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ITA: Another Day, Another Victory For Google

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Despite being the US governments new whipping boy, the Feds have surprisingly cleared Google’s purchase of ITA Software (who organizes airline data).

Although Google is celebrating the approval (which puts the US airline industry at Google’s mercy), the Justice Department did layout some guidelines to ensure the search giant doesn’t trample upon the industry.

Under the proposed settlement, Google will be required to continue to license ITA’s QPX software to airfare websites on commercially reasonable terms.  QPX conducts searches for air travel fares, schedules and availability.  Google will also be required to continue to fund research and development of that product at least at similar levels to what ITA has invested in recent years.  Google will also be required to further develop and offer ITA’s next generation InstaSearch product to travel websites, which will provide near instantaneous results to certain types of flexible airfare search queries.  InstaSearch is currently not commercially available, but is in development by ITA. (Department of Justice)

As highlighted in the video below, Google purchased ITA Software in order to enhance their own search results, which will help them remain relevant in an age where  social search is seen as the next step for organizing the web.

Unfortunately there is no word on whether Google has to share their data with Bing! or Yahoo!, which could put their search rivals in the US as a severe disadvantage.

Originally posted on April 8, 2011 @ 1:15 pm

Need A Free Smartphone? Just Ask HP

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No this isn’t some post April Fools joke that someone left up (which was my first suspicion). Apparently HP is giving away Palm Pre 2’s for free when “ordered” through their website.

Not to surprisingly, this deal is only available to Verizon customers who are willing to sign a new 2 year contract with the carrier. [Read more…]

Originally posted on April 4, 2011 @ 1:00 pm

Filed Under: HP

Can GalaxyTab 8.9 Revive Interest In Android Tablets?

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After watching Motorola’s Xoom overprice themselves out of the tablet wars, it looks like Android fans have tablet that can actually challenge iPad 2 beyond the specs sheet.

While GalaxyTab 8.9’s  thinness will definitely appeal to the masses, it’s price could make the Android tablet a hit amongst consumers.

The Galaxy Tab 8.9 will come sporting 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB 2.0 connectivity and Samsung also expects to offer the tablet with HSPA+ 4G support later this year.

Samsung will offer the Tab 8.9 Wi-Fi in two flavors initially, $469 for 16GB and $569 for 32GB, and says we can expect to see them hit store shelves this summer. (Mobile Burn)

While Samsung has yet to launch GalaxyTab 8.9 to the public (which will hopefully make a debut this summer), it looks like we may have the first real alternative to Apple’s tablet that isn’t half of iPad 2’s size.

If successful in the market, GalaxyTab could inspire more Android developers to make tablet friendly apps, helping to boost Google’s dismal app numbers (at least for those designed for tablets).

While it’s doubtful that GalaxyTab 8.9 will kill off iPad 2 (as the latter boasts over 65,000 apps), Samsung’s tablet could easily secure the silver, helping the company survive underneath Apple’s shadow.

Note: Mashable is reporting that the prices will be $499 and $599 for the 16 GB and 32 GB models, respectively, although regardless it looks like Samsung is determined to challenge Apple upon the tablet front.

Image and Video Credit: MobileBurn

Originally posted on March 23, 2011 @ 1:37 pm

IDC: Apple’s iOS Will Lose To Windows Phone 7

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The International Data Corporation (or IDC for short) apparently is able to gaze into the future and declare the dominant mobile OS in 2015.

While IDC isn’t doubting that Android will dominate the globe for the foreseeable future, their predictions regarding iOS are a bit puzzling.

“Up until the launch of Windows Phone 7 last year, Microsoft has steadily lost market share while other operating systems have brought forth new and appealing experiences,” added Llamas. “The new alliance brings together Nokia’s hardware capabilities and Windows Phone’s differentiated platform. We expect the first devices to launch in 2012. By 2015, IDC expects Windows Phone to be number 2 operating system worldwide behind Android.” (IDC) [Read more…]

Originally posted on March 29, 2011 @ 1:26 pm

Dear Android, Microsoft: Please Mimic iPhone Updates

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Dear Google and Microsoft, we have a problem. Even though both of your mobile OS products are outperforming expectations, respectively, both platforms suffer one critical flaw that is holding you back.

For some strange reason you allow carriers to dictate when updates happen as well as give them the ability to block updates, preventing users from upgrading the device for simple things like critical security updates (at least with Android).

Honestly while this hasn’t slowed down the adoption of your devices, it gives people one more reason to choose iPhone over Android and Windows Phone 7. [Read more…]

Originally posted on March 15, 2011 @ 2:56 pm