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  • Google Introduces Gmail Call

    Starting yesterday, Gmail users can call any phone right from Gmail. The new service is integrated into the web-based email client and enables to call anywhere in the US and Canada for free and get low rates for other countries.

    According to Gmail Blog, calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of the year and calls to other countries will be billed at our very low rates. “We worked hard to make these rates really cheap, with calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan—and many more countries—for as little as $0.02 per minute,” said Robin Schriebman, Software Enginee at Google.

    Dialing a phone number works just like a normal phone. Just click “Call phone” at the top of your chat list and dial a number or enter a contact’s name. If you have a Google Voice phone number, calls made from Gmail will display this number as the outbound caller ID. And if you decide to, you can receive calls made to this number right inside Gmail.

    “We’ve been testing this feature internally and have found it to be useful in a lot of situations, ranging from making a quick call to a restaurant to placing a call when you’re in an area with bad reception,” said Schriebman.

    Google is rolling out this feature to U.S. based Gmail users over the next few days, so they will be ready to get started once “Call Phones” shows up in their chat list (they will need to install the voice and video plug-in if they haven’t already). But according to Schriebman, Google is working on making this available more broadly.

  • Four out of Five Cell Phones to Integrate GPS by End of 2011

    With cell phones increasingly becoming the nexus of the burgeoning markets for navigation and Location Based Services (LBS), the use of GPS technology in such platforms is set to explode during the coming years, according to iSuppli.

    In the fourth quarter of 2011, 79.9 percent of cell phones shipped—amounting to 318.3 million units—will incorporate GPS functionality, up from 56.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009—or 187.8 million units—iSuppli predicts.

    The research group says the adoption of GPS in mobile handsets is being driven by smart phones.

    “The smart phone is the key product driving the technology industry today—and social networking services and applications spurred by GPS-related features are critical elements in the smart phone market today,” said Dr. Jagdish Rebello, director and principal analyst for iSuppli.

    “This is illustrated by Google’s decision to make turn-by-turn navigation, LBS and mobile ads the central features in its bid to take on Apple in the smart phone market, and make up the central pillars of its strategy to increasingly monetize mobile search.”

    Rebello said that smartphones are taking over from Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs) as the major platform for navigation. By 2014, usage of navigation-enabled smart phones will exceed that of PNDs.

    Furthermore – he continued – the smart phone is likely to generate many innovative LBS apps in the next five years. Apple’s iPhone already has more than 6,000 LBS apps available.

    Meanwhile, both Apple and Google are focusing on mobile advertising as a key source of revenue used in association with LBS.

    Apple’s new iAd platform, part of the company’s updated iPhone OS 4 operating system, enables the embedding of advertisements into applications, allowing iPhone users to interact with the ad without leaving the app. Similarly, Google in May acquired leading mobile ad provider AdMob.

    “Nonetheless, Apple recently upped the ante in the smart phone GPS segment with the addition of a gyroscope to its latest iPhone model. Used in combination with GPS, an accelerometer, a compass and the gyroscope can be used for in indoor navigation with floor accuracy,” as the analysts claim.

    iSuppli also sees an increased penetration of embedded GPS in a range of consumer and compute electronic devices by 2014. For example, iSuppli estimates that 18 percent of laptops and 42 percent of portable handheld video game players will have embedded GPS in 2014.

    According to the research group, altogether, the boom in mobile handset navigation will benefit suppliers of GPS semiconductors such as Texas Instruments, Broadcom Corp., Infineon Technologies and CSR.

    “GPS is not the only embedded connectivity technology that will be increasingly embedded in consumer and compute electronics devices. With the ratification of the Bluetooth 4.0 standard supporting the Bluetooth Low Energy profile, iSuppli expects increased penetration of Bluetooth in wireless mice, keypads and other interface devices for the mobile and desktop market—an area that has been dominated by proprietary technologies,” said Rebello.

    Related articles
    Mobile Location-based Service Revenues in Europe to Reach €420 Million by 2015
    MWC 2010: Interview with Toni Klinc from Mireo
    What Does Nokia’s Launch of Free Navigation Mean to the Market?

  • Google Brings Web to TV, Announces Google TV

    At the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco, leading industry players announced the development of Google TV – an open platform that adds the power of the web to the television viewing experience, ushering in a new category of devices for the living room. Intel, Sony, and Logitech, together with Best Buy, DISH Network and Adobe, joined Google on stage to announce their support for Google TV.

    Over the past decade, the internet has created unprecedented opportunity for innovation and development across the world, but so far the web has largely been absent from living rooms. With Google TV, consumers will now be able to search and watch an expanded universe of content available from a variety of sources including TV providers, the web, their personal content libraries, and mobile applications.

    Search across TV, Web, and Apps

    Google TV is based on the Android platform and runs the Google Chrome web browser. Users can access all of their usual TV channels as well as a world of Internet and cloud-based information and applications, including rich Adobe® Flash based content – all from the comfort of their own living room and with the same simplicity as browsing the web. When coupled with the Intel® Atom™ processor CE4100, Intel’s latest system-on-a-chip designed specifically for consumer electronics, the new platform will offer home theatre quality A/V performance. Sony and Logitech said they would be delivering products based on the new Intel Atom processor and running Google TV later this year. While Google TV is designed to work with any TV operator, at launch the user experience will be fully optimized when paired with DISH Network.

    Google TV expands video choice from the hundreds of channels available today through a pay TV provider to the vast storehouse of video content available through the web and streaming videos. The Google TV experience is complemented by the ability to watch streaming video from leading content platforms, including Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and YouTube. Google TV will also have the capability to run apps from the Android Market.

    To navigate the array of content that will now be available through a single device and on a single screen, Google TV introduces an integrated search experience to help viewers easily find relevant content across over-the-air and pay-TV channel listings, DVR, and the Internet, as well as a picture-in-picture layout to access multiple windows simultaneously. Google TV also features an innovative home screen to help viewers quickly organize their favorite content and personalize their TV viewing experience. Some of these features are only available with advanced integration from DISH Network.

    Eric Schmidt, Google Chairman and CEO said, “We are very proud to be working with this distinguished set of partners, all of whom have decades of experience in hardware, design and retail.”

    Sony announced plans to introduce “Sony Internet TV,” the World’s first TV lineup incorporating the Google TV platform. The first models are planned to be introduced in the U.S. market in the Fall of 2010 with the lineup featuring both a standalone TV model and set top box-type unit incorporating a Blu-ray Disc drive.

    Howard Stringer, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Corporation said, “I am delighted to announce the unique alignment of Google’s rapidly growing, open source Android platform with Sony’s unparalleled expertise in the field of TV design and technology. The addition of ‘Sony Internet TV’ will further bolster Sony’s comprehensive TV lineup and will fuse new levels of enjoyment and interactivity into the TV experience.”

    Logitech will introduce a companion box that brings Google TV to existing HDTV home entertainment systems, easily integrating with any brand of HDTV and set-top box. The companion box will incorporate Logitech’s Harmony® remote control technology, and will include a controller that combines keyboard and remote control capabilities. The company also has plans to introduce an HDTV camera and video chat for Google TV, along with additional choices for navigation and control, including apps to turn a smart phone into an advanced controller for Google TV and home-entertainment systems.

    Gerald Quindlen, President and CEO, Logitech said, “We committed to Google TV early on because it aligns with our strategy to support open platforms that enable new immersive experiences in the digital living room. While Google TV enables seamless discovery of all your content, Logitech enables seamless control over how you experience that content. We look forward to continued collaboration with Google and the developer community to create new Google TV experiences that have yet to be imagined.”

    The Intel Atom CE4100 processor will power both the Logitech and Sony devices. Paul Otellini, Intel President and CEO praised the collaborative effort and said TV as we know it was being “reinvented.” "Today marks the next step in the evolution of TV to Smart TV. TV’s are becoming smarter as a result of the microprocessor and the Internet. Traditional TV programming will be merged seamlessly with the infinite amount of content on the Internet to enable every viewer to determine what they want to watch, when they want it. This is Moore’s Law transforming television, powered by the performance of Intel microprocessors."

    DISH Network has been a key partner with Google on advanced integration development for Google TV. The two partners began a joint trial over a year ago with more than 400 DISH Network and Google beta users. Based on the continuous feedback from the trial, Google and DISH Network have built the optimized Google TV experience that seamlessly integrates traditional TV, DVR and web content.

    Charlie Ergen, Chairman, President and CEO of DISH Network, said, “Google TV marks the next evolution in television, and we are excited to be the first to partner with Google to bring this experience to our customers. Only DISH Network Google TV customers will be able to enjoy a unified search across TV, DVR and web; easily find related content; and manage their entire TV viewing experience. Additionally, the advanced integration will allow developers to create new and exciting applications to enrich the TV viewing experience.”

    Best Buy     will bring their retail experience and consumer expertise to the project, with Google TV devices being sold at Best Buy locations nationwide later this year. “Every day, our 180,000 Blue Shirt store employees and Geek Squad Agents work with our customers to get them the best home theater experience possible”, said Brian Dunn, CEO Best Buy, “We are thrilled about the new and exciting experiences smart TVs, like Google TV, provide to our customers – and we are looking forward to showcasing those experiences in our store and ensuring customers get connected to all the products and services that bring those experiences to life.”

    Finally, Adobe Flash Player 10.1 will be integrated directly into the Google Chrome browser on Google TV, enabling viewers to experience tens of millions of web pages with rich Flash content including games, animations, applications, videos, audio and more. Shantanu Narayen, President and CEO, Adobe said, “An open web ecosystem offers endless opportunities for creativity and innovation. Flash Player 10.1 extends the advantages of full web browsing and consistent, rich experiences to smartphones, tablets, netbooks and Internet-connected TVs. We’re thrilled to be part of the Google TV initiative with other industry leaders who share a common vision of enabling access to the best web experiences possible.”

    Google also plans to open source the Google TV platform to help spur innovation in the industry and so that other developers can benefit from the project. The long term goal is to collaborate with the entire developer community to help drive entertainment in the living room forward and to introduce the next generation of TV-watching experience.

  • iPhone and Nexus One Get a Software Update

    Two smartphone giants – iPhone and Nexus One – got a software update yesterday.

    Apple released iPhone OS 3.1.3 for iPhone and iPod touch that improves accuracy of reported battery level on iPhone 3GS, resolves issue where third-party apps would not launch in some instantes and fixes bug that may cause an app to crash when using the Japanese Kana keyboard.

    The update relates to security issues with:

    • Recovery Mode: a person with physical access to a locked device might be able to access the user’s data. The update improves handling of the USB control message;
    • WebKit: accessing a maliciously crafted FTP server could result in an unexpected application termination, information disclosure, or arbitrary code execution. The update addresses the issues through improved parsing of FTP directory listings;
    • CoreAudio: playing a maliciously crafted mp4 audio file might lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This issue is addressed through improved bounds checking;
    • ImageIO: viewing a maliciously crafted TIFF image might lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. Apple fixes it also through improved bounds checking.

    The update is compatible with all iPhone and iPod touch models and is available for download from iTunes.

    Also Nexus One users began to receive an over-the-air software update on their phones yesterday. This update fixes a few problems and provides some new features, including:

    • Multitouch: Nexus One will now include a new pinch-to-zoom mechanism in the phone’s Browser, Gallery and Maps applications;
    • Google Goggles: this application will now be available directly on the device by launching it from All Apps menu;
    • Google Maps: the Maps will be updated to a new version, Google Maps 3.4, which will include starred items synchronized with maps.google.com, search suggestions from the personal maps.google.com history as well as night mode in Google Maps Navigation that automatically changes the screen at night for easier viewing and driving.

    Google said they will also provide a general fix to help improve 3G connectivity on some Nexus One phones.

    The company also informed that this update will be rolled out gradually to phones – and most users might not receive the notification until the end of the week.

  • Truphone Brings Wi-Fi Calling to Nexus One

    After releasing VoIP enabled Truphone for Android earlier this month, Truphone today announced that it has updated the application to operate on Nexus One, which makes the company the first to provide Wi-Fi calling on Google’s device.

    In addition to compatibility with the Nexus One, the update (version 3.0.2), ensures compatibility with the T-Mobile Pulse, meaning that Truphone is now Wi-Fi compatible with a total of five Android devices (Nexus One, Puls, HTC G1, HTC Magic and HTC Hero). Compatibility with Motorola Droid is supposed to come soon.

    The Truphone for Android integrates a full VoIP engine allowing users to make free calls to Truphone, Google Talk and Skype users when both parties are in Wi-Fi, in addition to low cost calls to landlines and mobiles around the world whether they are in or out of Wi-Fi.

    It also includes fully integrated multi-headed Instant Messaging support for Skype, Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo! and MSN customers.

    The application builds on the company’s previous release which allowed customers to make low cost calls on their mobiles when out of Wi-Fi. When out of Wi-Fi, the application works by making a local GSM call to the Truphone gateway (if a customer has a bundled package of minutes this call is often free, otherwise is charged as a ‘local call’), from where the call is then routed over the Truphone network.

    Calls can be made outside of Wi-Fi using Truphone Anywhere in 33 countries around the world.

    The application is available now as a free download in the Android Market.

  • iSuppli: Nexus One Serves as Research Tool for Google

    Google’s new Nexus One smart phone serves as a showcase for the latest version of the Android operating system and will allow the company to gather critical user data for developing new software, according to iSuppli.

    "With a plethora of smart phones based on the Android operating system already on the market, questions have arisen as to why Google would begin selling its own phone equipped with the operating system," said Tina Teng, iSuppli senior analyst for wireless communications.

    "iSuppli believes the Nexus One allows Google to demonstrate all the capabilities of its operating system more effectively than other phones that employ customized versions of Android. The Nexus One also gives Google direct access to end customers, yielding key information on how users interact with applications and utilize data."

    Such information will be pivotal as Android-based phones strive to gain market share in the burgeoning smart phone market. iSuppli predicts global smart phone shipments are set to rise considerably, more than doubling from 181 million in 2009 to 439 million in 2013.

    According to iSuppli, with Google having directed the entire design of the Nexus One, including the hardware, applications and operating system, the phone exemplifies all the capabilities of version 2.1 of Android.

    In contrast, other Android-based phones, such as Motorola’s Droid, have personalized the operating system to suit their own hardware designs and services.

    "The Nexus One will help Google popularize Android by showing what the operating system can really do," Teng said.

    Beyond serving as a technology demonstrator for Android, the Nexus One gives Google direct access to consumers’ use patterns.

    Teng said Google can embed an applet into the Nexus One that can send reports on user behaviors back to a company database for analysis.

    iSuppli believes the Nexus One is a compelling device in terms of functions and capabilities. However, the product will still face significant competitive challenges.

    "Google will have to bundle innovative software with the Nexus One to combat its strongest competitor: Apple’s iPhone," Teng said.

  • Google Officially Announces Nexus One – the “Superphone”

    At the special Android press conference in Mountain View, Google officially confirmed the company’s first phone – the Nexus One.

    This HTC-branded device is running Android 2.1 and comes with 3.7" AMOLED 480×800 WVGA display, 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, 512MB flash onboard memory and 4GB removable SD Card (expandable to 32GB), 5 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash and geo tagging, stereo Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, compass, GPS, accelerometer and light and proximity sensor.

    There is also an option of personalized laser engraving: up to 50 characters on the back of the phone.

    Android 2.1, a version of the platform’s Eclair software offers applications like Google Maps Navigation (offering turn-by-turn driving directions with voice output), Email (multiple Gmail accounts; universal inbox and Exchange support), Phone book (aggregate contacts from multiple sources, including Facebook), and Android Market with the access to more than 18,000 applications.

    Additionally, it futures voice-enabled keyboard for all text fields and voice-searching.

    Nexus One is initially available from the new Google web store in the US without service for $529 or starting at $179 with a two-year contract from T-Mobile USA. It is also coming to Verizon this Spring and Vodafone later this year.

    Google will initially take orders from consumers in the US and three other markets – the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

    In the coming months Google plans on partnering with additional operators. They also expect to launch more phones with Android handset partners (including Motorola) and to expand the web store to more countries.

    "The Nexus One belongs in the emerging class of devices which we call ‘superphones,’ with the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset making it as powerful as your laptop computer of three to four years ago. It’s our way to raise the bar on what’s possible when it comes to creating the best mobile experience for consumers," said Andy Rubin, VP of Engineering.

  • Will Chrome OS Lead Consumers into Cloud Computing?

    "Chrome OS is ideal for ‘smartbooks’ and will lead consumers further into cloud computing," says Canalys in its recent Notebook Pulse Report.

    Google unveiled its Chrome operating system, making the source code available to developers and enabling them to assist in the project a year before Chrome OS is due for public release.

    “Speculation about Chrome OS and its impact on the PC industry has been rife since Google first announced it was working on the project in July. The announcement goes some way to address some of the questions that have since surrounded the OS,” says Canalys.

    Google has provided information on its initial use cases for devices running Chrome OS in documentation released on the platform. Canalys thinks it suggests that Chrome will suit secondary devices for ‘couch computing’, devices that are shared among family members, and those used in coffee shops.

    “To all intents and purposes, Chrome OS is an expansion of Google’s Chrome browser. All applications running on Chrome OS will be web applications that run from within a browser window.”

    But there are additional features that extend the functionality beyond that of a standard web browser. The addition of persistent windows, called ‘panels’, enables developers to create simple applications that can float on top of the browser window or be minimised when not needed.

    Two usage cases of panels that Google has so far demonstrated were an instant messaging client and a window for playing media. According to the analysts, another aspect of Chrome OS that Google is keen to promote is its security.

    “If the OS has been compromised, it is able to repair itself using its verified boot process. If the OS detects any changes to the system on start-up it will automatically initiate a recovery process that will replace the OS with the latest available version,” the report says.

    As Chrome users cannot install native applications, Chrome will not require additional security software. “Instead, Google will take responsibility for securing Chrome OS, possibly extending protection technologies from the Postini acquisition to protect Chrome users before threats reach the devices.”

    Chrome OS stores all of a user’s personal data in the cloud, so that if a chrome OS device is lost or stolen, personal data is not compromised and remains permanently backed up.

    Canalys says, as usual, concerns will remain regarding the storage of personal data with an advertising company. “A further concern is that Chrome’s lack of local data storage and limited offline functionality will make it largely unusable without an Internet connection.”

    Canalys therefore expects that devices running chrome OS will be bundled with mobile data contracts, and support for ARM-based processors will make it an ideal ‘smartbook’ OS.

    Analysts say the fact that the OS is not intended for offline use comes as no great surprise. “After all, unconnected users cannot access Google’s services or be reached by Google’s advertising.”

    “Though much could change between now and Chrome’s release in 2010, it is clear that, at present, the OS is not intended as a replacement for Windows or any other fully functional OS.”

    According to the report, one thing is clear: “However, Chrome OS will be the next step in bringing consumers further into the world of cloud computing, a world where Google provides many applications and most of which are free.”

  • Vordel Introduces Cloud Service Broker to Manage Multi-Domain Services

    Vordel, a provider of governance products for Cloud Computing and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), released the Vordel Cloud Service Broker that aggregates and manages multi-domain services.

    Organizations who wish to use Cloud services in conjunction with their own SOA and those of their partners face major issues related to reliability and trustworthiness. One significant challenge is aggregating services from multiple domains including Public, Private and Community Clouds – into coherent composite services and applying policies to them.

    The Vordel says its Cloud Service Broker solves this multi-domain problem by registering services from all three domains into a single repository – the multi-domain registry repository – enabling monitoring, management and policy enforcement.

    The Multi-Domain Registry (MDRR) aggregates together services across domains. These domains include not only Cloud providers such as Amazon and Google, but also local on-premises services, and business partner services.

    In this way, all of the services on which a business depends are managed in one place. This becomes a single point at which compliance to Service Level Agreements, compliance to privacy and security mandates, and usage statistics can be viewed.

    Vordel Cloud Service Broker provides audit trail of Cloud service usage – analytics of Cloud Computing usage includes not only raw usage information, but also information about service quality, patterns of usage over time, and identity of users.

    It also allows developers to link together local applications with Cloud-hosted applications. The local applications may be accessed via Web Services interfaces, via database calls, via message schemes such as MQ or JMS or simply via the file system.

    Throttling is the “surge protector” of Cloud Computing. If an application makes a high number of calls to a Cloud service then the Verdel’s new service can deflect a portion of the calls to back-up service, newly provisioned for this purpose.

    Vordel CEO, Vic Morris, speaking about the Cloud Service Broker at VordelWorld in Dublin, said "Trust is a major barrier to Cloud adoption particularly among enterprises. It’s clear that many organizations see the value of incorporating Cloud Services into their IT infrastructure, but they also have concerns about the reliability and performance of these services outside their domain of control.

    “The Vordel Cloud Service Broker addresses these issues by providing a trustworthy and reliable onramp to Cloud services allowing businesses to monitor and manage them in the same fashion as their own internal services. This means that composite applications can be built in a completely seamless fashion offering users full visibility, trust and control," he added.

  • Google Enters Navigation Market

    It is now official and will completely change the mobile and PND navigation market. Google announced Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 devices.

    It comes with 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting, but unlike most navigation systems, the Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of the phone’s internet connection, as Google claims.

    The features possible because Google Navigation is connected to the internet are:
    • recent map and business data: phone automatically gets the most up-to-date maps and business listings from Google Maps — there is no need to buy map upgrades or update the device;
    • search by voice: searching destinations using google voice search (speak your destination instead of typing);
    • traffic view: live traffic data over the internet (a traffic indicator light in the corner of the screen glows green, yellow or red, depending on the current traffic conditions along the route);
    • search along route: searching for a specific business along the route (you can also turn on popular layers, such as gas stations, restaurants or parking);
    • satellite view: the same satellite imagery as Google Maps on the desktop;
    • Street View: shows the turn as you’ll see it, with the route overlaid (Navigation automatically switches to Street View as you approach your destination).

    There is also car dock mode available for certain devices – placing a phone in a car dock activates a special mode (new user interface with, e.g. much larger iconography) that makes it easy to use the device at arm’s length.

    The first phone to have Google Maps Navigation is Motorola’s Droid. It hits the U.S. market next week (Nov. 6th) for $199 on contract (after a $100 mail-in rebate) and will be available from Verizon with voice plan starting at $39 and a web and email plan for $29 per month.

    Like other Google Maps features, Navigation is free.

    Here is the official Google video