Tag: Google

What's On Your Home Screen

Lorin Olsen


Now that I have a smartphone of my very own, it’s time to highlight what is on my home screen.  But before I do that, I need to note how I got the screen capture.
For those who have rooted their system, the process of a screen capture is quite simple.  But for those who are still clinging to a stock firmware build (like me), the process is slightly different. Nevertheless, the process is relatively straightforward.  You need to update your device driver on the computer system that will be connected to your phone.  Then you need to download and install the Android SDK.  Finally, you need to make sure you update your copy of the Java Development Kit.  [Note: The current Java build as I write this is JDK SE 1.6.21.]  The entire process is fully documented over at Simple Help.  And the results of my first screen capture are shown above.
So what do I have on my home screen?  Well the current favorite apps are as follows:
Location-based tools: Navigation (from Google), Places Directory (from Google), Yelp, and Foursquare.

  • With Navigation, my phone can literally answer the question of “Where Do I Want To Go Today?”  And it can tell me how to get there.
  • I use Places and Yelp to find cool places to visit and explore.  Places is very simplistic.  But its simple approach saves time when you’re in a hurry.  And for those times when you absolutely, positively need to know everything that is around you, Yelp is an astonishingly good tool to find all the hidden things that are close by.  Finally, I am like many techophiles.
  • I use Foursquare to tell folks where I am.  And I have fun trying to be the mayor of someplace other than my household.

Messaging Tools: Google Voice (from Google), GMail (from Google), Text Messaging (from Google), and Seesmic.

  • I use Google Voice for all my voice integration needs.  Indeed, it is my voicemail – even for the mobile phone itself.
  • As everyone know, GMail is my email client.  I love and use it for everything – including integrating other mailboxes across the net.
  • I used Text Messaging for just that: texting.  For the most part, SMS messaging is a dying art.  But my kids still use it a great deal.  I use Google Voice for most of my SMS needs.  But if someone does send an SMS message to my carrier, this app fills the bill.
  • Finally, I use Seesmic as my main tool for Twitter.  Have I used other tools?  Of course I have.  But Seesmic is always current.  It allows me to integrate multiple Twitter accounts.  And it look quite good.

Commerce-related Tools: Mobile Banking (from BoA, of course), Barcode Scanner (from Google), AppBrain, and Google Goggles (from Google).

  • I like having instant access to my bank statement.  So the banking app is self-explanatory.
  • The barcode scanner allows me to read UPC codes and determine the best prices in my local area.  It also reads QR codes.  So you can point your phone at a QR code and jump to the URL embedded within the code.
  • The AppBrain tool is an excellent market system for Android apps. It won’t replace the Android market. But AppBrain has a great review system to go along with the software inventory it houses.
  • Finally, I do use Google Googles to take pictures of things and see what the web has to say about the things that I snap pictures of.

Words and Thoughts: Dolphin Browser, Congress (from Sunlight Foundation), Kindle (from Amazon) and DailyBible (from Joansoft).

  • The Dolphin Browser runs circles around the basic Android browser.  When I needed to download an email attachment whose extension wasn’t registered, the basic browser failed while Dolphin succeeded.
  • Congress is an exceptional app that can tell you how your representatives are doing in Washington.  You can see pending and passed laws.  You can see what your Congressman or Senator has done.  And you can get their direct phone number – and call them directly.
  • The Kindle app is an excellent tool for e-reading.  For me, I have downloaded a few important books – but not my whole library.  For that, I still need my Kindle.
  • Finally, I use DailyBible to ensure that I geta great Bible verse to start each and every day.

There are a few other apps that I should note.  First, I use NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for my screen saver.  I use ConnectBot to securely log into my servers at home.  I use Astro to perform miscellaneous file management tasks.  I use the Astrid Task Manager for my day-to-day task entry. I use Google Sky Map for really cool nighttime star-gazing. I use Pandora for streaming music. Finally, I use Shazam for recognizing music and buying miscellaneous songs while I’m on the go.
All in all, my Droid 2 is getting a good workout.  I’ve even updated the SD card already.  This is so reminiscent of PC systems in the nineties.  It’s kind of like the wild west and Star Trek – all at the same time.  I guess that means that the first movie I must play on my phone will be Joss Whedon’s “Serenity.”
-Roo

What’s On Your Home Screen

Lorin Olsen

Now that I have a smartphone of my very own, it’s time to highlight what is on my home screen.  But before I do that, I need to note how I got the screen capture.

For those who have rooted their system, the process of a screen capture is quite simple.  But for those who are still clinging to a stock firmware build (like me), the process is slightly different. Nevertheless, the process is relatively straightforward.  You need to update your device driver on the computer system that will be connected to your phone.  Then you need to download and install the Android SDK.  Finally, you need to make sure you update your copy of the Java Development Kit.  [Note: The current Java build as I write this is JDK SE 1.6.21.]  The entire process is fully documented over at Simple Help.  And the results of my first screen capture are shown above.

So what do I have on my home screen?  Well the current favorite apps are as follows:

Location-based tools: Navigation (from Google), Places Directory (from Google), Yelp, and Foursquare.

  • With Navigation, my phone can literally answer the question of “Where Do I Want To Go Today?”  And it can tell me how to get there.
  • I use Places and Yelp to find cool places to visit and explore.  Places is very simplistic.  But its simple approach saves time when you’re in a hurry.  And for those times when you absolutely, positively need to know everything that is around you, Yelp is an astonishingly good tool to find all the hidden things that are close by.  Finally, I am like many techophiles.
  • I use Foursquare to tell folks where I am.  And I have fun trying to be the mayor of someplace other than my household.

Messaging Tools: Google Voice (from Google), GMail (from Google), Text Messaging (from Google), and Seesmic.

  • I use Google Voice for all my voice integration needs.  Indeed, it is my voicemail – even for the mobile phone itself.
  • As everyone know, GMail is my email client.  I love and use it for everything – including integrating other mailboxes across the net.
  • I used Text Messaging for just that: texting.  For the most part, SMS messaging is a dying art.  But my kids still use it a great deal.  I use Google Voice for most of my SMS needs.  But if someone does send an SMS message to my carrier, this app fills the bill.
  • Finally, I use Seesmic as my main tool for Twitter.  Have I used other tools?  Of course I have.  But Seesmic is always current.  It allows me to integrate multiple Twitter accounts.  And it look quite good.

Commerce-related Tools: Mobile Banking (from BoA, of course), Barcode Scanner (from Google), AppBrain, and Google Goggles (from Google).

  • I like having instant access to my bank statement.  So the banking app is self-explanatory.
  • The barcode scanner allows me to read UPC codes and determine the best prices in my local area.  It also reads QR codes.  So you can point your phone at a QR code and jump to the URL embedded within the code.
  • The AppBrain tool is an excellent market system for Android apps. It won’t replace the Android market. But AppBrain has a great review system to go along with the software inventory it houses.
  • Finally, I do use Google Googles to take pictures of things and see what the web has to say about the things that I snap pictures of.

Words and Thoughts: Dolphin Browser, Congress (from Sunlight Foundation), Kindle (from Amazon) and DailyBible (from Joansoft).

  • The Dolphin Browser runs circles around the basic Android browser.  When I needed to download an email attachment whose extension wasn’t registered, the basic browser failed while Dolphin succeeded.
  • Congress is an exceptional app that can tell you how your representatives are doing in Washington.  You can see pending and passed laws.  You can see what your Congressman or Senator has done.  And you can get their direct phone number – and call them directly.
  • The Kindle app is an excellent tool for e-reading.  For me, I have downloaded a few important books – but not my whole library.  For that, I still need my Kindle.
  • Finally, I use DailyBible to ensure that I geta great Bible verse to start each and every day.

There are a few other apps that I should note.  First, I use NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for my screen saver.  I use ConnectBot to securely log into my servers at home.  I use Astro to perform miscellaneous file management tasks.  I use the Astrid Task Manager for my day-to-day task entry. I use Google Sky Map for really cool nighttime star-gazing. I use Pandora for streaming music. Finally, I use Shazam for recognizing music and buying miscellaneous songs while I’m on the go.

All in all, my Droid 2 is getting a good workout.  I’ve even updated the SD card already.  This is so reminiscent of PC systems in the nineties.  It’s kind of like the wild west and Star Trek – all at the same time.  I guess that means that the first movie I must play on my phone will be Joss Whedon’s “Serenity.”

-Roo

Chrome: More Than A Browser – Less Than A Desktop

Lorin Olsen


Take a look at the picture above.  What do you see? Here’s a quick summary:

  • That’s Windows 7 running on my system. Yeah, it’s the release candidate as I haven’t upgraded to the GA version – yet.
  • You see Tweetdeck. While I like other clients, I can’t quite swallow the Seesmic brew that includes Silverlight.
  • You also see a Chrome browser. I like a lot of things about the Chrome browser.  But oddly enough, I still have to use Firefox to edit my posts to WordPress.
  • While hidden by a few windows, you also see Windows Media Center.
  • For those who are looking carefully at the task bar, you see an icon for Eclipse.  I’m using that for my Android development environment.
  • Sun’s VirtualBox is running.  You see it running on the desktop.  And you see several operating systems images.
  • One of those operating systems is the Chrome OS.  And that VM is running.  In the image, you’ll see what looks like a Chrome browser.  There’s a tab for GMail and a tab for GCal.  You’ll also see the Start/Welcome tab.  There’s a pretty good chess game and there are a lot of web apps.

So what is Chrome? Is it a desktop? Nope.  Is it just a browser? Nope.  It IS a down-payment on Google’s gambit to move people from desktop apps to cloud/network services.  And it is a completely open framework for new innovation.
Will it win? Well, it won’t displace Windows on new system sales – at least, not yet.  Will it be the platform for netbooks? Maybe.  But they may be fighting against Android for that honor.
But unlike other desktop contenders, this offering is not designed for a head-to-head fight with Windows.  Unlike Safari and Mac OS X, this platform is not seeking to be another desktop in the fight.  Rather, it seeks to move the battlefield to an entirely new venue.  This is the same fight that Sun started with the NC (i.e., the “Network Computer”).  But Sun had no traction in the consumer marketplace.  And they saw meager penetration in the enterprise space.
But Chrome OS is the inheritor of a unique phenomenon; some of the best technologies are a redux of something that was already in existence.  MP3 players existed for quite some time before the iPod arrived.  The Apple iPod won because it captured the consumer imagination.  In the same way, Chrome OS is a redux of things we’ve seen before.  Can Google transform a moribund market for network computing?  I sure hope that they will.  But they will need a spark for that to happen.  In the mobile phone industry, I think that the Verizon Droid may be the spark needed for Android’s explosion into the market.
In a very strange way, Chrome OS’ real competitors maybe the netbooks and wireless platforms like Android.
-Roo

Red Rover, Red Rover – Send Twitter On Over

Lorin Olsen

redroverStrategy in the information technology space is a lot like game theory – or at least it’s like kid’s game theory.  The normal inclination of companies is to acquire other companies in order to grow.  This is especially true when the target of an acquisition has a capability that you lack in your own service portfolio.
But during times of economic distress, it’s hard to cost-justify such an acquisition.  At the same time, it is very hard to justify a “buy” when you aren’t quite sure how federal regulators will perceive such an acquisition.  Enter kids games… If you remember Red Rover, you know that sometimes you call a weak player just to get numbers on your side.  And then sometimes you call a strong and pivotal player with the hopes of building your own line.  During economic situations like we are facing today, a courageous company may just try and call another company to come play on their team.
Last night, Twitter announced that they will be playing in the OAuth games.  For those not intimately familiar with OAuth, it is an open authentication model that promotes application authentiaction and data sharing.  OAuth is not the same thing as OpenID (which is for user/personal authentication).  At the same time, they DID NOT annouce support for OpenID.
Why is this important?  Well, user/personal authentication goes straight to the heart of your customer base.  If you maintain your own user database, then you can leverage that base directly.  If you rely upon someone else’s user database (e.g., Google or Yahoo’s users), then you can’t directly tap that base – at least, not as easily.  So I’m not suprised that Twitter is signaling OAuth.  They want to have a broader reach of interoperatiblity.  Unlike Facebook, Twitter doesn’t have a “platform” to exploit.  So it is in their interests to play on a field where other company’s can agree to work in a friendly (coopetition-based) model.
It also makes sense that they aren’t announcing any plans for OpenID.  Twitter just said “no” to becoming an appendage on someone else’s platform.  But they aren’t big enough to do the same thing that Facebook wanted to do (i.e., buy others and build themselves). This is especially true since there isn’t a LOT of spare VC funding these days.  So Twitter will keep its user base and “play nice” with others – for now.
By announcing OAuth support, Twitter is making itself an even bigger target.  But this time, they may be the target of a different corporation – and it smells like an infrastructure player might be in the mix.  Specifically, I see either Google or Yahoo! making a play (hostile or otherwise) for Twitter.  Personally, I think that Google is trying to bring Twitter into their universe.  It would make Google an even more compelling services “platform” if they had a “partner” who could pull the micro-blogging crowd into orbit.
Is Google thinking about it?  Who knows?  But they are certainly a big player in OAuth.  Their entire OpenSocial initiative hinges on the success of OAuth.  And recent posts by Google seem to indicate that they want to “play nice” with other companies and other services.  If nothing else, maybe they can drive more services to rely upon Google infrastructure (i.e., not their search infrastructure).
At the same time, Yahoo! might surprise us.  Their new CEO wants to make a big splash.  And there could be no bigger splash than an outright pruchase of Twitter by Yahoo!  I hope that this does not happen.  But if I were the CEO at Yahoo!, I’d really be tempted.
-Roo

Center of the Universe? Meh, Bleh or Ewww?

Lorin Olsen

google-cloudGoogle is taking an increasingly central role in all of my computing. [Note: Please take a look at a few of my recent posts.]  Here is the quick list:

  • All of my personal email is processed via GMail.  This includes my ISP email that I pull via GMail.  And the introduction of offline capabilities only locks me further into the Google camp.
  • 99% of my searches use Google.
  • I consume 95% of all of my RSS feeds using GReader. The other 5% is processed using Yahoo! Pipes.
  • I use Chrome over 80% of the time. I still use Firefox (for some of the extensions I love). And I still play with both Opera and Safari. But these will dwindle, not grow.
  • I’m beginning  to use Latitude for my location-based activities. I’m not sold on it yet. But Brightkite is going to have a tough time keeping me.
  • I use GTalk as one of several IM ecospheres I routinely frequent for personal communications.  This is even more important as my company will (in all likelihood) interconnect its enterprise IM solution to the public Jabber infrastructure via the GTalk servers.  Personally, I believe that XMPP will soon become the modern-day equivalent to SNMP (the protocol that unified all email systems globally).
  • I’m using iGoogle as a portal to all of these services. The current iGoogle actually has some very nice features.  It has certainly improved greatly in the last two years.  And the integration of GReader and Latitude make it far more compelling than it was a year ago.
  • I used to run this blog on Blogger (a Google asset).  But when I joined Microsoft three years ago, I had to drop Blogger.  Of course, squatters came in and took my old blog address.  So when I left Microsoft, I started to run this blog on WordPress.  Actually, I like WordPress a lot more.  When I transition to a site on my own domain, I will still be using WordPress.  But Blogger (Google) has a huge number of active blog sites.  And the fact that it is a free service will bring people to Blogger and get them hooked on Google tools and Google advertising.
  • Over the past year, Google has been a pivotal player in the Open Social movement.  And they are achieving an even great role in open/federated authentication.  With their work on OpenID, they will be one of the three top players in any federated authentication solution.

It is clear that Google has a huge postition in my universe.  And that position is growing, not shrinking.  With more and more Google assets in common use, there is a defniitve gravitational “pull” associated with these computational bodies.  Indeed, the gravitational well of Google is getting larger and larger.  For example, if I had the spare change for a new phone (and no time left on my current contract), then I think I might pick up a GPhone rather than an iPhone.
This is becoming quite reminiscent of the place Microsoft began to take in the early and mid-nineties.  Is Google becoming the next Microsoft? Gosh, I don’t want to be the millionth person to discuss that hypothesis.  But it might be worth looking at Google as the next IBM.  IBM had a lock on an entire platform (the mainframe).  Every decision that was made within the corporate data center had to factor in the current and future blueprints from IBM.  And it sure looks like Google is more and more capable of exerting this kind of influence – especially as cloud-computing evolves into a reality.
At this time, Google is a key vendor of some important client technologies.  And Google is a key player as a vendor of infrastructure services and capabilities.  Google is also a new and increasingly important player in communications. And Google is practially the only player in search-based advertising.
So what’s next for them? Is it hardware? I don’t think so.  They don’t mind specifying standards – like their handling of the GPhone.  They won’t build it – but they’ll design and direct it.  Is it software?  Well, I’d have to answer yes and no.  They will build the software and then distribute it.  But they will do this as a means of providing a platform for ad-based revenue.  And right now, Google is able to monetize all of their software and standards investment via a simple advertising tax they impose on nearly every platform.  Will they focus on services?  Hmmm. That might be interesting.  But I doubt that they have the stomach for that – especially in a market that is shrinking – not growing.
Is Google a Microsoft or an IBM?  Who really knows the answer to that question.  But should Google be watched by federal regulators?  I would have to say yes.  While I don’t think that Google is exercising monopoly power to the disadvatnage of others (either competitors or customers), I do think that they have the means to do so.  But will the current governement (as controlled by the Democratic party) have the stomach to play watchdog over a company that is known to fund many a Deomocratic pet project?  Now there is an interesting question.
-Roo