Make sure you read the title slowly and clearly…apps…as in more than one. If you were holding out for the official Google Voice app, keep waiting because that’s not what was officially approved by Apple. After a long dispute over Google releasing their Google Voice app in the iTunes store, it appears that perhaps Apple is loosening its tight grip. After having released then taken down from the iTunes store due to the app providing a service that already existed on the iPhone, many thought that there would never be a day that Google Voice would make its comeback.
AppleInsider reported that the two apps passing approval were GV Mobile + and GV Connect, both of which serve as a Google Voice app. According to the article, earlier in the month, the creator of GV Mobile + stated that he had gotten confirmation that Apple would be approving his app. Furthermore the article states that “the change in policy came after Apple published its App Store Review Guidelines for all to see.” If true, this is indeed a victory…for now.
With the release of apps that function as Google Voice apps, there is no doubt that Google will more than likely resubmit their official Google Voice app. In doing so, there does not seem to be a reason why this app would be rejected seeing how these other two have made it by. No word yet on when Google plans on resubmitting.
Does this change the way you would use your iPhone? With Skype already available and now Google Voice, could this effect the service plans we choose for our iPhones?
If I were to ask how many people out there actually used Cuil there’s not doubt I’d hear the sound of crickets. The much maligned search engine the was supposed to be the Google killer had attracted the eyeballs of major tech media outlets only to be the laughing stock of the community. Since it’s launch, the search engine has struggled for it’s fair share of respect, but never quite getting there. We’ve covered Cuil in the past and came to the same conclusion, that Cuil was just not meant for the public and would have been better off staying behind closed doors to either die on the vine, or prepare itself for an actual launch.
It seems that news on this search engine just does not die. Recently reported on TechCrunch, Michael Arrington writes that Cuil is finally closing its doors for good…unofficially at least. According to the report, what few employees that are still with the company have not been paid, which is never a good sign. While they look for green pastures the future for the search engine is almost certain. With its line of successive failures, perhaps now we can finally lay it to rest.
So what say you? Did anyone in the Crenk community ever use Cuil? The few that commented on past articles were not impressed, but if you actually liked it, we’d like to hear why.
Scores.org created a complete infographic representing the timeline for Google’s acquisitions in their short life. A simple way to see what they bought, when and in what product this acquisition transformed.
We should know by now that any of the largest companies in the world right now are in fact the most important ones because of their appetite and their capabilities to buy other companies. Google indeed took some great decisions in the last 10 years about this: YouTube, FeedBurner, Postini and Picasa are just a few of those.
Take a look to the complete list. Take note that this infographic divides the acquisition in time and type (technology, market and talent):
How many times did we wondered about “Thelma & Louise” ending? Thinking: “What if these girls could use a smartphone and Bing?”… None? Ok, me neither. But apparently Microsoft does.
If we think about one of the most dramatic endings in a movie, “Thelma & Louise” finale should be in the top 5. But fortunately Bing created a new ending, and while they were at it, they mentioned Google’s “inefficient” way to find places.
Take a look to this publicity from Microsoft’s Bing:
After I saw the car flying in the air, I thought this is a terrible way to use a movie reference; but after seeing the car didn’t get smashed I think the publicity is not horrible, just lame
Google is reaching an important milestone in their mobile battle roadmap: Introducing App Inventor for Android. With this tool we’ll be able to develop our own tools for Google’s mobile operating system.
The interesting part of this tool is that will not require great expertise for users to actual create their own apps with App Inventor.
Take a look to this simple video where we can create a “Pet the kitty” app:
App Inventor is currently working with invitations, and you need to subscribe to get one. We are expecting more news in the next few weeks.
Remote Desktop for most power and/or IT users represents the way of accessing a remote’s computer desktop by reaching it using an IP address; but is more than that. Using Remote Desktop protocol, users can access their applications, installed on a remote computer, without actually installing them locally.
This functionality, without an official announcement by Google, appeared in a Google forum; made by software designer inside the developing of Chrome: “We’re adding new capabilities all the time,” wrote Kačmarčík. “With this functionality (unofficially named ‘chromoting’), Chrome OS will not only be [a] great platform for running modern Web apps, but will also enable you to access legacy PC applications right within the browser.”
For me, almost anything representing legacy or an interoperability support sounds like a good idea; especially in today’s market when some are thinking that by being more restrictive they will win.
Flock, the social browser, is not built on Chrome.
and browsing. Since then Flock, the social browser, has always been that fringe browser that a few people used but didn’t grab the audience it was hoping for. What did help Flock was the fact that it was built on the Firefox browser framework which made it easy to develop for since it was open source. The Flock browser allowed for many unique plug-ins very similar to Firefox, thus offering a seamless user interactive experience with the added bonus of social networking.
This week a huge announcement was made that Flock was leaving the Firefox backbone and moving to Chrome. Touted as a social browser there is definitely something to love about it, but does it really know where it wants to go? The interface has undergone a drastic overhaul moving away from the complex menus and tabs and moving more towards a simple interface with fully customizable group and friend options.
In a world where social platforms like Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and Hootsuite have been integrated into desktops and/or browsers, it feels like Flock is still running too many steps behind. Has Flock lost its luster? Perhaps, but there’s nothing wrong with reinventing yourself.
If you’ve not heard of Bing, then you’re not following Microsoft. Bing has come into the search market with a bang offering users a unique way of surfing the internet. Recent rumors shared on the AppleInsider website state that Apple might be interested in offering another option other than Google when searching on their iPhone OS.
Currently the iPhone OS defaults to Google when you open Safari. Apparently Apple seeks to offer other alternatives to searching, perhaps looking to take away dependency on Google. According to the article, Apple is not dropping Google entirely, they seem to only want to make other options more visible. Also stated in the article, “Apple already provides an option to use Yahoo for web search in Safari, although that option is not obvious and requires visiting system settings to make the switch.”
Have Apple and Microsoft struck an alliance? It would appear so initially, but because Apple is already offering Yahoo, perhaps they will make Yahoo another prominent option. There’s a very long standing history in how the companies involved have been mixed into all this. Microsoft has been asking for Bing to be more prominent, Apple has integrated some of Microsoft’s mapping technology into their services, and Apple is not entirely happy with the dependency of some of their core apps on Google’s presence. It’s a long and drawn out history that the article does a great job detailing.
Personally I’m not a fan of Bing, I don’t see it becoming a huge factor on the OS as a search option, but we’d love to hear your thoughts. Are you happy just using Google on Safari when you go online, or do options like Yahoo and Bing make a better offering?
I’m pretty sure that in Internet and geo-location history, Google Maps is an important milestone. Scribble Maps is a simple but quite useful web app: Using Google Maps lets you scribble down, draw circles, places markers and much more within maps.
Just use it in the same way you use Google maps, but you’ll find over the left top corner a bunch of tools to use for you to take full advantages of Google Maps.
China is receiving Apple’s new toy and is expected, as in the rest of the world, that the iPad will be quite a hit there. But Apple will have a ferocious competitor: The iPed.
Oh no, I’m not misspelling, this one is called the iPed. And you can find it in Shenzhen, China available with a cost of U$S100, where also the iPad costs U$S536.
But that’s not all the differences between these two tablets. The iPed contains an Intel chip inside and Google’s operating system Android.
Let’s take a closer look to the product:
The box seems similar?
Wait… what I’m reading there…?
Oh, neither iPod nor iPad… iPed, of course
Mmm… the manual says APad… I’m a little confused now
This would be a great gift to get a friend excited, isn’t?
Make sure you read the title slowly and clearly…apps…as in more than one. If you were holding out for the official Google Voice app, keep waiting because that’s not what was officially approved by Apple. After a long dispute over Google releasing their Google Voice app in the iTunes store, it appears that perhaps Apple is loosening its tight grip. After having released then taken down from the iTunes store due to the app providing a service that already existed on the iPhone, many thought that there would never be a day that Google Voice would make its comeback.
Google is reaching an important milestone in their mobile battle roadmap: 
Draw circles, rectangles, shapes.
