Posts Tagged ‘Google’

Google introduces Nexus One: What is it really like?

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Google has finally launched the much anticipated Nexus One phone that runs the Android operating system.  With Google’s history of market domination, is their entry into the phone market going to follow foot steps of their entry into the search engine market?

An HTC-built phone has a new tweaked and updated Android interface with a great sleek design but is it really the Google product that the world has been waiting for?

Hardware

  • 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB RAM, 32GB-capable microSD slot, a 3.7-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display at 800×480, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 720×480 video capture @ 20FPS, dual microphones for noise canceling and a trackball.
  • Ultra-thin body
  • Sleek curved edges
  • Unmistakably and HTC device but there are plenty of design cues that scream Google.

Software

  • Runs on Android 2.1
  • Cool graphics and animated effects. (I only worry that this may hinder performance and speed but I can not tell just yet)
  • Voice recognition that lets you speak into almost all fields.  This means you can dictate text and email messages.
  • It’s fas. Partly from the Android 2.1 operating system

Battery Life

  • Comparable to other similar devices and so far not complaints on battery life

Cost and Payment plans

  • Unlocked for $530 or subsidized, with a T-Mobile contract for $180

The feature set seems impressive and the OS has some great applications and features that make Nexus One a good contender.  Would I trade in my iPhone for this device?  I still prefer the full touch screen capability of my iPhone, its sleek design and the 100,000+ applications that virtually let me do anything I can think of on my iPhone.  I am still waiting for “THAT” device that compels me to switch my iPhone ways.

Posted on January 11th 2010 in Announcement, Google | No Comments »

Google Maps Navigation on new Motorola Droid

You may not have heard but the new Droid phone by Motorola was released today and it has created quite a buzz in the tech world not to mention an unfortunate drop in some GPS on board navigation manufacturers.

The new Droid phone is the very first Android phone to run Android 2.0, and Google Maps Navigation is the talk of the town.  Not only is the Google Maps Navigation application better than on board navigation devices since its connected and online, but it is a better navigation tool than other mobile devices since it has a slew of new and advanced features including:

  • Easy search (no need for address)
  • Voice search
  • Traffic information (from data sources and crowd sourced from app),
  • Street view close up pictures when you get near your destination.
  • The car dock mode gives bigger icons and auto-voice mode

It’s impressive to see such grand strides in the mobile space but not unexpected since for companies like Google its just an extension of what they currently have.  As Google leads the way, we will see that it is only natural to extend digital offerings to mobile devices.

Enjoy the video and if you don’t have a data enabled phone you love, give the new Droid phone a real consideration (if for nothing else than the street view on the Google Maps Navigation app).

Posted on October 28th 2009 in Mobile app review | No Comments »

Google AdSense for Mobile Optimized for Smartphones

Google just announced that they optimized AdSense for Mobile for smartphones.  You can now use standard AdSense formats to target smartphones or “high-end” phones like the iPhone and Android.  Both standard text and image ads will be available for display on mobile apps.

This is of course great news for all developers looking to generate revenue from advertising or marketers looking to target mobile devices as part of their usual campaigns with AdSense. The program is still in “beta” mode and more information is available here.

Here’s the demo / announcement video from Google’s Laren Usui:

More information can be found on their blog.

Posted on October 6th 2009 in Advertising | No Comments »

Mobile web apps will take over Mobile native apps

With all the hype and popularity around mobile (native) apps across smartphones and their respective app stores it’s important to remember that the web browser capabilities on most of these smartphones is quite robust and a lot of the mobile native apps out there can be achieved as a mobile web app as well.

For example let’s take a look at the Webkit browser which is being used on the iPhone, Android, and S60-based phones. It allows for mobile web apps to take advantage of the following capabilities:

  • Advanced Javascript and AJAX
  • Complex animations and graphics support (CSS3 + Canvas)
  • Embed and use a local database
  • Multi-touch navigation
  • Linking to phone and mapping capabilities
  • and more

What does this mean? With these browser capabilities the user experience seen in most native apps can be equally brought forth as a web apps - of course 3D immersive games are not included. Also, as browsers evolve and adopt other W3C standards such as the GeoLocation API, the gap becomes narrower between their native relatives. Furthermore, as smartphones get shipped with these robust mobile web browsers, the web applications can support a wide variety of devices. This is currently not the case with native applications when dealing with cross-devices

Of course, there is an obvious benefit to mobile native apps over mobile web apps - App Stores. App stores can help companies and brands easily distribute (and monetize) their application(s). Looking to how the (desktop) web exploded and is currently being monetized - I am sure similar paths will be taken.

 

A great example is the latest version of GMail for mobile web browsers. Google introduced a new version of GMail for mobile web browsers at the GSMA Mobile World Congress. It exposes a lot of the rich capabilities on smartphone (iPhone and Android only for now) web browsers and allows for GMail to be used offline much like a native app. Below is a demo of it (priovided by iPhone Buzz).

Posted on February 19th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »

iPhone Copycats

Is it just me, or are all new mobile phones being released these days all look + feel exactly like the Apple iPhone? By coincidence they all seem to have very similar feature-sets as well and they all claim that they have just come up with an innovative new product. Are they really to blame? Apple may have just created the perfect mobile phone. For example, take a look at the new Palm Pre and the LG Arena KM900 that are releasing soon.

As if making their phones look and feel like the iPhone wasn’t enough, they’re also knocking off Apple’s monetizing approach with their App Store. Here’s a a list of all the App Stores announced post-iPhone:

  1. Google Android’s Market store
  2. BlackBerry’s App Center
  3. Microsoft Windows Mobile’s SkyMarket store
  4. Nokia’s Ovi store
  5. Palm App Catalog

Apple’s competitors really need to work at innovating and not just ripping off their product and strategy. At least if you do so, please do not pretend that you’ve come up with something revolutionary.

Posted on February 18th 2009 in Mobile technology | No Comments »