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In a blog a few weeks back I posted about a possible Social Networking trail that Google was attempting.
This being called +1, and of course you know in Facebook when you are logged in you can like something, well now you will start to see a new button in town labeled +1. We are not sure if this is the start of a new social network that Google is building or if it is just a simply a social layer that Google wanted to introduce but really is not meant to be a real rival to Facebook. As of right now a small % of US Google searchers that search in English will see a +1 button next to the search listings when they are logged into their Google account. What this does is if you +1 a site it will become enhanced in the search results once a search is done again. Part of it will help you see how popular a page might be by +1 users. You will also see +1 next to AdWords, no doubt to help in advertising revenue for Google and make the companies who use it show its popularity to people who may not have seen that company before. Soon +1 is supposed to be as normal as the Facebook like button you see on so many web sites. Who knows what this will mean in revenue for Google in the ad world but when Google puts its stamp on something people do tend to follow.

A few posts back I put down that when IE9 launched it had over 2 million downloads in the first 24 hours. Well Firefox was about to double the amount of downloads with the first 24 hours of its launch. A decent 4.7 million downloads in the first 24 hour span. That is still less than the 8 million copies that were downloaded of Firefox 3 in 2008 but obviously there were fewer browsers to choose from back in 2008. With a more informed customer base you have internet users spread out across Google Chrome, Safari, IE and of course Firefox. This new version brings more features to the already reliable browser, such as new security and privacy options, faster loads and JavaScript, support for a variety of new standards including WebM video and WebGL 3D graphics, and 3D acceleration that extends to even Windows XP. Maybe with these new enhanced features, Firefox can steal some people back from Google Chrome.

It’s just been 24 hour but IE9 has hit the ground running and taken the internet by storm. Internet Explorer 9 has been downloaded over 2.35 million times in the first 24 hours since it’s release on Monday night. That is over 27 downloads every second or if you really growing. Although even though those numbers are nice to see, Firefox still has IE beat. Firefox version 3.5 was downloaded 5 million times in 24 hours and Firefox 3 in 08 was downloaded a massive 8 million times in one single day. But that number is a bit inflated if you figure that back in 08 there wasn’t many browser choices that were as secure as Firefox. Now with Google Chrome, Safari and of course the newest version of Firefox on the way this new Internet Explorer might actually be comparable to the likes of Chrome and Firefox. Below is a video of the IE9 launch event that can fill you in on what IE9 is all about!

Google announced that it is rolling out a new tool for you to import your Delicious bookmarks to Google Bookmarks.

Delicious is a bookmarking website to store your bookmarks online. This allows you to access the same bookmarks from any computer and add bookmarks anywhere that you go. You can use tags to organize and remember your bookmarks, which is a much more flexible system than folders.

This importer takes your login credentials and imports all your bookmarks while it preserves your labels and tags. It is very interesting on the timing of this announcement as it looks like Yahoo is going to sell Delicious.

Apple is considering changing its 15 minute purchase windows for people to buy successive apps or purchase in-app items with only one password sign-in. They are considering this because as of right now it holds your password in place they want to change that in efforts to stop unwanted app purchases.

Multiple companies are asking that Apple make it standard that any in-app purchases requiring a password for each individual purchase. So at the moment you only have to sign in once to buy apps and if you buy another app within 15 minutes you don’t need to put a password in for it. This problem stems from a lot issues with children buying in game items that are aimed at children and with those orders have reached in the thousands of dollars purchased.

With the fact that the developers of these games are also behind the consumers on this to change the application purchasing system, well I think Apple may have to look long and hard on doing this change in there next OS update.

Apple has announced a new in-app subscription charge to the companies that have applications on the itunes market that offer subscriptions through the app via your iPad or through your iPhone and iPod touch. So for example say you have an iPad and found the Netflix app while searching on your iPad for new apps but don’t have a subscription set up for this service. Well if you sign up through the application on your iPad, apple wants to take 30% of that application subscription. It’s always been the case that no matter how a person subscribes to a service the company who created the service would keep it.

So is this a good idea? It could be to make apple richer. But what does that mean for the customer? Well hopefully the companies that have apps for the Apple brands find ways to get customers to subscribe for their service outside of the itunes store, like via the web. But if there is still a massive influx of people subscribing on the App store will it force companies to sit there and take the hit or just leave the app store all together. Now you could pose the argument to me that the companies could just charge a bit more on the app store to make up the difference in lost profit. Well I am sorry to shoot you down but Apple has asked that the subscriptions be the same deals as you could get outside of the app store. So if you paying 9.99 a month for Netflix, it won’t be a different charge if you signed up in the app store.

Now the final piece to the puzzle that makes this so grand is competition. The Android marketplace is also going to be releasing a subscription service. Allegedly it will be a 10% charge versus Apple’s 30%. This could mean companies could jump over to Android and leave Apple behind. Apple does still have a strong hold on the market share however Androids being clawing up the ranks. Android is making a smart move by undercutting Apple here. Apple is setting a precedent with these charges and Android is following just a very small rate. With this, Android could see an increase in market share if companies decide that doing subscription services through Apple just isn’t work the money they would have to pay out to them. So what do you think? Is this a good idea or bad idea? I personally am not sure yet.

Google is being sued by a company VoIP inc. for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to an online voice technology. Apparently this stems from a contract signed in 2005 in which VoIP agreed to provide Google with its patented “Click to call” technology. This technology is supposed to give users the ability to contact companies and advertisers with a click of a button. As of right now VoIP could use the money as they are currently going through Bankruptcy.

It seems that Google entered into a joint venture with eBay and Skype in 2006 related to the type of service that VoIP was supporting Google with. Google did break the agreement in 2007 claiming they had breached the nondisclosure agreement by mentioning that Google was their client. However VoIP said that by them terminating the agreement was “a pretext” to give the company an opportunity to exploit VoIP’s confidential information. This included source codes, algorithms and the “know how” for monetizing internet calls in the dealings with eBay and Skype.

If you want to know the latest on the case it filled under the New York Supreme Court, No. 650380/2011. We will see if the Google giant can withstand this lawsuit. Only time will truly tell.

Ah, it is February 14, 2011 and I wanted to write something that had a bit of technology and love to mix this article up for the fact it is Valentine’s Day. Alas I couldn’t think of anything that mixed both things, so I figured today I would talk about something in the tech world that I think I am in love with. That is streaming Netflix on your Android. Now I personally watch Netflix on almost a daily basis. I do this by streaming movies and TV shows through my XBOX or PS3. Now that down the line I could do it with my phone while I am traveling? Well that just makes it that much more special.

The breakdown is simple. Qualcomm is creating a new snapdragon processor that will allow you to play Netflix on your Android mobile device. This new technology is suppose to give users instant selections unlike on most mobile devices where watching a streamed video on a mobile device has been anything but instant. Now this new technology will be in smartphones and tablets and the new processor can run at 2.5 GHz and has the ability to process data 150% faster than most of the fastest mobile chips to date. The finally bit of information about this hardware will be able to play movies in high quality but also keep your battery life efficient.

Sony is making an aggressive attempt to go after anyone who has posted or is “distributing” the first ever jailbreak code for the Playstation 3 console. The company is not just going after these people but they are going as far as demanding Google give the IP addresses and any other information they may have of people who have either viewed or commented on the jailbreak video that is on a private youtube page.
This aggression stems from a lawsuit against George Hotz, 21 years old from New Jersey. He published a video about a month ago showing code that would make the PS3 able to play pirated games. Currently the video has been taken off the site as a U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered it to be removed. It does seem Hotz has breached the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
So DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) has been created for a civil or criminal offense to traffic in wares meant to circumvent devices protecting copyrighted works. However, one of the more interesting things about the DMCA is not what is in the act but what is not. If you were to perform the same type of hack to a mobile phone it would be completely legal. It seems that over the summer the U.S. Copyright Office exempted cell phone jailbreaking from being covered by the DMCA (somebody must have gotten slammed with overages). So if you have a mobile phone you can run the apps of your choice on a mobile phone without fear of being criminally or civilly liable for a breach of the DMCA. It does make you wonder why the government would let you jailbreak a phone but not other types of digital devices. One has to wonder the logic behind letting mobile phones be jailbroken but keeping a strong hold on devices like the Playstation and XBOX. Maybe the government doesn’t like their cell phone plans and just wants to torture the mobile phone providers?

Google and Microsoft have been battling over search results for quite sometime now. Google accuses Microsoft of stealing its search results for Bing. Microsoft says it doesn’t steal Google results. A lot of discussion ensues—most of it comical. The main thing to take away from this battle however is that Bing matters.

There’s no way Google would care how its public results were being used if it wasn’t concerned about Bing. Now the Google vs. Microsoft spat is extremely public, slightly entertaining and makes for great headlines. One of the biggest issue with this whole battle is that it’s a bit fuzzy where the inspiration started and where the theft began. But Google’s accusations and Microsoft’s denials and explanations are certainly notable. After all, this is the tech industry, a place where everyone builds on the ideas of someone else in some cases you could even say copied.
Here are just a few ideas that have been replicated over the years:
* Google’s business model came from Overture.
* Google’s Android army is arguably a rip off and attempted enhancement of Apple’s iPhone.
* Microsoft’s Windows franchise was born as an answer to Apple’s Mac to most. The reality is both Microsoft and Apple got their inspiration from PARC from Xerox. Both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs went to PARC and got inspired to copy a UI (User Interface).
* Google has a multitude of social experiments that look like Facebook and Twitter imitations.
* Isn’t Google Docs inspired by MS Office?
* Microsoft’s Xbox is the result of the Sony PlayStation success.
* Zune is an iPod replication.
* Microsoft’s Office got its start by emulating the likes of WordPerfect and Lotus Notes.
* Internet Explorer was an answer to Netscape’s Navigator.

Funny how that works, don’t you think? But that’s the tech industry. Most likely, Bing is going to emulate Google results. Google is the top search engine on the web at the moment. So what we take from this is that no matter how hard you try someone will always be around take your idea and mold it some how to their benefit. It just looks like Google is going to have to come up with new stuff to keep Bing at bay.