Google has announced the launch of a mobile version of the new Google Search results for movies with a light-hearted promo vid.

With the claim that the service makes it easier to plan a trip to the movies, the app works for iPhones, Palm webOS handsets and Android-powered devices.

To use it, go to google.com in the phone's web browser, search for "movies", and then tap on the "More movies" link. From there, Google says, you can either browse a list of movies or "select the 'Theaters' button to browse a list of theaters near you".

The new movie listings page includes buttons to play trailers on your phone, ratings and categories, movie posters, upcoming showtimes, as well as a list of the nearest cinemas.

The new search results for movies are available in English in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Google Search engines Video Home Cinema

VIDEO: Google Mobile offers movie search originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:55:27 +0000

New gPhone whispers suggest that Google is gearing up for no less than "an all-out assault on the mobile phone market".

The report, from The Times, states that the new, Google-branded handset we've heard about of late will encompass "the first comprehensive Google phone service with unlimited free calls", and a built-in, advanced version of Google Voice.

"For the first time", says the paper, "a single company will control everything from the software in users' phones to the services they use to make calls and surf the web".

The Google handset is said to be "one of the most advanced smartphones, with a large touchscreen display and a [Qualcomm] processor almost twice as fast as the one powering Apple's iPhone 3GS".

It's likely to offer the future version of Android code-named "Flan", which continues the cake-themed updates, and is said to bring high-speed 3D gaming.

As mobile phone operators may be unwilling to offer a device that offers free Google Voice calls, it's suggested that Google may offer the handset direct to the public, although this could push the cost up to over ?500 - but it's a price some disillusioned consumers may be willing to pay.

This latest report pegs a gPhone launch as early as next year in the US - we will keep you posted.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phones Google gPhone Rumours Mobile phone industry Android Google Voice

Google planning "all-out assault" on mobile market with gPhone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:13:50 +0000

Google has announced that all handsets running Android 1.6 will now be able to get?Google Maps Navigation?for free.

The news, which was announced on Monday, opens up the free GPS software beyond the Android 2.0 operating system and currently the only handset available, the?Droid by Motorola.

The new release, which aims to take on services from TomTom, Garmin and Navigon will, as long as you have a data connection, let you route your way around the US using the same Google Maps functionality, however, with a more traditional style GPS experience.

The release also includes the new Layers feature, which lets you overlay geographical information on the map. View My Maps, transit lines, Wikipedia articles about places, and more says Google.

If you have a phone running Android 1.6, you can download an updated version of Google Maps from Android Market to use Navigation today.

Android 1.6 phones in the US currently include the T-Mobile mytouch 3G,?the G1 and the HTC Tattoo, as well as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. However handsets like the HTC Hero, Droid Eris, Samsung Moment and the Samsung Behold II all run Android 1.5 so won't be getting the new feature.

Google Maps Navigation is in beta and is currently available in the United States.

Some features of Android 2.0 are not available on Android 1.6, for example, the ability to use the "navigate to" voice command as shown in our demo video.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps Android Google Google Maps Navigation GPS Samsung HTC T-Mobile mytouch 3G T-Mobile G1 with Google mobile phone Car And GPS Sony Ericsson Motorola

Google Maps Navigation comes to Android 1.6 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:58:52 +0000

A mobile phone gaming company has delivered a blow to the Android platform - in PR terms at the very least - by unfavourably comparing it to Apple's rival offering and revealing it is to cut funding for its Android products.

A senior executive from the French company Gameloft is quoted by Reuters whilst at an investor conference as revealing Gameloft sells 400 times more games on iPhone than it does on Android.

"We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like ... many others", Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort said, suggesting other games companies were seeing similar results.

"It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue".

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone games Android Gameloft Biz iPhone apps Android Marketplace Google Gaming

Gameloft: iPhone game sales 400 times that of Android originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:43:09 +0000

The Rupert Murdoch saga over Google making News Corp content widely available for people to "steal" has taken an interesting turn according to recent insider reports, suggesting Microsoft has been invited to enter talks with the media giant on the topic.

The reports suggest that Microsoft, with an opportunity to get one over on search behemoth Google, could offer to pay News Corp to "de-index" its news websites from Google, therefore making Microsoft's search offering Bing the place to go for News Corp news content.

While in the UK this could mean content from the The Times and The Sun no longer appearing on Google News, The Financial Times states that Microsoft has also suggested the payment plan to other big online publishers as an incentive to get them to remove their sites from Google's search engine too.

Murdoch has already threatened to remove News Corp content from Google, so this scheme, financed by Microsoft's large coffers, could offer the perfect solution for Murdoch - if not for the consumer.

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Tags: Software Search engines Microsoft News Corp Google Rumours Biz Google News Bing

Microsoft offers money for News Corp to de-Google its content originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:42:08 +0000

Following on from recent additions on the theme of comics, nature and video gaming, Google is appealing to the foodie in all of us with new grub-themed iGoogle themes.

"We've partnered with a variety of top chefs and food industry experts to bring you some elegant new, food-focused iGoogle themes", says Google.

There's also new homepage gadgets that the online giant hopes will prove useful to cooks - especially considering the forthcoming Thanksgiving holiday in the States.

The new themes are available now from chefs such as Alton Brown and Paula Deen, "food artists" like Carl Warner and James Parker and famous bakeries like New York City's Crumbs Bake Shop and Magnolia Bakery.

Tags: Software Google Online iGoogle Home And Kitchen

iGoogle adds food themes originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:06:25 +0000

Google has used its automatic speech recognition tech, as seen in Google Talk, to offer machine-generated automatic captions across all of its YouTube videos.

"The captions will not always be perfect", says Google, "but even when they're off, they can still be helpful - and the technology will continue to improve with time".

Google is also launching automatic caption timing that it says makes it "significantly easier" to create captions manually by creating a text file with all the words which then uses Google's ASR tech to figure out when the words are spoken and create captions for the video.

Both features are demoed in the official video above - hit play for the explanation.

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Tags: Software Google YouTube Video

VIDEO: YouTube gets automatic captions originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:34:10 +0000

Google has announced the launch of a "completely new" mobile Google News offering for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre users.

This follows the availability of a mobile-optimised version of Google News for other phones, such as Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and S60, with the online giant promising "more improvements" for those versions in the near future.

The new iPhone/Android/Pre version claims to offer "the same richness and personalisation on your phone as Google News provides on desktop".

The new homepage displays more stories, sources, and images while there's access to see favourite sections, find articles and play videos "in fewer clicks".

Google News for mobile is now available in 29 languages and 70 editions and can be found at http://news.google.com on your mobile phone's browser.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps Google Google News iPhone Android Palm Pre Pre

Google News gets updated for iPhone, Android and Pre originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:13:53 +0000

Google?has officially announced Google?Chrome OS, its operating system it hopes will allow it to get more people on the web, while at the same time offering an alternative to Microsoft's Windows 7 and Apple's Snow Leopard OS. But what does it offer, should you be getting ready to ditch your OS now and when will it be available? Here is what you need to know:

It will be fast

Really fast in fact. Google are promising a nippy boot time of currently just 10 seconds with the promise that it will get faster as the launch approaches. That's done by cutting out everything they can think of that you don't really need. It won't, for example, check to see if you've got a floppy disk drive, it just assumes you won't. Nor will it show you a splash screen. Hardware requirements within the OS state that the device must have a Solid State Drive.

It will be secure

Trying to get around the concept of viruses wiping out your machine (just like Apple's OSX) the system will require you to install nothing on devices with the OS running. Instead everything, applications and all will be stored in the "cloud" allowing Google to run daily security checks making sure nothing is out of sync. While the search giant isn't promising that the OS will be virus or malware free, it does say that it will be able to track and fix issues and threats as they happen, patching the software and applications as needed.

It will be easy to use

As easy as using a browser in fact because that's pretty much what it is: a glorified browser with a few nifty features, fast boot times and the promise of greater security. If you can use a browser (and chances are that means the one you are using to access this site), then you'll be fine when it comes to Google Chrome OS.

There will be plenty of applications

Any application that is coded for the web will work on the Chrome OS. That means anything from Google Maps, Google Docs, Facebook, Twitter, Google's Reader, Lala, Flash-based games, you name it, it will work.

There's going to be an API

Google is keen to get this rolling and let everyone get in and play. That means the code has been made open source for all to tinker with and there will be an extensive range of APIs so developers can get the most out of the system.

It will be free

In keeping with Google's free mantra the OS won't come with a price. It will be free.

You won't be able to buy for your current computer

It might be free, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to download it and install it on your current computer. The Chrome OS will only work on devices launched and approved by Google very much in the same way that the company offers the Android operating system. Does that mean will see Dell and HP doing the same custom skins a la HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson? Time will tell.

You'll only be able to run Web Apps

If you're wondering whether Adobe or Microsoft will be releasing a Chrome OS version of Photoshop or Office stop. The only way those applications will get on the OS is via the web, so in that case for both of those you should be fine.

You'll be able to multitask

The OS will run like a browser allowing you to run multiple tabs with programmes running in each one. You'll also be able to run persistent windows either at the bottom or to the side that allow you to chat or stream music.

You won't be able to save anything to a Chrome OS device

Whatever apps you do run, don't expect to save them to your new computer to access on a rainy day. You won't be able to. The OS doesn't allow you to save anything locally instead insisting that you save it all to the cloud.

You'll need to be online most of the time

With no local storage options (it's not certain at this time whether you'll be able to save to an external hard drive) you'll have to be online all the time either via a 3G connection or Wi-Fi. This isn't going to be the OS for you if you spend most of the time out of the loop from the connected world.

There won't be a hard drive in sight, just SSD

That's right. Hard drives that whirr and floppy disk support is out of the window. It's flash drives (SSD) and nothing else. Cry in horror? Only if you are a hard drive manufacturer.

You will only be able to play Flash games

Games will be offered but only via the web, meaning Google isn't hoping this will be the next big games challenger, unless of course someone works out how to pump state of the art games down the intertubes.

You'll be able to connect other devices

Cameras, mice, keyboards and printers will work we are told, however only so you can access the content on the device rather than store to it. Details are sketchy how printers will actually work (you mean you still print?) but promise more details on their innovative approach in 2010.

It's not coming till Christmas 2010

It might have just been announced, but you won't be able to start using the official Google OS until November 2010. Hardware is expected to be announced mid-2010 to whet your appetite with actual devices expected in time for the Christmas gift guides.

Will I be able to get it earlier?

Like Chromium, the Chrome-based browser for the Mac, you'll probably be able to get Chromium OS ahead of the official Google launch. The Chromium homepage is already calling for developers to get involved.?

Tags: Software Operating Systems Google Chrome OS Features

Google Chrome OS: What you will and won't be able to do originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:16:31 +0000

Google has today unveiled its plans for its new OS,?Google Chrome OS. The cloud based OS promises to fundamentally change the way people work on the go when it launches next year.?

Based on the Chrome Browser, Google has said that it will focus on three things, speed, security, and simplicity.?

Google says they expect to have device manufacturers announce devices, such as netbooks and "smartbooks" in the middle on next year with the new OS expected to be launched around November 2010.?

To stay up to date with the latest news with the new Chrome OS?check out our?Chrome OS homepage.

Tags: Software Operating Systems Google Chrome OS Video

VIDEO: Google explains Chrome OS originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:29:22 +0000

Google has announced details of its new operating system, Google Chrome OS on Wednesday outlining what the new OS will offer.

Focusing on speed, simplicity and security, Google aims to appeal to those looking for a lightweight operating system by being fast and clean, rather than checking for things that slow the system down for users keen to work on the Web.

"If you take the number of interesting applications you've used over the last 5 years it will have been web based", said Sundar Pichai, vice president of Product Management at Google before outlining the new features.

With no conventional applications saved on the device you are using, the new OS is a dramatic shift away from the way Apple's Snow Leopard and Microsoft's Windows 7 operating systems work currently. Data will be saved and stored in the "Cloud" rather than locally.

"You will not have to install anything. Every application will be a link to a web application", said Pichai.

The move means that google will be able to not only control what software is available for the system, but insure that it will be incredibly secure.

"If I loose my Chrome OS machine I should be able to log in and get it all back", says Pichai.

It also means that any application that works for the Web, will work on the browser:

"Anyone who writes an app for the web, writes an app for the Chrome OS... it's a browser with a few modifications".

Those web apps, which will range from Google docs, to music services, to flash based games, ebook readers and of course twitter will automatically be checked against a central server to ensure the system is kept secure. It also means Google will be able to roll out daily updates to any application without the user having to do anything as nothing is stored locally.

The lack of applications means that the system will be able to be considerably faster in its performance. In a demo of the new OS at the company's HQ, Pichai showed a laptop running Chrome OS took just 7 seconds to boot with a further 3 seconds to get through login process.

As for the look and feel of the new OS, the device will look very similar to the current Chrome browser available for PC. Users will have a number of favourite tabs that will allow them to access their favourite apps. Additionally there will be a panel, similar to the company's Android platform.

Further to the tabs system, there will be a persistent panel that appears in the bottom right hand corner that allows users to run further applications like chat or music services.

"Almost everyone knows how to use a browser", said Pichai on the user interface. "Lots of the UI will change - it won't be exactly the same as you see today, however the core concept is there".

However, Google isn't expecting the new operating system to be for everyone. Users who have to edit documents or pictures will struggle as you won't be able to save data locally.?

"We are expecting this to be a secondary computer".

Google is expected to launch the operating system at the end of 2010 with device announcements coming mid 2010.?

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Related links:

• Feature - Google Chrome OS- what you need to know

Tags: Software Operating Systems Google Chrome OS

Google Chrome OS detailed originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:56:27 +0000

Google's Chrome OS is about to be unveiled to the public, and the source code for the operating system has already made it out into the wilds of the Web.

At the moment, there's very little to show for it - just a login screen and one of the included wallpapers (hit the images tab along the top of the story to see it). Expect more to appear in the coming days, however, as coders compile the operating system and explore deeper into what Google has built.

We know so far that it's a lightweight Linux-based platform, built around Debian, which has a tonne of open-source software that powers it. It's built around the browser, positing that you don't need much else to have a useful operating system.

It'll be free to device manufacturers, but how well it takes off will depend on both the quality of the experience from Google, and whether the company manages to rope in any retail partners to pre-load the OS onto machines. We'll bring you more as we hear it.

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Tags: Software Google Chrome Chrome OS Browsers Operating Systems

Chrome OS source code available originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:08:41 +0000

Just over a year after the application's launch, Google has announced an update for Google Earth for the iPhone and iPod touch.

With the original at one point the second most-downloaded free application overall, it's an update that will likely be downloaded by a fair few users.

Version 2.0 of Google Earth for iPhone adds the ability to view maps created or saved on a desktop computer on an iPhone via the MyMaps settings, improved icon selection and performance and the availability of the app in new languages.

The app will be rolling out around the world over the next day or so, available to download for free from the iTunes App Store.

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Tags: Phones iPhone apps Google Google Earth Car And GPS Software updates Software

Google Earth hits version 2.0 for iPhone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:14:15 +0000

Google has launched a new product to its experimental "labs" offerings called Image Swirl. It's an interface for sifting through the piles of pictures that appear when you conduct an image search and aims to group similar pictures together.

Google says that Image Swirl "builds on new computer vision research to cluster similar images into representative groups in a fun, exploratory interface". That interface consists of a number of stacks of photos that expand when you click on them into spider diagrams. It's a little bit like the Wonder Wheel that Google is experimenting with for search results.

For the moment Image Swirl will only work with 200,000 or so queries - not everything. That should increase over time and begin to include more obscure content. The search field auto-updates as you type, so you'll be able to see relatively quickly if what you're looking for is in there or not.

What do you think? Useful tool, or pointless flashy interface? Let us know in the comments.

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Tags: Software Online Google Google Image Swirl Search engines

Google lanches Image Swirl experiment originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:20:46 +0000

Further to reports that Chrome OS is close to launch, we now have more confirmation that the platform isn't too far off - Google is apparently going to hold an event on 19 November that will reveal all about current progress of the OS, a broad overview of its features, and show a few demos.

Sundar Pichai, Google’s VP of product management and Matthew Papakipos, Google engineering director for Google Chrome OS will be speaking at the event, but it seems like the original rumours that the platform could launch this week were a little premature - Google says the platform will instead be launching next year.

However, it's entirely possible that some preview code will be made available so that developers can begin to explore the platform and possibility of porting their applications to it. If Chrome OS is to succeed, it'll need to have at least a little software support - however much of that is web-based.

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Tags: Software Operating Systems Chrome OS Google Rumours

Google's Chrome OS plans to be detailed originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:08:25 +0000

Web visionary, Tim O'Reilly, has suggested that we could be heading into an "ugly time" on the Internet possibly mirroring the browser wars of the nineties.

Talking at the Web 2.0 expo in New York, O'Reilly warned that a number of moves by big organisations like Apple, Google, Facebook and Digg could make the Web a closed system.

O'Reilly believes that things like the Digg bar, Facebook warning you about going out into the Web, and the possibility of News Corp signing a specific deal with Bing over Google could all damage the way the Web works.

"Take the mobile phone industry for example. Apple decides who gets to put an app up, decides how it works. That's not how the web works," says O'Reilly.

Suggesting that we are going to see a showdown, O'Reilly believes that "exclusive" features for specific browsers or mobile phone operators will end in a "one ring to rule them all" scenario.

Offering advice to Google, O'Reilly says that they should be committed to being rigorous in ensuring that the user benefits rather than trying to "eat other companies' lunch" like launching Knol, Checkout, and Froogle.

Praising Microsoft for its embracing of the Wolfram Alpha and Twitter results, O'Reilly?quotes Jeff Jarvis of CUNY saying that companies should "Do what you do best. Link to the rest".

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Tags: Software Online Google Microsoft Apple Facebook Twitter

O'Reilly: Ugly times ahead for the Internet originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:36:44 +0000

Google appears to be about to bring support for extensions into Chrome. In developer editions of the browser, there's a jigsaw puzzle area in the lower right corner of the new tab screen that links through to https://chrome.google.com/extensions - which isn't yet live.

That space used to be occupied by the themes gallery, but in the newest versions of Chrome and Chromium on Mac, Windows and Linux the jigsaw pattern appears instead. A couple of sample extensions, built by Google, are already working - a Google Mail Checker and BuildBot Monitor.

To install an extension, you just click an install link, download a file, click to run it, approve the installation and it's done. You don't have to restart the browser, like you do in Firefox. It remains to be seen if extensions will slow down Chrome in the same way they have with Firefox.

Given how many people we've heard refuse to switch over to Chrome because of the lack of extension support, this feature could prove popular. However, it'll depend on whether developers rush to support the platform in the same way they have with Firefox. We'll keep you posted.

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Tags: Software Browsers Chrome Google

Chrome extensions approach release originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:09:47 +0000

A survey of 2000 internet users in the UK from GfK NOP has found that iTunes still remains by far the most popular music service, but that new entrant Spotify is shooting rapidly up the charts, despite having only just celebrated its 1st birthday.

The survey asked participants which music services they used, and 11% said Spotify. That puts it in fourth place behind Real Player (13%), Amazon (24%) and iTunes sitting at the top with 50% approval rating. Spotify sits ahead of the slightly older Last.fm (7%), MP3.com (5%) and Napster (4%). 60% of users stream music direct from the Web.

In the navigation arena, Google Maps dominates with 72% of those surveyed saying they used it. The AA came in second place with 40% and Multimap was third with 35%. Behind that came Mapquest (7%), MSN Maps (4%), Yahoo Maps (4%) and Streetmap (3%).

When it comes to social networking, new boy Twitter draws for second place with MySpace - but both only have 4% of people who use them as their main social network. Bebo is even lower with 2%, but Facebook romps home with over 74% of users picking it as their favourite.

IM is similarly dominated by one provider - Windows Live Messenger. 50% picked it as their main provider, with 16% going for Facebook chat, Yahoo IM coming in third with 8%, Skype at 6%, AIM at 5% and Google Talk coming in at just 2%.

Webmail is closer - 33% opt for Hotmail, but Yahoo Mail was chosen by 14%, 10% picked their own ISP's service, and only 6% have "Gone Google" and picked up a Gmail account. Interestingly, a further 6% said they used email provided by a social network - is this MySpace mail?

Lastly, Skype wins out when it comes to VoIP - 60% of respondents picked it as their favourite online voice-calling app. Google Talk was second with 13%, and VoIP.com and Gizmo came in third with 3% each.

Of course, while the best provider is winning the day in some categories, others are dominated by bloated former giants commanding the attention of people who are too lazy to make a change. Which would you pick as your favourite in each category? Let us know in the comments below.

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Tags: Software Online Websites Music IM Mapping Software Social Networks Email iTunes Spotify MySpace Twitter Facebook Amazon Lastfm Gmail Hotmail Skype Yahoo Microsoft Google Statistics

iTunes still most popular music service by far originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:41:43 +0000

Google has published the source code of Android 2.0 - the next version of its operating system, and the one that appears on the recently-released Motorola Droid. Until now, only Motorola and HTC had access to the source, but Google has just opened it up for everyone.

The software update features multiple email accounts, exchange support, new address book functionality, a combined inbox, better search, an improved camera, an improved keyboard, a better browser, and more useful calendar, as well as Bluetooth 2.1, better media playback, and more options for developers.

Hackers have already ported the update over to the G1, the very first Android handset to be released. The team behind the port - Cyanogen - said that the handset runs "really well, fast and smooth" with the 2.0 software. They haven't yet got audio/video playback working, but it's likely not to be far away.

For those unwilling to hack their handsets, though, you'll need to wait for a patch from your phone manufacturer. Expect one to be on the way - we'll let you know when they're released.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phones Google Android HTC Motorola Operating Systems G1

Android 2.0 source code appears originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:34:56 +0000

Could Google's web-based "Chrome OS" operating system be close to launch? TechCrunch is quoting a "reliable" source who reckons that it could be here within a week.

The operating system will likely be initially rather rickety, due to the demands of creating a whopping great big pile of drivers. It's likely that all but the most common hardware will initially be unsupported. One rumour suggests that Google is creating its own hardware drivers, while another says that the company will leave it to manufacturers to make their devices work.

Google has said that Chrome OS is due to launch "in the Fall", so we're just about within that timescale still. Expect Chrome OS, if it is about to arrive, to be very firmly still a "beta", and not a Microsoft/Apple/Linux destroying monster. Yet.

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Tags: Software Operating Systems Google Chrome OS Rumours

Is Chrome OS approaching launch? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:33:59 +0000

Google has introduced a couple of small changes to how its communication platform Wave behaves, in response to public demand. After users complained that public waves were clogging up inboxes, Google has tweaked the functionality so that waves are now "followed", and it's possible to "unfollow" a wave.

The new "unfollow" option replaces the old "mute" one. A Wave that's been unfollowed, however, can still be found through a search or if you've put it in a folder or saved search. The waves don't disappear, so don't worry about losing one.

The language is straight out of rival communications platform Twitter, which allows users to "follow" and "unfollow" each other. It's interesting to see Google employ that language in what it's pushing as a totally new, built-from-the-ground-up, communications platform.

Intriguingly, Google ends its blog post saying: "We're also thinking of expanding the following concept to let you follow people, groups, and searches" - could Wave be about to become more of a full on Twitter competitor? We'll keep you posted.

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Tags: Software Online Google Google Wave Twitter

Google makes Wave a little more Twittery originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:08:59 +0000

Google has a bit of a thing about speed. After releasing Chrome - probably the fastest browser around, if a little bare-bones - and minimizing page load times for its search engine, Google has now announced a research project called SPDY (and pronounced "speedy") that it hopes will further double the speed of getting around the Web.

SPDY is, in layman's terms, a way of getting browsers and the servers that deliver websites to talk to each other faster. Or, as Google says in less simple terms: "SPDY is at its core an application-layer protocol for transporting content over the web. It is designed specifically for minimizing latency through features such as multiplexed streams, request prioritization and HTTP header compression".

At the moment, browsers and web servers use HTTP to chat. HTTP arrived in 1996 as a standard, and since then has served as the foundation of the Internet. But Google's now looking at new, faster, ways of that chat occurring, and has built a web server and Chrome client that supports the SPDY protocol.

A pair of Google's software engineers, Mike Belshe and Roberto Peon, say that in lab conditions the top 25 websites loaded up to 55% faster when accessed over simulated home network conditions. However, performance in real-world conditions hasn't yet been investigated.

If you want to take a peek at what the team's been up? to, then you can check out the documentation and code for the project. If you're not feeling up to sifting through browser protocols, then sit back and await what Google reckons could become a significant turbo boost for the Web.

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Tags: Software Websites Online Google SPDY Chrome

Google announces SPDY project originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:16:05 +0000

Google has announced that its YouTube video-sharing site is going 1080p. It's available to test right now on some videos, but will be going live for all users at some point next week. Until then, you can see some 1080p content by appending "&fmt=37" to the end of the URL.

Google says: "As resolution of consumer cameras increases, we want to make sure YouTube is the best home on the web to showcase your content. For viewers with big monitors and a fast computer, try switching to 1080p to get the most out of the fullscreen experience".

YouTube has accepted 1080p uploads for some time, but downscales them to 720p in the processing phase of the upload. Luckily, however, the originals are stored, so YouTube will be re-encoding and converting any existing 1080p videos in its database.

When the feature goes live for all users, we'll update this post.

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Tags: Software Websites Online YouTube Google HD Video streaming Video

VIDEO: YouTube gets 1080p HD functionality originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:31:15 +0000

It appears that a beta version of Google's Chrome browser will be appearing for Mac users in December. The browser is currently available on Windows, but Linux and Mac users have been left out in the cold by Google, with only alpha versions for company.

Intriguingly, though, it'll be Chrome 4.0 that arrives, rather than the current version - Chrome 3.0. Version 4.0 is currently available in beta on Windows, and includes Firefox-style extensions, as well as a bunch of other new functionality and a slight UI refresh.

Chrome is switching to a new version of its extensions, called "Browser Actions", but the functionality will initially be unavailable on the Mac platform - just accessible to Windows and Linux. In a mailing list post discussing the issue with developers, Nick Baum - a Chrome product manager - said:

"The earlier you switch, the more time you will have to polish your experience for our Beta launch in early December. We realize this means dropping Mac support for a couple of weeks, but we already have people working on that. If you prioritise the Windows and Linux versions, we'll bring you cross-platform parity as soon as we can!"

The addition of both extensions and multiplatform support should help increase uptake of the browser, which has seen great support in the tech community but not seen much in the way of mainstream adoption yet.

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Tags: Software Mac software Chrome Google Browsers

Mac beta for Chrome coming in December originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:06:21 +0000

Addressing the problem that Google's SafeSearch is only safe if the little blighters you're trying to "protect" from nefarious web content haven't worked out the fairly simple way to undo the settings, Google has introduced a way to lock it down.

Now when choosing the "strict" setting in SafeSearch, users can use their Google username and password to lock it to make sure it stays strict.

Concerned parents can hit play on the video above for a walkthrough on how-to do it - and an at-a-glance way of checking it's locked from across the room - but remember folks, "it's no substitute for adult supervision".

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Tags: Dad Software Google Search engines Video

VIDEO: Google demos locking SafeSearch originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:44:02 +0000

Google has "dramatically" reduced the cost of its online storage linked to its Picasa Web Albums service and Gmail accounts.

The online giant is now offering twice as much storage for a quarter of the old price of its 20GB plan, on top of the free allowances available to everyone.

Picasa and Gmail users can now buy 20GB for $5 per year, apparently a result of not just hard drive storage prices dropping, but because Google has been "working hard to improve our infrastructure to reduce your costs even further".

Google says 20GB is enough space for more than 10,000 full resolution pictures taken with a 5-megapixel camera.

Price plans also include 80GB for $20 per year, 200GB for $50 per year, 400GB for $100 per year and 1TB for $256 per year.

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Tags: Software Online Websites Storage Google Picasa Cameras Gmail

Google "dramatically" cuts Gmail and Picasa online storage costs originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:32:04 +0000

Google has rolled out a couple of interesting updates to its Latitude location platform. The software, which runs on your mobile phone and tracks your location, as well as displaying the location of selected contacts, can now display your location history over time.

The company is being cautious over privacy, so you have to enable the feature manually, but once you do it'll keep a record of everywhere you've been. You can choose to delete selected history, or your entire history, should you so desire. You can export it to Earth or Maps, and view a playback of a chunk of history (perhaps a road trip) in order.

The other addition is still in beta, and is called Location Alerts. It lets you choose to be notified by text or email if a friend is nearby. However, given that some people might have a family member or co-worker with Latitude in the same house or office, it also filters those notifications so you're not being constantly bombarded.

Cleverly, it recognises your regular locations and won't give you alerts when you're at those places. You'll only get them when you're at an unusual place or at a usual place at an unusual time. Apparently it takes about a week to "learn" those locations.

Are these additions useful, or a little too creepy? Let us know in the comments.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps Google Car And GPS Software

Google Latitude gets location history originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:13:58 +0000

Google has announced it will offer US airport frequenters one of the most precious gifts of all this holiday season - free Wi-Fi.

Bringing joy to all men (and women, and teenagers) Google is working with airports across the country to offer the service until 15 January.

The "gift" encompasses 47 airports, including Las Vegas, San Jose, Boston, Baltimore, Burbank, Houston, Indianapolis, Seattle, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, St. Louis and Charlotte.

"We're very happy to extend our Holiday Wi-Fi gift to the millions of people who will spend time in airports over the next few months", said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google.

"We know that this is a very hectic travel season for people, and we hope that free Wi-Fi will make both traveling and connecting with friends and family a little bit easier".

It's thought over 100 million people will pass through the participating airports between now and January 15 2010.

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Tags: Software Google Wi-Fi hotspots

Google to provide free Wi-Fi in US airports this Christmas originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:22:03 +0000

Google has announced that its secret "Caffeine" project will be soon rolling out to the search engine's datacentres. We originally heard about the project back in August, when Google said that you might not notice it because it won't affect the front-end of the site.

Instead it's an "under the hood" update which Google reckons should "push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions". It's been in testing for some time, but a message on the test site now says: "Based on the success we've seen, we believe Caffeine is ready for a larger audience. Soon we will activate Caffeine more widely, beginning with one data center".

Matt Cutts, one of Google's SEO team, has promised webmasters that the updates won't be rolled out widely until the new year - only one datacentre will be getting the improvements for now. Given how many businesses rely on high placement in Google for their business, any change in how the search giant calculates results could be catastrophic, so the big G is taking this one slowly.

When the update rolls out more widely, we'll let you know.

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Tags: Software Websites Google

Caffeine rolls out to Google Search originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:03:00 +0000

RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry handsets, is hoping to appeal to gamers in the future with an announcement that it will be supporting the OpenGL ES technology in its handsets.

The news, which was announced at the company's developer conference in San Francisco, means that games developers will be able to bring the latest 3D mobile games they've been making for the iPhone to the BlackBerry platform.

"With OpenGL ES support, Java developers will have the ability to build 3D games and graphics for BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry OS 5.0 and higher", RIM said in a statement.

EA?Mobile, has already started developing games for the platform, which is expected to be enabled on the new?BlackBerry Storm 2?first.

However more interesting to non-gamers, the average BlackBerry user, is that it should open up other applications like Google's newly announced Google Maps Navigation. At the recent Droid launch event in NYC, Google told Pocket-lint that it could be possible to port the GPS app to the iPhone because of the OpenGL support.

This announcement would mean that Google could add BlackBerry to that same list.

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Tags: Phones Gaming RIM BlackBerry iPhone EA Mobile phone games BlackBerry Storm 2 Google Google Maps Navigation

3D gaming coming to a BlackBerry near you originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:48:01 +0000

Google has announced it has signed an agreement to acquire AdMob, a mobile display advertising company based in California, in an attempt to cash in on the rapidly growing number of people who access the Internet as well as connected services and widgets on their phones.

In a blog post, the internet giant says: "AdMob is a great Silicon Valley story - founded in 2006 by Omar Hamoui when he couldn't find good ways to generate traffic for his mobile site. Over the past few years, Omar and his talented team have built a thriving company with great mobile advertising products, and we are looking forward to having them join the Google team and work with us on the future of mobile advertising".

Stating that "despite the tremendous growth in mobile usage and the substantial investment by many businesses in the space, the mobile web is still in its early stages", Google says it thinks that "great mobile advertising products can encourage even more growth in the mobile ecosystem".

Although Google currently offers mobile advertising solutions it says its focus to date has been on mobile versions of its search ads. This differs from AdMob's focus that has been mobile display ads and in-application ads, the potential of which for the Android platform will be lost on no-one.

In honour of the deal, Google has set-up a site that explains the $750 million acquisition and the types of mobile advertising available.

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Related links:

• Comment - Has Google got too big?

Tags: Phones Mobile phone industry Google Advertising AdMob Biz Acquisitions Android

Google acquires AdMob for $750 million originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:07:32 +0000

News content from The Times and The Sun could soon be noticeably absent in online searches and news aggregators if News Corp's chairman and CEO, Rupert Murdoch, has is way.

Murdoch, not shy to speak out about how he feels Google has threatened the newspaper industry, has said he will consider removing his papers' content from Google's search index, possibly as early as next year.

"I think we will [remove our websites from Google's search index] but that's when we start charging", Murdoch told Sky News Australia, referring to the pay wall he is planning for online content.

"The people who simply just pick up everything and run with it – steal our stories, we say they steal our stories - they just take them. That's Google, that's Microsoft, that's Ask.com, a whole lot of people ... they shouldn't have had it free all the time, and I think we've been asleep".

Meanwhile The FT reports Murdoch actually threatened to sue the likes of the BBC when asked about how he plans to charge for content when the same stories are covered by broadcasters such as the BBC and ABC.

"But we are better", said Murdoch. "And anyway, if you look at them, most of their stuff is stolen from the newspapers now, and we’ll be suing them for copyright".

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Tags: Software Online Google Search engines Biz News Corp Rupert Murdoch

Murdoch to block Google searches on News Corp content originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:11:57 +0000

Could all of Google's web applications be getting an interface refresh that would make them more like Google Wave? Screenshots published by Engadget appear to suggest that may be that case, though it's not clear how far the changes are away.

In Wave, it's possible to collapse and expand modules like the navigation bar, contacts window, inbox or individual Waves, as well as minimizing them to the top of the screen to appear as a drop-down menu. The screenshots appear to depict the same setup applied to Gmail, and Google News.

Apparently "the goal is to provide a consistent experience throughout all Google Apps and blur the line between the browser and the website (e.g. drag and drop, right-click, etc)". That could imply a similar interface for Chrome OS too, as well as future Google products.

We'll bring you more on this when we hear it.

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Tags: Software Online Google Gmail Google Wave Rumours

Google apps getting more Wave-y interface? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:49:14 +0000

It's been a bumper year in 2009 for software, services and apps as the overarching trend of tech creeps glacially away from its hardware focus and more towards what the Internet and its friends can do for us. So, before you shout out in the comments who you think should be nominated for the Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 Best Software/Service/App - and we hope you do - here's a little reminder of how the year panned out.

The Big Players

It was something of a solar eclipse moment in 2009 with both Apple and Microsoft releasing completely new versions of their desktop operating systems. Although Snow Leopard only claimed to be a relatively small upgrade there was still plenty to get excited about with the arrival of 64-bit computing and addition of Grand Central Station, as well as all the other speed, efficiency and power boosts under the hood of the new caged cat. Microsoft, on the other hand, was a lot more overt about the scale of Windows 7 - partially because of the disappointment over Vista and also, with good reason, because of the success with which the product has launched. Like Snow Leopard, it boasts speed and efficiency but, more importantly, the coming of age of the new AERO look and feel which its predecessor introduced.

Naturally, a new version of iTunes came with the OS for Apple with more playlists and more album art as well as offering a block to the Palm Pre's compatibility feature. Aside that, it was really just the next release in the hugely popular video editing Final Cut series with the launch of Final Cut Studio. It seems the Cupertino company was keeping itself busy on mobile matters but more on that in a minute.

The 'Soft, though, hasn't been so content to leave things as thin. 2009 has seen Gates, Ballmer & Sons embrace the cloud with their re-offensive on Google. First there was the highly successful revamp of the MSN Live search into the colourful Bing, and later the launch of Office 2010 web apps to try to take something back from Google Docs. Beyond that, the company has had another go at both the MSN music download store and the free offering of Microsoft Security Essentials, plus there's been some mobile movements with Microsoft too but, again, more of that later.

The real powerhouse this year though has undoubtedly been Google. The company has spread its arms even wider round the globe with its fingers now in the telephone industry with Google Voice, social location software with Google Latitude, the encyclopeadia business with Sidewiki, the energy saving push with Power Meter and, of course, the what-the-hell-is-it business with Google Wave. More recently the company has announced the smack down on TomTom and friends with the arrival of Google Maps for Navigation for Android 2.0, which may or may not make it out in time for a nomination.

Of course, Android itself has been a very big deal but leaving its mobile impact alone for now, let's not forget the OS's arrival as desktop software on products like the Archo 9 and more recently the dual booting Acer Aspire One D250. It hasn't had the traction to make any significant in-roads this year but it's certainly a space to watch for 2010.

Desktop Software

As the cloud rolls in there's a storm slowly gathering for desktop software. By no means will it ever disappear, but what we're certainly seeing is a lot less diversity in this sector. 2009 has largely been left to improvements from the old guard. Avid has put a smile on the faces of both video and music editing enthusiasts with the launch just last month of the Pinnacle and ProTools suites, Adobe has done the same for the imaging community with the more basic Photoshop Elements 8 and the photographer's friend in the free beta of Lightroom 3.0, and Roxio has thrown in a bit of everything with the company's annual release. This season's colour is Roxio Creator 10.

Antivirus has been as strong an area as ever with malware, phishing and scareware on the rise and a tonne of Christmas shopping round the corner. Symantec's new Norton 2010 product managed to block 100% of threats in independent testing - making it the first time ever for any such software but, of course, if you'd still rather not pay, then at least AVG are still helping out on that front.

Last, and more certainly not least, a certain Swedish company also happened to a make a certain popular social music streaming application that rather set the world on fire. Technically, Spotify was released in private beta in November last year, just before our 2009 awards cut off limit, but it has since gone public within the required time frame. Just to confuse matters it's in private beta once more, so I'll leave it to the judges to sort that one out.

Web Services

During the current aftermath of the eighth renaissance of the bursting of the dot com bubble, new sites have been thin on the ground - certainly ones worth mentioning anyway. The majority of developers and start ups have moved to mobile apps in search of the gold, but there have still been one or two notables over the year - all heavily on the quirky side. Wolfram Alpha provided an alternative, well-meaning but rather leftfield form of internet search; Hunch added a layer of advice to the conundrum and Invisible Hand has begun in its quest to help us find cheaper prices on the Web automatically. As with most of these things, it'll take a while for them to catch on. Twitter wasn't built in a day.

Finally here, the latest craze could be on its way with FourSquare. Like Twitter it was released at the general and social media liquorice allsort that is SXSW and it's been going great guns in the States. Now on UK shores, has it left it too late to win our coveted award or have we assessed its potential already?

Mobile Sofware

From apps to OSes it's all about mobile phones these days. We know this. Smartphones have become our windows on the world. If there's a great service on the Internet, then we want it as an app, and most of all, we want it to run like clockwork.

We've seen four significant mobile operating systems launched this year with the rebranded, reskinned and user-friendlified Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 now known as Windows Phone. We've also seen the coming of age of Android - or at least its growth into adolescence - and the launch of the superb iPhone 3.0 software with its 100 or so features. Finally, we saw a rather specific piece of software from Palm with webOS at January's Las Vegas annual tech binge, but that didn't stop it making an enormous splash and perhaps inspiring a few ideas in other mobile software developers.

On the next tier down are those that have deemed their handsets too special to run the common-or-garden versions of Android and Windows Phone and have come up with their own Custom UIs. Probably the two of most note, and certainly the ones who qualify for this year's awards would be HTC Sense as seen on the Hero with its social contacts integration and Motoblur on the Dext.

Any phone can of course have its OS customised by the addition of an alternative browser. Opera has been going strong for years and supplying those on the Symbian platform with a very strong option. 2009 has brought Opera Mini 10 and for the first time, Firefox has gone to the small screen too with the currently underused Mozilla Fennec. Still both certainly well worth a shout though.

At the bottom of it all, though, and yet king of the mountain for many consumers are apps. We saw the little devils explode in 2008 with the launch of the iTunes App Store and this year has taken the trend to a sickening extreme. The world and its wife now has some kind of platform where they can pedal often highly novelty and often profitable software along with a good chunk that are seriously useful too.

It's the latter group which we'd rather you considered for this year's award but if the Mr T Soundboard ends up being the most popular, then so be it. The apps of major note in 2009 have been largely for the iPhone with the arrival of Tweetdeck, Google Lattitude and TomTom. Spotify has offered its premium service for music streaming on the move to both the Apple phone and Android and finally Facebook has got round to supporting Google's mobile OS too. But the big question is which is your favourite? Which is the app you simply can't do without? Let us know at the bottom.

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What do you think?

But these are just some of the fantastic choices our readers have had in 2009. What would you like to see held aloft as the winner of Pocket-lint Best Software/Service/App 2009? Who have we missed out? Which are your unsung heroes and of those we've already mentioned, which would get your vote? Let us know in the comments below and you can help our panel decide which make the shortlist of nominees to be announced here on Pocket-lint on 16 November. We'll have all out coverage of the Vodafone Pocket-lint awards 2009 right here. Don't miss a minute of it.

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Related links:

• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - laptops
• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - digital cameras
• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - car gadgets

Tags: Software Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 Pocket-lint Awards Features Apple Microsoft Google Android Mobile phone applications Operating Systems Windows 7 Spotify Symantec iPhone 3GS

Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - software, services, apps originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:23:29 +0000

Google, perhaps reacting to criticism that it's keeping a whole load of your data in disparate places, has launched a "dashboard" that displays all the info that the search giant is keeping on you, and allowing you to modify that data.

The service, which can be found at google.com/dashboard, covers your account, alerts, Blogger, calendar, contacts, custom search engines, docs, finance, friend connect, Gmail, iGoogle, health, Latitude, mobile sync, Orkut, Picasa, your public profile, reader, shopping list, talk, tasks, voice, web history, and YouTube. There's also a few other products that aren't available yet on the dashboard.

Google says, at the bottom of the page, "This page represents the data associated with this Google account. All data is private unless indicated with (an) icon?as visible to others". Next to every entry in the list is an option to manage that information and modify it.

There's a video that explains the system in more detail, which we're currently trying to track down (Google's removed it from YouTube) but probably a better way to understand it is to go visit Google Dashboard yourself, and see exactly what the big G knows about you. You might find it scary.

UPDATE: We found the video. It's embedded at the top, there.

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Tags: Software Online Google YouTube Blogger Video

Google launches data Dashboard originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:17:29 +0000

Google has put up another "Doodle" on its homepage above the iconic search box, depicting both Cookie Monster and Big Bird - depending on where in the world you're located.

Clicking the image links through to a search for Sesame Street, marking the 40th anniversary of the popular kids TV show. It follows another doodle recently celebrating Wallace and Gromit's 20th birthday.

Sesame Street debuted in November 1969 and still continues to this day, now in its 41st season. Celebrities regularly appear on the show, and Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States, will be appearing at some point in the next year.

Tags: Software Websites Online Search engines Google Sesame Street

Google honours Sesame Street with doodle originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:41:06 +0000

Google has posted another of its infamous homepage "doodles" today celebrating the birthday of Wallace and Gromit.

Created by Nick Park, it seems the plasticine pair debuted on this day back in 1989 at an animation festival in Bristol.

20 years on and the pair are as popular as ever - and clearly popular in the Google offices too.

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Tags: Software Websites Online Search engines Google Wallace and Gromit

Google doodle celebrates Wallace & Gromit's birthday originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:01:17 +0000

Google has announced its search by voice service is available as a free download for Nokia S60 phones such as Nseries or Eseries handsets.

Google explains: "The new version of Google Mobile App places a shortcut to Google search on your Nokia phone's home screen, allowing you to search using your voice or by typing. You can search for anything - from "movie times", to "fish 'n chips", to "masala dosa." It doesn't matter if you're in London or Bangalore: we'll use your location to give you nearby results. And Google Mobile App shows search results in the application, so you don't have to wait for a web browser to launch to get an answer".

The new version of Google Mobile App for Nokia S60 devices works for Mandarin speakers too, with support for Mandarin speech recognition such as Android and iPhone in the works.

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Related links:

• Link - Google

Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps Google Nokia Search engines

VIDEO: Google search by voice launches for Nokia S60 phones originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:36:22 +0000

The presence of a mysterious town on Google Maps has stumped locals, the online giant and its mapping data provider.

It seems no-one can explain why "Argleton" in Lancashire, a town that does not exist, appears in the L39 postcode area just south of Ormskirk.

According to locals, where Argleton should be is just "acres of green, empty fields".

Exciting conspiracy theorists, Argleton is an anagram of "Not Real G". As an aside, it's also an anagram of "toe gnarl", "rant ogle", "oral gent" and "lot anger".

"While the vast majority of this information is correct there are occasional errors", Google told The Telegraph, on Hallowe'en.

A spokesperson for Tele Atlas, the company behind Google Map's data said: "Mistakes like this are not common, and I really can't explain why these anomalies get into our database".

Mapping companies do add errors to their maps for copyright protection reasons, but it's said to be unusual for such an error to be the creation of an entire town.

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Tags: Software Google Google Maps Online GPS software Tele Atlas

Phantom town appears on Google Maps originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:28:41 +0000

It's no secret that Google Wave is a little tricky to get your head around. When confronted with the Wave dashboard for the first time, many people scratch their heads and ask "uhh... what now?". Well, Gina Trapani and Adam Pash from productivity blog Lifehacker have put together a user manual.

Titled The Complete Guide to Google Wave, the guide covers getting started, managing contacts, waves, gadgets and bots. It also discusses what Wave can't do yet, and - most importantly - what on earth it actually is. It's a bit like a much longer version of our own Five things that Google Wave can do for you post.

The manual is built on MediaWiki software, meaning that it's possible to contribute your own suggestions to improve it. However, most of the pages are currently locked from editing to prevent vandalism while the website launches. It's available free on the Web at the link above, and will be showing up as a PDF soon, and as a book in January.

Do you have any questions about Wave that neither our extensive coverage, or this user manual, can answer? Post a comment below and we'll do our best to answer.

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Tags: Software Online Google Google Wave Books

Google Wave gets crowd-sourced user manual originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:56:53 +0000

Google Wave may be about to open up its servers for federation, if reports from TheNextWeb are correct. If true, it would mean that businesses and corporations will imminently be able to download everything they need to run their own Google Wave server.

If that's a little confusing, then think about how companies generally run their own email servers to make in-house communication more efficient. An email server in-house (rather than on the Web) means that business will spend less on data costs and talking to people, using the same server will be lightning-fast.

Those servers can also talk to the outside world, though, like email. In that case, the communication would run at normal speed. Wave has been designed from the ground up to incorporate this "federated" nature. Lars Rasmussen, one of the inventors of the service, told TheNextWeb that the sandbox infrastructure currently available to developers will be opened up very soon.

The team has also demoed a terminal-based Wave client, and published a Wave Federation Protocol and Conversation Model. That'll allow company tech departments to begin to get their heads around what this could entail for intra-office communication.

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Tags: Software Online Google Google Wave Rumours

Google about to allow private Wave servers? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:33:21 +0000

Not content with crashing down hard on the satnav industry yesterday, today Google put the willies up the music industry too with the launch of a Google music search feature. Just before you go diving off to try it, it's only available in the US at the moment, but so far it's not that extensive anyway. Currently, you can enter a song, a band, a lyric or anything that pertains to music and the engine will come up with a section of music results at the top as it might do with images or videos. The links include streamed previews, music discovery services and, indirectly, mp3 sales too. So, in its current form and even looking to the future, just whose toes are getting trodden and which sites and services will manage to come out okay?
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imeem

As one of the music discovery services that Google promotes in the music links, imeem should receive a boost when the service goes global. It's already a popular site but being thrust to the top of the rankings will certainly do it the power of good. There's always new users waiting to be signed up. Even this development from Google is a long way off the kind of niche that imeem occupies, so the company should be pretty pleased about it all.
Verdict - Winner

iTunes

Plenty of music purchases start with an internet search to find out what an artist, album or song is called and if there's a link to buy the track straight away, this being the case it could take some business away fro Apple. At the moment, the links to buy are only there on certain tracks and only once the user has already clicked through to one of Google's partner sites. The other issue is that the Google offering could develop into a streaming service and prove a threat to iTunes on that front. Whatever it means, it's not good news for Apple but you'd think that Jobs Inc has something clever up their sleeves what with the wind of change in the music industry anyway. Apple ditched DRM when it realised it had to and doubtless the company will look to streaming or another change in model soon anyway.
Verdict - Short term loser

Pandora

As one of Google's partners for this venture it's generally quids in for Pandora. A link straight to the top of the rankings without having to battle the SEO gods saves a lot of time, stress and effort and should win the service even more users than it already has. Opening out beyond the US would probably do them more favours though.
Verdict - Winner

MySpace

The vintage social network already does surprisingly well out of Google's ventures with the odd music video popping up far higher in search results than the site's waning popularity would suggest. Hard to tell whether the service is on an endless slope to destruction or if it'll reach an eventual plateau of loyal users, but the music feature from Google will certainly provide a brief stay of execution. In the long run though, it could just keep actual traffic away from the MySpace site with just its content being streamed to Google's pages. No ad impressions for them there.
Verdict - Short term winner

iLike

On the other hand, MySpace's recent acquisition of the ex-Facebook app iLike could prove to help a whole lot more. Firstly, the site has a far more modern offering than its buyer, and more importantly, it's one of the click throughs for Google where you can buy the track you've just searched for. Nice business unless, of course, Google decides to sell the tracks itself.?
Verdict - Winner

Spotify

No real problems at present. Yes, there's a degree of streaming you can do with the Google music feature but it doesn't compare to the entire Spotify platform and its tidal wave of good will support. If Google really wanted to, there's no doubt the engineers could build themselves an equally impressive model with even further reach. Daniel Ek won't be losing any sleep over this one but it might sit at the back of the Spotify supremos mind
Verdict - Long term niggle

Record shops

The damage was done here a long time ago. As Pocket-lint's resident expert on digital music put only too succinctly, "went into Fopp the other day. Made a mental note to check out a few things on Spotify. Bought nothing". Most high street retailers will be too busy looking across at the empty Zavi stores to have noticed what Google has just announced.
Verdict - Already lost

Wikipedia

Wikipedia has done a fantastic job of romping its way up the searching rankings for absolutely everything, including music. Having Google plonk its music feature at the top of the list along with links to the companies partners with all the information you could possibly want on a band or a song is something of a party pooper. Naturally, this isn't Wikipedia's sole business but what happens when Google has a feature of its own for just about everything?
Verdict - Loser

Amazon mp3

Like Wikipedia, Amazon has enjoyed top billing on the Google rankings and having its mp3 downloads service trumped by something of Google's very own is both frustrating and simply insurmountable. As it stands, it's an irritant, but if Google takes the time to put a Buy Now button next to their results that go straight to Google check, then there's a problem. Fortunately, mp3 sales aren't the core of Amazon's business, the company will still do fine with them all the same through deferred sales within their own network and as much consumer trust as any e-tailer can have.
Verdict - Loser

YouTube

Bit of a strange one seeing as it belongs to Google anyway but the music results will not only cannibalise some of YouTube's traffic but also divert it elsewhere too. Listening to tracks on the world's favourite video service is big business for the Tube and if you can do that straight from search, then they could lose out quite a lot. Again, it's not the only thing on YouTube but what with the public tiring somewhat of sneezing pandas, it's probably a bigger issue than you'd think.
Verdict - Loser

Last.fm

Like Pandora, it's the excellent nature of Last.fm's music recommendation system that sets it above all the rest and, at present, that's not something that Google has on the roadmap. Naturally, if the search giant wanted to, it could put the resources into making something similar. What it does have to its advantage is the enormous database on the subject but it doesn't seem like a logical step for the company. What is a slight concern for Last.fm is that Pandora has been chosen as a partner, but, seeing as that service only works in the US, it's not such a problem at the moment.
Verdict - No bother

Related links:

• Feature - 29th August 2012: the date Google becomes "aware"
• News - VIDEO: Google demos Music Search
• Feature - Six serious reasons why Google Maps Navigation is pure win...

Tags: Software Online Google Search engines MySpace Pandora iTunes Amazon MP3 Wikipedia imeem iLike

Who'll be the casualties of Google Music? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:32:59 +0000

Another day, another industry in trouble, all because the company that promises to "do no evil" has entered its market.

The latest victims that are likely to fall foul of the search giant are the dedicated GPS makers. TomTom and Garmin both saw big drops in share prices on Wednesday (no doubt for TomTom on the back of poor Q3 results as well), however when someone with the cash of Google steps on your turf offering a product for free when you charge a premium, with no need to turn a profit in that division, surely its time to start panicking.

Google's presence in our lives is more prevalent that ever. Destroyer of industries, has Google become Skynet?

In the present

Searching

While companies like Alta Vista and Yahoo believed that search was just the start of a bigger media portal to entrap internet users, Google's clean "just search" mantra allowed it to steal the market, completely. Google is now the biggest search engine on the block and uses the cash it gets from placing ads next to those results to leapfrog into other sectors as well as fund the majority of its ventures.

Sending email

Why charge when you can give it away? Google's Gmail and subsequent Google Apps is slowly taking over the email space. Its free product here has signaled the death knell to email hosting companies across the world. In the Nineties, companies charged $1 for an email address, then they charged for storage. Now if you're paying for either you're considered behind the curve.

Watching video

Google bought its way into the online video market after its attempts with Google Video failed to gain traction against YouTube. A prime example of the need to control the space rather than actually making a profit, Google paid a $1 billion premium to claim the site as its own. In October it signed a landmark deal with Channel 4 in the UK to start screening on-demand TV shows. If the idea catches on and other TV stations sign up, could this signal the end of traditional television broadcasting?

Storing and selling photos

While Picasa doesn't have the clout of Flickr, it still allows you to manage your photos online. Add in the ability to sell those images, combine it with Google Images and you've got a competitor to services like Corbis, Getty and iStockPhoto. Google could theoretically then move to supply newspapers and magazines with the images it scours from its users and the Web - rewarding those users individually for their contributions.

Getting from A to B

It's already killed the online mapping industry (Multimap, Streetmap, et al) and now it's after the GPS sector with the launch of Google Maps Navigation. The new software app will be available on its mobile phone platform Android 2.0, and is likely to completely turn the GPS market on its head. Constantly up to date maps, live traffic, points of interest pulled from its search database and the usual Google price (free) means TomTom, Garmin, Navman, et al, are going to struggle to justify the premium price.

Reading news

Google's news service, be it via the Google News pages or Google Reader product, has had two effects. It has allowed many websites to gain exposure to a host of new readers, but it's also caused concern with old school media barons, like Rupert Murdoch, for destroying their readership and making people promiscuous readers. No longer does the Old Media have the power over the newsstand that they once had. With the flick of a switch Google has the power to stop the traffic dead, or allow it to flow.

Buying books

Google has digitised hundreds of thousands of books already and now the company is launching its own eBook store to challenge the booksellers of this world, like Barnes & Noble. Why would you pay for a book if you could get a digital copy for free on the proviso that you had to look at a couple of ads every 20 pages?

Buying physical music

Who needs to go into a HMV or Best Buy to buy your CD when you'll be able to search for the music and buy at the click of a button instead? iTunes might have empowered us to embrace digital music downloads, but the world moves fast. Why offer a dedicated piece of software you've got to open when clicking directly at the moment you search for it would be a more gratifying experience? The idea of buying a CD on the high street and then taking it home will be dead in 5 years.

Writing letters

Microsoft has already seen its Office market affected by the launch of Google Docs, Google's cloud based office suite. Those needing to write a letter to the bank manager no longer need to buy expensive software. They can just point their browser in the right direction, create a document and then promptly offer to share it with the bank manager instead. If he's your Google contact, anyway.

Making a call

Google Voice is Google's Skype, except that it's not content with you just chatting in a desktop client. It wants your voice calls and voice mail as well. While only available in the US at the moment, the system allows you to port your voicemail from the operators to their service. Add that to the ability to make free national calls and international calls for as little as 2 cents a minute and it's likely to be a blow to phone companies who are already suffering from mobile operators stealing their customers. When was the last time you made a call from your landline?

Tracking news

Once upon a time PR agencies used to hire tracking companies to monitor how they performed in the media. Google alerts and RSS feeds soon put an end to that. With the introduction of Twitter into the search stream, companies will soon be able to monitor the coverage they get even as they are making the announcement.

Making an appointment

When was the last time you wrote on or in a paper calendar? Aside from offerings with cute pictures of cats and puppies, naked firemen, or your favourite pop star, the paper calendar has been relegated to the cheap Christmas gift. Google's shareable electronic calendar means greater connectivity for all, but it's another industry on its way out thanks to the Goog.

Reading magazines

The decline of the magazine industry isn't entirely Google's to claim, but the power of products like Blogger that empowered a generation to write their own content has helped to slowly eat away at the power of the media. Now you don't have to wait a month to get the latest news and opinion - you can create it on your phone and let the world know there and then.

Stock prices

Remember when you used to get the share prices in the newspaper and that those pages dominated the business section? The prices are still there in some pages, but the news is out of date before you can even find what you are looking for. How long before that data is gone completely?

How do you spell...

Dictionaries are the lifeblood of our language, as are translators. Both of which are likely to be ditched, and out of work. Google's "Did you mean...?" search means you can guess at the word you don't know, while its translate service, while still rough around the edges, saves the need for you to learn another language. You speak English right?

Mobile operating systems

It's already taken Motorola's internal OS and it could soon take Symbian - the Open Source OS. That's right, Google's Android mobile phone operating system is, and will most likely over time destroy Nokia's OS. Android 2.0, due out on 6 November in the US, is light years ahead of anything coming out of other manufacturers (except perhaps Apple) at the moment. Will handset manufacturers have to embrace Google to succeed?

Desktop operating systems

Not content with the mobile space, Google is planning a desktop OS that will eradicate the need to pay for an operating system. Apple has already seen the price it charges for its OS cut down to $25, but how long will it be before the company has to give it away to entice consumers to stay with it rather than move to the Chrome OS? When consumers do flock to the new OS, Microsoft will have lost its foothold on the boot-up. It might control 90% of the market now, but what about in 10 years time?

Surfing the web

The company that exists only on the Web needs to make sure it has a route to entry and that's Chrome. Currently only taking around 6% of the browser market, it's one of the only areas in Google portfolio that is not about to destroy an industry, but Chome has won praise for its speed, functionality, and how it just gets out of the way of your web browsing experience.

Brainstorming meetings

MSN, Yahoo, iChat - you remember those don't you? Google has two products here that are hoping to destroy all others in their path. Google Talk is a straight up IM client, but the company's Google Wave product is something different. In the future, the chance to grab a meeting room and a company paid-for Danish will disappear thanks to the ability to follow the conversation online as it happens. Heck, why would you even need an office?

Taking a pill

Google Health is likely to swarm in and within a couple of years dominate the medical industry. Once it has enough data, imagine what it could tell you about pandemics, medicine and more importantly how that data could be sold and monetised. Google insurance anyone?

Saving you energy

Google PowerMeter smart metering system has launched in the US and will soon be arriving in the UK. It should allow users to monitor their power consumption and bring down electricity prices while saving the planet. In turn, that will cause chaos in the industry as the market is forced to offer lower and lower prices.

Posting a comment to a blog

Earlier in the year Google bought ReCaptcha, the way that virtually all comment systems on the internet clarify that you are a human rather than a robot trying to spam. What they plan to use this for isn't yet clear, but it wouldn't be hard to use the system to see who comments on what and whether they are a threat to the system. Google Wave could also hook into blog comment systems, providing real-time comments on articles.

The daily commute and the office

Using all of the above you won't need to venture into the office to work in the same building as your work mates. You can already see it happening now. I write this based in New York, before it goes to the rest of the team to read dotted around the UK and the world. Even better, some of the people who've read this before it's gone live I've never even met in person.

Who's next?

With Google in virtually every facet or your data life, there are still plenty of areas Google can go.

Education

Google has yet to tap up the education sector as well as it could. What about exam marking services, school report card systems so it can track your details from an early age and then Alumni services. It's a market ripe for the picking.

In-car entertainment

Google isn't, yet, fussed about hardware, but with a move into navigation, it could easily start offering music, radio and other information services like weather into the car. Or perhaps it'll access the car through its mobile OS. Either could prove fruitful.

Writing a note

Goodbye Mont Blanc, goodbye Biro. The more people that use Google Voice and its voice control offerings on Android the better - Google's computers will get more of an understanding of what we say and how we say it. Do you really think you'll be writing with a pen in 20 years time?

Watching television

We've already seen that Google's YouTube is stealing TV hours, but what if it launched a free EPG service that offered more social interaction with your TV as well as web access as standard? Goodbye EPG software makers. Android for the TV it is then.

When will Skynet, we mean Google, become aware?

Think about all the above examples and now think about all the data. Google is very quickly amassing a massive amount of data on its users, everything from what you read, what you email, what you search for, what you listen to, what you watch, where you go, who you call, what messages you've left for them, what pictures you store, what pills you are taking and even what you can't spell. Add that to the possibility of school records, job history, and for the first time in history a single company will be able to build a digital profile of you better than one that you probably could, given the same tools.

The question is, is that okay? For many it's not an issue. Google empowers its users to mine for data better than any other company on the planet, but when it becomes aware, what happens then?

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Tags: Comment Software Online Google Features

29th August 2012: the date Google becomes "aware" originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:14:26 +0000

In response to the millions of search queries about music that Google gets every day it has beefed up its music search service.

Users can now use Google to find tracks by searching artist, song title and even lyrics with links to online retailers to buy.

While the industry waits to see what this might mean long term, Google has now posted a demo vid showing how it will work - hit play now to see the official demo.

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Tags: Audio Software Online Google Search engines Video

VIDEO: Google demos Music Search originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:29:59 +0000

Google's PowerMeter product is to debut in the UK from first:utility, a small, independent electricity and gas supplier, based in Warwick.

Google PowerMeter is a software tool that allows users to see a near-real-time display of their energy usage through their iGoogle account on their computer or mobile phone.

Enabled by first:utility's policy to supply smart meters to 30,000 of its customers the PowerMeter service is free to Smart Tariff customers, and is due to go live in early November.

"We share a vision with first:utility of providing consumers with access to information about their own home electricity use that will help them save energy and money", Ed Lu, Google PowerMeter's lead engineer, says.

"We need the help of innovative utility companies like first:utility to get Google PowerMeter into the hands of consumers, and we are delighted about this very first UK utility partnership".

Read

Tags: Home And Kitchen Google Software Online Eco First Utility Google PowerMeter

Google PowerMeter to debut in the UK from first:utility originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:52:47 +0000

TomTom?and?Garmin?saw their share prices plunge on Wednesday, supposedly following the announcement from Google that it was entering the "Real time" navigation sector.

The news coincidently came as TomTom announced poor Q3 results with earnings down over 64 million euros based on last years figures.

"In regards to today’s news, there are a lot of interesting developments and opportunities in the digital mapping and navigation markets", a spokesman told Pocket-lint before adding that "We believe there are opportunities for all of us".

TomTom who has offered mobile software for sometime has only just moved into the?iPhone?app market space with its dedicated app and car docking system.

"We’re seeing a growing number of customers adopt our solutions and have expanded our market reach to include not just automotive but wireless and enterprise customers".

Google Maps Navigation will go live, initially in the US only, on 6 November on Android 2.0. A product manager in Google's Mapping department told Pocket-lint that the company currently has no plans to port it to other operating systems.

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Read

Tags: Car And GPS Biz Google TomTom Garmin GPS Google Maps Navigation

TomTom shares plunge on poor Q3 results and Google announcement originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:54:00 +0000

Google has added music search to its growing search offering as it attempts to help people find what they are looking for quicker.

"Every day we get millions of search queries about music. You want to know more about your favorite artists, find that new album or iconic song or figure out the name of that tune stuck in your head", says Google on its official blog.

Google searchers looking for a particular song, artist, or album can now do so by typing that information into the search box.

Results are then produced to match the query, if available, and users will be offered a preview of the song thanks to a deal with MySpace.

Taking the search one step further Google has said that it will also allow forgetful users to punch in a chorus or words from the song as well.

If that wasn't enough? Google has said that it has teamed up with Pandora, imeem and Rhapsody to include links to their sites where you can discover music related to your queries as well.

So far there is no word as to whether Google will implement a buy button via its Google Checkout service offering users a "buy at search" offering.

Google has promised the new feature to its US based searchers in the next couple of days. No word on when the service will get global support.

We will keep you posted.

UPDATE: The service is live in the US at google.com/music. No sign of it in the UK.

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Tags: Software Online Google Search engines MySpace Pandora

Google adds music search; foretells the death of another industry originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:18:25 +0000

HTC?has confirmed that it will be bringing Android 2.0 to the HTC Hero.

"The rumors are true! Hero will be getting an Eclair update. We ask for your patience as we update Sense for the fancy new Android OS", the company said via its official Twitter feed.

No deadline was given as to when the handset maker will release the update, or whether it will be coming to other handsets like the G1, G2, Magic or Tattoo, but presumably it's a matter of implanting the Sense UI into the OS.

HTC is expected to announce?a new handset?next week under the Droid family banner from Verizon, however comments from Verizon suggest this won't be an Android 2.0 sporting device.

We will keep you posted.

UPDATE: There are unconfirmed rumours that in the meantime, the HTC Hero won't be getting the Donut 1.6 update. Our approaches to HTC on the subject were met with a refusal to comment.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Android HTC Google HTC Hero

Android 2.0 HTC Hero Inbound originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:39:37 +0000

Google has said that it has no plans at present to offer?Google Maps Navigation?on other platforms like the iPhone?or BlackBerry?handsets for the time being, but hinted that might not always be the case.

"It's currently only available for the Android 2.0 OS," Michael Siliski, product manger for Google Maps?told Pocket-lint, however when pushed further did confirm that the iPhone 3GS would have the graphics power and OpenGL support to offer the software, perhaps suggesting an updated app could be in the works.

The new offering, called Google Maps Navigation, aims to take on GPS offerings from TomTom and Garmin by offering a fully functional GPS device in your phone. Users will be able to speak their directions to the handset rather than having to type them in and access maps and Points of Interest via the "cloud", suggesting mapping updates and new features needed to be downloaded will be a thing of the past.

With an Android 2.0 requirement, that currently limits the new service to the Verizon Droid handset, launching on 6 November in the US, is perhaps another reason why the Google Maps Navigation is US only for the time being.

We will keep you posted.

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Tags: Car And GPS Phones Google Google Maps Navigation GPS GPS software iPhone iPhone 3GS BlackBerry Motorola Droid

Google Maps Navigation "could" run on iPhone 3GS originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:37:06 +0000

Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 will not just be setting the cat amongst the pigeons but is probably more akin to handing a rocket launcher to our feline friend as well. From demonstration, the turn by turn satnav system has got several advantages over traditional PND devices from the off but if you need convincing, hereare five reasons why you might want to try it and a few just to make you think again.

More accurate maps

One of the problems with satnav devices is that they often rely on outmoded maps usually either supplied by Tele Atlas or Navteq. The trouble is that, not only are these maps slightly inaccurate on purpose, but roads change quite frequently and theses companies can only send round cars to check once every 18 months or so. Recently Google started crowd sourcing corrections much as the OpenStreepMap project does, which means that the internet giant's atlas is going to be more accurate than on any other navigational device. Perhaps it's only a relatively small amount, but take into consideration the updates to way points and business addresses too and it becomes more important. Nothing more frustrating than to drive all the way to a museum to find it's closed or not even there any more.

Superior search

You don't have to just search for a destination or address but you've got the whole of Google's database to rely on for finding a place you want, and you're not going to find one on any PND as good as that. It's up to date and comprehensive and it'll even search specifically places along the corridor of your route. While most satnavs have a set number of way-points, this system will find you just about anything. If you're looking for a spanner on the way to fix your girlfriend's car, then it'll take you via the appropriate hardware store with just the one you need. Scarily, it's probably the ultimate on the move tool for stalkers for the same reasons too.

Voice Control

This is one of those areas that you really need to have tried out before we know whether it's a boon or not but, potentially, a voice activated satnav is a lot easier and a lot safer while drivers are supposed to be keeping their eyes on the road. You can use it just as you would a Google search and demand the same parameters, even if they're fairly vague - eg: cinema in East London that shows art house films. It'll then direct you to Rich Mix or Rio or any suggestion for the theatre you're after. Naturally, traffic noises, the radio, kids in the back or a poor mic on your handset could completely scupper this one but it's a nice idea. It did also seem to take the phone a little while to register in the demo video but at least it cuts down on finger work for long search enquiries.

More views

While traditional hardware satnavs recently added 3D views to their maps and a few landmarks too, these have only ever been in place for a limited number of roads and cities. GMN can offer a complete set of satellite maps with which you can zoom in to road level detail plus there's also Street View for a few parts of the world to offer drivers an exact picture of what the upcoming junction may look like. You might not use it all the time but that's one feature you just can't compete with.

Live traffic integration

We were calling for this one for years before the satnav companies finally linked up the traffic reports with route guidance to give us now, not only the shortest journey from A to B but also the fastest as well. The trick here for Google is the way they've shown it on the UI and the fact that it comes at no extra cost as well. The traffic view mode highlights sections of your route in either green, yellow or red depending on how heavy going the conditions are. If you're not happy with what you see, you can get the software to re-route for you.

It's free!

There's probably quite a bit of egg being wiped off TomTom's faces right now and, if there isn't, it's because the company must be too busy worrying just how it's going to convince consumers to pay the ?59 for the mobile app when it launches on Android. It might also tempt a few potential iPhone users away from the platform, but then we all know that that Apple logo doesn't come cheap. The fact is that whatever satnav hardware or other navigation mobile software manufacturers can offer - which is probably going to be a lot less than this Google package anyway - it's going to be next to impossible to beat them on price, and, as a race of thoroughbred cheapskates, that means a lot.

So, Google seems to be right on the money with this but it's not all roses. There could be a few problems with the software's implementation and practical use in the field. Most of them are centred around the age old issue of the software they can account for, but over the hardware that runs it, Google has a lot less control.

Sucks up battery

If you're using GMN on your Android phone then it's going to tear through the battery, which is massive issue as smartphones get smarter anyway. You'll have to find an adaptor for your 12V car socket or you can kiss goodbye to complete route guidance, let alone a day of actual phone use. This, of course, isn't so much of a problem with a traditional satnav. You're not going to need one of them to make a phone call after you get out of the car.

Small Screen

The very smallest satnavs have got 3-inch displays and many people prefer something around 5 inches for a decent route guider. There's not a lot of phones out there with that kind of pixel power and it's really a tablet that you're going to need to offer that kind of size.

Touchscreen trouble

The whole system is going to rely on a decent interface. Google can take care of one end but there's nothing more frustrating than a satnav with a dead touchscreen. This is not the kind of thing that'll make the GMN experience a joy. Pick the wrong phone and you might never use the service again. The same is true of the microphoneto to a lesser extent, but that would only affect the voice control feature.

Less of a navigational pedigree

Now, it might be that Google gets it bang on but TomTom, Navman and co have been practicing with their market for many years. There are touches in their systems like fuel counting and economy settings that don't appear to be part of GMN as it stands. Until we get a good look at the system, we're not going to know what else might have been missed out. Also, as far as commercial organisations go, it's a lot cheaper to buy their drivers PNDs than it is to fork out for Android handsets and educate their employees on how to use them.

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Related links:

• News - Google to add free turn-by-turn navigation functionality to Maps on Android 2.0 phones

Tags: Phones Android Google Google Maps GPS software GPS Software Android 2.0 Street View Video Google Maps Navigation

Six serious reasons why Google Maps Navigation is pure win... originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:54:47 +0000

Verizon has officially announced the teased and leaked Motorola Droid - or as it's officially dubbed "Droid by Motorola" - in the US with a launch date in early November and a $200 price tag to those happy to sign away 2 years of their mobile life.

And happy they might well be as the Android 2.0 device, complete with Google's new Maps Navigation, looks like a pretty capable gadget offering 3G speeds, slide-out QWERTY keyboard yet skinny dimensions, multi-tasking abilities, a 5-megapixel camera with video, voice-activated search and a 3.7-inch high-res widescreen, capacitive touch display.

Due to be the first Android 2.0 device to hit the market, the Droid gets Wi-Fi, A-GPS, Android Market, customisable homescreens, accelerometer, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 3.5mm headset jack, USB 2.0, visual voicemail, expandable 16GB memory card, Flash 10 ready HTML5 browser, Gmail (plus others), Exchange support and Amazon MP3, Google Talk and YouTube preloaded.

Droid by Motorola will be available in the United States exclusively at Verizon from Friday 6 November for $199.99 with a new 2-year customer agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Motorola will also be offering a multimedia docking station to "transform" the Droid into an alarm clock, movie player or digital picture frame. An in-car mount will also be available.

Pocket-lint got in touch with Motorola in the UK to see when we can expect to be able to do the robot with this new device, but have received a statement that gives nothing away. It reads as follows:

"We've not yet announced availability of this device in other markets, but look forward to continuing to expand our Android-based portfolio around the world".

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Related links:

• Photos - Hands on gallery

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Motorola Verizon Motorola Droid Android Google Android 2.0

Verizon officially announces Motorola Droid originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:40:33 +0000

Google has just thrown somewhat of a spanner in the works for satnav hardware and software companies as it has revealed it is to offer free turn-by-turn navigation functionality to its Maps product that will be offered in Android 2.0 devices.

"Maps Navigation" will debut in beta by default on all Android 2.0 devices and appears to offer a comprehensive satnav service that integrates Google's two very popular products, satellite and Street View, which could be used for the likes of lane guidance.

Hit play on the video above from Engadget that sees a Google product manager giving an overview of the potentially disruptive new service and we'll bring you more on this breaking news as we have it.

Read

Related links:

• Feature - Six serious reasons why Google Maps Navigation is pure win...

Tags: Phones Android Google Google Maps GPS software GPS Software Android 2.0 Street View Video

Google to add free turn-by-turn navigation functionality to Maps on Android 2.0 phones originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:35:06 +0000

Google has announced that its Similar Images feature "is graduating from Google Labs" and becoming a permanent feature in Google Images.

Designed to help narrow down image search results for more successful searches, one example given for how Similar Images can be useful is that searching for "jaguar" will bring users results of both the cat and the car.

Clicking the "similar images" option under either the cat or the car will re-jig the results to display only what the searcher was seeking.

Google had also introduced "Product Ideas for Google Images" stating: "With product ideas, you can post comments that will be seen directly by members of the Images team, as well as vote on ideas that others have submitted".

Tags: Software Online Google Search engines

Google "Similar Images" becomes permanent feature originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:28:32 +0000

It looks like Google is rolling out a second set of invites to Google Wave users. When logging in, users that have burnt through their initial five invites are finding that they've now been granted an additional twelve to dole out to whoever they like.

The invites for the service are in hot demand. The first lot were issued at the end of September, and many people quickly exhausted them. A new set will be welcomed by those who didn't manage to get in on the action then. What's not clear is if the new invites are part of the original 100,000 promised, or an expansion of that number.

Since Wave launched it's appeared on mobile devices, had movies retold inside it, and been granted a Mac-based desktop client. The service has been labelled as difficult to grasp, but the other day we discussed five useful things that you can do with Google Wave right now.

Have you got an invite? What do you think of Wave? Let us know in the comments.

Tags: Software Online Google Google Wave

Google Wave users get more invites originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:08:21 +0000

So, Eclair has arrived, pretty much as we predicted. The SDK is now available to developers who want to build the next version - version 2.0 - of Android into their devices, as well as people who want to create apps for the platform.

Among the improvements will be email and contact syncing with multiple accounts from multiple sources, Exchange sync support, a combined inbox for those multiple email accounts, better calendar, improvements in address book UI, loads of camera improvements including flash, digital zoom and a macro mode, a better virtual keyboard, improved graphics, three-point multi-touch, a better browser and Bluetooth 2.1.

Some of those things, like the keyboard and exchange support, have been provided by device manufacturers building their own editions of Android, and some have been waiting in the wings for a while. Will these improvements bring bog-standard Android up to the same level that HTC took it to with its Sense add-ons?

We'll have to see when there are some phones available with it on.

Read

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Android Google Operating Systems Video

Android 2.0 rolls out to developers originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:58:47 +0000

It certainly can't have escaped you that Google Wave has arrived but, whether you've managed to get an invite or not, what you might have missed is the point of the whole exercise. Yes, it's a new way of communicating, mixing e-mail, IM, extensions, gadgets and all sorts of other things and, yes, you can embed them but how does this help your everyday day life?

The recently announced app store will certainly help get a few ideas flowing but here are a few suggestions on how you can actually make Google Wave work for you right now.

Creative Collaboration

This is probably the most obvious category of use for Google Wave. It's all very well if you're working on a project by yourself but if you're writing music, a script, a speech, designing a poster or website or any kind of creative collaboration, then a Wave is an excellent way to do it. It adds the real time element so that you can bounce ideas off your partners just as you would face to face. It records all your suggestions whether or not you think they'll make the final cut at the time and, in larger groups with more specialised individuals, it allows each person to see what everyone else is working on. That way, you won't get so many terrible clashes of concept where people have got the wrong idea. For example, the person writing the music for a film will be able to see the footage as it is created from when it's first shot through editing and post production and will have a better idea of the tone for their work. In large groups, the wave can act like a central hub where all the work is not only collated but also focused.
EXAMPLES - Script writing, music writing, speech writing, web design, filmmaking, project management

Event Planning

Probably the most exciting and accessible use for Google Wave, as it stands, is in event planning from road trips to weddings. Rather than knocking e-mails back and fourth between unwieldy address lists, instead all of the ideas can be stored and the communication held on the wave without having to worry about people missing the message or contacting people on the wrong phone or e-mail. It also provides a single location where the complete information of the event can be accessed. You could plan a holiday with a group of friends and include details of flights, accommodation, maps, opening hours of tourist attractions and images of places you'd like to visit as well as perhaps the sharing of photos afterwards. You could even embed the whole thing into your blog afterwards to show people what your vacation was like.
EXAMPLES - Stag & hen Dos, holidays, road trips, weddings, business events

Modelling

No, not the fashion industry but the kind of extensive planning with plenty of variables and too much information for a single piece of paper. One of the great things about Wave is the space for Extensions which come as either Robots or Gadgets. These can alter both themselves and the entire wave with live information pulled in from the outside world. One good use for these would be to keep the content of a wave up to date - whether that be football scores or the price of oil. If a collaborative, multimedia document then has the ability to update itself, you can use it to model or plan any complex situation. Through that, you can know how you wish to respond to the real-life situation. Simple examples might be household finances. You could have a robot set to bring in the effect changing interest rates might have on your monthly household expenditure and show you where to best spend or save the money. It would adjust the plan according to your preset parameters. This way you don't have to keep writing new models but just develop the same one as your venture grows.
EXAMPLES - Business plans, household budgets, statistical analysis, gambling patterns

Education

There's no substitute for actually being there when it comes to teaching but Google Wave is as good as you can get if not. Whether we're taking about a teacher holding a class to an entire group of students with diagrams, written words and active participation or, for our practical purpose, something as simple as helping your parents fix their PC, it's an excellent way to do so. Best of all, these classes will remain online for them to access any time they need rather than have to rely on memory or bother you again while you're busy doing something else.
EXAMPLES - Remote learning, helping some fix their computer, giving accurate directions to a location, writing a shopping list for someone else

Commenting

From the set up point of view, it's probably more a suggestion for a business or a web enthusiast but very soon we might find ourselves using Google Wave as a commenting system on sites and forums. The point here is that it allows users to watch conversations happen while being part of them. So, rather than make a comment and refresh the page for the next five minutes to see if anyone else replies before forgetting about it and never returning to that page again, you'll be able to see people typing as you are doing so too. Doubtless it will help fuel internet rage but at least we should get through these issues a little faster - say over just 10 minutes of your lunch break rather than the whole hour.
EXAMPLES - live forums and web article commenting

As it stands, there's still no absolute dead cert use that'll see Google Wave shoot through the roof as Twitter did last year but that doesn't mean there isn't still plenty you can get out of it if you have a go. The point is to try.? At the least, when it does take off, you'll be able to say that you were there in 2009.

Related links:

• Review - Google Wave - First Look review
• Video - Pulp Fiction retold in Google Wave
• Video - First Google Wave desktop client arrives
• News - WEBSITE OF THE DAY - Easiertounderstandthanwave
• News - Google Wave working on iPhone and Android?

Tags: Software Online Google Google Wave Features

Five things that Google Wave can do for you originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:10:59 +0000

Google's new "Social Search" Labs feature that looks to your contacts for relevant results during searches is being rolled out now. You'll find a neat demo video above that does a good job of explaining the changes, while Google says:

"Your friends and contacts are a key part of your life online. Most people on the web today make social connections and publish web content in many different ways, including blogs, status updates and tweets. This translates to a public social web of content that has special relevance to each person. Unfortunately, that information isn't always very easy to find in one simple place. That's why today we're rolling out a new experiment on Google Labs called Google Social Search that helps you find more relevant public content from your broader social circle".

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Tags: Software Online Google Search engines Social networking Social Search Video

VIDEO: Google demos Social Search originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:30:12 +0000

Google Voice, the currently US only based telephone service from?Google, has announced that it will be allowing users to use their own number to collect messages rather than having to use a dedicated Google number.

"Up until now, if you wanted to use Google Voice, you needed to choose a new number (a "Google number"). Taking calls through your Google number allows us to offer features like call recording, call screening and getting text messages via email", Craig Walker, Vincent Paquet & Pierre Lebeau, product managers said in a blog post.

Clearly struggling to convince people to change their number to a "Google number" the service, which is free for all national calls, now lets you "have the choice to get Google Voice with your existing mobile number OR with a Google number".

Google Voice users need to just log in and change their settings for the new feature to take effect.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps Google Voice Google Video

Google Voice features now work with your main mobile number originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:19:07 +0000

So much for a teaser campaign,?Motorola?has just gone live with full details of its yet unannounced handset the Droid thanks to a slip up from the website team.

The microsite, which has since been pulled, offered, albeit briefly, a plethora of details no doubt spoiling any build up from Motorola and Verizon in the run up to an expected unveiling on 28 October.

Details, and there are plenty, show that the new Android powered handset will sport a slide out QWERTY keyboard, CMDA connectivity (via Verizon) Android 2.0 (?clair), a 5 megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3.5mm headphone jack.

On the front it will come with a 3.7-inch screen, weigh 169 grams and offer all the swings, bells and whistles that you would expect from a high-end smartphone.

On the camera front users will be able to capture video at DVD quality up to 24fps and zoom in 4x via a digital zoom. There is a dual LED flash and it features automatic focus.

The browser is the Android standard Webkit offering, however it will feature HTML 5 and Flash 10 support when available in 2010.

Accelerometer, 550MHz processor and 16GB microSD pre-installed with support up to 32GB completes the package.

Pre-installed apps include Amazon MP3, Facebook and Google apps. The phone will also support Google Voice search.

No word on pricing or availability as yet.

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Related links:

• Via - BGR

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Motorola Motorola Droid Google Android Verizon

DROID by Motorola officially outed... originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:53:32 +0100

While Google waits to implement Twitter search?functionality into its organic search it is testing yet another social element; Social Search.

The new offering, which will launch in Google Labs shortly, promises to allow users to see results for queries from people in their social network.

The system will work by tying in your contacts from various services like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr or Friendfeed, and give you results from that data as well as the Web as a whole.

The idea is that if one of your contacts has been to New Zealand for example and has referenced that somewhere on the Web, that search would show up in your search query, allowing you to gain relevant information from someone within your network rather than random people on a site you've never heard of.

However, in order to use social search, users need to be logged into a Google profile, from there, the search engine can then suggest connections to those listed as friends by crawling your Gmail contacts for example.

The system is expected to launch in the next couple of weeks.

Tuesday also saw the launch of Twitter on Bing, allowing users to search Twitter feeds via the Microsoft search engine.?

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Tags: Software Online Google Social Search Social networking Search engines Bing

Google Social Search brings your friends to the search engine originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:27:49 +0100

Google has moved in to steal Bing's thunder by announcing it will be adding tweets to its search pages.

"At Google, our goal is to create the most comprehensive, relevant and fast search in the world. In the past few years, an entirely new type of data has emerged", Marissa Mayer, vice president of Search Products and User Experience said in a blog post before confirming:

"Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results".

However unlike Bing's?offering, which went live earlier on Wednesday, Google's won't be live for a couple of months according to Mayer:

"We look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months".

Earlier on Friday, Microsoft confirmed that it would be bringing Twitter and Facebook status updates to its search engine, bing.com.?

"We have two deals to announce", said the demo man at the Web 2.0 summit conference. "The first is Twitter, which will be going live in the beta straight away, the second is Facebook which will come later".

Both systems will access all public data, leaving direct messages secure and out of sight.?The tweets will, however, be vetted for quality and factor in a number of features including quality of tweet, the length and relevancy of the tweet, the Twitter users social standing (ie number of followers) as well as the tweet is being re-tweeted.

Search it seems, just went real-time.

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Tags: Software Online Google Twitter Bing Microsoft

Google shouts "me too" with twitter search deal originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:21:49 +0100

It's being reported that Google is planning to launch a music service imminently. A number of sources quoted by TechCrunch are saying that the company is securing content from major labels, and one source has named the offering "Google Audio".

At a time when the whole world and its dog are launching music services, it's unclear whether the music platform will be download-based like iTunes, streaming-based like Spotify and Pandora, or a hybrid of the two like Napster and Sky Songs. It'll be available to "at least" the US, but we'd predict that it'd be limited to the States for the time being - licensing of tracks in multiple territories is a real headache.

Google already has a music service in China that allows users to download tracks for free, and it has a music search engine that can be accessed by putting "music:" before a query in the search box. Songs accessed that way aren't available to listen to, however.

This is a breaking story and we'll bring you more news as it arrives.

Thanks to Alan for the tip.

Update: A little trawling has revealed that Google Audio popped up in 2006 on the company's job search boards. There were talks at the time with major labels, but nothing came of it. Could it be that Google decided the industry wasn't ready back then, and it is now?

Update II: TechCrunch is now reporting that iLike and Lala will be partnering with Google on this one, and it'll allow users to stream songs from search results. There'll also be the option to buy downloads. Seems like an odd move to us, especially as current streaming options from both iLike and Lala are very limited, but perhaps there's more to it. We'll keep you posted.

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Tags: Audio Music Online Google Music downloads Google Audio Rumours Spotify Napster Pandora Sky Microsoft

Google launching music service? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:03:09 +0100

The much-rumoured gPhone turned out to be "not one, but a thousand gPhones" when Google announced the launch of Android, its mobile phone operating system, but that is about to change.

While it's unclear what has prompted the internet giant to make the switch to offer its own hardware, design sources from within Google have revealed it is to offer an Android smartphone of its own.

"Google is working with a smartphone manufacturer to have a Google-branded phone available this year through retailers and not through telcos, according to Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar, who has talked to Google's design partners about the plan", reports thestreet.com.

By offering the phone direct to consumers, rather than through an operator, it could be suggested Google's reason for a move into manufacturing could be to allow the consumer - and not the operator - to decide on features and apps, such as Google Talk, the VoIP solution.

The report suggests that the phone will use Qualcomm chips and could possibly be manufactured by HTC, a company Google appears to have good relations with that has worked with Android since day one.

The same source also reports that a Google Chrome netbook, again with Qualcomm chips and made by Qunata, will go on sale next summer.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phones Google Android gPhone HTC Qualcomm Rumours

Google will launch an Android gPhone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:19:38 +0100

In our first-look review of Google Wave, we argued that - like Twitter - Wave needs applictions for it to be truly useful. The first of those desktop applications has arrived - albeit in a very limited state and only for Mac users.

Waveboard is currently in version 0.4, and is being called "simple and practical" by users who've tested it. All it does is put the web interface in its own Window, as if it was in your browser. It also puts out notifications when things happen via its dock symbol, menu entry and a growl notification. Not much for now, but still better than the web interface.

The same developer also has an iPhone version, which is featured in the brief video above. That's not quite out yet, but it's been submitted to the App Store for approval. When it's up and ready for download, we'll be sure to let you know.

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Tags: Software Online Google Google Wave Waveboard Mac software iPhone Apple iPhone apps Mobile phone apps Video

VIDEO: First Google Wave desktop client arrives originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:30:18 +0100

Google has released a preview of its next phase of the "Going Google" campaign that will launch across six new countries.

The campaign, to get businesses to switch over to Google's corporate solutions, has seen bill-board ads across the States.

As part of the expansion of the campaign, the search giant has revealed that over two million companies are now using Google Apps.

Hit play to see more, while the UK-centric info can be found at www.google.co.uk/gogoogle.

Tags: Software Google Biz Advertising Email Online Google Apps

VIDEO: Google explains "Going Google" originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:13:56 +0100

After months of rumours, some specific info - and images - of the Motorola Droid have been leaked online by US blog Boy Genius Report.

The new phone, due to launch on the Verizon network in the States, appears to be Motorola's high-end attack on the Android market.

Running Android 2.0 the handset is said to be fast, and although just thicker than an iPhone,? thin for a QWERTY slider.

With a capacitive touch display, the Droid will come with a desktop cradle charger that will mean the phone can be used as a "multimedia station" displays weather, time, and the like.

"It's the Android device to beat, and easily the most impressive. From what we’ve been told, Google had a direct hand in the Motorola Droid", says BGR.

More detailed information is promised soon - we will keep you posted.

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Related links:

• VIDEO - Verizon teases with "Droid does" anti-iPhone ad

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Motorola Verizon Android Motorola Droid Rumours Google

Motorola Droid leaked in more detail originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:40:40 +0100

As many of you will know, Google uses a trike to snap Street View imagery in areas inaccessible by car. Now, in the US, as it did in the UK, the web giant has democratised the process of deciding which will be the next off-road places to be captured, by asking the American public to make suggestions.

"We're announcing the opportunity for users to directly give us their suggestions for the off-the-beaten-path & pedestrian-only locations they'd like to see featured in Street View on Google Maps, says Google.

Locations can be nominated within six categories - parks and trails, university campuses, theme parks and zoos, "pedestrian malls", landmarks and sports venues. Nominations will be open until 28 October and can be submitted at www.google.com/trike.

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Tags: Software Google Street View Video

VIDEO: Google asks for Street View trike suggestions in the States originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:18:01 +0100

If you've not managed to grab an invite for Google Wave yet, and the videos of its functionality that are out there on the Web aren't good enough for you, then you might fancy seeing the new communications platform from Jules Winnfield's point of view.

We'd warn that before you click "play" you might want to turn your speakers down a little as some of the language is decidedly NSFW. Probably best to wear headphones if you're concerned. Still, it's quite a nice demo of Google Wave, swearing and shooting aside.

If this isn't enough for you, there's also Good Will Hunting. And if you've seen any other awesome Google Wave videos, we'd love to hear about them. Tell us in the comments.

Tags: Software Online Google Google Wave Movies Video

VIDEO: Pulp Fiction retold in Google Wave originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:31:15 +0100

Google has revealed plans to launch its own online ebook store, due to open its virtual doors in the first half of 2010.

Although the online giant is currently embroiled in legal wrangles over its Google Books book scanning project, it hasn't stopped it from announcing the new "Google Editions" scheme.

The store will initially offer around half a million ebooks in formats suitable for any device with a web browser.

While Google will host the ebooks and make them searchable, it's said consumers will be able to buy titles direct, or go through the likes of Amazon - a big player in the market thanks to its Kindle reader range, or Barnes & Noble which has ambitions to make it big.

Google has ruled out making hardware to go along with the launch of the content store - "We're not focused on a dedicated e-reader or device of any kind", Google's director of strategic partnerships told Reuters at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

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Tags: Software Websites Google ebooks Google Books Google Editions Amazon Kindle Barnes and Noble

Google Editions ebook store announced originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:34:02 +0100

Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, declared during the company's earning's conference call that "Android adoption is about to explode". He's referring to his company's open source mobile phone operating system that powers handsets like the Motorola DEXT and HTC Hero, unless we're mistaken and Google's about to launch a range of human-like robots.

There are now 12 Android phones available on the market, six of which are available in the UK. Google's objective in offering its platform for free to phone manufacturers is to increase the amount of people using the mobile web, so that the company then has more advertising inventory to sell across it.

Google says that mobile search is up 30% on Q2 of 2009, so it might be making headway in that area. As the range of handsets increases, so too will the amount of people carrying Android phones. Schmidt reckons that now the range has reached the crucial point where there's something for everyone - the "necessary conditions" are now set for growth.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phones Android Google Eric Schmidt

Google's Schmidt predicts Android explosion originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:31:41 +0100

Google's had a whopping great big foam eclair delivered to its front lawn. If that means the same thing as when the team got a massive great big donut delivered, then version 2.0 of the Android operating system should be just days away. Each Android release has a cakey codename - Cupcake, Donut, and Eclair, with Flan to follow afterwards.

The release will just be to developers, though. Donut, which showed up in September in its giant foam incarnation, is only now starting to slowly roll out to consumers - starting with US T-Mobilers. We're still awaiting confirmation of when UK Android owners will be able to get their hands on the update.

Best estimates of Eclair arriving to consumers are Q2 2010, to match up with Motorola's second Android device - the Sholes handset. There's nothing official on that front yet, but the very moment we hear anything we'll be sure to let you know.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Android Google Software updates Video

VIDEO: Giant foam Eclair arrives at Google HQ originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:39:26 +0100

Google might have its camera-van recording everything it sees as it drives around cities across the world, but it's got nothing on this van.

Covered in over 2700 cameras (yes you read that right), the van has been created to promote a new film called Automorphosis, a film about people that do car art.

The film is being shown at the Royal Flush Festival in New York on 17 and 18 October.

Other van's and cars in the film include a van covered with 15,000 dollar coins and brass objects, a homage to the Dutch painter Mondrian, and an interactive Mariachi inspired music car.

Related links:

• Link - automorphosis.com

Tags: Car And GPS Cars Google Cameras Digital cameras Compact cameras

What the Google Street View car could have looked like originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:32:45 +0100

Those of you lucky enough to both be in the Google Wave preview and own an iPhone or Android device might be interested to hear that the service apparently works on mobile.

If you visit wave.google.com in your mobile browser, you should find an interface that allows you to view and select waves, different contacts, or view specific things. We tested this ourselves, and got a big fat "Could not open page" on both Android and iPhone, so we can't confirm this development ourselves, but TechCrunch is reporting it as fact.

More interestingly, if - on the iPhone - you save the bookmark to your home screen and re-launch it, then you get a version of the app that doesn't have the Safari functions around it. Instead, it appears full-screen, like a regular app would. This is a feature that was made available a year ago in the 2.1 iPhone update.

One of the biggest issues with Wave in its current state is that you can't access it when you're not sat at your computer, making it considerably less useful as a communications tool. A Wave app for Android can't be too far off, but it'll be interesting to see whether Google sticks with the web app for the iPhone, after its recent difficulties getting its Latitude app approved.

Does it work for you on your Android handset or iPhone? Let us know in the comments.

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Tags: Phones Software Google Google Wave iPhone Android Rumours

Google Wave working on iPhone and Android? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:15:04 +0100

Gmail has added a new Labs feature that users of the webmail service can opt in to, and is designed to save from the potential embarrassment of sending an email to the wrong contact.

"When's the last time you got an email from a stranger asking, 'Are you sure you meant to send this to me?' and promptly realized that you didn't?", asks the Gmail team in a blog post.

"Sometimes these little mistakes are actually quite painful. Hate mail about your boss to your boss? Personal info to some random guy named Bob instead of Bob the HR rep? Doh!"

The "Got the wrong Bob?" feature looks at the groups of people you email most often and then identifies when you've accidentally included the wrong person.

Gmail explains: "If you normally email Bob Smith together with Tim and Angela, but this time you added Bob Jones instead, we'll warn you that it might be a mistake. Note that this only works if you're emailing more than two people at once".

Meanwhile, the name of the "Suggest more recipients" feature has been changed "Don't forget Bob", to tie in with this new, related option.

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Tags: Software Email Google Gmail Gmail Labs

Gmail intros "Got the wrong Bob?" Labs feature originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:14:07 +0100

Want in on?Google Voice? Better start being nice to a friend who is already using the service.

That's right, Google, who is still struggling to meet invite requests for its Google Wave beta, is now letting current users dish out invites to their mates to get them in on the Voice service.

"Starting today, we're beginning to give out invitations to Google Voice users. If you currently use Google Voice, over the next few weeks, you'll see an "Invite a friend" link appear on the left-hand side of your inbox", said Google in a post on its official blog.

The service, launched earlier in the year, allows you to manage all your telephone numbers into a single number, your Google Voice one. Users are then able to manage their calls as well as make free national and cheap international calls from their web browser.

Google Voice is still only available in the US.

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Tags: Software Online Google Google Voice

Google Voice asks users to invite a friend originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:54:31 +0100

Google's Earth and Maps applications are fantastic, but they have a slight problem - they're flat. The vast majority of locations have some form of terrain data - but that data comes from satellites which can't work out individual buildings. Some cities, like San Francisco, have had their terrain modelled, but most are featureless.

Google doesn't have the manpower to model all those buildings itself, so instead it's turning to the wilds of the Internet for help. It's launched Building Maker, which allows anyone to pick a spot on the globe and start making buildings out of simple 3D shapes. Whole buildings can be put together within minutes.

At the moment, only 50 cities are accessible. Only two of those are in the UK - Cardiff and Birmingham. If you're not sure where to start, then, Google will offer you a random location in a city worldwide instead. It's all done within the browser, though you might need a few plugins to make it work.

When you've made your model, you can keep track in your Google account of what you've built, and go back and edit models at a later date. You'll be credited for any buildings that you contribute.

In our brief testing, we found it lots of fun, if a little tricky to get the exact positions of the corners right. If you find you're having trouble lining something up right, then it's often easier to delete that block and start from scratch, but experimentation will give you most of the knowledge you need relatively quickly.

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Related links:

• News - Google Earth simulates climate change

Tags: Software Online Google Google Earth Google Maps Google Building Maker Video

VIDEO: Google Earth Building Maker unveiled originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:50:02 +0100

Google has lost a bod from its board of directors as the news comes in that Genentech chairman Arthur D. Levinson has resigned his position after 5 years of service.

No reason has been given for Levinson leaving, although it's thought his position as a board member for both Google and Apple - increasingly becoming competitors in various markets - is the cause.

It follows the well-publicised departure of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt from the board of Apple, back in August, with Schmidt's "effectiveness", due to the amount of meetings he had to be recused from, cited by Apple boss Steve Jobs as the reason.

Of this latest move, Eric Schmidt says: "Art has been a key part of Google's success these past five years, offering unvarnished advice and vital counsel on every big issue and opportunity Google has faced. Though he leaves as a member of our Board, Art will always have a special place at Google".

TechCrunch states that the only tie now at director level and up is former vice president Al Gore who sits on Apple's board and acts as a senior advisor to Google.

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Related links:

• News - Google: Apple lied to FCC over Google Voice App

Tags: Software Google Apple Arthur Levinson Biz Genentech

Arthur Levinson leaves Google board originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:40:17 +0100

Google has written a blog post and put together a video about one of the biggest new features that comes with the Android 1.6 update (better known as "Donut") - the Quick Search Box. This is a system-wide search engine for your device, meaning that it can look through apps, contacts, and browser history as well as content from the Web.

It'll also provide suggestions as you type, meaning that you won't need to muck about with an on-screen keyboard as much as you might with a traditional search box. Quick Search Box will also learn from your habits and give you faster access to things you search for the most often.

You can also use voice on the search box - tapping the microphone icon and speaking your query or the name of the person you want to call. That only works in English for now, though. Lastly, developers will be pleased to hear that they can hook into the Quick Search Box too - Google's provided some tips on that front on its developer blog.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phones Google Android HTC Magic HTC Hero Orange T-Mobile T-Mobile mytouch 3G

Google introduces quick search box for Android originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:21:31 +0100

YouTube is celebrating its third anniversary of being bought by Google with the news that it is serving over 1 billion videos a day, showing that we all need our quick fix of the random and bizarre in video format.

"We're working hard to keep up with the fast pace of technology to bring you everything you would expect from the world's largest video site: better quality; a full spectrum of choices and tools for users, partners and advertisers; and ways to make the YouTube experience your own anywhere, anytime", said YouTube's co-founder Chad Hurley.

But what did Pocket-lint's editor Stuart Miles make of the announcement? He sat down with TechRepublic Editor in Chief Jason Hiner and TechVi's Randall Bennett to talk about where YouTube has found its success and what's in store to come.

Watch the video to find out.?

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Tags: Software Online YouTube Media streaming Google

VIDEO: YouTube serving 1 billion videos a day originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:05:35 +0100

A version of Google's Chrome browser for Macs is due to arrive sooner than expected, the search giant's CEO has revealed at a New York press conference.

While Chrome for Macs was not due to be available for consumer consumption until the first half of 2010, it may come in time for Christmas.

"I see a lot of Macs in this room, and a lot of very sophisticated people are using Macs now and we need to get a version of Chrome out for that, which we’ll have in a couple of months. The key to browser strength is speed", said Schmidt.

The comment was a response to a question on Chrome's low market share, reports PC Pro, an issue Google founder Sergey Brin refuted:

"Some of your premises about Chrome are incorrect, in terms of adoption, and we’re going to get that message out. It's [market share] actually exceeding our benchmarks", Brin said.

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Tags: Software Browsers Chrome Google Mac software

Chrome for Macs in a "couple of months" originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:00:04 +0100

Google has announced its Street View service on Google Maps now includes imagery from 11 cities across Canada, including Vancouver and Whistler.

Nicely timed for the 2010 Winter Games in February, Street View on Google Maps Olympic venues can be virtually viewed including the B.C. Place Stadium and Whistler Village.

The Canadian cities and regions currently explorable via Street View on Google Maps are: Vancouver, Whistler, Squamish, Banff, Calgary, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax.

Jonathan Lister, head of Google Canada, said, "We're thrilled that Street View on Google Maps is now available for Canada in time for the 2010 Winter Games. Street View has been hugely popular with our users worldwide, and now Canadians and others can see the streets and landmarks of Vancouver, Whistler, and other cities, and innovate in exciting ways".

Canada is the 14th country to be Street Viewed. There's currently map-based, real-life imagery available for Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK and the US.

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Tags: Software Google Street View Canada Olympics Online GPS software

11 Canadian cities get Google Street Viewed originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:14:25 +0100

It's being reported that Twitter is currently in mega-money talks with Microsoft and Google, discussing using Twitter content in searches separately with each search giant.

All Things D reports: "According to sources familiar with the situation - Twitter is in advanced talks with Microsoft and Google separately about striking data-mining deals, in which the companies would license a full feed from the microblogging service that could then be integrated into the results of their competing search engines".

Microsoft's Bing already encompasses some Twitter content in its results while Google recently announced Hot Trends that offers real-time results for popular search terms, so it's a little unclear at this stage what the talks may result in.

All Thing D's sources say "a number of scenarios are being discussed to compensate Twitter for its huge and potentially valuable trove of real-time and content-sharing information, generated from the data stream of billions of tweets from its 54 million monthly users".

We will keep you posted.

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Tags: Software Websites Twitter Google Microsoft Biz Rumours Search engines Social networking

Twitter in talks with Microsoft, Google originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:00:50 +0100

Google has announced a new way to keep its Maps up to date with the introduction of the "report a problem" functionality.?

Google Maps users can now highlight changes to their neighbourhoods ("after all, the best expert on where you live is you") and Google will keep users informed as to the status of the amend.

In addition, changes to points of interest can be done directly by the user, with changes going live straight away. Hit play on the video above to see Google's official take on the matter.

Tags: Software Google Google Maps Video

VIDEO: Google Maps intros "report a problem" feature originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:16:38 +0100

Google appears to be experimenting with a new tool that could make it easier to swap data between various different Google products. It's called Cloudboard and is described on an internal feedback form from the company as a "server-side clipboard for Google Apps".

It also provides some examples of how Cloudboard would be used - copying a cell range from a spreadsheet to a word processor, creating an HTML table, copying multiple images from Picasa web albums, copying YouTube videos, copying events from Google calendar to Docs or GMail, pasting images into image search and copying maps into Google docs.

If this technology sees the light of day then it could set new standards for interoperability on the Web. For it to really catch on, however, it'd need to be opened up so that third parties can hook into it too. We wouldn't bet against Google doing such a thing.

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Related links:

• News - Google doodle celebrates barcode anniversary

Tags: Software Online Google Cloudboard Rumours

Google testing online clipboard? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:11:48 +0100

Google is attempting to explain away the serious privacy concerns its Street View photo-mapping service raises with a super-cute video.

Worried about your property being available to be viewed online by anyone? Don't be - just look at the sweet little camera snapping the pics.

Bothered by your personal privacy being invaded by a mega corporation with a fleet of camera-equipped cars? Don't worry - cutesy camera is blocking out faces with a fountain pen - aaw!

Tags: Software Websites Google Street View GPS software Video

VIDEO: Google explains Street View privacy with cute animation originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:38:27 +0100

Netizens landing on Google's homepage today will see yet another of the search engine's famous "doodles", this time celebrating the humble barcode.

With Google's logo turned into its barcode equivalent, clicking on the graphic goes through to a search about barcodes, with the significance being that today is the 57th anniversary of the official patent for the barcode.

The barcode was invented in the States back in the Forties with US inventors Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver being granted the patent in 1952.

Tags: Software Websites Online Google Google doodles Barcodes

Google doodle celebrates barcode anniversary originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:56:48 +0100

Google's CEO Eric Schmidt has admitted to paying a $1 billion premium on YouTube when Google bought the video service in 2007.

The move, which made sure that the fledgling company (at the time) didn't fall into the wrong hands (read Microsoft or Yahoo) has been uncovered following a request for court papers of the 2007 court case against Viacom over copyright material on YouTube.

"Leading up to the acquisition, Schmidt told Google's board of directors that his estimate of YouTube's worth was somewhere between $600 million and $700 million", reports CNET after seeing court records.

The court papers go on to reveal a fuller explanation from Schmidt to Stuart Jay Baskin, a Viacom attorney.

"This is a company with very little revenue, growing quickly with user adoption, growing much faster than Google Video, which was the product that Google had. And they had indicated to us that they would be sold, and we believed that there would be a competing offer--because of who Google was--paying much more than they were worth. In the deal dynamics, the price, remember, is not set by my judgement or by financial model or discounted cash flow. It's set by what people are willing to pay. And we ultimately concluded that $1.65 billion included a premium for moving quickly and making sure that we could participate in the user success in YouTube".

Google has declined to comment on the story.

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Tags: Software Biz Google Viacom

Google paid $1 billion premium for YouTube originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:36:32 +0100

Google has found that the majority of internet users don't actually know what a browser is.

Hard as it may seem to a tech whiz like yourself, a quick un-scientific survey found that most people have no real idea what a browser does or which one they use.

Clearly hoping to educate and then encourage them to use its own browser Chrome, the search engine has even gone as far as create a site - www.whatbrowser.org - and a video to let you know what's what.

According to Jason Toff, associate product marketing manager at Google, a survey of his mates found that while 90% of them knew what car they drive, only 50% knew what browser they use.

He also believes that the "web browser is the most important piece of software on your computer".

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Tags: Software Google Browsers Video

Google: Most don't know what web browser is originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:42:47 +0100

US mobile phone carrier Verizon is the latest company to announce that it is hopping into bed with Google to develop a range of Android powered handsets.

The news, announced on Tuesday, comes as Microsoft launches its Windows Phone, or Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system with a range of new and updated handsets.

"The two industry leaders will create, market and distribute products and services", Verizon and Google said in a joint statement before adding, "consumers will be able to purchase products resulting from the collaboration in Verizon Wireless retail and online stores".

According to the companies, the two mobile powerhouses plan to co-develop several Android-based devices that will be pre-loaded with innovative applications from both parties as well as third-party developers and be released in the coming months.

Although details of what those handsets would be and who would be making them are scarce, the two CEO's might have inadvertently leaked two possible new handsets already thanks to the photo shoot after the announcement.

Looking at the photo call pictures it clearly shows Eric Schmidt holding a currently unreleased handset - perhaps a Verizon version of the HTC Hero - while the Verizon CEO looks to be also holding an announced handset, which some have said could be an unannounced Motorola handset. The Motorola Sholes.

We will keep you posted.?

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Android HTC Motorola Verizon Google HTC Hero Motorola Sholes

Verizon to offer Android; CEOs leak new phones originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:34:23 +0100

Google appears to be testing a new interface for its front page for some users. Its famous word count limit of 28 has been reduced to zero with a page that hides everything except for the logo and search box until you move your mouse across it.

There's two versions that have been spotted - one with the "Google Search" and "I'm Feeling Lucky" buttons, and one without. The latter is depicted in the video above. Google appears to just be testing the page with a handful of users, so if you can't see it, then that'll be why.

Don't get too attached, because it's entirely possible that the test will never see a mainstream rollout. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Why? Share your thoughts on the great disappearing act in the comments.

Update: This appears (no pun intended) to be showing up for UK users now, too, complete with barcode Google logo.

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Related links:

• News - Google adds the word "privacy" to homepage
• News - Google UK homepage changes to US style

Tags: Software Websites Online Google Video

VIDEO: Google tests fading homepage originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:48:57 +0100

Google has confirmed that a large number of passwords to its email accounts have been stolen in an "industry-wide phishing scheme" which affects Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL and a number of other service providers.

Following the news that 10,000 Hotmail passwords had been posted on the Web, a second list surfaced - this time containing 20,000 account details from a string of different account providers. Some of the accounts are old, unused and fake, but many are genuine according to the BBC.

Google said: "We recently became aware of an industry-wide phishing scheme through which hackers gained user credentials for web-based mail accounts including Gmail accounts. "As soon as we learned of the attack, we forced password resets on the affected accounts. We will continue to force password resets on additional accounts when we become aware of them".

The company added that the password issue wasn't a breach of its security, it was instead a scam where users have been tricked into giving up their passwords on what they thought were legitimate sites. These types of attacks are known as "phishing".

Security experts have recommended that if users suspect they might be affected then they should immediately change their passwords, as well as on any other sites that share the same password.

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Related links:

• News - Hotmail passwords leaked out online?

Tags: Software Online Email Google Gmail Yahoo AOL Hackers

Gmail, AOL, Yahoo Mail also targeted in phishing scam originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:48:04 +0100

Nokia has added a new feature to its Ovi Maps service that will allow users to find points of interest, but also to make contributions themselves. It's called "Good Things".

The idea is that locals know an area best, and allowing them to recommend great restaurants, hidden-away locations and other nifty little things that people who "aren't from round 'ere" might not know.

Earlier in the year, Nokia Interactive's head of sales - John Stoneman - laid the philosophical groundwork for the move, explaining how to monetise such an application:

"If users are just trying to find a route from A to B then advertisers will have to be fairly serendipitous to be able to guess what will interest them as they pass, or they're going to have to bombard them with so many ads that they will become frustrated - which will result in a bad user experience".

Good Things will be available in 25 countries, and should be launched on mobile handsets and on the Web imminently.

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Related links:

• News - Nokia updates Ovi Maps with 3D vector graphics and an API
• Link - Ovi Maps - Good Things

Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps Websites Nokia Ovi Google

Good Things added to Nokia's Ovi Maps originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:12:25 +0100

Adobe has announced a whole pile of deals with manufacturers of almost all the world's major smartphones. It's done deals with RIM (who produce the BlackBerry handsets), Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm, and Google. Notice one name missing from that list? The iPhone hasn't joined the party.

Adobe has said that the full Flash player - starting from version 10.1 - will be arriving on browsers on Windows Mobile and Palm webOS handsets later this year. Betas for Symbian and Android are expected to be showing up early next year, and BlackBerry is labelled as a vague "in the future".

Flash 10.1, if the company's vision is realised, will work over PCs, smartphones, netbooks and other devices seamlessly. It's part of the company's wide-ranging Open Screen Project. Up until now phones have had a chopped back version of Flash, called Flash lite, but the new version will be full-functioning Flash.

Handsets that are capable of Flash 10.1 will get an over-the-air upgrade, meaning that customers shouldn't have to do anything. Meanwhile, the iPhone is conspicuous by its absence. Adobe has said it's working with Apple, but that it's all running on a different timescale to the rest of the companies.

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Related links:

• News - RIM to bring flash to BlackBerry phones

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Adobe RIM Windows Mobile Palm Google iPhone Apple

Flash coming to almost every smartphone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:12:01 +0100

Samsung has announced another Android handset to follow up the Galaxy i7500. It's called the Behold II, and as far as we know for the time being, it'll only be available in the US - carried by T-Mobile US. As well as Android, it'll carry Samsung's TouchWiz UI.

Like the i7500, it has a 3.2-inch AMOLED display and the aforementioned TouchWiz UI allows you to interact with widgets found in a slide-out tray on the left side of the homescreen. You can also access Samsung's "Cube" menu, which gives access to music, photos, videos, the web, YouTube and Amazon MP3.

It also has a 5-megapixel camera, flash, visual voicemail, music player, the capability to pump in 16GB of external storage (presumably from a microSD card), A-GPS and Bluetooth. We would guess that it'll also come with Wi-Fi, but there's no confirmation of that.

The handset is scheduled to launch "later this year", i.e. before Christmas. Pricing and availability, as well as any news of a UK launch for the device, are unknown. We'll keep you posted.

Related links:

• News - Samsung TouchWiz phones to get App Store

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Samsung Android Samsung Behold T-Mobile Google

T-Mobile US to sell Android-equipped Samsung Behold II originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:29:52 +0100

Acer will be shifting its focus to Google's Android operating system for its smartphones, according to industry sources quoted by DigiTimes. The company will be putting the open-source platform on at least half of all the new models it launches in 2010.

The remainder will be staying with Windows Mobile, with the company sticking with its current production partners, outsourcing both Windows Mobile- and Android-based smartphones to Compal Communications and contracting Windows Mobile handsets to Inventec Appliances.

Acer joined the Open Handset Alliance earlier this year, and its first Android-powered smartphone is due out in November. It's called the A1, and as soon as we're able to get our hands on it, we'll be bringing you a full review.

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Related links:

• News - Acer shows working L1, C1 and F1
• News - Acer announces Android phone due in Q4

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Acer Android Open Handset Alliance Google Biz

Half of Acer's 2010 handsets will run Android originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:42:59 +0100

Google could easily crank out a Chrome Frame for Firefox, in the same way that it has for Internet Explorer, according to Mozilla's VP Engineering, Mike Shaver. "The code is certainly there", he told Computerworld.

"But source code doesn't speak to intent", he added, indicating that he doesn't know whether such a plugin is in development at Google. The frame, which launched on 23 September for Internet Explorer, allows IE users to use the speedy WebKit rendering engine that Chrome itself uses.

Google has admitted that it launched Chrome Frame for Internet Explorer because it wasn't worth the time and bother to make Google Wave work nicely in IE6, which doesn't support HTML5 standards.

However, given that Firefox - and other browsers like Opera - support these standards, there'd be no need for Google to make Chrome Frame for those platforms, except for completeness' sake.

Shaver hopes that won't come to fruition: "I'd be unpleasantly surprised if Google did do a [Firefox] plug-in". "We wouldn't want Google to do for us what they did for Microsoft".

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Related links:

• News - Google Chrome Frame aims to bring IE6 kicking and screaming into today's web
• News - Microsoft warns of Chrome Frame security flaws

Tags: Software Online Google Firefox Mozilla Foundation Microsoft Chrome Google Chrome Frame Browsers

Google planning Chrome Frame for Firefox? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:11:47 +0100

Apple appears to be up to something. The company very quietly purchased Placebase - an online mapping startup - back in July. It was announced in a tweet, but labelled as "all hush hush" by Fred Lalonde, the founder of openplaces.org.

However, Seth Weintraub of Computer World noticed that the founder of Placebase is now listed as a member of the "Geo Team" at Apple, on his LinkedIn profile. The company's website, placebase.com, is now offline too.

The web is buzzing with bloggers wondering what this could mean. Is Apple's widening gulf with Google expanding further? Google helped Apple develop its maps iPhone application in the first place, as well as providing the mapping in the backend.

More recently, though, Google launched a rival smartphone OS, as well as a desktop OS, and Apple also refused to allow Google to introduce its Latitude location-tracking app onto the iPhone, meaning Google had to create a web version of the app. Could this be the first steps of Apple going off on its own?

Or perhaps Apple just wants to introduce a mapping API in Cocoa that'll let developers do more with geolocation. Maybe it's no more complicated than Apple recruiting people with expertise in mapping with an eye on future projects.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Related links:

• News - CoPilot LIVE intros European maps for iPhone

Tags: Software Online Apple Placebase Google Maps Google iPhone

Apple quietly buys online mapping company Placebase originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:25:47 +0100

Google has put together a set of maps for its Google Earth application that model and simulate the effects of climate change on the planet. In a introductory video, narrated by Al Gore, the company has outlined how the planet could change as a result of human emissions.

Data from the IPCC was turned into a series of layers for the lapping product that show a range of expected temperate and precipitation changes depending on how the human population of the world reacts to the threat.

If you don't have Google Earth you can also view the changes on a special website that the company has put together for that purpose. There's a link to that below.

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Related links:

• News - Google Earth finds Loch Ness monster

Tags: Eco Software Google Google Earth Al Gore Video

VIDEO: Google Earth simulates climate change originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:37:53 +0100

If things at Google HQ are running according to plan, then invites for Google Wave should be going out around now. The company told the BBC that it plans to open the service to 100,000 beta testers from 1600BST on 30 September.

Each of those invited will get five invites to pass out to their friends (or put on eBay, where they'll not doubt fetch a respectable sum). It'll work in any browser except IE6, which isn't compatible with HTML5 - however you'll be able to install Google's "Chrome Frame" to get it working in the browser - something Microsoft has advised against.

Google Wave is billed as a "communication and collaboration tool" by its creator Lars Rasmussen. It puts conversations in "the cloud", he says, and includes functions like real-time typing and conversations being more accuratedly threaded and able to be "played back" at a later date".

We'll bring you a full hands-on first look of Google Wave as soon as possible.

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Related links:

• News - Google Wave approaches public beta
• News - Microsoft warns of Chrome Frame security flaws

Tags: Software Google Websites Online Google Wave Email

Google Wave invites now available originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:00:00 +0100

In the States and in Japan, Google users can take advantage of a new Google search feature that the search engine says "will help you stay in touch with the latest trends on the web".

Google's "Hot Trends", which lists the fastest rising searches on the web at any given hour, now ranks such trends in a top 100 within search results.

When users search Google.com and the query matches one of the top 100 fastest-rising search terms, Google shows a graph at the bottom of page, with links to further info.

"We hope it will help you keep up with everything there's to know about the latest trends online", says Google.

Commentators, meanwhile are suggesting it's an attempt to stay real-time relevant in the face of competition from Twitter.

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Tags: Software Websites Google Search engines Online

Google makes real-time move with Hot Trends originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:57:09 +0100