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Tag: google

  • Obi202 VoIP Adapter Allows for Free Local Calls

    A company called Obihai Technology has created the Obi202, a VoIP adapter that, when used in conjunction with Google Talk gives consumers the ability to make unlimited free local calls. Google will allow the service to run free of charge through the end of the year, and the Obi202 can be bought for a mere $75 on Amazon.com.

    The crux of the Obi202’s visibility comes through their partnership with Google Talk. There are many other VoIP adapters on the market, but with the Obi202, a user doesn’t even need a computer to make or receive calls. In addition, it will work with any standard telephone. You plug the device into your router, and you’re basically ready to use the service.

    VoIP-List.com: extensive catalog of voip providers, available software and hardware resources

    Google has allowed free local calls with Google Talk since the summer of 2010, and they’ll continue to do so through the end of the year. At the end of each year they made an announcement about continued free service. So users will have to take a wait and see approach, as Google may end up offering another year of free local calls in the eleventh hour.

    Basic calling isn’t the only thing the Obi202 can do. Hop on your Android or iOs-powered device and download the OBiON app. It’s free as well, and will give you a fantastic additional service, the ability to bridge calls from your cell phone. That means even if you have a tablet or an iPod device with network service, you could then use it to make calls. And with a bit of extra code work, you could even receive incoming calls as well.

    Reviewers have been more than pleased with the latest version of the Obi202. The voice quality is impeccable, the router they ship is solid, and you can connect two different phone handsets and set up as many as four different VoIP accounts. It plugs right into a USB port, and can be connected to a hard drive that will then link into the router. Basically, it allows you to create your own cloud storage service, and you can link it up with Google Drive or Dropbox for added features.

  • Users Complain of Spotty Google Talk Services

    Google spends an awful lot of time and money advertising some of their services, and Google Talk, featured on Gmail and Google+, receives a large percentage of that attention. Yet any users who attempted to use Google Talk on the east coast of the United States and around the world during one day last week disappointedly met only dead air.

    The service drop occurred just before 7AM EST, and continued for the next six hours. During that time, none of Google Talk’s VoIP services or video conferencing capabilities were available. Google hopped on their sites to report that they were aware of the problem, and that it was impacting a majority of their users. They promised swift action, which then took much of the day to materialize.

    Issues like these are one of the only things keeping VoIP companies from expanding their dominance even further. People need reliable telephone service, and many Google customers are businesses. Losing voice, chat and video services for more than half a day could be devastating if the timing is poor.

    VoIP-List.com: extensive catalog of voip providers, available software and hardware resources.

    The timing of the Google Voice crash was also quite strange in that it occurred on the same day that Twitter crashed for several hours. Of course they couldn’t be related, but that’s millions upon millions of dissatisfied users.

    Before Twitter went down, reports were surfacing there that the Google Talk delays were seen not only in the United States and the UK, but actually all around the world. Google did not give a reason for the issue, only promising to resolve it expediently. Hours later, they were able to solve the problem.

  • Microsoft Moves Office to the Cloud

    Computing giant Microsoft recently announced the pending release of their Office 2013 software, further cementing their status as a leader in the new world of cloud computing. The latest iteration of Office will directly tie into the Microsoft SkyDrive, their cloud storage offering, which will also come built-in on all computers that carry the latest Windows 8 operating system.

    While previewing Office 2013 for current customers, Kirk Koenigsbauer, the VP in charge of the software bundle, pushed most of the focus onto SkyDrive. Customers favorably compared it to Dropbox, a much smaller company that is still Microsoft’s primary competition in this market.

    Microsoft also recently announced that the upgrade to Windows 8 Pro will only cost $40 when purchased directly through Microsoft’s online portal. This is a huge sea change for the company, which now seems willing to significantly lower upgrade charges in favor of gaining customers for SkyDrive and earning that regular, monthly usage fee. That also means that consumers could find Office 2013 carrying a much lower pricetag than previous versions when it enters the marketplace.

    Microsoft also seems to be pushing the limits with how their products integrate, following Google’s approach to the cloud storage market. The new Office will work seamlessly on all Microsoft hardware, as well as link in effortlessly with Windows 8 and other key applications such as Bing and Skype. It may take a while to see if the strategy pays off with increased support of SkyDrive, but in the crowded world of data storage, even a company as large as Microsoft seems willing to take the risk.

  • Will Google Drive Deliver?

    For those new to cloud storage, Google Drive is a great option for a small business, a startup or even individual use. Each account comes with 5 gigabytes of free cloud storage on the Google system, and then you pay a variable rate per month based on the amount of additional storage you require. Many people are already jumping on board, adding the Drive to the wide range of Google products they already use. But is it worth the money?

    Early reviews say that it’s very easy to access and set up. The drive includes documents that will help even the computer novice get right in action. It integrates seamlessly with Google Docs, importing anything you already have there. It’s also incredibly secure. As long as you frequently change your Google password, you’ll have very little to worry about. Google Drive can only be accessed after two steps of verification, and their business support requires and receives the latest in online security measures.

    But what about the price? After that first set of free storage, the next 25 gigabytes will only cost you $2.49 a month. The highest amount of storage they currently offer is 16 terrabytes for $799 a month, which only major international corporations will require. So if you compare that to the price of physical storage options, as well as the added price of requiring backups for all of those devices, and you’ll find it’s an incredibly good deal. Of course, you’ll also have the benefit of being able to access your content from any device that’s internet-connected. So if you suffer a theft or a fire, or are simply traveling and need one of your stored documents, all will be available to you. Google Drive is new to the market, and some may be cautious about taking advantage of the completely altered workflow. But at that price and those capabilities, you can rest assured your money is being well spent.

  • Samsung Galaxy Nexus Ban Taken Off Temporarily

    The Samsung Galaxy Nexus ban in the US following a favorable ruling for Apple by the U.S District Court Judge Lucy Koh has been seen as many as a major win for the makers of the iPhone and the iPad.

    Apple, off late, has been engaged in scores of copyright law suits against other manufacturers including Samsung, HTC and Motorola. In an attempt to desperately stall the rise of Android powered devices in the market and ensure that they stay firmly at the top, they have even posted a $2.6 million bond for stopping the Samsung Galaxy Tab and a further $95.6 million bond for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

    However in a turn of fortune the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has now lifted that ban against the shipment of the Galaxy Nexus paving the way for its return to stores and to the Google play store.

    For the uninitiated, the reason for Apple’s move to court was apparently four features that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus boasted and which the Apple iPhone 4S also had. These are slide to unlock, word suggestion, auto correct (which is in fact a cool tool) and the ability to do a local phone search. The last one was particularly very important for Smartphone users. This means the much vaunted Google Ice Cream Sandwich powered smartphone is going to look quite not so smartphone like when the 4.1 updates and other patches removing these features are implemented.

    The Galaxy Nexus has lesser emotional attachments to Samsung and more for Google and they are taking this Galaxy Nexus ban revoke as a second coming for the Smartphone to the US market. Apparently with Apple’s recent history of going against any thing that is remotely threatening, the next obvious target is the Samsung Galaxy S3 and with the iPhone 5 rumored to be launching next October, Apple would be looking to embroil the S3 in as much litigation as possible to remove the competition for the last iPhone designed by legendary Steve Jobs.

  • Sony Xperia acro S – Water and Scratch Resistant Smartphone

    Sony Xperia acro S joins the Xperia line of smartphones, coming with a high quality screen and a camera of high performance, housed in a casing that provides protection in using conditions adverse for the conventional electronic equipments.

    Xperia acro S is equipped with a 4.3-inch full HD Reality screen that supports a resolution of 1280×720 pixels. Protected by a shield made of mineral glass resistant to scratch and chipping, the screen equipped with wet finger tracking technology allows the use of the touch interface even with wet fingers – like its “little brother” Sony Ericsson Xperia Active.

    The casing is built according to the IP57 and IP55 specifications, meeting strict requirements regarding the protection provided against dust and moisture. Thus, Sony Xperia acro S can be sunk in water up to 1 meter, where it will resist up to 30 minutes without risking permanent damages.

    In hardware, Xperia acro S is based on a 1.5 GHz dual-core chipset powered by Snapdragon, backed up by 1GB RAM. Its internal memory totals 16GB, of which about 11GB are available for the user. The specs list also includes a GLONASS-compatible GPS, NFC for electronic payments and an HDMI output.

    In terms of multimedia, Sony Xperia acro S has to offer a 12-megapixel camera with Exmor R sensor and lens with F2.4 aperture. Apart from taking photos, the camera supports shootings at 1080p. For video calls and for the Face Unlock feature, we also have a 1.3-megapixel frontal camera, which supports video capture at 720p.

    Sony Xperia acro S will run Google’s Android Gingerbread OS and it seems to be the equivalent of Xperia HD – already launched in Japan. The smartphone is being offered in pink, black and white. Unfortunately, the purchase price has not been revealed yet.

  • Almost Half of the U.S. Adults Have a Smartphone

    Smartphones are now more popular than conventional mobile phones among the U.S. adults, according to a study released on Thursday, confirming a trend of aggressive spread of these “pocket minicomputers”. 

    According to the study conducted by Pew Research Center University, nearly half ( 46%) Americans of at least 18 years old had a multifunction phone in February, compared with 41% who owned a normal mobile phone and 12% who never used one of the two.

    A study conducted in May last year concluded that only 35% of American adults had a smartphone, compared with 48% who used a traditional phone.

    Devices running the operating system developed by Google, Android, are the most numerous, being in the hands of 20% of the owners of this type of device, from 15% in May 2011. Apple’s iPhone is ranked second with 19% of users compared to 10% in May, clearly outpacing Blackberry produced by Research in Motion, which is in a deep fall (10% in May 2011 to 6% in February this year). Only 2% of the rest have a phone running the Windows Phone operating system, developed by Microsoft, a report unchanged compared to May 2011.

    The survey conducted by Pew Research Center showed that all demographic categories, men and women, young and middle-aged or third-aged, urban and rural, wealthy and less wealthy, they all participated at the smartphone phenomenon.

    The study was conducted between January 20 and February 19 on a sample of 2253 adults and has an error margin of plus or minus 2.7 points.

  • iPhone Is Shattered In China: Apple Fails To Win The Chinese Market

    Apple’s strategy of aligning the iPhone to a single mobile operator seems to have failed in China, where Samsung has achieved impressive market share. According to Bloomberg, iPhone has a 7.5% share of smartphones sales in China, while Samsung has 24.3% market share.

    This percentage makes Apple the fifth smartphone seller in the country, while Samsung ranks first. Samsung has sold phones through the three largest mobile operators even since 2009: China Unicom (about 200 million subscribers), China Telecom (129 million subscribers) and China Mobile (655 million subscribers).

    Apple, on the other hand, has sold exclusively through China Unicom, but two weeks ago began to sell its iPhone through China Telecom as well, which should increase the company’s market share. But China Telecom, although huge considering the Western standards, is the smallest of the three Chinese mobile operators.

    The “Father” of mobile communications in China, China Mobile, expects to start selling Apple’s iPhone only after the Cupertino company will release the LTE version, expected by the Chinese company later this year. About 15 million “decoded” iPhones are already in use in China Mobile’s network, without the operator to sell one.

    The reason why the market share is so important is that the smartphones have become a marketing platform, on which developers are building applications running on different operating systems. As for Windows, if a platform reaches a dominant market share, developers tend to “gravitate” around it. Thus, a risk for Apple in China (and worldwide as well) is that Android could become the dominant platform for application development.

    The operating system developed by Google, which supports the smartphones produced by Samsung, is the market leader in China with a share of almost 50%, even though Apple has regained an important part in the previous quarter thanks to the sales of iPhone 4S.

    It is likely that Apple’s sales through China Telecom to help reduce the difference between the Cupertino company and Samsung in China, but until will sell the smartphone through China Mobile, Samsung will remain the leading smartphone manufacturer in China.

  • Google Launches Chrome for Android

    Google announced the development of Chrome browser for the Android platform. Chrome Beta will be available in Android Market in the next few days for the phones and tablets running the Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android OS. For now, Chrome for Android Beta will be available in English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

    Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is based on speed and simplicity. The browser includes connection and synchronization functions in order to have the same personalized experience of browsing the Internet wherever you go, on any device.

    When initiating a new search, the main results are loaded in the background as you type; in this way, results are displayed more quickly. Of course, both searching and browsing can be done quickly from the address bar too, as in the desktop version.

    The tabs have also been redesigned and they are well suited to a phone or tablet with both small and large screen. User can now make the transition between an unlimited number of pages, with a very simple movement.

    Chrome for Android Beta is said to solve one of the most unpleasant things in mobile browsing: selecting the correct link between multiple links on a small screen device. User will no longer have to select links on a website, because Link Preview automatically zooms on links, becoming easy to select a particular link.

    Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta includes incognito browsing mode and advanced privacy settings.

    Google has not announced if and when will adjust Chrome for other versions of Android.

    More details can be found here.

  • The 2012 Global Mobile Awards Nominations

    The GSMA announced nominees for the 17th annual Global Mobile Awards. The winners will be presented on Tuesday, 28th February at the GSMA Mobile World Congress. In total, 158 nominees have been shortlisted.

    For 2012, the GSMA introduced 18 new awards, with notable developments in categories such as ‘Apps of the Year’, ‘Mobile Innovation’, ‘Mobile Marketing and Advertising’, and ‘Social and Economic Development’. In addition, the ‘Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at the Mobile World Congress’ will be selected from those on show at the annual mobile event.

    Here are the nominees:

    Best smartphone
    Apple iPhone 4S
    HTC Desire S
    Nokia Lumia 800
    Samsung Galaxy Nexus
    Samsung Galaxy S II

    Best Feature or Entry Level Phone
    Nokia C2-03
    Nokia C3-00
    Nokia C3-01
    Samsung Ch@t 335 (Samsung S3350)

    Best Mobile Tablet
    Acer Iconia Tab A500/501
    Amazon Kindle Fire
    Apple iPad 2
    Asus Eee Pad Transformer
    Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

    Best Consumer Application
    Facebook Messenger
    Talking Tom Cat 2
    Angry Birds Rio
    Blast Monkeys
    Hanging With Friends

    Best Enterprise Application
    Cisco AnyConnect
    GoToMeeting
    Citrix Receiver
    Share Plus: SharePoint Mobile Client
    Forsquare

    Best Application – jury selection
    Evernote
    FlipBoard
    Google Maps
    LinkedIn
    WhatsApp

    Most Innovative Application
    biNu
    Divide
    Google Wallet
    Thrutu (TM)
    Shazam App
    SwiftKey X

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