Google

In a report last week, popular analyst firm Gartner praised Google's Android operating system over the much anticipated release of MS Windows 7 for netbooks. Google Android is an operating system that has been popular with smartphone users for quite ... some time. Recently it was announced that Acer, most admired for their work in the growing netbook market, would equip future systems with this Linux based OS. Android "Snappy", Says Gartner Now, Android is hardly the first netbook system based on Linux, but according to Gartner it is the first to do so with name power. "Android is the ... (view more)

Google is working on a way to search microblogging sites such as Twitter. But the news has led some experts to warn that such real-time searching might lead to a major flood of spam. Twitter already has its own service allowing people to search any ... term mentioned by any user. However, while these people get almost instant updates of posts from other users, messages don't appear in search results until around 20 minutes after their original posting. Google, which updates in seconds rather than minutes, sees this as a market gap. The independent site Google Operation System notes a line in some ... (view more)

Google is set to challenge online retail giant Amazon by selling contemporary electronic books. And unlike Amazon, it will let publishers set the prices. The move is a new development for the Google Book Search scheme, in which the firm scans texts ... so that users can search for particular phrases. While Google does intend to bring in paid access for full editions of some books covered by Book Search, the vast majority of titles in the scheme are either out of print or out of copyright. At the moment, most modern books included in the scheme only have 20 per cent of their pages available for ... (view more)

Interested in helping honor fallen U.S. troops who gave their lives in its recent wars, but not sure how to do it? A new Google Earth tool helps people find local (and not so local) families as well as media related to those troops who have paid the ... ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan and Iraq. It's a worthy reminder that these wars are far from over. The new feature is called Map the Fallen , a new Google Earth layer released Sunday by Google engineer Sean Askay. It holds data on the 5,700-plus service members who have died during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The highly interactive ... (view more)

There's been a mixed response to a new search tool aiming to answer questions rather than index the web. Wolfram Alpha has earned praise for its ability to solve specific problems, but it's become clear it's no replacement for the wider capabilities ... of Google and friends. The site, which has been in testing for a few weeks but is now fully operational, is the work of British physicist Stephen Wolfram. He's best known for developing the argument that the wider universe runs on logical rules, just like the language of computer programs. Solutions, Not Guidance The major difference with Wolfram ... (view more)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating a pair of Google board members who fulfill similar roles with tech giant Apple. Such a set-up would be illegal if it in any way affects competition between the two companies. The investigation ... involves Google chief Eric Schmidt and fellow board member Arthur Levinson. Neither company, nor the FTC, have commented on the story, which recently broke through the New York Times. (Source: nytimes.com ) The FTC is reportedly looking into potential breaches of the 1914 Clayton Antitrust Act which bans people from sitting on the board of two ... (view more)

Google has introduced a new feature called 'Google Profile', which lets users control how their information appears when someone else searches for that person's name via Google's products (such as the Google Search Engine). Using Google Profile, it ... is possible to create a personal page that links to your blog or other profiles and keep family and friends up to date with your contact information and pictures. (Source: google.com) Control Over What Others See According to Google, a profile is simply how you present yourself on Google products to other Google users. You control how you appear on ... (view more)

YouTube has blocked user uploads and comments in South Korea: the result of a new law which bars anonymous posting. However, there is an easy way around the ban, which makes the rules virtually worthless and could even help YouTube's business. Since ... April 1st, 2009, Korea's Cyber Defamation Law means any firm with more than 100,000 different daily users must verify their identity and receive an identification number. They must then post their name and number when uploading video clips or posting comments. Google Follows Letter, but not Spirit, of Law YouTube's owner Google has complied with ... (view more)

The major players in the Internet search market continue to add new tweaks to their presentation: Google is putting more emphasis on local results, while Yahoo has launched a refined image search feature. Previously, Google would supply search ... results based on the location of the IP address. For example: searching for a "museum in Cameron, North Carolina," using a mobile phone would produce results towards the phone's current location. Local Links Without Log-in From now on, people searching from a computer will get their usual results, but for appropriate search terms they'll also ... (view more)

T-Mobile is planning to use Google's open source operating system " Android " on devices that blur the line between cellphone and home PC. In addition, Samsung says they will also produce Android phones, but need to work out the kinks, first. Both ... announcements come shortly after HP revealed that it is investigating the idea of using Android to power some of its low-cost netbook computers in place of Windows. Home Phone to get Data Features According to the New York Times, T-Mobile is working on two home devices using Android, an open source rival to systems such as Windows Mobile ... (view more)