Tag: Google

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iGoogle to be shutdown along with 3 more products

Recently, it was announced that iGoogle will be shutdown by Google. The service allows users to create a personalized Google page with photos, news, weather reports with the help of widgets.

iGoogle has quite a few fans and that is probably why Google is retiring it with an advance notice of almost a year and half. The service will be shutdown on 1st November, 2013. I am sure some would miss iGoogle but the time for personalized homepages with widgets has probably passed.

iGoogle: An idea from a different time

As Google explained in their post, iGoogle was launched in 2005. It was a time when almost all online activity happened through the browser and on personal computers.

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A homepage with widgets showing news, tips and weather updates is not exactly useful at a time when most people use apps on the smartphones to access this information.

iGoogle is not alone, Google will also shutdown 3 more products

Google Talk chatback which could be used to embed Google Talk onto websites will be shutdown. It will probably be replaced by Meebo bar which does the same thing a lot better.

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Google Video is also now being completely shutdown with all videos being transferred to YouTube. This will be done automatically and users are not any longer expected to download and upload their video from Google Videos to YouTube.

In a significant death knell for Symbian platform, Google has announced its discontinuance of the Symbian Search App. This means Symbian users will search on Google only through the browser.

Google is not new to closing down services to concentrate on lesser but more connected products. It has closed down quite a few products which include the popular image editor Picnik and others like Aardvark, Google Desktop and many more.

Did you use iGoogle and will you miss it? Do drop in your comments.

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News

Google’s Nexus 7 Tablet in India by September

During last month Google I/O 2012 event, the Nexus7 tablet was introduced. At the moment the tablets are available in US, Canada and Australia. The tablet will in all probability be made available in India this September.

According to IBN-Live, ASUS which manufacturers Nexus 7 for Google, has confirmed that the tablet will not be available in India before September.

A release before October would make sense as it would be before the festive season of Diwali, when shopping activity is at a yearly high.

Pricing – Nexus7 Tablet in India

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The tablet currently goes for $199 for 8 GB and $249 for the 16GB versions.

The price of Nexus 7 has not yet been confirmed by Asus in India but we should expect it to be on the lower side price wise.

If the tablet shows up around the Rs. 10,000 to 12,000 region, it will in all probability make big inroads into India, where enthusiasm about tablet devices is a bit low because of the cost.

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How will Google Play be promoted in India?

When Nexus 7 was launched and price revealed, it was clear that Google was not looking to make money from the sales for the device. They were more interested in having people buy movies, music and books from the Google Play.

It will be interesting to see if Google ties up with some of the media houses in India, to sell content for Indian users.

India is a big market for smartphones but that does not automatically translate to tablet sales like it has in US and Europe.

Ofcourse it could all end up being just a plan and Nexus 7 might not release in India at all like they did with Galaxy Nexus.

If Nexus 7 is released in India, would you be lining up to buy it? Do drop in your comments.

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Tips

How to Enable Offline Editing for Google Docs

Google Docs is a great service. At work, we often use it to collaborate on different ideas and plans. The only real problem with Google Docs was we could not really access them offline.

Google Docs now has the option of being available for editing in offline mode.

How to Set up Offline Docs

Google Docs as you might know has become Google Drive. That means all your Google Documents and spread sheets are part of Google Drive.

Log into your Google account and access your Google Drive on the browser. Click on the settings icon and from the drop down menu click on “Set up Docs offline”.

Now make sure you have the Google Drive web app installed on your Chrome browser. Click on “Enable offline Docs” button and your documents are made available offline.

Unfortunately, the offline feature works only on the Chrome browser.

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Enable Offline Docs on Google Apps

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If you have Google Apps for your organization then you might want to offline docs for your Google Apps account.

Simply go over to the admin panel if you are the admin. Under services select Drive and Docs.

A new option with title Offline allows you to check a box. Check it and click on Save. This should enable your Google Apps account users to enable their accounts to get offline docs.

A Boost of Chrome OS

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Having the ability to edit documents offline is extremely useful not just for regular Google Docs users but also for Chromebook owners. Chromebooks run on Chrome OS, which did not have much offline functionality.

It should also give Chrome OS a lot more acceptability in time to come. What would be interesting is how Microsoft reacts as they pretty much have a stranglehold on the Office Enterprise software market and earn considerable revenues from Microsoft Office.

A lot of users who do not exactly want the entire Microsoft Office suite of desktop applications could potentially move over to Google.

Google Drive can also be accessed on Android, iPhone/iPad and desktops versions.

Do drop in your comments.

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News

5 Announcements Expected at Google I/O 2012

Google I/O 2012 seems to be the showcase event where Google, will roll-out a lot of new features, updates and more. Last year, Google did introduce Chromebooks, which although are not very successful commercially, has been a favourite among many schools and universities in US and Europe.

This year too, there are a lot of expectations form Google I/O. Lets take a look at the 5 most anticipated announcements.

1. Android Jellybeans

Even though very few Android based smart-phones have Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), all indicatoins suggest that Google will roll-out Android Jellybeans. It was only a rumour before, but recently it is more or less has become a confirmed announcement.

Yesterday, Google confirmed Jellybeans, by unvieling this Jellybean filled Android statue on its laws.

Android Jellybeans might be a sure thing but its version number is not yet confirmed. It could be Android 4.1 or even Android 5.0. That apart, Google will have to do something to get OEMs to push Android updates a lot faster than they have been doing, which has led to a sort of fragmentation. This fragmentation actually creates a lot of issues for developers, who are the heart and soul of the Android ecosystem.

2. Nexus 7

Google has been rumoured for a long time to be working on releasing a tablet. The leaked specifications on Nexus 7, have rumour mills going that Google will pull off a low priced tablet that will run on Android Jellybeans. This would put is as a viable option to Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

Google might unveil a completely different tablet but whatever it does, it is probably a good step as Android based tablets are really not catching anyone’s attentions at the moment.

3. Google Drive

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Google Drive was earlier but we have not seem many updates and improvement on it. At he moment Google Drive API works only for web apps which have to be installed from the Chrome webstore. This sort of makes Google Drive on the web only useful on Chrome. I guess they will roll out more features and options to make better use of Google Drive.

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4. Google + Motorola

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Google has recently acquired Motorola at a very heavy price. So there is a natural expectation that Google will put that talent to good use with a showcase new smartphone or a range of new phones in partnership with Motorola. At the moment its Nexus phone is sold by Samsung, while the Nexus 7 tablet seem to be built by Asus. Nothing heard about Motorola as yet, but pretty sure will hear something interesting about it.

5. Google+ Features and API access

Google+ was launched late last year but capture a great deal of media. People are already writing it off as a play where not one really visits. But with social media becoming more oriented towards mobile phones, Google+ might see some interesting new features.

Most importantly, there is a chance Google+ API is made available for app developers. It was already rolled out to Flipboard, a mobile based feed reader app.

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Google I/O Curse for new announcements?

Google has not always hit the bull’s eye with all their announcements. If you remember duds like Google Wave, Google TV and to an extent Chromebooks have been all announced at previous Google I/O. Hopefully Google will a lot more success with their new products in 2012.

Follow Google I/O 2012 on their official page where all the conferences will be streamed live.

What do your expect from Google I/O over the next three days? Do drop in your comments.

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News

Nexus 7: New Tablet by Google! [Rumour]

It is that time of the year again, when rumours of new tablets and gadgets are abound. Google I/O Developer Conference is only days away and everyone expects it to roll out a new Nexus Tablet. According to Gizmodo Australia, the name, specs and price range for Google’s tablet offering have been leaked.

The 7-inch tablet is expected to be called Nexus 7 and some of the rumoured specs are as follows.

  • The tablet built by Asus will ship with a 1.3Ghz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, GeForce 12-core GPU
  • It will have 1GB RAM
  • The data storage limits are expected to be in two options 8GB and 16GB.
  • The screen will support resolution of 1280 X 800 and have a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera.
  • The battery should last about 9 hours.
  • The price of the tablet is expected to be $199/- for 8GB and $249 for 16GB.
  • The tablet will ship with Android Jellybeans as an OS.
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Who is Google possibly targeting with Nexus 7?

Even though whenever someone comes up with a new tablet, the usual comparisons are with Apple iPad. Google is not exactly positioning Nexus-7 as a alternative to iPad but more so as an alternative to the cheaper, yet highly customized Kindle Fire by Amazon. Also looking at the price and specs, it seems Google is setting a standard for other tablet manufacturers making tablets.

With Microsoft announcing ‘Surface’ tablets, we can expect a lot of competition in this niche, which is always a good outcome for customers like you and me. Over the next few days, we will know if the Nexus 7 rumours are true or not.

Do drop in your comments.

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News

49% Increase in Content removal requests from India to Google

Google has released is latest update on its transperancy report. It basically catalogs the number of of requests made to Google to remove content by various government and non-government agencies from around the world. This could be content from hosted on Google properties like YouTube, Picassa, Google+, Blogger and more.

Many of these requests are actually made by government agencies for various reasons which include copyright, impersonation, national security, hate speech and more.

In the report, the number of requests made by Indian government (which includes local agencies, court orders and police) went up by 49% from the previous 6 months.

Between January to June 2011, there were a total 68 content removal requests. In the next six months from July to December 2011, there were a total of 101 requests.

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Also only 5 of these requests were backed up by a court order while the rest were from different administrative agencies.

Internet Censorship and Content Removal Requests!

Usual assumption is that when a government increases the number of content removal requests from Google, it is trying to clamp down on the internet. Internet censorship has recently grabbed many headlines in India with ministers demanding manual scanning of all content on social media, to courts threathening to ban social media websites.

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Just over a week ago, many Indian cities had protests against online censorship, egged on by the popular hacktivist group Anonymous.

Interestingly, India is not the only country to see a spurt in government requested content removal requests. United States also increased the number of requests from 92 to 187.

Check out the link below which is a compilation of data collected by Google about all the requests they receive about content removal.

Also do drop in your comments and views.

Link: Google Transparency Report – Removals

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News

Google Bids for 101 Top Level Domains which include .Google, .App and .Docs

Almost a year ago, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) allowed generic Top-Level Domain names to be made available. For example now we could have domain name ending with a .Google, .Apple, .Book, etc.

This move was criticized as tipping balance in favour of the rich, as bidding for a generic top-level Domains would be extremely expensive.

Yesterday, ICANN released the list of applications for the new gTLDs.

Large companies have all applied for gTLDs, usually starting with their company name. For example some companies like Apple have applied for .Apple. Large internet companies on the other hand have applied for many different gTLDs.

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Generic Top Level Domains like .APP has received 12 companies possibly bidding for it, .BOOK has upto 8 possible bidders.

Google even though officially is opposed to such generic TLDs has bid for 101 names. It is followed by Amazon with 76 bids.

Here is a table of the four major internet companies who have bid for gTLDs.

Prominent Bidders No of TLDS Applied for Prominent TLD Names
Google 101 .Google, .App, .Docs, .Android, .Chrome, .Hangout, .Cloud, .Blog and more
Amazon 76 .Amazon, .App, .Author, .Book, .BUY and more
Microsoft 11 Azure, .Bing, .Docs, .Live, .Hotmail and more
Yahoo 2 .Yahoo and .Flickr
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Interestingly I did not find the name of Facebook on it and no application for .Facebook either. Chances are it has bid for some gTLDs through another registration name.

Indian Companies on the List

There were quite a few companies based in India that have applied for gTLD names. Prominently Reliance Industries Ltd, has bid for .Indians. While most others have bid for their trademark names which they are known by like .Tata, .Airtel, .Infy etc.

Do you think gTLD names will become a headache for internet companies, who will have to keep paying up large sums of money to protect their brand names? Do drop in your comments.

Link: ICANN’s gTLD List

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News

Bing partners Britannica Encyclopedia to create its own Knowledge Graph

Bing has announced a partnership with Britannica Encyclopedia, to give more relevant information for certain search queries in the search page itself.

This means using Bing, I could quickly find out some simple details about certain famous people or even certain things like a plant, animal or place. This sounds a lot like Knowledge Graph which was introduced by Google few days ago.

I decided to check out what Bing is offering with its tie-up with Encyclopedia Britannica. Below is the search result for a search term and I have highlighted the Britannica entry in the results.

Few things that stand out is that the link is not exactly at the top, which would have been very useful.

I carried out more search queries and found that Wikipedia entries almost always show up above the Britannica ones. It also has a lot less information that Google Knowledge Graph shows as you can see in the image below.

Google shows its Knowledge Graph results more prominently than Bing is showing up Britannica results. I wonder what exactly Bing is trying to do here but fixing these results at the top could be a good start as users are more like to actually look them up.

Interesting to note that Google tends to rely quite a bit on Wikipedia for its Knowledge Graph content while Bing has decided on Britannica. It is well known that Wikipedia was pretty much responsible for the decline of Britannica Encyclopedia’s printed editions.

Do drop in your comments.

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News

Google Acquires Popular Web Based Messenger Meebo

Meebo is a web based chat client which allows users to chat online in a single place from various different accounts like ICQ, Google, MSN and more. Meebo saw a great deal of popularity for people tired of lack of compatibility between traditional instant messengers.

Meebo lately has also, created a web-based toolbar which allows users to share web pages across different websites.

According to Meebo, they reach approximately half of US population. This is what has in all probability caught the attention of Google.

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Meebo has announced that it is now a part of Google.

What will happen to Meebo?

As usual, after a buyout most times things are a little uncertain about the continuity of a company’s product. It will be interesting to see in the future if Meebo retains its compatibility with Facebook, especially given that Facebook and Google+ are competitors.

Another factor is Meebo also has a web based advertising platform, which be rolled into Google AdSense.

What are your views on Meebo being a part of Google now? Do drop in your comments.

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Gmail Auto-Complete is Tweaked for Individual Emails!

One of Google’s most underrated yet extremely useful search feature is auto-complete. Just type in the query and it shows auto-complete options. Gmail also has a search bar which is extremely useful for looking up old email exchanges you might want to look up.

Gmail also has auto-complete feature in its search bar but it only used to prompt with addresses or titles of email.

The new auto-complete as announced by Gmail, will be made more relevant to the email you are viewing currently.

Lets say you are reading a email from a friend about a book he recently bought, then when you search the auto-complete will show up more options which are related to books rather than just contacts. This will be data used from your emails in the past itself.

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The change seems rather small and will be hardly noticed by most users except that their email search will get a lot more intuitive.

Scanning Emails is not really Evil!

Earlier in the year, when Google announced a single Privacy Policy across various services, people seemed to be angry with the fact the Google would use data across services to show more ads. Also some experts complained that Google would be scanning their emails which were on Gmail, conveniently ignoring that most email services do the same with their spam filters.

This sort of auto-complete feature actually is a good example of how Google improves the email experience by crawling your emails.

Do drop in your comments.

Related: Fun with Google Auto-Complete: Difference between US and India!