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Older Android Phones Get Free Google Navigation

Eric Zeman — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:20:30 -0500

One of the coolest features that comes with the Motorola Droid is the new Google Maps Navigation application. It provides free, voice-guided navigation for the Android 2.0 platform. Google decided to spread the Maps Navigation love around a bit and recently made the app available to devices running Android 1.6.

Microsoft, News Corporation Plan Foot-Shooting

Thomas Claburn — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:06:42 -0500

Microsoft is reportedly discussing a deal that would see News Corporation remove its Web sites, such as the Wall Street Journal, from Google's index.

Word, We Need To Talk

Thomas Claburn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:02:42 -0500

Hey there, Word. How're things? Seems like you're doing okay. I hear you have a new release coming shortly, in Office 2010. In fact, I've been meaning to talk to you about that.

The Million-Dollar Google Maps API

John Foley — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:48:49 -0500

The U.S. government's Apps.gov Web site provides new visibility into what federal agencies pay for cloud-based applications and commercial software, with offerings from vendors such as Hewlett-Packard, Jive, Microsoft, and Salesforce.com. One of the priciest products on the site: Google's Maps API, which lists for nearly a million dollars.

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Google Chrome OS Won't Launch For A Year

Eric Zeman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:06:42 -0500

Today Google shared some information about its upcoming Chrome OS. First, it said there are no betas, no devices, and the operating system is a full year away from actual launch. The good news is that Google open-sourced the code for Chrome OS today. Updated! Video included.

Google Introducing Chrome OS November 19

Eric Zeman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:25:33 -0500

Members of the media were invited to Google's headquarters for the official unveiling of Chrome OS, the new operating system from Google. Details were few and far between, but don't expect Chrome OS to become widely available until 2010.

YouTube Direct Forgets Payments

Thomas Claburn — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:47:20 -0500

YouTube on Tuesday introduced YouTube Direct, a Web platform designed to help media organizations solicit, screen and rebroadcast video clips submitted by citizen journalists.

YouTube To Journos: Use Citizen Contributions

Eric Zeman — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:26:38 -0500

Trained journalists are under increasing pressure from average citizens who are often first to take pictures, shoot video, and report on events as they unfold. Rather than pit them against one another for eyeballs, Google is unrolling YouTube Direct, a way for journalists to reach out to citizen contributors and re-broadcast their videos to regional or national audiences.

Linux's Future: Google?

Serdar Yegulalp — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:02:09 -0500

Laugh (or cry) if you want. But with each successive release of Android, and with each new iteration of Chrome -- soon to be ChromeOS -- it's looking more and more like Linux's future as any kind of mainstream product is in Google's hands. There's a lesson here.

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YouTube Goes High-Def With 1080p Support

Eric Zeman — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:53:30 -0500

Starting next week, YouTube users will be able to upload and watch high-definition videos in full 1080p resolution. Have a high-def video camera? Now you can put it to good use.

Chrome Beta For Mac Landing In December

Eric Zeman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:50:23 -0500

Google's Chrome browser has been available to the Windows platform for well more than a year. Apple fans have been waiting -- impatiently -- for Google to show them some Chrome love. Turns out the wait is nearly over, as Google is preparing to release a beta version of Chrome for Apple computers in early December.

Google Offers 20GB Of Gmail Storage For $5

Eric Zeman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:22:31 -0500

Last time I checked, Google offered 7.39GB of Gmail storage to all users for free. I am using 64% of that total, or 4.79GB. If you're a real email hog, you can buy 20GB of additional storage for just $5 per year. The same applies to Picasa Web Albums.

Here's What's Different About 'The Cloud'

Charles Babcock — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:46:52 -0500

What's different about cloud computing versus the forms of computing that have gone before? It's really just a matter of scale, isn't it? The Google or Amazon.com or eBay data centers are maybe a little bigger than a big enterprise data center, right? Wrong. One answer lies in an example like Hadoop.

Google Offering Free Airport Wi-Fi For Holidays

Eric Zeman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:59:41 -0500

In what could be called a thinly veiled attempt to shine up its image, Google is offering holiday travelers free Wi-Fi at approximately 47 U.S. airports from now until January 15, 2010. Make sure your employees are protected.

Google Voice May Offer Actual Voice Calls

Eric Zeman — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:59:14 -0500

Right now, Google Voice's primary function is to provide call-forwarding and message transcription services. That may change, however, with the reported purchase of Gizmo5 by Google.

A Public Broadband Option?

Thomas Claburn — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:46:15 -0500

Having looked over Google's explanation of its Google Voice call blocking practices to the Federal Communications Commission, it's clear to me that U.S. telecommunications regulations need to be thrown out and re-written from the ground up.

Want To Escape Google? There's An App For That

Eric Zeman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:48:48 -0500

Google understands that sometimes people -- and businesses -- have to pack up and move on to some other service. It is now offering a tool for users of Google Docs whereby they can convert, zip, and download all of their documents at once.

Is Cloud Bigger Than The Advent Of The Personal Computer?

Charles Babcock — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:38:43 -0500

Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, says "the cloud" is a phenomenon that is bigger than the advent of the PC. I think he's almost got it right. Cloud is bigger than the PC Revolution, but it's big in part because it incorporates and extends the PC revolution to Internet server clusters. The cloud owes more to the PC than Eric acknowledges.

Google Goings-On: Reader, Maps, Picasa, Search Updates

Eric Zeman — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:59:49 -0500

Google has been busy this week. Beyond announcing a search deal with Twitter, it also brought more options to its RSS Reader, layers to Maps for Mobile, support for Windows 7, and customized mobile search.

What's This Google Music Nonsense All About?

Eric Zeman — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:42:44 -0500

Google is going to launch a music service? Really? That's what reports suggest today, with informed sources confirming that Google is set to bow the service with partners LaLa and iLike -- complete with blessings from the four major record labels. Does Google really expect to be able to make money with this venture?

Verizon Levels Sights At iPhone With Droid Ads

Eric Zeman — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:44:21 -0500

This weekend Verizon Wireless kicked off an online and TV-based ad campaign that takes direct aim at Apple's iPhone. The ad taunts "Everything iDon't, Droid Does." Verizon's first Android phone -- made by Motorola -- is finally ready.

Google Street View Gets A Trike For Off Roading

Eric Zeman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:25:32 -0500

Oh, this is awesome. Google is taking its street view idea, well, off road. Due to the limitations presented by the size of its street view cars, Google has created a street view trike that can go where the cars can't. Not only that, but it is opening up the floor to requests on where it sends the trike for mapping.

Google Adds Docs Preview To Gmail

Eric Zeman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:32:03 -0500

Gmail users can take advantage of Gmail Labs to preview things such as YouTube videos and Picasa Web albums without leaving their Gmail inboxes. Now, users can do the same with Google Docs.

Google Adds Gaffe-Avoiding Lab To Gmail

Eric Zeman — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:09:53 -0500

Another day, another new Lab for Google's Gmail. This one handily prevents you from accidentally sending an email to the wrong Tom, Dick, or Harry (which, admittedly, I have done).

Google Building Maker: Our Tools, Your Labor

Thomas Claburn — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:57:37 -0500

Google on Tuesday introduced a new online graphics tool called Building Maker that allows users to create 3D buildings and place them in Google Earth.