Asad's Blog: Google

Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Chrome's Background Apps feature makes web apps feel more like native apps!

Google has been on a mission lately to outline some of the cooler, newer features coming to Chrome on their Chromium Blog. Today brings one of the biggest yet: Background Apps.

This feature has existed on various builds of Chrome/Chromium for some time now. But Google hasn’t been touting it, and it wasn’t really clear how it would be used and/or useful. Well today, it’s very clear. And again, very cool. Essentially, Chrome-based web apps are going to be able to be always open, but hidden in the background.

Why would anyone want to use a web app without seeing it? A couple reasons. First, this allows the browser to notify you in realtime of certain updates, like chat requests or new messages. Second, this may allow the browser to pre-render any page so when you do open it, it will load instantly.

Obviously, the trade-off is the memory hit you take by running an app in the background, but presumably these could be coded to have a minimal impact in terms of memory usage.

Essentially, this gives web apps a “push” notification functionality like Apple uses for the iPhone and iPad. It’s a bit different since that system uses Apple own servers to ping your phone and doesn’t require an app to be open at all, but the effect is the same. A user wouldn’t realize the app is open, but would still get alerts about it.

Of course, there’s a security risk there. But Google addresses that in this way:

To protect our users’ privacy, we’ve made this functionality available only to apps and extensions; regular websites will not be able to open background windows. Developers will also need to declare the “background” capability on their apps.

That’s important beyond the security issue. It could make installing web apps actually useful. Up until now, most of the apps in the Chrome Web Store are similar to the ones that already exist on the web. But with this system, you’d have to “install” an app to get this system working.

And here’s an example app Google has made to show how this will work. This book, when installed, will periodically update in the background.

Source: TechCrunch

Chrome's Background Apps feature makes web apps feel more like native apps!

Google has been on a mission lately to outline some of the cooler, newer features coming to Chrome on their Chromium Blog. Today brings one of the biggest yet: Background Apps.

Obviously, the trade-off is the memory hit you take by running an app in the background, but presumably these could be coded to have a minimal impact in terms of memory usage.

Of course, there’s a security risk there. But Google addresses that in this way:

To protect our users’ privacy, we’ve made this functionality available only to apps and extensions; regular websites will not be able to open background windows. Developers will also need to declare the “background” capability on their apps.

And here’s an example app Google has made to show how this will work. This book, when installed, will periodically update in the background.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Google rolls out Chrome Instant to all!

Google’s Chrome web browser has been updated to stable version 9 for Mac, Windows and Linux, fixing important bugs and adding support for Chrome Instant search features, WebGL 3D graphics and the Chrome Web Store.

Chrome Instant brings Google Instant online search technology, which immediately shows search results as you type, to the streamlined browser. WebGL is a visual standard that empowers website developers to provide hardware-accelerated 3D graphics, letting you enjoy richer, more visually compelling Internet surfing. Via online shopping service theChrome Web Store, Internet users can further sample and buy browser apps, including popular software programs like MOG Music (streaming audio) and Rdio (social music sharing) right from their desktop.

Users looking to make the switch from Firefox or Internet Explorer, or upgrade their current Chrome build, can find release notes available here.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2010: The year Facebook totally pwns Google!

Facebook was not only the most searched item of the year, but it passed Google as America’s most-visited website in 2010, according to a new report from Experian Hitwise.

For the second year in a row, “facebook” was the top search term among U.S. Internet users. The search term accounted for 2.11% of all searches, according to Hitwise. Even more impressive is the fact that three other variations of Facebook made it into the top 10: “facebook login” at #2, “facebook.com” at #6 and “www.facebook.com” at #9. Combined, they accounted for 3.48% of all searches, a 207% increase from Facebook’s position last year.

Rounding out the list of top search terms were YouTube,Craigslist, MySpace, eBay, Yahoo and Mapquest. Other companies that made big moves in terms of searches include Hulu, Netflix, Verizon and ESPN. The search term “games” also made its first appearance in the list of Hitwise’s top 50 search terms.

More interesting though is Facebook’s ascension to number one on Hitwise’s list of most-visited websites. The social network accounted for 8.93% of all U.S. visits in 2010 (January-November), beating Google (7.19%), Yahoo Mail (3.52%), Yahoo (3.30%) and YouTube (2.65%). However, Facebook didn’t beat the traffic garnered by all of Google’s properties combined (9.85%).

It’s only a matter of time until Facebook topples the entire Google empire, though. We’ve seen the trend develop for months: Facebook is getting bigger than Google. According to comScore, Facebook’s U.S. traffic grew by 55% in the last year and has shown no sign of slowing down.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Richard Stallman: Chrome OS is "careless computing"

Richard Stallman, one of the computer industry's most outspoken defenders of open software, doesn't like Chrome OS.

Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, continued to speak out against the notion of cloud computing today, telling The Guardian that the notion of Chrome OS' cloud model might better be described as "careless computing" than as cloud computing. Chrome OS is loosely based on a project near and dear to Stallman's heart--GNU/Linux--but "it is delivered without the usual applications, and rigged up to impede and discourage installing applications," he said.

That's developer Google's point: it believes that a Netbook that can't install external applications will be inherently more secure than one that could install malware, and that a system without a lot of preinstalled applications will boot much faster. The consumer launch of Chrome OS Netbooks has been delayed about six months past its original launch target, but CR-48 test units are percolating out to reviewers.

Stallman is particularly concerned about the loss of control of one's data with such a computing model, citing the example of a government official being able to confiscate your data without having to actually show a warrant at your front door. He's been sounding this alarm for several years, though there's disagreement as to just how seriously his warnings should be heeded.

He's not the only one voicing concerns about Chrome OS today: Paul Buchheit, the former Google engineer who created Gmail, predicted on Twitter that the project will get killed or merge with Google's other operating system, Android, at some point over the course of next year. No less of an authority than Google co-founder Sergey Brin has suggested that such a combination could be in store for Android and Chrome OS, though Google's tendency to set up competitive projects, such as Buzz and Wave, appears to have been the strategy behind the two operating-system projects.

Source: CNET

Friday, November 5, 2010

Google URL Shortener goo.gl/FTW!

Goo.gl is now open to all Web users looking for a way to make a Web link shorter.

Google's URL shortening service is now open to the world through a new Web site.

In an age of 140-character communication and mobile devices, URL shorteners are a godsend. However, the most popular third-party ones, such as Bit.ly and TinyURL, are run by smaller companies that aren't guaranteed to stick around for the long run: Google's Matt Cutts said today the company needed to develop its own "goo.gl" URL shortener "for its own products where we knew the shortener wouldn't go away."

So last December, Google started making goo.gl URLs available through the Google Toolbar, and it's now making the service available to anyone with a Web browser at goo.gl, Google announced in a blog post. "We don't intend to overload goo.gl with features, but we do want it to be the stablest, most secure, and fastest URL shortener on the Web," Googler's Muthu Muthusrinivasan said in the post.

The other Googly thing about URL shorteners is the data they generate, showing where, when, how often, and from which computers people are clicking on those URLs. Web-based analytics charts will be available to those who shorten URLs through goo.gl, and Google will also be able to track that data to help determine which Web links are popular, authoritative, or unsafe.

Twitter, where shortened URLs are an absolute necessity, also has its own URL shortener using the t.co domain.

Google Instant goes mobile

Google Instant, unveiled for the desktop in September, is now ready for iPhone and Android users

Google Instant has made its way to the mobile phone--at least two of them.

Google searchers in the U.S. using the iPhone and Android phones will start seeing Google Instant show up on their devices over the course of today, Google said in a blog post. It's a beta release, meaning Google doesn't want you to get mad at them if it doesn't work exactly right, and unlike the desktop version, you have to turn it on in order to see results as you type. It only works at Google.com in your mobile browser, but not in any of the other search boxes.

This is theoretically a boon to mobile searches, because typing on a mobile device is far more annoying than typing on a full-size keyboard. However, as TechCrunch notes, the limited screen real estate on a mobile device may make the service less useful. The keypad on several touch-screen mobile phones takes up nearly half the screen on its own, and the drop-down box that produces suggested Google Instant results further reduces the page available for the search results page itself.

You'll need to be running iOS 4.0 or Android 2.2 in order for this to work, Google said.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Android takes on the iPad with Samsung Galaxy Tab

Finally we have a challenge for the Apple's "magical" iPad, guess what it is: Google's Android, duh! Its the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which runs Android 2.0, have a 7-inch TFT LCD with 1024x600 resolution, 1GHz Cortex A8 processor,16-32 gigs of internal storage with microSD expansion for up to 32GB additional storage, front-facing 1.3mp camera and rear 3mp camera with flash, a 4000mAh batter, 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth for phone calls. There's a 30-pin dock connector on the bottom that allows for HDMI, USB, and dockingaccessories (a car dock at least is planned). The standard back colour is white but carriers might offer various colours, and yeah it weighs 380 grams. Gyroscope sensor, geo-magnetic sensor, accelerometer and light sensor are also included. The RAM is only 512MB though.

Lots of question marks. The tablet will be out in Europe first, possibly with Italy as the first to nab it, and the US will come later down the line. Also, while the version we played with is obviously GSM, we don't have any confirmation on a CDMA version, or which carriers might be scoring the device on either side of the pond. We're also completely in the dark on price.

There's hardly a surprise to be had when it comes to the hardware. It's good looking (though a tad on the "safe" side), solidly built (none of the seeming fragility of the Galaxy S here), lightweight (but not Kindle light), and glossy to the max (your iPad would be proud). The screen is great, though Samsung has managed to make this LCD look just as oversaturated as its AMOLEDs, and we're particularly enthused at the relative pixel density the screen gains over its iPad competition and the multitude of WVGA 7-inch Android tablets out there. Capacitive touch response is just as excellent as the iPad's, and the processor doesn't seem to have much trouble keeping up with the UI. There is a feeling of relative chubbiness due to the screen to thickness ratio, despite the fact that the Tab is just as thin or perhaps thinner than the iPad -- we suppose the new Kindle has terminally spoiled us on this front. Still, it's a device that's much better suited to supporting with a single hand than the iPad, and seems to squarely best that competitor when it comes to all things e-reading.

By all accounts Android isn't really "ready" for tablets. It's still a phone OS being asked to do a big screen job, but while we could see room for improvement, we'd say Samsung has shored up enough of Android's deficiencies with its own custom skin and apps to make the OS thoroughly palatable in this form factor. TouchWiz 3.0 still does have a bit of a "iPhone for kids" flavor to it, but props to Samsung for the depth and consistency of its UI layer.

What's more impressive are the apps Samsung built specifically to take advantage of the screen size and resolution, including a very attractive calendar app, an email app that has a dual pane view in landscape (of a style that seems unapologetically borrowed from the iPad), a similar messaging app, a Media Hub music store and player (not aimed at the US, most likely), an e-reading launcher app (that points to PressDisplay for newspapers, Kobo for e-books, and Zinio for magazines), and more. A custom dialer app includes fancy contact browsing and a video call button right up front. Samsung supports the UMTS video calling standard, but since that's not a thing in the US, we'll have to look to third party providers such as Qik to get our video calling on.

On the third party front, Samsung says that apps which were developed within Google's UI guidelines should scale up correctly, but others might need to be reworked. We'll have to see for ourselves how well Joe the Plumber's apps handle the new resolution, but we don't have much reason to fear it so far -- the few apps we saw that looked to be scaled up instead of 1024 x 600-specific looked and worked just fine.

We'll have to see if a non-Apple company can convince consumers to buy something once viewed so frivolous as a tablet, and the true usefulness of Android in this form factor will require more time with the Tab to really discern. A lot rests on the shoulders of developers, as usual, to make or break this quasi-new platform, but for Samsung's part we think the company has set the gold standard for Android tablets, and might have just enough differentiation, quality, and moxy to set its 7-inch contender up against Apple's 9.7-inch juggernaut.

The Tab versus the Pad

Now for the big question: iPad or Galaxy Tab? The short answer, in our opinion, is iPad. It's offered at a better range of pricing options--none of which requires any form of carrier contract. Apple's catalog of apps optimized for tablet-size screens number in the thousands, whereas the Tab has just a handful--and they're not terribly exciting. If you feel that a tablet computer should be more than just a supersize smartphone, the iPad is still the best game in town.

In fairness, what we enjoy most about the Galaxy Tab is that it's not trying to exactly copy the iPad's blueprint for success. Sure, Samsung's notepad, calendar, and photo apps look like pixel-for-pixel reproductions of the iPad's, but let's not overlook the fact that the Tab is half the size of the iPad. It's a different type of product that presents a different use case, one geared more for portability. That said, the Android smartphone market seems to cover a lot of this territory already.

The Tab is also reaching out to all of the people who winced at the iPad's lack of Adobe Flash support, video camera, memory expansion, and drag-and-drop file support. If these are the features that have been holding you back from purchasing a tablet, then the Tab should be a perfect match.

Samsung's 7-inch Android tablet is a serious contender to the Apple iPad, boasting two cameras, Flash compatibility, and a more convenient size, but the Tab behaves more like a supersize Android phone than a Netbook alternative. The Android OS and its apps aren't yet optimized for the larger screen. Buying a Tab demands a two-year contract and a commitment to monthly charges.

The Galaxy Tab is a beautiful product with features that will make iPad owners envious, but its in-between size and contract ties hold it back from broad appeal.

The technology site CNET has a greater coverage on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, check out the CNET page for Samsung Galaxy Tab here at http://goo.gl/g3u3

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Google Android digs deeper into Pakistan

Pakistan’s second Android offering is here. The arrival of the ‘Ideos’ points to the increasing trend of local carriers offering phones running Google’s free operating system, which may lead other providers to soon follow suit.

Chinese tech giant, Huawei – along with China Mobile’s arm in Pakistan, Zong – is bringing the economical phone to Pakistan, according to a release issued earlier this week.

The Android, a free and open source operating system for mobile phones, has been offering stiff resistance to Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry the world over.

Market research firms predict that Android will ‘blow up’ in its competitors’ faces. According to The Nielsen Company, it is now the most popular operating system among people who purchased a smartphone over the past six months, while RIM’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iOS are in a statistical dead heat for second place.

“Android will become the second-largest operating system in 2010 and challenge Nokia’s Symbian for the number one spot by 2014,” claimed technology analysis firm, Gartner, on September 10.

This is remarkable because it reflects how the free operating system, coupled with cheap hardware, is making its way to populous developing countries which have, till very recently, been devoid of the option of purchasing cheaper smartphones.

Officially, the iPhone has still not been introduced in Pakistan and now that the Android is taking off, Google stands to benefit from the first mover advantage.

Most interesting is the fact that phones running Android can be disturbingly cheap. Huawei’s Ideos will cost around Rs16,000 – in stark contrast to iPhones, with a comparable end user experience in terms of the interface, which are available for anywhere between Rs50,000 and Rs99,000.

Huawei says it has worked closely with Google to make the phone which means that upgrades for the device will be quick. The phone is supposed to run the latest version of the Android: 2.2 Froyo.

This version is important because it introduces support for Adobe Flash Player plugins which allow native viewing of sites like YouTube on the phone. Flash is not supported by the iPhone and according to industry analysts, this is one of the Android’s main weapons in its war against the iPhone.

Just this Thursday, Google reported that its quarterly profit soared on the back of its thriving internet advertising service and that its display and mobile advertisement businesses are also gaining flight. The Google-backed Android software platform for mobile phones has been a ’phenomenal success’, says the California-based company’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt.

The first android phone to be officially offered in Pakistan by a local mobile carrier was Motorola’s Milestone, more popularly known as the ‘Droid’. The Milestone had been released internationally almost a year earlier but was offered by Mobilink last July for Rs.38,000.

Until that time, all Pakistan had to go with from network carriers was the BlackBerry. Now, all this has changed because of Huawei’s Ideos which independent review sites are calling ‘a very good phone given its price’.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Making Money With Google AdSense?

You must have heard alot about making money with Ads by Google, and if your having the foggiest ideas about it, let Lisa, the owner of 2createawebsite.com, clear the concept with her friendly YouTube video:

Thursday, February 24, 2011

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