Googling Friday #2

Hello folks and welcome to another installment of Googling Friday. Last week I was quite busy so I do apologize for not having one out. Let’s get into this week’s Google news and review.

Google to launch Chrome OS-based tablet on 11/26

Looks like HTC is making a tablet similar to an iPad but based on the Google Chrome OS. It will be sold by Verizon with an on-sale date of November 26th aka Black Friday. Below is an artist rendering of what it may look like.

Chrome Web Store in October

Google’s Chrome based web store will be rolling out in October. It will allow users to purchase web apps from the store using Google Checkout and Google will only take a 5% of revenue from the apps sold in contrast to the industry standard 70/30 split (developer/store operator).

Now for this weeks Google web app review

Google Reader

I have been reading RSS feeds for a few years now using different applications. For a long time I used NetNews Wire as a desktop app until they decided to synchronize with Google Reader which I started to check out. Ever since then, I have not used the NNW desktop and strictly use the Google Reader web app as one of my tabs on my browser. I do use the NetNews Wire app on the iPhone and iPad though and the layout on them is very professional, more than I can say for an app like Reeder. Using Google Reader you can create folders for your different subscriptions for example Sports, Tech, News, etc. If you see something you like and want to save for future reference say like something to include in a blog post, you can star the article. Also if you have an Instapaper account, you can save the articles there for later reading. I will have more about Instapaper in the next edition of Triple T.

So if you are looking for something to streamline your RSS feeds on I would really recommend Google Reader. It works great with third party apps like the ones mentioned above.

Tuesday...errr...Wednesday Tech Talk #8

Well it has been a long time but I’m back with another Triple T Wednesday edition. Quick note if you despise Google then you will not find this post of much interest, then again if you despise Google you might want to read it and maybe I can sway that opinion.

The Great Google Cloud!

Gmail

        So this past weekend I decided to plunge headlong into Gmail. I never realized how much capacity it offers (7.3 GB). Which is more than enough for me. I uploaded all my mail folders from my Apple Mail.app to Gmail and had all my email accounts forwarded to it as well. After the big move I am using a whopping *drum roll* 3% of my total storage capacity. You can also send email from any of your accounts from within Gmail.
        The upside to this is I have less apps running now which is better on the processor. I run Firefox with a tab for Gmail, Google Reader, Plurk and Facebook at all times now. That means I am not running Apple Mail & NetNewsWire. The one app where I may have to expand my capacity is on is Picasa. I am at 91% there and I want to upload my whole iPhoto library up to it as a secondary backup as I already have a WD HD to run back ups locally via Time Machine.

Google Reader

        I also made the jump to Google Reader after NewsGator announced plans to integrate with it. They have a new beta version of NetNewsWire that will sync up with Google Reader. The transition was smooth as it maintained the folders I keep my RSS subjects in i.e. News, Sports Politics, etc.

Blogger

        Google does make a blogging site that they bought. It’s called Blogger and it will get you up and running with a blog pretty quick. But I like my WordPress and it’s abilities to customize so I will stick with it. But I have setup a blog on Blogger that will contain strictly tech related news including Triple T. You can find it here.

Google on iPhone
        
        Oh and one more thing Google has a nice little app on the iPhone with links to it’s many services. Check it out here. It’s my favorite price...FREE! Now the GoogleVoice app is a whole different issue I will dive into later on. I got my Google Voice invite yesterday and have just started playing around with it. That will be in next weeks Triple T. But that is all for now. Stay tuned!