Google launched a new version of Google Search that uses an encrypted connection to Google's servers. "With Google search over SSL, you can have an end-to-end encrypted search solution between your computer and Google. This secured channel helps protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party. This provides you with a more secure and private search experience," explains Google.
Google search over SSL works for web search, but since Google has a unified interface for search, it also works for video search, book search, blog search, news search. You won't be able to use image search, product search and Google Maps, which aren't yet properly integrated with the new Google interface.
The main benefit of using the SSL version of Google search is that the communication between your computer and Google's servers is encrypted. This is especially useful if you're using a public computer, an open WiFi network or you're using Google for sensitive searches. An interesting side-effect is that browsers no longer send referrals when you're clicking on search results that don't use SSL.
Google Secure Search has a special logo, which never changes for special occasions, and the URL is https://www.google.com.
I used WireShark, a free packet sniffer, to compare the standard HTTP interface with the new HTTPS version. As you can see, if you use Google Search over SSL, even the URL is encrypted, so your query is a secret for everyone, except Google:
If you'd like to use Google SSL as the default search engine in Chrome, go to the Settings dialog, click on the "Manage" button next to the list of search engines, add "Google SSL" and make it the default search engine. The downside is that Google Chrome will no longer show suggestions when you type your query. Google Chrome should use this in the incognito mode.
For Firefox, try this search plug-in, while for Internet Explorer, you can create a search provider using the URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=TEST.
{ via Google Blog }
Play Pac-Man on Google's Homepage
Google's doodles start to become more interactive. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man, Google created a doodle that lets you play the game. Go to Google's homepage and the game starts automatically after 10 seconds.
"Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the U.S. by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular in the United States from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is universally considered as one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of the 1980s popular culture."
I wonder how many people will forget why they visited Google's homepage and will start playing Pac-Man. The worst part is that the sound can't be turned off and it will surprise or annoy a lot of Google users. "If you're not a Pac Man fan or want to skip the music and lights, just enter you search query as usual and you'll be directed to our normal search results page. Other options include: closing your browser, turning the volume down or off on your computer, playing Pac Man all day long," suggests a Google employee. You can also disable Flash for google.com or use FlashMute, a software for silencing Flash sites. Google should have turned off the sound by default or at least should have provided an option to disable the music. The good news is that the game doesn't start if you type a query in the search box.
Update: The CoolPreviews extension for Firefox preloads Google's homepages, so you'll hear the Pac-Man sound even if you don't visit Google's homepage. The latest version, which can be downloaded from coolpreviews.com, fixes the problem.
Update 2: The sound is now disabled by default and you can only hear it when you start playing the game. The Pac-Man doodle replaces Google's logo for 48 hours.
"Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the U.S. by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular in the United States from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is universally considered as one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of the 1980s popular culture."
I wonder how many people will forget why they visited Google's homepage and will start playing Pac-Man. The worst part is that the sound can't be turned off and it will surprise or annoy a lot of Google users. "If you're not a Pac Man fan or want to skip the music and lights, just enter you search query as usual and you'll be directed to our normal search results page. Other options include: closing your browser, turning the volume down or off on your computer, playing Pac Man all day long," suggests a Google employee. You can also disable Flash for google.com or use FlashMute, a software for silencing Flash sites. Google should have turned off the sound by default or at least should have provided an option to disable the music. The good news is that the game doesn't start if you type a query in the search box.
Update: The CoolPreviews extension for Firefox preloads Google's homepages, so you'll hear the Pac-Man sound even if you don't visit Google's homepage. The latest version, which can be downloaded from coolpreviews.com, fixes the problem.
Update 2: The sound is now disabled by default and you can only hear it when you start playing the game. The Pac-Man doodle replaces Google's logo for 48 hours.
Google Tests a New Sidebar Without Icons
After many users complained that the new persistent sidebar from Google Search is distracting and takes away too much space, Google tests a new version of the sidebar that no longer includes icons. I don't think the icons were very helpful and removing them is a simple way to make the sidebar less annoying.
Here's the original layout:
Those who used the page http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all to access the old interface probably noticed that Google redirected it to the new interface. You can still use the Hacker interface, the Linux-flavored interface, but the best thing to do is to try the new interface and learn about the tools and filters that could really improve your results. I constantly use the "updates" filter to search Twitter, the "discussions" filter to restrict the result to forums and the "past 24 hours/past week/past month" options to find recently updated pages.
Here's the original layout:
Those who used the page http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all to access the old interface probably noticed that Google redirected it to the new interface. You can still use the Hacker interface, the Linux-flavored interface, but the best thing to do is to try the new interface and learn about the tools and filters that could really improve your results. I constantly use the "updates" filter to search Twitter, the "discussions" filter to restrict the result to forums and the "past 24 hours/past week/past month" options to find recently updated pages.
Google TV Announced
Google TV is a new platform that aims to bring the Web to TVs. Google developed a custom Android version that runs Google Chrome and improves the TV viewing experience by allowing you to find TV programs, showing recommendations and integrating content from the Web.
"With Google Chrome built in, you can access all of your favorite websites and easily move between television and the web. This opens up your TV from a few hundred channels to millions of channels of entertainment across TV and the web. Your television is also no longer confined to showing just video. With the entire Internet in your living room, your TV becomes more than a TV — it can be a photo slideshow viewer, a gaming console, a music player and much more," explains Google.
Google's demo from the Google I/O conference wasn't very convincing. Google acknowledged that many other companies tried to create similar products without too much success. The explanation is probably that they were ahead of their time, but Google says that they were unsuccessful because they dumbed down the Web experience, they were closed and users had to choose between watching TV and browsing the Web.
"The project started 2½ years ago, with a vision of a walled garden of TV-optimized web services. But the landscape keeps shifting, particularly in the capabilities of mobile devices. The only solution big enough for the problem is to bring the whole web to your TV," says Vincent Dureau, who is in charge of Google TV.
Google partnered with Sony, Intel and Logitech to add Google TV to "televisions, Blu-ray players and companion boxes". The first Internet-enabled TV that runs Google's software will be launched this fall by Sony and it promises to provide "richer internet access so you can browse the web just like you would from a computer."
But why not connect your TV to a computer? Android is a great operating system for a mobile phone, but it doesn't look very well on a big HDTV. Not all the Android applications are useful on a TV and those that are useful won't take advantage on the huge screen estate of the TV. Google promises to introduce a Google TV SDK and some APIs for web applications, but that will happen next year.
Google TV has a lot of potential and I'm sure it could eventually become a great product. The software could make TV programs more interactive by detecting phone numbers, addresses or URLs, it could allow you to chat with a friend while watching the same TV show, it could create chat rooms for everyone who watches the same show, it could use visual search to show information about an object from the screen or it could translate a foreign-language movie.
If you already have an Android phone, you can use it as a remote control. Since the TV and the phone can run the same applications, you'll be able to sign in using the same Google Account and synchronize your data. Favorite an YouTube video on a phone, watch it later on your TV and use it to generate a list of recommended TV shows.
Can we switch to the other box?
"With Google Chrome built in, you can access all of your favorite websites and easily move between television and the web. This opens up your TV from a few hundred channels to millions of channels of entertainment across TV and the web. Your television is also no longer confined to showing just video. With the entire Internet in your living room, your TV becomes more than a TV — it can be a photo slideshow viewer, a gaming console, a music player and much more," explains Google.
Google's demo from the Google I/O conference wasn't very convincing. Google acknowledged that many other companies tried to create similar products without too much success. The explanation is probably that they were ahead of their time, but Google says that they were unsuccessful because they dumbed down the Web experience, they were closed and users had to choose between watching TV and browsing the Web.
"The project started 2½ years ago, with a vision of a walled garden of TV-optimized web services. But the landscape keeps shifting, particularly in the capabilities of mobile devices. The only solution big enough for the problem is to bring the whole web to your TV," says Vincent Dureau, who is in charge of Google TV.
Google partnered with Sony, Intel and Logitech to add Google TV to "televisions, Blu-ray players and companion boxes". The first Internet-enabled TV that runs Google's software will be launched this fall by Sony and it promises to provide "richer internet access so you can browse the web just like you would from a computer."
But why not connect your TV to a computer? Android is a great operating system for a mobile phone, but it doesn't look very well on a big HDTV. Not all the Android applications are useful on a TV and those that are useful won't take advantage on the huge screen estate of the TV. Google promises to introduce a Google TV SDK and some APIs for web applications, but that will happen next year.
Google TV has a lot of potential and I'm sure it could eventually become a great product. The software could make TV programs more interactive by detecting phone numbers, addresses or URLs, it could allow you to chat with a friend while watching the same TV show, it could create chat rooms for everyone who watches the same show, it could use visual search to show information about an object from the screen or it could translate a foreign-language movie.
If you already have an Android phone, you can use it as a remote control. Since the TV and the phone can run the same applications, you'll be able to sign in using the same Google Account and synchronize your data. Favorite an YouTube video on a phone, watch it later on your TV and use it to generate a list of recommended TV shows.
Can we switch to the other box?
Android 2.2: Froyo Is a Major Update
Google announced today Android 2.2, a major update for Google's mobile operating system. There are many changes and a lot of new features that are really useful.
Android now uses a just-in-time compiler that improves the performance for some applications, especially for games. "The new Dalvik JIT compiler in Android 2.2 delivers between a 2-5X performance improvement in CPU-bound code vs. Android 2.1 according to various benchmarks," says Xavier Ducrohet.
Android's browser includes the V8 JavaScript engine created for Google Chrome, so web pages that use JavaScript heavily will load much faster (some benchmarks show a 2-3X improvement). Google claims that Android's browser is the fastest mobile browser available today.
Developers have a new API for app data backup, which is really useful if you want to switch to a new Android device or you want to install a custom version of Android. There's also an extremely useful messaging API for sending data to an Android phone from another device. For example, you'll be able to send a link from your computer to your Android phone and the phone will automatically open the browser and navigate to the web address. You can also send files and install applications from your computer over the air.
Android Market will have a web interface, applications can auto-update and you can quickly install all the updates, instead of manually installing each update. Another change is that applications can be moved to the SD card. Google also announced that it has acquired SimplifyMedia, a company that developed some cool applications for streaming your music.
Android 2.2 has built-in support for tethering and it can transform a phone into a portable hotspot. Android Market includes some great applications for tethering, but it's nice to see that's now a built-in feature.
You can add multiple languages to the keyboard and switch between them by swiping across the space bar, there's a new UI for the camera, there's support for Exchange calendars and remote wipe, LED flash for the Camcorder, support for sharing contacts with other phones and much more.
Flash 10.1 is now available as a beta application in the Android Market, but it requires Android 2.2. Nexus One and Motorola Droid will be updated to Froyo next month. The other HTC phones launched this year will be updated in the second half of the year. "This includes popular models like the Desire and Droid Incredible as well as hotly anticipated phones like the Evo 4G, MyTouch slide and upcoming models."
Android now uses a just-in-time compiler that improves the performance for some applications, especially for games. "The new Dalvik JIT compiler in Android 2.2 delivers between a 2-5X performance improvement in CPU-bound code vs. Android 2.1 according to various benchmarks," says Xavier Ducrohet.
Android's browser includes the V8 JavaScript engine created for Google Chrome, so web pages that use JavaScript heavily will load much faster (some benchmarks show a 2-3X improvement). Google claims that Android's browser is the fastest mobile browser available today.
Developers have a new API for app data backup, which is really useful if you want to switch to a new Android device or you want to install a custom version of Android. There's also an extremely useful messaging API for sending data to an Android phone from another device. For example, you'll be able to send a link from your computer to your Android phone and the phone will automatically open the browser and navigate to the web address. You can also send files and install applications from your computer over the air.
Android Market will have a web interface, applications can auto-update and you can quickly install all the updates, instead of manually installing each update. Another change is that applications can be moved to the SD card. Google also announced that it has acquired SimplifyMedia, a company that developed some cool applications for streaming your music.
Android 2.2 has built-in support for tethering and it can transform a phone into a portable hotspot. Android Market includes some great applications for tethering, but it's nice to see that's now a built-in feature.
You can add multiple languages to the keyboard and switch between them by swiping across the space bar, there's a new UI for the camera, there's support for Exchange calendars and remote wipe, LED flash for the Camcorder, support for sharing contacts with other phones and much more.
Flash 10.1 is now available as a beta application in the Android Market, but it requires Android 2.2. Nexus One and Motorola Droid will be updated to Froyo next month. The other HTC phones launched this year will be updated in the second half of the year. "This includes popular models like the Desire and Droid Incredible as well as hotly anticipated phones like the Evo 4G, MyTouch slide and upcoming models."
Gmail Autoforwarding Requires Verification
If you try to setup a filter that automatically forwards messages to an email address, Gmail now requires to verify that it's yours. After adding the forwarding address, Gmail will send a message to that address and you'll need to click on a link to show that you have access to the email account.
Google says that there are exceptions to this rule for the users of Google Apps Premier and Google Apps Education, which don't need to verify forwarding addresses for their own domain.
You can autoforward messages by defining a filter or by using the forwarding feature from Gmail settings. Gmail allows users to create up to 20 filters that forward to other addresses.
It's likely that the autoforwarding feature was used to send spam, so these restrictions will hopefully decrease the number of spam messages sent from Gmail accounts.
Google says that there are exceptions to this rule for the users of Google Apps Premier and Google Apps Education, which don't need to verify forwarding addresses for their own domain.
You can autoforward messages by defining a filter or by using the forwarding feature from Gmail settings. Gmail allows users to create up to 20 filters that forward to other addresses.
It's likely that the autoforwarding feature was used to send spam, so these restrictions will hopefully decrease the number of spam messages sent from Gmail accounts.
Google Chrome Has 70 Million Active Users
Google showed an interesting chart yesterday at the first Google I/O keynote. The number of Google Chrome users more than doubled in less than a year from 30 million users in July 2009 to 70 million users today. It's worth pointing out that this is the number of active users, not the number of Google Chrome downloads.
Asa Dotzler has a similar graph for Firefox, which shows that Firefox grew from 265 million users to 365 million users in the same period. To put things in perspective, Firefox has 5 times more users than Google Chrome.
It's a great achievement for Google and Chrome's market share will increase as the stable versions for Linux and Mac are released and Chrome OS becomes available. Even if you won't use Google Chrome, your browsers will be better because more people care about browser speed, process isolation and simple user interfaces.
Asa Dotzler has a similar graph for Firefox, which shows that Firefox grew from 265 million users to 365 million users in the same period. To put things in perspective, Firefox has 5 times more users than Google Chrome.
It's a great achievement for Google and Chrome's market share will increase as the stable versions for Linux and Mac are released and Chrome OS becomes available. Even if you won't use Google Chrome, your browsers will be better because more people care about browser speed, process isolation and simple user interfaces.
DreamHost's Hypothetical Question
Alexander spotted an interesting question in a recent DreamHost survey: "If DreamHost were to be acquired by Google, I would... (a) consider leaving (b) take no action".
DreamHost is a popular web hosting service. According to Wikipedia, "in 2009, the company began offering free web application hosting. Either with their own domain, or with a free subdomain, customers are able to make use of a number of open source applications, such as WordPress and MediaWiki without charge. The service is similar to, and can be integrated with, the Google App Engine."
Ironically, DreamHost says that it's "a tight-knit family and we're not looking to sell out to investors or media conglomerates or other gigantic companies who care more about the bottom line than providing solid web hosting."
Web hosting is one of the few important missing features from Google Apps. Right now, Google offers a basic service for creating web sites, which is better suited for wikis, and a platform for web apps.
{ Thanks, Alexander. }
DreamHost is a popular web hosting service. According to Wikipedia, "in 2009, the company began offering free web application hosting. Either with their own domain, or with a free subdomain, customers are able to make use of a number of open source applications, such as WordPress and MediaWiki without charge. The service is similar to, and can be integrated with, the Google App Engine."
Ironically, DreamHost says that it's "a tight-knit family and we're not looking to sell out to investors or media conglomerates or other gigantic companies who care more about the bottom line than providing solid web hosting."
Web hosting is one of the few important missing features from Google Apps. Right now, Google offers a basic service for creating web sites, which is better suited for wikis, and a platform for web apps.
{ Thanks, Alexander. }
Google Chrome Web Store
One of the reason why mobile app stores are successful is that applications are more discoverable. Users know where to find applications, there's a consistent interface for ratings and reviews, an easy way to buy applications and to compare them.
For web applications there's no web store and it's not always easy to find a good web app. Since Google Chrome OS is an operating system designed for running web apps, it's really important for Google to provide a list of high-quality web applications. Users may need an online photo editor, a music player, a chess game, a Math software or an online IDE.
Chrome Web Store will be launched later this year and intends to be "an open marketplace for web apps". Users will be to "install" applications by adding a shortcut to the new tab page. When you "install" an application, it can integrate with the browser by using advanced features that require permission: local storage, user's location, notifications.
"An installed web app could be separated visually from other tabs, could integrate better with the OS, and could be granted increased permissions. This special handling of web apps is exactly what we're working on in Google Chrome. Installing a web app in Google Chrome is easy and quick, with no restart required. At its simplest, installing a web app is like creating a super-bookmark to it. Once installed, a web app gets a big icon in Google Chrome's app launcher area, as well as some integration with the host OS," explains Google.
Even if the web applications from the Chrome Store will work in other browsers, Chrome will include some features that make it easier to use the applications. It will be interesting to see how many paid apps from the Chrome Web Store will be successful.
Update: You can already install applications in the latest Chromium builds. This post explains how to add the "enable-apps" flag and shows an example of application.
For web applications there's no web store and it's not always easy to find a good web app. Since Google Chrome OS is an operating system designed for running web apps, it's really important for Google to provide a list of high-quality web applications. Users may need an online photo editor, a music player, a chess game, a Math software or an online IDE.
Chrome Web Store will be launched later this year and intends to be "an open marketplace for web apps". Users will be to "install" applications by adding a shortcut to the new tab page. When you "install" an application, it can integrate with the browser by using advanced features that require permission: local storage, user's location, notifications.
"An installed web app could be separated visually from other tabs, could integrate better with the OS, and could be granted increased permissions. This special handling of web apps is exactly what we're working on in Google Chrome. Installing a web app in Google Chrome is easy and quick, with no restart required. At its simplest, installing a web app is like creating a super-bookmark to it. Once installed, a web app gets a big icon in Google Chrome's app launcher area, as well as some integration with the host OS," explains Google.
Even if the web applications from the Chrome Store will work in other browsers, Chrome will include some features that make it easier to use the applications. It will be interesting to see how many paid apps from the Chrome Web Store will be successful.
Update: You can already install applications in the latest Chromium builds. This post explains how to add the "enable-apps" flag and shows an example of application.
Google Font Directory
If you ever need a special font for your site, try one from the Google Font Directory. Google hosts 18 fonts that are available under an open source license, including the Droid fonts.
"For a long time, the web has lagged print and even other electronic media in typographic sophistication. To enjoy the visual richness of diverse fonts, webmasters have resorted to workarounds such as baking text into images. Thanks to browser support for web fonts, this is rapidly changing. Web fonts, enabled by the CSS3 @font-face standard, are hosted in the cloud and sent to browsers as needed," explains Google.
Google not only hosts the fonts, but it also makes it easy to add the fonts to a page with a single line of HTML code. For example, if you want to use Droid Sans, add this code in the HEAD element:
<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Droid+Sans' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' />
Then you can use Droid Sans in any CSS rule:
h1 { font-family: 'Droid Sans', arial, sans-serif; }
Google's code works in almost any browser. For Internet Explorer, Google converts the fonts to EOT (Embedded OpenType), a proprietary format created by Microsoft.
"For a long time, the web has lagged print and even other electronic media in typographic sophistication. To enjoy the visual richness of diverse fonts, webmasters have resorted to workarounds such as baking text into images. Thanks to browser support for web fonts, this is rapidly changing. Web fonts, enabled by the CSS3 @font-face standard, are hosted in the cloud and sent to browsers as needed," explains Google.
Google not only hosts the fonts, but it also makes it easy to add the fonts to a page with a single line of HTML code. For example, if you want to use Droid Sans, add this code in the HEAD element:
<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Droid+Sans' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' />
Then you can use Droid Sans in any CSS rule:
h1 { font-family: 'Droid Sans', arial, sans-serif; }
This is not an image
Google's code works in almost any browser. For Internet Explorer, Google converts the fonts to EOT (Embedded OpenType), a proprietary format created by Microsoft.
How to Play WebM Video on YouTube
If you want to try WebM, the open video format released by Google, you first need a browser that supports it. For now, WebM is not supported in a stable version of a browser, but you can install a Firefox nightly build or an Opera build. I download Opera 10.54, which is more stable than the nightly builds of Firefox.
After installing the browser, go to YouTube's HTML5 experiment and click on "join HTML5 beta". To find videos that are available in the WebM format, use YouTube's search feature and append &webm=1 to the URL, like this: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=web&webm=1.
Click on a video and you'll notice that YouTube no longer uses Flash or H.264. There's even a messages that makes the video player more cluttered: "HTML5 * WEBM".
YouTube converted a small percentage of videos to WebM. A search for [web] returns 4,610 WebM videos, while millions of other videos aren't available yet in this format. Check Opera's blog post for more information about the WebM format, embedding WebM videos and more examples of WebM videos.
After installing the browser, go to YouTube's HTML5 experiment and click on "join HTML5 beta". To find videos that are available in the WebM format, use YouTube's search feature and append &webm=1 to the URL, like this: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=web&webm=1.
Click on a video and you'll notice that YouTube no longer uses Flash or H.264. There's even a messages that makes the video player more cluttered: "HTML5 * WEBM".
YouTube converted a small percentage of videos to WebM. A search for [web] returns 4,610 WebM videos, while millions of other videos aren't available yet in this format. Check Opera's blog post for more information about the WebM format, embedding WebM videos and more examples of WebM videos.
Google Wave, Available Without Invitation
At the Google I/O developer conference, Lars Rasmussen announced that Google Wave no longer requires invitation. If you have a Google account, go to wave.google.com and you can use Google's real-time communication service.
Google Wave is now available in Google Apps, so that businesses, universities and other organizations can improve communication flow.
"Anyone on a wave can edit or reply to any section, keeping discussion in context with relevant content. Everyone's typing shows up instantly, and Google Wave lets new participants get up to speed quickly with organized discussions and playback to see how a wave evolved."
Google Wave really shines at Google I/O, where it's used to view live notes, ask questions and discuss sessions. Here's a wave for today's keynote.
Google Wave is now available in Google Apps, so that businesses, universities and other organizations can improve communication flow.
"Anyone on a wave can edit or reply to any section, keeping discussion in context with relevant content. Everyone's typing shows up instantly, and Google Wave lets new participants get up to speed quickly with organized discussions and playback to see how a wave evolved."
Google Wave really shines at Google I/O, where it's used to view live notes, ask questions and discuss sessions. Here's a wave for today's keynote.
WebM, an Open Video Format for the Web
Google is about to launch WebM, an open video format that will use VP8, the flagship video codec of On2. As you probably remember, On2 has been recently acquired by Google.
"The WebM project is dedicated to developing a high-quality, open video format for the web that is freely available to everyone. The WebM launch is supported by Mozilla, Opera, Google and more than forty other publishers, software and hardware vendors."
"WebM is an open, royalty-free media file format designed for the web. WebM files consist of video streams compressed with the VP8 video codec and audio streams compressed with the Vorbis audio codec. The WebM file structure is based on the Matroska media container," explains Google.
WebM's site says that the new codec will be supported in Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera and you'll be able to play YouTube videos by enabling YouTube's HTML5 experiment.
Google is expected to launch WebM at the Google I/O event, which is about to start in a few minutes (9:00am PDT). Don't miss the opening keynote, which is streamed live on YouTube.
{ via CNet }
"The WebM project is dedicated to developing a high-quality, open video format for the web that is freely available to everyone. The WebM launch is supported by Mozilla, Opera, Google and more than forty other publishers, software and hardware vendors."
"WebM is an open, royalty-free media file format designed for the web. WebM files consist of video streams compressed with the VP8 video codec and audio streams compressed with the Vorbis audio codec. The WebM file structure is based on the Matroska media container," explains Google.
WebM's site says that the new codec will be supported in Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera and you'll be able to play YouTube videos by enabling YouTube's HTML5 experiment.
Google is expected to launch WebM at the Google I/O event, which is about to start in a few minutes (9:00am PDT). Don't miss the opening keynote, which is streamed live on YouTube.
{ via CNet }
More Google Chrome OS Screenshots
Google posted more images that show the user interface of Google Chrome OS. The interface is still under development, so it may change until the first stable version is released, later this year.
Chrome OS uses an interesting visualization for tab overview. "The overview is available via either gesture and hotkey. It provides a visual way of switching between windows and tabs. Windows are exploded into the tabs they contain, and all tabs/windows are visible in a single 2.5d space. This model is largely based on Peter Jin Hong & Elin Pedersen's G.L.I.D.E. Tab Navigation. We present tabs in a venetian blind arrangement, ensuring visibility of the top left of every page, and using perspective to compress the most useful portions of the page into the available strips. Favicons are presented as an alternative visual aid."
Google also posted some screenshots of the open/save dialogs and the download shelf panel. "The shelf is an on demand target for downloading and uploading. It acts as a temporary resting place for files that have been accessed, and for content being uploaded to websites."
Even if the Chrome OS only lets you use a browser, you can still download files and open them using Chrome's multimedia libraries or using web applications like Google Docs.
A notification panel will be used for OS and website notifications, so web applications will be able to add their own alerts.
Chrome OS will also include simple applications like a calculator:
{ via TechCrunch }
Chrome OS uses an interesting visualization for tab overview. "The overview is available via either gesture and hotkey. It provides a visual way of switching between windows and tabs. Windows are exploded into the tabs they contain, and all tabs/windows are visible in a single 2.5d space. This model is largely based on Peter Jin Hong & Elin Pedersen's G.L.I.D.E. Tab Navigation. We present tabs in a venetian blind arrangement, ensuring visibility of the top left of every page, and using perspective to compress the most useful portions of the page into the available strips. Favicons are presented as an alternative visual aid."
Google also posted some screenshots of the open/save dialogs and the download shelf panel. "The shelf is an on demand target for downloading and uploading. It acts as a temporary resting place for files that have been accessed, and for content being uploaded to websites."
Even if the Chrome OS only lets you use a browser, you can still download files and open them using Chrome's multimedia libraries or using web applications like Google Docs.
A notification panel will be used for OS and website notifications, so web applications will be able to add their own alerts.
Chrome OS will also include simple applications like a calculator:
{ via TechCrunch }
Download Software Rubik's Cube
"Om Swastiastu"
Ada yang ingin main rubik cube? Kalian bisa membelinya di beberapa supermarket. Ada yang mudah dengan kualitas jelek, ada pula yang mahal dengan kualitas terbaik. Kalian tidak mempunyai uang untuk membeli rubik cube? Tetapi kalian sangat ingin bermain rubik kan? Gampang! Kini rubik telah tersedia dalam bentuk software yang dapat kalian download disini secara gratis. Cara menggunakannya juga sangat mudah. Kalian hanya perlu menggunakan mouse untuk menjalankan atau memutar rubik virtual tersebut. Seperti inilah tampilannya:
Rubik's Cube ini tidak hanya menyediakan rubik ukuran 2x2 seperti yang terlihat pada gambar diatas. Tetapi Rubik's Cube ini bisa menyediakan rubik virtual hingga ukuran 50x50! Hebat bukan. Software ini sangat simple tetapi tidak membuat kita bosan menggunakannya. Ditambah lagi dengan size yang tidak sampai setengah megabyte, atau kurang dari 500Kb.
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Ada yang ingin main rubik cube? Kalian bisa membelinya di beberapa supermarket. Ada yang mudah dengan kualitas jelek, ada pula yang mahal dengan kualitas terbaik. Kalian tidak mempunyai uang untuk membeli rubik cube? Tetapi kalian sangat ingin bermain rubik kan? Gampang! Kini rubik telah tersedia dalam bentuk software yang dapat kalian download disini secara gratis. Cara menggunakannya juga sangat mudah. Kalian hanya perlu menggunakan mouse untuk menjalankan atau memutar rubik virtual tersebut. Seperti inilah tampilannya:
Rubik's Cube ini tidak hanya menyediakan rubik ukuran 2x2 seperti yang terlihat pada gambar diatas. Tetapi Rubik's Cube ini bisa menyediakan rubik virtual hingga ukuran 50x50! Hebat bukan. Software ini sangat simple tetapi tidak membuat kita bosan menggunakannya. Ditambah lagi dengan size yang tidak sampai setengah megabyte, atau kurang dari 500Kb.
Continue Reading »
Google to Buy Global IP Solutions
Google is about to acquire Global IP Solutions, a company that develops real-time voice and video processing software for IP networks.
"The Web is evolving quickly as a development platform, and real-time video and audio communication over the Internet are becoming important new tools for users," said Rian Liebenberg, Engineering Director at Google. "GIPS technology provides high quality, real-time audio and video over an IP network, and we're looking forward to working with the GIPS team at Google to continue innovating for the Web platform."
Google will pay $68.2 million for a company that provides VoIP technology for many popular IM clients like Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Nimbuzz, QQ, IBM Lotus Sametime and for conferencing software from WebEx and Citrix. It's clear that Google intends to improve its instant messaging platform and to launch an online application for conferencing. An early version of Google Meetings has already been demoed at a recent event:
"The Web is evolving quickly as a development platform, and real-time video and audio communication over the Internet are becoming important new tools for users," said Rian Liebenberg, Engineering Director at Google. "GIPS technology provides high quality, real-time audio and video over an IP network, and we're looking forward to working with the GIPS team at Google to continue innovating for the Web platform."
Google will pay $68.2 million for a company that provides VoIP technology for many popular IM clients like Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Nimbuzz, QQ, IBM Lotus Sametime and for conferencing software from WebEx and Citrix. It's clear that Google intends to improve its instant messaging platform and to launch an online application for conferencing. An early version of Google Meetings has already been demoed at a recent event:
The New Hotmail Challenges Gmail
Hotmail, Microsoft's webmail service, has improved a lot in the past two years. Hotmail is now a modern web application that no longer traps users's data and focuses on important things like speed, usability, fighting spam and integrating with other communication services.
The latest Hotmail update, that will be released as part of Windows Live Wave 4, tries to show that Microsoft finally managed to develop a better email service than Gmail and, in many ways, succeeds.
Hotmail improved its spam detection algorithms and it's now able to tweak some parameters based on your actions. Hotmail can now flag messages as spam even after you've received them.
Another interesting improvement is that Hotmail categorizes messages, so you can quickly find the messages from your contacts, messages from mailing lists or notifications from social networks.
Hotmail no longer has limitations for email storage and the main reason is that large attachments can be stored in Windows Live SkyDrive. "With Hotmail, we've combined the simplicity of sending photos through email with the power of Windows Live SkyDrive so that you can send up to 200 photos, each up to 50 MB in size, all in a single email. You can send all your vacation photos at once without worrying about attachment limits," explains Microsoft. This is an important feature that's missing from Gmail and it's surprising that you can't upload photos to Picasa Web Albums or upload documents to Google Docs directly from Gmail.
Microsoft also integrated Hotmail with Office Web Apps, so that documents can be previewed and edited online, without having to install an office suite. Now that attachments are stored in a single place, the total attachment limit for a message is 10 GB, while Gmail offers about 7 GB of storage for all your messages.
Hotmail added many of the features that used to be available only in Gmail: conversation view, full session SSL, watching YouTube videos inline, but Microsoft managed to make some improvements. The active view feature doesn't work only for YouTube, it's enabled for many other sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), so you can accept invitations or reply to a Twitter message directly from Hotmail. There's also a feature that lets you create a single-use password for signing in on public computers.
Google has a lot to do to catch up with the new Hotmail, but that's a good thing. Competition is what makes products better.
The latest Hotmail update, that will be released as part of Windows Live Wave 4, tries to show that Microsoft finally managed to develop a better email service than Gmail and, in many ways, succeeds.
Hotmail improved its spam detection algorithms and it's now able to tweak some parameters based on your actions. Hotmail can now flag messages as spam even after you've received them.
Another interesting improvement is that Hotmail categorizes messages, so you can quickly find the messages from your contacts, messages from mailing lists or notifications from social networks.
Hotmail no longer has limitations for email storage and the main reason is that large attachments can be stored in Windows Live SkyDrive. "With Hotmail, we've combined the simplicity of sending photos through email with the power of Windows Live SkyDrive so that you can send up to 200 photos, each up to 50 MB in size, all in a single email. You can send all your vacation photos at once without worrying about attachment limits," explains Microsoft. This is an important feature that's missing from Gmail and it's surprising that you can't upload photos to Picasa Web Albums or upload documents to Google Docs directly from Gmail.
Microsoft also integrated Hotmail with Office Web Apps, so that documents can be previewed and edited online, without having to install an office suite. Now that attachments are stored in a single place, the total attachment limit for a message is 10 GB, while Gmail offers about 7 GB of storage for all your messages.
Hotmail added many of the features that used to be available only in Gmail: conversation view, full session SSL, watching YouTube videos inline, but Microsoft managed to make some improvements. The active view feature doesn't work only for YouTube, it's enabled for many other sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), so you can accept invitations or reply to a Twitter message directly from Hotmail. There's also a feature that lets you create a single-use password for signing in on public computers.
Google has a lot to do to catch up with the new Hotmail, but that's a good thing. Competition is what makes products better.
Tips Untuk Menghentikan Email Pemberitahuan dari Facebook
"Om Swastiastu"
Hi sobat bloggers, kali ini saya ingin memberikan sedikit trik. Facebook sudah mendunia, banyak orang sudah menggunakan Facebook. Nah, ketika kalian membuat akun Facebook, tentunya kalian diminta untuk memasukkan alamat email kalian. Setelah akun Facebook dibuat, setiap pemberitahuan, pasti akan dikirim ke email dan akan membuat inbox di email milik kalian menjadi banyak pesannya. Padahal pesan itu tidak begitu penting karena sudah bisa diketahui lewat pemberitahuan atau notofications di Facebook.
Ingin untuk menghentikan kiriman email dari Facebook tersebut agar tidak memenuhi inbox email? Gampang. Berikut cara mudahnya. Pertama kalian log in dulu ke akun Facebook masing-masing. Kemudian cari menu Akun atau Account, pilih Edit Account, maka akan muncul layar seperti gambar dibawah ini:
Continue Reading »
Hi sobat bloggers, kali ini saya ingin memberikan sedikit trik. Facebook sudah mendunia, banyak orang sudah menggunakan Facebook. Nah, ketika kalian membuat akun Facebook, tentunya kalian diminta untuk memasukkan alamat email kalian. Setelah akun Facebook dibuat, setiap pemberitahuan, pasti akan dikirim ke email dan akan membuat inbox di email milik kalian menjadi banyak pesannya. Padahal pesan itu tidak begitu penting karena sudah bisa diketahui lewat pemberitahuan atau notofications di Facebook.
Ingin untuk menghentikan kiriman email dari Facebook tersebut agar tidak memenuhi inbox email? Gampang. Berikut cara mudahnya. Pertama kalian log in dulu ke akun Facebook masing-masing. Kemudian cari menu Akun atau Account, pilih Edit Account, maka akan muncul layar seperti gambar dibawah ini:
Continue Reading »
New Interface for Google Calendar
Google Calendar has a new look that's more consistent with other Google services like Google Docs or Gmail. Google says that the only functionality that has changed is that the Tasks link has been removed.
"Create event" is now a button, instead of a link. The calendar from the left sidebar has more visible arrows and it no longer has a blue background.
Here's the old interface:
Update: The new interface is also available for Google Apps, but administrators need to enable pre-release features in the "domain settings".
{ via Blogoscoped Forum }
"Create event" is now a button, instead of a link. The calendar from the left sidebar has more visible arrows and it no longer has a blue background.
Here's the old interface:
Update: The new interface is also available for Google Apps, but administrators need to enable pre-release features in the "domain settings".
{ via Blogoscoped Forum }
Google Whisper Ads
The Onion posted a funny video about an imaginary Google service that whispers targeted ads into users' ears. The main benefit of the service is that it lowers the cost a phone, but the ads aren't very subtle.
As voice recognition software becomes more powerful, it's quite likely that phones will be able to convert a conversation into text in real time and offer related information, including links to maps, events, email messages and even ads.
In 2008, Google's AdSense blog posted an April Fool's Day joke about AdSense for Conversations, "a new type of monetization solution that puts the 'context' in contextual advertising. In just a few simple steps, you can begin displaying ads that are relevant to the topics you're discussing -- in an unobtrusive screen above your head. Anyone taking part in the conversation can hit the ad with their hand to immediately take advantage of the product or service being offered."
{ via Jérôme Flipo }
As voice recognition software becomes more powerful, it's quite likely that phones will be able to convert a conversation into text in real time and offer related information, including links to maps, events, email messages and even ads.
In 2008, Google's AdSense blog posted an April Fool's Day joke about AdSense for Conversations, "a new type of monetization solution that puts the 'context' in contextual advertising. In just a few simple steps, you can begin displaying ads that are relevant to the topics you're discussing -- in an unobtrusive screen above your head. Anyone taking part in the conversation can hit the ad with their hand to immediately take advantage of the product or service being offered."
{ via Jérôme Flipo }
Download 3D Wallpaper untuk Windows 7
"Om Swastiastu"
Hi friends, ada yang mau wallpaper keren ga?? Apalagi 3D wallpaper, saya yakin banyak yang mau dan suka dengan 3D wallpaper. Nah, saya baru saja selesai hunting 3D wallpaper untuk windows 7. Lumayan lama juga hunting, karena harus memilah-milah yang bagus dan keren. Dan setelah lama hunting di berbagai tempat, akhirnya saya menemukan sebanyak 21 (dua puluh satu) 3D wallpaper yang keren untuk windows 7.
Saya ingin membagikan wallpaper tersebut kepada teman-teman sekalian dan saya jamin kalian pasti menyukainya. Wallpaper ini semuanya berukuran widescreen 1280 x 800. Dan semua wallpaper ini saya taruh dalam satu folder yang kemudian saya kemas menjadi file .rar. Kalian bisa mendownloadnya pada link dibawah ini.
DOWNLOAD
"Om Santhi, Santhi, Santhi, Om"
Hi friends, ada yang mau wallpaper keren ga?? Apalagi 3D wallpaper, saya yakin banyak yang mau dan suka dengan 3D wallpaper. Nah, saya baru saja selesai hunting 3D wallpaper untuk windows 7. Lumayan lama juga hunting, karena harus memilah-milah yang bagus dan keren. Dan setelah lama hunting di berbagai tempat, akhirnya saya menemukan sebanyak 21 (dua puluh satu) 3D wallpaper yang keren untuk windows 7.
Saya ingin membagikan wallpaper tersebut kepada teman-teman sekalian dan saya jamin kalian pasti menyukainya. Wallpaper ini semuanya berukuran widescreen 1280 x 800. Dan semua wallpaper ini saya taruh dalam satu folder yang kemudian saya kemas menjadi file .rar. Kalian bisa mendownloadnya pada link dibawah ini.
DOWNLOAD
"Om Santhi, Santhi, Santhi, Om"
Predictions for Google I/O
Google I/O, the developer conference that will be held next week in San Francisco, is the perfect occasion for announcing product launches. Here are some of the most likely announcements:
* Android 2.2 (FroYo) with built-in runtimes for Flash and AIR, JIT compiler, application auto-updates and more.
* The first Android TV. Bloomberg reported last month that Sony partnered with Intel and Google to produce TVs with Internet access.
* Verizon's Android tablet. "Verizon Wireless is working with Google Inc. on a tablet computer, the carrier's chief executive, Lowell McAdam, said Tuesday, as the company endeavors to catch up with iPad host AT&T Inc. in devices that connect to wireless networks," reported Wall Street Journal.
* Google Buzz API, useful to create applications that allow you to post Buzz updates and read the latest messages from your friends. "Over the next several months Google Buzz will introduce an API for developers, including full/read write support for posts with the Atom Publishing Protocol, rich activity notification with Activity Streams, delegated authorization with OAuth, federated comments and activities with Salmon, distributed profile and contact information with WebFinger, and much, much more," mentions Google Buzz's dev guide.
* Google Latitude API, which would make Google Latitude a platform for location-based apps.
* Open-source version of VP8, the flagship video codec of On2, a company recently acquired by Google. Even if the final version is not yet ready, Google is likely to announce that the codec will be open-sourced.
What do you expect from Google I/O?
{ Thanks to everyone who answered my question on Google Buzz. }
Membuat Perintah Kode dalam Visual Basic 2008
"Om Swastiastu"
Mungkin masih ada diantara kalian yang belum mengerti bagaimana cara membuat perintah kode dalam visual basic 2008. Dalam artikel tutorial visual basic saya sebelumnya, semua perintah kode saya berikan warna merah. Sehingga saya sering menulis kata-kata seperti ini dalam artikel tutorial visual basic 2008 saya, "double klik komponen ini lalu masukkan kode berwarna merah berikut ini".
Nah, untuk membuat perintah kode dalam visual basic 2008, caranya adalah dengan double click sebuah komponen. Misalkan komponen tersebut adalah komponen Button, maka setelah di klik akan muncul jendela editor seperti gambar berikut:
Continue Reading »
Mungkin masih ada diantara kalian yang belum mengerti bagaimana cara membuat perintah kode dalam visual basic 2008. Dalam artikel tutorial visual basic saya sebelumnya, semua perintah kode saya berikan warna merah. Sehingga saya sering menulis kata-kata seperti ini dalam artikel tutorial visual basic 2008 saya, "double klik komponen ini lalu masukkan kode berwarna merah berikut ini".
Nah, untuk membuat perintah kode dalam visual basic 2008, caranya adalah dengan double click sebuah komponen. Misalkan komponen tersebut adalah komponen Button, maka setelah di klik akan muncul jendela editor seperti gambar berikut:
Continue Reading »
Mencari Rata-Rata 3 Bilangan dengan VB 2008
"Om Swastiastu"
Tutorial pemrograman kali ini adalah tutorial visual basic 2008. Kali ini saya akan menjelaskan mengenai cara pembuatan program pencari nilai rata-rata 3 bilangan menggunakan visual basic 2008. Rata-rata bilangan didapat dari jumlah total data dibagi dengan banyaknya data. Nah, untuk membuat program ini, buatlah design programnya seperti gambar dibawah ini.
Kemudian, double clik pada Textbox1 atau Textbox dengan label "Hitung", kemudian masukkan kode berwarna merah berikut:
Continue Reading »
Tutorial pemrograman kali ini adalah tutorial visual basic 2008. Kali ini saya akan menjelaskan mengenai cara pembuatan program pencari nilai rata-rata 3 bilangan menggunakan visual basic 2008. Rata-rata bilangan didapat dari jumlah total data dibagi dengan banyaknya data. Nah, untuk membuat program ini, buatlah design programnya seperti gambar dibawah ini.
Kemudian, double clik pada Textbox1 atau Textbox dengan label "Hitung", kemudian masukkan kode berwarna merah berikut:
Continue Reading »
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