Google Chrome – first impressions are the most important
Google Chrome was officially released today and of course being the Geek that I am I had to download it at work and at home and yes I am writing this blog entry from Chrome. Although I have not spent a long time with it, so far I like it, and for a first beta launch it is remarkably polished. This of course is nothing new for Google — they have a reputation of releasing extremely polished beta products. I also fully expect Chrome to be in beta for at least two years, but by then everyone will long since forgotten that it is a beta.
Google to launch a web browser – Chrome is here
The web is buzzing with news of a Google browser. The news was launched via a 39 page comic. The browser is called Google Chrome, and at last check the site was offline but rumour has it that it will be back online tomorrow. Google has also announced on their blog that they sent out the news a bit early by accident. Personally I think they may have just been trying to generate blog sphere buzz and it has worked
This is really big news and probably really bad news for Microsoft. Google has already released Gears a browser add-on which allows Google to jump start browsers ahead into more modern standards. Chrome will use webkit, the same engine that Safari uses, but it will not use the webkit Javascript engine. It will use it’s own, which should make apps run much faster and with more features.
Could this really be Google’s entrance into the desktop market? I believe the future of applications is online. Everything is headed in that direction. More and more people are accessing their apps and data in multiple places and on multiple devices, and right now the major player in that space is Google.
Update: Google Chrome – first impressions are the most important
More info at TechCrunch:
Meet Chrome, Google’s Windows Killer
First Images of Google Chrome
No Joke: Google Introduces The Chrome Browser With A Cartoon
Rogers 3G iPhone network is one of the fastest in the world?
In a survey by Wired, Canadians may have one of the fastest 3G iPhone experiences in the world. There’s even a cool interactive map of the world showing the results. I guess in the case of Rogers expensive does mean better. That said, it always makes me chuckle when I see the extremely high download claims followed by ridiculous limitations, although the iPhone has admittedly made Canadian options better. Basically we have great speeds that allow you to instantly use up your bandwidth allocation and pay the telecoms big overage fees.
I have to admit that with the smallest 400 MB package I can easily surf, read email and chat every day without worrying about going over my limit. I could however easily surpass this limit if I did not stay away from YouTube and streaming radio, something that I don’t really need but none the less would be nice to have. Luckily for me, Toronto has a lot of WiFi hotspots. That said, I still look forward to the day that the big three have more competition, and that day is approaching quickly.
Another interesting tidbit is that many of the 3G connection issues iPhone users are facing are now being reported on the Blackberry Bold. This shows that the issues may be with the carriers and not the handsets themselves. As much as I and others love to blast Rogers, my Fido (Fido is owned by Rogers) connection has been fantastic, and I have only experienced one dropped call in the three weeks I’ve owned an iPhone. With the price I pay I would expect nothing less.
A Google Android Phone is on the way: HTC Dream
Over the past few days the web has been awash with rumours of the HTC Dream, a Google Android phone. Well it looks official now, HTC will be releasing the phone very soon and it may be available as soon as September. It has received F.C.C. certification and T-Mobile the US carrier will be first to have it. No word yet on which Canadian carrier will have it or when.
Even though I have an iPhone now I am eagerly awaiting the reviews for the first Android phones. Competition can only be good for everyone. Apple gave the smartphone industry the kick it needed to start innovating and now things are about to be kicked up a notch with Android entering the scene. HTC also seems really serious about releasing great phones as they have proven with the HTC Touch Diamond which was based on Windows mobile. The UI of the Touch Diamond was nicely designed, but only skin deep, hopefully Android gives them the flexability to really flex their muscle and serve up an even better UI.
Google has also finally released an updated Android SDK today.
Google Android, HTC, and custom user interfaces
Reports around the web are claiming that HTC is still on target for a Google Android based phone by Q4 of this year. It may however take some time for the carriers to get them out once they become available as they will likely want to add their own ugly branding blemishes to whatever cool interface the phones come with. HTC is said to have its own UI which will be different from the Google default UI. They did a great job on the HTC Touch Diamond interface, unfortunately reviews have stated that it is slow and only skin deep. With Android they have full access to the UI and the ability to make any changes they like.
One of my favourite ugly sites gets a redesign: Delcious
Del.icio.us version 2, which is now a dots free Delicious (I never used the dots anyway) was publicly launched today. For the longest time this was my favourite ugly site, and wow was it ugly before. It has been completely redesigned and it only takes seconds to appreciate the new design.
Scrabulous is back! Well sort of
The makers of the incredibly popular Scrabulous application for Facebook were told to remove the application or face legal action by Hasbro, the makers of the original dusty Scrabble board. Hasbro lacking any vision of their own waited until they had their own Scrabble application. Reports are saying that this application is not near as polished as Scrabulous was.
New search engine Cuil is underwhelming
I have been reading about this new search engine Cuil that is supposedly the biggest search engine on the web, even bigger than Google. It has been billed by some as a “Google Killer”. I think one of the reasons it’s getting so much publicity is because it is run by a team of former Google employees.
The first thing you will notice about Cuil is its unorthodox appearance. The main page is black and the search is centred in the middle.
Blackberry Bold in Canada July 29?
Well, the new Blackberry Bold was supposed to be released on July 25. That didn’t happen, but Blackberry News has reported that it should be available at Rogers by the 29th. The Rogers Blackberry Bold web teaser has not been updated yet, but I’m sure it will be soon.
I’m still deciding which smartphone will be my first. Stories of a not so great battery life on the iPhone have held me back, of course having a good data plane here in Canada would have helped sway me. You can also find other country release dates on the Blackberry News website, but it looks as though Rogers will be the first to get it.
So many options just around the corner
The Blackberry Bold is one sweet looking phone, but then so is the iPhone and even Openmoko Neo FreeRunner has a lot of potential. Lets not forget RIM’s touch phone, the Blackberry Thunder which could really shake things up. Then there’s the new Android OS by Google which may show up on HTC phones later this year or early next year.
Update: Blackberry Bold in Canada soon
A message to the parasitic individuals of the web
We have all see it, spam messages in your email, spam on your phone, spam in your blog, forum, social media portal and chat windows. A quick search will show that unsolicited email accounts for 80-90% of the email we receive. This seems high, but a quick glace at my Gmail inbox currently shows a spam box with 3438 emails and Gmail deletes spam that is older than 30 days. By the way, Gmail has an incredible spam filter.
