Google posts

For a company that has had trouble understanding social, the response to Google+, the company’s new social network platform, has been remarkably good. But no-one so far has suggested that Google+ will be the proverbial “Facebook killer’. And nor should they. We have no idea how the mass market will respond to Google+, especially since there’s no agreement among early adopters yet. Still, at least in terms of ideas, Google+ is very interesting – innovative, even. In fact, the ideas are so surprisingly good, I think Facebook has a reason to worry – if, of course, they decide not to steal those ideas…

For the past couple of years, we have been waiting to see whether Research in Motion, the makers of the Blackberry, could rise to meet the challenge of iOS and, later, Android. And for a while, we were hopeful. Looking at RIM’s past and brand loyalty, there was much reason to believe they would succeed despite Apple and Google’s onslaughts. But yesterday, two news stories came out that were symbols of RIM’s (probably permanent) decline. The first was that Apple has enough cash to buy the entire mobile phone industry. The second was that RIM themselves have halved their internal projections for their…

It’s hard to say goodbye to things that have been with us for so long, but it appears we may be saying goodbye to the Google “I’m Feeling Lucky” button that most people have tried and few ever use anymore (other than when having friends do a search for “Chuck Norris”). The search giant appears to be testing out a new style for presenting their results based upon what is being seen on Google Finland for some. The order has changed, flip-flopping the URL and description sections of search results to put the URL directly below the live link. This makes sense, as it goes along with the concept that people rarely…

Advances in mobile search are now leading to changes in desktop search. On a mobile phone, users can search using their voice or by using a picture. Now that same functionality is available on desktops to get even faster results. Voice Search on mobile devices has been around since 2008, but at the Inside Search press event in San Francisco today, Google announced that Voice Search will now be available on the desktop. Voice search has become so common on mobile devises that it’s only natural to bring that functionality to the desktop. Google says that Voice Search is especially helpful for long…

Google has never really had a problem with getting or presenting data. They have so much information stored in rows of petabyte servers spanning the world that acquiring data has become second nature. Finding the data… that’s the hard part. In these 17 videos, Google demonstrates in nice 16-second snippets different ways to make searching its volumes of bytes and pieces easier. 17 videos may sound like a lot, but at 16-seconds each, it’s less than 5-minutes of viewing time. Start watching: Google Weather: Google Local Businesses: Google Unit Conversion: Google Movie Times: Google Sports…

App watchdog group ViaForensics has been running popular Android and iPhone apps through their system to see who is encrypting sensitive data such as passwords, user names, and application data, as well as over 20 other pieces of details normally stored through apps. The results have been expected, albeit depressing. Many major apps, including FourSquare, LinkedIn, and Gmail, failed the test for one reason or another. Below is a list of those who failed. AIM Android AIM iPhone Android Mail (Exchange) Android Android Mail (Hotmail) Android Bump iPhone Foursquare Android Gmail Android Groupon…

Local branches of Apple and Google stores in Taipei City have been given two weeks to offer free 7-day trials on apps that run on their mobile platforms or face financial penalties. According to Yeh Ching-yuan, Taipei City’s director of Law and Regulation Commission, “If the two companies fail to meet the requirement by the deadline, they may be slapped with fines of up to NT$1.5 million (US$52,265).” Currently, both companies are in violation of Taiwan’s Consumer Protection Act, a consumer protection that requires companies to have return and refund policies available for all purchases that…

As Apple, Google, and Facebook face more scrutiny over their mobile privacy policies from the government, the concerns continue to grow for users. Where we are, what we’re doing, and how we’re doing it are often questions that can be answered by these companies, often without our knowledge. This graphic by our friends at ZoneAlarm breaks down the threats and perceived evils being perpetrated by mobile-based companies and the larger companies who control them. Are we safe to surf on our gadgets? Click to enlarge. …

Google has announced that it will shut down its News Archives project, an initiative aimed at digitizing the world’s newspapers and making them available online. In an email sent to numerous partners including the Boston Phoenix, Google said it would no longer accept, scan, and index archival material from newspapers. The search giant will instead focus on “newer projects that help the industry, such as Google One Pass, a platform that enables publishers to sell content and subscriptions directly from their own sites.” Google’s News Archives project began five years ago and currently…

So, let’s get this out of the way now: there is no ‘tablet market’. There is no huge demographic out there craving and desiring a tablet computer. There are millions of iPad customers. And there a few hundred thousand people – maybe even a few million worldwide – who desperately want a tablet running Android, WebOS or QNX. Yet because that’s true right now, it doesn’t mean things won’t change. The tablet is just too inevitably necessary for the (lack of a) market to stay that way. The need for a web-connected frame for content of all sorts is just too obvious. And while tablets will not and are not meant…