Google Archive

Only weeks ago StatCounter reported that Chrome pushed past Firefox to become the second most popular web browser after IE. A new StatCounter report says Chrome 15 has jumped into the number one spot, replacing IE8. This is the first time a non-Microsoft browser has led the list in StatCounter's tracking.

"Google's Android operating system has undergone a pretty incredible metamorphosis in the three short years since it debuted on the T-Mobile G1. Think about it: three years, eight major releases. Eight. To put that in perspective, there have only been ten major consumer-grade releases of Windows (give or take, depending on how you count) in over twenty-five years of retail availability. You could make a pretty convincing argument that no consumer technology in history has evolved as quickly as the smartphone, and Android has been at the very center of that evolution. With the release of Android 4.0 - Ice Cream Sandwich - on Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, we wanted to take a look back through the years at how Andy Rubin's brainchild has evolved into the industry titan that it is today. What's changed? What has (sometimes stubbornly) stayed the same?" Fantastic article.

"In Mozilla's recently released 2010 annual report, the foundation indicates that 86% and 84% of royalty revenue came from one contract in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Mozilla separately confirms that Google is its largest contract." Evan Niu at Motley Fool then estimates that of Mozilla's last year royalty revenue of $121.1 million, $101.7 million came from Google. The article speculates that Google might eventually kill Firefox by withdrawing its financial support.

A new report from StatCounter says Chrome's popularity now edges out Firefox. It says Chrome has a 25.69% share of the global browser market while Firefox claims 25.23%. Microsoft's Internet Explorer is still #1 with a 40.63% share. If true, Google has pulled off quite a feat with a browser they only introduced in late 2008. StatCounter claims to measure browser use rather than just downloads.

With the announcement of its new Search app, Google gave iPad users more than just a slick and well-made native search app that bests the experience on any Android tablet. It also managed to squeeze the core elements of Chrome OS into Apple's ecosystem.

Last June, CNET disclosed that Google collects and publishes the estimated locations of millions of phones, laptops, and other Wi-Fi devices. All without their owner's knowledge or permission. Google has finally announced how to exclude your home network from this database. Simply append "_nomap" to its name. Details over at CNET. Left unsaid is why the burden is placed on millions of individuals to opt-out, instead of on perpetrator Google.

Finally! Jean-Baptiste Queru (yes, husband of) has announced the source code release for Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich (technically, it's 4.0.1). Naturally, this code dump also happens to include the source code for Honeycomb - however, due to Honeycomb's incomplete nature, there's no tags available for it. Not interesting from a let's-build-it-and-code-point of view, but it is interesting for ROM hackers - bring it on, ICS for my Galaxy SII!

According to InformationWeek: "Just over a hundred days after Google last provided an update on the status of Google+ for businesses, the company has introduced a way for companies to participate in its social network. Google+ Pages, like Facebook Pages before them, provide businesses and brands with a place to promote conversations related to their products and services." A number of U.S. government agencies are trying out Google+, including NASA, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Since release of initial Google+ components on June 28 2011, the product is claimed by Larry Page to have over 40 million users, versus some 800 million for Facebook.

InfoWorld's Serdar Yegulalp provides a look at the best apps for boosting the battery life of your Android device. "The best place to start if you just want to survey your power usage habits is Battery Indicator. To follow that up with actual power management, Green Power and JuiceDefender are your best bets. 2x Battery is not a bad program, but it's limited to managing cell data and not Wi-Fi connections. If that feature were added in a future revision, 2x Battery would be a real contender."

"Let's not mince words here: This 'Android and iPhone Update History' chart is not a good chart. Oh, it's a pretty chart, to be sure artfully illustrated and researched. But this chart - done up by Michael Degusta at The Understatement and reposted by anyone unable to think clearly, apparently - is not a good chart. Or at the very least, it fails to recognize a fundamental difference between Android and iOS and the iPhone."

"Google's Hugo Barra confirmed that the latest version of Android will be delivered as a free upgrade to the existing Nexus S handset 'within weeks'. He said the search giant was aiming to get the software to owners of the previous flagship phone shortly after the release of the new Galaxy Nexus handset next month, well in time for Christmas. Owners of the first official Google phone, the Nexus One, will not be getting the upgrade, however. Barra said the hardware was simply too old to run the new operating system." Can someone enlighten me - the Nexus One has 512MB of RAM, a 1Ghz processor, and a 480x800 AMOLED or SuperLCD. Why on earth isn't this thing upgraded to ICS? Lameballs.

"As an online discussion about iOS vs. Android grows longer, the probability of someone bringing up this link approaches 1." The argument goes that before the iPhone, Android looked like a BlackBerry clone, and after the iPhone, it suddenly turned into an iOS clone. While this argument, with its pictures, is snappy and easily digestible, it doesn't actually seem to be supported by the facts.

So, somewhere in the middle of the night (at least for me) Samsung and Google held a joint event, in which they announced both the new Nexus phone, the Galaxy Nexus, and Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. While the Galaxy Nexus is a pretty impressive phone, what we got to see from Ice Cream Sandwich surely didn't drop too many jaws.

"Google has agreed to pay $500 million to settle a criminal probe into ads it accepted for online Canadian pharmacies selling drugs in the United States, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday. The advertisements led to illegal imports of prescription drugs into the country, the Justice Department said." Good. Companies should be held accountable for their evil behaviour.