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Google Wave Aftermath: 4 Services That Will Benefit From Google Wave’s Demise

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After releasing Google Wave to the public, it looks like the search engine king has finally admitted that its favorite child was unable to capture the hearts of the masses.

We were equally jazzed about Google Wave internally, even though we weren’t quite sure how users would respond to this radically different kind of communication. The use cases we’ve seen show the power of this technology: sharing images and other media in real time; improving spell-checking by understanding not just an individual word, but also the context of each word; and enabling third-party developers to build new tools like consumer gadgets for travel, or robots to check code.

But despite these wins, and numerous loyal fans, Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects. (Official Google Blog)

Note: Emphasis mine

While Google Wave itself may have been a public failure, the technology behind it was not, and we will probably see the search engine giant incorporate Google Wave in a four products down the road. [Read more…]

Originally posted on August 5, 2010 @ 9:01 am

Watch Out Android: Microsoft Windows 7 Phone May “Embrace FaceTime”

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Despite Microsoft’s belated entrance into the smartphone wars, it looks like they actually might have a decent competitor to the mighty iPhone 4.

While its doubtful that Windows 7 phone would dent Apple’s sales (due to the latter’s immense app store), their upcoming smartphone could make Android’s Evo white knight all but irrelevant.

Samsung Cetus is a smartphone based on Microsoft Windows Phone 7 . It uses 800×480 4.0″ AMOLED with full touch screen, and it has 5MP camera and secondary VGA video call camera. Other features include SMS (threaded view), MMS, e-mail, instat messaing, HTML, Inter Explorer browser, Stereo FM radio, GPS, Bluetooth technology, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and microUSB v2.0. (Official Bluetooth SIG Member Website)

Note: Emphasis mine.

With the upcoming Samsung phone sporting a VGA video camera (just like iPhone 4), we may see the Windows 7 phone embrace FaceTime which would give Microsoft leverage over every Android device currently on the market.

Microsoft is planning on introducing the world to their Windows 7 phone this October, although hopefully by then their employees will have created enough Win7 apps to provide some decent competition against the smartphone Goliaths.

(via MobileCrunch)

Originally posted on July 30, 2010 @ 2:45 pm

Will Apple Release A Verizon iPad Instead Of An iPhone This January?

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After rumors of a Verizon iPhone surfaced, the geek world went crazy over the possibility that Apple would finally give US users carrier freedom without having to jailbreak their iDevices.

While an expansion of the iEmpire would benefit Cupertino tremendously (if not help thwart the rise of Android), Apple may choose to release a CDMA iPad instead of an iPhone to the disappointment of millions everywhere.

For those wondering why Apple would even consider such a move (which would create a river from millions of iTears), here are five (5!) reasons we will probably see a Verizon (or CDMA) iPad instead of an iPhone 4 in January of 2011. [Read more…]

Originally posted on August 12, 2010 @ 2:14 pm

YouTube Grants Users 15 Minutes Of Fame (Provided You Can Create It)

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After receiving numerous complaints over the 10 minute limit, it looks as if the boys and girls at Google are going to expand everyone’s current video allotment by an extra 300 seconds (or 5 minutes for you time geeks).

We want YouTube to be the best place to upload video. Without question, the number one requested feature by our creators is to upload videos longer than 10 minutes. We’ve heard you, and today we’re pleased to announce that we’ve increased the upload limit to 15 minutes.

We encourage you to take full advantage of this new time limit by making a video of your “15 minutes of fame.” Imagine that this video is all the world will ever know about you: what would you want to communicate? What will be the enduring stamp you’ve left on us all? Tag your video with “yt15minutes,” upload it by Wednesday, August 4, and we’ll select a handful of people to truly gain their 15 minutes of fame by featuring them on the YouTube homepage in a future spotlight. (Official YouTube Blog)

YouTube goes on to explain that the reason they are expanding the time limits is due to the success of their content ID system which prevents users from uploading pirated content (which Viacom sued YouTube over and lost).

Although YouTube has yet to attract some of the premium content that is becoming common place amongst rivals (like Hulu), the extra 5 minuets may attract short film creators who can help bring more quality videos to the Youtube universe (beyond dogs on skateboards and deodorant commercials).

Originally posted on July 29, 2010 @ 1:26 pm

Motorola Launching “DroidPad” Soon?

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With Apple selling millions of iPads, it looks as if Motorola is finally jumping in the game with an unnamed Android tablet of its own.

Motorola is developing a digital tablet device that will allow users to watch television on it, as the US mobile phone group attempts to chip away at a market established by Apple’s popular iPad.

The device, which will have a 10-inch screen and operate on Google’s Android software, could launch as early as this autumn in the US.  (Financial Times)

According to the Financial Times, the Android tablet will rely heavily upon Verizon’s FiOS TV service which will allow the device to compete against Apple’s vast media library from iTunes.

While Motorola’s “DroidPad” could tap into Google’s extensive Android app market (similar to how Apple uses its iOS market to inflate the number of apps available for the iPad), they will probably need to ask developers to create tablet specific apps as super sizing mobile apps tends to give consumers “eyesoritous.”

(via Engadget)

Originally posted on August 4, 2010 @ 2:35 pm