Posts tagged Google
Guru Ricky has a new toy…and needs your help
Mar 5th
Hey everyone, I got a new toy this morning – a Nexus One- and I need your help. This is my first Android device so I’m still learning the ins and outs. If anyone has any good app suggestions, or anything they’d like to see reviewed, please let me know. You can leave comments on this post or hit me up directly on my Twitter account.
Thanks in adavance. I’m really looking forward to hearing from you guys!
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Welcome to the city of Google
Mar 2nd
Hey, remember that post a few weeks back about how Google is starting to test their own crazy-fast broadband service? Well it looks like one US city REEEEEAAAAALLLLLYYYY wants to help out.
For the rest of the month, Topeka, Kansas will be known as Google, Kansas. Yes, you read that right. There is a US city who is, purposefully, calling themselves Google. Does that mean that the Topekans are now Googlians?
See the full story here and weigh in with your thoughts. Good idea? Got a better name for the citizens than Googlians? Let’s hear it.
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reMail acquired by Google…but why?
Feb 20th
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m REALLY looking forward to this war brewing between Google and Apple. I think it’s fair to say Android phones and the iPhone are primarily marketed more towards consumers than business users and, with that market constantly growing, these two tech giants aren’t going to be pulling any punches.
Want proof? (I mean other than the in-again, out-again of Google Voice in the Apple’s App Store)
On Thursday Google acquired reMail, an iPhone email client, and virtually IMMEDIATELY pulled it from the App Store. In fact, the reMail website already has tons of Google propaganda all over it.
According to the press release, reMail will continue to work on the iPhone support for the app will continue until the end of March.
As far as Google goes, the jury’s still out on what they plan on doing with their new acquisition, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer is “nothing”. I mean, with as much money as Google has, they can definitely afford to buy a company for the sole purpose of hurting a rival. It’s actually a pretty brilliant move on their part…and I think it’s hilarious.
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Alca-droid? Andratel?
Feb 18th
What do you get if you take a Palm Pre twin, give it the Android OS and throw in an early 90’s color scheme? Well you get the Alcatel OT-980.
First, I have to say, I don’t get a slide-out keyboard on a touchscreen phone. They all feel either too flimsy (like the Pre) or just add awkward weight (like the Motorola Droid).
Beyond the confusingly useless keyboard, this is actually a pretty decent little phone. This slider packs 192MB of RAM, WiFi, 3G and a compass (which seems to be the new “it” feature – compasses are the new WiFi?). This 2.8 inch screen is rumored to run Android 2.1 – making it a “better” phone than most Android phones on the market today.
The OT-980 will be the European company’s first venture into the smartphone realm and they seem to have a good plan – design a quality, consumer-friendly phone and sell it at a low price.
The OT-980 won’t be available for a few more months, but it should find some very interested users when it hits the market.
No it’s NOT 2.1, but an update is an update…right?
Feb 15th
Seems like another Android device is getting some update love from Google. As we reported yesterday regarding the Nexus One update on the horizon, now Android Central is reporting the Motorola CLIQ being next. The update will fix the CLIQ’s battery life, touchscreen, and GPS. No word on a release date, but from what we are told it should be this week.
If you are using a CLIQ and receive the update please check back and let us know how it is!
Sony Ericsson spices it up a bit
Feb 15th
Well, SonyEricsson has definitely started the MWC (Mobile World Conference) with a bang today for all you Android enthusiasts. BoyGeniusReport is reporting that during the pre-game show (Conference starts tomorrow in Barcelona, Spain) SonyEricsson officially unveiled 2 new devices in the Xperia line running Google’s beloved Android platform in the X10 mini and X10 mini pro and keeping their beloved Symbian OS on the Viva Pro, the big brother to the originally announced Viva. The X10 mini and X10 mini pro are similarly spec’d handsets with the X10 Mini Pro sporting a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The Vivaz Pro is a slightly modified version of the Vivaz and offers a QWERTY keyboard, a touchscreen interface and the Symbian S60th 5th edition operating system. We can hope to see these new phones all launching around Q2 2010. Excited to see SonyEricsson running Android? Leave us a comment!
Yes people..Google is listening!
Feb 14th
As Engadget reported many Nexus One owners have been reporting radio issues on their handsets over the past weeks. Google tried to fix the problem once with a firmware update a couple weeks ago, however problems seem to persist and users are still dropping 3G left and right. In fact, a simple wave of the hand over the lower portion of the phone can cause a drop from 3G to EDGE.
However, there is good news for Nexus One-toting folks, because there have been reports of an update floating around internally which features an updated radio file. Packed with the update is Google Maps 3.4 as opposed to the recently released 4.0, which hints that it is probably an early build. It’s still comforting to know that HTC and Google hear your cries for help, and appear to be working on a solution. Hopefully this time though, it actually works.
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Google trying to Monopolize the Internet?
Feb 10th
If this were the army, now would be the time where Google was in your face yelling, “From now on, I’m your daddy and your mama!!” Seemingly unsatisfied to be your search engine, RSS reader, phone’s OS creator, phone seller and virtually everything else involving the internet, Google wants to be your broadband service provider. Yes, you read that right, Google has been trying to unify everything you do online for a while now so being your service provider sort of makes sense.
Google plans to test their coverage in a small number of locations from anywhere between 50,000 and 500,000 people with speeds up to a blistering 1GB per second.
Who knows how this will work out, but it definitely has the ability to change the way people use the web. With stupid-fast speeds, all Google needs is competitive pricing (something they’ve had no problem with in the past since virtually everything they do is free) to really shake up the broadband service industry. They’ve also claimed the service will be available through a variety of service providers.
Here’s how it will all go down.
…OK, not really. But it’s still funny!
Follow me on twitterStop the Presses…for Google Buzz
Feb 9th
Everybody mark today in your calendars, because it’s a big day. However, while we don’t know what kind of day it is just yet, we know there are only two options:
1) Google releases Google Buzz and revolutionizes the way people communicate
2) Google releases Google Buzz that, like Google wave, doesn’t do much of anything.
Google Buzz is basically an integration of Flickr, Picasa, Twitter and Google Reader (wait, what??) into your Gmail account. It also carries heavy Facebook and YouTube tendencies; with it’s pulling of pictures and video off of messages and web links. Like other social networking sites, it gives you the ability to post to everyone, or to a limited number of people. It also includes the ability sent directly to a friend, like an @-reply or a wall post. In fact, you actually type “@your friend’s email”. Why do you need the @ sign? Shouldn’t just entering the email cover it? Also, comments to your posts are sent to your inbox, which is a nice touch and it claims to pull info from posts that you will find useful. If this means that it tracks your use of GB, then that sounds like a cool feature, though I read so much random stuff online I don’t know if it would help me much.
This sounds like an amazing idea, but I really don’t see myself using it. For one, very few of my friends I communicate with regularly have a Gmail account. We use SMS and work email addresses for the most part. I did sign up though – because, well, I’m a geek. I haven’t tried it out too much yet, though maybe that could be a follow up post to this one if you guys want. I’m hoping that it will pull emails and such off of regular emails; I think that could be really useful. And though I don’t understand it at all, I will concede that it’s inclusion in Google Reader makes me more likely to use it, on some small scale. My GR is always open at work and I have the widget on my MacBook Pro, so it’s always readily accessible.
I’ll also have to see how easy this is to use on my 9550. I haven’t been able to track down an app for it yet, so there might not be one for the BlackBerry – though it wouldn’t surprise me if there was one for Android…and who knows about for the iPhone, it has an app for everything, but Google and Apple are competing so hard that the default iPhone search engine is Bing. (Yea, you know, Bing…the MICROSOFT search engine! How crazy is that!? Sorry, way off topic. I just think that’s hilarious!)
For more info, including a nifty video, head over to buzz.google.com
Guru Ricky
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