Search results matching tag 'Google'

RE: Google Dishes More Details On Chrome OS: Web-Connected, Out Next Year

3vi1 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:40:37 GMT

Here's a link to downloads for a build you can try in a VM: http://gdgt.com/google/chrome-os/download/

Google Fast Flip an interesting new product.

digitaldd — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:57:55 GMT

Google's Fast Flip is an interesting way to quickly browse the news. They have a link to an Android or iPhone mobile version on the page its a really cool way to browse the news.

RE: Despite SEC Filing, Microsoft Not Likely To Lose Sleep Over Linux Desktop Competition

mhenriday — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:16:28 GMT

I very much hope you prove prescient, 3vi1 ; Microsoft - and above all we users - need some competition in the OS market. I wonder what the release of Google's Chrome for netbooks will bring in its train ?

Henri

Ballmer Laughs at Google Challenge

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:59:59 GMT

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laughed off the very idea of Google doing an operating system, much less it being any sort of challenge to Microsoft's love-it-or-hate-it Windows franchise.

Being rather coy, Ballmer called Chrome "Interesting." In full: "I will be respectful, who knows what this thing is? To me, the Chrome OS thing is highly interesting. It won't happen for a year and a half and they already announced an operating system." The last was a reference to Android, Google's announced operating system for mobile devices.

Ballmer's words came at a conference for the company's technology partners in New Orleans. The audience, largely in favor of Microsoft, laughed lightly at Ballmer's remarks.

Despite the frivolous tone of Ballmer's remarks, Microsoft appears to be taking Google as a serious threat to its core businesses. It has announced recently that it would make portions of Office, its ubiquitous business suite, free online (much like Google's similar, online-only office suite).

Microsoft has also tried once again to corner the search engine market, after failing with Live Search. The new Bing search engine is aimed squarely at stripping Google of at least some of its market share and mindshare as the Internet's biggest and best known search engine.

Is this a story of two competitors, or a tale of two businesses that are forgetting their core markets for the purpose of engaging in a pissing match against each other? Only time will tell.

RE: Search Google Images By Color, Type and More

3vi1 — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:55:24 GMT

That's actually pretty cool. I like that they make these kind of improvements, even when there's probably no one clamoring for them. Resting upon laurels in the absence of real competition is a prime reason many products aren't any better than they currently are.

Search Google images by color, type, more

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:39:04 GMT

Sometimes when searching for images on the web, you have a very specific look in mind. A color, a drawing vs. photograph, only extra-large images.

With that in mind, Google's rolled out several filters on its image searches that allow users to do just that.

Need photographs of purple orchids? Got it:

How about only photos of orchids that have been used in news reports?

Or line drawings of signs that are mostly red (Go Badgers!):

You can even get just small images - for thumbnails, avatars and the like - of, say, red doors.

Keep in mind that the search still isn't perfect, as you can see with the red door search above. If an image has been tagged with "door," it might show up in the results even if there's no door in it. And there's also the classic rock band, The Doors.

Near the top of the search page, there are three drop-downs: Image sizes, type of content and colors. You can filter the images using combination of the three.

Google goes ultra-local

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:37:35 GMT

Google knows where you live (approximately) and it's not afraid to use that knowledge in your search results.

The search engine/e-mail/aggregator giant announced on its blog that it's finished its "worldwide rollout of local search results on a map." Even if you don't type in a location with your search — i.e., "restaurants in Dallas" — Google will check out your IP address and guess where you live and customize your search results thusly.

For example, a search using just the word "bookstore" using the West Nyack, N.Y., ZIP code, gives you search results that start with this map:

You can also change the location and get results for wherever you're traveling to, or narrow the search results further.

Users can search for specific locations — addresses, stores — by putting in the exact name or address, such as:

Google voice: Like Gmail for your phone

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:26:51 GMT

Google Voice, which some are calling Gmail for phones, is being rolled out.

For now, it will be available only to users of GrandCentral, which Google acquired all the way back in 2007.

GrandCentral basically consolidates all your phones, giving you a single number to ring on your home, work and mobile phones and a voicemail box you can access from anywhere, including the web.

And for all those folks and who miss being able to screen phone calls by listening as callers leave their message on an answering machine, Grnad Central gives you the ability to listen in as callers leave a voicemail.

Google Voice builds on this - you can get transcripts of your voicemail messages, receive the voicemails by e-mail or SMS, set up personalized greetings that depend on the caller and forward or download voicemails. You'll also be able to set up conference calls via Google Voice, even if your regular phone service isn't set up to handle it, record calls and store them online, switch the phone you're using during a call and have access to Goog-411, Google's new directory assistance. Like many mobile 411 services, you can then directly call the number you're trying to reach through the service.

Here's a video on how Google Voice will work, and this page of features includes videos on each of them, for anyone who wants to see them in action.

In the next few weeks, Google Voice may be expanded to people who aren't already using GrandCentral. Anyone who wants to be notified when the service opens up can send an e-mail to Google now.

Google Wins Street View Privacy Lawsuit

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:48:14 GMT

In April of 2008, Aaron and Christine Boring (yes, that's really their last name) sued Google over an alleged privacy violation after a Street View image of their property was posted to the web. They had what seemed to be a flimsy case, and the U.S. District Court of Pennsylvania agreed, as it dismissed the case on Tuesday (.PDF).

Ironically, by filing the lawsuit, the Borings exposed themselves and their property (at 1567 Oakridge Lane, Pittsburgh, PA 15237) to the public. Not that anyone would look up their house on Google Maps or anything.

Their suit was made still flimsier by the fact that (at the time) you could find pictures of their house on the Allegheny County property assessments web site.

The Borings claimed in their five-count lawsuit that the incident caused them "mental suffering" and diluted their home's value. They sought more than $25,000 in damages and asked that the images of their home be taken off the site and destroyed.

Of course, all they had to do to get the images removed was to fill out a simple form: bring up Street View Help, click a link, and select "This image infringes on my privacy." But they couldn't sue for damages that way, of course.

We have to admit, however, that Google was a bit ... oh, say, snarky? Arrogant? ... in terms of their response to the lawsuit. They said that "complete privacy no longer exists." Thing is, we think they may be right.

Re: HotHardware May Harm Your Computer!?

digitaldd — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:02:15 GMT

I saw some threads elsewhere which folks were saying the Google itself was a site that was being reported to not be safe by Google. Probably some sort of hack. Damn funny that it happened with Google's own pages too though.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/this-site-may-harm-your-computer-on.html