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Google Cancels Geek’s Christmas Wish (Google Fiber)

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After many months of anticipation in hopes that Google would finally bless a city with Google Fiber by the end of this year, the search engine giant has announced that they are pushing the decision back until next year.

Earlier this year we announced an experiment we hope will help make Internet access better and faster for everyone: to provide a community with ultra high-speed broadband, 100 times faster than what most people have access to today. […]

We had planned to announce our selected community or communities by the end of this year, but the level of interest was incredible—nearly 1,100 communities across the country responded to our announcement—and exceeded our expectations. While we’re moving ahead full steam on this project, we’re not quite ready to make that announcement.

We’re sorry for this delay, but we want to make sure we get this right. To be clear, we’re not re-opening our selection process—we simply need more time to decide than we’d anticipated. (Official Google Blog)

This honestly is dissappointing due to the fact that I was hoping Google would select my city as the winner right before Christmas (or at least pick a winner so I could decide whether to upgrade my DSL account).

Google is planning to announce the winner in “early 2011,” which could mean March of this year (note: coincidently Google is timing their announcement around the same time Apple will unveil their Verizon iPhone).

With speeds up to 100 times faster than their rivals, Google is promising to shake up the telecom industry by forcing them to provide faster access in order to benefit everyone in the long run.

Originally posted on December 15, 2010 @ 5:13 pm

Google Helping Firefox Dethrone IE?

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Microsoft’s days of dominance are quickly coming to a close as StatCounter has announced that the software giant has lost the gold to an old nemesis.

However what’s surprising about StatCounter’s report is not who inherited the gold, but rather who is really killing off IE in the EU.

The firm’s research arm StatCounter Global Stats reports that in December, Firefox took 38.11% of European market share, compared to IE’s 37.52%.

“This is the first time that IE has been dethroned from the number one spot in a major territory,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. “This appears to be happening because Google’s Chrome is stealing share from Internet Explorer while Firefox is mainly maintaining its existing share.”

Google Chrome in third place is gaining market share in Europe and has grown to 14.58% compared to 5.06% in December last year. (StatCounter Global Stats)

Despite unveiling Internet Explorer 9 to the masses, Microsoft has been unable to slow the bleeding as more and more users are defecting towards Google Chrome which is considered not only faster than its rivals, but safer as well.

While Mozilla (the organization behind Firefox) is probably thrilled at inheriting the gold away from IE, the company needs to figure out a way to increase the popularity of their browser lest they suffer the same fate as Microsoft in a few years.

Originally posted on January 4, 2011 @ 3:34 pm

2 Out Of 5 American’s Are Choosing Android?

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Neilson has released new stats regarding the status of the top 3 smartphones for the US and while Apple and Blackberry are still able to maintain their gold and silver medals, respectively, the stats for Android’s growth are nothing short of incredible.

The race for the lead in U.S. smartphone operating system (OS) consumer market share is tighter than it has ever been. According to November data from The Nielsen Company, the popularity of the Android OS among those who purchased a smartphone in the last six months (40%) makes it the leading OS among recent acquirers.

But despite its surge among recent acquirers, when it comes to overall consumer market share, Android OS (25.8%) is still behind Apple iOS (28.6%). RIM Blackberry’s position is less clear: Its share (26.1%) puts it within the margin of error of both Apple iOS and Android. In other words, RIM remains statistically tied with both Apple for first and Android for third. Apple’s clear lead over Android notwithstanding, this race might still be too close to call. (Official Nielsen Blog)

Note: Emphasis mine.

Unfortunately Nielsen doesn’t distingquish between the iOS devices (which include the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) which inflates Apple’s numbers ahead of their rivals.

Despite the iOS dilution, the fact that 2 out of 5 Americans are choosing Android as their next device spells trouble for RIM, Windows Phone 7 and to a much lesser extent iPhone (who still seen among the masses as the premier smartphone in the US).

With Samsung about to challenge the iPod with their Galaxy S Player, 2011 could be the year Android steals the crown as the top mobile/music player OS (at least in the US).

Originally posted on January 3, 2011 @ 3:39 pm