August 31st, 2009

Google cracks down on slow gadgets

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 8:58 pm

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Google Inc., Gadget, Garett Rogers

Google has seen success in large part because of their attention to speed, reliability and quality of their services. Loading up the Google homepage is usually instantaneous, and searching through their gigantic web index takes a fraction of a second.

Unfortunately for Google, they don’t have as much control over their own speed and user experience as they once did. The problem is that Google lets third party developers create applications (called Gadgets), which are often poorly programmed.

The solution: To pass out “badges” that identify slow gadgets — likely putting the brakes on people wanting to install them. Fast gadgets will continue to see business as usual, which Google hopes will be enough of an incentive for developers to create gadgets that meet their speed guidelines.

August 29th, 2009

Microsoft screwing themselves while they try to screw Google

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 6:03 pm

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., E-mail Providers, Cloud Computing, Productivity, Web Browsers, Development Tools, Middleware, Internet, Software Development

It turns out Microsoft has been busy holding weekly “Screw Google” meetings, trying to figure out how to throw roadblocks in front of Google as they continue to dominate the search arena. It’s easy for me to say, but doesn’t it make a lot more sense to spend millions of dollars making something that’s actually better than Google rather than simply trying to make them look bad?

I wonder how long it will take before the “Screw Microsoft” meetings commence? Probably never. It probably won’t happen because Microsoft is doing a good enough job themselves, and I like to think Google is smart enough to know money is much better spent elsewhere.

It’s likely Microsoft is grasping at straws as Bing’s market share has only increased a very small amount — even after their massive marketing campaign. In addition to that, Google is stepping on Microsoft’s toes with two of their own operating systems (Android and Chrome OS), Google Chrome internet browser, Google Docs, Gmail and their own Enterprise efforts.

It’s time for Microsoft to stop wasting their money worrying about Google, and start breaking their own trails. Microsoft does have some diamonds in their rough though — one example is their development tools, frameworks and platforms. This includes WPF, Silverlight and Microsoft Surface — and in my opinion, Microsoft needs to invest more heavily in those technologies.

August 26th, 2009

Google to compete with LendingTree soon?

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 9:09 pm

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Google Inc., Blog, Blogosphere, Blog Search, Blogging, Internet, Garett Rogers

LendingTree says they know that Google is about to launch a competing service that will allow you to get offers from lenders, directly from search results.

This information was revealed during a lawsuit between LendingTree and one of their partners. They say they have screen shots and pictures showing the competing Google service.

In response to this allegation, Google offered up a rare written statement which confirms they have been working on such a project to at least some degree.

Google Inc. issued a written statement Wednesday saying it is “working on a small ad unit test” involving a limited number of mortgage-related searches. AP

I don’t think it’s going to cause LendingTree as much trouble as they are making it sound — but either way, competition is good.

The new service is said to be available later this month, or in early September — so keep your eyes peeled.

August 24th, 2009

Apple denies the denial of Google Voice app

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 10:14 pm

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Denial, Google Inc., Apple Inc., Google Voice, Federal Government, Advertising & Promotion, Telecom & Utilities, Government, Marketing, Garett Rogers

Google Voice is a cool new service that Google is working hard on — and part of their effort includes bringing it to mobile devices.

Google has already made apps for Android, and Blackberry phones, however, Apple is playing hard to get. The FCC officially questioned Apple’s “denial” of the Google Voice app in their app store, and their response was basically “we haven’t denied it, we just haven’t approved it”.

In Apple’s response to the FCC, they explained some things that are causing them to stutter — including the fact that the Google Voice application would replace the native dialer.

The application has not been approved because, as submitted for review, it appears to alter the iPhone’s distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone’s core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail. — Apple

But if that is actually the case, and AT&T has nothing to do with the “denial” of Google Voice — why is RingCentral still part of the App Store?

According to Philip Elmer-DeWitt, RingCentral is basically the same thing, except there may be some interesting dealings going on under the covers there:

RingCentral has signed a strategic agreement with AT&T to do “something much bigger and cooler that they will not discuss openly because of intense competition.”

What do you think of the rejection of Google Voice? Do you buy Apple’s response?

August 22nd, 2009

Google, let's see what you've got

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 4:31 pm

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Google Inc., Web Browser, Browser Statistics Google, Web Browsers, Internet, Garett Rogers

Google shares a lot of data already through tools like Google Trends, Google Ad Planner and the Zeitgeist — but there are several “secret” pieces of info that could be very useful, and interesting for many people.

Asa Dotzlen has a good point — Google is in a special position to collect very accurate data about the internet landscape. Unfortunately, there are pieces of information that they seem to be hoarding.

Google is in a pretty special position with the breadth of their usage so their browser breakdown could give the entire industry a much better picture of the Web than what we currently get from analytics firms like Net Applications and StatCounter.

Google search is available in more than 125 languages, is in widespread use in almost every geography on the planet, and Google obviously has the resources to produce solid metrics reporting. So, why don’t they? What commercial value is there in keeping that close to their chest?

Browser Statistics
Google knows a lot about browser usage. Being the homepage for so many internet users around the world, Google’s data is about as good as it gets. If you wanted an accurate representation of the current browser landscape, you shouldn’t have to look much farther than Google.

Operating System Statistics:
Along with which browser its users user, Google also gets information about operating systems. A current and accurate breakdown between Windows, OS X and Linux (and soon Chrome OS) would be quite interesting to follow. Granted, information like this can be obtained through sources like Comscore, but Google has a much larger sample size which would be more accurate.

Statistics about Google’s own web properties:
Google is quick to share information about everyone else — but they refuse to show any information about themselves. Using Google Ad Planner, you can quickly get a sense of usage trends for any website with a enough traffic, but they have excluded themselves.

Honestly, I’m surprised there hasn’t been more of an uprising due to the fact your websites show up in Ad Planner, and you have no way of excluding your site data without stopping Google from indexing your website altogether.

What do you want to know more about that Google has access to?

August 20th, 2009

Google launches "Listen" for Android

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 9:25 pm

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Google Inc., Podcasts, Internet, Garett Rogers

Google has launched a new Labs project called “Listen”. This new app helps you find, download and listen to podcasts.

The app is currently only available on Android devices — so to download it, you have to visit the Android Market from your phone and search for “Listen”. Once it’s installed, just search for something, and you will be presented with a list of audio for you to listen to.

[image from Google]

Read more about “Listen” on its Labs page.

August 17th, 2009

Google Chrome 4 launches with bookmark synchronization

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 9:21 pm

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Google Inc., Google Chrome, Storage, Hardware, Garett Rogers

Google has just announced a brand new version of Chrome (4.0.201.1) in the Dev channel that includes Bookmark synchronization.

To use the new feature, launch the “dev channel” version of Chrome with the –enable-sync flag, and then enable the feature in your options. Bookmark sync uses the XMPP protocol to broadcast your bookmark activity to other instances of Chrome that you are using.

I’m not exactly sure why you would need this kind of real-time bookmark sync capabilities, but it’s cool nonetheless. The new feature apparently uses Google Docs as the storage mechanism — which leads me to believe GDrive could be getting even closer.

August 17th, 2009

Leaked pictures of Chrome OS?

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 7:21 am

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Google Inc., Operating System, Chrome OS, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Operating Systems, Hardware, Software, Garett Rogers

Chrome OS is the ambitious operating system project Google is hoping will find its way into netbooks far and wide. Among other things, Google is hopeful the light weight operating system will be immune to viruses.

Leaked screenshots of the operating system found their way onto the internet previously, but were quickly determined to be fake — now there are more.

[image from mashable]

Take it for what it’s worth, buthere is a link to all of the new screenshots.

August 13th, 2009

Review of Android on the HTC Magic

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 10:23 pm

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Apple iPhone, High Tech Computer Corp., Phone, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Garett Rogers

It’s been about a month and a half since I picked up my HTC Magic — and I think it’s about time that I write my review.

The form factor of the phone, as compared with the iPhone is better in my opinion. After using this device for a month, the width of the iPhone gave me flashbacks to my first brick phone. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I much prefer the “feel” of my Magic.

The architecture for applications is much nicer on Android than the iPhone — the ability to run services in the background is hard to live without once you’ve tasted it. Unfortunately, from a user interface standpoint, it’s difficult to make applications on Android that are comparable to most iPhone apps.

Now for the bad stuff.
As far as third party applications go, the Android Market isn’t as mature as the App Store. I don’t have access to paid apps here in Canada — but based on what I can see, there are fewer apps, and of lower quality.

I made a small (free) sample application for Big Brother fans called “BB11 Live” to gauge how fast an application like it could grow. Since I uploaded the application about a month ago, 1316 people have downloaded it.

Performance on this phone is terrible in comparison to iPhone. Not only is the soft keyboard narrower than the iPhone (because of the form factor), but it’s a lot less responsive. Clicking a key doesn’t give you any sort of immediate response like you get on the iPhone — and the longer your phone stays on, the worse it gets.

Performance doesn’t stop with the keyboard though — the operating system in general don’t respond to your finger even close to as nicely as on the iPhone. I am thinking a lot of these issues are hardware related, but no doubt there are some performance issues that need to be resolved on Google’s end too.

Browsing without multi-touch capabilities like “pinch” isn’t as nice either. You are stuck using the zoom in and out buttons on the screen — same goes for the Maps application. The screen itself is actually a bit disappointing as well — the glass screen on the iPhone is far nicer than the plastic one on the HTC Magic.

The Magic doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack — and it’s almost impossible to find proprietary HTC accessories for the phone in brick and mortar stores. I don’t think I’d want to listen to music on this phone anyway due to the sub-par battery life.

Overall, I am disappointed with the HTC Magic. I’m not sure if my disappointment stems from Android or the hardware — but if Google is looking to knock Android out of the park, they are going to have to somehow bring Android up to the level of iPhone in these several areas.

August 11th, 2009

Google to Caffeinate search results

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 11:42 am

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Google Inc., Search Result, Blogging, Search, Internet, Garett Rogers

Google announced a top secret project called Caffeine yesterday — it’s mostly under-the-hood stuff, so users shouldn’t immediately notice any differences between the old technology and the new.

One of the goals of Caffeine is to index content much faster — that means Google could be trying to figure out real-time relevant search. A better way to search Twitter is probably fairly high on the list — as “Bing” has been dabbling in that as well.

It’s the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions

If you are interested in trying out the new technology, head over to http://www2.sandbox.google.com. Google is looking for feedback, so make sure to submit it using the “Dissatisfied?” link at the bottom, and include the word “caffeine” in your comment.

Read more about the update on the Google Webmaster Central blog.