Tag: google

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Cellphone Computer Gadget

Google Voice now lets you port your own phone number

We’d be lying if we said we hadn’t been waiting on this feature since the service’s debut. As one reader just notified us now lets you port your own phone number into its system — as in, that 10-digit hometown relic you’ve been holding onto as long as you’ve carried a handset can now live in the cloud and grant you freedom to start afresh / forward to your many on-hand devices. Check under phone setting to see if “change / port” is now an option. The cost of porting is $20 and, as you may guess, it’ll terminate your current service plan and probably prompt the carrier in question to charge applicable early termination fees, but that’s pittance for saving your old line for the indefinite future. You know, just in case your seventh grade crush gets the nerve to call and say, “sorry.” Of course he / she will, just give it time.

source: Google Voice

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Applications Computer

Gmail Now Lets You Drag and Drop Images Into Emails

Here’s a nice little improvement to Gmail, announced today on the official blog: to add an image into an email, simply drag and drop it there from your computer. You can then resize it and send it immediately.

This feature comes on the heels of a similar feature that let you drag and drop attachments into emails. The difference, however, is in the way images are displayed in the message; with this new feature, image is actually shown inline in the message (as opposed to being merely attached to it).

The feature currently works only in Google Chrome, but Google promises it will soon come to other browsers.

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Computer Handhelds Wireless

Google Buzz Explained

Google today announced a new service, Google Buzz, that automatically brings social networking into Gmail and the rest of the Google-sphere. Whether or not you’re big on social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook, Buzz offers a somewhat new and intriguing approach.

What’s Buzz All About?

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internet

Google’s Superbowl ad will make you cry a little bit

Admit it: you’re crying a little bit now, aren’t you?

Now, here’s the thing: this ad, from Google’s “Search Stories” YouTube channel, is from back in November, but John Battelle says he’s got a source telling him that ‘Parisian Love’ is the one that will air tomorrow night, during the third quarter of the SuperBowl. Either way, Google’s Eric Schmidt tweeted that he couldn’t wait to watch tomorrow, in addition to something about “hell freezing over.” So… that’s the first good reason we’ve heard to tune in. You with us?

John Battelle’s Searchblog

sourceSearch Stories

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Gadget Uncategorized

CE-Oh no he didn’t? Part LXVII: Steve Jobs lashes out at Google, calls Adobe ‘lazy’

According to a report in Wired (and a source whom the publication says “could not be named”), Steve Jobs spoke to an audience of Apple employees at a town hall in Cupertino and… pulled zero punches. If you believe what you read, Jobs tackled a handful of major issues that have been buzzing the company lately, namely its run-ins with Google on a number of topics, and the lack of Flash support in its mobile devices (most notably in the upcoming iPad). On Google, Jobs had this to say: “We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.” According to the attendee, another topic was brought up but Steve wouldn’t let the Google issue go, stating his thoughts on the company’s famous ‘Don’t be evil’ line. In Steve’s words? “It’s bullshit.”

Furthermore Jobs had a handful of choice words for Adobe, calling the company “lazy” and claiming that “Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5.” Of course, these amazing nuggets of wisdom come from a source which Engadget cannot verify, so it’s possible there are misquotes or items taken out of context, though from the sounds of things, this kind of talk falls right in line with what we’d expect from the man who said Microsoft “had no taste” and makes “really third-rate products.” We eagerly await Eric Schmidt’s response.

source Wired

Categories
Cellphone Gadget Wireless

Apple, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo compared at the macro level

We all love a good debate about how the tech giants of today are competing with each other, but rarely do we get a handy reference sheet like this to point people to. Nick Bilton of the New York Times has put together a segment-by-segment comparison between America’s tech heavyweights, which does a fine job of pinpointing who competes with whom and where. We find the gaps in coverage more intriguing than the overlaps, though, with Microsoft’s only unticked box — mobile hardware — raising habitual rumors of a Pink phone. Apple’s absence from the provision of mapping services might also soon be at an end, given the company acquired map maker Placebase in July of last year (see Computerworld). Anyway, there should be plenty more for you to enjoy, so hit the source for the full chart and get analyzin’.

source New York Times

Categories
Cellphone

Next Android version will be called Froyo, says Erick Tseng

Android’s next big iteration will be known as Froyo. That’s short for “frozen yogurt” and fits right in line with the zany naming scheme that has delivered us Cupcakes, Donuts, and Eclairs so far. If you had your money on Flan being next in that alphabetical order, sorry to disappoint. No additional info could be squeezed out of the Google man at present — such as how much further along Froyo will be from Android 2.1 (technically considered part of Eclair) or when we might expect the upgrade — but we’ve got a name and that should be plenty to get us started on another wonderful journey of soothsaying and speculation.

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Uncategorized

Nexus One Disassembled

It had to happen at some point!

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Uncategorized

Nexus One vs iPhone 3GS vs Droid vs Pre: The Definitive Comparison

If you’re looking for the definitive comparison table between the Google Nexus One, Apple iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid, and Palm Pre, here you have it. From storage capacity to price to plans. Guess who wins (you’ll probably be wrong).

My impression is that nobody clearly wins. Each of these phones have their own strengths and weaknesses, but there’s still not a definitive one. My favorite is still the iPhone just because the user interface design and the amazing applications—it’s not the number, but when you have 126,000 apps, inevitably you are going to have some amazingly good apps in each software category. However, in terms of specs, things are not that clear at all. At the end, it’s still a matter of personal preference

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Uncategorized

Google Phone / Nexus One makes first Twitter appearance? (update: new pics!)

google-phone-coryobrien-twitter

Look familiar? For a story that broke on Twitter it’s only fitting that the first reported picture of the mythical, magical “Google Phone” (AKA, Nexus One) would appear there as well. The tweeted image above appears courtesy of one Cory O’Brien, an account manager at a San Francisco Bay Area marketing agency that does not list Google as a client. That note of caution aside, the image above is an exact match to that leaked HTC Passion / Bravo image from October, only this time lacking the HTC logo on the top-side bezel. Besides the pic, O’Brien tweets that the “Google Phone = iPhone + a little extra screen and a scroll wheel. Great touch screen, and Android.” Granted, none of this is confirmed yet, but with Google releasing so many of the devices as part of its “mobile lab” concept, well, we expect to see plenty more sightings in the run up to the rumored January launch.

Update: A quick search for “nexus one” on Google’s Picasa photo service reveals several pictures taken with a camera pegged as the HTC Nexus One in the EXIF data. The very first of these geotagged 2592×1944 pixel (that’s a 5 megapixel sensor folks, hardly “weirdly large” as described by TechCrunch) images were taken by user Bradley (who just happens to be a Picasa friend to Sergey… hint) in the SF Bay Area on November 27th. A few are clearly lit by an onboard flash as well. In fact, many of the pics appear to be taken from within Google’s offices and at Google sponsored events. The quality is not exactly spectacular and that won’t likely change in the final product because even Google’s bound by the laws of physics when it comes to tiny cellphone sensors.

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