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Posts tagged Google
Android Market Surpasses 100,000 Apps
Oct 26th
Android (Android) has just rocketed past a major milestone: 100,000 applications available in the Android Marketplace.
The announcement was made with just a tweet from the Android Dev Twitter account. “One hundred thousand apps in Android Market,” was all the tweet needed to say to spread the news. The search giant recently expanded the Android Marketplace to 20+ countries in an effort to kick its developer ecosystem in high gear.
Google’s open-source mobile OS has been on a tear, but its rapid growth has come at the cost of OS fragmentation across hundreds of devices. And while Android may be flooding the market at breakneck speed, Apple’s iOS App Store is the dominant mobile store by leaps and bounds. There are more than 280,000 iOS apps available, nearly triple the offerings on Android.
Do you think Android can catch upwith Google?
China Launches Online Map of the World
Oct 23rd
China’s State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping has launched an official online map service called Map World.
The service is simple to navigate, even though it’s in Chinese. A zoom slider on the left and various views (map or satellite) populate the upper right corner. Zooming into most parts of the world will only result in a blank page after a certain zoom level, except in China and Taiwan where the images are available in higher resolutions.
The 2D part of the service is similar to Google Maps. A 3D viewing tool, that should make the viewing experience similar to Google Earth, is also available.
According to Asiaone News, 31 companies have been granted a mapping license, including Nokia, Baidu, Alibaba and others which could spell trouble for Google Maps in China.
Still, the Google Maps service is currently available (in a censored form) in mainland China at the address ditu.google.cn.
The map is available at www.tianditu.cn or www.chinaonmap.cn.
Google Broadband Gets Its First Trial
Oct 22nd
Google’s ultra high speed fiber network — which they claim can offer speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second —is about to get its first trial outside the Googleplex.
The trial is pretty small and is only being rolled out at Stanford University, not far from the Googleplex to a samll group of faculty and staff owned homes on campus.
Google has again stated it has no plans to get into the ISP business, as many originally speculated. They have said it is just a move toward making the Internet faster.
Do you think this is another bold move by Google to take over the world, or improve the world?
Google Demo Slam – Trying to convince you its product are cool
Oct 21st
Google Slam visitors are asked to create their own slam videos to highlight Google technology. Contenders upload their videos to YouTube and Google will select the best ones to go head to head.
Robert Wong, Executive Creative Director of the Creative Lab R commented on Google Demo Slam prior to release. Wong spoke about the experimental work the gang at Googleplex work on that no-one knows about and that this was the best way to highlight all that’s new in a easy / fun method.
“We’re like engineering elves at Santa’s workshop,” he says, “we know this stuff is good.”
I like it and have just checked my first slam competition.
In the Blue corner… was a bunch of guys recreating Mount Rushmore with paper mache and their own heads.. They then used Google Googles to take a picture of their creation….. Google Googles recognized it as Mount Rushmore…cool huh!
In the Green corner… this was three young children (The Paul Brothers) putting Google Search by voice through its motion by saying Chubby Bunny with marsh mellows in their mouths. If Google Search by voice recognised the words they won a point… nice…
I voted for the Green corner.. give it a go yourself.
Mobile Ad Spending to Top $1 Billion in 2011
Oct 20th
The spending levels on mobile advertising is set to grow nearly 50% to exceed the 1 billion dollar mark in 2011 according to figures from researcher eMarketer.
This figure has sky rocketed recently due to the acquisition by Google of AdMob and Apples introduction of the iAd.
This shows that mobile advertising is actually growing faster than social media advertising. In August, eMarketer estimated that social media ad spend would grow over 20% this year to $1.68 billion in the U.S. That compares to the torrid 79% growth rate now projected for mobile, which brings the size of the market to $743 million by the end of 2010.
Albeit much smaller in total figures the growth is significantly more, saying this though the projections are that this will slow down pretty dramatically soon.
Google – Billion Dollar Business
Oct 16th
During today’s Q3 earnings call, Google not only discussed its impressive earnings, but it did something it has never done before: It broke down the numbers from some of its key businesses, including YouTube and mobile.
Google CFO Patrick Pichette made it clear in the call that not only had Google (Google) never disclosed these numbers before, but it’s something it probably won’t do in the future, either. This was a one-time glimpse into the current state of Google’s mobile, display advertising and YouTube (YouTube) businesses.
Here are the key numbers that Google SVP of Product Management Jonathan Rosenberg shared during today’s call:
* Display advertising: The company’s annualized run rate for display ad revenues is approaching $2.5 billion, according to Rosenberg. Google called it its next billion dollar business, and that it’s already here. Much of Google’s display ad business comes from its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick.
* YouTube: While Google didn’t reveal specific revenue numbers for YouTube, the company did say it is monetizing 2 billion views per week, up 50% from last year. Recent reports suggest that YouTube is approaching $1 billion per year in revenue.
* Mobile: The annualized run rate for Google’s mobile business is $1 billion this year. More >
Sony’s Google TV-Powered Devices Have Arrived
Oct 13th
Sony has unveiled its newest line of Internet (Internet)-enabled TVs, complete with the highly-anticipated Google TV software.
Sony’s new Internet HDTVs, unveiled earlier today at a press event in New York City, sport 1080p edge-lit LED screens, with the exception of the 24″ model. They come with four USB ports, four HDMI inputs and Wi-Fi capabilities. They are available in four sizes: 24″, 32″, 40″ and 46″. The 24″ model rings in at $599 while the 46″ will cost you a hefty $1,399.
The big selling point of the new TVs is their inclusion of Google TV. The Internet TV software brings Hulu (Hulu), Twitter (Twitter), Netflix, YouTube (YouTube) and Pandora (Pandora) to your living room screen, not to mention search capabilities and a myriad of Android (Android) apps. Web surfing is powered by Google Chrome (Google Chrome), while apps are powered by the Android OS. It integrates the web with your existing cable or satellite TV by making it simple to search your TV shows and your favorite websites at the same time.
One of the more controversial parts of Sony’s new Google TV-enabled devices is the remote, though. It looks like a combination of a PlayStation 3 controller and a QWERTY More >
Google invests in Wind Farm
Oct 12th
Google has just sealed a deal that will help bring clean, renewable energy to almost 2 million households.
The company is investing in the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC), a plan to erect a 350-mile stretch of wind turbines 10 to 15 miles off the United States’ Atlantic coastline, where waters are relatively shallow. The AWC “backbone” will take advantage of strong, steady winds at sea and deliver energy via underwater cables.
If successful, the AWC will be the first operating offshore wind collection project in the United States.
Google Is Testing Cars That Drive Themselves
Oct 10th
Google announced today that it has developed cars that drive themselves automatically in traffic, and that it has been testing them on the streets of California for months. It might seem like an unusual project for Google, but it could actually have big benefits.
We’re not just talking about cars running Google Android. This is the stuff of science fiction. The only accident that has occurred so far: One of the cars was rear-ended by a driver at a stop light. Human error!
The vehicles have been tested on 140,000 miles of California road, from Silicon Valley to Santa Monica. Each car is manned during the tests. One person sits in the driver’s seat, ready to take control of the vehicle instantly by grabbing the wheel or touch the brake should something go wrong with the system. The person in the passenger’s seat is an engineer who monitors the software operations on a computer.
I guess the best thing for Google here is the fact that during the drive the occupants are free to surf or be entertained by other media…
Stuff of the future or just a gimmick – do you think this will happen in the next 5 years?
More >Google Celebrates John Lennon’s 70th Birthday
Oct 9th
Google has paid homage on his would be 70th birthday, by including a doodle video set to John Lennon’s ‘imagine’ on their search page. Just click the RED play button and it loads.
You can see the video below.Yoko Ono sent out a message of Peace and requested that you send up your own video memorials to www.youtube.com/johnlennon.