iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7: the facts and my experience [Part 1]

Q4 2010 brought a big milestone to the mobile industry: smartphones outsold PCs for the first time ever. And that's not even taking into account tables and iPods that provide similar functionality. In short, mobile devices - or "post-PC devices", as Steve Jobs calls them - are hot stuff right now.

However, it's easy to get lost and confused by all the devices and even by all the mobile operating systems we can choose from. Apple is certainly leading this new revolution with the iPhone and the iPad, but other software and hardware companies are trying their best to catch up and capture our imagination.

Last Summer I started blogging at Mobitel Tehnik, a blog about mobile technologies, on which my posts (in Slovenian) mainly cover news and tips related to mobile app development. As part of my assignment, I've been using and following the development of some of the recently most popular smart mobile operating systems on the market.

That is why I've decided to sum up some of the thoughts and experiences I've had with various platforms on my blog in two parts: in the first part, I focus on introducing facts and my personal experience with 3 of the most talked about smartphone operating systems: Apple's iOS, Google's Android, and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. And in part 2, I will try to imagine the potential of using iOS, Android and WP7 mobile devices in classrooms.

Ok, so let's take a look at the facts and my personal experience with each of the three platforms first.

iOS: It's all about beautiful apps

Basic facts: Apple's mobile operating system that runs on iPhones, iPod Touches, iPad and Apple TV - all Apple devices. Launched in June 2007, current version 4.2. Got its application store, the App Store (tied with the iTunes Store), in July 2008 and now features over 350,000 apps.

The experience: Unfortunately, iPhone isn't officially sold in my country (the only blank spot in Europe!), so I've been using iOS on my 2nd generation iPod Touch. Truth be told, I don't really use it as an iPod that much - my primary iPod used mainly for running is the new iPod Nano. The iPod Touch is, however, my mobile device of choice for browsing and apps. I use it to play various casual games like Bejeweled Blitz, Fruit Ninja and Tiny Wings (my current favorites), manage my shopping list with ShopShop, plan my runs with Runner's World SmartCoach app, rate my favorite Movies, and much more.

And I'm just in love with iOS apps! The App Store provides great choice of both free and paid apps, and it's really easy to discover beautiful new apps. It's the kind of store where you buy a $2.99 weather app just because it's sooo pretty.

The magic behind the App Store lies in detailed guidelines and excellent developer tools that make it easy to have good looking apps even if you use just the default UI elements provided by Apple. Yes, a lot of people complain about the strict App Store approval process, but from the user perspective, it pays off to have a store full of quality and well tested apps.

Android: It's all about opportunities and promises

Basic facts: Usually thought as the biggest iOS competitor, developed by Google and other members of the Open Handset Alliance. Launched in October 2008, current version 2.3 Gingerbread, although the majority of users currently still runs version 2.2 Froyo. Android runs on all sorts of smartphone and tablets devices in various price ranges. The devices are made by different manufacturers, which also provide their unique user interfaces (such as HTC Sense, Samsung's TouchWiz etc). The Android application store, Android Market, launched in October 2008 and now features over 250,000 apps.

The experience: Ah, dear Android. The joy and love of the tech crowd. The supposedly "open alternative" to Apple's evil walled-garden. And, more often than not, quite irritating to use.

I've used Android on several HTC devices (Desire, Legend, Wildfire) and the overall look and feel is quite good. The hardware was good, but what annoyed me to no end, was the need to constantly fiddle with settings and other details of the software. And the regular need to reboot, which reminded me of what it was like to own a PC.

All in all, it was usually nothing huge per se, but there was always that tiny little detail that required your attention and sometimes got your head scratching. Like the mystery of why apps that I had never used (e.g. Stocks, Music, News) were always running in the background.

Speaking of apps. Sure, in theory it does sound wonderful that Google lets almost anyone publish apps on the Android Market. But in practice? The Market is flooded with poorly designed apps. And as Android Market works with Google Checkout, which is not supported in my country, I was stuck on using free apps only.

Then, the games... just not comparable to iOS games. And sure, the gaming aspect is supposed to be improved with the next big release - and that is basically what we keep hearing all the time. "The next Android update will kick iPhone's ass!" Anyone else got tired of waiting for the savior?

Ok, I've got to be fair - Android does have a few strong points as well. I loved the integration with Google services, particularly Google Maps. And the WiFi Hotspot app (for tethering), introduced with the Froyo update, was awesome. And oh, I really liked HTC's weather widget on the home screen!

Wondering why I've been using the past tense here? Ah, that's because I've been using Windows Phone 7 as my primary phone OS for a couple of weeks now, and I honestly don't miss Android all that much.

Windows Phone 7: It's all about the simple experience

Basic facts: The new kid on the block, even though it's the successor of the ye olde Windows Mobile platform. Microsoft decided to get a fresh start with Windows Phone 7 and introduced a radically different user interface and no backwards compatibility with previous versions of Windows Mobile. WP7 launched in October 2010 and has yet to receive a major update (expected to be released soon-ish). Like Android, WP7 runs on devices by different manufacturers, but Microsoft sets the hardware requirements for WP7 phones and doesn't allow major modifications of the user interface, so all WP7 phones have a consistent look and feel (unlike Android phones). Its applications store, the Windows Phone Marketplace, launched with the release of the first phones in October 2010 and now features over 8,000 apps.

The experience: This may come as a surprise to those of you that know how much I love using a Mac - I actually enjoy the Windows Phone 7 experience. Yes, me, enjoying a Windows product! Shocking, I know.

But I think Microsoft did the smart thing by dropping the outdated Windows Mobile legacy platform and focused on a fresh, unique mobile experience. It's a mobile OS that tries to help users do what they're supposed to be doing without getting in the way.

Coming from Android, the contrast can be quite stark at first. But after a while, you just sit back and enjoy the ride. No need to worry about turning the GPS on and off manually. If an app, such as Maps, needs it, it will turn it on and then off again when you're done.

The home screen with live tiles makes it easy to see important information on the go, and the OS uses hubs to bundle key content and media together. For instance, the People hub brings together your contacts and their Facebook updates in an attractive panorama view. Plus, it can also sync music, photos and videos with your computer and there's even a Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac OS X that can sync content from iTunes.

However, it must be noted that WP7 is still a version 1.0 OS, so there are "a few" bugs and oddities that will have to be sorted out. Similarly, the Marketplace is still only a few months old, so the selection of apps isn't that great. For instance, there is no Dropbox or Evernote app, and I miss more apps from Google, particularly Google Maps - WP7, not surprisingly, has Bing Maps integrated and the app just doesn't work as well as Google's.

And just like the Android Market, the Windows Phone Marketplace doesn't allow purchases from my country, so I can't really enjoy any of the cool game titles already available in the application store. You do however get the option to Try out a lot of the paid apps and games, which is a really cool feature.

And the winner is...

One thing is for sure - while similar on paper, iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7 provide quite a different user experience. Which one is best? Well, it really depends on what you're looking for.

iOS is certainly a more solid platform with an amazing selection of apps, which isn't surprising considering it was the first to launch. Android is perfect for geeks that enjoy fiddling with their devices. And WP7 is cute, but needs to grow up a bit more and get more developers interested in making good apps.

For me, iOS is certainly the first choice. It's simple, yet mature enough to provide all the extra goodies (such as tethering). WP7 is also an OS that I could see my grandpa using, as he probably wouldn't miss any of the yet missing apps. And Android is a solid choice for everyone that is bothered by Apple's "closed" system and is looking for variety in hardware, but not something I'd recommend for the average user.

What does it all mean?

So, we have at least three platforms that will be running smartphones and tablets of our future. And we keep hearing the future will be mobile, which also means we can expect the big mobile operating systems to find their way into our classrooms and be used as teaching tools. I therefore invite you to join me in part 2 in a few days to explore which of the 3 platforms might have the biggest potential for learning.

Android 3.0 Honeycomb Preview for Smartphones

In this video we discuss how Android 3.0 Honeycomb might work on a smartphone. We know for a fact that Google plans to release Android Honeycomb for smartphones in 2011. It will allow for buttonless hardware, better multiasking, better management of the homescreens, and much more. Honeycomb will first show up on the Motorola Xoom tablet.

Android in space! Google send Nexus S 60,000ft above Earth - and it still works

It's official - there are little green men in space. Disappointingly the aliens are not from another planet but were launched from Earth by Google to test the outer limits of their new Nexus S phone.
The tiny Android astronauts were strapped to seven payloads, which each contained one of the new mobiles. They were carried into Earth's outer atmosphere using weather balloons.
Enlarge The Android alien overlooking Earth at more than 100,000ft. The Nexus S it was strapped to was still functioning at 60,000ft
(Captain) Zi Wang from Google Android said: 'We wanted an opportunity to collect some interesting data about the sensors in Nexus S - GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer.'
The phones were running a variety of apps. Google Maps for Mobile 5.0 (with ohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifffline map data) which allowed the team what was directly below the balloon, Google Sky Map to try and identify the real stars in the backdrop and Latitude to report location when the phones had a data connection.
Amazingly the Nexus S could withstand temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees celsius, while the GPS kept track of the phone up to 60,000ft and started working again on the balloon's descent.
The balloons reached heights of over 100,000ft and travelled at up to 139mph at the top of their flight. They were equipped with still and video cameras and footage published on Wednesday shows the moment when the helium-filled balloons popped and the plucky Android astronauts plummeted back to Earth.

source

Sharable Bits: Heroes in Our Lives, Clickers, Search Zeitgeist

Photos: Superhero Therapy for Grandma

More photos and info at My Modern Metropolis

Why it's worth sharing: French photographer Sacha Goldberger managed to help his grandma overcome depression by dressing her up as a superhero and making some amazing photos along the way. I love the photos - the fact that they helped the photographer's grandma smile again, and as a reminder that it only takes a little imagination to make those we love feel special. After all, we all need a little attention now and then, and the knowledge that we matter to someone, don't we?

Tool: Clickers, a simple technology for classrooms

Donald Clark provides seven simple uses and advantages of using clickers in his post Clickers: mobile technology that will work in classes

Why it's worth sharing: Mobile clickers provide a great example of how much we can do with simple tools that are applied in the right way. You don't have to invest a lot of money to buy expensive tools with limited use. Instead, focus on more versatile tools, like clicker mobile apps that will work on students' existing equipment.

Video: Google Zeitgeist 2010: Year in Review

Why it's worth sharing: With the year ending, everyone is making lists and recaps of the main events of the year coming to an end. Google's video Zeitgeist is my favorite recap so far. It reminds us of the challenges we face, the tragedies, but also of the achievements, things that made us smile. I guess I'd just like to thank Google for all the successful searches in the past year and for helping me find my way around the web. How the hell did we find anything before we had Google? :)

Sharable Bits is a series of weekly posts that will highlight some of the most interesting bits and bytes that I stumble upon. No bad news, just ideas that inspire, touch or entertain in a unique way.

Review: NEXUS S, Best Android Phone To Date!

Android Smartphones have come a long way.  I remember when I got the G1 in the beginning, I thought to myself, this phone is significant to the mobile world but I'm not impressed.  Last Christmas, when we got the original Nexus One, I felt it was much polished but it didn't blow me away.  Over the summer, when we got the HTC EVO 4G, I started to feel like Android OS and hardware is getting serious... especially with the support for Flash animation via Froyo 2.2 build.  This year, when I picked up the NEXUS S for the first time, I was blown away.  This phone is polished!

In terms of performance, the HTC EVO 4G has always been impressive, in a heavily modified Camaro SS kind of a way.  Its fast, powerful but bulky.  With the NEXUS S, it feels more like a refined sports sedan like the BMW 335is.  First impression, LCD is crystal clear, the touchscreen and feedback is precise and the phone is light and thin.  Samsung did an amazing job with the hardware and Google's Gingerbread 2.3 is the pennicle of mobile OS.  With an all-star support around the OS, GMail, Google Maps 5.0 (released today), Google Talk, Account Sync, this phone is ready for action right out of the box (no wires needed).

I haven't played around with the features too much, but the camera speed and quality is comparable to my iPhone 4.  I already downloaded Google Maps 5.0 and will try out the offline cache mode.  This feature would have been Amazing for my last trip to Barcelona and will pay dividends for all my future trips abroad.  So far, the NEXUS S has been the best designed mobile phone to date.  Google is definitely setting newer standards for its vision on Android and with the embedded NFC chip, mCommerce is going to be very different in the near term.

Nexus S: The Backstory

The Android team talks about Nexus S

Introducing Nexus S

Introducing Nexus S, the new Android phone from Google. A brilliant Contour Display, super speed, Gingerbread, and all the Google you can get.

Android 2.3 Official Video

Highlights from the latest Android platform release

Android 2.3 Platform Highlights

The Android 2.3 platform introduces many new and exciting features for users and developers. This document provides a glimpse at some of the new features and technologies in Android 2.3.

New User Features

UI refinements for simplicity and speed
The user interface is refined in many ways across the system, making it easier to learn, faster to use, and more power-efficient. A simplified visual theme of colors against black brings vividness and contrast to the notification bar, menus, and other parts of the UI. Changes in menus and settings make it easier for the user to navigate and control the features of the system and device.

Faster, more intuitive text input
The Android soft keyboard is redesigned and optimized for faster text input and editing. The keys themselves are reshaped and repositioned for improved targeting, making them easier to see and press accurately, even at high speeds. The keyboard also displays the current character and dictionary suggestions in a larger, more vivid style that is easier to read.

The keyboard adds the capability to correct entered words from suggestions in the dictionary. As the user selects a word already entered, the keyboard displays suggestions that the user can choose from, to replace the selection. The user can also switch to voice input mode to replace the selection. Smart suggestions let the user accept a suggestion and then return to correct it later, if needed, from the original set of suggestions.

New multitouch key-chording lets the user quickly enter numbers and symbols by pressing Shift+ and ?123+, without needing to manually switch input modes. From certain keys, users can also access a popup menu of accented characters, numbers, and symbols by holding the key and sliding to select a character.

One-touch word selection and copy/paste
When entering text or viewing a web page, the user can quickly select a word by press-hold, then copy to the clipboard and paste. Pressing on a word enters a free-selection mode — the user can adjust the selection area as needed by dragging a set of bounding arrows to new positions, then copy the bounded area by pressing anywhere in the selection area. For text entry, the user can slide-press to enter a cursor mode, then reposition the cursor easily and accurately by dragging the cursor arrow. With both the selection and cursor modes, no use of a trackball is needed.

Improved power management
The Android system takes a more active role in managing apps that are keeping the device awake for too long or that are consuming CPU while running in the background. By managing such apps — closing them if appropriate — the system helps ensure best possible performance and maximum battery life.

The system also gives the user more visibility over the power being consumed by system components and running apps. The Application settings provides an accurate overview of how the battery is being used, with details of the usage and relative power consumed by each component or application.

Control over applications
A shortcut to the Manage Applications control now appears in the Options Menu in the Home screen and Launcher, making it much easier to check and manage application activity. Once the user enters Manage Applications, a new Running tab displays a list of active applications and the storage and memory being used by each. The user can read further details about each application and if necessary stop an application or report feedback to its developer.

New ways of communicating, organizing
An updated set of standard applications lets the user take new approaches to managing information and relationships.


Internet calling

The user can make voice calls over the internet to other users who have SIP accounts. The user can add an internet calling number (a SIP address) to any Contact and can initiate a call from Quick Contact or Dialer. To use internet calling, the user must create an account at the SIP provider of their choice — SIP accounts are not provided as part of the internet calling feature. Additionally, support for the platform's SIP and internet calling features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers and associated carriers.

Near-field communications

An NFC Reader application lets the user read and interact with near-field communication (NFC) tags. For example, the user can “touch” or “swipe” an NFC tag that might be embedded in a poster, sticker, or advertisement, then act on the data read from the tag. A typical use would be to read a tag at a restaurant, store, or event and then rate or register by jumping to a web site whose URL is included in the tag data. NFC communication relies on wireless technology in the device hardware, so support for the platform's NFC features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers.

Downloads management

The Downloads application gives the user easy access to any file downloaded from the browser, email, or another application. Downloads is built on an completely new download manager facility in the system that any other applications can use, to more easily manage and store their downloads.

Camera

The application now lets the user access multiple cameras on the device, including a front-facing camera, if available.

New Developer Features
Android 2.3 delivers a variety of features and APIs that let developers bring new types of applications to the Android platform.

•Enhancements for gaming
•New forms of communication
•Rich multimedia
Enhancements for gaming
Performance

Android 2.3 includes a variety of improvements across the system that make common operations faster and more efficient for all applications. Of particular interest to game developers are:

•Concurrent garbage collector — The Dalivik VM introduces a new, concurrent garbage collector that minimizes application pauses, helping to ensure smoother animation and increased responsiveness in games and similar applications.
•Faster event distribution — The plaform now handles touch and keyboard events faster and more efficiently, minimizing CPU utilization during event distribution. The changes improve responsiveness for all applications, but especially benefit games that use touch events in combination with 3D graphics or other CPU-intensive operations.
•Updated video drivers — The platform uses updated third-party video drivers that improve the efficiency of OpenGL ES operations, for faster overall 3D graphics performance.
Native input and sensor events

Applications that use native code can now receive and process input and sensor events directly in their native code, which dramatically improves efficiency and responsiveness.

Native libraries exposed by the platform let applications handle the same types of input events as those available through the framework. Applications can receive events from all supported sensor types and can enable/disable specific sensors and manage event delivery rate and queueing.

Gyroscope and other new sensors, for improved 3D motion processing

Android 2.3 adds API support for several new sensor types, including gyroscope, rotation vector, linear acceleration, gravity, and barometer sensors. Applications can use the new sensors in combination with any other sensors available on the device, to track three-dimensional device motion and orientation change with high precision and accuracy. For example, a game application could use readings from a gyroscope and accelerometer on the device to recognize complex user gestures and motions, such as tilt, spin, thrust, and slice.

Open API for native audio

The platform provides a software implementation of Khronos OpenSL ES, a standard API that gives applications access to powerful audio controls and effects from native code. Applications can use the API to manage audio devices and control audio input, output, and processing directly from native code.

Native graphics management

The platform provides an interface to its Khronos EGL library, which lets applications manage graphics contexts and create and manage OpenGL ES textures and surfaces from native code.

Native access to Activity lifecycle, window management

Native applications can declare a new type of Activity class, NativeActivity whose lifecycle callbacks are implemented directly in native code. The NativeActivity and its underlying native code run in the system just as do other Activities — they run in the application's system process and execute on the application's main UI thread, and they receive the same lifecycle callbacks as do other Activities.

The platform also exposes native APIs for managing windows, including the ability to lock/unlock the pixel buffer to draw directly into it. Through the API, applications can obtain a native window object associated with a framework Surface object and interact with it directly in native code.

Native access to assets, storage

Applications can now access a native Asset Manager API to retrieve application assets directly from native code without needing to go through JNI. If the assets are compressed, the platform does streaming decompression as the application reads the asset data. There is no longer a limit on the size of compressed .apk assets that can be read.

Additionally, applications can access a native Storage Manager API to work directly with OBB files downloaded and managed by the system. Note that although platform support for OBB is available in Android 2.3, development tools for creating and managing OBB files will not be available until early 2011.

Robust native development environment

The Android NDK (r5 or higher) provides a complete set of tools, toolchains, and libraries for developing applications that use the rich native environment offered by the Android 2.3 platform. For more information or to download the NDK, please see the Android NDK page.

New forms of communication
Internet telephony

Developers can now add SIP-based internet telephony features to their applications. Android 2.3 includes a full SIP protocol stack and integrated call management services that let applications easily set up outgoing and incoming voice calls, without having to manage sessions, transport-level communication, or audio record or playback directly.

Support for the platform's SIP and internet calling features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers and associated carriers.

Near Field Communications (NFC)

The platform's support for Near Field Communications (NFC) lets developers get started creating a whole new class of applications for Android. Developers can create new applications that offer proximity-based information and services to users, organizations, merchants, and advertisers.

Using the NFC API, applications can respond to NFC tags “discovered” as the user “touches” an NFC-enabled device to elements embedded in stickers, smart posters, and even other devices. When a tag of interest is collected, applications can respond to the tag, read messages from it, and then store the messages, prompting the user as needed.

NFC communication relies on wireless technology in the device hardware, so support for the platform's NFC features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers.

Rich multimedia
Mixable audio effects

A new audio effects API lets developers easily create rich audio environments by adding equalization, bass boost, headphone virtualization (widened soundstage), and reverb to audio tracks and sounds. Developers can mix multiple audio effects in a local track or apply effects globally, across multiple tracks.

Support for new media formats

The platform now offers built-in support for the VP8 open video compression format and the WebM open container format. The platform also adds support for AAC encoding and AMR wideband encoding (in software), so that applications can capture higher quality audio than narrowband.

Access to multiple cameras

The Camera API now lets developers access any cameras that are available on a device, including a front-facing camera. Applications can query the platform for the number of cameras on the device and their types and characteristics, then open the camera needed. For example, a video chat application might want to access a front-facing camera that offers lower-resolution, while a photo application might prefer a back-facing camera that offers higher-resolution.

New Platform Technologies
Media Framework
•New media framework fully replaces OpenCore, maintaining all previous codec/container support for encoding and decoding.
•Integrated support for the VP8 open video compression format and the WebM open container format
•Adds AAC encoding and AMR wideband encoding
Linux Kernel
•Upgraded to 2.6.35
Networking
•SIP stack, configurable by device manufacturer
•Support for Near Field Communications (NFC), configurable by device manufacturer
•Updated BlueZ stack
Dalvik runtime
•Dalvik VM:
◦Concurrent garbage collector (target sub-3ms pauses)
◦Adds further JIT (code-generation) optimizations
◦Improved code verification
◦StrictMode debugging, for identifying performance and memory issues
•Core libraries:
◦Expanded I18N support (full worldwide encodings, more locales)
◦Faster Formatter and number formatting. For example, float formatting is 2.5x faster.
◦HTTP responses are gzipped by default. XML and JSON API response sizes may be reduced by 60% or more.
◦New collections and utilities APIs
◦Improved network APIs
◦Improved file read and write controls
◦Updated JDBC
•Updates from upstream projects:
◦OpenSSL 1.0.0a
◦BouncyCastle 1.45
◦ICU 4.4
◦zlib 1.2.5

Google Change on Trademarks is Bound to Drive CPC in Europe

Google has relaxed its rules on trademarked brands and terms in Europe in mid-September. Despite protests from international advertisers, we believe the move is bound to boost the amount spent on Google's paid search service in the short term. The long term effect may not be that strong, judging by UK precedents.

Since September 14, Google has stopped prohibiting bidding on keywords associated with third-party brands in continental Europe. Third-party bidding has already been allowed since 2008 in the UK and Ireland, and since 2004 in the US. In the British Isles, Google goes one step further in relaxing its trademark policy than in continental Europe: it now allows the use of trademarked terms in the ad copy. This was already possible in the US since 2009.

Google claims the move will make its search experience more efficient for users but advertisers and brand owners are publicly opposing the move. The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), the British Association of Advertisers (ISBA) and the French 'Union des Annonceurs' (UDA) have all described the change as 'unilateral' and 'unhelpful'. UDA said Google is breaking a 'good practice' agreement, made with French advertisers in 2005.

Analysis
The frustration of many big advertisers will have little effect on Google's decision to align European trademark practices with North America.

One reason is that Google's near monopoly in paid search almost everywhere in Europe makes the service indispensable to marketing directors, whether they like it or not. Yahoo and Bing are still some way from providing the scale big brands seek when it comes to Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies. Google holds a market share that is between 85 and 98 per cent in almost every market (Russia being the only major exception). There is thus little risk that even a controversial decision from Google would trigger any significant SEM market share switch for the time being.

The second reason - which probably triggered the change in the first place - is the decision from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) earlier this year. In March 2010, the ECJ ruled against LVMH, the French luxury group, who was suing Google for letting online sellers of counterfeit goods use some of their trademarked brands such as Louis Vuitton as keywords. The court ruled that Google could not be held responsible for trademark infringement in such cases. Google is now confident that it is legally safe to stop monitoring bidding of third-party trademarks in Europe.

In the short term the move is therefore likely to increase the amount spent on Google AdWords in Europe. Big advertisers will feel more compelled to bid on their own brands to - sometimes pre-emptively - outbid competitive brands or retailers willing to make aggressive or opportunistic use of their brands. This is bound to generate inflation in cost-per-clicks (CPC) for brand names. Brand names, however, account for a relatively small proportion of paid search spending as big advertisers normally concentrate their bidding on generic terms, as natural search results normally guarantee high visibility.

Over time, however, search buyers believe the inflation will remain under control as the quality score (relevance index) will benefit genuine brand owners and help them keep prominent rankings at an acceptable cost. When third-party brand bidding was allowed by Google in the UK and Ireland in 2008, the change did not trigger a bidding war. After some initial rise, the volume of aggressive bidding went down to a relatively low noise level as big brands seem to apply tacit non-aggression. However we believe the mere possibility of aggressive bidding, possibly from outside the club of big mainstream brands, will permanently remain as a factor driving major advertisers to bid on their own brands, and bid more that would otherwise need to.

With this latest move, Google is making itself yet again more useful to users and indispensable for marketers, increasing its attractiveness and, potentially, its market share over competitors. Once again it comes at the risk of increasing big brand owners' exasperation. However, Google does not need to worry too much about big brands as the long tail of small and medium businesses at national and local levels is now far bigger than the spending of major international advertisers.

Google New

Introducing the one place to find the newest product and features from Google. http://www.google.com/newproducts

Google Docs Editing Coming to Android and iPad

by Kim Poh Liaw on 20. Sep, 2010 While announcing its 3 million business customers on its Google Apps service, Google has also revealed its plan to add the new mobile editing feature for Google Docs on Android smartphones and Apple iPad. Not much details are available though. You can expect to see the new addition in few weeks time according to the blog post.Second, today we

App Tuesday: Happy half-birthday Google Apps Marketplace & 12 new apps

Over the last six months, the Google Apps Marketplace has offered a variety of third party applications to extend Google Apps functionality and make businesses more efficient. Now, more than 4 million Google Apps users have installed applications from our storefront, which is packed with a quickly-growing set of more than 200 apps, including the 12 new apps we’re introducing today.

As the Marketplace grows, Google Apps users can access integrated apps that address more and more new areas, like marketing, accounting and project management. They can fluidly navigate between native Google Apps and third party solutions through our universal navigation bar at the top of Gmail, Docs and other Google apps. And Marketplace integrations give users a range of features, from having relevant customer data from a customer relationship management application populate in-line within an email to auto-syncing due dates between a project management application and Google Calendar.

We strive to bring solutions that address every one of a business’s unique needs. In that spirit, we welcome a few “firsts” among today’s 12 new apps:

* Elance - a talent acquisition and management tool
* Grockit - the first education app in the Marketplace for students
* ERPLY - a specialized enterprise resource planning tool to manage retail points of sale.

Find out more about this App Tuesday launch on the Google Enterprise Blog, or by visiting the Apps Marketplace directly.

This week in search 9/17/10

From the latest blockbuster films to your favorite TV shows, we recently launched some useful enhancements when you're searching for media. And if you're looking to remember where to go on your next vacation, we've also got you covered.

Here are some of our recent updates:

Director and cast links in movie search results
Have you ever searched for a movie and then wondered who directed or starred in it? This week, we made this process one step faster. Now, you'll see information about the director and starring cast of movies in search results, along with other information like ratings and links to relevant content. The result also gives you the opportunity to click through to a site to get more info about a person with just one click.


This feature is currently available in English and Japanese. Over time, we'll roll this change out in more languages.

New results for TV episodes
As more TV networks begin publishing their shows on sites like fox.com, we’ve noticed that people often turn to Google to find their favorites, whether old episodes of Lost or the latest episode of Glee. Today we’re making it easier than ever to find your favorite television shows by episode or season right on google.com. With our new feature, when you search for a television show, you’ll sometimes see a new section in the search results page called “Episodes for” with videos of the three newest programs we can find. We hope these changes make it easier to find your favorite television shows online, whether to catch up on last night’s episode or to kill some time with an old favorite season.

Example search: [glee] or [family guy]

Stars extended to places in local results
In March we introduced stars in search so that you could mark results and rediscover them later. This week we extended the feature to local results, so now you can star places and get to them later—through a search, on Google Maps or on your phone. For example, if you're planning a trip to Tucson, you might want to go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum—so you would star the result from your desktop computer. When you arrive in Arizona, you can access the starred item again from the Local tab of google.com using your phone browser or in the Google Maps for mobile application. Since you're signed in with the same account on your desktop computer and phone, the starred items sync automatically. Phone number, address and directions information are just a few clicks away.

Example search: [tucson museum]





This week in search... queries
What are people searching for on Google? We recently introduced a series of videos about U.S. search trends. Check out this week's the Google Beat, for the latest glimpse into the pulse of Google searches.

Google Apps highlights – 9/3/2010

Recently we introduced powerful, time-saving features in Gmail: Priority Inbox and the ability to call phones right from Gmail. Google spreadsheets added new features, and many more businesses and schools moved to the cloud with Google Apps.

Cut through the clutter with Gmail Priority Inbox
Since its beginning, Gmail has been helping people cope with large amounts of email, whether it’s with more than seven gigabytes of storage, really fast search, great spam filtering or automatically organized conversations. This Monday we launched Priority Inbox, which helps you get through your inbox even faster by automatically putting important messages front and center. The more that you use Gmail, the better Priority Inbox will become at categorizing the email you receive. Our research suggests that the typical information worker can save a whole week of work time each year with this feature!



Call phones from Gmail
People in the U.S. can now call any phone right within Gmail. If you have a Google Voice account (it's free! and open to everyone in the U.S.), you can also receive calls to your Google Voice number right within Gmail. Calls to the U.S. and Canada are free at least until the end of the year, and international rates start at just $0.02 per minute. Google Apps customers won’t see this feature quite yet, but Google Voice and call phones in Gmail are coming soon with the new infrastructure for Google Apps accounts.


Improved scheduler in Google Calendar
Last Thursday we made it easier to set up new events in Google Calendar. The interface for repeating events is now more intuitive, and we’ve improved how we help you find a good time for your event, even if you’re coordinating a large group of people with busy schedules.


In-cell drop-down with validation and more in Google spreadsheets
We added two helpful features in spreadsheets last week as well. In-cell drop-down with validation allows you to configure cells to display a drop-down menu of accepted values. For example, you can require a cell’s value to be selected from a list of specific cities. We also introduced the ability to easily see which cells have formulas, which can come in handy when you’re working on a complicated mode. You can turn this feature on from the formula bar by selecting the “Show All Formulas” button, selecting “Show All Formulas” in the View menu or hitting Ctrl `.


Who’s gone Google?
The pace of organizations saying goodbye to legacy on-premises technology and moving into the cloud continues to accelerate. Read more about why The Richmond Group, Box.net, Bowerly Lane Bicycles and EPS Communications selected Google Apps for their messaging and collaboration needs.

Google to Present at the Citi Technology Conference

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced that Nick Fox, Director of Business Product Management, will participate in a question-and-answer session at the Citi Technology Conference in New York. The session is scheduled for 10:20 a.m. Eastern Time / 7:20 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, September 8, 2010.

To access the live audio webcast of the session, please visit http://investor.google.com/webcast.html.
About Google Inc.

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Google Shopper for Android gets an update

Shopper, Google’s barcode scanning, cover recognizing, voice searching application has gotten an update over the weekend. If you don’t know, Shopper can recognize book and other media just by “scanning” the cover art. It can also find items by scanning their barcode or you can search for them by just speaking. But enough about what it does, what did the update do?

Fixed camera bugs
Sorting for results
Related products
YouTube product videos
Faster scanning

Looks like a pretty decent change log to me, nothing revolutionary, but it’s nice to see them moving the application forward and fixing the things that are wrong with it.

source

Swim with the Fish with Google Earth 1.1 for Android

I got on the "see everything from space" bandwagon back when Microsoft was running TerraServer and Keyhole had what would eventually become Google Earth. Google Earth has always been one of my favorite Android apps.

With the latest update, version 1.1, you can now view some underwater features in select areas. Want to give it a try? Download the app (or update your existing installation) and search for "Monterey Bay Canyon" (which is larger than the Grand Canyon!).

Tap or pinch to zoom in until you're below the ocean surface, then tap the "look around" button to tilt the view and take a look around.

Epic 4G vs. Nexus One Speed Comparisions, Part 1

So, other than a "lag fix" that both Samsung and independent developers are working on, the SprintSamsung Epic 4G (a Galaxy S phone) is remarkably fast. (We'll talk more about that in an upcoming article.)

How fast is it? In this video we look at a hacked Google Nexus One running a super-fast Froyo ROM with the stock Epic 4G. We look at overall interface elements (using the same Launcher app and similar widgets), side-by-side benchmarking, 802.11n data speeds, and 3G data speeds. Since the Nexus One doesn't have 4G WiMax on-board this seemed a fair comparison.

Developers unhappy over Oracle Android suit

Oracle's lawsuit against Google over the Android mobile platform has upset some developers, even though the ultimate effect of the litigation remains to be seen.

"The group is very, very unhappy," with the lawsuit, says David Cao, an organizer of the Silicon Valley Android Developers group and a vice president at BeyondSoft Consulting. Oracle, he says, is alienating the open source community. But he believes "Android will prevail."

[ InfoWorld columnist Neil McAllister believes Oracle was right to sue over Android but InfoWorld Editor in Chief Eric Knorr disagrees. | Sharpen your Java knowledge and skills with InfoWorld's JavaWorld Enterprise Java newsletter. ]

A leader in the Linux space echoed similar sentiments. "Oracle has significantly undermined its relationship with the open source and developer community," says Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu Linux distributor Canonical. "That may or may not have an immediate impact on its bottom line, but it's going to present real challenges for the pace of adoption of key Oracle technologies like Java and MySQL, which have traditionally been led from the bottom up. Developers have been the drivers of adoption of open source platforms, and they will avoid platforms that look like patent traps."

Oracle filed a lawsuit against Google last week alleging that the Android mobile OS violates patents pertaining to the Java technology Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems early this year. Now, speculation runs rampant about the lawsuit's possible impacts, if any, on Java, open source, software patents, and even to rival platforms, such as Microsoft's neophyte Windows Phone 7. Android competitors, including Microsoft, might actually benefit from the suit, says IDC analyst Al Hilwa.

Android developers stick up for Google Developers thus far are sticking by Android, says Cao, who described himself as a longtime Java developer before beginning work in Android in 2008. "I haven't seen anybody move away from Android development because of this lawsuit," he notes.

"I strongly believe Android has great potential," says Cao. He lauds Android for being open and powerful. Android is superior to the officially sanctioned Java Micro Edition for mobile development, and "Google actually helped the Java community at large in mobile development," he says.

However, Hilwa says that the suit could drive away devicemakers and developers, especially big ones like Motorola that base key products on Android. "Lawsuits like this could put the kibosh on Android adoption," he says. That why Hilwa anticipates some kind of settlement, so Google can reassure its partners.

Small chance of direct threat outside Android -- but a chilling effect could result Oracle's suit against Google boils down to a claim that Google did not license the Java technology. In its defense, Google says it didn't actually use Java but instead reverse-engineered it. Oracle and Sun before it have offered the open source version of Java via the GPL (Gnu General Public License). The commercially licensed version also has been available. Google declined to say whether it has licensed either the GPL or commercial version of Java in Android.

The focus on licensing likely means few other Java users are in Oracle's sight. IDC's Hilwa says that organizations like IBM and Red Hat's JBoss group are not impacted by the lawsuit because they are Oracle licensees. "Almost everybody who uses Java licenses Java. Sony licenses Java for Blu-ray," he adds. "Really, nobody should be concerned about this unless they have a parallel implementation of Java that is not licensed and is making money."

Hilwa says the issue is preventing Java fragmentation, such as through the developments of near-clones like Android. "It's a standard [intellectual property] protection lawsuit and protection of the value of Java from fragmentation," he says. Java's premise is write once, run anywhere, Hilwa noted. Having multiple, unlicensed implementations like Android could undermine Java's value proposition, he says.

"Clearly, Oracle is a strong believer in software patents. And if they can use patents as a lever for revenue generation, they will," says RedMonk analyst Michael Cote.

Most likely, Oracle is looking for a financially or strategically favorable settlement, Cote says. "I think Oracle is trying to clean up the loosey-goosey [intellectual property] enforcement around Java and try to build revenue around it. Sun wasn't always the best at making money off Java -- compared to BEA, IBM, Oracle, and so on -- and Oracle must be looking for some more direct revenue for the platform and language. Being 'free,' however, is a massive part of what makes Java attractive versus, say, .Net."

But there's a danger to Oracle's strategy, Cote says: "The troubling aspect is how other companies in the Java community feel about this. Other licensees were already a bit freaked out about Oracle taking over, and I'm sure this kind of thing makes them want to switch from relying on Java to some degree."

Companies with vested interest in Java or Android, including IBM, Motorola, and Red Hat, declined to comment on the matter.

This story, "Developers unhappy over Oracle Android suit," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in programming at InfoWorld.com, and get the first take on key tech news with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog.

source