Googling Friday #26

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Googling Friday, a blog about all things in the world of Google. Got quite a few things to dig into so let’s get right into things.

Google brings Discussions to Docs

Google has really enhanced their group collaboration with Google Docs. They have added mentions and thread view. Quite obvious they took what was part of the late Google Wave and put it into Google Docs. To illustrate they have posted a video.


Pretty cool stuff I would say. They are also working to restore offline storage for the Apps users as well.

Steve Jobs Google’s first choice as CEO

About 10 years ago as Google was getting started, its founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were in search of a CEO to give it some serious street cred and apparently their first choice was Steve Jobs. But Steve had just recently returned to Apple so they settled for Eric Schmidt...not a bad second choice really.

Sprint integrates Google Voice

Google and Sprint announced this week that you can now use your existing Sprint phone as your Google Voice number. Also if you have an existing Google Voice number you can setup your Sprint phone’s caller ID to show your Google Voice number when you call someone.



Latitude gets Check-ins: Review

Google has updated its Latitude mobile app to offer check-in similar to FourSquare and Facebook Places. I have used it and it does have a comprehensive listing of places nearby no doubt relying on its robust business search database whereas FourSquare is more of a user adds locations. Unlike FourSquare and Places though, it does not offer any deals at places you check into, nor do you get to become mayor or score points the more you check in like in FourSquare.

How to Advertise your Android Phone (or not)

Finally today, Sony Ericsson has a new Android-based phone called the Xperia Play. With so many different Android phones out on the market, how does one set theirs apart? Well leave it to Sony Ericsson to think outside the box with this ad.



Hope you enjoyed that little video as much as I did. See you all next week for another week of Google news.

AppleTalk Thursday #5

Hello fellow Apple fans and welcome to another edition of AppleTalk Thursday. We have quite a bit of Apple news and rumblings this week so let’s see what’s happening.

Steve Jobs Medical Leave

Let’s address the big elephant in the room first. I will simply restate what I wrote on Tuesday. Not a lot of details as to why as the CEO of Apple is very private person when it comes to himself, but for the second time Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave and Tim Cook will run the day to day operations just as he did the last time while Jobs remains CEO during his absence. So this may explain why Cook was there for the iPhone-Verizon announcement last week and not Jobs as many expected. We here at TupeloGeek wish Steve nothing but the best and pray for a full recovery for him and look forward to his excellent keynote speeches soon enough. Great so now that we have that out of the way, let’s move on.

Apple releases iOS 4.3 to developers

I touched on this briefly last week when I mentioned that Apple had included a Hotspot feature in 4.3 but in addition, it will also allow developers to utilize AirPlay features. That is great news cause it means apps like Netflix, and maybe even Hulu Plus will be able to stream video to AppleTV. It also gives the option back to the user to decide if the slider switch on the iPad should be a mute or screen lock orientation switch. Also there appears to be a Find my Friend feature for MobileMe users, this would be similar to Latitude from Google.

Apple boosts market share in slumping US PC market

Interesting little tidbit here on how Apple is increasing its sales even during one of the worst periods for PC sales. All I can say is neener-neener.

Gloves for touchscreen users

Well, here we are in January and for a lot of folks it is COLD! Recently there was snow on the ground in 49 States (sorry Florida). So what do you do if you are out for a morning or late night run or walk and you use an app like RunKeeper on your iPhone and need to access some data without freezing your fingers off? Well, MacWorld offers a review on some touchscreen friendly gloves. Granted some of these gloves can be pricey, but they do offer both comfort and functionality at the same time...or you could just join a gym or move to Florida.

Safari and iTunes together?

Strictly rumor at this point, but imagine a tightly integrated iTunes with Safari. This could really push Safari out of being a niche browser into a true multimedia browser. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

A5 processor 4x faster than A4 chip for iPad 2 and iPhone 5

AppleInisder is reporting that the upcoming iPad and iPhone updates will sport a chip known as the A5 that will be 4x faster than its predecessor the A4. Lot of specs in the article so you hardcore techies, knock yourself out.

Cool feature in Twitter for Mac

I came across this article on a nice feature that works quite well for me it turns out. If you installed the recently updated Twitter app for the Mac (formerly known as Tweet when you highlight something and right click a contextual menu appears and at the bottom is an option that says, “Tweet” it basically will then copy and paste what you have highlighted into a tweet box to send out. It is really great when I write something on Facebook that would make for a great tweet. Give it a try!

Well, that is going to do it for this edition of AppleTalk Thursday. See you all next week with more news from our favorite tech company!

Tuesday Tech Talk #77

Hey everybody and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. Covered quite a bit last 2 weeks with CES and Verizon-iPhone announcement, let’s see what this week brings us.

Facebook grants Developers Access to Phone and Addresses

So if you have ever granted third party developers easy integration to your FB account, you now may be giving them more information then you are comfortable with. This is not cool in my opinion and as soon as I read the article I deleted my phone numbers from my FB account, which is a shame because it made it easier for my long lost friends to get in touch with me offline. So it is back to the old way of doing things, if you need my phone number, drop me an email.

Computer History Museum now open

If you are ever in the Mountain View, CA area, then you may want to stop by the recently opened Computer History Museum. 25,000 square feet of geeky fun, I may have to schedule a vacation now where I actually go somewhere.

Spotify Coming to America Finally?

According to the New York Post, Spotify could soon be finally available in the US as it nears a deal with Sony Music and one other unmentioned label. The article goes on to mention that both Apple and Google have shown interested in a partnership with the Luxembourg-based company.

Steve Jobs takes Medical Leave of Absence again

Not a lot of details as to why as the CEO of Apple is very private person when it comes to himself, but for the second time Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave and Tim Cook will run the day to day operations just as he did the last time while Jobs remains CEO during his absence. So this may explain why Cook was there for the iPhone-Verizon announcement last week and not Jobs as many expected. We here at TupeloGeek wish Steve nothing but the best and pray for a full recovery for him and look forward to his excellent keynote speeches soon enough. I was thinking of holding this back for AppleTalk Thursday, but Steve Jobs has such an impact on technology in general, I thought it was appropriate to share the news here.

Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. See you all next week!

Tuesday Tech Talk #60

Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. Kind of a light week this week after the Apple announcement last week, but let’s see what is happening in the news.

Intel moves into mobile chip market

Intel is moving into the mobile chip market with the acquisition of Infineon’s Wireless Solution unit which coincidently is an iPhone supplier.

Flash on Android...not so nice

Let me start off by saying this is not a knock on the Android phone, this is however a knock on Adobe and their continue to be crappy and out of date Flash application. If there was an argument to back up Steve Jobs well publicized disapproval of Flash, it is this...go ahead...give the video a look over and then come back.

iOS 4.1 under the hood

Of course Apple announced last week that the iOS 4.1 update will be released this week. Great article here on the features 4.1 will include.

Netflix comes to the iPhone and iPod touch

Great news for iPhone and iPod touch owners, Netflix has created an app for those devices as it does for the iPad. There is one key difference though, the app for the iPhone and iPod touch does not have a DVD queue manager. It is strictly a streaming application with all the content on it as instant watch. But still pretty cool none the less.

Well that is going to do it for this short version of Tuesday Tech Talk. If you haven’t done so yet, read my reaction to the Apple event here and you can also read my good friend Jeremy’s reaction as well here. See you all next week!

Tuesday Tech Talk #25

Hello all and welcome to another edition of Triple T. Here is what is happening this week.

Quicken Essentials for Mac pre-order

Intuit announced it’s much delayed Quicken Essentials for Mac is now available for pre-order. Too little, too late for me. I have made the decision to go with Mint for my financial organization. As TUAW points out in the Quicken Essentials link, it takes a step back from the features of Quicken 2007. Which proves my point, as Kanye West might say “Intuit doesn’t care about Mac people”. Goodbye Quicken!

More speculation of Verizon getting iPhone

With the news of Verizon preparing network for iPhone in 2010 and Apple planning their WWDC around the time of their AT&T exclusivity deal with the iPhone ending, it appears Verizon is lining up as a partner with Apple on the next iPhone. Stay tuned!

Jobs named world’s best performing CEO

According to the Harvard Business Review, Steve Jobs is the best performing CEO in the world. Hard to argue against that, in addition to creating great products and establishing Brand of the Decade honors, Apple stock has been on the upswing despite the worst recession in a quarter century.

iMac 27“ flickering firmware resolution

Last week I talked about Apple having a problem with their 27” iMac’s flickering. Monday Apple released a firmware update that will fix the issue.

Nook 1.1 Update

Speaking of system updates, also on Monday Barnes & Noble released the 1.1 update for it’s Nook e-reader.

That is going to do it for this weeks Triple T. I hope everyone out there has a Merry Christmas and I will see you all next week.

Tuesday Tech Talk #24

Hello all, it’s 10 days before Christmas and do you know what you want for Christmas yet fellow geeks? Well let’s see what is going on this week capturing my eye in tech.

Apple is the Brand of the Decade

Real no surprise here with Apple named Brand of the Decade. When 2000 started Apple was enjoying sales from the iMac and iBook (remember the teal colored clamshell?). But in 2001 came the game changer for Apple, the iPod made it’s debut and it has changed the way we listen to music since. Several years later came the iPhone again revolutionary. So no surprise here. Congrats Apple on beating out Google for Brand of the Decade.

Steve Jobs Person of the Year?

Steve Jobs up for Time’s Person of the Year. Not sure if he will win out as Time is in love with Barack Obama and will probably give it to him. But I’ll save what I really think of that for a political post, this is not the venue for politics.

UCLA Nanowire Discovery

This great university might have come up with something to make it easier for micro chip makers to make things even smaller for the gadgets we crave. Now if these folks at UCLA can figure out a way to make the football team get into the BCS every thing would be peachy.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes first test flight

The next generation on aircraft design began today when Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner made it’s first test flight in Washington State. You can read more about the revolutionary design of this aircraft here and here.

64GB iPhone and 128GB iPod touch in Q1 2010?

Interesting read on MacRumors on possible bigger storage on those devices maybe early next year.

Apple struggling with 27“ iMac display issue

Ok this is for those that think I can see no wrong in Apple. Apple is having problems with their 27” display on the iMac flickering and it is causing delays on shipments now while they figure out and fix the problem.

Well that is going to do it for this weeks edition of Triple T. See you all next week a couple of days before Christmas!

Tuesday Tech Talk #16

Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Triple T! Let’s jump right into things.

Zoom Q3

Samson has a new gadget called the Zoom Q3 handy video recorder. Think of it as an H2 but with a video camera. Basically this is Samson competing with a Flip Video camera.

There’s a bug in my Snow Leopard

Ok well not mine personally but Apple has acknowledged it and is working on an update to fix the issue.

Jobs helping out Disney on store makeover

Well he must be feeling a lot better. In addition to being very hands out with the much rumored Mac tablet, Steve Jobs is also apparently assisting Disney with their retail store makeover. Being how successful the Apple retail stores have been Jobs should know something about how a store should look and feel to the customer. Looking forward to seeing what the first prototype store will look like.

Personal commentary time

Canon, you need to make configuring your wireless printers easier! It should take me a USB cable to get your printer configured on my wireless network, that is ridiculous! BTW, I still love you guys just take this as creative criticism.

Comcast bidding on NBC

Ok at first I thought this was a bad idea considering what Comcast did to TechTV when it rebranded them G4. Then I remembered, wait this is NBC. How could Comcast possibly make worse decisions than NBC is already? This comes the same week NBC decided to pull the plug on “Southland” even before it could begin a full season. Morons! But Comcast would make me a happy camper if they gave Keith Olbermann his walking papers, I’m sure Obama can make Olby some sort of new Czar of something for a job.

This Week’s iPhone/iPod touch apps

Pizza Hut - Although I have not tried it out yet to do an actual order, I have used the demo mode on it and I’m really impressed. You can choose from multiple address accounts on it (Note: You will have to setup the actual addresses on pizzahut.com)

Tweetie 2 - Yeah I know I griped about how Tweetie was going to charge both new and previous existing customers $2.99 for the version 2 app. But after checking out the reviews and reading the new features, I decided to give in and buy it and boy am I happy I did. As a result I no longer have Twitteriffic on my iPhone and now just have 1 Twitter based app on my iPhone. It is very nice and has all the features I desire on one single app. Trends, posting photos and video within the app, searches, geotagging , hashtag searching, shrink URL’s, multiple accounts, oh and offline line Twitter drafts which is nice.

Those are the 2 apps I played around with this past week. That will do it for another edition of Triple T. See you all next week.