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All posts tagged "Google"


Saturday, September 13, 2008

Google Introduces Its Mobile Search for Windows Mobile

Posted by Ed Hansberry in "Pocket PC Wireless and GPS" @ 06:00 AM

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/20...ch-with-my.html

"Previously, when you went to google.com from your phone’s browser and performed a local search, the results were tailored to the last location you entered. Now, using the Gears Geolocation API, Search with My Location approximates your actual location using the same Cell ID technology used by Google maps for mobile. So if you want to find sushi nearby, just type "sushi" and Google will return local business listings around you. If you want to know the forecast, type "weather". If you want to search somewhere else, specify a location in the query like "pizza Kansas City."

  • On your mobile device, go to www.google.com/m
  • Click the Location link
  • Tell it to install Gears. A Windows CE CAB will be downloaded that you need to install.
  • Soft reset your device when the install is done.
  • Launch PIE and allow Google Gears access to your browser

It isn't perfect. It thinks I am 13 miles northwest of my present location, which is odd. The tower locator system that the Google Maps tool uses can always get me to within half a mile of my real location, and usually under 1,000 yards. It also isn't on the iGoogle page yet on your device, so you either have to pick the iGoogle personalized page to search from, or the generic Google Mobile page, but not both.

Right now it is limited to the US and UK, and there are a list of unsupported devices, so check the blog post before installing.


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Google Launches "Chrome" Web Browser

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Software" @ 08:50 AM

http://www.google.com/chrome

Yesterday, Google launched their own Web browser. Since this is pretty big news, I decided it was worth posting network-wide. Do we really need another browser? Before yesterday, my answer would have been no - I'm a very satisfied Firefox user, and Internet Explorer 8 is shaping up quite nicely. But after watching the 90 minute Google Webcast yesterday, I was very interested in with what Google had created. There's a great online comic that walks you through why Google created the browser, and what kinds of things were important to Google when creating Chrome. I think this comic is also how the browser was leaked before Google was ready to announce it. Read more...


Monday, June 23, 2008

Google's Android OS Delayed

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Pocket PC Talk" @ 05:03 PM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25329776/

"Mobile phones under development by Google Inc. and its partners face slipping delivery schedules, with the first phones not likely to arrive until late 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Google had said eight months ago that the first phones to be built under the Android partnership umbrella would come out in the second half of 2008 and commitments from various handset makers and carriers appear to support this initial commitment."



Windows Mobile faces a lot of competition in the marketplace: RIM, Apple, and now Google's Android OS. Windows Mobile devices outsell RIM devices, so the battle with RIM is more about mind-share and dislodging them from the enterprise space. Lately we've talked about the challenges that the iPhone brings to Windows Mobile, so I won't rehash those discussions, but we haven't talked much about Android. The initial demos of it look decent, though nothing too mind-blowing. And there's much more to building a platform that just releasing an OS - how well Android does depends largely on the execution of it's hardware partners, and the quality of the software development that springs up around it. Sound familiar? That's exactly the scenario Windows Mobile has always been in - and we know that hardware can make or break a phone experience.

Tags: Google, Android

Friday, November 30, 2007

Google Maps Beta with My Location Feature Brings GPS Like Functionality to Non-GPS Phones

Posted by Kris Kumar in "Smartphone Software" @ 06:30 AM

http://www.google.com/gmm/mylocation.html?hl=en

"See your location on the map, with or without GPS. Save time and tedious keystrokes finding where you are, what's around you, and how to get there. ... The My Location feature takes information broadcast from mobile towers near you to approximate your current location on the map - it's not GPS, but it comes pretty close (approximately 1000m close, on average). We're still in beta, but we're excited to launch this feature and are constantly working to improve our coverage and accuracy."

Wow, now this is impressive. The new Google Maps beta makes mobile mapping easy for non-GPS based handsets, which is almost all the phones out there. Google Maps makes use of the cell tower information to calculate your position, check out the YouTube video for more information. I haven't tried it out yet, but will be giving it a spin soon. We would like to hear your thoughts and comments about this application. Personally, I think, this is the kind of mobile development activity I would like to see from Google and not another mobile phone OS.


Friday, November 16, 2007

Symbian Dismisses Google Android

Posted by Jerry Raia in "Smartphone Talk" @ 01:00 PM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7082414.stm

"Google's dominance of the web will not translate to the mobile phone market, a senior executive at Symbian has said. John Forsyth, vice president of strategy at Symbian, the platform that powers many of the world's phones, said Google lacked experience. Google has formed an alliance with 33 firms to develop an open platform for mobile phones, called Android."

This whole Google phone thing reminds me of the earlier open source effort. Remember that? Linux and Open Office on your desktop. It really took off didn't it. I heard there are about 50 users now. I happen to agree Symbian on this one. I think Google is out of its league here. Please don't tell me how big they are either. WalMart is big too.

Tags: Google, Android

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Google Phone Just Two Weeks Away?

Posted by Kris Kumar in "Smartphone Competition" @ 05:00 AM

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/08/24/google.phone.in.fortnight/

"The frequently rumored Google phone could be announced in as little as two weeks, claim Indian sources familiar with the search engine giant's press release efforts. An official release would come within a "fortnight" and would initially release the phone simultaneously in Europe and the US. Indian companies have recently begun talks but could potentially see the phone carried by one of multiple networks in the country, including the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam as well as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar. Google is reportedly also negotiating Google Talk and search features for carriers in the area, though this is actually less certain than the phone announcement, according to the sources."

If these rumors are true then 2007 will turn out be the best year for mobility. Though most of the action seems to be happening in the competition's arena; we saw the launch of the feature packed Nokia N95, and then the user friendly iPhone. Windows Mobile platform has seen some new devices, some like the HTC Tilt-Kaiser are definitely interesting but nothing has come close to generating a buzz. The only thing that comes close to generating a buzz for Windows Mobile is the picture above, if you look closely you will see the Windows Mobile home screen. The photo is obviously a mock-up, but if it turns out to be true then that would be best endorsement the Windows Mobile platform can get. GigaOM has an interesting post titled "Google Phone An Attempt To Take On $100 PC?" Regardless of whether these rumors are true or not, Google's phone is already generating a lot of buzz.

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  • Source: Mobility Site


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