myGoogle

Whispers of the G2 Android phone grow louder

2008-12-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the T-Mobile blog CellPhone Signal published a list of new features it claimed would be in the G2, the second HTC-built phone built for the T-Mobile network running Google’s Android platform. The most outrageous claim however, was the supposed date of the device’s release: January 26, 2009.

Would T-Mobile really risk enraging the million or so people who bought the G1 just a few months after its release by launching an updated version? No, says the blog Boy Genius Report, which has a separate tip containing some of the same G2 information, but a later launch date: April 2009.

Read more: venturebeat.com

Talks break down; Warner Music pulls videos from YouTube

2008-12-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

Negotiations between Warner Music Group and YouTube over renewing the licensing agreement for the record label's music videos broke down Friday. Early Saturday, Warner, the third largest record label, removed videos from the Google-owned video site.

The impasse comes at a time when all four major labels, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and EMI, are renegotiating their licensing deals with YouTube.

"We are working actively to find a resolution with YouTube that would enable the return of our artists' content to the site," Warner said in a statement. "Until then, we simply cannot accept terms that fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for the value they provide."

YouTube has become an important revenue stream for at least one of the top labels. This week, Rio Caraeff, Universal Music's digital chief, told CNET News that YouTube has generated "tens of millions" of dollars for the recording company this year, up 80 percent from last year.

Caraeff said that Universal and YouTube enjoy a strong relationship and that the companies are trying to expand their relationship beyond music videos. A source close to Universal said that the label will likely book nearly $100 million in video-streaming revenue--most of it from YouTube.

Read more: news.cnet.com

Android’s New Version To Support Upload to YouTube?

2008-12-20T10:13:00.000-08:00

Google’s mobile phone OS “Android,” will soon be updated with several new features as a part of a major roadmap update. One of those features will include support for a video recording mode that will also let users share the content. The update, code-named “Cupcake,” has many speculating what that video sharing feature will actually look like. Some have suggested the possibility of being able to upload videos from the phone directly to YouTube. Now that’s something we would like to see!

One of the only drawbacks to Apple’s widly popular iPhone is its lack of support for video recording. Of course, you can jailbreak your iPhone, a process that removes the restrictions put in place by Apple, and then install your preferred video recording application on your newly free device. However, the regular “Joes” of the world who are purchasing the phone don’t necessarily know how to do this or care to learn. If the “other” big smartphone offered video recording support, that would be a great selling point. (Then they would just need some apps.)

Read more: readwriteweb.com

YouTube Adds HD Video Showcase, Larger Player

2008-12-20T05:11:00.000-08:00

Back when YouTube launched its new HD video support, we (and many of you) lamented the fact that there was no way to find all the available HD content. Well, YouTube has now fixed that oversight with a new HD section to showcase all the high-def videos available on the site.

To go along with the the new HD section, YouTube has also started displaying high-def movies in a larger video player that occupies the vast majority of the page. Naturally you can still use the fullscreen option, but with the larger player it isn’t as necessary.

Read more: wired.com

YouTube: A Money-Maker For Music Labels, But What About Google?

2008-12-19T02:58:00.000-08:00

YouTube is driving more than traffic to music labels like Universal Music Group. Rio Caraeff, EVP of UMG’s eLabs, told CNET that YouTube is adding “tens of millions of dollars” to the recording company’s bottom line: “(YouTube) is not like radio, where it’s just promotional ... It’s a revenue stream, a commercial business.”

The video site shares revenue with record companies like UMG from ads appearing with their music videos, as well as user-generated clips featuring their artists’ tracks. UMG’s eLabs division has brokered such deals with YouTube and others, including MySpace Music, over the past three years, and has made about $100 million dollars off its music videos as a result. By Caraeff’s account, YouTube has been responsible for a large chunk of that (which should make UMG doubly happy, since it, like some other labels, took a small stake in YouTube as part of the content-sharing deal). And while that’s great for the labels, what about Google?

Read more: paidcontent.org

Vocito 1.1.0 for Mac

2008-12-18T03:25:00.000-08:00

Vocito is a desktop UI for GrandCentral for the Mac. It allows you to easily dial anybody from your desktop. Using GrandCentral it will dial the remote phone and your local phone simultaneously, and connect you together.

It integrates into Address Book, Quicksilver, Automater, system services, supports "tel" URLs, and is fully AppleScriptable.

All this integration makes it easy to have Vocito automatically dial your phone from just about any application that supports scripting, html, or Automator actions. For example, you can easily set up your iCal meeting appointment to automatically dial the conference call for you at the correct time.

Vocito also allows you to save little applets that will automatically dial the phone for you with a simple double click.

It works on Tiger and Leopard, is both PowerPC and Intel native, and is fully open sourced.

Download: Vocito 1.1.0 for Mac

Picasa 3.1 Build 70.71

2008-12-18T03:17:00.000-08:00

Picasa is software that helps you instantly find, edit and share all the pictures on your PC. Every time you open Picasa, it automatically locates all your pictures (even ones you forgot you had) and sorts them into visual albums organized by date with folder names you will recognize. Picasa also makes advanced editing simple by putting one-click fixes and powerful effects at your fingertips.

Picasa also makes it a snap to share your pictures you can email, print photos at home, and make gift CDs. And with the new Web Albums feature, you can upload your photos to the web with just one click. You can even download your friends' photos directly back to Picasa on your own computer. It's never been so easy to share photos online. Now with Picasa Web Albums!

System Requirements: Windows XP/Vista or Linux

Download: Picasa 3.1 Build 70.71

Picasa Web Albums Uploader 1.3

2008-12-18T03:15:00.000-08:00

Use your Mac to upload photos!

Now there are two ways to upload your photos to Picasa Web Albums -- from directly within iPhoto or using drag-and-drop from a standalone application.

For iPhoto users
The Picasa Web Albums Exporter lives right inside iPhoto. Select photos, choose Export in the File or Share menu, and upload them directly to your web album.

For a standalone application
Use the Picasa Web Albums uploader -- just drag photos from the Finder and click the Upload button.

Requirements:
- You must have a Picasa Web Albums account to use the Exporter or Uploader.
- Requires OS X 10.4 or later.

Download: Picasa Web Albums Uploader 1.3

Yahoo Outdoes Google by Anonymizing User Data After Only 90 Days

2008-12-18T03:14:00.001-08:00

New move from Yahoo should help further privacy on the internet

One major concern in the tech community is the loss of privacy on the internet. With the internet being increasingly used as a site for personal activity and business, such loss is worrisome to many. Search providers store vast amounts of personal information based on your web browsing practices, which some fear could be used against them for medical discrimination or other malefic uses if the information fell into the wrong hands.

In September, Google, who is one of the largest collectors of such information, announced an initiative to make its user logs anonymous after only 9 months. Now Yahoo has one-upped Google by announcing that it will anonymize its own user data stockpile after only 90 days.

Read more: dailytech.com

Yahoo begins rolling out social, extensible e-mail inbox

2008-12-18T03:02:00.000-08:00

Human interaction is increasingly diversifying. We post photos to Flickr, family members leave comments, and friends reply to our latest Tweets. Yahoo recognizes this shift and has begun rolling out a new "smarter inbox" that melds social tools and even opens up to third-party applications, all in an effort to help Yahoo Mail users get more done with the people they know.

Slowly rolling out in limited beta for a select group of users, Yahoo Mail's most significant change is a completely redesigned Welcome page that focuses less on mainstream news and ads, and more on social activity and a new concept called "My Connections." Near the top of the Welcome page is a new My Connections area that features mail from the contacts you most frequently exchange mail with, and other contacts you specifically mark as preferred. Clicked messages open in the tabs that Yahoo's (still-in-beta) Mail UI has featured for some time, making it easier to quickly sift through all that correspondence.

Read more: arstechnica.com

Google Chrome 1.0.154.39

2008-12-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

One box for everything
Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages.

Thumbnails of your top sites
Access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab.

Shortcuts for your apps
Get desktop shortcuts to launch your favorite web applications.

Download: Google Chrome 1.0.154.39

Google Chrome Portable 1.0.154.39

2008-12-11T16:04:00.000-08:00

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

This is the portable version of Google Chrome.

Just download and extract and start with ChromeLoader.exe. Chromeloader.exe is a simple AutoIt-Script – compiled to an exe-File. So – if you get an error from your AV: it’s just a false positive, because ChromeLoader.exe was packed with UPX. All settings are stored in “Profil”-folder.

Download: Google Chrome Portable 1.0.154.39

Google enables Gmail SMS messages

2008-12-11T16:02:00.000-08:00

Mountain View (CA) – Google’s Gmail team is on a roll. Two days ago we were introduced to a first task feature in Gmail and today it is another “Labs” feature that enables users to send text messages cellphones and receive a reply that will be posted in Gmail’s chat window.

Another day, another new Gmail feature - text (SMS) messages from within the webmail interface. Some readers may remember that this feature appeared in Gmail about a month ago only, but was quickly removed due to bugs. This time around, Google says the feature is here to stay. "Send SMS text messages right from Gmail. You chat from your comfy computer and reach your friends on the go; they get your messages as texts and can peck out replies on their little keyboards," the company said in a statement released today.

Read more: tgdaily.com

Google Chrome Gets Out of Beta Really Soon

2008-12-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

It was great to see Firefox’s success in the browser war. While IE still dominates the market, Firefox has been chipping away IE’s shares. Now come Google Chrome which many have reported it would be hitting gold release soon. According to TechCrunch, the reason why Google is pushing Chrome to final release milestone is to be able to get PC Vendors to bundle the browser in their systems - as many of them would not accept incomplete software.

Read more: slashgear.com

Magazines Come to Google Book Search

2008-12-10T15:56:00.000-08:00

Google today announced that it is adding magazines to its lineup for Google Book Search. These magazines include publications like Popular Science and New York Magazine, but also more obscure publications like the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. In the long run, Google expects to add search results from these magazines to its main Google.com search results.

It is not clear if Google struck a deal with specific publishers to allow for this, but the selection of included magazines still feels a bit uneven and leaves out quite a few well known publications like Time, Newsweek, and Wired.

Read more: readwriteweb.com

Android Gets New Supporters

2008-12-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

Open Handset Alliance, the consortium that is supporting the Google developed Android operating system, has some new fans.

Fourteen new members that comprise both telecom service providers and handset makers among others have decided to join the Alliance in a sign that the newly introduced platform may be gaining momentum.

The new entrants include ARM, Asustek, Garmin, Huawei Technologies, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Vodafone.

So far only T-Mobile has introduced an Android device, the G1 from HTC, in North America. Meanwhile, Motorola has said it will launch handsets based on Android OS next year.

Read more: wired.com

Google Lets Advertisers Target Mobile Devices

2008-12-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

Google today announced that it has added a new option for AdWords advertisers to specifically target iPhones, T-Mobile's G1, and other mobile devices that have 'real' Internet browsers. Unlike the standard mobile AdWord ads that were targeted to appear on mobile web sites, this new feature will allow advertisers to target any mobile device with a full HTML browser. Google also points out that it is seeing 'a lot' of searches from iPhone and G1 users and the iPhone drove more traffic to Google.com during last year's holiday season than any other mobile platform.

Read more: readwriteweb.com

YouTube recruits for world's first online orchestra

2008-12-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

Leading classical musicians are to audition on YouTube to become members of the world's first online orchestra.

In collaboration with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and Berlin Philharmonic, the video-sharing website is creating a talent contest in which musicians are invited to send in clips of themselves performing.

A panel of experts will whittle the field down to a shortlist of semi-finalists who will then be voted on by YouTube viewers.

The winning musicians will form the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, working with Michael Tilson Thomas, the Grammy Award-winning conductor, and Lang Lang, the Chinese pianist, culminating in a performance at New York's Carnegie Hall in April next year.

At the same time a selection of the video entries will be combined to create an online ensemble piece.

Read More: telegraph.co.uk

Gmail 'vulnerability' turns out to be phishing scam

2008-11-26T05:18:00.000-08:00

Reports that a purported Gmail vulnerability was being used by unauthorized third parties to hijack domains turned out to be nothing more than a phishing scam, Google announced Tuesday.

The alleged vulnerability reportedly allowed an attacker to set up filters on users' e-mail accounts without their knowledge, according to a proof of concept posted Sunday at the blog Geek Condition. In the post, Geek Condition's "Brandon" wrote that the vulnerability had caused some people to lose their domain names registered through GoDaddy.com.

However, after consulting with those who claimed to be affected by the so-called vulnerability, Google determined that they were victims of a phishing scam, Google information security engineer Chris Evans explained in a blog.

Read more: news.cnet.com

Google Mobile App for iPhone and iPod Touch

2008-11-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

Google Mobile App helps you find the information you need quickly and easily with instant access to Google Search.

Search with your voice so you don't have to type.
Search with My Location makes finding business, weather, and movie info easy.
Suggestions appear as you type to save you time.
Launch Gmail, Google News, and more from one place.

Features

- Voice Search.New! Speak your queries without even pushing a single button.
- Search with My Location.New! Search for business, weather, and movie information without specifying where you are.
- Local search suggestions on a map. See nearby business suggestions on Google Maps -- just tap the "near me" suggestions.
- Instant access to search. Start a Google search with just one click.
- Google Suggest. Get relevant search suggestions as you type, saving you keystrokes.
- URL suggestions. Get to popular web sites quickly by tapping site web address suggestions.
- Contact search. Quickly find contacts in your address book.
- Search history. Get instant access to your previous searches.
- Easy access to other Google products. Launch other Google products like Maps, Gmail and News from the Apps tab.

Download: Google Mobile App for iPhone and iPod Touch or visit the iTunes store.

Google may offer Chrome detailing on new PCs

2008-11-22T05:07:00.000-08:00

We've watched the rapid evolution of Google's beta Chrome browser since it first appeared. Chrome, apparently, will not remain in an indefinite period of beta testing for the rest of its life. Speaking to The Times, Sundar Pichai, Google vice president, stated that the browser will exit beta in January. Google, meanwhile, is exploring its distribution options and examining the various ways it might improve its market share. "We will probably do distribution deals,” Pinchai told The Times. "We could work with an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and have them ship computers with Chrome preinstalled."

Doing so could significantly change the browser market's competitive landscape. As of the end of October, Microsoft commands some 71 percent of the market, with Firefox hovering near 20 percent, according to NetApplications. Two-thirds of that last nine percent is held by Safari, with a ragtag collection of other clients collectively holding on to about three percent of the total number of web users. Shipping Chrome as the default browser on a system wouldn't have an immediate impact on browser standings, but in the longer term, Google's share of the market would almost certainly rise. Google is also working on Macintosh and Linux versions of its shiny toy.

Read more: arstechnica.com

Yahoo Finally Sells Off Kelkoo

2008-11-22T04:58:00.000-08:00

Yahoo has been rumored to be selling Paris-based comparative shopping site Kelkoo for some time now, and it appears that they have found a buyer. Yahoo acquired Kelkoo in 2004 for €475 million.

The company has been sold to a UK-based private equity firm called Jamplant Ltd (update: here is a profile of the fund) for something less than €100 million, according to sources with knowledge of the deal.

Read more: techcrunch.com

Google adds themes to Gmail

2008-11-20T17:12:00.000-08:00

So now the sun shines out of your inbox

Google has brought themes to its Gmail webmail client – allowing you to personalise your page.

Themes have been present in iGoogle – a personalised home page – for some time, and that functionality has now been rolled out to the popular Gmail service.

Google's mail client is some way behind the likes of Microsoft's Live Hotmail and Yahoo mail, but it has taken a considerable chunk of the market.

The themes include the likes of beach, planets, ninja, pebbles and a whole host of colour changes.

Read more: techradar.com

Google Lively Is Dead-ly

2008-11-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

In an economic environment where a number of companies are stumbling, it's important to remember that sometimes even Google makes bad decisions. Such would be the case with Lively, a browser-based virtual world environment - and purported Second Life killer - that Google launched this summer to great fanfare.

Now, a little over four months after Lively's launch, Google has decided to turn the lights out on the alternate reality, announcing that they are discontinuing Lively at the end of this year.

Google tried to be polite about pulling the plug:
"Since Lively's launch, we have been delighted to see the creative ways you've used the product. We enjoyed hanging out in Jen's coffee house, and checking out the Brasil Party room. We got a kick out of the YouTube videos in a variety of languages telling stories about your avatars. And we've been awed by the elaborate rooms that you've constructed, using mosaic tiles and photo gadgets in novel ways."

But ultimately, it decided to shut the whole thing down. Why?

Read more: readwriteweb.com

Google to present millions of photos from Life archives

2008-11-19T15:17:00.000-08:00

Seattle - Google is going to start to present millions of photographs from the archives of Life Magazine. There are approximately ten million photographs that are going to be presented to the public.

The photographs have been taken throughout the twentieth century. Some of the notable photographers who took some of the archived photographs are Gordon Parks, Margaret Bourke- White, and Dorothea Lange.

You have been able to search for some of these photographs by entering the proper keywords of the photographs into the Google Image Search feature. There will be more photographs and images added to the Google Image Search feature. Life magazine stated that approximately ninety seven percent of the photographs that Google will present have never been seen before by the public.

Read more: ireallyshouldstudy.com

Yang's Departure Could be Perfect Timing For Another Microsoft Bid

2008-11-19T15:15:00.000-08:00

A deal between Microsoft and Yahoo is possible, if Ballmer and company is still interested

A possible deal between Microsoft and Yahoo could take place now that Yahoo CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang announced he will step down once a replacement can be found.

Yang will continue to work at Yahoo, a company he helped co-found, but the company will be in control of someone else. He wished to remain CEO, but Yahoo's board of directors received too much pressure from stock holders over Yang's dismal past year of service.

There is a small list of possible candidates who will take over CEO, but UBS analyst Ben Schachter believes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will eventually end up running the company at some point.

Read more: dailytech.com

With Jerry Yang Gone, What Yahoo Should Do Next

2008-11-18T04:52:00.000-08:00

Jerry Yang, after a tumultuous reign as the chief executive officer of Yahoo, the company he co-founded with David Filo, announced today that he is stepping down from the top slot. The news was first reported by Kara Swisher and later confirmed by Yahoo in a press release. He is going to make way for someone else, but will stay on the board of Yahoo and will be known as Chief Yahoo. More important, however, is the question of what Yahoo needs to do in order for Jerry to hang on to the title of Chief Yahoo!

Yang’s decision to move on isn’t a surprise – it was clear from his talk at a recent industry conference that he was tired and perhaps a little out of his depth. His choice to head the company that was looking down a deep abyss a while back was an ineffectual one, and a total and absolute failure on the part of Yahoo’s board of directors. In June 2008, I wrote about the systematic rot inside the company.

Read more: gigaom.com

Google SketchUp 7

2008-11-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

Create 3D models and share them with the world

Google SketchUp is software that you can use to create 3D models of anything you like.

Developed for the conceptual stages of design, Google SketchUp is a powerful yet easy-to-learn 3D software tool that combines a simple, yet robust tool-set with an intelligent drawing system that streamlines and simplifies 3D design. From simple to complex, conceptual to realistic, Google SketchUp enables you to build and modify 3D models quickly and easily. If you use Google Earth, Google SketchUp allows you to place your models using real-world coordinates and share them with the world using the Google 3D Warehouse.

With just a few simple tools, you can create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects - even space ships.

Google SketchUp is free for personal use. No registration is required.

For Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS X (10.4+)

Download: Google SketchUp 7

Update On Google iPhone Voice Recognition App: Look For It On Monday

2008-11-16T04:19:00.000-08:00

Google’s voice recognition search application for the iPhone, originally set for launch on Friday, will likely go live sometime Monday, we’ve heard from a source with knowledge of the situation.

Google was under the impression that the application would be live on the App Store on Friday (obviously, since they pushed all significant press attention to it). Sometime Friday they found out Apple wouldn’t be pushing it, despite the fact that Google submitted it for review earlier in the week and got a thumbs up for Friday. One source says they’ve had little direct contact with Apple during the review, instead getting their updates via the standard iPhone developer tool, which has said “in review” for the last few days.

Who knows why Apple delayed the application, or why they tend to treat every application developer equally poorly.

Read more: techcrunch.com

Eagerly Awaiting Google’s Voice Search For The iPhone

2008-11-15T04:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday arguably the top tech story of the day was Google’s introduction of voice search for its iPhone app. As of this morning the updated app still isn’t available in the iTunes store (that’s not Google’s fault). I spoke yesterday afternoon with Google’s Mike Cohen and Gummi Hafsteinsson about the app and how it would work. What they described was something that sounded qualitatively different in terms of accuracy and usability vs. competitive offerings now in the market.

Unfortunately no one has had an opportunity to try the updated app yet. But, if it works as promised, it should be quite impressive.

Read more: searchengineland.com

Google's New Site Aims to Detect Flu Outbreaks Faster

2008-11-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

Search Giant Watches Search Words in Effort to Track Spread of Viruses

A collaboration between Google and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has yielded an online tool that may help people know about flu outbreaks even more quickly than existing surveillance methods.

The new tool, called Google Flu Trends, will monitor search trends to see abnormally large numbers of searches for the flu and related terms. It will then publish a map of affected areas in its new service.

Google says its new system will be able to detect influenza outbreaks up to two weeks faster than the traditional surveillance systems in use.

Read more: abcnews.go.com

Gmail Voice and video chat

2008-11-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

See and hear family and friends right inside Gmail

• Chat more ways than ever from within Gmail

• Look and sound your best with high quality audio and video

• Get started easily -- all you need is a webcam

Learn more: Gmail Voice and video chat

Full-length MGM films on YouTube

2008-11-11T13:03:00.000-08:00

YouTube, the largest video-sharing website, will show full-length films from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's archives.

The partnership is aimed boosting advertising revenue for both YouTube and the Hollywood studio.

It will result in the launch of a video-on-demand channel called Impact, dedicated exclusively to action films, TV shows and clips.

"I think it will grow into a nice little business," said Jim Packer, co-president of MGM Worldwide Television.

He told the BBC that YouTube made an ideal partner because of its 280 million monthly users.

"I think YouTube has something that a lot of sites don't have.

Read more: news.bbc.co.uk

Google Finally Jumps into Video Game Advertising

2008-10-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

Google finally takes advantage of 2007 Adscape purchase

Google is the undisputed king of internet advertising and it is always looking for the next big advertising market to jump into. Expanding its advertising market is one of the main reasons Google introduced the open source Android OS for mobile phones.

In March of 2007, Google plunked down $23 million to purchase video game advertising firm Adscape. Everyone knew when the purchase was made that Google would be entering into the video game advertising market sooner or later.

In May of 2007, Google filed a patent for video game advertising technology that would monitor the player's in-game behavior and attempt to serve ads based on their needs. Privacy advocates took issue with the patent because Google said that monitoring would include in-game chats. Presumably, on Google's part, the in-game chat monitoring would be used for serving up ads for something like Taco Bell if a player said they were hungry.

Read more: dailytech.com

Yahoo Announces Major Update to Yahoo Calendar: Leverages Zimbra Technology

2008-10-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

Yahoo today announced a closed beta of a major update to its online calendaring application that will feature a tighter integration with Yahoo Mail and other Yahoo properties. The new calendar is based on the Zimbra platform, which Yahoo acquired in 2007, and will support both the iCalendar and CalDAV standards for exchanging information with other calendaring services.

Among the new features are the ability to enhance your calendar with photos from Flickr, a built-in to-do list, and support for drag and drop. Yahoo Calendar can now also send out reminders for important events by email, IM, or SMS.

In addition, Yahoo is now making it easier for groups to keep track of common activities by extending the sharing features in Yahoo Calendar.

Read more: readwriteweb.com

Google’s YouTube: Finally, A Way To Make Money

2008-10-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

The online video site has added e-commerce links to YouTube partner videos so viewers can purchase related products.

In an interview in August, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said his company still hadn't figured out how to implement advertising on YouTube.

Now it appears that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has some money-making ideas after all. On Wednesday, YouTube said that it has started to include e-commerce links with YouTube partner videos so viewers can purchase related products. YouTube's partner program is for those who make quality videos with commercial prospects; a significant portion of YouTube videos are not what advertisers want to be associated with.

Read more: informationweek.com

Mail Goggles Prevent You From Sending Drunken E-Mails

2008-10-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

You know how it goes: it’s the weekend, all your friends are busy with their own affairs, you’re bored and slightly inebriated, and what do you do: you come home and start sending e-mails you’ll later probably regret. Actually, I’m more of an SMS sender with this regard, but regardless of the medium, we all know how bad it feels the morning after when you’re afraid to check out the “sent messages” folder.

To fix this, there’s a funny new feature from Gmail Labs. Called Mail Goggles, it activates only late at night (you can, of course, set the time of activation as you please) and over the weekend, and gives you a couple of math problems to solve before your e-mail is sent.

Read more: mashable.com

AOL-Yahoo Merger Details Emerge; Deal Could Happen This Month

2008-10-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

with AOL, sources close to the negotiations have whispered to us, and a deal could happen as early as this month. Is this just a rehash of the reported discussions in February and then again in April?

Yes and no. It’s clear that AOL’s parent company, Time Warner, wants this deal more than ever. What isn’t clear is whether AOL’s assets will fix any of Yahoo’s problems.

The deal structure that is currently being discussed is Yahoo’s acquisition of AOL (content, services and advertising), minus their subscription dial up business.

Read more: techcrunch.com

Google Chrome 0.3.154.0 Beta

2008-10-06T16:12:00.000-07:00

Google Desktop 5.8.0809.23506

2008-10-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

Google Desktop gives you easy access to information on your computer and from the web. It's a desktop search application that provides full text search over your email, computer files, music, photos, chats and web pages that you've viewed. By making your computer searchable, Google Desktop puts your information easily within your reach and frees you from having to manually organize your files, emails and bookmarks. It makes searching your computer as easy as searching the web with Google.

Google Desktop doesn't just help you search your computer; it also helps you gather new information from the web with Sidebar, a new desktop feature that shows you your new email, weather and stock information, personalized news and RSS/Atom feeds, and more. Sidebar is personalized automatically, without any manual configuration required (though you can certainly make your own customizations if you want to).

We've also improved your desktop search experience. With Quick Find, you can now launch applications and see search results as you type without even opening a browser. We've also extended our Outlook integration, so you can search Google Desktop with the Outlook Toolbar and see results within Outlook itself. Finally, you can search even more stuff, including your Gmail, files on network drives, many Outlook data types (including Contacts, Tasks, Calendar, Notes and Journal) and MSN Messenger chats. And if you yearn for even stronger security, you can encrypt your entire index.

Improved Sidebar and Google Gadgets. Add Google Gadgets to customize your desktop and Sidebar, Developers: Create and share your own gadgets.

Requires Windows Windows 2000 SP3+/XP/Vista

Download: Google Desktop 5.8.0809.23506 | Gadgets

Google Blogsearch Relaunches as Techmeme Killer, Across 11 Categories

2008-10-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

In its first major upgrade ever, Google Blogsearch just relaunched and looks radically different. Instead of the blank page look of Google.com, Blogsearch now looks like Google News (but uglier) - with the hottest topics from the blogosphere aggregated on the front page. Readers can drill down in 11 different categories, from technology, business, sports and entertainment. Google says you can use Blogsearch to see what the world is talking about.

The user interface isn't nearly as nice as leading tech blog memetracker Techmeme, but the new Blogsearch has some major advantages.

Read more: readwriteweb.com

Google offers us a glimpse into the past

2008-10-03T05:32:00.000-07:00

Just how far have we come since the beginning of the millennium? Well, as everybody's favourite oracle of modern times, Google is helping us find out, by offering up a new application. To celebrate its tenth birthday, the search behemoth has made available a 2001 version of its search index.

"Search 1,326,920,000 web pages", the home page proudly exclaims. Also present is an exclamation mark after its name – perhaps the search company subsequently found it needed to create clear blue water between itself and rival Yahoo!.

Read more: vnunet.com

Google Toolbar for Firefox 3.1.20080919w

2008-09-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Google Toolbar is a popular browser add-on that makes it possible to quickly perform Google Web searches, prevent annoying pop-up ads from appearing, and fill in Web forms with one simple click.

Now you can make your Toolbar as unique as you are. You can add buttons and bookmarks; share web pages with friends; get instant search suggestions; and enjoy the web form filler and spellchecker.

Features

· Enhanced Search Box
· Google Safe Browsing
· Subscribe to Feed
· Send with Gmail
· Custom Layouts
· SpellCheck
· AutoFill
· Custom buttons
· Google Account Sign-in

· Google Docs & Spreadsheets
With the Google Docs & Spreadsheets feature enabled in the Google Toolbar, you can open most popular file types right in your browser.

· Bookmark frequently visited pages and access them from anywhere

· Add buttons to the Toolbar to search your favorite sites.

· Send To
You can use your Google Toolbar to share web pages via email, text message (SMS), or blog.

System requirements:
• Windows XP/2000 SP3+, Mac OS X 10.2+, or Linux
• Firefox 2.0+

Download: Google Toolbar for Firefox 3.1.20080919w

Project 10 to the 100th

2008-09-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

Project 10¹⁰⁰ is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible.

Project 10¹⁰⁰ (pronounced "Project 10 to the 100th") is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible. Here's how to join in.

1. Send us your idea by October 20th.
Simply fill out the submission form giving us the gist of your idea. You can supplement your proposal with a 30-second video.

2. Voting on ideas begins on January 27th.
We'll post a selection of one hundred ideas and ask you, the public, to choose twenty semi-finalists. Then an advisory board will select up to five final ideas. Send me a reminder to vote.

3. We'll help bring these ideas to life.
We're committing $10 million to implement these projects, and our goal is to help as many people as possible. So remember, money may provide a jumpstart, but the idea is the thing.

Good luck, and may those who help the most win.

Read more: project10tothe100.com

Google Helps Users Navigate New York Public Transit System

2008-09-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

The nation's largest transit system could be a bit easier to navigate with Google's new tools, including translation into 23 languages.

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Transit now assists New York City residents and visitors with planning trips via public transit, car, or foot.

New York State and City leaders joined Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page at Grand Central Station Tuesday to announce the launch of a feature that makes it easier to navigate the largest transit system in the United States. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs New York City's transit system, gives Web site visitors the option of planning their travels with directions from Google.

Google Transit incorporates the city's subway stops, bus routes, and commuter trains to outlying areas, with its map features, including street views.

Read more: informationweek.com

Watch The Political Spin Machine With Google "In Quotes"

2008-09-24T07:43:00.000-07:00

Google has just opened a new Labs project, called In Quotes, to the public. The site allows users to compare quotes from various political figures, displaying key excerpts from speeches and interviews that they've given recently.

By default the site is presenting quotes from US Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, contrasting the things they've said on such issues as Iraq, marriage, abortion, and the economy. Users can click a "Spin" button to compare two randomly chosen quotes, or they can choose to cycle through them manually. All quotes are pulled from Google News stories that have appeared in the last few weeks. There are 20 political figures available in the United States version of the site, with other editions available for Canada, India, and the UK.

Read more: washingtonpost.com

Google Dream Phone Makes Its Debut

2008-09-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

The T-Mobile G1 with Google powered by Android was unveiled this morning in New York with a list price of $179 -- undercutting Apple's iPhone -- and confirming many of the rumors that had been floating around about the device over the past few week.

But it was a surprise guest appearance by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who skated onto the stage wearing rollerblades, that drew the most enthusiastic response from the crowd and cameras.

“I’m a bit of a geek and I really like tinkering with things,” Brin said, pulling one of the black flip phones out of his pocket (also available in white and brown). The two, perhaps taking a cue from the legendary in-person marketing prowess of Apple's Steve jobs, hyped one of the most appealing assets of the G1: the completely open source Android platform, which allows third party developers to create applications.

Read more: wired.com

Think Tank: GOOHOO Deal May Be A "Black Hole"

2008-09-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

A Washington think tank devoted to antitrust issues has issued a 19-page analysis of the Google-Yahoo deal that warns that the transaction has the potential to become "a black hole that swallows up Yahoo."

"We believe that the transaction could be blocked on antitrust grounds," according to the report by the American Antitrust Institute, which conducted its analysis based on briefings with the companies and publicly available data.

Under the deal announced on June 12, Google would provide some of the ads for Yahoo's search engine, yielding as much as $800 million annually for Yahoo. Yahoo says it will pour that money into improving its own search engine -- in other words, partnering with Google to get more competitive with Google.

Read more: washingtonpost.com

Google Extends Book Search to E-tail Partners

2008-09-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

Seeking greater visibility for its Book Search engine, Google is making it easier for retailers, libraries and publishers to provide that service's capabilities on their own Web sites.

Via free code snippets and APIs (application programming interfaces), Google is allowing Web sites to display Book Search previews, most of which will allow potential buyers to browse up to 20 percent of a book's contents, Google announced on Monday.

Some retailers are already taking advantage of the program, including Books-A-Million, Blackwell Bookshop in the U.K., A1Books in India, Libreria Norma in Colombia, Van Stockum in the Netherlands and Livraria Cultura in Brazil.

Read more: pcworld.com

Google Analytics Reporting Suite 3.2 Beta

2008-09-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

Building the Analytics Reporting Suite for Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web service to help businesses figure out where their visitors come from and how they interact with their sites. Google Analytics Reporting Suite is an Adobe AIR application that brings Google Analytics to the desktop.

Requires Adobe AIR

Download: Google Analytics Reporting Suite 3.2 Beta

Sergey Brin, Google’s Cofounder, Writes On Blog About Parkinson’s Risk

2008-09-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

In a post on its newly opened blog, Too, Sergey Brin, one of the two co-founders of Google, has decided to speak about a sensitive issue: he carries a specific gene mutation that increases his likelihood of contracting Parkinson’s disease.

Sergey Brin has discovered through 23andMe, the genetics testing start-up co-founded by his wife, Anne Wojcicki, that he carries a particular mutation of the LRRK2, the gene responsible for Parkinson’s. The mutation, known as G2019S, is rare even among people with the disease, but in some ethnic groups, accounts for a substantial proportion of familial Parkinson's.

Based on these findings, Sergey Brin said that he has higher chance of developing Parkinson's in his lifetime than the average person.

“In fact, it is somewhere between 20% to 80% depending on the study and how you measure,” he wrote.

Brin’s mother, who already has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, carries the same genetic mutation.

Read more: efluxmedia.com

Google CEO: Yahoo Wedding Is On

2008-09-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

While Google is bracing for a fight with government regulators and rival Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) to get the stamp of regulatory approval for its advertising pact with Yahoo (NSDQ:YHOO), CEO Eric Schmidt Wednesday said that the search engine behemoth is moving full steam ahead with its plans.

The European Union in July launched its own investigation regarding potential antitrust issues and the effect the Google (NSDQ:GOOG)/Yahoo deal could have on the European Economic Area market.

Schmidt told reporters Wednesday that he thinks that the company does not need specific U.S. government approval, and that any delay will cause the search engines to lose money in advertising revenue. Schmidt also said he expects that the plan will be implemented around October 11.

The controversy surrounding the deal stems from Google's disclosure in June that it inked a non-exclusive advertising agreement providing Yahoo with access to Google's AdSense program for search and AdSense for content advertising programs on Yahoo's U.S. and Canadian Web properties.

Read more: crn.com

Google Launches Audio Indexing

2008-09-18T05:33:00.002-07:00

As the Web becomes more sophisticated and audio and video becomes a more important part of our online lives, we need something that will help us sift through the junk and find what we’re looking for in all that content. To address that, Google announced Wednesday that it has launched audio indexing in Google Labs.

Dubbed GAudi, the new service is designed to work with YouTube, and will catalog all the words uttered during an audio or video clip. Once collected, the transcript will be added to a searchable database that can be accessed in much the same way you search for text-based websites.

But before you start wondering if Google has indexed your latest vlog, don’t get too excited. According to the company, GAudi is only in beta at this point and during that time, it will only index audio and video from political sources.

Read more: techcrunch.com

Report: Google to buy Valve Software

2008-09-18T05:33:00.001-07:00

Google is on the brink of buying noted video game maker Valve Software, according to a report in The Inquirer that cites "well-placed sources."

Bellevue, Wash.-based Valve rose to prominence through games such as its Half Life series, but The Inquirer's Charlie Demerjian speculates the reason Google would be most interested in the company is its Steam Powered technology, a multipurpose online hub with throngs of users.

That rationale makes some sense to me as well, in part because getting into the video game business in and of itself doesn't sound terribly well aligned with Google's mission "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Steam is an online foundation for selling and distributing games, updating patches, enabling multiplayer online chat, and using digital rights management to control who has permission to use elements like game versions or game terrain.

Read more: news.cnet.com

Tesla Motors to build plant, headquarters in San Jose

2008-09-18T05:33:00.000-07:00

An incentive package prompts the electric car maker to build its plant and offices there.

Tesla Motors Inc., aiming to be the first high-volume maker of electric cars, plans to build a $250-million plant to produce sedans in San Jose and move its headquarters to the same facility.

The factory initially will employ about 1,000 people and be able to produce 15,000 cars a year when it opens in late 2010, Chief Executive Ze'ev Drori said Wednesday.

Construction costs will be more than $100 million. As part of an incentive package from the state, California will buy and lease to Tesla assembly machinery valued at about the same amount, he said.

Full article: latimes.com

Google Maps Introduces Walking Directions and Street View for Mobile Users

2008-09-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

If the infusion of walking directions in Google Maps interests you, and you don’t mind the privacy concerns voiced about Google’s Street View, and you happen to have a Web-enabled mobile phone on hand, you may be glad to know Google Maps for Mobile is now newly improved with both these features.

As logic would have it, walking directions and Street View compliment each another well. For city residents, walking directions can naturally give you a less circuitous route to your intended destination. Google’s engine isn’t always the best utility to devise pedestrian ways with efficiency in mind, but it’s bound to improve. Street View, in turn, allows you to see where it is your chosen path will lead. On a map that otherwise continuously sports a bird’s-eye view, the inclusion of ground-level roadside captures is pretty much a no-brainer. Bound together, they make for a supremely attractive couple.

Read more: mashable.com

Google Chrome Backup

2008-09-16T16:08:00.001-07:00

Google Chrome (web browser) has just hit the world. Google Chrome Backup is a small tool to create, backup, restore and manage Google Chrome profiles. The profile holds personal data like history, bookmarks, etc. Everything is done with one click. Latest version also supports Chromium, which modified version of Google Chrome, for portable use.

Download: Google Chrome Backup 1.3.0

Android phone shown in London, to be announced on September 23?

2008-09-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

Chicago (IL) – The wait for Google’s first Android smartphone, the HTC Dream, is almost over. The usually well-informed Wall Street Journal reports that T-Mobile will be announcing the device next week, while European developers are pretty certain that they have seen the device already – at a Google developer event held at London’s Wembley stadium earlier today.

Relieving news for all those who hardly can sit still in anticipation of Google’s first phone: The HTC Dream, the pilot model for what is expected to become a big family of Google Android devices, is apparently ready and will be announced by T-Mobile on September 23. It appears that the device will go on sale sometime in October. There is no information on a possible price of the HTC Dream.

Read more: tgdaily.com

Google TV: This Is Only a Test

2008-09-15T09:19:00.002-07:00

Google’s partnership last week with NBCU marked a huge leap forward for the search giant’s television advertising business. The multi-year advertising partnership gives Google permission to sell a portion of NBC Universal’s advertising inventory. But the deal seems less about Google’s expanded reach and more about the search giant getting the opportunity to show if it can turn the business upside down.

Working with NBC Universal gives Google access to inventory on channels like Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC, and Sci-Fi. But according to Ad Age, NBCU views the partnership as a small experiment that could help the media company transition into a multiple model for selling its advertising.

Read more: wired.com

Newspapers of the World: Google-Yahoo Ad Deal is Unfair

2008-09-15T09:19:00.001-07:00

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) is not happy with the fact that Google will start serving ads to Yahoo, and they’ve asked the US Department of Justice, the European Commission and the Competition Bureau of Canada to block the deal. This is pretty much along the lines with what Microsoft’s been saying about this deal, and they’re likely to support WAN on this one, so Google and Yahoo now have some very strong opposition working against them.

WAN’s president Gavin O’Reilly is surprisingly factual in his comments about the complaint: “The proposed advertising deal between Google and Yahoo would seriously weaken that competition, resulting in less revenues and higher prices for our members. WAN is also concerned that this deal would give Google unwarranted market power over important segments of online advertising. Advertisers will increasingly migrate to Google since they will see diminishing price advantages to advertising through Yahoo.

Read more: mashable.com

Google Gears Now Available for Safari

2008-09-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Safari for Mac users don’t have to suffer from PC envy any longer when it comes to their browser, thanks to the announcement of Google Gears for Safari, which allows users to browse some of their favorite websites without a connection to the Web.

For example, Safari for Mac (Leopard 10.5.3 or Tiger 10.4.11) will now be able to access all Gears-enabled sites such as Zoho Office, WordPress, the new YouTube uploader, and Google Docs without Internet access. This is ideal when traveling where you might not necessarily have access to a reliable connection, and helps makes Web-based office apps a more viable alternative to desktop apps.

Read more: mashable.com

Google Funds Startup to Bring Cheap Satellite Internet to 3 Billion People

2008-09-12T17:31:00.002-07:00

New company will use unique scheme to dramatically cut costs, deliver high speed internet to remote locations

While over 80 percent of Americans are online, broadband adoption is growing slower than expected. The problem stems from the fiber optics business. Buoyed by high demand and exuberance, fiber optic companies laid down high speed cables across the oceans to support the data demands of hungry 3G and cable internet networks.

After these cables were laid the demand slacked off predictably, leaving the fiber optic companies with little revenue and high debts. Many were bought up by larger companies and consolidated. In the aftermath, over 3 billion people were left without access to high speed networks and new installations reduced to a crawl. The only alternative was geosatellite, which costs a whopping $4,000 USD per megabit per month.

Read more: dailytech.com

Yahoo plans a more social, open homepage design

2008-09-12T17:31:00.001-07:00

Yahoo may be planning for social network domination, but that hasn't stopped the struggling search and content portal from announcing a major redesign of its homepage. It's the first redesign in over two years, during which time Yahoo has taken a financial beating, so it's safe to assume that the company has high hopes that this will rejuvenate one of its fundamental properties.

The most significant change Yahoo will offer is a much more customizable version of its homepage, powered by the "widgets" that are popular on similar content portals and social networking sites like iGoogle and Facebook.

Read more: arstechnica.com

YouTube placates pols, cracks down on "terrorist" videos

2008-09-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

Back in May, YouTube and its parent, Google, came under fire from Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) for allegedly harboring videos produced by Al Qaeda. On Wednesday, YouTube took a step to address these concerns, modifying its community guidelines to prohibit the posting of content that incites violence. Although Lieberman applauded the move, the fine line between violent content and news and proliferation of Internet video sites suggest that the whole exchange has more to do with PR than the fight against terrorism.
YouTube rebuffs senator's demands to remove Islamist videos

Lieberman's initial complaint focused on the presence of the Al Qaeda logo on "dozens" of videos found on YouTube. His open letter to Google Chairman Eric Schmidt charged that, "Islamist terrorist organizations use YouTube to disseminate their propaganda, enlist followers, and provide weapons training." Lieberman highlighted the community guidelines of YouTube, which prohibit "gratuitous violence," in calling for the removal of any videos produced by terrorist organizations. Some videos identified by Lieberman's staff were removed, but not all of them violated YouTube's standards, and so many remained.

Full story: arstechnica.com

Google outlines the future of search

2008-09-11T17:31:00.001-07:00

More mobile, more visual, more social

Google has been revealing ways in which search can evolve to better meet users' needs.

Over the next three weeks, 10 of Google's search experts will be sharing their views on how search should evolve.

Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google, said in the first of the blog postings that search should always be available no matter the user's location, and should respond to more than just keywords.

One "far-fetched idea" is for a wearable device that can listen to conversations, carry out searches in the background and then flash the relevant facts to the user.

Read more: vnunet.com

Google Chrome ignites browser speed race

2008-09-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Analysis – You may have decided against a switch to Chrome (at least market share data indicates that Chrome is losing share quickly again), but there is a good chance you won’t get rid of the browser entirely. We guess you may even launch it from time to time, especially when IE or Firefox get stuck. Whatever Chrome’s future path may be, its responsiveness and speed have left a lasting impression that will stick. Other browser makers took notice and are working on faster browsers as well: Firefox 3.1, scheduled for a late 2008 release, comes with TraceMonkey and Web Workers, two key technologies that could easily render Chrome's speed gains obsolete. TG Daily had a close look on what to expect from the current speed race and next-gen browsers.

Google's Chrome caused controversial discussions, both for its advantages and apparent lack of advanced features. But critics and fans agree that this thing is fast, really fast. You may be wondering why speed matters since your current browser already loads web pages in a snap. But here is the deal: Today’s web sites are not collections of individual pages anymore. You are probably using web applications on an everyday basis - on sites like Facebook or Google Docs. As more computing services move to the cloud, web applications are becoming more powerful and desktop-like. In this sense, a browser becomes an operating system for web applications and needs to do much more than take advantage of a broadband connection.

Full article: tgdaily.com

Yahoo announces social networking app for iPhone

2008-09-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO--Yahoo on Wednesday released a preview version of a free new iPhone application called OneConnect that can centralize communications and social-networking activity.

"OneConnect allows everybody to keep connected to the persons they care about. It's a socially connected address book," said said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Yahoo Connected Life, in a speech here at the CTIA Wireless show. "The address book now comes to life."

Read more: cnet.com

Google Set to Begin Scanning Newspaper Archives

2008-09-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Google says it will ask permission from the publisher before it scans old issues

Newspapers want to go digital. This should be no surprise considering that the largest newspapers in the world are looking for ways to cut fixed costs, the majority of which are associated with printing and delivery of their traditional newspapers.

Newspapers are looking to move from the traditional printed paper we are all used to into a digitally delivered content via a device like the Plastic Logic product DailyTech reported on yesterday. In addition to delivering current news digitally, many newspapers are actively looking for ways to monetize their often vast back catalog of issues.

Read more: dailytech.com

Google Chrome 0.2.149.29 Beta

2008-09-08T15:59:00.003-07:00

AT&T Puts Yahoo’s OneSearch on Its Cell Phones

2008-09-08T15:59:00.002-07:00

AT&T Inc., the largest provider of telephone services in the United States, has become the nation’s first carrier that features Yahoo Inc.'s OneSearch Web search engine on its cellular phones, both companies announced on Monday.

Until the deal with Yahoo, AT& T’s cell phones were providing users with a search function from Infospace Inc. on the carrier's MEdia Net cell phone portal. Yahoo’s OneSearch joins the gaps of the search engine into one application.

Yahoo Inc. will also provide the advertising that comes with the search results. The two giant companies struck the deal in January. Under that deal, Yahoo became AT&T’s search provider for TV, mobile, and Internet services.

Read more: efluxmedia.com

GeoEye Imaging Satellite Launches With Google Logo

2008-09-08T15:59:00.001-07:00

Washington (dbTechno) - The GeoEye-1 Earth imaging satellite launched over the weekend, with the Google logo, and GeoEye logo highly visible on its side.

The GeoEye-1 is the highest resolution commercial Earth imaging satellite ever launched.

It was built as part of the U.S. National Geospatial Agency’s NextView program.

The cost of building the actually satellite has been supported by those in the industry who will use it, such as Google.

Read more: dbtechno.com

Critical Vulnerability Patched in Google's Chrome

2008-09-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

A Vietnamese security company has found a critical vulnerability in Google's new browser Chrome, but Google has already released patch for that problem and at least one more.

The vulnerability is one of several problems identified in the browser since it was released early last week. The bug is a buffer overflow that occurs if a user saves a Web page containing an overly long "title" tag, according to Bach Koa Internetwork Security (Bkis), based at the Hanoi Institute of Technology.

The browser can encounter a problem trying to save a file with the name contained in the overly long title tag. An attacker could then have control of the PC and could execute other code on the machine, Bkis wrote on its blog. The problem can be exploited on PCs running Windows XP SP2 and Chrome version 0.2.149.27.

Read more: pcworld.com

New opposition mounts to Google ads on Yahoo

2008-09-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

The Association of National Advertisers sent a letter to the Justice Department on Sunday, citing antitrust concerns over the proposed partnership between search leaders Yahoo and Google.

The ANA represents about 400 companies that spend about $100 billion annually on advertising. It represents and protects the interests of its members, while also advocating good advertising practices.

While on its face, the Yahoo-Google deal amounts to little more than Yahoo joining Google's vast network of advertising clients, it does give the Mountain View, Calif. company control of an overwhelming majority of the Web's search advertising inventory.

Read more: BetaNews

Picasa 3.0 Build 57.19 Beta

2008-09-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

Picasa also makes it a snap to share your pictures you can email, print photos at home, and make gift CDs. And with the new Web Albums feature, you can upload your photos to the web with just one click. You can even download your friends' photos directly back to Picasa on your own computer. It's never been so easy to share photos online. Now with Picasa Web Albums!

Download: Picasa 2.7 Build 37.64 | Picasa 3.0 Build 57.19 Beta

Google Chrome 0.2.149.27 Beta

2008-09-02T10:52:00.003-07:00

Picasa Web Albums Get Face Recognition

2008-09-02T10:52:00.002-07:00

According to a report on CNet, the next version of Google's Picasa Web Albums will go live at noon PST today. The central new feature of this version will be automated face recognition and tagging. In tandem with this update, Google will also launch a new version of Picasa, its desktop photo management software, which will also get a number of new features, including a movie maker mode, a retouch brush, and online synchronization with Picasa Web Albums.
Remember Riya?

Google is not the first company to add face recognition to online photo albums. Riya, when it first launched, made face recognition its central feature, but Riya's implementation, while interesting, made too many mistakes in the face recognition to be successful. Most users quickly abandoned the site after the early hype and Riya was forced to change its business model. To be successful, Google's face recognition will have to be a lot more precise than Riya's algorithms.

Full story: readwriteweb.com

Google Chrome Release Looks To Topple IE, Firefox

2008-09-02T10:52:00.001-07:00

Boston (ChattahBox) - Google is making some headlines today with the announcement of the beta release of their Google Chrome browser, to compete with Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox.

Google has confirmed that their first Web browser was going to be made available to users starting today.

It is going to be released in beta form for the Windows platform only to start.

Read more: chattahbox.com

GeoEye-1 Satellite to Provide Images to Google

2008-09-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

Google will be exclusive online map service to use images from new satellite

Satellite imagery is used for many different reasons today from mapping and fun to military analysis and more. As more satellites are launched and new technologies are released, satellite imagery is getting better with each new satellite put into orbit.

GeoEye Inc. is getting ready to launch a new satellite that will be able to take images form orbit with a resolution of .41 meters in black and white and 1.65 meters in color. Current government regulations limit images being offered to the public to a resolution of a half-meter. The color resolution the satellite will offer is the highest in the market.

The resolution limitation is partly because the U.S. government fears the amount of information that can be found in satellite images on services like Google Earth.

Read more: dailytech.com

Microsoft takes aim for Google's Froogle

2008-08-29T13:07:00.002-07:00

Buys Ciao price comparison powerhouse to add to Live Search

Microsoft has bought Ciao, one of Europe's biggest price comparison engines. Designed to boost its Live Search offering, it seems Microsoft will position its new toy right up against Google's Product Search, formerly known as Froogle.

There's no getting away from it – Microsoft is still loosing badly when it comes to the search market. But instead of growing the Windows Live Search business organically, dear old Microsoft seems determined to buy elements which it thinks make sense, hence the hovering up of Multimap and now Ciao.

Full story: techradar.com

Schmidt: Google-Yahoo deal on track for October

2008-08-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

The partnership to place some Google ads next to Yahoo's search results will go into effect by early October, chief executive Eric Schmidt told Bloomberg on Thursday, indicating the deal hasn't been derailed — so far — by antitrust scrutiny.

The companies gave themselves three and a half months to start the partnership when it was announced on 12 June, and Schmidt's latest comment indicates the deal is still on that schedule. That time period runs through about the first week of October.

Read more: ZDNet.co.uk

Google Announces Its Version Of The App Store Called Android Market

2008-08-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

Google ( NSDQ: GOOG) shared its plans today for how it will distribute applications mobile phones running its Android operating system, and it sounds startlingly similar to Apple's ( NSDQ: AAPL) App store. Google wrote today on the Android developer blog that it will be called Android Market, "an open content distribution system that will help end users find, purchase, download and install various types of content on their Android-powered devices."

Of course, the marketplace is designed to solve a critical problem that developers face?getting in front of the consumer. It will work like this: Google will make the content available on an open service hosted by Google, and create a feedback and rating system similar to YouTube. To get your content in the market, developers will have to follow three steps: register as a merchant, upload and describe content, then publish it.

Full article: washingtonpost.com

Google Sets Up Mobile Election Web Site

2008-08-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

With 10 weeks to go before the election, the amount of news coverage surrounding John McCain and Barack Obama is set to skyrocket (as if it hadn't already). In order to help you parse through all the chatter, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has set up a special Web site where mobile phone users can find the latest headlines.

Google appears to be throwing everything it has at the upcoming presidential election. It is using multiple avenues and products to provide coverage. Google believes that plenty of people will be interested in accessing news from their mobile phones. So it set up a "one-stop-shop" for mobile phone users to get what they need.

The site is located at m.google.com/elections.

The products that it is tailoring to election coverage are mobile Search, News, Reader, YouTube, and Maps.

Full article: informationweek.com

Google invests $10.25 million in geothermal technology

2008-08-20T14:31:00.003-07:00

Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, is investing $10.25 million in two companies working on a new way to tap into the heat beneath the earth’s surface.

The companies are AltaRock Energy, which gets $6.25 million, and Porter Drilling, which gets $4 million. Additionally, the Geothermal Laboratory at Southern Methodist University, which is working on locating geothermal sources in North America, will receive a grant of about $490,000.

The money comes from Google’s RE C initiative, which seeks to develop renewable energy sources that are cheaper than electricity produced from coal.

Full article: csmonitor.com

As Google Android SDK Hits Street, Android Security Team Braces

2008-08-20T14:31:00.002-07:00

It's been a big week for the Android phone platform. Most important, the Federal Communications Commission gave the all clear to the first Android-powered handset, which will be built by High Tech Computer and is currently expected to be called the Dream. Additionally, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) released an updated version of its SDK.

This version of the SDK, version 0.9, Google says, is very close to what the final SDK will look like. While this is all good news for anyone who has yet to buy an iPhone and sign up for a lengthy AT&T contract, it also means that more security researchers, if they haven't already started, will begin hammering away for any existing security-related vulnerabilities. It's what they do, and in the long run, their work improves the quality of software.

Full story: informationweek.com

Google Wireless Plan Angers Audio-Equipment Makers

2008-08-20T14:31:00.001-07:00

Cross one off the list of Google's friends.

Wireless audio-equipment manufacturers and producers of live events are up in arms against Google's efforts to open up a little-used patch of radio spectrum.

What's being contested is the so-called "white space" spectrum, the vacant bands between ultra-high frequency television channels. As U.S. broadcasters transition from analog to digital transmission in time to meet the February 2009 deadline imposed by the Federal Communications Commission, the unused spectrum has become a battleground, pitting not just audio professionals but organizations such as the National Football League, movie studios and Broadway producers against Google.

Google turned up the heat Monday by launching a "Free the Airwaves" campaign with a website and a petition lobbying the FCC to open up the spectrum.

Read more: wired.com

Picasa 2.7.0 Build 37.63

2008-08-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Picasa is software that helps you instantly find, edit and share all the pictures on your PC. Every time you open Picasa, it automatically locates all your pictures (even ones you forgot you had) and sorts them into visual albums organized by date with folder names you will recognize. Picasa also makes advanced editing simple by putting one-click fixes and powerful effects at your fingertips.

Picasa also makes it a snap to share your pictures – you can email, print photos at home, and make gift CDs. And with the new Web Albums feature, you can upload your photos to the web with just one click. You can even download your friends’ photos directly back to Picasa on your own computer. It’s never been so easy to share photos online. Now with Picasa Web Albums!

Download: Picasa 2.7.0 Build 37.63

Yahoo Buzz Sets The Bee Free Tonight

2008-08-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

Yahoo's Digg-like service, Buzz, will be opening up to public contributors as of 7 p.m. PDT tonight. Since the service's launch in February, only a select 400 publishers could add new links to Buzz.

With so many submitting and rating sites out there, including the mighty Digg, Yahoo Buzz has a few advantages up its sleeve. Besides using the links submitted by contributors, Buzz's algorithms take into account search engine popularity, feeding the most popular stories to Yahoo's home page.

Making it to Yahoo's home page and getting server-melting traffic will likely create a new frenzy among Web traffic manipulators who are already pushing their luck with Digg and AOL's Propeller. Buzz wants to avoid this kind of exploitation by adding editorial discretion when determining headlines.

Full article: pcworld.com

FCC Greenlights First Android Phone (HTC Dream)

2008-08-18T12:31:00.003-07:00

The only thing holding back the launch of the first Android-powered phone, the HTC Dream, was approval from the Federal Communications Commission. That approval has now come through, and T-Mobile can launch the phone. The filing asks for a November 10 release date, but (as Matt Marshall at VentureBeat points out) T-Mobile could launch it earlier.

This means that Android will be on track to debut before the holiday shopping season. The device is expected to have a touch screen, WiFi, a “jogball” (like on a Blackberry), a full Web browser based on the same WebKit as Safari on the iPhone, and Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. It should be fab.

Read more: techcrunch.com

Patents: GraphOn Sues Google for Connecting Databases to the Internet

2008-08-18T12:31:00.002-07:00

GraphOn, which considers itself a "leading worldwide developer of server-based application publishing and Web-enabling software solutions," today announced that it is suing Google for infringing on four of GraphOn's patents. According to the complaint (embedded below), Google Base, AdWords, Blogger, Sites, and YouTube allegedly infringe on GraphOn's patent for a "unique method of maintaining an automated and network-accessible database" - a patent that is so broad, it basically covers the complete Internet as we know it today.

Full story: readwriteweb.com

Track What Obama, McCain, and Political Journos are Sharing on Google Reader

2008-08-18T12:31:00.001-07:00

While I suspect this initiative will be as carefully crafted by the respective Presidential campaigns as their TV commercials and speeches, give credit to Google for putting together a cool initiative for users of Google Reader that might bring more users into the fold along the way. The popular RSS reader has just launched “Google Power Readers in Politics,” a collection of Shared Items from the McCain and Obama campaigns, along with those of high powered political journalists like Arianna Huffington and Patrick Ruffini.

On Power Readers in Politics, you can browse what each of the candidates and journalists is sharing, and like any Google Reader shared items feed, subscribe to it via RSS. Each user’s shared items page also includes a list of their favorite sites to read. The homepage is a mashup of the most recently shared content from all of the participants.

Read more: mashable.com

Google Launches White Space Broadband Website

2008-08-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

Lobbying fight heats up over alternative broadband delivery method...

Microsoft, Google and Dell have formed the backbone of a six-partner coalition named the Wireless Innovation Alliance. Their goal is to use the so-called unlicensed "white space" spectrum -- partially freed by the migration to digital television -- to offer un-served consumers inexpensive Internet access via the airwaves (with these companies obviously providing the hardware, software and most importantly to Google: ads).

Google co-founder Larry Page has dubbed the technology "Wi-Fi on steroids," and has declared that he's "100 percent confident" that white space broadband is inevitable. Unfortunately, initial FCC tests of the technology's transmission detection and avoidance capability have been hit and miss (though dependent on who you ask). The push also has some very deep pocketed opponents.

Full article: broadbandreports.com

Should Google Populate Every Map on Google Maps?

2008-08-14T10:02:00.001-07:00

Google is under fire today over reports claiming the company failed to include any data for Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan on Google maps. Worse, some reports suggest that once the fighting broke out between Russia and Georgia, all relevant information about the latter was wiped from Google maps.

According to the Azerbaijan Press agency, all “the relevant maps went blank as soon as fighting broke out.” But Google contends that that assertion is simply false and it has not changed anything in quite some time.

“Google has not made any recent change to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Google Maps,” the company said in a statement. “We do not have local data for those countries and that is why local details such as landmarks and cities do not appear.”

Full story: mashable.com

Google Reader Finally Introduces Granular Sharing Control

2008-08-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

Back in December, Google Reader announced that it was introducing a feature that let users share posts with anyone in their Gmail/Gtalk contact list. Unfortunately, the sharing was all-or-nothing - if you decided to share a post, it would be available to all of your contacts, as there was no way to single out a group to share a post with. This lack of control led to a privacy debate as a number of high profile bloggers wrote that Google Reader needed to include granular privacy controls. Google responded with a workaround option using tags, but it was inconvenient and unintuitive.

Today, Google Reader has finally implemented custom friends lists, which allows users to selectively share posts. However, while this will restrict who your posts are automatically shared with, the added privacy may not be enough for some people, as users will still be able to access your shared posts through a static public URL.

Read more: techcrunch.com

YouTube Not Getting Into Live Streaming, After All (GOOG)

2008-08-13T10:02:00.001-07:00

UStream, Justin.TV, Stickam, Mogulus and everyone else trying to make a business out of live streaming can breath a little easier. YouTube, which had previously said it would start live streaming in 2008, won't be getting into the business this year. And it probably won't next year, according to a source familiar with its plans.

Outsiders have long considered live streaming as a logical next step for YouTube, which dominates the market for pre-recorded Web video. Co-founder Steve Chen gave credence to the idea himself in February when he told Pop17's Sarah Meyers: "Live video is something we've always wanted to do but haven't had the resources to do it correctly, but now with Google we hope to launch something this year."

Full article: alleyinsider.com

Yahoo Knows Where You Are At All Times With Fire Eagle

2008-08-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

Washington (dbTechno) - Yahoo has launched a new location service platform they are calling Fire Eagle.

Fire Eagle works with other services to provide a vast array of location based features.

The first feature is that you can tell Fire Eagle where you are, allowing it to basically geo-tag you as you update it.

Another option is to allow another device to tell Fire Eagle where you are as well, such as your mobile phone.

From there, you can set up Fire Eagle to broadcast your location to a variety of services, such as social networks, and other sites.

Full article: dbtechno.com

Google's Olympic Logos

2008-08-12T10:02:00.001-07:00

Google Solves Gmail Outage Problem

2008-08-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

Google has managed to rapidly solve a glitch that plagued its e-mail service, Gmail. According to various reports, the service was down for a couple of hours and the problems begun at around 2 P.M Pacific Time or 21:00 GMT.

Apparently, the most affected were the Gmail users from United States, Canda and India.

However, Google was quick to solve the problem, which was caused by a temporary outage in Gmail contacts system, as the Gmail team stated in a post on the service’s official blog.

Read more: efluxmedia.com

Yahoo Allows Users to Opt Out of Targeted Ads

2008-08-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

Search giant lets consumers receive generic advertising instead

Beginning at the end of August, Yahoo! users will be able to opt out of the company’s targeted, behavioral advertising system on both Yahoo! properties and third-party websites that use the company’s advertising network.

“Yahoo! strongly believes that consumers want choice when customizing their online experience and they have also demonstrated a strong preference for advertising that is more personally relevant to them,” said Yahoo! privacy head and policy VP Anne Toth in a press release. “However, we understand that there are some users who prefer not to receive customized advertising and this opt-out will offer them even greater choice.”

Users already have the ability of opting out of “customized” ads on Yahoo.com and this new option will extend that choice to reflect websites outside the Yahoo! stable.

Full article: dailytech.com

Google offers free music downloads in China

2008-08-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

Google has launched a music search engine in China that will give users access to free downloads of licensed songs.

After months of negotiations, Google announced last night the new service would be supported by advertising revenue that would be split between the music industry and Chinese music download website Top100.cn.

Google's first music search service will allow internet users in China to search for songs on Google.cn by singer, song or album title and then download and stream licensed music for free.

If successful, the venture could curb the rampant culture of illegal music downloads that has been crippling the growth of the legitimate digital music industry in China, the country with the world's largest number of internet users.

Read more: guardian.co.uk

Google Updates Its Enterprise Search Appliance

2008-08-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

Google has upgraded its Search Appliance for enterprises and government agencies who want a Google-like search for their documents. The new Search Appliance lets employees subscribe to e-mail alerts for topics and documents of interest. Google also offers a spell checker in six languages for Search Appliance.

Google on Wednesday began offering an upgraded version of its Search Appliance. The hardware targets enterprises and government agencies that want a Google-like Web search for office documents.

The upgraded Google Search Appliance searches up to 10 million documents. That's the same document storage capacity as the previous version that was offered in a five-box rack. A larger, 12-box version can store, manage and search up to 30 million documents.

Full article: newsfactor.com