New Media News Every Morning
Despite being late to the smartphone game, it looks like Microsoft’s Windows 7 smartphone could make a strong entrance into the smartphone arena, despite the crowded field.
While the mobile OS looks highly functional (in some ways more than Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, especially in the social networking department), the overall layout of the OS remains an eye sore as one can tell from the video below. [Read more…]
Originally posted on June 23, 2010 @ 10:58 am
Known mostly for creating PC’s powered by Windows, it looks like Dell could be pondering a laptop powered by the search engine giant’s official operating system (aka Chrome OS).
“There are going to be unique innovations coming up in the marketplace in two, three years, with a new form of computing, we want to be on that forefront … So with Chrome or Android or anything like that we want to be one of the leaders,” [Dell’s president for Greater China and South Asia] Midha said, adding that there were no firm announcements to be made but talks were underway. (Reuters) [Read more…]
Originally posted on June 21, 2010 @ 3:30 pm
There you go folks. Google has spilled the beans about its latest and grandest plan of conquering our lives. Google has just launched Google TV. This time Google is aiming to bring web contents we enjoy consuming on our computers to the sweetest spot in our homes – those areas where we sit back, relax and enjoy watching TV shows and programs.
But exactly is Google trying to bring in here? It’s not a TV set. It’s not a TV media player but what Google has been known for – software platform. And for Google TV, Google is interweaving the web and TV into a single platform.
Google TV will let us watch contents we enjoy from the web. It has  a built-in search with auto-suggest function, a web browser in Google Chrome, a TV homescreen console, and most importantly it has Android running in the background.
How will Google TV change our viewing habits? And how will it affect commercial TV programs. For our TV viewing habits, Google TV will give us more choices and possibly more TV viewing time. For commercial TV programs, this is like Google hauling competition. Google TV might blur the thin line that separates canned TV programs, to freely available online entertainment content.
So, what’s the big plan? Google is working with Sony and Logitech to bring in Google TV on set-top boxes, Blue-Ray players and other media hardware. Google is also releasing the Google TV SDK and web APIs to let third-party developers create more exciting and fun apps that will run alongside Google TV.
It’s going to be fun and exciting in the next few days. Google TV is certainly going to make waves. And if Apple rocked the tablet world recently, Google will certainly rock the TV world soon as well.
Originally posted on May 20, 2010 @ 5:22 pm
It looks like the boys and girls at Cupertino have launched an official app for their app store, allowing Apple fans too lazy to fight the iFaithful in the physical world to order their gear from the palm of their hands.
Buy Apple products and accessories, read customer reviews, find an Apple Retail Store, stay up to date with in-store events, and make Personal Shopping, Genius Bar, or One to One appointments.
The Apple Store app is also the easiest way to buy or reserve your new iPhone — right from your current iPhone. You can do it in just a few taps, without entering your AT&T account information. Order your new iPhone from the Apple Online Store and it’s shipped to you free and ready to use. Or reserve your new iPhone, pick it up at an Apple Retail Store, and we’ll set it up for you in minutes. (Apple Store App)
This should make pre ordering iPhone 4 (or even the glorious iPad) much easier for iFans, as the app connects directly with your iTunes account (so make sure you have plenty of funds available before ordering).
While an official Apple App was long over due, what is puzzling is the fact that Apple didn’t make their app “iPad friendly.” [Read more…]
Originally posted on June 15, 2010 @ 11:52 am
YouTube is a great site for hosting your videos, no doubt about that. But the problem with it is that when you upload a personal video that you just want to share with a few people, you can do so but then that video is searchable by any video who visits YouTube and chanced upon your video. In short, the videos you upload can be found by the whole world. There was no privacy setting that will let you restrict access to the video you uploaded in YouTube to only the people that you want to share your video with, not until now.
YouTube has just rolled out a new video upload option that will enable you to “unlist” the video you upload from being found by other people. Once you’ve unlisted a video after you uploaded it to you YouTube, only the people who have the link to the video will be able to watch it. It will never be displayed in any of YouTube’s public pages. Not in search results, on your personal channel or on the browse page. Â Only you and the people you share the video link with will be able to watch it. Well, of course other people can find it if the link is shared by the people whom you shared the link with.
YouTube unlisted video is a private video. And what’s good about this is that the person you share the link with does not need a YouTube account to view your video. All they need is the link to it.
You’ll get the link to your unlisted video after you the upload process is finished. Â Once you’ve unlisted a video and share it with someone else, that person will know that the video is unlisted by the “annotation” just below it when they’ve visited the video link you shared.
So, will you be uploading your personal video to YouTube now? Will you be using YouTube as a personal video storage from now on?
Originally posted on May 13, 2010 @ 10:49 am