Ring! It's Gmail's new voice feature calling

courtesy of computerworld

Computerworld - Google announced today that it is offering the ability to make phone calls over the Internet via its popular Gmail service.

Unlike Google's nearly two-year-old Gmail voice and video chat feature, which gives users an audio and visual experience online, the new calling feature allows users to dial phone numbers. With this move, Google is competing with Skype, which has long dominated the market for Internet phone service.

"Starting today, you can call any phone right from Gmail," wrote Robin Schriebman, a Google software engineer in a blog post. "We've been testing this feature internally, and have found it to be useful in a lot of situations, ranging from making a quick call to a restaurant to placing a call when you're in an area with bad reception."

Schriebman explained that making a phone call through Gmail works just like using a normal phone. Users can click "Call Phone" at the top of their chat list and enter a number or a contact name. She added that calls to anyone in the U.S. and Canada will be free "at least for the rest of the year." She said "very low rates" have been set for calls to other countries.

So, does Google have the muscle to make Gmail a Skype-killer?

Skype, a seven-year-old service, is used by individuals and companies to make video and voice calls over the Internet. According to Skype, its users made 6.4 billion minutes of calls in the first half of 2010.

While Google may be starting out behind in this race, it has the benefit of its large Gmail user base.

"Skype could get hurt by this," said Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group. "Skype has been offering the ability to call land lines and cell phones for years now. But having it integrated into Google's Gmail and, assumedly, their other offerings down the road, is quite an extension for Google."

Olds added that Google, always on the lookout for new revenue streams, is aiming to expand its reach over its customers and to move into complementary markets that will generate more sales.

"Adding voice calls to their existing product set enhances the user experience and keeps people using Google apps longer and more frequently," Olds said. "It also keeps people from using another service like Skype, and it certainly may prompt some defections from Skype. Google definitely has the scale and reach to put a big dent in Skype if Google can deliver on the service side."

The voice calling feature is expected to be rolled out to U.S.-based users over the next few days, according to Google. Users will need to install Google's voice and video plug-in and watch for the "Call Phone" button to appear on their chat list.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt's answer to online privacy concerns: change your name

Google's CEO Eric Schmidt Photo: AFP

Eric Schmidt suggested that young people should be entitled to change their identity to escape their misspent youth, which is now recorded in excruciating detail on social networking sites such as Facebook.

"I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time," Mr Schmidt told the Wall Street Journal.

In an interview Mr Schmidt said he believed that every young person will one day be allowed to change their name to distance themselves from embarrasssing photographs and material stored on their friends' social media sites.

The 55-year-old also predicted that in the future, Google will know so much about its users that the search engine will be able to help them plan their lives.

Using profiles of it customers and tracking their locations through their smart phones, it will be able to provide live updates on their surroundings and inform them of tasks they need to do.

"We're trying to figure out what the future of search is," Mr Schmidt said. “One idea is that more and more searches are done on your behalf without you needing to type.

"I actually think most people don't want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be doing next."

He suggested, as an example, that because Google would know “roughly who you are, roughly what you care about, roughly who your friends are”, it could remind users what groceries they needed to buy when passing a shop.

The comments are not the first time Mr Schmidt has courted controversy over the wealth of personal information people reveal on the internet. Last year, he notoriously remarked: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

Earlier this year, Google was condemned by the privacy watchdogs of 10 countries for showing a “disappointing disregard” for safeguarding private information of its users.

In a letter to Mr Schmidt, Britain's Information Commissioner Chris Graham joined his counterparts in countries including Canada, France, Germany and Italy, in raising concerns over its Street View and Buzz social networking services.

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You know that PlayStation phone we've been hearing about for, well, seemingly forever? Engadget says it's finally happening in the form of Sony Ericsson-developed, Android-based hardware that's PSPgo-like in form. That long-rumored elusive PlayStation phone could even hit this year.

According to Engadget's report, that PlayStation branded phone will be based on the Android 3.0 platform, sport a 3.7 to 4.1 inch WVGA or better resolution screen, (possibly) a 5 megapixel camera and a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU.

For controls, the device is said to feature the PlayStation standard d-pad and face buttons, plus a "long touch pad" for analog controls. Hardware-wise, Engadget describes it as "a cross between the Samsung Captivate and the PSP Go" and probably much better looking than our mock-up.

On the games front, original PlayStation titles and PSP games like God of War and LittleBigPlanet are name-checked. Modern Warfare, which has never seen a PSone or PSP iteration, is also mentioned as a title "possibly on tap" for the device.

Much of that seems to match up with a Wall Street Journal report from earlier this year that heralded a Sony Ericsson released PlayStation phone some time in 2010.

If Sony Ericsson does have plans to unveil the long-rumored PlayStation phone, it has Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show still left to do it. With PSP game releases on the decline, the time may finally be right.

Exclusive: Sony Ericsson to introduce Android 3.0 gaming platform and PSP Go-like smartphone [Engadget]

NPD: Android is now top-selling OS in American smartphones

By Vlad Savov posted Aug 4th 2010 10:46AM

58diggsdiggStep aside, BlackBerrys and iPhones, the American consumer has voted with his wallet and picked Android as his favorite flavor in the quarter just gone. NPD's number crunchers have just announced their findings for Q2 2010, concluding that 33 percent of phones sold during the period had Android on board. This marks the first time in eons (Q4 2007, to be more precise) that RIM has not held the crown of most purchased smartphone OS on US soil, with its BlackBerrys accounting for 28% of the market and Apple's iPhone occupying third spot with 22%. Motorola and HTC are the key suspects fingered for Android's continuing ascent, with the "large screen allure" of their handsets playing well with the buying public. Skip after the break for a more detailed breakdown.

Google App Inventor

So you wanna make apps for Google Android, but don't know how to program? Here's your solution.

Google Voice is now open to everyone, no invites required

courtesy of betanews

Google Voice, the popular and often controversial VoIP, voicemail, and messaging service from Mountain View search giant Google is now open for anyone in the U.S. to use.

Previously, you could only open a Google Voice account if you received an invitation from a user already participating in the program.

In May, Google opened the program to anybody with a .edu mail account, giving students and educators a shot at it.

But with already over one million users in the invitation-only version, Google has opened Voice to anyone.

"We're proud of the progress we've made with Google Voice over the last few years, and we're still just scratching the surface of what's possible when you combine your regular phone service with the latest web technology. It's even more amazing to think about how far communication has come over the last couple hundred years," Google said today.

To sign up for Google Voice, click here

Google Paints Chinese Government into a Corner

courtesy of PCWorld.com

Google's carefully worded blog post today explaining why they redirected mainland Chinese traffic to the Hong Kong version of Google sounds fair and balanced. In fact, it's a humiliating slap in the face for the Chinese government. Here's why.

Because Google was used by hackers most likely working for the Chinese government to track down political activists and to steal Google's intellectual property -- and because they were forced by the government to censor the Internet -- Google decided that such evil wasn't worth the money they might make by rolling over for the authoritarian government. No more censorship.

(If you're tempted to argue equivalency with, say, German censorship of Nazi-related content or censorship of hate speech and child pornography in the West, note that in addition to consumer and social sites, the Chinese government censors the words "dictatorship," "anti-communist," "genocide," "oppression," and related web sites. The Chinese government even forced Google, whose motto is "don't be evil" to censor the word "evil." Here's a more complete list of what the Chinese government censors.)

The Chinese government told Google that censoring the Internet for the Chinese Communist Party is Chinese law. Obey the law, or leave the country.

Google's solution was to redirect traffic from the mainland Chinese site, google.cn, to the Hong Kong site, which is google.com.hk. Mainland Chinese laws don't apply in Hong Kong, so there is far less censorship on that site.

This is something of a worst-case scenario for the Chinese government. It brings huge attention to the special privileges afforded to Hong Kong residents, who have a whole range of relative political freedoms. It leaves the Chinese government with three options:

1. Block mainland access to Hong Kong, which exacerbates frustration with Hong Kong's special status and creates resentment on the mainland

2. Shut down the Hong Kong site, which creates resentment among powerful elites in Hong Kong

3. Allow Chinese citizens access to an uncensored Internet

None of these options are acceptable to the Chinese government. All put a massive spotlight on a set of facts that the Chinese government works hard to keep in the shadows. Despite spectacular economic growth, the Chinese government is in fact a backward authoritarian one-party regime, more akin to Cuba, Burma or pre-invasion Iraq than to the group of leading democracies it pretends equality with or superiority to. Google's redirect move lays that truth bare for all to see, especially inside China.

Don't be fooled by Google's fair-minded tone. This was a humiliating slap in the face of the highest order.

First Look: Google Phone - Nexus One

courtesy of engadget

Well here you have it folks, honest-to-goodness pics of the Google Phone... AKA, the Nexus One. As you can see by the photos, the design of the device is largely similar to those we've seen, but the graphic on back is slightly different, and that piece of tape is covering a QR code (how very Google of them). Just like we've heard before, the updated OS features new 3D elements to the app tray, as well as an extended amount of homescreens, though it looks like the lock screen / mute is the same as in Android 2.0.1. Additionally, there's now a new grid icon at the bottom of the homescreen, which when pressed brings up a webOS card-style preview of all homescreen pages -- which raises some interesting possibilities. Apparently there's been a new software update for the device pushed tonight, and sure enough the phone is identified as the Nexus One on the system info page. Quite clearly this device is running on T-Mobile, and is also using WiFi, so there's two other questions you've got answers to. The phone also appears to come loaded up with Google Navigation (a bit of a no-brainer) and the brand-spanking-new Google Goggles. Hardware wise, the Nexus does look incredibly thin and sleek, and while there's not a slew of buttons (those four up front are clearly touch sensitive), there is a dedicated volume rocker along the side. Oh, and note this... no HTC logo anywhere to be found. We'll update the post as / if we get more info, but for now, feast your eyes on the gallery below!

Update: One item of interest. In the packaging there's a quick start guide which points users to a "questions" page at google.com/phone/support. The page is a dead end right now, but it certainly gets an eyebrow raise from us. If there is a real Google Phone in the offing, that seems a likely landing page for support.

Update 2: In case you're interested, here's Android 2.1's boot animation for Nexus One. Eerily familiar, no?

Use Your Own Number With Some Google Voice Features

courtesy of PCWorld

Google Voice users can now use their existing phone numbers with the service, which will come as good news to people who don't want to give out a new number to all of their existing contacts. But there are some catches.

First off, this isn't quite the same as transferring a phone number from one carrier to another; your number still works with your cell phone or landline. Instead, Google Voice will intercept calls going to voicemail, thereby providing you with transcription, e-mail integration, and the other goodies that Voice users have come to rely upon. Secondly, if you want to use call screening, forwarding to any phone, or other features of the service, you'll still need to give out your new Google Voice-assigned number.

In either case, all Google Voice users can place outgoing calls, free to the US and Canada, and cheap elsewhere (but you'll still burn cell minutes if you use your handset).

You'll need an invite to get access to Google Voice, but invites have gone out to many existing subscribers, so ask your friends. If you want to use Google Voice voicemail, check Google's supported carriers to make sure that yours is included (all major providers are).

Google has published a help page with details on how this will work after you activate the feature. Sadly, iPhone users won't be able to use the handset's Visual Voicemail feature if they activate this service, but apparently, you can turn the feature on and off on the fly, in case you find you prefer your phone's integrated voice messaging.

Google to Release a Free Operating System titled "Chrome OS"

Ever heard of Microsoft Windows? How about Linux? These are operating systems, also known as OS's, that the computer needs in order to accept input (keyboard, mouse) from the user (you) to manipulate the hardware (computer components) to run programs and output them to an interface that you can see (monitor). In other words, an OS is one of the essential components of a working computer. That is why Microsoft is constantly battling anti-trust and monopoly lawsuits from countries (and losing some of them).

Another way to look at it is if you wanted to build a computer, then you can use any central processing unit (CPU) from Intel, AMD, or Cyrix. You can use any motherboard (mobo) from Gigabyte, MSI, etc. When you look at all the components that make up a working PC (in the sense that we are familiar with), the list goes on and on. You can use any graphics card, monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc from any manufacturer and they would all work the same, BUT you can only use one OS. Microsoft Windows. That is how Bill Gates became the richest person in the world and Linux was such a threat back in the late 90's. (Linux was a free OS that ran well on low-end computers and offered many of the same features as Microsoft Windows but didn't have the help and support needed at the consumer level... which is why it was ultimately unsuccessful with dethroning Microsoft from King of the Hill.)

Well, guess who is coming out with an OS now? Google is releasing their free Chrome OS this August (actually, only the source code) and computers will supposedly be shipping with it in the second half of 2010. Even though Linux still has it's place among internet servers and databases, it was suppose to be the OS that knocked Microsoft after it's perch, but (as mentioned above) eventually failed. Maybe Google's Chrome OS will be the one to finally place Microsoft into the fair realm of free enterprise.

Comparison of Top 3 Smart Phones Currently Available

In case you're on the fence, or if you're just curious what the difference is between the leading cell-phones, here is a comparison chart. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Gaming Themes for iGoogle

I'm not sure if any of you use iGoogle, but it is an interface for Google.com's start page that can be customized to your own taste with apps, web feeds, etc. Anyway, iGoogle has updated its themes to include various games. Over 25 different game themes are available with (I'm sure) more on the way. Examples include Super Mario Bros (as shown above), Mass Effect 2, and even Magic: The Gathering. The link can be found here.

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