Google I/O 2013
Glass and the X-Phone
As you all know, I try my best to keep everyone informed of what’s new and upcoming in the world of technology with an emphasis on Google’s roll. Well The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky wrote a review of his experience with Google Glass. The technology of course looks great, but can easily be seen as just an expensive hands free cell phone. The implications of being able to have notifications coming up hands free and without the need to pull up a phone could be quite (for lack of better words…) handy. But again, at the initial $1500 price you would expect more than weather, GPS and an ever-ready camera. Then Joshua mentioned “The device gets data through Wi-Fi on its own, or it can tether via Bluetooth to an Android device or iPhone and use its 3G or 4G data while out and about. There’s no cellular radio in Glass, but it does have a GPS chip.”
Taken on it’s own, that is good news. You don’t have to worry about paying an additional data plan for your eye wear. But if you take that statement and couple it with the reports all around the Internet that the X-Phone, a product of Google and their aquired Motorola hardware arm, will have software that will reportedly be very powerful and capable of pulling together Google services “like no other manufacturer has done in the past.” The news of the X-Phone pairing with a Google Glass device suddenly becomes a very interesting prospect. People have speculated that the statement can mean anything from the latest Android OS (which will be Key Lime Pie), to the merging of Chrome and Android on the device. I am seeing it as a special touch of software designed to accent the abilities of Google Glass. (Again I have to place emphasis that this is speculation.)
My reasoning is simple. Google Glass is one of the many projects that has come out of Google’s secret lab. (The self driving automobile is another one of the well known, now highly visible projects.) The name of that secret lab is Google X Lab, or sometimes simply called Google X. We all know that Google collaborates with a company each year to product a Nexus phone to show off exactly what the base version of their new OS can do. Google, being a smart company, realizes that using their newly purchased hardware company (Motorola) to product this years Nexus would be frowned upon by all of the other manufacturers that develop Android phones. But yet, why buy a hardware company if you aren’t going to do something special with it right? Motorola wasn’t purchased just for patents alone. So while someone (HTC anyone?) is making this years Nexus device, Google will be showcasing their X-Phone. It will not be stock Android even though many would like it to be. That will be reserved for the Nexus. The X-Phone will be more Google than any other Android device before it, and come along with an easy (NFC possibly) pairing mode for Google Glass. And as always, we are one step closer to a Google telcom service to activate the phone on. Be ready Kansas, you might be first!
Nokia, join us. We have sweets!
Nokia Lumia 920
+Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, hopefully one of your PR guys will stumble upon this post and get it to you in time. You are fighting valiantly to keep your company afloat. For that I give you props and a firm pat on the back. But don’t waste all of that effort and talent on a proposition that is not going to get you where you need to be. Your hardware has always been fantastic. The Lumia 920 is a purely amazing phone. If Steve Jobs were still around he might even have to call it “magical.” It’s a work of art (a bit on the heavy side, but still a work of art.) The price is just about right off contract, and the rumored successor for the 920 is promised to be even thinner and lighter. So why isn’t Nokia the household name that it should be? There are three reasons.
I. Samsung (which has become the dominate face of Android with the Galaxy S III) and Apple (with the equally dominating iPhone line up) make it very difficult for someone else to grab a spot of the lime light. Even a quality phone like the Lumia 920 will hardly grab headlines with the common cell phone user when the marketing of the two behemoths of Samsung and Apple are at work.
II. The Lumia 920 is currently exclusive to AT&T. Even though AT&T is a large provider in the US, it isn’t the only provider. When you start excluding your potential user base, you can not expect your sales to reach their best. The time of a phone on a single carrier has come and gone.
III. The most important part of this… Nokia has currently placed all of their eggs in one basket. Namely the Windows Phone OS. On its own it is a very well done OS. It has a lot of nice features and a ton of potential. Unfortunately it is a world class sprinter starting two hours late in a marathon. It might put on a little burst of speed, but this isn’t the winning lap.
Nokia just needs to take the money that Microsoft has given them and invest some time and effort into marrying their hardware and cameras with Android software. It is well known that Google would greet them with open arms and, non-factual based prediction here, would immediately sign Nokia up to produce the next Nexus phone. I also feel I speak for the majority of Android fanatics when I say that they would be the best selling Nexus device to date. I can immediately think of 20 people who would purchase them outright without waiting for their contract to expire. The year that Nokia decides Android is the way to go will be the year that they fully begin their swing back into relevance.
Tips and Tricks – Google Drive – Portable Apps
First let me state that this same idea can be used for Dropbox, Google Drive, and any of the other storage/virtual drive companies out there. I am using it via Google Drive because most of my business involves Google and this fits perfectly. I work on multiple computers throughout the day, and different ones when I get home. Having a folder that replicates to each of the computers is extremely handy as I don’t have to email things to myself, carry a jump drive (which I still do for different reasons anyway), or things of that nature. I simply place it in the folder and it is “available wherever I need it”. I had recently been introduced to the world of Portable Apps (http://portableapps.com/) which are designed to let you carry a lot of programs on a USB drive so that you can have them “available wherever you need it.” (Some of you are already skipping ahead now I can tell.)
So of course I took it to the next step and created a folder in my Google Drive called PA, and installed Portable Apps to that location. I went to the Google Drive control panel on each of the computers that I sync it with and made sure to have them all sync that folder. Suddenly I have an updated version of all of my useful programs on each computer that I need them on. If you do not have any of the applications I have mentioned here is a list of what you need.
Google Drive – http://goo.gl/1zNFW
Dropbox – http://goo.gl/rIrZt
CX.com – http://goo.gl/PE3kA
Portable Apps – http://goo.gl/Tbcwf
Check your computers!
“On Monday, July 9th, the FBI will pull the plug on internet access to hundreds of thousands of computers infected with a malware Trojan known as DNSChanger. When the FBI disables the temporary servers it will break infected system’s access to the internet but it will not remove the malware from those systems. Take a few minutes to ensure that you’re not kicked offline on July 9th.
Redding, California (PRWEB) July 06, 2012″
So to make sure you are able to access the Internet (and to keep your friends believing you are the computer guru they think you are), take steps to make sure your computer is protected. The quickest way to get a definate “I am in trouble” alert is to go to http://www.google.com or http://www.facebook.com (but beware of farms that may suck you in). Those sites are sending notices to users that browse to their sites from a DNSChanger-infected computer. Of course, just because you don’t get an alert when visiting those sites doesn’t mean you are in the clear. I suggest downloading, wait for it…., Microsoft Security Essentials (http://goo.gl/AeWhP) to scan your computer. It is one of the best light footprint AV software programs that I have seen in quite a while. And it comes in at my favorite price point of free. Of course, since you are downloading software and doing general checks on your computer… how about making sure you are getting those Windows Updates too.
Posted via email from NetApex
Live from Google I/O
Everything you need to know about Google I/O in one convenient post. So for those of you who could not make it, sit back and enjoy.
So.. THAT’S what’s next!
So Google has made the switch to Google Play from their various different named services (they now have Play Books, Play Music, the Play Store…) to bring a sense of cohesiveness to their offerings. That part I understood and thought was a great idea. Then todays rumors takes it one step further. According to a story from the Wall Street Journal Google will soon have a “portfolio” of Nexus devices for sale from their devices section in the Play Store. While this is great news, it isn’t a surprise by a long shot. Google once offered the original Nexus online before but it was only available with T-Mobile bands. Back in March this rumor started that Google was going to sell Nexus Tablets online (also initially from the Wall Street Journal).
So this seems to be something a little more than just a run of the mill rumor. If you head to the Play Store now you will be able to find the current Nexus (the Galaxy Nexus manufactured by Samsung) which is unlocked and can be used on either T-Mobile, AT&T, and other compatibile GSM networks (aka.. neither Sprint or Verizon). Google has previously mentioned that CDMA networks (like Sprint and Verizon) require proprietary software which prohibits Google from Open Sourcing it completely. (And we all know how happy companies are to start law suits if there is a hint of a reason.) So that seems to mean that it wont be as likely for Google to be able to sell unlocked verzions of their phones to CDMA networks. So had AT&T bought T-Mobile, this store would not be nearly as interesting. It might also mean (this is pure 100% speculation on my part and not a “leak”) that Google might finally be pulling out their own cellular network.
Back in the day I always felt that they would work on their own ISP (http://news.netapex.org/?p=429), and they have even started working towards placing fiber around certain areas of the country. But mobile seems to be the new standard, and rightfully so. So now would be the prime time to put out the Google Phone that I have been waiting on (http://news.netapex.org/?p=542). Stay tuned, Google I/O is going to reveal sooooo many secrets that you might end up having to go adopt an Android.w
Posted via email from NetApex
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