Gears, an open source technology allowing browsers to support offline web applications has been released by Google to coincide with the company's annual Developer Day.
Gears provides three main JavaScript APIs. LocalServer stores and accesses application pages offline, Database stores and accesses application data on the user's computer, and WorkerPool performs long-running tasks such as synchronising data between the user's computer and the server.
One thing mentionable about Gears is that web applications must be rewritten to take advantage of its facilities. A Gears-enabled version of Google Reader has been released to demonstrate what's possible.
Support for the project has been voiced by Adobe, Mozilla and Opera. The Google Gears beta is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, and requires Firefox 1.5 or later, or Internet Explorer 6 or 7. Safari will be supported in a later release
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Computing on a coffee table
Microsoft has taken the wraps off "Surface", a coffee-table shaped computer that responds to touch and to special barcodes attached to everyday objects.People who have had a look at the Surface say that it is essentially a Windows Vista PC tucked inside a shiny black table base, topped with a touch screen in a clear acrylic frame. Five cameras that can sense nearby objects are mounted beneath the screen. Users can interact with the machine by touching or dragging their fingertips and objects such as paintbrushes across the screen, or by setting real-world items tagged with special barcode labels on top of it.
Unlike most touch screens, Surface can respond to more than one touch at a time. It has a price tag between $5 000 and $10 000 per unit and the company says it expects prices to drop enough to make consumer versions feasible in three to five years.
Some of the first Surface models are planned to help customers pick out new cellphones at T-Mobile stores. When customers plop a phone down on the screen, Surface will read its barcode and display information about the handset. Customers can also select calling plans and ringtones by dragging icons towards the phone. Also guests sitting in some hotel lobbies will be able to cluster around the Surface to play music, then buy songs using a credit card or rewards card tagged with a barcode. In some hotel restaurants, customers will be able to order food and drinks, then split the bill by setting down a card or a room key and dragging their menu items "onto" the card. Surface also indulges users with interactive maps,which will allow them to book,show tickets or make dinner reservations.
Microsoft is working on a limited number of programs to ship with Surface, including one for sharing digital photographs.
Historically, Microsoft has focused on creating new software, giving computer programmers tools to build applications on its platforms, and left hardware manufacturing to others.For now, Microsoft is making the Surface hardware itself, and has only given six outside software development firms the tools they need to make Surface applications.
But overall, people who have seen it themselves seem to be wowed by Surface.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
When Gates meets Jobs
The theme for the Gates-Jobs meet, which is scheduled this week is the future, and as of today they are both approaching it from different angles, and increasingly, competing in the same market segments, from PC’s to operating systems, music and video players, mobile phones and mobile operating systems, media centers, interface design, physical design and other IP.
Both are highly successful and intelligent men, and although the event is billed as unscripted, they would naturally have thought about what they would say when facing each other on stage, being simultaneously interviewed before an audience of tech-savvy, influential people, all keen to hear what two of the IT industry’s most powerful players have to say on the future of the information technology we all use and mostly love every day.
I certainly hope for and expect a riveting discussion, guided by two of the industry’s most seasoned technology journalists. Whatever happens, there’s high anticipation that the interview will be powerful and memorable.
The rest of the conference will also be feature packed. Steve Jobs will also host his own session during the conference, where he could talk about the iPhone, Mac OS X 10.5, DRM, convergence, the future and more, setting a precedent for something special.
Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer will also have his own session, where he will talk about Windows, Office, the Xbox, Zune, and other topics.
Given that the next 20 to 30 years is supposed to see more technological advance than the last 2000 years put together, as long as we don’t blow ourselves up through nuclear or environmental catastrophe first, let’s hope there are some more solid signs of that future at the conference that promises all things digital.
Both are highly successful and intelligent men, and although the event is billed as unscripted, they would naturally have thought about what they would say when facing each other on stage, being simultaneously interviewed before an audience of tech-savvy, influential people, all keen to hear what two of the IT industry’s most powerful players have to say on the future of the information technology we all use and mostly love every day.
I certainly hope for and expect a riveting discussion, guided by two of the industry’s most seasoned technology journalists. Whatever happens, there’s high anticipation that the interview will be powerful and memorable.
The rest of the conference will also be feature packed. Steve Jobs will also host his own session during the conference, where he could talk about the iPhone, Mac OS X 10.5, DRM, convergence, the future and more, setting a precedent for something special.
Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer will also have his own session, where he will talk about Windows, Office, the Xbox, Zune, and other topics.
Given that the next 20 to 30 years is supposed to see more technological advance than the last 2000 years put together, as long as we don’t blow ourselves up through nuclear or environmental catastrophe first, let’s hope there are some more solid signs of that future at the conference that promises all things digital.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Google to buy feedburner
Finally, the rumour is confirmed. Google is buying Feed burner. It makes perfect sense. FeedBurner is known as the RSS Management service that many, many sites use, as well as an advertising service that’s held its own. TechCrunch just reported that in fact, the deal is confirmed and FeedBurner will be receiving a $100 Million Dollar paycheck.
Its surpirsing it’s taken this long as it has for a big company to come and sweep FeedBurner off its feet, and the first thought that comes to my mind is that the $100 million sounds a bit on the low side considering these facts and statistics (source):
* Total feeds managed: 721,000
* Podcasts and videocasts: 111,383
* Number of publishers: 422,717
* According to Nielsen/Net Ratings, FeedBurner is growing faster than MySpace and Digg with 385% traffic growth.
There’s lots of things that Google could do with FeedBurner, but one thought is that they could integrate RSS statistics into Google Analytics, making Google Analytics the hub for every statistic you would ever want or need.
Any other thoughts on what Google will potentially do with FeedBurner and how they could incorporate it with existing services?
For now, Congratulations to FeedBurner!
Its surpirsing it’s taken this long as it has for a big company to come and sweep FeedBurner off its feet, and the first thought that comes to my mind is that the $100 million sounds a bit on the low side considering these facts and statistics (source):
* Total feeds managed: 721,000
* Podcasts and videocasts: 111,383
* Number of publishers: 422,717
* According to Nielsen/Net Ratings, FeedBurner is growing faster than MySpace and Digg with 385% traffic growth.
There’s lots of things that Google could do with FeedBurner, but one thought is that they could integrate RSS statistics into Google Analytics, making Google Analytics the hub for every statistic you would ever want or need.
Any other thoughts on what Google will potentially do with FeedBurner and how they could incorporate it with existing services?
For now, Congratulations to FeedBurner!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Webaroo Offers Group Messaging
Webaroo has announced the launch of a new group messaging service in India, called "SMS GupShup".
The company says "SMS GupShup" is a free service that offers users a chance to create groups of any size, and communicate within them. The messages sent by the creator of the group are forwarded by Webaroo, at no charge, to all members of the group.
Using a single SMS message, users can join any group they want. Once a part of the group, the members will then automatically receive messages posted to the group as an SMS on their phone. Besides, users can use SMS messages to create their own groups, and also to invite friends, and post messages to the group.
Moreover, users can also run a poll, rating, and quiz within their group. The groups and their messages are available online at www.smsgupshup.com as an archive, except for private groups.Talking about the service, Beerud Sheth, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Webaroo, said, "SMS Gupshup is a fun, new, and powerful SMS service for users of any mobile phone. It is an ideal tool for connecting with friends, building new relationships, and forming mobile communities."
According to Webaroo, this free service can be used to stay connected with friends, to receive alerts and notifications, as well as to stay updated with news and current events. In addition, users can also receive weather updates or sports scores from their favorite sources.
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So what's on TV tonight?
Just came across this site called IndiaTVSchedule. This is a product which would really appeal to the TV junkies .So what is IndianTVSchedule? It would be fair to call it a one stop source for what’s on Indian TV.
Suppose you want to see a good comedy flick this weekend, then this site lets you do that and much much more. It allows one to save time by seeing movie rating, description and trailer to see whether its worth a watch. Also users can put reminders and see only movies which they haven't seen. It also has a nice tour which shows the user how to use the product. Like most other Web 2.0 products this product too makes use of Ajax and has a decent looking interface. YouTube videos have been integrated to trailer links of movies.
What is missing from the website as of now is the power of user generated content. Currently there is no option of sharing reviews for a particular movie or adding reviews of a show. Only if the users are allowed to add shows / channels etc will the product become more viral. Also there are no RSS feeds for channels that I would like to subscribe to and get regular updates about. These are expected features in most web 2.0 products and I guess will be incorporated soon in this one too.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Google and Salesforce.com- An Alliance
Wall Street Journal reports that Google and Salesforce.com are discussing an alliance that could help them compete more effectively with Microsoft, meaning not a buyout but a tie-up deeper than the AdWords deal the two have now. It’s a natural alliance of two very smart companies that are leveraging the Internet and their respective business models to the hilt.
The talks are still ongoing and there has been speculation of a deal in the last few months to this effect.The deal could be where a Web-based offering integrates some of Google’s online services such as email and IM with those of Salesforce.com.
The talks are still ongoing and there has been speculation of a deal in the last few months to this effect.The deal could be where a Web-based offering integrates some of Google’s online services such as email and IM with those of Salesforce.com.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Microsoft's new ad strategy
Microsoft is beginning to test a new form of search advertising. The new platform is said to turn standard search ads into full-blown display ads.
Here is a glimpse of how it works:
When a user moves the mouse over a paid search ad, the ad explodes into a large display ad. By offering more information from the "mouse over", advertisers will basically gets two ads for the price of one, while users gain more information which will help them make appropriate purchase decisions.
Marketers have always been searching for the answer to increasing their return on investment from paid search campaigns. Offering more information to users with a single ad would seem to answer this question. Instead of a simple ad on a search results page, the larger display ad would include product details thereby imparting more information to the user.
Will this form of advertising catch on? Only time will tell.
Here is a glimpse of how it works:
When a user moves the mouse over a paid search ad, the ad explodes into a large display ad. By offering more information from the "mouse over", advertisers will basically gets two ads for the price of one, while users gain more information which will help them make appropriate purchase decisions.
Marketers have always been searching for the answer to increasing their return on investment from paid search campaigns. Offering more information to users with a single ad would seem to answer this question. Instead of a simple ad on a search results page, the larger display ad would include product details thereby imparting more information to the user.
Will this form of advertising catch on? Only time will tell.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Rumour knocks of $4 billion of Apple
Panic Investors sold Apple shares in a frenzy at $103.42 per share, today, after reading a blog report on delays to the company's future products. The rumor, posted to the popular blog Engadget briefly knocked $4bn off Apple's market value. Engadget, taken in by a spoof Apple internal email, reported the company's two most important new launches would be delayed, the iPhone until October, and the new operating system Mac OS X Leopard till January.
Well, it turned out that the email was indeed a hoax. In a later post, Engadget claims that the email was in fact sent from Apple’s internal email system but that it was inaccurate. Apple immediately notified Engadget of the error by saying that the communication was fake and did not come from Apple. Apple, apparently is on track to ship iPhone in late June and Mac OS X Leopard in October.
Here's something to ponder on though. Someone, who bought on the panic, made a serious profit. It could be that Engadget was just the victim of a prank.Or prolly it was a pawn in some investors' scheme of fooling the market.
Well, it turned out that the email was indeed a hoax. In a later post, Engadget claims that the email was in fact sent from Apple’s internal email system but that it was inaccurate. Apple immediately notified Engadget of the error by saying that the communication was fake and did not come from Apple. Apple, apparently is on track to ship iPhone in late June and Mac OS X Leopard in October.
Here's something to ponder on though. Someone, who bought on the panic, made a serious profit. It could be that Engadget was just the victim of a prank.Or prolly it was a pawn in some investors' scheme of fooling the market.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Giant called Google
Once in a century does a company come that takes the world by storm and changes the way people live. After that invention of the printing press, if there is one invention that has rapidly changed the way we consume and share information, then it has to be the phenom called Google. In as span of a decade Google has become the most powerful and recognizable brand ever, beating brands like Microsoft, GE and even Coca-Cola who have been present for a considerable amount of time. Google has a market value of 147 Billion dollars and their major source of revenue is advertising. So what makes Google tick? What is it that they have and the others don't have?
On the top of my head I can think of the following:
The management:
The three people at the helm of Google, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and the CEO Eric Schimdt make a powerful team and have their roles chalked out very clearly. With Page looking into the developments of various products and Brin, who is supposed be to be an excellent at making and negotiating deals, managing the Business aspects of Google both take on deversified yet important roles in shaping Google's present and future. Eric Schmidt looks after the day-to-day at Google which has helped in Google growing so rapidly yet without losing its focus and speed.
The infrastructure:
Google boasts of an infrastructure which only few companies can even think of building. Google has inexpensively built out its computing infrastructure by using thousands of "commodity" servers, instead of fewer high-end, and high-priced, machines. These servers deliver instant search results to millions of internet users across the globe. The company also wrote its own file system, called Google File System, which is optimized for handling large blocks of data.
The culture:
Though Google has grown rapidly both in revenues as well in number of employees, it has tried hard to maintain the feel of a startup. The workplace at google still is supposed to be quite similar to that of a grad school. At the Google Headquarters recreational amenities, snack rooms are scattered throughout the campus. Also they have 80-20 work culture whereby an employee works 80% of his time on google projects and 20% of his time on projects that interest them. One of succesful projects coming out of this is the massively popular social networking site Orkut and the email service Gmail.
The people:
Of all the factors mentioned above its the quality of people at google that makes google what it is today. At the time of the dot com bubble when all companies were firing everyone in Silicon Valley, Google was smart enough to hire these computer genuises and build up a strong foundation in terms of brain power. And today the brain power that google has at its disposal is something that every tech company envies.
Even if Yahoo!, Microsoft, or some unknown upstart manages within the next few years to unseat the reigning giant of search engines, I doubt any will be able to replace the mystique and the niche that Google has achieved. Google has managed to fascinate everyone from the homeless at your local public library to presidents. Some people mistake it for the Internet. And nearly everyone has their favorite Google story. There seems to be no end in site to Google madness, mimicry, or mutation. All we can do is sit back, click, and enjoy it.
On the top of my head I can think of the following:
The management:
The three people at the helm of Google, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and the CEO Eric Schimdt make a powerful team and have their roles chalked out very clearly. With Page looking into the developments of various products and Brin, who is supposed be to be an excellent at making and negotiating deals, managing the Business aspects of Google both take on deversified yet important roles in shaping Google's present and future. Eric Schmidt looks after the day-to-day at Google which has helped in Google growing so rapidly yet without losing its focus and speed.
The infrastructure:
Google boasts of an infrastructure which only few companies can even think of building. Google has inexpensively built out its computing infrastructure by using thousands of "commodity" servers, instead of fewer high-end, and high-priced, machines. These servers deliver instant search results to millions of internet users across the globe. The company also wrote its own file system, called Google File System, which is optimized for handling large blocks of data.
The culture:
Though Google has grown rapidly both in revenues as well in number of employees, it has tried hard to maintain the feel of a startup. The workplace at google still is supposed to be quite similar to that of a grad school. At the Google Headquarters recreational amenities, snack rooms are scattered throughout the campus. Also they have 80-20 work culture whereby an employee works 80% of his time on google projects and 20% of his time on projects that interest them. One of succesful projects coming out of this is the massively popular social networking site Orkut and the email service Gmail.
The people:
Of all the factors mentioned above its the quality of people at google that makes google what it is today. At the time of the dot com bubble when all companies were firing everyone in Silicon Valley, Google was smart enough to hire these computer genuises and build up a strong foundation in terms of brain power. And today the brain power that google has at its disposal is something that every tech company envies.
Even if Yahoo!, Microsoft, or some unknown upstart manages within the next few years to unseat the reigning giant of search engines, I doubt any will be able to replace the mystique and the niche that Google has achieved. Google has managed to fascinate everyone from the homeless at your local public library to presidents. Some people mistake it for the Internet. And nearly everyone has their favorite Google story. There seems to be no end in site to Google madness, mimicry, or mutation. All we can do is sit back, click, and enjoy it.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Joost
If there is one software that has caught my attention over the past week then it has to be the new revolutionary software called Joost. Now Joost has been co-founded by the founders of Skype, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis and has already been financed to the amount 45million dollars from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, CBS Corporation and Viacom. It already has legal content from the partnership with Viacom. All in all Joost seems to have had the right kind of start that any startup would dream of.
The Joost commercial said that it combines the best parts of the internet and the TV and it does deliver that experience. Joost has a very simple and easy to use interface with transparent popups and drag and drop panels. Channel surfing is very intuitive with the listing of channels and listing of each program in each channel. One can go directly to any program of his choice and play it. Each program has a very good clarity and quality seems good. Joost also has something called MyJoost which allows the user chat while watching TV, view news in the bottom of the screen as a ticker by adding RSS feeds of his choice.
Joost created a frenzy in the techcircles with demands for beta invites seeing a never before craze.With Youtube in the midst of copyright infringement lawsuits at this point in time, Joost, with all its legal content and respect for the publishers copyright concerns, has made an entry at the right point and snatched the limelight. Also according to reports more than 45million people watch TV online as of today and this number is bound to grow.
It is to be seen how Joost copes up with scaling issues in the near future as the number of users increases. Also one needs a very high speed internet connection to watch without any hiccups.
But for now, lets raise a toast to Joost for creating a revolution in Internet TV watching. So Happy Joosting to everyone.
The Joost commercial said that it combines the best parts of the internet and the TV and it does deliver that experience. Joost has a very simple and easy to use interface with transparent popups and drag and drop panels. Channel surfing is very intuitive with the listing of channels and listing of each program in each channel. One can go directly to any program of his choice and play it. Each program has a very good clarity and quality seems good. Joost also has something called MyJoost which allows the user chat while watching TV, view news in the bottom of the screen as a ticker by adding RSS feeds of his choice.
Joost created a frenzy in the techcircles with demands for beta invites seeing a never before craze.With Youtube in the midst of copyright infringement lawsuits at this point in time, Joost, with all its legal content and respect for the publishers copyright concerns, has made an entry at the right point and snatched the limelight. Also according to reports more than 45million people watch TV online as of today and this number is bound to grow.
It is to be seen how Joost copes up with scaling issues in the near future as the number of users increases. Also one needs a very high speed internet connection to watch without any hiccups.
But for now, lets raise a toast to Joost for creating a revolution in Internet TV watching. So Happy Joosting to everyone.
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