Web Concepts

Archive for the ‘Google’ Category

The technology blows away the competition by scanning 200 pages a minute

The scanner's camera runs at 500 frames per second, and captures rapidly flipping book pages in two modes. First, a regular line shines on the page to capture text and images. The second mode then manages neat the trick of reconstructing the curved, distorted pages in their original form. A laser device projects lines onto each page that the system can use to recreate the 3-D page model and correct the deformed lines.

Google's own proprietary book-scanning technology seems to use some sort of infrared camera to capture the 3-D shape of book pages, but the book lies flat and the page-turning mechanism is unclear. Other book scanners boast of capturing about 50 pages per minute, which is four times slower than the new method.

Masatoshi Ishikawa -- the University of Tokyo researcher behind the book-scanning marvel -- previously developed the fastest robot hands in the East, so he's probably not too worried about tiring out human hands by flipping book pages.

Miniaturized versions of this technology could eventually find their way into our smartphones for completely legal digitizing delights. Or it might combine with the robot hands to bring Short Circuit's Johnny 5 to life.

[via IEEE Spectrum]

Until now, people using Google’s Nexus One smartphone with AT&T service have only been able to access the carrier’s slower 2G or EDGE networks. But today, Google announced a new version of the phone that is compatible with AT&T’s 3G network, boosting speeds to stem consumer complaints.

The new version is also compatible with Rogers Wireless’ 3G network in Canada.

Google’s Nexus One can be used with a SIM card from most GSM operators around the world. The unlocked phone has run into limitations, though, since some carriers use different 3G frequencies. The Nexus One hit the market in January, with a plan and 3G support from T-Mobile in addition to the unlocked version.

The Verizon edition is expected to launch later this month, and a version for Vodafone in Europe is scheduled to be released as well in the second quarter of this year. There have also been rumors about a stripped down version of the Android-based phone for the Indian market.

The AT&T-compatible Nexus One can be used with a SIM card from the carrier, and the phone is sold online at $529. There is no discount for AT&T, however, because Google still offers a plan with T-Mobile only, at $179.

Tags: Google, nexus

Companies: AT&T, Google

Google approved that company was working under new OS - Google Chrome OS. Many users and analytics were waiting for the new product from Google, especially for completely new OS.

Google Chrome OS is absolutely independent OS and has nothing in common with mobile Androis OS. Google Chrome OS is oriented to work in the Internet. It is based on Linux kernel. New OS can work with x86 and ARM processors. It is expected that Google Chrome OS will be set up on small netbooks. The firs sales are going to be in the second quater of 2010.

Engineers said that they wanted to develop very easy for understanding OS, stable where users can forget about malware and viruses. Today some screenshots of Google Chrome OS were published on the Internet. But originality is under suspicion.

Salesforce.com Inc.'s online software service is becoming a showcase for Google Inc.'s e-mail and other widely used applications, deepening a relationship that has spurred speculation Google eventually will buy its smaller partner.

Besides selling Google's programs to its 41,000 business customers, Salesforce.com will integrate the suite of applications into its own service, which helps companies track and identify customers' needs.

The agreement to be announced Monday builds upon several years of collaboration between Salesforce.com and Google, which are trying to persuade more businesses to subscribe to software services over Internet connections instead of buying programs that must be installed on individual computers.

The online approach, sometimes called "cloud computing," represents a potential threat to bigger software makers like Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp. and SAP AG that make most of their money from selling individual licenses and then charging additional maintenance fees.

Salesforce.com Chief Executive Marc Benioff has become cloud computing's chief evangelist since he left Oracle to found his San Francisco-based company nine years ago. He believes his preaching will resonate even more with Google applications in Saleforce.com's platform.

"This will make it easier for us to convince more businesses to stop buying Microsoft Office and switch to better services like this that are emerging in the cloud," Benioff said.

The additional applications will help make Salesforce.com's service more attractive, but "the real winner here is Google," said Nucleus Research analyst Rebecca Wettemann. "This gives them a (business) sales channel" at no additional cost.

Salesforce.com also intends to sell customer support for Google's applications later this year.

Reports that Salesforce.com wanted to plug Google's applications into its service surfaced nearly a year ago, triggering chatter about a possible acquisition.

The takeover talk then cooled after Salesforce.com disclosed that it had merely retooled its service to make it easier for its customers to distribute their ads through Google's Internet-leading search engine.

Benioff declined to comment about a possible sale to Google. Dave Girouard, who oversees Google's applications, also declined to comment about the company's interest in buying Salesforce.

Salesforce.com and Google have more in common than a passion for cloud computing.

Both companies have cultivated fun-loving cultures and set up philanthropic foundations funded by a portion of their profits.

And the stocks of both companies have soared more than fivefold since their initial public offerings in 2004.

With annual sales of $749 million, Salesforce.com currently has a market value of more than $7 billion.

That's well within the means of Google, which has a market value of $145 billion and $14 billion in cash. The Mountain View-based company's most expensive acquisition so far has been its recently completed $3.2 billion purchase of Internet ad service DoubleClick Inc.

Google's suite of applications includes word processing, spreadsheets, calendaring and instant messaging, as well as e-mail. All the programs are hosted over the Internet, which Google views as an advantage because users can access the applications from any computer with an online connection.

But the convenience hasn't won over most major companies, many of which worry about security issues and the ability to use the programs off-line. "There is still a big trust issue, rightly or wrongly," Wettemann said.

Google offers free basic versions of its applications and charges an annual fee of $50 per worker for a deluxe package with more options.

More than 500,000 businesses and millions of people use the programs, according to Google. The company hasn't specified how many of the businesses pay fees for the premium applications.

The programs haven't been a big moneymaker so far. Last year, Google collected less than $200 million from software licensing while raking in $16.4 billion from advertising sales.

The beginning of the current year became for Google very hard. Their stocks has been raising down. For comparison the previous price was 750 USD, now it is 464 USD!!! The reason is that clicks on search advertisement were slowing down also. Now Google testing new algorithms of bringing ads to customers on their search page and analythics forecast the growth of stocks.

Internet-giant Google has started to place in a test mode on page of results of search a contextual videoadvertising. While advertising rollers are shown in the limited volume therefore see them users of Google. "Luckies" can far not all will have an opportunity to see a roller having noticed the contextual reference with the small pictogram in the form of a sign "+", by pressing on which the small player will open.

According to vice-president Google on search services, for accommodation of videoclips from advertisers additional money will not be raised yet. To be paid, as well as earlier, should only cliques under the advertising reference. Thus paid will be even cliques on a videoclip, without transition to a site of the advertizer, informs eWeek.

So, according to analysts comScore, about 20 % of Internet serfers look through monthly the order of 841 minutes of video. Almost 30 % of users look through 77 minutes of video. 54 % of the users who are on a regular basis looking through video on the Internet are remarkable that visit site YouTube belonging Google.

Meanwhile according to data of analysts IDC volume of the American market the Internet-advertising the last quarter has reached 7,3 billion dollars. It approximately on 28 % above a similar parameter for the fourth quarter 2006. Search giant Google continues to keep in sector of on-line advertising in the lead positions.

Company Google prepares for new on-line service under name Google Sites, the web-pages intended for editing.

As informs Your Search Advisor referring to the presentation lead by company Google in Ann Arbore (Michigan), development of firm JotSpot will be put in a basis of service Google Sites. We shall remind, that Google has got company JotSpot in the autumn of the last year. JotSpot specializes on development of software for creation and the publication of Wiki-pages (from Hawaiian wikiwiki - is "very fast"). Technology Wiki allows to make editing of contents through a web-interface, instantly to create references to other clauses (as existing, and on planned) and so on.

Google already offers users system Google Page Creator for editing a web-pages. This service is represented by the visual editor HTML constructed on the basis of technology AJAX and combined with a free-of-charge hosting. The new service Google Sites possessing expanded functionality, should replace service Google Page Creator. By means of Google Sites a web-developers, among other, intranetwork portals and the multiuser environments can create. Google Sites also will give to developers of a control facility projects.

Exact date of start of service Google Sites is not specified. Presumably, the service will earn in following year and will be a part of a set of on-line office appendices Google Apps.