Last winter, Google made a run at Facebook and fell flat, fast. Google Buzz, the social network it tried to build around its popular Gmail service, failed to live up to its name: it drew only a small fraction of Gmail’s more than 100 million users, and it prompted a privacy scare and a lawsuit. But Google didn’t give up. Instead, the company is trying again, on a much bigger scale. It has spent hundreds of millions of dollars buying Web compani…
The upcoming Google TV hardware and service is by no means the first to try to combine TV and the Web. WebTV (bought by Microsoft and now called MSN TV) predates it by 15 years,and Apple TV has been trying half-heart-edly to deliver the Internet to your television for the past three. Yet, with its industry-leading partners, a proven platform, and successful demonstration of phase one, GoogleTV does have the scent of a game changer.I think it…
a 3D conveyer belt, with options that aren’t on the screen visible disappearing off into the distance at the top and bottom of the list. When you hit the Lock button the screen disappears with a flash like turning off an old TV. In short it feels more polished. Along with touch-sensitive Back, Menu, Search and Home Android controls along the bottom, which respond well, static Phone, Menu and Browser icons remain at the bottom as you scroll throu…
Although I’d love to go the Nationwide Gallery in Berlin, it’s about 4,000 miles out of my way. Thanks to Art Project, Powered by Google (free), this afternoon I strolled the Grand Hallway without leaving my keyboard. Tonight, I’ll visit the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles. Maybe tomorrow I’ll tour the Victorian Spectacle with the Tate. Google Art Undertaking brings Google Street Watch into the galleries. With about one,00…
Change channels with your phone, check email on your TV, access all the video the web has to offer and more, all via Google’s home-invading new tech.. Rumoured for months, Google TV is now official. previous efforts to bring the web into the lounge have been a disappointment widget that tell you what the weather’s like and let you view YouTube clips. Even Apple TV was described by COO Tim Cook as “a hobby” for the compa…
Google wants to bring your digital book reader into the cloud. In May, the company announced plan to lunch its own digital book store, a Web-based effort called Google Editions. The Store will open sometimes this summer, a Google spokesperson has confirmed. And unlike many of the current e-book options on the market, Google Editions will let you buy and use its book wherever you want. A Different Digital BookStore The news of Google Editions im…
When Sony’s Web Tv Blu-ray Player ($399.99, 4 stars) hit the labs last month, we gave it props for its slick Google Television user interface and general bang for the buck. Using the Sony NSX-32GT1 ($799.99 checklist), you receive the same Google-powered interface built into a 32-inch LCD HDTV; all you’ve to do is provide an web connection to take benefit of this distinctive system. Nevertheless, this set is not without its flaws; t…
Tablet PCs expected to steal the show at IFA following the Apple iPad’s success… Apple’s launch of the iPad has helped put the tablet PC back on the map, and now the world’s biggest PC makers and Internet giants are preparing to join the market with a range of devices running Windows 7and Google Android this autumn. A number of tablet PCs were expected to be demonstrated at the IFA trade show in Berlin as we went to pre…
… users’ News Feeds, plenty of folks cried fowl as they reached for their granny glasses to read the latest from their friends. Those of us who had the “Never use font sizes smaller than…” setting probably never noticed the change, while competitors like Google’s Chrome can only combat the dilemma by increasing the font size on all pages or digging up an extension to make the magic happen. Safari’s feature set includes managing bookmarks, d…
Google has finally unveiled the first laptop to run Chrome OS, more than two years after the netbook operating system (OS) was first announced. The black, unbranded laptop, dubbed the CR-48, will initially be available only to developers and a limited number of consumers. The laptop has a 12.1in display, a full-size keyboard, and a battery that will last for around eight hours. Google didn’t say if or when it was going to start selling it…
