Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
With Google TV, I May Never Leave The Sofa Again
With Google TV, I May Never Leave The Sofa Again
I’ve seen the future and it begins on my sofa with Google TV.
It isn’t uncommon among geeks to have your PC (or Mac) wired to your TV. A decent audio-out cable, an HDMI cable and you’re good to go. With this simple setup and a few tweaks to your TV’s input and display settings, you can watch YouTube videos (or anything else)—and that’s pretty cool.
But Logitech’s Revue with Google TV takes the integration between television and the web to a whole new level. I was able to play with one for a few hours. Here are my five favorite things about the Logitech Revue with Google TV as well as a brief review of the functionality.
1. The Web—Only Bigger, Better and On Your TV
If you’ve ever wished that you could use the web on your 47 Inch hi-def TV, you’re probably going to want Google TV. Web pages are rendered quickly, clearly and with their full functionality right on your TV. (Although Hulu might be a problem).
Not only can you browse the web, but you can interact with it just like on your Mac or PC. This means you can easily enter text—whether that’s a tweet, a search term or even a full blown blog post.
For those of you wondering how you can possibly do this using your TV remote control the answer is simple—you don’t have to. The Logitech Review comes with a fully functional wireless keyboard that includes a touchpad pointing device that even allows you to scroll with two fingers just like on a Mac.
You can also get a smaller mini-controller that features a thumb keyboard and much of the same functionality. Get both and you can finally prove to your kids that a keyboard is faster than sending texts on a phone—maybe.
In addition, you can even control Google TV using Logitech’s Harmony technology with your iPhone or Android device but more on that in a minute.
2. Seamless Video Conferencing—although I put this second on my list, it really is one of the coolest features of this new platform. Not only is the video big, bright and clear, it also allows you to place calls to and from the TV via Skype and other video calling platforms as well.
In a prior post, John Biggs of CrunchGear worried that calling on Google TV using the Logitech Revue wouldn’t be as simple as it is using Skype. Well, he can stop worrying because it is. Click, connect, talk (and see); it really is that simple.
One other great thing about Google TV using Logitech’s specifically designed camera is that when your TV is off and you receive (but miss) a call, a light comes on that tells you that this has happened. While you can’t yet leave (or receive) a video voice mail, enough people have been asking for this feature that either Google or Logitech should add it later or an enterprising application developer will build an app for it without a doubt.
3. Your Phone is Now Your Remote Control—In my distant past when I wrote for MobileCrunch, I said more than once that eventually your mobile phone will become the remote control for your life. With Google TV this reality has come one step closer, at least if you have an iPhone or an Android device.
Logitech has developed free software that you can find on either the iTunes Store or the Android App Market that allows you to totally control the Logitech Revue (and thus your interaction with Google TV) with your mobile.
Not only can you navigate with a mouse, you can also use verbal commands for things like searching Google. While I was watching, people threw some pretty rough stuff at the recognizer but it seemed to work every time from what I could see. This is a far cry from other voice to text or voice to command interfaces. My host said “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and Google TV was actually able to get this right. Beyond this, the system even seems to be able to understand people with accents—even heavy ones.
Cooler still, using the built-in share function, you can start watching a video on your mobile and if you like you can share it directly to your Google TV and the video will pick up where you left off, only now it will be bigger, brighter and better.
4. Search (– DUH – It’s Google!)—You’d expect any television platform with Google’s name on it to have great search and the Revue does not disappoint. Not only can you search what is on TV and what’s on the web, you can also search your DVR as well as on any other networked storage device on the same subnet. Family photos will never be the same.
5. Android Apps—Okay I saved the most intriguing and potentially exciting aspect of Google TV for last. Google TV is built on the Android platform and many people, myself included, believe that we’re not only going to see an explosion in app development as a result, but also a quantum leap in what Android applications can deliver. Android apps are not expected to come out until 2011, but it will be worth the wait.
With the high bandwidth of your home connection (which is going to be a lot better than any current 3G network) as well as the much larger format your TV provides (not to mention the full fledged keyboard), Android apps have the potential to get very exciting indeed.
One potential app could be a fantasy football application that can run in a picture-in-picture display and can give you realtime updates on what is happening with your fantasy football team while the game is happening—plus with the video calling capability you can call and heckle your losing friend right in the middle of his ignominious defeat. That’s just one idea off the top of my head.
The Wrap Up
Google TV has been hyped an awful lot—by bloggers, analysts, and even some mainstream media. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t deliver. In fact, if anything I was surprised by just how capable, functional, fun and intuitive the Logitech Revue is, not to mention how much better Google TV makes plain vanilla television.
My Few Complaints: As with many brand new product (the one I tested was still in beta), there are a few bugs to be dealt with. The first problem is how Google TV handles Flash. Some pages that render partially or completely in Flash don’t display properly and in one extreme case, a page I was trying to browse that renders fully in Flash crashed the unit completely. The Logitech team told me that they were aware of this issue and that it was being worked on, but as of last night it was still a problem.
Secondly, while the interface is fairly intuitive that cannot be said for every feature. Out of the box some features, and especially advanced features like contolling the camera via the control keyboard, might not be that easy for a first-time user (and especially one that isn’t really tech-savvy) to figure out.
That said, I found the whole experience to be a lot better and a lot more interesting then I had anticipated prior to actually getting my hands on the unit. I’m not much of a gambler myself but I’d be willing to bet that Google TV has a good chance of finally changing the way we interact with our televisions.
I’ve seen the future and it begins on my sofa with Google TV.
It isn’t uncommon among geeks to have your PC (or Mac) wired to your TV. A decent audio-out cable, an HDMI cable and you’re good to go. With this simple setup and a few tweaks to your TV’s input and display settings, you can watch YouTube videos (or anything else)—and that’s pretty cool.
But Logitech’s Revue with Google TV takes the integration between television and the web to a whole new level. I was able to play with one for a few hours. Here are my five favorite things about the Logitech Revue with Google TV as well as a brief review of the functionality.
1. The Web—Only Bigger, Better and On Your TV
If you’ve ever wished that you could use the web on your 47 Inch hi-def TV, you’re probably going to want Google TV. Web pages are rendered quickly, clearly and with their full functionality right on your TV. (Although Hulu might be a problem).
Not only can you browse the web, but you can interact with it just like on your Mac or PC. This means you can easily enter text—whether that’s a tweet, a search term or even a full blown blog post.
For those of you wondering how you can possibly do this using your TV remote control the answer is simple—you don’t have to. The Logitech Review comes with a fully functional wireless keyboard that includes a touchpad pointing device that even allows you to scroll with two fingers just like on a Mac.
You can also get a smaller mini-controller that features a thumb keyboard and much of the same functionality. Get both and you can finally prove to your kids that a keyboard is faster than sending texts on a phone—maybe.
In addition, you can even control Google TV using Logitech’s Harmony technology with your iPhone or Android device but more on that in a minute.
2. Seamless Video Conferencing—although I put this second on my list, it really is one of the coolest features of this new platform. Not only is the video big, bright and clear, it also allows you to place calls to and from the TV via Skype and other video calling platforms as well.
In a prior post, John Biggs of CrunchGear worried that calling on Google TV using the Logitech Revue wouldn’t be as simple as it is using Skype. Well, he can stop worrying because it is. Click, connect, talk (and see); it really is that simple.
One other great thing about Google TV using Logitech’s specifically designed camera is that when your TV is off and you receive (but miss) a call, a light comes on that tells you that this has happened. While you can’t yet leave (or receive) a video voice mail, enough people have been asking for this feature that either Google or Logitech should add it later or an enterprising application developer will build an app for it without a doubt.
3. Your Phone is Now Your Remote Control—In my distant past when I wrote for MobileCrunch, I said more than once that eventually your mobile phone will become the remote control for your life. With Google TV this reality has come one step closer, at least if you have an iPhone or an Android device.
Logitech has developed free software that you can find on either the iTunes Store or the Android App Market that allows you to totally control the Logitech Revue (and thus your interaction with Google TV) with your mobile.
Not only can you navigate with a mouse, you can also use verbal commands for things like searching Google. While I was watching, people threw some pretty rough stuff at the recognizer but it seemed to work every time from what I could see. This is a far cry from other voice to text or voice to command interfaces. My host said “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and Google TV was actually able to get this right. Beyond this, the system even seems to be able to understand people with accents—even heavy ones.
Cooler still, using the built-in share function, you can start watching a video on your mobile and if you like you can share it directly to your Google TV and the video will pick up where you left off, only now it will be bigger, brighter and better.
4. Search (– DUH – It’s Google!)—You’d expect any television platform with Google’s name on it to have great search and the Revue does not disappoint. Not only can you search what is on TV and what’s on the web, you can also search your DVR as well as on any other networked storage device on the same subnet. Family photos will never be the same.
5. Android Apps—Okay I saved the most intriguing and potentially exciting aspect of Google TV for last. Google TV is built on the Android platform and many people, myself included, believe that we’re not only going to see an explosion in app development as a result, but also a quantum leap in what Android applications can deliver. Android apps are not expected to come out until 2011, but it will be worth the wait.
With the high bandwidth of your home connection (which is going to be a lot better than any current 3G network) as well as the much larger format your TV provides (not to mention the full fledged keyboard), Android apps have the potential to get very exciting indeed.
One potential app could be a fantasy football application that can run in a picture-in-picture display and can give you realtime updates on what is happening with your fantasy football team while the game is happening—plus with the video calling capability you can call and heckle your losing friend right in the middle of his ignominious defeat. That’s just one idea off the top of my head.
The Wrap Up
Google TV has been hyped an awful lot—by bloggers, analysts, and even some mainstream media. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t deliver. In fact, if anything I was surprised by just how capable, functional, fun and intuitive the Logitech Revue is, not to mention how much better Google TV makes plain vanilla television.
My Few Complaints: As with many brand new product (the one I tested was still in beta), there are a few bugs to be dealt with. The first problem is how Google TV handles Flash. Some pages that render partially or completely in Flash don’t display properly and in one extreme case, a page I was trying to browse that renders fully in Flash crashed the unit completely. The Logitech team told me that they were aware of this issue and that it was being worked on, but as of last night it was still a problem.
Secondly, while the interface is fairly intuitive that cannot be said for every feature. Out of the box some features, and especially advanced features like contolling the camera via the control keyboard, might not be that easy for a first-time user (and especially one that isn’t really tech-savvy) to figure out.
That said, I found the whole experience to be a lot better and a lot more interesting then I had anticipated prior to actually getting my hands on the unit. I’m not much of a gambler myself but I’d be willing to bet that Google TV has a good chance of finally changing the way we interact with our televisions.
The Galaxy Tab Hitting Verizon Wireless November 11th For $600 Straight Up
Hmm it could have been cheaper ...
Verizon Wireless Puts Samsung Galaxy Tab™ in Stores in November
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and DALLAS, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ — Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Tab™ will be available Nov. 11 for $599.99. Running on Android™ 2.2, the Samsung Galaxy Tab features a brilliant 7-inch touch screen; robust HTML Web browsing experience with full support for Adobe® Flash® 10.1 for video and mobile gaming; and a 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application processor.
“This is an incredible time in mobile technology, and as a company we’re excited to add the Samsung Galaxy Tab to our portfolio,” said Marni Walden, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “The Samsung Galaxy Tab brings together the reliability of Verizon Wireless’ 3G network and the power of Android 2.2 to deliver on our promise of providing consumers and business customers with a host of options to help manage their lives.”
Popular mobile applications, including V CAST Music and V CAST Song ID, VZ Navigator®, Slacker Radio, Kindle for Android, BLOCKBUSTER On Demand® presented by V CAST Video, and the exclusive golf game, “Let’s Golf,” will be available on the Samsung Galaxy Tab. In addition to text, picture and video messaging, the Samsung Galaxy Tab will also feature V CAST Apps, Verizon Wireless’ mobile storefront offering hundreds of applications for businesses and consumers at launch.
Verizon Wireless customers can add a monthly access plan beginning at $20 a month for 1 GB on their Samsung Galaxy Tab. For additional features and specifications on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, visit www.verizonwireless.com/galaxytab.
Verizon Wireless Puts Samsung Galaxy Tab™ in Stores in November
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and DALLAS, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ — Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Tab™ will be available Nov. 11 for $599.99. Running on Android™ 2.2, the Samsung Galaxy Tab features a brilliant 7-inch touch screen; robust HTML Web browsing experience with full support for Adobe® Flash® 10.1 for video and mobile gaming; and a 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application processor.
“This is an incredible time in mobile technology, and as a company we’re excited to add the Samsung Galaxy Tab to our portfolio,” said Marni Walden, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “The Samsung Galaxy Tab brings together the reliability of Verizon Wireless’ 3G network and the power of Android 2.2 to deliver on our promise of providing consumers and business customers with a host of options to help manage their lives.”
Popular mobile applications, including V CAST Music and V CAST Song ID, VZ Navigator®, Slacker Radio, Kindle for Android, BLOCKBUSTER On Demand® presented by V CAST Video, and the exclusive golf game, “Let’s Golf,” will be available on the Samsung Galaxy Tab. In addition to text, picture and video messaging, the Samsung Galaxy Tab will also feature V CAST Apps, Verizon Wireless’ mobile storefront offering hundreds of applications for businesses and consumers at launch.
Verizon Wireless customers can add a monthly access plan beginning at $20 a month for 1 GB on their Samsung Galaxy Tab. For additional features and specifications on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, visit www.verizonwireless.com/galaxytab.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie Resigns
Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie Resigns
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Monday via an internal memo that the company’s chief software architect, Ray Ozzie, will be resigning from the company shortly.
Ozzie will shift his focus toward Microsoft’s entertainment properties “following the natural transition time with his teams but before he retires from Microsoft,” Ballmer said, without citing any dates. “The CSA role was unique and I won’t refill the role after Ray’s departure,” Ballmer added.
Ozzie became an employee of Microsoft in 2005, following its acquisition of Groove Networks. He became the company’s chief software architect in 2006, after Co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates stepped down from the role to spend more of his time on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — which he began doing full-time in 2008.
In October 2009, he founded the FUSE Labs (Future Social Experiences) division within Microsoft to develop more social, web-based products, such as social aggregation tool Spindex. He also been credited with driving many of Microsoft’s software products, such as Microsoft Office, to the cloud.
The full letter is below:
“From: Steveb
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010
To: Microsoft – All Employees
Subject: Ray Ozzie Transition
This past March marked a significant milestone for the company when, in a speech at the University of Washington, I sent a message to the world that we’re ‘all in’ when it comes to the cloud. In that speech I noted that Ray’s Internet Services Disruption memo nearly five years ago, and his work since, stimulated thinking across the company and helped catalyze our drive to the cloud.
As a company, we’ve accomplished much in the past five years as we look at the cloud and services. Windows Live now serves as a natural web-based services complement to both Windows and Office. SharePoint and Exchange have now decidedly embraced the cloud. And by conceiving, incubating and shepherding Windows Azure, Ray helped ensure we have a tremendously rich platform foundation that will enable app-level innovation across the company and by customers for years to come.
With our progress in services and the cloud now full speed ahead in all aspects of our business, Ray and I are announcing today Ray’s intention to step down from his role as chief software architect. He will remain with the company as he transitions the teams and ongoing strategic projects within his organization – bringing the great innovations and great innovators he’s assembled into the groups driving our business. Following the natural transition time with his teams but before he retires from Microsoft, Ray will be focusing his efforts in the broader area of entertainment where Microsoft has many ongoing investments. We have tremendous opportunities in the entertainment space overall, and I’m excited about what we can accomplish. Beyond that, Ray has no plans at this time. While he’ll continue to report to me during the transition, the CSA role was unique and I won’t refill the role after Ray’s departure. We have a strong planning process, strong technical leaders in each business group and strong innovation heading to the market.
While Ray will be onboard for a while, I’d like to thank him today for his contributions to Microsoft, both as a leader and as a long-time Microsoft ISV. As an early ISV, Ray contributed significantly to the early success of Windows. Since being at Microsoft, both through inspiration and impact he’s been instrumental in our transition toward a software world now centered on services. He’s always been a ‘maker’ and a partner, and we look forward to our continuing collaboration as his future unfolds. Ray has played a critical role in helping us to assume the leadership position in the cloud, and positioned us well for future success.
Please join me in thanking Ray and wishing him well.
Steve”
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Monday via an internal memo that the company’s chief software architect, Ray Ozzie, will be resigning from the company shortly.
Ozzie will shift his focus toward Microsoft’s entertainment properties “following the natural transition time with his teams but before he retires from Microsoft,” Ballmer said, without citing any dates. “The CSA role was unique and I won’t refill the role after Ray’s departure,” Ballmer added.
Ozzie became an employee of Microsoft in 2005, following its acquisition of Groove Networks. He became the company’s chief software architect in 2006, after Co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates stepped down from the role to spend more of his time on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — which he began doing full-time in 2008.
In October 2009, he founded the FUSE Labs (Future Social Experiences) division within Microsoft to develop more social, web-based products, such as social aggregation tool Spindex. He also been credited with driving many of Microsoft’s software products, such as Microsoft Office, to the cloud.
The full letter is below:
“From: Steveb
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010
To: Microsoft – All Employees
Subject: Ray Ozzie Transition
This past March marked a significant milestone for the company when, in a speech at the University of Washington, I sent a message to the world that we’re ‘all in’ when it comes to the cloud. In that speech I noted that Ray’s Internet Services Disruption memo nearly five years ago, and his work since, stimulated thinking across the company and helped catalyze our drive to the cloud.
As a company, we’ve accomplished much in the past five years as we look at the cloud and services. Windows Live now serves as a natural web-based services complement to both Windows and Office. SharePoint and Exchange have now decidedly embraced the cloud. And by conceiving, incubating and shepherding Windows Azure, Ray helped ensure we have a tremendously rich platform foundation that will enable app-level innovation across the company and by customers for years to come.
With our progress in services and the cloud now full speed ahead in all aspects of our business, Ray and I are announcing today Ray’s intention to step down from his role as chief software architect. He will remain with the company as he transitions the teams and ongoing strategic projects within his organization – bringing the great innovations and great innovators he’s assembled into the groups driving our business. Following the natural transition time with his teams but before he retires from Microsoft, Ray will be focusing his efforts in the broader area of entertainment where Microsoft has many ongoing investments. We have tremendous opportunities in the entertainment space overall, and I’m excited about what we can accomplish. Beyond that, Ray has no plans at this time. While he’ll continue to report to me during the transition, the CSA role was unique and I won’t refill the role after Ray’s departure. We have a strong planning process, strong technical leaders in each business group and strong innovation heading to the market.
While Ray will be onboard for a while, I’d like to thank him today for his contributions to Microsoft, both as a leader and as a long-time Microsoft ISV. As an early ISV, Ray contributed significantly to the early success of Windows. Since being at Microsoft, both through inspiration and impact he’s been instrumental in our transition toward a software world now centered on services. He’s always been a ‘maker’ and a partner, and we look forward to our continuing collaboration as his future unfolds. Ray has played a critical role in helping us to assume the leadership position in the cloud, and positioned us well for future success.
Please join me in thanking Ray and wishing him well.
Steve”
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Places i visited upto now ...
Asia
India: Abu
India: Ahmadabad
India: Bangalore
India: Delhi
India: Jaipur
India: Jamnagar
India: Jodhpur
India: Mumbai
India: Porbandar
India: Pune
India: Sirohi
India: Surat
India: Vadodara
India: Veraval
Caribbean
Virgin Islands: Saint Thomas
Europe
United Kingdom: London
North America
Canada: Niagara Falls
United States: Boston
United States: Bushkill
United States: Cape May
United States: Chicago
United States: Delaware Water Gap
United States: Devon
United States: Edison
United States: Fort Lauderdale
United States: Fort Wayne
United States: Jersey City
United States: Key West
United States: King of Prussia
United States: Los Angeles
United States: Miami
United States: Mountain View
United States: New York
United States: Philadelphia
United States: Portland
United States: Providence
United States: Quincy
United States: Richmond
United States: San Francisco
United States: San Jose
United States: Tampa
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