Google Archive

Make Your Own Chromebook

Submitted by Sebastian Anthony 2011-05-15 Google 19 Comments

"Both hardware- and software-wise, are nothing special: You can download Chrome OS's open source brother, Chromium OS, for free -- and at around $400 for a Chromebook, you would certainly expect some better hardware than what Samsung and Acer are offering. In fact, for around $300 you can get a cheaper and more powerful netbook with Windows 7 pre-installed -- and it only takes about 30 minutes to wipe Windows and install Chrome OS yourself."

Sergey Brin: Traditional Operating Systems “Torturing Users”

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-12 Google 107 Comments

Because of Google I/O going full-steam ahead, it's a bit of a Google thing going on here. Google co-founder Sergey Brin had a little chat with the press about the Chromebooks Google announced yesterday, and during that talk, he stated that traditional PC operating systems are "torturing users" with their complexity. While he certainly has a point, I'm not sure I like his solution. Giving Google all my files? Yeah... No.

Google Unveils Chromebooks

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-11 Google 17 Comments

"At its annual developer conference in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Google said that Chrome OS notebooks, now called 'Chromebooks', will be available in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Spain starting June 15, and that it will be offering a combined software and hardware subscription service for businesses, schools, and government customers. The pricing of Google's subscription plan is modest: For $28 per user per month, businesses will receive Chromebooks, Web-based administration controls, enterprise-level support, a warranty, and hardware replacement upon subscription renewal. Schools and governments have access to the subscription package for $20 per user per month." Look at the concept here.

Rubin: Android Light on Community, Heavy on Open Source

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-11 Google 64 Comments

It was inevitable, of course, and rightfully so: Google is having its big I/O conference, so we have to talk about the lack of Honeycomb's source code. While not violating any licenses, the lack of source code doesn't sit well with many - including myself - so it only makes sense people are asking Google about it. Andy Rubin confirmed we're never going to see Honeycomb's sources as a standalone release. He also explained what 'open' means for Android.

Google Announces Too Much Stuff to Put in One Headline

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-10 Google 36 Comments

Well, that was all rather much. Google just held its keynote speech thing during the opening of the company's I/O conference, and they announced some pretty spectacular stuff. Aside from Android 3.1 for tablets and Android Icecream Sandwich which will unify the tablet and phone versions of Android in Q4 in 2011, Google announced an internet-based music service. And a video service. And an Arduino-based accessory development kit. And Android@Home. And an alliance of device makers and carriers to bring timely Android updates to devices for a minimum of 18 months.

US Carriers Work with Google to Block Tethering

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-03 Google 26 Comments

Surprising it is not, but unfortunate it remains. Carriers in the United States have started working together with Google to block tethering applications in the Android Market from running on certain Android devices. While this pretty much seems like a US-only thing, it's still bad.

Guest post by mrhasbean 2011-04-28 Google 23 Comments

In a move touted as one to "make Apps easier to adopt and manage", Google has announced that it will reduce the number of free users from 50 down to just 10 before businesses have to sign up for its paid service. This follows a previous reduction from 100 to 50. Google claims that existing users won't be affected, but we'll just have to wait and see how long that lasts. And if you don't want your whole life tracked and sold off to the highest bidder by Google's "free" and "open" technologies but would like access to actual free or low cost services there is a decent article here that shines some light on your options.

All New YouTube Uploads Transcoded to WebM

Thom Holwerda 2011-04-20 Google 83 Comments

The revolution has begun! Web video will be freed from the shackles of the MPEG-LA and the dreaded claws of patents and incomprehensible licenses! Sorry, I got a little carried away there. Anywho, YouTube has announced all new videos uploaded to the site will be transcoded into WebM, and that the most important part of the site's catalogue is already available in WebM.

Google “Disgusted” with Music Labels

Thom Holwerda 2011-04-16 Google 68 Comments

So, Google has been working on setting up an internet music service for a while now, and we even know some of the details about what Google wants it to look like. Sadly, however, rumour has it the negotiations with the music industry have been so frustrating, Google is contemplating abandoning the entire project altogether. This has led some to wonder - why doesn't Google, or a consortium of technology companies, just buy the music industry outright?

Revenue Rises at Google but Profit Misses Forecasts

Thom Holwerda 2011-04-14 Google 2 Comments

"Google got off to a mixed start under its new chief executive, co-founder Larry Page, as first-quarter revenue increased 27 percent while profit fell short of analyst expectations. Google reported that net income in the quarter rose 17 percent to $2.3 billion, or $7.04 cents a share, from $1.96 billion, or $6.06 a share in the year-ago quarter. The company said revenue climbed to $8.58 billion from $6.77 billion. Google’s adjusted income of $8.08 was just below the expectations of Wall Street analysts. They had forecast $8.11 cents a share on that basis, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters."

Submitted by JAlexoid 2011-04-07 Google 18 Comments

Andy Rubin, the head of Android at Google, has responded to all the talk going on across the web over Android's openness. I would almost say he sounds a bit irritated, but that's probably my own imagination. In any case, his opinion is clear - "I think I'm having a Gene Amdahl moment", referring to the man who coined the term 'fear, uncertainty, and doubt'.

Android, Openness: Must and Should

Thom Holwerda 2011-04-05 Google 59 Comments

Is Android still open now that Google has postponed the source code release of Honeycomb, version 3.0 of the mobile operating system? I've been reading a whole boatload of articles and blog posts on the web claiming Android is no longer open, but it seems like very few people seem to actually understand what 'open' really means when it comes to the GPL and the Apache license. Here's a short primer.

Submitted by JAlexoid 2011-04-04 Google 38 Comments

Considering the massive FUD-attack currently underway against Android vendors, this news doesn't come as a particular surprise: Google has announced plans to acquire Nortel's immense patent portfolio for defensive purposes. Google's blog post on the matter couldn't be more bitter and direct.

Google Moves to Assert More Control Over Android Market

David Adams 2011-03-31 Google 57 Comments

Playtime is over in Android Land. Over the last couple of months Google has reached out to the major carriers and device makers backing its mobile operating system with a message: There will be no more willy-nilly tweaks to the software. No more partnerships formed outside of Google's purview. From now on, companies hoping to receive early access to Google's most up-to-date software will need approval of their plans. And they will seek that approval from Andy Rubin, the head of Google's Android group.

Google To Be Audited on Privacy After Buzz Complaints

Thom Holwerda 2011-03-30 Google 4 Comments

Google will be subjected to independent privacy audits for the next 20 years over charges that it "violated its own privacy promises". The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that the search giant wrongly used information from Google Mail users last year to create its social network Buzz. The FTC ruled that "the options for declining or leaving the social network were ineffective". "Google Buzz fell short of our usual standards," Google said in a blog post. "While we worked quickly to make improvements, regulators unsurprisingly wanted more detail about what went wrong and how we could prevent it from happening again. "Today, we've reached an agreement with the FTC to address their concerns." That agreement will require Google to undergo a privacy review once every two years for the next 20 years.

Judge Rejects Google’s Deal to Digitize Books

Thom Holwerda 2011-03-22 Google 17 Comments

"A federal judge rejected Google's $125 million class-action settlement with authors and publishers, delivering a blow to the company's ambitious plan to build the world's largest digital library and bookstore. Judge Denny Chin of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York said that the settlement went too far in granting Google rights to profit from books without the permission of copyright owners, and that it was 'not fair, adequate and reasonable'." Here is a desk. Please to bang head against it repeatedly until world starts making sense.

Torvalds: Android GPL Claims “Totally Bogus”

Thom Holwerda 2011-03-22 Google 21 Comments

And so the story regarding Android supposedly violating the GPL continues. Linus Torvalds has responded to the story in his usual straightforward manner - he thinks it's "totally bogus". In the meantime, Groklaw - not exactly my favourite place but alas, good points are good points - found out that the IP lawyer who started this story, Edward Naughton, used to be a lawyer for Microsoft in dozens of cases, a fact he tried to erase from his online resume.

Submitted by jbicha 2011-03-21 Google 11 Comments

Does Google's Android violate the GPL? This bold claim is being made by Edward Naughton, and was picked up here and there across the web. The problem seems to be that Android's Bionic, a glibc alternative, supposedly violates the GPL by stripping the Linux kernel header files of all comments and other extraneous information and relicensing them under a more permissive license so that non-GPL programs can be written. Bradley Kuhn, former FSF executive director and expert on GPL violations, believes the claims are way overblown.

Guest post by ephracis 2011-03-17 Google 15 Comments

"At Google we're constantly trying to make the web faster - not just our corner of it, but the whole thing. Over the past few days we've been rolling out a new and improved version of show_ads.js, the piece of JavaScript used by more than two million publishers to put AdSense advertisements on their web pages."

Submitted by gogothebee 2011-03-16 Google 2 Comments

"Google has released a preview WebM filter for Windows Vista and Windows 7. When installed, the filter will allow Windows programs - including Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, and perhaps most importantly of all, Internet Explorer 9 - to play back WebM-encoded video." This is simply a Media Foundation codec - not a browser plugin.