Pete's Blog » google

Big day for Android!

Pete — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:20:45 +0000

In this corner we have Android’s Honeycomb 3.0 preview which shows some awesome stuff.

This new software update for tablet pc’s may be the deciding factor for myself to get a tablet, as I’ve been holding off as I didn’t see the tablet as a “useful enough” tool for everyday whatever.

Also may have been easily overlooked, introducing The New Web Based Android Market, which in turn makes me a happier android user.

The New Web Based Android Market

Google Android Videos

Pete — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:22:45 +0000

Google’s new mobile platform, Android, may revolutionize the way we use phones tomorrow. Here are a couple of videos demonstrating how Android works.

Cool apps that surprise and delight mobile users, built by developers like you, will be a huge part of the Android vision. To support you in your efforts, Google has launched the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million in awards — no strings attached — for great mobile apps built on the Android platform.

Gmail Collaborative Video – Final Cut

Pete — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:24:55 +0000

About a month ago Google put out a video on YouTube asking for the public’s help to send them some videos of creative ways Gmail travels around the world. After a huge amount of submissions, they got a final cut released.

They put a map (using Google Maps API) up on the blog showing where all the submissions came from, pretty amazing!

Read the full story on the Gmail collaborative video

Google Maps just got better – Draggable directions!

Pete — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:00:50 +0000

Google is on a roll! My favorite map tool just got better with some cool features!
You can now drag your route (blue line) using different roads than the ones chosen automatically by Google. You can add destinations and it will all get sorted out for you nice and neat.

I’m totally loving it! Watch the Google Maps video introducing some of the new features:

Google Docs and Spreadsheets gets a new facelift!

Pete — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:35:50 +0000

Google Docs and Spreadsheets just got a new look. I like it this time around, it’s loading faster for me, and you’re now able to see all the documents right there in front of you. I wasn’t a big fan of the “out of sight out of mind” from the previous setup.

Outside of the new look, they did add some new things, now they have folders. Folders seems to work the same way as tags, but more like gmail where organization seems better with the traditional folder view. Also, they have Google Suggest like features for searching through your documents.

All in all, I think it’s a nice improvement.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets gets a makeover

Free alternatives to Quicken and MS Money

Pete — Thu, 24 May 2007 15:26:38 +0000

I have been looking for alternative financial tools to use and have run across this today. I found some tools I haven’t seen before and wanted to share it.
A couple web based and some software applications. My experience hasn’t been great with one or two of the listed alternatives, but I did find some new ones that seem interesting and worth trying out, maybe you will too!

Check out 6 great alternatives to Quicken and Money

100 Best Products of 2007 by PC World

Pete — Wed, 23 May 2007 13:15:12 +0000

PC World put together a fantastic list of 100 products together that you will surely agree with, well mostly. A really nice selection of software and hardware that has made up this year so far.

Lots of my favorite tools are listed, including most Google apps, hardware like the 80GB iPod, and sites like Digg and Craigslist!

Our editors rank the best PCs, HDTVs, components, sites, and services. Plus: the products we’re looking forward to next year, and which technologies are rising and falling.

Check out PC World’s full list of the 100 Best Products of 2007

iGoogle launched – make your own gadgets too!

Pete — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:13:36 +0000

Google Personalized Homepage renamed to iGoogle!

– a name that connotes interactivity, the Internet, and personalization all at once.

Also with this new name, comes new gadgets, well.. it’s a bit more than that. Now anyone can create their own gadgets (no experience necessary)! You don’t need to know any HTML or have super programming skills to make your own gadget.

Now you can make your own, because starting today, without having any programming or web design experience at all, anyone can create Google Gadgets for iGoogle and send them to friends.

Froogle is now Google Product Search

Pete — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:51:33 +0000

Froogle.com is no more, as of today Google has renamed it to Google Product Search. This should streamline Google into a mean shopping search machine.

Today, we’re making some changes to how we help users find things to buy. You may be familiar with our product Froogle (a pun on “frugal”). Froogle offers a lot of great functionality and has helped many users find things to buy over the years, but the name caused confusion for some because it doesn’t clearly describe what the product does.

Google Reader Gadget for your personalized homepage!

Pete — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:16:55 +0000

Google put out a new gadget to browse your Google reader news. If you use the Google reader, then this is a nice tool! I just threw it on the homepage and I’m enjoying the window of news that I can glance at while staring at my numerous gadgets.

Read about the new Google Reader Gadget

New Stuff Released today!

Pete — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 16:05:44 +0000

I’ve spotted several new offerings today, most of which is a one day thing. Today only!

First off, Google is now offering free broadband! Also a new product from Google – Gmail Paper! Don’t like the internet? Have Gmail mail you the email!

Also ThinkGeek has a list of some great stuff that includes The Lonely Guy Dream Vacation Digital Photo Frame and the popular Vilcus Plug Dactyloadapter.

And if you like that, you’ll love this list of other April Fools sites running gags today.

Google Personalized homepage now has themes!

Pete — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:11:24 +0000

Google just added 6 themes to the personalized homepage!
Looking forward to seeing more of them, but I really like the subtle themes they have available! All themes available are dynamic! They change with the time of day and weather in your area. Really cool!

Today we’re releasing six themes for the personalized homepage that try to solve these challenges: a city, a teahouse (super cute — this one is my favorite), a winter scene, a sky, a beach and a bus stop. All of our themes are dynamic: they change with your own local time of day, current weather conditions or season. If you add the beach theme, for example (changes with time of day), it will ask you for your Zip code and adjust itself to match your local sunrise and sunset times. So if you happen to be stuck in a windowless office, you can at least crack open a cold one and watch the sun set over your desktop.

Google taking extra steps towards privacy!

Pete — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:52:59 +0000

I’ve been a big fan of Google for quite some time. Seeing them improving their privacy practices makes me feel a lot better. It’s nice to know that they won’t be holding all that information after a certain amount of time.

Google will continue to keep their server logs, but they are going to remove key data from the logs that will identify individual users making it anonymous after 18-24 months.

Nice to see they are on the right track with this.

Our engineers are already busy working out the technical details, and we hope to implement this new data policy over the coming months (and within a year’s time). We’ll communicate more as we work out these details, but for now, we wanted you to know that we’re working on this additional step to strengthen your privacy.