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Google’s App Engine Is Sputtering
Today we’ve received an email and seen multiple tweets alerting us to the fact that Google’s App Engine software development platform is down. We’ve emailed the company for details, but in the meantime, a check of the App Engine status page won’t even load at 11:30 a.m. PDT, and updates on the site indicate that […]
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Advertisers: Pay No Attention to the Data We Are Stealing
Several marketing associations supported by Google have banded together and released seven principles that they believe should govern online privacy. Are you ready for a journey to the Emerald City? Because the principles are the online advertisers’ attempts to stave off government regulation around protecting consumers’ online privacy by diverting attention to the Great and […]
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Worst Google News Headline Ever! - No public viewing at Neverland, but Michael Jackson may get laid
I was happily surfing the Web reading the Google News Top Stories when I saw a headline that said “No public viewing at Neverland, but Michael Jackson may get laid“. Say what? I had to do a double-take. Then I couldn’t help but laugh at how funny this headline was.
No public viewing of Michael Jackson getting laid? Bummer, I’m sure that could have been a pay-per-view event. It’s The 40 50 Year Old Virgin movie come to life! Course that might be a problem unless it’s some sick necrophilia action going on. Then again, Michael Jackson did play the undead / zombie in Thriller. 
Ok, we’ll let Michael Jackson Rest in Peace. I’m sure he too would have laughed at this Google News headline.
Check out a screenshot of it below. Click for Full-screen. Look on the right-hand side. I drew an arrow and box around it. The article in question can be read here. The full article headline is “No public viewing at Neverland, but Michael Jackson may get laid out at Staples Center“. Obviously, the Googlebot abbreviated in a very bad spot. Perhaps a human editor might be in order, Google?
Lastly, since Google News changes the Top Stories home page often, you too can view this news story by clicking this Google News search link. It’s abbreviated there too.
Tags: google, google news, michael jackson, news
Related tags: michael jackson, public viewing, neverland michael, headline public, viewing neverland, google
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eBuddy for iPhone Supports Push Notifications
Ok, so the just launched Skype 1.1 for iPhone doesn’t support push notifications, but eBuddy, a brand new app for the iPhone or iPod touch does support push notifications. What does this mean? It means you can close eBuddy and still receive instant messages (IMs) from your buddies. Further, eBuddy is an IM aggregator supporting MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Gtalk, and Facebook. Too bad they don’t support Skype though like fring does. eBuddy also supports Google Android phones.
Check out the features for eBuddy on the iPhone & iPod touch:
- One buddy list for MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Gtalk, and Facebook
- Stay online when you exit the app
- Get push notifications for incoming messages when you exit the app*
- Reconnect automatically if connection is lost
- Get offline messages after reconnecting
- Get new message alerts & typing alerts in the chat screen
- Easily switch between chats by swiping your screen
- Shake your iPhone or iPod Touch to send a buzzer
- Display pictures, personal message and status
- Emoticons & buzzers
- Sound & vibration
- Multiple IM networks
- Multiple accounts for each IM network
- Buddy list management
- Offline messages
- Group chat support
Push notifications for incoming messages are only available if you have the latest iPhone 3.0 software on your device. eBuddy will also soon be adding landscape mode. Oh, and did I mention unlike similar app Beejive ($9.99) & IM+ with Push ($9.99), eBuddy is a free app in the Apple App store? Some minor complaints include it only supports push for up to 30 minutes and it doesn’t support file sharing (audio, picture, etc.). Still for a free IM aggregator app, this one is definitely a must for the iPhone! 
Whatcha waitin’ for? Go grab this cool app now!
Tags: AIM, android, apple, ebuddy, facebook, google, Gtalk, ICQ, im, instant message, iphone, MSN, skype, Yahoo
Related tags: ebuddy iphone, incoming messages, notifications incoming, ebuddy, iphone, notifications
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Looking Back at Structure 09: Some Fun Moments & Photos
Last week, we hosted our second annual day-long infrastructure conference, Structure 09, in San Francisco. The sold-out event brought together some of the industry’s leading minds to discuss the issues surrounding web infrastructure. If Structure 08 was about the what and why of cloud computing, Structure 09 not only looked at the progress made over […]
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Germans Get Cheaper Cell Phone Service In Exchange for Ads
Alcatel-Lucent said today that it’s begun providing German carrier E-Plus with equipment that inserts advertisements onto mobile devices based on demographic information provided by a subsidiary of the carrier. Customers opt in to the service and in exchange get extra minutes or texts on their cell phone plans. Gettings, the E-Plus subsidiary collecting the information […]
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Google’s OpenSocial Evangelist Leaves Google
Kevin Marks, one of the leading voices on Google-backed OpenSocial and Friend Connect, has left the Mountain View, Calif.-based search engine, he announced on his blog. With his exit, Google might have lost one of its most visible evangelists. Kevin, who in the past worked at Technorati, is one of the smartest guys I have […]
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T-Mobile’s MyTouch Worth the Wait
Visitors to Google’s I/O conference earlier this year received a surprise gift: a new touchscreen Google phone made by HTC. The svelte gadget is the second major Google Android device on the market, and sometime in August, you’ll be able to buy one from T-Mobile USA. T-Mobile is going to sell it for $199 with […]
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Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde and Privacy on the Web
Ever since Netscape started storing cookies in its browsers, there has been a Jekyll-and-Hyde nature to the web. The Jekyll web promised a more personalized experience, with sites serving ads for products and services that you would actually be interested in — ads that are more like useful information and less like glaring interruptions. The […]
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Skype Video Calls on Google Android
What if you could do Skype VoIP & video conferencing on the Google Android? Sounds pretty damn cool, doesn’t it? Especially given all the media hype surrounding the new iPhone 3GS. I already tweeted my displeasure that the new Apple iPhone 3GS doesn’t support Flash and also tweeted my annoyance that Apple didn’t put a front-facing camera for video chat support using Skype. Thus, while the iPhone supports a native Skype app, it only supports VoIP and not video chat. And don’t expect video chat anytime soon either. As Skype Journal remarked, “iPhone programmers can use the webcam to store video to a file, but won’t be able to write apps that manipulate or route the stream. This means Skype for iPhone won’t be able to add video calling any time soon.”
Well forget about the damned new iPhone! I have a method that “should” enable Skype video chat on the Google Android mobile phone.
How do you ask? Well, first we need to “cook” in a Flash player into Google Android’s ROM, since Flash support on the Android isn’t officially released yet. But we’re not waiting on Google, so let’s get cookin’!
Here are the steps to get Skype video chat working on the Google Android:
1) Download the HTC SuperHero V2 ROM for the Google Android
2) To keep memory freed up and automatically install apps to SD, go download this. (direct link to .zip file here)
Download a2sd.zip, unzip put the unzipped file onto your C drive
Open command prompt and type these:
adb remount
adb push c:\a2sd.sh /system/bin
3) Upgrade to the latest SPL & radio by heading over to this page on android-unleashed.com
4) Launch Skype Flash application and make a video call to another Skype user.
Where the heck is the “Skype Flash” application you ask?
Oh, I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that. I want to test this first to make sure it works & capture some screenshots to put here as proof.
Sorry to be such a tease, but I want to be the first to get a Skype video chat call to work on a popular mobile phone platform. Stay tuned though!
Tags: apple, flash, google android, iphone, skype, video, video chat, video conferencing, voip
Related tags: google android, skype video, flash application, mobile phone, skype flash, skype
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Google: The Data Center Is the Computer
As folks increasingly store and access information online, the data centers powering cloud services need to be managed more like a single computing entity rather than a bunch of servers, according to a Google white paper (Google calls it a mini-book) released today.
The paper lays out the concept of warehouse-scale computers (which we have previously […]
Like Google, Salesforce Is Pushing Its Platform for the Enterprise
Salesforce.com is trying to entice developers working inside the enterprise to its platform-as-a-service product by offering them a free first taste of Force.com. The platform is built on Salesforce.com’s own infrastructure that it cobbled together to deliver its CRM software as a service. It looks like Salesforce.com’s goal with Force.com is to create an enterprise […]
With Acrobat.com, Adobe Fights Google, Others in Collaboration
Adobe Systems is taking Acrobat.com out of beta on Monday and introducing two paid subscription offerings targeted toward businesses, which will put pressure on competing file storage and sharing products made by Google, Microsoft and Cisco. The San Jose, Calif.-based company believes tapping into the sphere of online collaboration tools is a $2 billion […]
Palm Pre: 3 Things We Like & 3 Things We Don’t
After six long months, Palm’s Pre is here. And I do mean here, as I woke early and headed to a local Sprint store this morning. Availability reports vary by location; some stores have large lines and small quantities of stock while others (like mine) have short lines and plenty of Pre to go around. […]
Goodbye Old Friend. R.I.P. Rajeev Motwani
Rajeev Motwani, one of the savviest angel investors in Silicon Valley, a Stanford professor and most importantly a close and personal friend passed away earlier today.
It is hard for me to write this post — this morning the news of Steve Jobs’ improving health put me in a good mood. My day is ending with […]
Google Continues Its Washington Onslaught
National security on the web will be the next topic tackled by Google at a meeting it holds regularly in Washington, D.C., to highlight web-related issues for regulators and staffers of congressmen. This latest topic is appropriate, given the Obama administration’s recent creation of a cybersecurity czar position. Google said today it would hold its […]
Screenshots: Google’s Online Energy Tool PowerMeter
If you’ve been wondering what Google’s online energy management tool PowerMeter will look like, then we’ve got a treat for you: The company showed off PowerMeter as an iGoogle gadget that manages home energy data this afternoon to participants of a demo call, including what the gadget looks like embedded on the iGoogle home […]
E-Books Are Hot, So Why Did E-Ink Sell for So Little?
The Kindle DX uses E-Ink technology
Prime View International, a Taiwanese company that makes an e-readers display part, said today it would purchase E-Ink, a company that provides the digital ink technology in the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, for $215 million. The two companies have been partners in developing the Sony and Amazon e-reader products, […]
Will O3D Get Google Back Into Virtual Worlds?
When Google launched its O3D browser plug-in for displaying rich 3D graphics last month, I was dubious that the virtual world industry would eagerly embrace it as a platform for future MMOs. Most of the larger casual virtual worlds, like Habbo and Gaia Online, run on Flash; Mozilla and the Khronos Group are already […]
In Music, Apple’s Strength Becomes a Vulnerability
One of Apple’s great successes this decade has been its ability to unite the cell phone, the portable MP3 player and the music store in one ingenious handheld device, the iPhone. As new applications arise that allow on-demand streaming music on non-Apple phones such as those powered by Google’s Android operating system, however, Apple’s great […]
Time Warner Gives Up on AOL
Time Warner today continued unraveling perhaps its biggest corporate mistake by announcing that it would spin out AOL into a separate company by the end of this year. Earlier this year, it had amended its debt agreements and brought in a new CEO, setting off speculation that an AOL split was imminent. As part of […]
Google and Salesforce.com Join Clouds
Google and Salesforce.com said today at the Google I/O Developer Conference that their platforms as a service will talk with one another. Using the libraries provided by Force.com for Google App Engine, developers can now access the data stored in the Salesforce.com cloud from inside Google’s App Engine. This is a powerful vote of confidence […]
Can an $80M Ad Campaign Help Microsoft Search?
Microsoft is going to spend $80 million on an advertising campaign to support its new search effort, rumored to be called Bing, as the company once again takes on deeply entrenched rivals Google and Yahoo. AdAge magazine reports that the campaign could eventually hit $100 million. There was some talk that Microsoft would rename […]
Quietly, Netvibes Grows Its Revenue
Last week, Netvibes, a Paris-based web startup that allows people to assemble their personalized start pages, debuted new features such as adding multiple pages. The company, after a controversial early life, has been keeping a low profile. The new developments provided a good reason to catch up with Freddy Mini, who took over as chief […]
Google vs. the Real-Time Web
Just how big a threat is the real-time web to Google? As Om has pointed out, real-time content marks a still-amorphous but important new phase of evolution in the web, allowing for the instantaneous discovery of newly added information. And Twitter and Facebook are emerging as an alternative to the traditional engine, which presents a […]
Android This Week: Cupcake Delayed, Rosie Revealed and a Possible Tablet Launch Planned
Android, the mobile phone platform launched by Google last year, is still ramping up, but it’s already caused ripples throughout the smartphone world. We think it’s going to be a major player in the space so to that end, we will be taking a weekly look into the world of Android.
Topping the list of Android-related […]
Will Google Win When Microsoft Kills Office 2000?
Microsoft will stop issuing security updates and patches for Microsoft Office 2000 as of June. It’s Microsoft’s policy to support its business software products for up to 10 years after their release, according to ComputerWorld, and then users have to pony up for the latest upgrade if they want to keep their machines secure. For […]
The Ominous Return of the Satellite Phone
TerreStar expects to launch a satellite that costs some $500 million at the end of June, and with it, hopes to reinvent the failed satellite service model from the 90s. Even though TerreStar’s service will launch at the end of this year with normal-sized phones that also work on cellular networks, the likelihood of success […]
How Internet Content Distribution & Discovery Are Changing
Every few years, the Internet — and, by extension, the web — gets bigger and better. As publishing tools get better, we share more content online. As we publish more content, more services emerge to help us find and consume that content. In the early days of the commercial web, it was magazine-like entities […]
Some Notable News From the Tech World Today
Google has changed its policy around trademarked ad words. In essence, if you’re an online store selling Steve Madden shoes, you can now use the trademark in Google ads. More details on the Google Adwords Blog. Not everyone is happy about this and are fighting Google. What it really means: Google will do anything to keep […]
Another Google Fail: YouTube Search Goes Down
Googlers probably can’t wait for this week to end. After a rash of problems with search, GMail and Blogger — now YouTube has gone on the fritz. What’s got to smart even worse is that the problem is just with YouTube’s search; videos have so far been playing just fine. A YouTube spokesperson […]
Stat Shot: Google’s Circumnavigation Edition
This morning, Google somehow rerouted some of its vast hordes of web traffic through Asia, causing service delays, interruptions, and a bit of craziness on Twitter. But it also managed to slow down a few retail web sites, and cause a noticeable gap in the worldwide web traffic. Check out the charts below.
Arbor Networks, which […]
Google Slow, Twitterati Hysterical
UPDATED: Google appears to be having problems across its Gmail, search and even its Blogger platforms, judging by complaints on various social networks. A Google spokesman said, “We’re aware some users are having trouble accessing some Google services. We’re looking into it, and we’ll update everyone soon.” Update: “The issue affecting some Google services has […]
Forget the Mile-High Club — Who’s in the 50,000 Servers Club?
Rich Miller over at Data Center Knowledge just blew my mind with his list of the number of servers various companies run. Spurred by the news that Rackspace has 50,000 of them, he pored over public filings and at least one analyst report to come up with both actual and guesstimated figures, including 48,000 (that’s […]
A Few Notable Things In Tech Land
Notable Observation:
“In the context of software, the word Enterprise has now officially come to mean software that sucks. Enterprise Software hit the nadir of suckitude at the launch of Enjoy SAP. This is like the American Dental Association launching Enjoy Root Canal. SAP is certainly an easy target, but let’s face it, ‘Enterprise Software’ is […]
T-Mobile to Launch Many Android Devices Later This Year
T-Mobile USA is looking to introduce Android-based devices from three different manufacturers, Cole Brodman, chief technology officer of the company, said in a conversation with me earlier today. Android is a mobile OS developed by Mountain View, Calif.-based technology giant, Google. “We are looking to launch multiple Android-based devices in the second half of this […]
Microsoft Blocks VoIP on Windows Marketplace for Mobile
Microsoft has banned several applications for it’s new Windows Marketplace for Mobile app store, including VoIP. Guess Apple isn’t the only VoIP crippler in town. Perhaps this is an opportunity for Google Android to surpass BOTH Apple and Microsoft within the mobile phone space. After all, Google’s philosophy is do no evil.
As I wrote yesterday:
… when carriers like AT&T pull crap like forcing Apple to only allow VoIP over WiFi and not over a 3G data connection, it’s no wonder why mobile VoIP growth will be stunted by anti-competitive tactics. Then you have countries like Canada which outright block Skype on the iPhone. Fortunately, avid mobile phone users aren’t taking this lying down. For instance, you can jailbreak your iPhone and run VoIP over 3G no problem.Why do we have to put up with this crippleware? I get that AT&T is a business and needs to make money. If they’re worried that flat-rate data plans that run VoIP over it will drastically hurt their voice revenue, then change your business model! Keep the flat-rate data plan, but install packet-inspection technology that detects voice packets and charge a few cents for VoIP calls. If the flat-rate data plan’s business model is outdated, which it seems to be, then change it.
Microsoft is playing catch-up to Apple and they could have potentially garnered more new mobile customers by allowing VoIP applications. When will the mobile phone software vendors get it that they should develop products that customers want to buy? Forget about ticking off the carriers. With SIM cards and prepaid cards that are industry-standard, Microsoft could bypass the carriers by allowing customers the “choice” of using VoIP over a pre-paid voice/data card and buying the phone online from Amazon or elsewhere. Screw the Verizon and AT&T retail stores that won’t carry phones that support VoIP over 3G! Sure, most people don’t use prepaid cards, however, technically savvy folks that want VoIP over a 3G data connection would kill to have a good smartphone that has this capability. Microsoft could build an avid/loyal core customer base, which would eventually force the carriers to respond.
It’s time for one of the mobile software operating system creators - Apple, Google, or Microsoft to throw down the gauntlet and not kowtow to the carriers. Stop kneeling before Zod. C’mon Microsoft, you used to be Superman, invincible to all comers. Now you’re playing it safe and being beat by the likes of Apple and Google. Where are you Superman?
Check out the full list of prohibited application types for Windows Marketplace for Mobile below. Listed at #4 is the blocking of VoIP apps. So no Skype on the Windows Zune phone for you! Even worse, you can’t change the default browser, search client, or media player on the device. Nor can you customize the default dialer, a popular thing to do on current Windows Mobile devices. Way to go! That’ll entice developers to develop software apps for your mobile operating system. 
List of 12 banned apps:
1. Applications that are or distribute alternate marketplaces for content types (applications, games, themes etc.) that are sold or otherwise distributed through Windows® Marketplace for Mobile.
2. Applications that link to, incent users to download, or otherwise promote alternate marketplaces for content types that are sold or otherwise distributed through Windows Marketplace for Mobile.
3. Applications that promote or link users to a website, or contain functionality within the application itself, which encourages or requires the user to purchase or pay to upgrade the application outside of Windows® Marketplace for Mobile.
4. Applications that enable VoIP (Voice over IP) services over a mobile operator network.
5. Applications that sell, link to, or otherwise promote mobile voice plans.
6. Applications that display advertising that does not meet the Microsoft Advertising Creative
Acceptance Policy Guide http://advertising.microsoft.com/creative-specs.
7. Applications that replace, remove or modify the default dialer, SMS, or MMS interface.
8. Applications that change the default browser, search client, or media player on the device.
9. Applications with an OTA (over the air) download >10 MB.
10. Applications that run code outside Microsoft runtimes (native, managed, and widgets)
11. Applications that publish a user’s location information to any other person without first having received the user’s express permission (opt-in) to do so, and that do not provide the user a means of opting out of having their location information published.
12. Applications that publish a user’s data from their mobile device to any other person without first having received the user’s express permission (opt-in) to do so, and that do not provide the user a means of opting out of having their data published. A “user’s data” includes, without limit, contacts, photos, SMS or other text communication, browsing history, location information, and other data either stored on the mobile device or stored in the “cloud” but accessible from the
mobile device
They put at the bottom of this list, “Microsoft reserves the right to update these policies as needed to protect the Windows® Marketplace for Mobile service or the users of the service.” Yeah, sure. “protect the users of the service” alright.
Tags: android, apple, google, iphone, microsoft, mobile phone, voip, Windows Marketplace for Mobile, zune
Related tags: marketplace mobile, windows marketplace, location information, windows® marketplace, mobile phone, mobile
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IBM Shows Telco CEOs Struggling to Adapt
The people running the world’s telecommunications carriers are facing a threat to their core businesses due to convergence and a perception of their networks as dumb pipes, according to a report from IBM. As a result, 70 percent of telecom CEOs are concentrating on defending their core business, compared with just 25 percent of […]
The Fight for the Netbook Operating System
Smartphones are becoming more like PCs in many ways, especially if you think of netbooks or mobile Internet devices as cheap computers. The underlying hardware is becoming more similar, connectivity is crucial, and the tasks people use them for are converging. But a key difference between a computer and a phone remains: the operating system.
Software […]
Google Aims to Woo the Enterprise With Its Cloud
Google’s participation in the cloud relies less on offering raw computing power and more on offering applications such as email and a platform for coders to use. Depending on your point of view, Google has chosen to offer one of the simpler cloud experiences or is exercising draconian levels of control. But one way or another, […]
Amazon: Get ‘Em While They’re Young
Amazon said today it would offer grants to allow educators, academic researchers and students to access its Amazon Web Services such as its compute cloud and cloud storage. By bringing cloud computing down to the student level, Amazon is making sure that the next generation of computer programmers is comfortable using its standards for interacting […]
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