air, so you can attend to other tasks.


Google Sync has effectively eliminated the need for MobileMe, pending the push updates to the phone. Notice how Google is using Apple's exchange integration to its advantage. Bottom line: prior to today, my contacts and calendars were stored locally and synced through iTunes. Today, everything's on Google Servers. The world's-a-changing. -Read More-

Facebook: New APIs

eWeek: Facebook Launches New APIs for Facebook Platform
“Your application will have access to any status, notes, or links from the active user or their friends that are currently visible to the active user,” said a Feb. 6 post on the Facebook Developers blog. “In addition, we’re opening new APIs for you to post links, create notes, or upload videos for the current user, and we’ve made setting a user’s status easier.”
They also say that this is to stop an attack from Twitter. For me, facebook's value comes in the form of the actual content on the site, rather than status updates. I've never been a fan of Twitter. It will be interesting to see whether, when it comes time to choose, people's default accounts online will be their Google Accounts or their facebook ones. Let's see Google buy up facebook and link it all into one, giant, Internet monopoly! -Read More-

Google Calendar Sync for iPhone and Windows Mobile

Gizmodo: Push: At Last, Google Sync Comes to iPhone and Windows Mobile
If you are a Google Apps junkie like I am, chances are that your iPhone (or WinMo) experience has been lacking. Luckily, Google has released Sync support to instantly coordinate your Google Calendar and Contacts.
Finally! If I now update my Google Calendar either online or in iCal (with iCal syncing to Google Calendars), that change is pushed to iPhone's Calendar.

The Calendar portion seems to work well, though the settings to choose which calendar seem to have to be made online through Safari on iPhone, which is slightly annoying. I'm having some trouble with Contacts sync (it's not as fast). However, this is incredible. And makes me continue to question the value of MobileMe. Google's done so very well what Apple charges $100/year for. Normally Apple gets style points, but Google's online tutorials are pretty straight forward. -Read More-

Friday, February 6, 2009

Getting Rural America Broadband

Reuters: Internet tax credit boost proposed by US Senator
Current Internet speeds are defined as 5 megabits per second, while the "next-generation" speeds eligible for the larger tax credits are defined as 100 megabits per second, in the proposal.

Some have complained the 100 megabits per second bar is too high. Verizon Communications (VZ.N) is the most obvious recipient of that credit, since its fiber-based FIOS system can handle that speed.
I really hope they keep that 100 megabits per second rule. That's how you encourage innovation and growth in this economy. The world will not wait for us to get our Internet up to speed (pardon the pun). -Read More-

The DTV Transition...

DailyTech: Some Broadcasters to End Analog Signal Transmission Early
Although Congress has ultimately decided to delay the analog to digital transition from this month until June, some broadcasters are going to move forward as planned
And the DTV mess gets messier. -Read More-

Google Allows for iPhone, Android Book Search

TechNewsWorld: Google Opens New Chapter With iPhone, Android Book Search
Google has made available its electronic library of classic books to users of Apple's iPhone and T-Mobile's G1 with a mobile site optimized for the browser type both phones use.
Just like people want to have their music stored online and accessed over the cell phone's data network, so may they want their books. The technology is there to make eBooks happen; the question is whether anyone wants to read a book on the same screen used to make calls. Will people want a dedicated book device? I really don't think so. May the best app win. -Read More-

Apple: Facebook no More!

Infinite Loop: Apple blocks access to time-suck Facebook from retail stores - Ars Technica
pple started blocking access to MySpace from its retail stores a couple years ago, when customers accessing the site started taking away time from the other 2,248 customers per day (on average) that walk through the door. Now, the new popular social networking site Facebook has earned the dubious honor of becoming such a time-suck that Apple now blocks it from its display machines.
For some people, there's one reason fewer to stop by an Apple Store. I wonder if this is for employees too during break. Now, why don't we limit the amount of time people can spend taking pictures of themselves in Photo Booth while I'm waiting to try out a new MacBook! -Read More-

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Merry Christmas from Steve

AppleInsider: Heated Christmas call from Jobs secured iTunes changes
"According to a person briefed on the telephone call, Mr. Schmidt-Holtz and Mr. Jobs had a heated exchange by phone on Christmas Eve," the Times reported. "Eventually, Sony gave in and agreed to a longer waiting period."
And to think we believed that Steve rested this season
For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.
He's still Steve, keynote or not! -Read More-

Super Bowl Tech Ads

CNET: Did online companies market their brands well at the Super Bowl?
Before the commercial aired, Hulu was known to a relatively small number of people in the Super Bowl viewing audience. But after the ad aired, everyone knew what Hulu is, how it works, and most importantly, that it's free.
I've actually heard quite the opposite. I'm not sure how effective that ad campaign was. -Read More-

New Market Shares Out

CNET: IE slips further as Firefox, Safari, Chrome gain
Microsoft's browser has steadily lost ground to its competitors in the past year. Its share dropped sharply in both October and November 2008, when it lost over one percentage point in each month.
Apple's Safari browser now stands at 8.29 percent, up from 7.13 percent in November, when IE dipped. Safari has gained share more quickly than Firefox in that period: Mozilla's browser accounted for 20.78 percent of browser use three months ago, and now has 21.53 percent.
This will get even more interesting if Chrome starts being pre-installed on computers. -Read More-