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Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich

by Mahesh Kukreja on September 27, 2011

This is a guest post! If you want to write for us, check out the Guest Post section.

You’ve got to admit, they really have some creative names for platforms and operating systems these days. It’s no secret that the Android operating systems have been systematically and alphabetically named after desserts, beginning with “Cupcake” and encompassing things like “Éclair” and “Gingerbread”. Which is why, now that we’re to the Android 4.0 and the letter “I”, Google is unveiling the “Ice Cream Sandwich” platform.

Following the Honeycomb, which is compatible with tablets only, the Ice Cream Sandwich will be smartphone and tablet compatible, a shift from the previous platforms. There is no set public release date yet, only rumors that it will hit the market in October or November, besides the release of Apple’s iOS 5.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich

[Image via Flickr]

Scott Main, who is the lead tech writer for Android, wrote the following in a blog post regarding the new Ice Cream Sandwich platform:

Early this year, Honeycomb (Android 3.0) launched for tablets. Although Honeycomb remains tablets-only, the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) release will support big screens, small screens, and everything in between. This is the way Android will stay from now on: the same version runs on all screen sizes.

The unification will be the first attempt at converging the Honeycomb software and the Gingerbread software into one complete package delectably known as Ice Cream Sandwich. Luckily – or unluckily, depending on how you look at it – for Honeycomb app developers, the software will be compatible with the new Ice Cream Sandwich platform, though a few changes here and there may be necessary – either to ensure compatibility or prevent it, whichever the designer decides.

Main further explained in his blog post:

Optimizing for handsets can be tricky if your designs currently use all of a large screen to deliver content. It’s worth the effort, though, because Ice Cream Sandwich brings the Honeycomb APIs to handsets, and you’ll significantly increase the user-base for your application. Using a single APK for all devices also simplifies your updating and publishing process and makes it easier for users to identify your app.

Even with the new information, though, no developer kit has been released to allow developers to begin writing applications consistent with the Ice Cream Sandwich. It can be expected that the kit will be released soon though, since the software is set to release in the upcoming months.

It will be interesting to see which device is released with the new Ice Cream Sandwich, as no set devices have been concretely announced yet. We’ll just have to suppress our appetites until then!

Author Bio:

Kate Croston is a freelance writer, holds a bachelors degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She writes guest posts for different sites and loves contributing high speed internet service related topics.

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Google Plus: Social Network Evolution

by Mahesh Kukreja on July 13, 2011

This is a guest post! If you want to write for us, Contact using the Contact Me form.

I’m guessing most of you reading this will have already gotten their Google+ invite and has already signed up for it. I’m also guessing that some of you are refusing to sign up for yet another social network/sharing site and I don’t blame you, I have Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus all open at the same time. If you are holding back from signing up then I suggest you accept the next invite you receive.

Why To Sign Up for Google Plus?

When social networks and other social websites first emerged they were in their early stages, and us as the users were “noobs” to the online social world. As the social networks advance, it seems that we do too. When Facebook and Twitter arrived, things really took off, everyone from my little brother to my grandmother was on a social network of some sort. This brought with it a whole new set of “noobs” that had to learn what was right and wrong on these social networks.

Will Google+ replace Facebook & Twitter?
[Image via Flickr]

Nowadays I rarely use Facebook, it’s good to keep up with family and distant friends every now and then, but when I look at my feed/wall I mainly see boring and very same-y status updates. The same goes with Twitter, but it’s not as bad because the people that do this I unfollow without offending anyone.

When Google Plus came along a couple of weeks ago, I was very hesitant to sign up, I though that if it did ever become as popular as FB and Twitter then it would just end up being just as bad as Facebook for the generic and boring status updates. I signed up anyway and so far I have been pleasantly surprised.

The Concept of Circles is Cool!

Things started out quiet for the first few days as I gathered people into my circles, but I now have a reasonable amount of people in my circles and I am surprised by how little spam and generic status updates there are… I am following a lot of professionals including game and web developers, but still my feed is filled with useful info and a lot of fun.

Google+ Circles

Maybe it’s just because the masses haven’t hit the social network yet, but so far Google Plus is definitely a step in the right direction as far as social networks go.

About the Author:

InkCartridges is the web developer for a shop that sells ink cartridges . Follow them on Twitter.

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The New Google

by Mahesh Kukreja on April 28, 2011

This is a guest post! If you want to write for us, Contact using the Contact Me form.

Faster, smarter, and more able to leap profit margins in a single bound; look up in the cloud, its Google! This would be the image that Larry Page, one of the co-founders of Google Inc. and its recently named second time CEO. The shakeup has significant implications for the future, and two things stand out as being glimpses of the future. First, Larry Page, in one of his first official acts as the new head of Google, promoted seven executives to run the seven most important divisions in the company. This is a Google first, since it is the first time that Google will run as a normal corporation does.

No More Playtime

As big and as successful as Google is, it has not done well with many of the ventures it has developed. The Google Wave project, touted as the future of messaging, was not. Nearly all of Google’s social networking efforts have met with failure. Gmail and Google Apps for Domain are the two bright spots, technically one, as they both depend on Gmail. Google Docs is is not a competitive threat to some of the other productivity offerings on the Internet.

It would seem that between the farmer update, that may be responsible for a 16 percent jump in revenue for the first quarter 2011, it the opening shot in the coming Google campaign. As a measure of how serious Google is, future employee bonuses will be tied to the company’s success with its social networking efforts, even if the employee is not directly involved in that development. The message is clear; Google has to start working for a living.

Google

Recently, the US Government approved Google’s purchase of ITA software. ITA makes and maintains most of the software running airline booking systems and discount airfare aggregators. While the deal was approved with restrictions and will entail Government monitoring, it puts the company in a position to capitalize on the lucrative market. Perhaps a custom Google Airfare discounting a booking system is coming.

Google also announced a major upgrade to the YouTube video service that will involve a complete new look and feel, the creation of channels, and original content distribution. Recent shifts in the media market with Netflix going independent and major cable providers scrambling to open their offerings up to mobile subscribers make the YouTube move logical and a little aggressive.

Tough Google

More than anything else, this is a fundamental change in the corporate culture of Google. For years they were seen as the playground of the ubergeek and about as un-businesslike as possible. These new moves seem to introduce a Google committed to compete in the technology sector and not just have fun with the permanent advertising revenue. Google’s lock on search engine revenue may have been the thing that kept them from really developing. There was no need to earn a living, just experiment with the money that was there. The “one day a week spent on a personal project” rule for Google developers may soon end. As powerful as Google is in the present Internet market space, an aggressive “winner-take-all” Google could be a warring idea. The company could dominate in several markets, and it would be hard to stop them in some. A concerted and well-focused social networking effort could begin to grow and threaten real competition for Facebook. A more extensive Google Cloud could alter the budding Cloud industry. Android has shown the way and now Google may be getting serious about exploiting that opening.

About the Author:

Jon T. Norwood is a managing partner at High Speed Internet, a site dedicated to providing information on Internet Providers and Technology. Jon can be reached at jon[at]velocityguide.com.

[Image Credit: Flickr]

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Amazon Beats Apple & Google to Cloud Music Service

by Mahesh Kukreja on March 29, 2011

Amazon Cloud Music

Last year, Google talked about the Google Music service. Apple is also rumored to be working on Cloud based service which it will be announcing with the release of Apple iOS 5 later this year.

But Amazon has beaten both of these Tech Tycoons with the launch of Amazon Cloud Music Service. Amazon has announced Cloud Player, a music player that lets users upload their music to Amazon’s servers and play them via the web or Android.

With the Amazon’s Cloud Player service you can now save your MP3s to Amazon Cloud Drive. It also has an option to upload music from a hard drive to a user’s Cloud Drive. Users are given 5 GB of free storage but can get 20 GB if they purchase an album through Amazon. It’s $1 per GB after that.

Cloud Player comes as a web-app as well as an Android app. Both players allow users to upload their music, create playlists and organize their music. And because it’s a cloud-based platform, users can access their music and settings from any compatible browser or an Android device.

Currently sites like Grooveshark and Last.fm provide cloud based music service. With the launch of Amazon’s Cloud Music, I think these might be coming in trouble. Amazon’s Cloud Player will certainly face stiff competition when Google and Apple launch their own streaming music services, especially given Google’s control over Android and Apple’s control over iPhone and iTunes.

Read more about Amazon’s Cloud based Music Service.

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