Category Archives: Google

Oct
23
2012
5
comments
 

Don’t Forget: Important Week Ahead For Google, Microsoft, Samsung and T-Mobile

Posted by at 4:20 pm

Apple has had their moment to impress the public with its new lineup of Macs and iPads, but one must not forget that Google, Microsoft, Samsung and T-Mobile also have an important week ahead in the technological landscape. Samsung is set to launch its massive Galaxy Note II smartphone in the United States tomorrow alongside Kanye West in New York City, while the Microsoft Surface tablet is set to launch this Friday, October 26th.

Google too is set to host its own special event next Monday, October 29th with a tagline of “the playground is open,” which should be equally as exciting as the Apple event that unfolded today. Just hours after Google wraps up its event, T-Mobile will hit the stage on Monday afternoon to debut its new fall smartphone lineup. So if you thought the excitement was over after today, it’s actually just getting started.

Post a response / What do you think?
Oct
18
2012
15
comments
 

Android Activations Stall at 1.3 Million Per Day

Posted by at 2:56 pm

During today’s conference call, Larry Page (Google’s CEO) stated that Android activations were still at 1.3 million per day – the same as what was announced earlier last month.

It’s hard to call this a failure, though: Android is currently on more than half a billion shipped devices, and 1.3 million are being added to that daily. A few factors may have contributed to this leveling of numbers, including the iPhone 5, and the potential that Android has hit an acceleration ceiling. Regardless, 1.3 million activations worldwide per day is still an impressive feat.

Android’s marketshare will likely fall slightly, given the refresh of Apple’s iDevices (particularly the iPhone 5) and the impending release of the iPad mini. Fall also typically represents a lull (if such a thing exists) in high profile Android devices, with the Nexus brand usually dominating the news cycle. While the Nexus models are popular amongst geeks, they are rarely marketed widely to general audiences and are only available on a limited basis, as compared to the mass rollouts of flagship devices such as the Galaxy S III and the One X.

[Android Central]

Post a response / What do you think?
Oct
17
2012
11
comments
 

Google Opens the Doors to its Data Centers, Storm Trooper Security Revealed

Posted by at 7:25 pm

Google Opens the Doors to its Data Centers, Storm Trooper Security Revealed


Google has granted some publications a limited, exclusive look in to their datacenters. In addition to this look provided by Wired Magazine, Google has also created a Street View-esque tour of one of their North Carolina datacenters. In typical Google fashion, there are a few surprises – the most hilarious of which is a storm trooper, standing guard over a massive server rack, with a miniature R2-D2 model seen in the foreground. Both are characters in George Lucas’ Star Wars (as if you didn’t know that already), and show Google’s quirky, yet unwaveringly geeky, culture which attracts so many bright and talented minds. Good on the guys over in Mountain View – this is the best of Google, in one photo.

Post a response / What do you think?
Oct
11
2012
8
comments
 

Eric Schmidt Talks About Apple and Android War, Gang of Four and Future of Technology

Posted by at 9:49 am

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt spoke with All Things Digital journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher yesterday, reflecting upon numerous topics including Apple, Google and where technology is headed in the future. One notable thing that Schmidt said is that Apple should not have left Google Maps, adding that Apple made that decision a long time ago and is only now realizing that creating maps is difficult. Schmidt concludes that Google Maps are simply better. Other interesting excerpts from the interview have been gathered below and after the break.

“Gang of Four”

Mossberg: Two years ago we talked to you and you brought up this “Gang of Four” idea. The most influential tech companies. Please expand on that, and update that.
Schmidt: Something unusual has happened. All four companies are networks/platforms generating enormous scale effects. We’ve never had that before: Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google. All different, all competitors, all making enormous investments.
Swisher: You left out Microsoft.
Schmidt: Deliberate.
Swisher: Still four? What about with Facebook’s troubles?
Schmidt: A billion users is still a really big deal. You can do a lot with that.

(more…)

Post a response / What do you think?
Oct
11
2012
4
comments
 

Google Rolls Out ‘Biggest Street View Update Ever’

Posted by at 8:04 am

Apple might have removed Google Maps from iOS, but that hasn’t stopped Google from improving the mapping service by adding or updating over 250,000 miles of roads and special collections. In what is dubbed as the “biggest Street View update ever,” Google has expanded coverage within 11 countries, including Britain, Canada and the United States.

Google has also doubled its number of special collections, which allow you to see tourist attractions in places such as South Africa, Japan, Spain and France. Google Maps is rumored to be coming to the App Store in the next few months, while the mapping solution can be accessed from the mobile web in the meantime.

[Google Maps via Android Police]

Post a response / What do you think?
Oct
04
2012
11
comments
 

Google Street View Goes Live on Mobile Safari

Posted by at 11:00 am

Google Street View Goes Live on Mobile Safari

Gary Ng for iPhone in Canada writes:

Earlier today it was noted by Walt Mossberg Google Street View would be coming to the Google Maps web app on Thursday, essentially confirming what we were earlier told by the New York Times. Well, it looks like Google Street View has gone live late Wednesday night PDT.

Google Maps might no longer be offered on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, but that hasn’t stopped Google from adding Street View to its Maps web app at maps.google.com. What do you think of Street View on the mobile web?

Post a response / What do you think?
Sep
28
2012
16
comments
 

Android and iOS Experience Growth, BlackBerry and Windows Phone Decline

Posted by at 4:52 pm

Android and iOS experienced continued growth in the mobile space for a three month period ending in July, according to the latest numbers from comScore. Android continues to be the most popular mobile operating system, powering 52.2 percent of smartphones in July, an increase of around 1 percent over its 50.8 percent share in April. iOS too experienced growth with a 33.4 percent share in July, an increase of 2 percent over its 31.4% mark in April.

Microsoft and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion suffered at the expense of the growth of Android and iOS, as market share for the BlackBerry operating system declined from 11.6 percent in April to just 9.5 percent in July. Windows Phone too saw a decline of roughly half a percent, dropping to 3.6 percent in July over its 4 percent mark in April. The data is determined based on all U.S. smartphone subscribers, 13 years of age or older. (more…)

Post a response / What do you think?
Sep
26
2012
2
comments
 

Apple Ditched Google Maps Over Turn-by-Turn Navigation Dispute

Posted by at 2:47 pm

The controversial launch of Apple’s new Maps on iOS 6 has been at the forefront of news this week, with additional information emerging from AllThingsD today about the reasoning behind Apple ditching Google Maps in favor of its own in-house mapping solution. According to the report, Apple split up with Google because the two companies had differing views towards voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation on iOS devices.

Spoken turn-by-turn navigation has been a free service offered through Google’s Android mobile OS for a few years now. But it was never part of the deal that brought Google’s Maps to iOS. And sources say Apple very much wanted it to be. Requiring iPhone users to look directly at handsets for directions and manually move through each step — while Android users enjoyed native voice-guided instructions — put Apple at a clear disadvantage in the mobile space. And having chosen Google as its original mapping partner, the iPhone maker was now in a position where an archrival was calling the shots on functionality important to the iOS maps feature set.

Essentially, Google was calling the shots with regards to spoken turn-by-turn navigation on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, giving its Android operating system a clear advantage in the mobile industry. Evidently, Apple was displeased about this situation enough to break its ties with Google Maps entirely and transition towards its own mapping service. (more…)

Post a response / What do you think?
Sep
26
2012
38
comments
 

Should Apple Have Waited Until iOS 7 to Launch its Maps App?

Posted by at 12:25 pm

Apple’s new Maps application has ignited quite a controversy since it launched a few weeks ago as part of the iOS 6 software update for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The cloud-based service has come under fire by iOS device owners for its lack of public transportation information, incorrect search results and poor mapping coverage in several areas, although Apple has promised that the app will improve over time.

Today, a new report surfaced on The Verge that claims Apple still had over one year left in its Google Maps contract; interesting, since Apple could have waited until its new Maps app was more polished before releasing it to the public prematurely. What do you think? Should Apple waited until the launch of iOS 7 — presumably next year — before releasing its own in-house mapping solution?

The sudden decision by Apple to drop Google Maps in iOS reportedly came as a shock to Google, which still has several months to go before it finalizes its own App Store edition of Google Maps for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Google is likely to include its own 3D mapping in its Google Maps app, similar to what Google Earth already offers on iOS devices.

[The Verge]

Post a response / What do you think?
Sep
25
2012
5
comments
 

Eric Schmidt: “We Haven’t Done Anything Yet With Google Maps”

Posted by at 8:12 am

Despite earlier claims that Google had submitted its Maps app to the App Store for approval, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has all but confirmed that his company has not moved to launch the app on Apple devices. Apple removed Google Maps from iPhone, iPod touch and iPad in favor of its own in-house Maps app, although the new cloud-based offering has been the subject of much criticism since iOS 6 debuted earlier this month.

Schmidt — who is currently visiting Japan to launch Google’s Nexus 7 tablet and introduce Google Play Books and new movie content — told Reuters that while the company has not officially moved to launch its app, it has been “talking with (Apple) for a long time,” and admitted “we talk to them every day.”

(more…)

Post a response / What do you think?