Biggies having a Bad time

First of all a big HI to everyone. Due to obvious reasons (work stress) I haven't been able to blog much this year. Anyways as we celebrate my blog’s 3rd anniversary (Y!), I thought there can never be a better time to restart it. For more personal scoop , keep watching my personal blog [many good stuff in store ;) ]

So if you are a new visitor, you might ask Y Denovos?  Because Denovos brings a new perspective, adds a new dimension, a different view point to the issues you might already know.Alrighty then, lets get down to business.

Yes its true,2010 is even more troublesome than last year. We have been witnessing a lot of new products, developments,releases which also brings in a lot of controversies, complaints , gossips,  etc

A for Apple :

A for Apple  was slightly shaken to A for Antennagate. Seconds later Steve Jobs launched iPhone 4 ,  iPhone 3GS looked like a expensive piece of plastic. Steel frame, Hard glass build, slimmer, Retina Display, 2 cameras, Facetime, it had everything required to do things, other phones can’t even think of .

But the problem was, iPhone 4 couldn’t do what most phones can do – seamless reception of network signals. When users covered the iPhone 4 with their palms (which is a common practice of holding a phone) there was zero signal reception. The new design of the iphone 4 was blamed for this.

Finally Jobs had to have a another press conference to blame the media for “unnecessary hype” , complained al smartphones have the same problem (which was nothing but a twisted truth) and announced they would be giving free cases for iphone 4 users, which solved the issue. Now there are rumors that iPhone 5 will be coming very soon (Q4 – 2011 ) so that  Attenagate is closed and A is again for Awesome Apple.

Bing Bang Theory

Last week , Motorola announced it will be shipping its Android handsets for China  preloaded with Bing and not Google. This may not come as a surprise as Google is in a ‘Game Over’ status in China.

Bing has been growing slowly & steadily since its launch almost a year ago.  It has not shaken Google’s dominance in search engine, but it has definitely has definitely pricked.   

Jeff Bertolucci of  PC World  gives the most likely scenario as “The most likely scenario: Bing is gaining, Yahoo draining, and Google maintaining”.

Bing’s market share has been gaining for the 9th straight month  and hovers around a decent 10% (US only). The deal with Yahoo has certainly proved useful for Microsoft as Bing has been stealing Y!’s share and not Google’s. But if Google is exiting China and Bing is entering through Android, it will be a huge opportunity to strengthen its share. But of course, Bing has through battle with Chinese Big brother Baidu but still this is big news for Bing.

Google 's Christmas Gift

I am sure many of you must have got this mail,but If you havent checked out the hyperlink in the mailer, you would have missed Google's Christmas gift.
FYKI, Google has committed $20 million dollars to various charity organizations around the world. These organizations which thrive on donations faced huge problems due to recession. When companies like Yahoo! are closing their offices for a cost cutting christmas, none can expect them to donate to social welfare organizations. Still one must appreciate Google's efforts to spread some holiday cheer.

Go Google
&
Merry Christmas to you too :)

Hi ,Waves Google

After many attempts, I got my Google wave invite from Satish (thanks Doc :P). About 5 months before I had blogged about G Wave (??) and its features.Now a preview is out(invitation only) and it shows what would be the interface where the convergence of various communication & media sharing options will take place(that was the original idea).

The interface reminds me of a email client and the waves remind me of threads in online forums.If u are familiar with threads in online forums(my first forum exp was pagalguy.com) and how discussions take place, then G Wave is almost similar to that . But here you can keep the thread private,choose participants by your choice and has multiple media sharing options like videos and pictures etc,send invites and RSVP’s for events ,parties etc.

Google's video on When to Wave??

Some Q’s came to my mind while waving, why don't they add certain features to Gmail than introducing a whole new product?? Does it mean Gwave will exist along with Gmail? The answer is Gwave is based on a different protocol called XMPP,different from Gmail.Moreover XMPP is a open source protocol which will allow developers to build custom wave engines, add-ons,gadgets etc. To Know more on this read wiki of Google wave Federation Protocol

But still, Isn’t it going to make communication lil more complex? I mean now i have one more inbox to check in and some more messages to reply …but to the same contacts??

Chrome Brow (ser) needs to Grow

Yeah its light ,yeah it loads fast,yeah its smooth,but wats the use ??? Its not working good.

I am yet to Chrome experience that Google says.Every time I log onto to orkut or youtube , it says try Google Chrome.But when I try Chrome ,except for the awesome message (“you are using Google Chrome awesome!!)  nothing else is awesome its all just ..awhh(yawn)

See the pic closely  “Please try using Google Mail with a Supported Browser”  and the browsers was Chrome!!…what can I say?

If this wat Chrome is all about they better chuck their OS plans.If they are serious about it they better make Chrome more robust and btw when the plug-ins are gonna come??

Worst part is Chrome crashes than IE 8..now that's pathetic when something crashes more than a MS product then it has got serious problems

Firefox is the best browser till date,yeah it hogs on memory at least it works.It hardly crashes,even if it does it bounces back in a zing.IE8 is lil faster,but when you consider user friendliness, compatibility,java script performance,add-ons etc Firefox is still hot !!

Of all the products from Google from Google Earth to Picasa,I think Chrome is the exception as it is very much worse and I sincerely hope they fix up the flaws before they roll out the Chrome OS

Chrome OS? Oh Yes….

We knew it was coming .It was just a matter of time.And now the time has come.Unlike for many others, it was not a surprise for me,As I had blogged about it earlier.However i was indeed surprised that instead of extending android to laptops,they are developing Chrome as the OS.

When Google officially announced it ,everyone was like “Google to crush MS,windows RIP” and all other stuff.

Its plain stupidity. why??

simple reason- Chrome is not a substitute for Windows nor Mac,because Windows is a client /server based OS while Chrome is browser based.Unlike Windows or Mac for that matter, Chrome would be useless without 24/7 internet connection.I can give you another hundred reasons in the same lines citing safety,security,stability,support etc etc.

So MS need not worry? NO it should ,yes this is indeed a big move by Google and yes it has indeed increased the competition between the two giants. MS has also put big bets on cloud computing and is developing its own browser OS (MS GAZELLE) and its hold on it will be threatened by Google Chrome.

But net book prizes may not go down drastically,Windows wont die and MS wont go bankrupt.Ironically since Chrome is going to be free,its the Linux net books which will take a hit which again is debatable.

While going thru the discussions in the web,one comment had summed it up well

“Chrome will create its own niche market of Browser OS and will monopolize it” I think this is true.Google has indeed revolutionized many areas.And if succeeds,Chrome OS will also be a revolution but there wont be a OS war at least with windows.

Btw this cartoon make more sense than ever before :P

GOOGLE WavE-Mail

While Microsoft was revamping its Live Search Engine into Bing-the Decision Engine,Google was busy re-inventing the good old email.

What would Email look like if it were to be invented today?          This was the question Google asked its Googlers and BING!! (pun intended) they got the answer(atleast they say so)…Google Wave is the new email.

What is a wave? Google says:

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

Its like hybrid email which has Gmail enriched with cool features of many Google products like Docs,Gtalk, iGoogle, Orkut, You tube, Search etc etc.

What surprised me was, Google which is known for making things simple,has actually made email a little complex by adding so many features in one application.Of course,there could be another view that instead of using 4 0r 5 different applications,users can “simply  Wave it”.

Its still early to comment on the success of Wave,however I am pretty sure,good ol’ Email wont be washed away by the Wave,at least for now .

bing……. from Microsoft

Microsoft’s new search engine which was rumored for quite some time under project name KUMO has indeed become a reality.      MS has officially announced that the new kind of search engine termed the “Decision engine” will be launched very soon. This decision engine is named “bing” which i personally feel that its a lil lousy,but considering “kumo” its far more better.The site is already up but not yet running. 

The letter  page describes the objective and need for for a new search engine and also mentions new features like cashback offers,Price Predictor which are very new to a search engine.

        Click above to have a peek to the “bing “–the decision engine

Although bing is not a Google killer,if it catches on,I think it has great potential to generate more revenue than any other search engine because of it new features like Price Predictor which will attract firms to tie up with bing on revenue sharing basis rather than just advertising.

But of course, when it comes to simple search  Google will still rule and we all know why…coz its really simple..just Google it :)

Aww Snap!!! Chrome unfriendly to Win 7

I was never a great fan of Google Chrome.As  a heavy browser,I find Firefox as the best browser for me.Main reason being the plugins and Add-ons. Although IE8 is faster than FF consuming less memory,i still prefer FF over IE8 because IE 8 crashes more than bumping car..oh.. MS  :( .

Anyways, since Chrome caught my attention recently,I thought I would try it on WIN 7. The installation went fine and it even imported my bookmarks from IE8.but once I opened Chrome,it said “Aww Snap Chrome has crashed..”.I tried restarting,then opened in compatibility mode..still couldn't even open a single page.

It looks like the problem is already noted as I found this issue reported in Chrome’s official website .(issue 11583).

I also tried installing the latest beta version and  the shortcut modification which appears to be the only solution available now,unfortunately both didn’t work. I don’t think i will try it again..I am happy with Firefox(3.1 beta 4) and will wait for FF 3.1 full release .

“Live for the Future” – Eric Schmidt

Google Chief Eric Schmidt’s Keynote speech in Carnegie Mellon University.Interestingly, he requested the graduates to switch off their computers and mobiles and to see the real humans around them and Live for the future

Some Quotes :

“You cannot plan innovation. You cannot plan invention. All you can do is try very hard to be at the right place and be ready”

“We used watches to tell time, maps to navigate,cameras to take pics and listen to transistor radios..well you have a cell phone”

“You will find  that nothing beats than to hold your grandchild’s hand as he takes his first step”

“You’ll find today is the best chance you have to start being unreasonable, to demand excellence, to drive change, to make everything happen.”

Google Chrome comes to TV

It may very well qualify to Ripley’s Believe it or Not,but u better believe it.Yes, Google has embraced Mass media Advertising starting with TV spots to promote its Chrome web browser.

Although it is said it will be aired only in Japan for now , a YouTube Channel named Google Chrome has a video collection called Chrome Shorts.

I still remember ,the first offline advertising from Google I recognized was the billboards in Bangalore when the Google SMS search was launched.I have to admit it was little weird to see the Google Logo in the physical world , seemed like the virtual entity jumped out of the PC.

However , I wonder what exactly Google intends to achieve by these  promotional efforts? Okay lets say the browser share of Chrome increases , how will it affect the revenues of Google?.

I guess if more people use Chrome,the more they will use Google services like search etc ,which will increase traffic which may have a positive effect on its revenues. Also, Google chrome keeps track of user’s online behavior  which is also a key component in optimizing search results and help in targeted advertising.

Google Squares the Wolf

I cant believe that I missed this when I read about WolframAlpha. Anyways,looks like Google is all set to rip off the Wolf.

Google will be rolling out Google squared as part of Google labs by the end of May.The special feature in Google Squared is that it will extract data  from the web and produce the results in “Squares”  in the form of spreadsheets.  Techcrunch has released a demo video on Google Squared.

Also Google has already added new tools called Search options which “are a collection of tools that let you slice and dice your results and generate different views to find what you need faster and easier”

This may not exactly mirror WolframAlpha’s capabilities but the point is ,no matter what competition comes ,Google can easily replicate and will even better it.So that when it comes to search GOOGLE RULES ALWAYS.

Who Cried Wolf ? - Try WolframAlpha.

Imagine what will happen if we mix Google is merged with Wikipedia? May be it will tell u the answer to any question by searching the answer over the net and presenting in a concise format.Sounds cool? well its coming soon..

Its not called WIKIGLE or Googipedia but Wolfram|Alpha.

Usually we search using keywords.But sometimes keywords don't help.We might want to ask questions like in Yahoo Answers,but the results are not great. Wolfram Alpha aims to fix this.

Stephen Wolfram who is the man behind WA,is a highly acclaimed scientist and is noted for  his previous projects like Mathematica and New Kind of Science. Although the these were very technical in nature,WA is to the mainstream.

Wolfram mentions in his blog  "All one needs to be able to do is to take questions people ask in natural language, and represent them in a precise form that fits into the computations one can do"

That means instead of just searching India + Economy..I can ask what is Indian economic situation in 2008-09 and instead of links I will get my info like a Wikipage. 

Though it looks promising, I don't think it will affect traffic of Google or Wikipedia.But I am sure it will be a hit  if it works.

Arise MS, Awake Apple,Android has Arrived

Google has always been a pain in (u know where) for Microsoft .Google and Microsoft have been rivals in various fronts.Search , browser,social networking, cloud computing, office suite (although G Docs is online only). But the pain took  shape as Android and was competing directly with MS Windows Mobile. But now the face off has become even more bloodier.

Asus has announced that it is working on android based net books.Android has just stepped into Microsoft's own turf - Computer OS, that means sooner or later its going to be a huge OS WAR .

If Google decides to commercialise and brings in android based laptops, imagine the implications!!!.Android based laptops loaded with all Google software (Google desktop, Chrome, Picasa..etc ) & full array of web applications (btw Gmail is coming offline) , will shook up the entire market place.

Even Apple is facing heat from Google same as Microsoft but Apple has always maintained a small, but strong loyalty base .So MS will be the one to receive a lot of damage particularly in consumer markets. Corporate clients will be the saviours of MS. Although Linux is an existing open source OS, they haven't had any devastating effect on MS windows. But Google has the power to do that.

May be one fine day the World will wake up and see GOOGLE is the new MS.

Darwin Day & Google's Evolution

Did you notice the the recent logo of Google? If you haven't ,don't search it , just look below.

If you go "WOW" then you probably know what it is about..If you go "what in the world is that?" then let me tell you what it is.

Remember Charles Darwin and his theory that Man evolved from monkey? (BTW Mentos had nothing to do with it). Well the great scientist's 200th birthday is today (Feb 12th)  and 150th anniversary (Nov 24 ) of the launch of his paper "Origin of Species" So you see Google, like always is sporting this special logo towards this special occasion.

Google's evolution is remarkable ,starting as humble search engine, it then launched an array of  web applications and now has a strong presence in software arena (Google earth,Picasa , Chrome, Android,latest is Power Meter ).I won't be surprised if it launches a new hardware device in the future.

Started along with many other search engines, Google definitely has carved a position for itself by constantly evolving with continuous innovation.Most importantly it has done that in a very profitable manner.

Talk about Survival of Fittest......

Google's Internet Bus

From LiveMint - Chennai: As part of its initiatives to spread awareness about Internet, Google India on Tuesday announced the launch of mobile internet bus to provide the experience of worldwide web to people across Tamil Nadu.

The bus project is based on four themes — information,  communication, entertainment and education, and it would have useful and informative content in English and Tamil, said Google India (Research and Development) Centre Head Prasad Ram.“We want to educate people about the benefit of Internet and this bus would make them to understand the usage of Internet in a much effective way,” he said.The bus would be covering 15 towns across the state over a period of one-and-a-half months, he said.Google India Product Manager Prem Ramaswami said this was like a pilot project for them and based on the response they get from this project, they would continue it in other states as well.

“It is like a pilot study (for us). More than 19% of Tamilians prefer Google Tamil for accessing the Internet and that is also one of the reasons to launch the bus project from Tamil Nadu,” he said.

read more here.......

GOOGLE GOLA

 

Neha sent me this pic, which shows the influence of Google among common public.It's actually a name board of cart selling Golas (Kala Khatta), a type of Indian snow cone . Until recently GOOGLE never advertised ,  atleast not in India.Only after the introduction of sms search,I could see heavy outdoor advertisements because its not just netizens anymore ,but it even wants to tap mobizens (my term for heavy mobile users) who are a growing segment-(mobile downloads are the  latest rage) .

After seeing these pic,I think  Google will become a familiar name among masses(or is it already??).How many web portals can achieve this?? Yes Yahoo! also has started putting ads in city busses,but to what extent it has reached the masses?? I guess very little.  

Obama mania is another example of this type of buzz, I mean even regional magazines had pictures,jokes,trivia,etc about him  and it was one of the hot topics discussed even in tea stalls,lunch breaks etc.  But atleast in that the mass media were hyping about it.

But in this case , I guess it just spawned ... way to go Google!!

Google Rolls Windows For Chrome

I having exams so I wont be blogging regularly,meanwhile U can check out my archives for something interesting... :)

T-Mobile G1 unveiled

The first ever Android powered mobile T-mobile G1 was  unveiled yesterday.The phone has got almost everything what other touch phones have.

But most importantly it has a open source software,so that it allows users to tune develop and add any application at their will. Google search,push Gmail & eye catching  Roadview using Google Maps make the phone even special for Google lovers.It even has a dynamic Compass!!! Like Itunes,Google has teamed up with Amazon.com to allow users  to download songs directly onto their G1's. 

From a marketing view the following caught my attention 

• The phone is priced at $179 which is cheaper than many touch phones in the market.
• The phone is said to hit the stores by Oct 22 which will help T-mobile to have a good holiday shopping season
• T-mobile is not the best service provider in the US as it does not cover the entire US .This might be a dampener
• The backside of the phone says Google while the manufacturer HTC is not seen anywhere on the phone.HTC touch is well recognized brand for its touch phones why  leave it? Seeing Google on a hardware also feels weird-will it be Google everywhere soon ?    

Well it has certainly got the attention,but I would say Apple has still got  time to correct its flaws in the Iphone,before any serious market competition.    

HTC Dream coming truly on Sep 23rd

Yes its true.Invitations have been sent to media persons from T-Mobile regarding the launch of the first android powered phone on Sep 23rd. Although there is no official confirmation about the name sources say it will be HTC Dream or T-Mobile G1.

If can't wait  catch a sneak peak of the android powered phone below.