Weird and wonderful news library: Google

Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts

Google wants to kill Facebook with +1?

On Wednesday, May 11, 2011 1 comment

Facebook knows who you are, who your friends are, and just about everything you and your friends "like" – to read, to buy, to look at – on the Internet.

This scares the pants off Google.

To Valley and tech types, Facebook's collection of data is known as the "social graph."

The reason it worries Google is that increasingly, Facebook is using that data to show users things to read, buy, and do on the Internet before those users get the chance to Google search for those things.

The social graph turns the Internet into Facebook's platform, not Google's.

Again – that worries Google silly. As it should.

So, what is Google doing about it? Many things, including launching new social products, like +1, in hopes of gathering "social graph" information through its own products. Larry Page also recently told all Google employees that their bonuses will depend on Google succeeding in social.

But Google also seems to be pulling another, more clever trick. It's putting together its own "social graph" by scraping together data from others.

How?

Real time search engine by Google

On Friday, August 27, 2010 No comments

After signing deals with Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, Google has been integrating real-time information into the body of its main search results since last December. This has meant that when somebody searches for a particular topic on Google they have received real-time updates from a variety of social media sites, as well as the usual list of search results

However, Google has now developed a standalone real-time search engine, which crawls the web for the most up-to-the moment search results, as well continuing to integrate real-time result into its main search results.

Google Realtime Search is still in experimentation mode. We can access it here. And soon we can access at www.google.com/realtime .

Security experts say Google cyber-attack was routine

On Thursday, January 14, 2010 No comments

The cyber-attack that made Google consider pulling out of China was run of the mill, say security experts.

Google revealed its move following attempts to hack Gmail accounts of human rights activists.

The search giant said analysis showed that the series of attacks originated from inside China.

"This wasn't in my opinion ground-breaking as an attack. We see this fairly regularly. said Mikko Hypponen, of security firm F-Secure.

"Most companies just never go public," he added.

"Human-rights activists are the biggest target," said Mr Hypponen. "Everyone from Freedom for Tibet to Falun Gong supporters and those involved in Liberation of Taiwan are hit."

F-Secure has been monitoring such attacks against Chinese human-rights activists since 2005.

Google has operated in China since 2006 and has now said it was no longer willing to censor results on its Chinese search engine as the government required.

China has responded to Google and said that foreign firms were welcome to trade in the nation "according to the law". The spokesman added that the net was "open" in China.

Read more - BBC News

China gives first response to Google threat

China has said that foreign internet firms are welcome to do business there "according to the law".

The statement, from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, is Beijing's first response to Google's threat to stop filtering content in China.

Google said cyber-attacks originating in China aimed at rights activists, and increased web censorship, might force it to end its China operations.

Ms Jiang insisted the internet was "open" in China. Google announced late on Tuesday that it was no longer willing to censor its Chinese search engine - google.cn.

The search engine said it would hold talks with the government in the coming weeks to look at operating an unfiltered search engine within the law in the country, though no changes to filtering have yet been made.

'Holding statement'

At a regular foreign ministry news briefing, Ms Jiang said: "China like other countries administers the internet according to law.

"China's internet is open, and the Chinese government encourages development of the internet."

She was responding to a reporter's question on Google and US concerns about the business environment in China in light of Google's reported cyber-attacks.

"Chinese law proscribes any form of hacking activity," she said.

When Google launched google.cn in 2006, it agreed to censor some search results - such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Tibetan independence or Falun Gong - as required by the Chinese government.

The BBC's Chris Hogg in Shanghai says Ms Jiang's comments sound like a holding statement, until officials can have talks with Google.

Google currently holds about one-third of the Chinese search market, far behind Chinese rival Baidu, which has more than 60%.

China has more internet users - about 350 million - than any other country and provides a lucrative search engine market worth an estimated $1bn (£614m) last year.

It is difficult to see how the situation can be resolved, our correspondent says, with Google potentially losing its market share and the government reluctant to give up its right to control the internet.

'Don't be evil'

In a blog posted late on Tuesday, Google's chief legal officer David Drummond announced "A new approach to China".

He said the accounts of dozens of US, China and Europe-based users of its Gmail service who are advocates of human rights in China had been "routinely accessed by third parties".

At least 20 other large companies from a wide range of businesses were similarly targeted, it added.

Google's decision to concede to China's demands on censorship in 2006 led to accusations it had betrayed its company motto - "don't be evil" - but Google argued it would be more damaging for civil liberties if it pulled out of China entirely.

Google's stance has drawn mixed reaction from China's internet community. Some have applauded what they see as a bold stand against the country's internet guardians while others expressed fears they would lose a valued source of news, despite it being censored.

Others saw the Google statement as a Chinese victory, saying that Google's withdrawal from the country would be no great loss, with Baidu providing almost all the same services as google.cn.

The state-run China Daily described Google's statement as designed to put pressure on the Chinese government.

Via - BBC News

Google hints at making smartphone

On Sunday, December 13, 2009 1 comment

The Internet on Saturday buzzed with renewed rumors of Google making its own smartphone, after the Internet powerhouse said it is internally dabbling with a mobile device.

Google workers are trying out a device that "combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities," vice president of product management Mario Queiroz said in a blog post.

Google is seeking feedback in a process it refers to as "dogfooding" in which innovations are tested internally before being offered to the public on the basis that employees should be willing to "eat our own dogfood."

"This holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level," Queiroz wrote.

"Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet."

The Android-based mobile devices are being shared with Google workers worldwide, according to Queiroz.

The blog post came a morning after Google workers evidently excited about getting "Google phones" exchanged comments on wildly popular microblogging service Twitter.

"ZOMG we had fireworks and we got the new Google phone," one Google worker said in a tweet. "It's beautiful."

ZOMG is texting slang that originated as a typo of an acronym for "Oh My God" but has come to be used when the phrase is meant a bit sarcastically or while stating the obvious, according to the online Urban Dictionary.

A growing number of US telecom carriers and manufacturers have been adopting Google's open-source Android software in bids to challenge the Apple iPhone and Blackberry from Research in Motion.

Technology industry tracker Gartner predicts that Android-based smartphones will capture 14 percent of the global market by the year 2012, as compared with a mere two percent today, according to a report in Computerworld.

Via - Bangkok Post

Playing around with Google Wave

On Tuesday, December 01, 2009 No comments

Just play-play around with Google Wave. Wave is still in preview and not much features yet. But i got a few tips to mess around with Google Wave.

How to embed Youtube video in Google Wave?

- Just copy the video link / URL
- Paste in chat space in Google Wave
- The light bulb will appears to the right of the link.
- Click it and select Embed Video

How to add gadget?

- Click More actions button at the right side of compose toolbar.
- Select Add gadget by URL

- Put the URL of the gadget in the box

How to insert / upload pictures and videos

- Click more Actions button at the right side of compose toolbar.

- Select Add Attachment
- Browse pictures or videos from your computer

The video only limit to 20MB per upload

Finally i got the invitation from Google Wave to preview it

On Sunday, November 22, 2009 6 comments

Finally i got invitation from Google Wave too to preview this new method of connecting to other people via internet. For those who still don't know about Google Wave, you can go to the following link and read. Of course you need a Google account first before joining Google Wave.

Google Wave is really interesting

Below is the snapshot of my first Google Wave platform

For those who still not get the invitation and want to get one, go to http://wave.google.com and click Request an invitation at the bottom of the page. All the best :)

Smartphone app illuminates power consumption

On Saturday, November 21, 2009 No comments

A new application for the Android smartphone shows users and software developers how much power their applications are consuming. PowerTutor was developed by doctoral students and professors at the University of Michigan.

Battery-powered cell phones serve as hand-held computers and more these days. We run power-hungry applications while we depend on the phones to be available in emergencies.

"Today, we expect our phones to realize more and more functions, and we also expect their batteries to last," said Lide Zhang, a doctoral student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and one of the application's developers. "PowerTutor will help make that possible."

PowerTutor will enable software developers to build more efficient products, said Birjodh Tiwana, a doctoral student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and another of the program's developers. Tiwana said PowerTutor will allow users to compare the power consumption of different applications and select the leanest version that performs the desired task. Users can also watch how their actions affect the phone's battery life.

PowerTutor shows in real time how four different phone components use power: the screen, the network interface, the processor, and the global positioning system receiver.

To create the application, the researchers disassembled their phones and installed electrical current meters. Then they determined the relationship between the phone's internal state (how bright the screen is, for example) and the actual power consumption. That allowed them to produce a software model capable of estimating the power use of any program the phone is running with less than 5 percent error.

PowerTutor can also provide a power consumption history. It is available free at the Android Market at http://www.android.com/market/.

PowerTutor was developed under the direction of associate professor Robert Dick and assistant professor Morley Mao, both in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Lei Yang, a software engineer at Google. The work is supported by Google and the National Science Foundation, and was done in collaboration with the joint University of Michigan and Northwestern University Empathic Systems Project.

Source - University of Michigan

Google Translator can speak now

On Friday, November 20, 2009 1 comment

Google Translator is a popular translation tool that can translate website or words from many languages to other languages. Recently Google adds more languages but not just that, Google Translate now can also speak. Just go to http://translate.google.com and explore yourself

Google plan to buy a video compression firm

On Thursday, August 06, 2009 No comments

Another firm maybe taken by Google and this time is a video compression firm, On2 Technologies. On2 Technologies Inc. is a provider of digital video compression technology where its function is to shrink video files that allows for the quick transfer of large video files across the Web. Google really takes a smart move again because video is an essential part of the Web experience.

Maybe Google want to integrate it with Youtube (one of the most popular and visited video site) to boost up streaming, faster upload and to cut the costs of bandwidth. A very good news for the Youtube members and online streaming fans and Google itself. The price that Google will pay to On2 is $106.9 million in stock. The firm reported a loss in May and that maybe one of the factor it will be sell to Google.

The technology maybe applied to Google's Android mobile operating system and its Chrome operating system for PCs. For now, Google said in their official blog that it was not in a position to discuss specific product plans until after the deal closes, where Google expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter.

Resources :

- AP
- MSNBC

Google wave is really interesting

On Thursday, July 09, 2009 No comments

Google wave is coming maybe later this year, i still don't know when the exact date of the launch but from the demo video about Google wave, i found it so interesting. And i think web developers, internet marketers and whom that are involved much in internet will also love it. Thanks to Jens and Lars Rasmussen as a founder of it, where they're also a creator of a Google Maps.

My love at first sight with Google wave is about its ability to communicate really live with other people. More live than a usual communication with Internet messengers. Because usually you must wait your IM partner to type first and after click done then you can read their message. That's quite using time actually. But this is different with Wave where you can watch what they are typing character by character (this is a new technology). So you have more time to think what to reply and not just thinking after receiving the message. So it's like we are chatting in real life.

And the best part is, there is also a button to toggle whether you want other people can watch what you are typing or not. Now that is so cool right?

Uploading photos to wave

Uploading photos to wave is never as easy as this. No need browse button or other tools, just drag from your My Computer and drop in wave platform, so simple!

Watching photos and videos

This is the best part for me huhu. We can watch photos and also videos like Youtube videos synchronously with our partners through Google wave platform. Isn't that cute? :D

Integration

So much integration with Wave, and i really love to see how we can communicate from our wave platform to our blog and the conversation appear at both place and so on, and other people can join the conversation too. I don't know how to explain better here but you can watch the video at the official Google Wave website of how cool this is. And much more brilliant functions that will make our work more easily and fast.

Explanations

A brief explanation about wave from the Google blog is , 'A "wave" is equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.' Sounds good right?

Wanna know how it works? Read at Google's blog

Below is the snapshot of a Google wave;

For further info, go to the Google wave official website at http://wave.google.com

Have a nice day and all the best :)

The best search engine

On Wednesday, October 15, 2008 3 comments

There is no doubt that Google is the best search engine ever. There are so many reasons that can be included to prove that Google is the best in its genre. There are also other search engines used Google's engine. From my own experience, Google is the best. And Yahoo search engine is an alternative search engine for me when there is a problem or null in Google.

What is so important to me is , Google search engine give me the fastest results and the contents in its search engine is the most updated. There are many good blogs written in blogspot (blogger.com). So search engine like Yahoo and other than Google, put those blogs at the back in their index. Usually, blogs from blogger.com cannot take place in front page at Yahoo.

But of course Google put blogger's blog at the front page because blogger.com owned by Google itself. Yahoo not treat well to blogger.com.

And Google also kind in searching pictures and images. They also put images from flickr.com at the frontpage (especially when we search in Search Images mode), even though flickr is owned by Yahoo. But usually Yahoo just put at the frontpage images from flickr only. So Yahoo is not really kind about this matter.

Only Google is not good-looking like Yahoo and other search engines, but hey, what is so important for search engine to have a good look? The important is the service fast and have a quality of contents because we're just search for the certain websites, so let just the websites that we're searching for have a good-look :) Good look but not so up to date, less choice and slower service is not a good choice to me. All the best .......

Google Chrome - A new brilliant internet browser

On Tuesday, September 02, 2008 2 comments

Testing 1 2 3, wanna know what i'm testing now? I am testing a new Internet Browser called Google Chrome. If you still don't know what is Google Chrome, it is a new Internet browser that was launched by Google. Means, Google now has their own internet browser. They really want to conquer internet huh .......

So far, i think it is faster than any other browsers. It loads and surfs faster. But it is still lack of a few functions like not supported stumble button yet. I think StumbleUpon still not creating Stumble button to this browser so the stumblers still cannot stumble with this browser.

The design is quite simple but attractive. It looks like Netscape Navigator, only Google Chrome is more to blue while Navigator is more to black. I feel a bit awkward at the beginning of using it, maybe because it is still new. But now i'm getting more like to use it.

From what i read from Google itself, the new browser can avoid browser crash when we are editing documents or composing an email. It is of course faster and javascript also can load faster. There are more security equipped and can avoid mass browser exploit. There are architectural changes in browser that can also avoid malwares. The tab system is really dynamic (there is animation when we drag to the left and right, and when we drag outside of a tab bar , it will become a new window, and we can put it back to the tab bar). The URL box also can be a search box , so it has 2 in 1 function.

Google Chrome also included other browsers nice capability in one browser. In short, we can say Google Chrome is all nice functions of browsers in one browser, a total package. The thumbnail home-page is basically Opera's Speed Dial, and IE7 has had a thumbnail view for a couple of years. Chrome's InCognito is already in IE8 as InPrivate Browsing, and was in Safari 3 before. Omnibar is Firefox's Awesome bar, and couples more.

Furthermore, you can try download the browser and experience it for yourself. And remember, use at your own risk. I'm just conveying a news here . All the best :)

What Google told us about how big the web is

On Saturday, July 26, 2008 No comments

No human being knows exactly of how big the web / internet is now. Google has just told us that it has reached 1 trillion unique pages now and still expanding. What a huge size is that and always increase from time to time. I dunno how Google stores all those and bla bla, but you can read it at Google's blog at the link below.

We knew the web was big

END

Google wants to store all your files

On Wednesday, November 28, 2007 No comments

The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is preparing a service that would let users store on its computers essentially all of the files they might keep on their personal computers, such as word processing documents, digital music, video clips and images.

Users could access their files via the Internet from different computers and mobile devices when they sign on with a password, and share them online with friends.

“A document Google inadvertently released on the Web in March 2006 said it was moving toward being able to “store 100% of user data,” citing “emails, Web history, pictures, bookmarks” as a few examples. The document referred to what appeared to be unannounced Google initiatives, including one dubbed “ GDrive ” and said they could help compete with Microsoft.”

Some of the storage space would be free, with additional storage allotments available for a fee. It could be released as early as a few months from now, according to some leaky people who declined to share their names.

Google already does some of this through its existing Web applications, but this service would tie everything together with a single search box. Other companies offer various Internet-based file storage services, but most have been slow to catch on. Some, like Yahoo's Briefcase, require users to go to a Web page and click through a few screens to upload a new file and set various limits.

Google's grand vision faces many bumps, most alarmingly of the privacy variety. No word yet on whether the search giant plans to display ads as part of the storage service, as it does with Gmail, which would likely raise red flags for privacy groups.

Even if it doesn't, consumers receive a lesser level of legal protection for the privacy of their data when it is on an Internet-based file storage system as opposed to just on their own computers, according to Kevin Bankston, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

More on CBS News

Google to enter wireless world market with software

On Monday, November 05, 2007 No comments

The Internet giant now confirmed it was working with 30 companies, including some of the world's biggest handset makers and wireless service providers, such as U.S. phone makers Motorola Inc, HTC, LG, Samsung and Qualcomm Inc Taiwan's High Tech Computer and German-based carrier T-Mobile. And it will be available in the United States through T-Mobile and Sprint.

Mobile phones based on Google’s software are not expected to be available until the second half of next year. The phones will also be available through the world’s largest mobile operator, China Telecom, with 332 million subscribers in China, and the leading carriers in Japan, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI, as well as T-Mobile in Germany, Telecom Italia in Italy and Telefónica in Spain.

The 34-member Open Handset Alliance, as the group is called, also includes many of the leading makers of mobile phone chips, like Broadcom, Intel, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, as well as SiRF Technology Holdings, Marvell Technology Group, Nvidia and Synaptics. EBay (which owns the Internet calling service Skype), Nuance Communications, NMS Communications and Wind River Systems are also members of the group.

The technology is expected to provide cellular handset manufacturers and wireless operators with capabilities that match and potentially surpass those using smartphone software made by Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, Research in Motion and others. In contrast to the existing competitors, Google’s software will be offered freely under “open source” licensing terms, meaning that handset manufacturers will be able to use it at no cost and be free to add new features to differentiate their products.

The software could lead to cheaper phones as it is designed to speed up the process of making mobile services. The first phones using the so-called Google "software stack" will be available in the second half of 2008.

As speculation about Google’s efforts trickled out over the last several months, expectations that the company would build what has been called a Google Phone or GPhone have mounted. But for now at least, Google will not put its brand on a phone. The software running on the phones may not even display the Google logo. Instead, Google is giving the software away to others who will build the phones.

The company invested heavily in the project to ensure that all of its services are available on mobile phones. Its ultimate goal is to cash in on the effort by selling advertisements to mobile phone users, just as it does on Internet-connected computers.

“We are not building a GPhone; we are enabling 1,000 people to build a GPhone,” said Andy Rubin who is 44 years old, Google’s director of mobile platforms, who led the effort to develop the software. "This is going to bring the internet into cell phones in a very cool way," Andy Rubin adds.

Android was the name of a small start-up Google acquired in 2005 that was founded by Andy Rubin, a veteran Silicon Valley gadget designer, and the software it developed forms the basis of the new stack. Google's Android software will be provided to handset makers free of charge and could lead to a price war for operating system licenses and potentially cheaper handsets.

Sprint Nextel Corp, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service and a member of the alliance, said the system will be based on open-source Linux code and Sun Microsystems Java language, and available to phone makers and carriers without license fees. It is expected to support applications from different developers as well as Google Web search, e-mail and mapping, according to Sprint. It is designed so programmers can easily build applications that connect to independent Web services.

As an example, Mr. Rubin said the company’s StreetView feature of Google Maps could easily be coupled — mashed up, in technology speak — with another service listing the current geographical location of friends.

Mr. Rubin also said that a program like Gmail could attach a photo to an e-mail message, regardless of whether the photo was stored in the phone’s memory or on a Web site.

A week from today, the alliance plans to make available tools for third-party programmers, called a software developers’ kit, Mr. Rubin said. But the group’s core technology itself will not be made available under an open-source license until it is commercially ready sometime next year, Mr. Rubin said.

Mr. Rubin also said that in the future, the Google technology could be used in other portable devices, including small hand-held computers and car navigation systems.

Read Google Press Release.

Source : New York Times, Reuters, BBC News, FOXNews

Google Expands Online Software Suite

On Monday, September 17, 2007 No comments

Google Inc. has expanded its online suite of office software to include a business presentation tool similar to Microsoft Corp.'s popular PowerPoint, adding the latest twist in a high-stakes rivalry. The Mountain View-based company planned to unveil the presentation software late Monday, about five months after Chief Executive Eric Schmidt announced Google would add the application to its software arsenal.

The new program will be included in Google's free software bundle, called "Docs," which users must be online to employ. And the company will sell a souped-up version to businesses, universities and government agencies for $50 a year per user.

As PowerPoint does, Google's presentation software enables users to create a series of slides with a mixture of text and graphics on each. PowerPoint is widely used in business meetings.

Google's software suite already included word processing, spreadsheet and calendar management programs. Microsoft has been reaping huge profits from similar applications for years. Unlike Google's applications, Microsoft's programs are usually installed directly on the hard drives of computers. Google executives have consistently depicted the company's software applications as counterparts to Microsoft's products.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Google's mission to moon

On Sunday, September 16, 2007 No comments

Feedget - A $20m competition has been launched by Google with sending a robotic mission to the moon. To claim the prize, a team of researchers will need to send a rover to the moon, make it roam for a minimum of 500 metres and send video, images and data back to Earth, all before December 31, 2012.

Google partnered with the X Prize Foundation for the moon challenge, which is open to companies worldwide. The Santa Monica-based nonprofit prize institute is best known for hosting the Ansari X Prize contest, which led to the first manned private spaceflight in 2004 and best known for its $10m award to Burt Rutan, designer of SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 made the first private sub-orbital spaceflight. His design is being developed by Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic in the hope of sending people on short trips into space.

The Google Lunar X Prize joins another prize already dangling in front of potential competitors: $50 million that hotel magnate Robert Bigelow is offering the first private American team to rocket a manned craft into orbit by 2010. The race to the moon won't be easy or cheap. But whoever fills the requirements in the Google contest by December 2012 gets $20 million.

"The Google Lunar X prize calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity," said Peter Diamandis, chief executive of the X Prize Foundation.

Google's billionaire founders are also paying $1.3m for a space connection of a different kind.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page have struck a deal to park their personal "party plane" on a restricted Nasa airfield near the internet company's headquarters in California. In return, they will allow the US space agency to put scientific instruments and researchers aboard their Boeing 767 and two other Google aircraft.

The arrangement has upset residents in Google's home town of Mountain View, who fear it could set a precedent for corporate use of a hitherto quiet federal facility.

The winning spacecraft must be tough enough to survive a landing and be equipped with high-definition video and still cameras. And it must be smart enough to trek at least 1,312 feet on the moon and send self-portraits, panoramic views and near-real-time videos back to Earth that will be streamed on Google's Web site.

Participants must secure a launch vehicle for the probe, either by building it themselves or contracting with an existing private rocket company. Private rocket company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. said it will subsidize use of its launch vehicle to interested competitors. The company, headed by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, has not had a fully successful launch in two tries.

If there is no winner, the purse will drop to $15 million until the end of 2014, when the contest expires. There is also a $5 million second-place prize and $5 million in bonus money to teams that go beyond the minimum requirements.

Japan's space agency, JAXA, has launched its long-delayed orbiter SELENE from a remote Pacific Island also on 14 September.

Google Earth's Flight Simulator

On Saturday, September 01, 2007 No comments

Wow, i found out from one website that the latest Google Earth is so magnificent. It contains a hidden feature, which is a full-fledged flight simulator! Press Command+Option+A in OS X or Ctrl+Alt+A on a Windows or Linux box and you'll be greeted with a hidden dialog box that lets you choose an aircraft (F16 or SR22) and an airport. Once you've made your selection, you'll be placed inside the aircraft. You can then fly around the globe in a free flight simulator, viewing the scenery that is pulled from Google Earth's map files. It's like a Flight Simulator game but this one is more real because it took Google Earth's perspective view.

If you wasn't able to get things to work at first, then try to zooming way into Earth and try again. It seems like you can't activate the feature when you are out in space looking down on the earth. Once you've activated the feature, it will be available from the Tools menu. All the best :)

Google Earth launched Sky for stargazer

On Wednesday, August 22, 2007 No comments

All of you fans of Astronomy, listen! Google Earth has launched a new feature called Sky, a "virtual telescope" that the search engine hopes will turn millions of Internet users into stargazers. Isn't that really interesting to hear? Or is it just me who really excited about it? Hhhmm. When i hear Google want to develop that kind of thing, i was really excited because i'm one of the Astronomy fans too.

Google Earth is a very exciting software, and with adding this new feature in it, this time will enable us to gaze the star from the internet, then it will be more exciting. "Never before has a roadmap of the entire sky been made so readily available," said Dr. Carol Christian of the Space Telescope Science Institute, who co-led the institute's Sky team. "Sky in Google Earth will foster and initiate new understanding of the universe by bringing it to everyone's home computer."

Users of Sky will be able to float and zoom in on over 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies. Users will view the sky as seen from earth. "We're excited to provide users with rich astronomical imagery and enhanced content that enables them to both learn about what they're seeing and tell their own stories," said Google Product Manager Lior Ron in a statement. "By working with some of the industry's leading experts, we've been able to transform Google Earth into a virtual telescope."

The Sky service will be available on all Google Earth domains, in 13 languages. Users will need to download the newest version of Google Earth which can be found at www.earth.google.com. I tried it, and so far it's really interesting! It's like we use a huge telescope to gaze the sky and view stars, other galaxies and so on. Magnificent!

Via : Reuters

Google go shopping again to acquire Postini

On Tuesday, July 10, 2007 No comments

Google will go shopping again! Looks like our uncle here got so much money and influence now. One by one big internet company acquired by them. This time Google have an interest to Postini, a software company. It's been reported by Washington Post.

By Kendra Marr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 10, 2007; Page D01

Google delved deeper into the business software market yesterday with its announcement it would acquire Postini for $625 million in cash.

Postini, a closely held company with about 300 employees, sells software that protects e-mail, instant messaging and other Web-based communications from viruses and spam. The company said it hopes the acquisition would attract larger business clients seeking to comply with complex security regulations.
Google, which started by offering applications aimed at consumers, has been developing and promoting software that businesses and corporations use, trying to make inroads into Microsoft's market. Microsoft sells software such as Office through retailers while Google distributes applications over the Internet and makes money from advertising and subscriptions.
"There's nothing to install, nothing to maintain, and it costs much less," said Dave Girouard, vice president of Google Enterprise.
This is the second security company to be bought by Google. Two months ago it acquired GreenBorder Technologies.
Other companies have made similar moves to obtain Internet security services. In 2005, Microsoft acquired FrontBridge Technologies, a Postini competitor. Internet security company Symantec bought Brightmail in 2004, fortifying its defense against junk mail. Google said it expects the Postini deal to close by the end of the third quarter.
Google's foray into business software began after it added applications like Internet calendars, a Web page publisher and embedded instant messaging to its e-mail service Gmail. Last year the company snapped up Writely, an online word processor, to enhance its Docs & Spreadsheets application, which lets users share information in real time. And last week, Google bought GrandCentral Communications, a Web-based phone service that allows users to manage voice mail online and program one phone number to ring multiple phones.
As Google adds more applications, it further challenges established business software like Microsoft Office. Google Apps, the collection of Google's business software, has attracted about 100,000 business users and a handful of university clients, according to the company.
About 1,000 small businesses sign up for Google Apps each day, but larger businesses have been reluctant to move to Internet applications because of security and corporate compliance requirements, Google executives said yesterday. Adding Postini would help streamline the intricate security mandates of these big organizations, they said.
Postini serves 35,000 business customers worldwide. Google will continue to support existing Postini customers outside Google Apps. The two companies started partnering on administration, security and archiving for Gmail in April, and that relationship evolved into acquisition talks.
"Clearly Google was an opportunity to accelerate our own strategy and our own growth," said Quentin P. Gallivan, chief executive of Postini, based in San Carlos, Calif.
Shar VanBoskirk, analyst for Forrester Research, said Google is attempting to expand its online role.
"This is a great, competitive thing to do against Microsoft," VanBoskirk said. "As we continue to watch the sparring match, this is Google saying to Microsoft, 'We're going to compete in your core business. It's not just the online advertising world, we're going to compete in the applications world as well.' "

Via Washington Post