Category: Tech

Our phones are capable of doing so many things, many of which we haven’t a clue about because we haven’t worked that out yet. If we really sat down and thought about how hard it is to execute some of the simplest things on our phones, we might be amazed. In order to simplify how we interact with our devices, Google has launched Chrome to Phone and Voice Actions.

Voice Actions

Communicating with your phone should be as easy as communicating with another person. It is still a phone, after all, made (mostly) for voice conversations. Their initial investment in voice search has definitely paid off with 25% of searches from Android 2.0 devices being done via voice. Voice activated dialing and voice commands have been around for a while, but Google is attempting to take this type of control to the next level with Google Voice Actions (get it here). You can initiate calls to contacts and businesses, make a note to yourself, pull up a map, send a text or email, and even tell your phone to play a certain artist/song/album. Here are the commands currently available:

• send text to [contact] [message]
• listen to [artist/song/album]
• call [business]
• call [contact]
• send email to [contact] [message]
• go to [website]
• note to self [note]
• navigate to [location/business name]
• directions to [location/business name]
• map of [location]

This feature only works on Froyo 2.2 and will be pre-installed on the Droid 2 phone from Motorola. Other phones that have just been updated will need to install the following apps to get access to the new features:

• Voice Search (this app includes Voice Actions)
• Google Search widget
• music apps (e.g. Pandora, Last.fm, Rdio, mSpot)

I’ve been playing with Voice Actions on the Evo and I have to say that I’m extremely impressed and also extremely disappointed. Just as with the voice-to-text feature that was already available, you often get server errors. I can’t really tell if it’s a connectivity issue specific to me or something on Google’s end. The primary issue is that you have to keep repeating yourself rather than the software saving what you said and trying to submit it again.

Chrome to Phone

Have you ever been looking at something on your computer and decided you wanted to take it with you? It would be great if there was an easy way to just zap stuff from your computer to your mobile device, but that ability just hasn’t existed until now with Chrome to Phone. Chrome to Phone puts a button on your browser that lets you seamlessly hand things off to your phone.

How many times have you looked up directions on your computer and immediately wished you’d just done it on your phone? Every wished you could cut and paste something to your phone? Dial a phone number? Chrome to Phone makes it all happen.

Suppose you’re reading an interesting article on your favorite news website and need to leave for an urgent appointment. Simply click the extension icon in your browser to send the link to your phone and the device’s browser will automatically open the link, ready for you to view on the go. Chrome to Phone also works seamlessly with Google Maps. Say you’ve looked up an address or driving directions on your desktop. Clicking the extension icon in your browser will push the information to the Google Maps app on your phone. YouTube videos work the same way with the extension. You can also select a phone number on a web page and send it to the dialer on your phone. Selected text can also be automatically copied from your browser and sent to your Android clipboard for later viewing.

Remember that you need the Chrome extension as well as the corresponding Android app for your phone.

Twitter is set to release a set of buttons for web publishers that will make it easy for visitors to share content on Twitter. The buttons are simple to install, just copy/paste a single line of code. You can choose a Javascript version, an iFrame, or a custom setup. They come in 3 different sizes: 110×20, 55×20, 55×63. It’s not the feature itself that has the web buzzing, but the fact that this feature competes directly with Tweetmeme, the long-time king of retweeting pages on the web.

Twitter’s implementation of the Tweet button can optionally show a comprehensive count of how many retweets a page has, adds an @mention of your site’s Twitter account, and makes sure the visitor never has to actually leave your site. The 5 optional settings include:

• via – this will give your site some shine as well as adding a “via” to your most relevant Twitter account and providing a recommendation for the user to follow you
• related – this option lets you specify another account suggestion for the user to follow
• text – the default text for your tweet/retweet
• url – Twitter will automatically shorten the URL of your page using it’s t.co shortener. If you want to override the URL that appears in the tweet to point somewhere, this is where you do it. There doesn’t seem to be a built-in feature to specify a different URL shortener, so you could manually provide a URL from a different service here.
• count – specify your button’s orientation: horizontal, vertical, or none (which shows no count)

At this point, it’s unclear if Twitter is blatantly going after Tweetmeme, or if the two are cooperating somehow. Given the similarities this Twitter feature shares with Tweetmeme, there could be major repercussions if they aren’t working together. Developers have already been wary of working within the Twitter ecosystem since Twitter began implementing features in-house and acquiring third-party apps. Competing so directly with a complimentary service could be seen as biting the hand that feeds them as Twitter would be nowhere without third-party applications.

The button may hit as early as tomorrow, Aug 12th. While it remains to be seen whether this is bad news for Tweetmeme, they still have some wiggle room if worse comes to worse. Beyond a simple retweet, publishers are also interested in the analytics behind those tweets, just as Bit.ly stays relevant because of the data it has around its shortened URLs. Tweetmeme also provides a Digg-like home page for you to find the hottest links on Twitter.

Do you think Twitter really going after Tweetmeme?

After just announcing a partnership with Comcast called DVDsByMail, which gives Comcast customers a discount on renting Blockbuster’s 95,000 movie titles and TV shows through Blockbuster’s Netflix-like “by-mail” service, Blockbuster has just launched a game rental service that Gamefly should be worried about.

The landscape of the consumer entertainment industry seems to be constantly changing. Netflix and Gamefly are the established go-to-guys for movies and games by mail. Not only that, but Netflix’s instant watch feature gives you unlimited access to titles you can watch immediately online for as little as $10/month. Redbox is doing its thing with their little red kiosks all over the US, letting people rent movies for dollars a day while contemplating a move onto the web. With the new competition, Blockbuster initially floundered and closed down stores, but it seems they may have finally found their footing.

Blockbuster’s service is a hybrid of Netflix and Gamefly, making no distinctions between games or movies when you’re adding things to your queue. They boast a catalog of 3,000 games at no extra charge above and beyond their standard by-mail rental plans with no due dates or late fees. The monthly fee for their one disc at a time plan is $8.95. For about the same amount, you can get a similar account with Netflix, but minus the games. Gamefly will let you pay $8.95/month for a similar plan, but it jumps to about $16/month after the first month.

This new feature from Blockbuster goes directly at Gamefly, undercutting their pricing by half while offering the added ability to get movies as well as games. Netflix should be paying attention as well since their 2-disc plan is the same price as Blockbuster’s, except that Blockbuster allows one or both of those discs to be a game. Many Netflix and Gamefly customers may be straddling both services and Blockbuster is offering a cheaper way out.

Blockbuster also has a 28-day head-start on Netflix after a deal it made months ago with the movie studios. This gets you new releases on Blockbuster four weeks before you can get them on Netflix. If Blockbuster can make sure games are available when requested, it could spell big trouble for GameFly. Netflix may still be in the clear given that instant streaming alone is worth the $9/month and their recent deal with Epix.

via FastCompany,Technologizer

Twitter recently began testing their User Streams API. This is the full real-time Twitter fire hose pointed directly in your face. If you follow a decent number of people, the batch method that Twitter now offers becomes quite annoying. While you’re looking at one tweet, 300 new ones instantly bury it. Don’t bother, you aren’t going to find it again. While real-time tweets might sound like more to deal with, it actually makes it easier to follow what’s going on.

The Twitter Streaming API allows a desktop client to efficiently and instantly receive nearly all updates required to keep a display up-to-date. The transition to User Streams should return considerable capacity to the REST and Search APIs, increasing stability for Twitter users & developers alike. Additionally, several interesting new event types are available: Favoriting, retweeting, following, and list additions are also streamed along with direct messages, mentions, the user timeline and the home timeline.

Tweetdeck has opened up limited testing for User Streams in the desktop client. You can sign up here. The beta version of Seesmic Desktop 2 has also implemented the feature and you can download it here. The feature is off by default, so follow these steps to switch it on in Seesmic:

1. In the Options panel (you can access the options panel by click on the gear wheel in the lower left)
2. Select the Twitter Plugin, and click on “Settings” link
3. Check the “Use User Streams” checkbox
4. Save Settings and Restart Seesmic Desktop 2

While Seesmic just released an update to their Android app, Tweetdeck is still working on theirs. I’m not a fan of the Tweetdeck desktop client, but I’m intrigued by the prospect of using it on Android. The Tweetdeck blog paints a very pretty picture of what is to come with this new Android Twitter client:

First off, we’ve built Android TweetDeck from the ground up to be true multi-stream, laser focused on showing you all your friends’ cross-service activity in one app. Multi-column is still the order of the day but now columns are blended based on the type of activity rather than the service. And all this whilst retaining the most powerful functionality from each included service.

Even more interesting is that they seem to have switched their focus a little. Not only are they making the Android app the prototype for the iPhone and iPad apps, but also say it “won’t be long before most of the new concepts in Android TweetDeck make it to the desktop and web.” Very interesting, indeed. Can’t wait to get my hands on the beta, which should be available later this week.

In a deal that is sure to shake up the world of premium TV, Netflix has signed a deal that will give them exclusive access to stream Epix content on its pay service. Netflix may start streaming titles from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM on September 1st. The specifics haven’t yet been disclosed, but the LA Times speculates that Netflix will pay Epix close to $1 billion in the multi-year deal.

“Adding EPIX to our growing library of streaming content, as the exclusive Internet-only distributor of this great content, marks the continued emergence of Netflix as a leader in entertainment delivered over the Web,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. “The EPIX deal is an example of the innovative ways in which we’re partnering with major content providers to broaden the scope and freshness of choices available to our members to watch instantly over the Internet.”

Important to note here is that the deal does not threaten Hollywood’s DVD business. Netflix customers will still have to wait for a certain amount of time after the DVD release before the movies will be available for instant streaming. Also, to soften the blow to the cable companies, there is a 90-day wait after the movie debuts on Epix before they can be streamed online.

Despite the restrictions, this is still an awesome deal for all involved. Netflix gets to add current content to it’s already growing catalog. These are more popular movies and will be available instantly on the web via a computer or other supported device. Current offerings for instant streaming are slightly lacking and this should be a huge help.

On the Epix side of the deal, they are walking away with a serious wad of cash which they needed to continue doing business. It also serves as an example in giving customers access to more content, while preserving “the premium television, subscription on demand and online window reserved for cable, satellite and telco television partners.” Keeping all parties happy is usually the point where entertainment deals break down. Fortunately this won’t affect premium TV cable services in some places like pretoria, so you can get your explora installation in Pretoria done by dstv installation company.

“Netflix is an incredibly popular service and we welcome them as our newest distribution partner. We are pleased to be able to continue our mission of bringing consumers the movies where they want to watch them, while satisfying the differing needs of cable, telco and satellite operators. This deal also underscores the tremendous value of our offerings in the marketplace.” — Mark Greenberg, president of EPIX

This is a huge investment by Epix and Netflix in the future of entertainment on the web. While they have taken steps to pacify cable TV, the deal still makes cutting the cable and ditching the dish a little easier.

Does this make Netflix more attractive to you?

via All Things Digital

The highly anticipated Motorola Droid 2 handset from Verizon may be coming sooner than you think. An Engadget reader from NC noticed his local Best Buy displaying Motorola Droid 2 dummy phones. The pricing information showed the phones running at $199 or $599 without a contract. This is pretty typical for phones of this caliber, so it’s reasonable to believe the reports.

This past weekend, Motorola and Verizon went to old media to alert potential customers of the upcoming upgrade opportunity. They posted full-page ads in newspapers across the U.S., but didn’t include any specific launch date. The ad simply says “Rule Your Empire with Iron Thumbs” and touts the “NEW advanced keyboard” the Droid 2 will be sporting. The Droid 2 dominates the ad, which also features the Droid Incredible and the newly released Droid X. The Incredible and the X both carry a price tag of $199.

While the ad only gets as specific as “coming soon,” rumor has it that the device will be launched on August 12th. As PC World notes, it seems odd that Verizon would place ads in the paper so close to the launch date (the 12th is in 3 days), without actually including the launch date. Either they are confident that the Droid brand stands on its own or the rumors are false.

The August 12th launch date is still up in the air, but it seems suspicious that the original Droid is suddenly showing up as “out of stock” on Verizon’s site. Obviously, the Droid 2 will replace the Droid and it looks like the original is moving out of the way for the impending launch.

The Droid 2 will be the first phone to have Android 2.2 (Froyo) pre-installed. This brings Adobe Flash 10.1 support and the ability to install apps to the SD Card out of the box. The Droid 2 sports a 1Ghz processor.

As we’ve previously noted here, the primary difference between the Droid 2 and other phones in the same genre (Evo, Droid X, etc.) is the physical keyboard. For many, this may seem like a step back, but a decent number of potential customers are looking for an advanced android phone with a keyboard.

Skype filed a registration for Initial Public Offering (IPO) today, filing a form S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The number of shares and price range are yet to be determined, but Skype is looking to raise $100 million in the IPO according to the paperwork. According to their press release:

Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated will be the joint global coordinators as well as joint book-running managers for the offering. BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. will also be acting as joint book-running managers. Lazard Capital Markets LLC, RBC Capital Markets Corporation and UBS Securities LLC will be acting as joint lead co-managers; Allen & Company LLC and Evercore Group LLC will be acting as co-managers for the offering.

It no huge shocker that Skype is taking this step. They have made a lot of money over the past couple of years and their numbers will only continue to accelerate. They have a loyal user base of about 124 million active users (the total number of registered users is 560 million). Of the 124 million, 8.1 are monthly subscribers who pay $96 per year on average.

Besides being successful as a stand-alone product, Skype also has its claws in the mobile industry where it can continue to grow its customers by offering competitive rates for calls over data and not waste minutes. They are also expanding into unexpected areas, as we see in their deals with television makers. SkypeKit makes it easy for any device manufacturer to add Skype support.

One major reason we may be seeing Skype going for the IPO now is the settlement of a major set of lawsuits. About a decade ago, IDT acquired Net2Phone and their VoIP technology. Six years later, 2006, Net2Phone files a patent infringement lawsuit against Skype. In 2008, eBay (owner of Skype at that point) turns around and sues IDT. Just this June, IDT filed a civil antitrust complaint against Skype. The most interesting part is that the lawsuit was just settled last week. Skype paid out $343.8 million to acquire their software, clearing the road for the current IPO.

via GigaOM

We have already talked about the iPhone potentially coming to Verizon, but it looks like these rumors are getting some teeth. Bloomberg reported the Apple phone would be launched on Verizon’s network next year. Now, we have more concrete evidence that this may be the case. According to TechCrunch, Apple has shown their hand by the part orders they’ve recently placed:

Sources with knowledge of this entire situation have assured me that Apple has submitted orders for millions of units of Qualcomm CDMA chipsets for a Verizon iPhone run due in December.

The logic is simple: Verizon doesn’t use GSM as AT&T does, they use CDMA technology on their network. This means that Apple will need to create an entirely new and separate design to accommodate this different technology. By ordering “millions” of CDMA chipsets from Qualcomm, something they have never done before, it follows that they must be creating a CDMA device. More than likely, this device will be a new version of the iPhone for Verizon.

Component purchases and manufacturing starts don’t typically reveal strong links to individual handset OEMs. But in some cases components have a DNA which is traceable through the supply chain. For example, iPad rumors became much more concrete when we knew Apple was procuring large LCD screens.

Because of the limited supply of these parts, the order has been placed just in time to get the chips by December, which could result in the devices themselves being ready some time in January. This falls in line with the earlier rumors about an iPhone for Verizon.

Adding fuel to the fire, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg will be making the opening keynote speech at CES 2011. Companies sometimes make major announcements about new products at CES and rumors are already circulating that Seidenberg might speak on Apple. Exciting, but not likely given the control Apple exercises over their products and brand representation. It is doubtful that Jobs would allow anyone else to ever announce an Apple product. Besides, Apple’s own keynote comes just a short time later.

This could come as a huge blow to AT&T, but they insist that losing their iPhone exclusivity won’t have an effect on their bottom line. In their latest quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, they said:

“We do not expect any such terminations to have a material negative impact on our wireless segment income, consolidated operating margin or our cash from operations.”

This is odd because one-third of AT&T’s activations in the first three months of this year came from customers who were new to the carrier and I’m pretty sure the iPhone was the main attraction. They continue to downplay the risk, just as their relationship with Apple has trended down over the last year. They also claim that 80% of customers are on family or business plans, which would make it difficult for them to switch. I still believe that current and future iPhone customers are more than willing to jump through whatever hoops are necessary to improve their experience.

via TechCrunch, MacRumors

Google Denies Net Neutrality Deal

About 2 days ago, the NYT broke a story about Google and Verizon making a back-room deal which would have a serious effect on the network neutrality debate. It was reported that Google, who had come out in favor of the FCC’s direction regarding net neutrality, would turn a blind eye to Verizon. This would allow companies including Google to pay a premium for priority data traffic on the Verizon network. Closely following the articles release, Google and Verizon both countered the claims by the New York Times.

The Google Public Policy Twitter account tweeted “@NYTimes is wrong. We’ve not had any convos with VZN about paying for carriage of our traffic. We remain committed to an open internet.” Verizon posted a statement on their policy blog saying, “The NYT article regarding conversations between Google and Verizon is mistaken. It fundamentally misunderstands our purpose.” The NYT stands by their claims, so it remains to be seen who is telling the truth. via BuzzMachine

JailbreakMe 2.0 Frees Your iPhone 4, 3GS, 3G on iOS 4 / 4.0.1 and iPad on iOS 3.2.1

On Monday, iPhone Dev-Team (Comex) and company made an “official” jailbreak application. This comes a short while after The Library of Congress ruled that jailbreaking did not violate any laws. What is most interesting about this method of jailbreaking is that all you have to do is visit the JailbreakMe website to get the ball rolling. Be sure to visit Redmond Pie for a full how-to about how to jailbreak your specific iDevice.

Disqus Adds Likes and Dislikes

It’s a phenomenon that continues to spread across the web. It’s the Like feature, first introduced by FriendFeed and later co-opted by Facebook. It seems that Likes are an expected feature for most social applications at this point. Disqus, switching to Likes on comments a while back, has now extended the feature in what they call Community Likes. These are for when you don’t really have anything to add, but still want to make your presence known. They also function as an easy way to share content on Facebook and Twitter. Visitors can also Dislike content, but Disqus reports over 90% Likes over Dislikes.

Social Media and Games Dominate American Online Activity

Ever wonder why Google is so persistent in breaking into the social media game? They are all about ads and eyeballs and social media is exactly the place to find both. A recent Nielsen study confirms what Google seems to already know. 40 percent of U.S. online time is spent on social networking, playing games, or email. Google probably has a good share of the last, but is definitely working hard to break into the first two.

Google Activates Multiple Sign-In

I’ve heard the interface is somewhat clunky and there are a few caveats, but you can now sign in to multiple Google accounts on the same browser at the same time. Once you’ve visited your Google Accounts page and activated the feature, you can choose which account you want to use via drop-down where your email address usually shows up. This will only work on Google Calendar, Reader, Sites, Code, and Gmail. When you visit an unsupported service, the first account you logged in with takes precedence. If you sign out at any point on any site, all your accounts are signed out.

There are some known issues related to multiple sign-in: this feature is not available on mobile devices, Google Calendar’s gadget doesn’t work properly in Gmail, you can no longer use offline Gmail and offline Google Calendar and the “note in Reader” bookmarklet only works for the default account.

Alternet reports that a group of influential Digg users have been caught using their powers for evil. The group consists primarily of conservatives and their goal has been to bury any stories they consider “too liberal” to promote their own conservative ideals. The group has been active for more than a year, operating multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives.

“The more liberal stories that were buried the better chance conservative stories have to get to the front page. I’ll continue to bury their submissions until they change their ways and become conservatives.”
-phoenixtx (aka vrayz)

The group calls itself the Digg Patriots (DP) and operated a Yahoo group of almost 100 members until it was recently shut down. Many members of the group had already been banned for life from Digg, but found ways to trick the system. Many maintained multiple accounts and sleeper accounts for when they were banned and methods for circumventing a ban were common knowledge in the group.

By coordinating their efforts and targeting the Upcoming section of Digg, they were able to remove “90% of the articles by certain users and websites submitted within 1-3 hours.” This essentially gave them the ability to censure Digg, preventing any posts they disagreed with from having a chance to make it to the front page. The Digg community ass a whole never had a chance to see or rate any of this content.

This illustrates the primary problem with social bookmarking sites like Digg. They end up being controlled by a handful of power users who dictate what content becomes popular and what is relevant. Combined with a lack of diversity in the user base, this makes these sites only useful to a narrow demographic. While this doesn’t mean Digg is lacking for traffic, it does explain why many people simply don’t get what’s so great about it and many others never use it. The content that remains popular on Digg is simply not diverse enough.

Digg.com is the powerhouse of social media websites. It is ranked 50th among US websites by Alexa (117th in the world), by far the most influential social media site. It reached one million users in 2007 and likely has more than tripled that by this point. Digg generates around 25 million page views per month, over one third of the page views of the NY Times. Front page stories regularly overwhelm and temporarily shut down websites in a process called the “Digg Effect.”

This has been a long-standing issue with Digg, but Digg v4 may be the solution to the problem for two main reasons:

1. The Bury button has been done away with entirely. This alone will go a long way to stop most of the gaming that we’re seeing with groups like the Digg Patriots.
2. Digg v4 is more social than the current version. Not only can you follow people you find relevant, but you will only see content from those users on your homepage. This personalized view let’s you choose what you want to see and prevents others from controlling your experience, making the site more useful to a wider audience.

Digg founder Kevin Rose said via Twitter that, while they’re focused on launching Digg v4, they are going to look into this recent situation.

Google has agreed to buy Slide for $182 million in a deal that will be announced Friday. According to TechCrunch, this is only one piece of the puzzle in Google making moves to create a “serious social gaming and apps strategy to counter Facebook.”

Slide is one of the pioneers of social gaming on sites like Facebook and MySpace. You haven’t heard of them because their limited success was overshadowed by companies like Zynga and Playdom. Playdom was recently acquired by Disney. Zynga has been making serious moves, inking a five year deal with Facebook, partnering with Yahoo, and accepting a $200 million investment from Google (not Google Ventures, Google proper). Besides the fact that Google dropped $200 mil on a competitor before looking to acquire Slide, some are scratching their heads about the rumored deal:

Now, I’m happy for Max Levchin and his investors, but frankly, the deal shows that Google not only has no idea what to do about social, but actually lacks the imagination to even think of anything worthwhile on its own. If Google is really trying to go social and get on the social gaming bandwagon, this deal is comparable to buying a Kia and hoping it can help you race past a Mercedes AMG 65 on the Autobahn. via GigaOM

Om sites a comment from Josh Elman (formerly of Facebook), who attempts to explain why Zynga and Playdom met success while Slide and RockYou fell by the wayside. The answer is that Zynga focused on one thing: games. They were fully invested in leveraging social gaming into a business. Slide and RockYou attempted to capitalize on whatever was hot at the time rather than building something sustainable.

Given the current state of Google services, they do appear erratic. Most deem Orkut a failure. Google Buzz had it pretty rough because of its ties into Gmail and the privacy complaints that ensued. Now, nobody even talks about it. It is also rumored that this deal was spearheaded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who also championed Google Buzz and Google Wave, the latter of which is no longer being developed and may close by the end of the year.

Does Google have some master plan when it comes to social networking? Are they desperately seeking a solution? Are they simply experimenting because they have the resources to do so? What do you think?

Google and Verizon, two of the biggest players in the Internet game right now, seem to have come to an agreement about pay tiers for data traffic on Verizon’s network. This would allow companies like Google to pay a premium so that traffic for sites like YouTube would get priority on Verizon’s network.

Many are quite upset about this deal, seeing it as the beginning of the end for net neutrality, a “sacred tenet of Internet policy” where no form of content on the Internet is favored over another. It is said that such a system might bring higher costs for customers, turning broadband access into a tiered payment system like we see with cable television.

This deal between Google and Verizon is exclusively between those two companies. Google, who has come out publicly in favor of a free and open Internet, has simply agreed not to challenge any decisions Verizon chooses to make about their network. Many fear, though, that this deal will have implications for the larger network neutrality talks involving the FCC.

The FCC failed in a ruling against Comcast and their right to regulate the Internet was thrown into question. Since that time, they have looked for a way to push through laws that will regulate broadband providers. In their latest efforts, they aim to treat Internet companies just like phone companies. A move which many say will still end up hitting consumers in the wallet.

While the Google-Verizon deal is not directly related, some feel it will influence opinions. Google and Verizon both support an open Internet, but believe that the path to true net neutrality involves “minimal interference from the government.” This deal could push many lawmakers to agree with this sentiment. Free Press President and CEO Josh Silver said:

“Two of the largest companies – Google and Verizon – have reportedly agreed to abandon consumer protections, filter content and limit choice and free speech on the mobile Internet. If true, the deal is a bold grab for market power by two monopolistic players. Such abuse of the open Internet would put to final rest the Google mandate to ‘do no evil.’ The financial interests of Google appear to have finally trumped its belief in policies to preserve the open Internet. A deal with Verizon cements its market power, and could make it more difficult for new app developers and software entrepreneurs to reach consumers.”

Google and Verizon have both enjoyed tremendous success with mobile handsets running Google’s Android operating system on the Verizon Wireless network. Verizon Wireless is the largest U.S. wireless carrier and Google’s Android devices definitely helped Verizon’s profits this year. Google is now activating about 200,000 Android units per day and CEO Eric Schmidt attributes much of this success to the Droid X on Verizon.

via NYT, GigaOM, Bloomberg, TechCrunch

Editor’s Note: Since the publishing of this article, Verizon Executive Director of Media Relations David Fish has posted a statement via Verizon’s PolicyBlog. Titled “The New York Times is Mistaken,” Fish disputes claims that Google and Verizon have entered into a business relationship.

The NYT article regarding conversations between Google and Verizon is mistaken. It fundamentally misunderstands our purpose. As we said in our earlier FCC filing, our goal is an Internet policy framework that ensures openness and accountability, andincorporates specific FCC authority, while maintaining investment and innovation. To suggest this is a business arrangement between our companies is entirely incorrect.

Google Wave was definitely a crowd pleaser at its launch last year. The hype was absolutely ridiculous. Speculation about whether it was going to kill email, Facebook, Twitter, or cure cancer abounded. Invites were a hot commodity as Wave remained private and you were the man if you had any. Now, according to the Official Google Blog, Wave is waving goodbye. There will be no more development on Google Wave as a stand-alone product. So what happened here?

In the private phase, many users kept saying that Wave would take off once it went public. The collaboration features were amazing, but the lack of users was the limiting factor. Once Wave opened up, many in this small group that actually knew what it was for did end up using it on the regular. Other users were still expecting a Facebook/Twitter/Email killer and were sorely disappointed. Rather than realizing they had got it wrong, they blamed Wave for not delivering. After that, the advanced real-time collaboration system pretty much became a running joke.

Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects. — Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Operations & Google Fellow

There are a few key take-aways here, though. Many will tout the failure of Wave as a social media powerhouse, email killer or what have you, but that’s not the whole story. I’m sure Google would have loved for Wave to attract a bunch of users and go mainstream, but it’s simple existence did push developers to try for more.

The central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began.

Was this simply another failed project by Google, or was it an experiment to push the envelope? I think because of Wave’s existence, we saw much more advanced web applications than we otherwise would have because Google showed what was possible using Wave. This is the same situation we saw with Google Chrome. Did Google really want to take over the browser market, or were they just looking to light a fire under the browser market?

Wave has taught us a lot, and we are proud of the team for the ways in which they have pushed the boundaries of computer science. We are excited about what they will develop next as we continue to create innovations with the potential to advance technology and the wider web.

If you’ve been a hardcore Wave user, Google plans to make it simple for you to liberate your data. The site should be available through the end of the year, so you have more than enough time to do so.

Are you sad to see Wave go?

Vonage has just lowered the barrier to free VOiP calls from your mobile device. By simply downloading an app to your Android or iOS device (which includes iPhone and iPod Touch with iPad support on the way), you can have a voice conversation with any of your Facebook friends, worldwide.

The Vonage Mobile application for Facebook comes from one of the leading providers of high-quality voice and messaging services over broadband networks. After installing the app, a single touch of your screen lets you call up any of your FB friends for free. The service works over Wi-Fi and 3G /4G networks in most countries.

“The Vonage Mobile app for Facebook is a tangible example of our commitment to deliver extraordinary value and a better communications experience for individuals and their social networks, across broadband-enabled devices, around the world,” said Marc Lefar, Chief Executive Officer of Vonage Holdings Corp. “This is just the start. In the future we will expand on this service to include a wide range of integrated voice and messaging services that change the way people communicate.”

There is no need to remember cryptic usernames or phone numbers. The app just taps into your existing Facebook network and displays your friend list. Just touch to talk. Their profile pic is displayed when dialing or calling so that you can identify them. To get started:

• Downloads the app from the iTunes Store, Android Market, the Vonage fan page on Facebook or vonage.com/talkfree.
• Enter your Facebook ID and password into the app (one time only).
• Your Facebook contacts are automatically loaded and are grouped by friends who can be called for free and friends available for instant messaging on Facebook. A Vonage logo will appear next to the names of friends who have downloaded the app.
• Invite additional Facebook friends to get the app so that you can call them.
• Touch a friend’s name from the Call Free list to make a free call anywhere in the world; no need to be online.
• Your phone rings for incoming calls, even if the application is closed.

Given the size and popularity of Facebook and the proliferation of Android and iPhones, this is a pretty big announcement. Not only from the standpoint of being able to make free calls over your data connection, but it opens up many new possibilities. You may not have a problem chatting with someone you know on Facebook, but you also may not be ready to give them your phone number. Phone numbers are also kind of a pain. This eliminates the need for them, letting you call people simply based on their identity. The application is cross-platform, which is always a good thing.

There aren’t many people using the app yet, so go download it and tell us what you think in the comments.

Taking a page from Apple’s playbook, Research In Motion held a media event to promote their new Blackberry Torch 9800 Smartphone, which will run on AT&T’s network. The phone features:

• Multi-touch screen (480×360)
• Slide-out keyboard
• 5 megapixel camera
• 8GB internal memory
• 4GB Flash
• 4GB MicroSD
• Optical trackpad

The Torch will be coming to you via AT&T, Best Buy, Walmart, and RadioShack on August 12th. You can grab one for $199.99 with a two-year agreement. If this all sounds familiar, it should. We just went through the same type of scenario with both the iPhone 4 and the HTC Evo.

According to the recent Nielsen numbers, Blackberry sales have dropped from 39 percent in the fourth quarter to 33 percent in the second quarter. Last year, RIM’s share in the United States was 45 percent. They seem to be making the very changes necessary to keep themselves relevant as many Blackberry customers are feeling left out of the smartphone race. More than half of existing Blackberry users want an iPhone, Android, or other device as their next choice.

The Blackberry Torch takes its name from a company Blackberry acquired last year. Torch Mobile brings technology from their Iris mobile web browser, which lays the foundation for Blackberry OS 6 and brings the Blackberry interface and user experience up to par with its competitors.

BlackBerry 6 features a redesigned interface that seamlessly works with the touch screen and trackpad, includes expanded messaging capabilities with intuitive features to simplify the management of social networking and RSS feeds (Social Feeds), and provides integrated access to the BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), Facebook®, Twitter™, MySpace™ and various instant messaging applications available on the BlackBerry Torch smartphone. Its enhanced multimedia experience rivals the best in the industry and includes a dedicated YouTube app and Podcasts app.

This news comes just days after Blackberry’s conflict with the United Arab Emirates regarding security concerns. Because RIM stores customer data outside of the UAE, they have concerns about being able to monitor personal information. They say this is to protect national security and to allow local authorities to monitor for illegal activity or abuse. Blackberry’s will be banned in the UAE for citizens and visitors beginning Oct 11th. You will still be able to make calls, though.

via AppleInsider