谷歌宣戰臉書社群網戰開打

As you can imagine, the call for a community to be the recipient of Google Fiber's 1Gbps network was met by an overwhelming response. Indeed, the response was so great that while the recipient of all that bandwidth was to be announced at the end of this year, it looks like they won't have a decision until early 2011. In the meantime, the project will continue to offer insanely high download speeds to Google's campus and an 850 home beta network in Stanford.

High Velocity Business Solutions

Google

(engadget)

Tommy Chung

Google: Chrome OS laptops won't dual boot with Windows, live customer support for Cr-48 owners

We know there's a lot to digest after Google's Chrome OS event today, but following the shindig we caught a few minutes with Google VP of Product Management Sundar Pichai. While he wouldn't answer our questions about upcoming Chrome OS laptops -- you know, the ones coming from partners such as Acer and Samsung in mid-2011 -- he did tell us that those Atom-powered laptops won't dual boot Windows. In fact, he told us that "certified" Chrome OS laptops won't support dual boot environments at all. Of course, the Cr-48 has a root feature so it will likely be able to run Windows (assuming there's enough flash storage), but it's clear that major manufacturers won't be shipping laptops with Google and Microsoft operating systems living side by side.

With that said, we asked Sundar about one of the major concerns we've had about Chrome OS: customer support. (Some history here -- we've heard from a few laptop manufacturers that Google's lack of customer service for the computer OS is a major issue and a legitimate reservation). Sundar said that it's a valid concern, but that the OS is incredibly simple and that Google doesn't expect to have many confused or troubled customers when it's ready for primetime. Nevertheless, Google will provide live support for those that receive a Cr-48 and help with any and all issues. No word on if that aid will continue past this limited pilot program, but we're sure there will be more much more to come on all of this next year.

(engadget)

Tommy Chung

Chrome OS 有三大理由會失敗，也有三大理由會成功

http://tech.weiphone.com/2010-12-08/There_are_three_reasons_for_Chrome_OS_will_fail_227610.shtml

Tommy Chung

Chrome系統筆電谷歌公開

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/101208/5/2ileb.html

Tommy Chung

Google小筆電拉台廠上陣

http://news.chinatimes.com/tech/0,5249,12050901x122010120700285,00.html

Only Chen

Google Chrome 10新功能探秘
來自：華軍軟件園

據國外媒體報導，在Chrome 8進入穩定版的同時，Chrome (Chromium) 10也發布了Nightly Build版。新的Chrome開發板新增了18個實驗性功能，其中包括即時輸入和GPU混合加速功能。

GPU 混合加速可以加速3D CSS，並且通過使用GPU，可進一步提升瀏覽器的性能。就目前的情況來看，GPU混合加速尚處於實驗階段，Google仍有大量開發工作有待完成。不過，硬件加速功能應當不可能添加到Chrome 9中，Chrome 9將於年底前進入測試階段。

更值得注意到是即時搜索功能，它現在被稱為即時輸入（Instant Type），用戶可選擇逐字輸入法，聯繫詞輸入法或非自動完成法。所有三種方法都可以通過Chrome設置菜單輕鬆地切換。即時輸入似乎與Google搜索融合的非常好，但當即時搜索通過地址欄開始工作時，新版Chrome缺少一個專門的後退選項，幫助用戶返回前一頁面。

相比尚未完工的遠程連接和雲打印功能，即時搜索或即時輸入可能是Chrome瀏覽器中最具特色的功能。目前，打印預覽功能還無法使用，網頁程序支持則缺少Chrome Web Store。

需要指出的是，所有這些實驗性功能都可以通過在地址欄輸入about:flags進行激活。

另外，Google正在準備添加一項新的網頁瀏覽加速功能：網頁預加載。預加載功能就像魔法師的水晶球，通過它Chrome可以預測用戶將要訪問的網站，預先加載網頁，然後即時顯示網頁。

在about:flags頁面，預渲染被稱為“在後台推測預渲染完整網頁，以加速網頁瀏覽體驗”。默認情況下，預渲染功能是關閉的。

(WeiPhone)

Only Chen

Chrome OS和Android的三大不同點

12月7日，谷歌有望宣布一個載有第一版Chrome操作系統的便攜電腦發行。與此同時，Google正帶著Android大力前行。 Google真的需要兩個操作系統嗎？這裡發生著什麼？以下便是Google的現狀。是的，Android和Chrome OS都是基於Linux的操作系統。並且，在應用層，都沒使用為GNOME或KDE桌面以及它們的應用所採用了的流行的Linux桌面應用編程接口（API）。

      他們還都使用著同一個使之更為安全的技術。其中最重要的一個環節是沙盒技術。沙盒技術這裡指，任何Chrome或Android應用都只能擁有剛剛好能完成其本職工作的系統訪問權限。

      以上這些都撇開之後，二者的外形和行為方式就很不相同了。以下是它們主要的差異點：

      Google一開始就說，“Google Chrome OS是創造給把他們大部分時間花在網上的人們，並被設計用來驅動從小小上網本直到完整桌面系統之間所有類型的計算機的。”Google對此再沒有過過多的信息。

      Google在放出其Chrome測試版時也是從容不迫的。現在Chrome OS要揭曉了，我們便知Google“桌面”操作系統將要問世了；而Android只是給智能手機和平板電腦用的。

      Android界面主要是為觸摸屏而設計的。 Google Chrome OS外形和行為就像Chrome Web瀏覽器一樣。

      Chrome OS運行不了Linux桌面或Android的應用

      我給“桌面”一詞加引號，是有充足理由的。雖然Chrome OS會像一個桌面操作系統一樣被使用，但它不是一個傳統的胖客戶端桌面，像Windows，或像Mint等Linux桌面。相反，它所有的“應用程序”都將是基於雲端。要理解我所說的，就請看Chrome瀏覽器和Google Apps吧。你其實已經看到了Google Chrome OS剪影。

      Chrome OS將會有足夠的應用，部分原因是Ubuntu支持了其瀏覽器和網絡應用。你也很可能可以運行傳統的桌面應用程序，通過使用叫作“Chromoting”（遠程Chrome）的遠客戶端計算技術。

      而對於Android應用程序，因為所有這些應用都是基於Java並依賴於Dalvik虛擬機的，我不認為它們可以在Chrome OS上運行。

      就像Chrome瀏覽器一樣，Chrome OS會如願不斷地打補丁與被提升。這不同於修復漏洞的補丁或為服務包加上的新特性，Chrome OS，不論好還是不好，都會不斷地更新，發展。 Chrome OS下，你應用軟件的版本始終會是最新的。

      理解它仍然存在問題？不過不要太著急了。在接下來的幾天裡，我們會有機會親見Chrome OS，看看它是如何不同於Android和其他桌面操作系統的。

(WeiPhone)

Only Chen

What Is Near-Field Communication?

Samsung's Nexus S brings with it the latest tasty version of Android, Gingerbread. But the phone also comes with another technological bonus baked in. Here's what you need to know about near field communication.

It's another short-range wireless technology...

NFC isn't really new...or cutting edge. In fact, it's basically a variation of other short-range wireless technologies already used throughout the world—especially in Japan and Europe. Like RFID, near field communication can quickly swap information between devices when they're touched together. You can exchange things like text, images, URLs or other data simply by holding your phone up to various "smart tags."

What Is Near-Field Communication?

...That uses magnets to send data...

Based on inductive-coupling (think Powermat and other wireless charging schemes), NFC uses loosely coupled inductive circuits to exchange power and/or data over a short distance (usually about four centimeters). While it shares the same basic technology with things like RFID tags and contactless smartcards, NFC is implemented as a read-only tech in the Nexus S. That means you'll only get info from other NFC tags, not the other way around. These tags cost pennies to implement and can be embedded in nearly anything: stickers, posters, glass, and so on.

...And is intended to make your life easier...

In theory. While it hasn't enjoyed the same popularity stateside, NFC tech is already big in Japan, where you can use your NFC-enabled phone to buy train tickets in Tokyo or as a contactless payment system at various retailers. Google hopes that by including it in its new flagship Android device and open-sourcing the software, it'll eventually change the way people use and interact with their phone here in the US, too.

...But isn't fully baked yet.

There are literally hundreds of use cases for NFC. But none of them are really up and running. Google has some ideas about what you can expect, though. Imagine going to a movie theater and seeing the latest Tron poster. Disney could stick a NFC tag inside, and you could simply touch your phone up to that poster to grab the latest trailer. Other uses include everything from a more robust check-in system for Foursquare to easier home shopping. Point your phone at a "for sale" sign and instantly bring up the URL where all the house photos and details are listed.

(gizmodo)

Only Chen

谷歌街景人力三輪車德國上路

http://tech.weiphone.com/2010-11-30/Google_Street_View_tricycle_Germany_on_the_road_227239.shtml

(德國)

(臺灣)

(瑞士)

(photo from Weiphone and google)

Only Chen

Google Earth Now Has 80 Million Beautiful Trees

Say Hello to Google Earth 6, complete with 80 million freshly planted 3D-modeled trees. I never really pay much attention to real life trees, but for some reason this strikes me as indescribably awesome.

I really can't put my finger on it, why exactly I'm so impressed by all the new plant life in Google Earth—the updated software has roughly 80 million ofin 50 different species in San Francisco, Tokyo, Athens and other cities—but impressed I am. The buildings and streets and topography of Google Earth—all those things are pretty essential, I'd say, when you're trying to recreate our planet. But something about mapping nearly 100 million trees seems delightfully superfluous, Google at its most obsessive and weird and awesome.

Anywho, Google Earth 6 also lets you dive seamlessly into Street View mode, further blurring the line between the real world and the one Google has meticulously recreated with pixels.

Google Earth Now Has 80 Million Beautiful Trees

Google Earth 6 is available for download now. And what can we expect after all of these trees? Probably leagues of 3D-modeled conservationists. [Google via TechCrunch]

(gizmodo)

=============================================================

虛擬樹要種,實體樹更要多種...

Only Chen

維基解密（Wikileaks）：中國政府策動大規模線上入侵Google中國

http://chinese.engadget.com/2010/11/29/wikileaks-chinese-politburo-responsible-for-google-hacking/

中國駭客軍團真是十分厲害的...

Tommy Chung

線上新聞收費受挫梅鐸向Google認輸

媒體大亨梅鐸為了對抗以Google為首的免費新聞風潮，以新聞集團的實力，雄心萬丈成立「阿萊西亞計畫」，要推動線上新聞收費。但隸屬新聞集團的華爾街日報廿二日報導，因為同業不捧場，梅鐸已放棄計畫，等於向Google認輸。

報導引述一位「熟悉此事」人士的話說，這項計畫尚未營運就收攤，原因是吸引到的同業數目達不到臨界點。

「阿萊西亞計畫」（Project Alesia）是一場昂貴而無成的實驗。新聞集團為此計畫投入三千一百五十萬美元（約台幣九點七億元）經費，計畫總部設在英國，有新聞集團高層在內的一百人在此工作，現在這批人力只好「另有任用」。

Google將全球各報社或通訊社的新聞內容免費上網供人搜尋閱讀，梅鐸早已不滿，因此推動新聞集團出版品內容收費制，例如華爾街日報、泰晤士報及星期泰晤士報的線上內容皆須收費。

梅鐸亦極力結合出版和新聞同業，透過一個類似線上書報攤的機制，要搜尋業者付費。蘋果iPad和其他平板電腦用戶想看新聞，也得付費。

「阿萊西亞計畫」失敗，對新聞和出版業合力以收費制來創造新聞線上營運模式是一大打擊。將彼此競爭的業者納入同一個收費平台，有兩個窒礙，一是由誰管理具廣告及商業價值的訂戶資料；二是營收如何分配。

梅鐸視Google之類勢力為化外蠻族，「阿萊西亞」一詞源自公元前五十二年，凱撒率兵自羅馬遠征高盧人（即今日的法國），八萬高盧人在阿萊西亞深溝高壘抵擋凱撒大軍，從九月中旬撐至十月二日投降，法國從此成為羅馬帝國一省。這是凱撒畢生武功的巔峰，也是軍事史和兵法史上的圍城攻防戰範例。

(Yahoo!)

Tommy Chung

Even The Google Street View Team Gets Lost Sometimes

After once managing to somehow wind up at an outdoor concert instead of a restaurant despite following Google Maps, I almost feel guilty for laughing at these lost and confused members of the Google Street View team.

(gizmodo)

Tommy Chung

Google ditches all Street View Wi-Fi scanning

by Declan McCullagh

Google has no plans to resume using its Street View cars to collect information about the location of Wi-Fi networks, a practice that led to a flurry of privacy probes after the company said it unintentionally captured fragments of unencrypted data.

The disclosure appeared in a report on Street View released today by Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, who said that "collection is discontinued and Google has no plans to resume it." Assembling an extensive list of the location of Wi-Fi access points can aid in geolocation, especially in areas where connections to cell towers are unreliable.

Instead, Stoddart said that, based on her conversations with headquarters in Mountain View, Ca., "Google intends to obtain the information needed to populate its location-based services database" from "users' handsets."

That, at least, should come as no surprise. As CNET reported in June, mobile phone and laptop users who run certain Google applications already share their location information with the company, which then uses this crowdsourced data to refine its mapping capabilities.

When Google Maps Navigation users requests a location fix with the "use wireless networks" option checked in their settings, their device sends over a list of all nearby addresses associated with wireless hot spots, which can in turn be checked against Google's existing database of those addresses gathered through the Street View project. Google has said it doesn't collect information about laptops or other mobile devices--both for privacy reasons and because the locations are typically transitory.

Google's PC software takes a similar approach. A note in the source code of Google's open-source Chromium browser, which shares code with Google Chrome, says "currently we get only MAC address, signal strength, channel signal-to-noise and SSID" for each Wi-Fi network surveyed. (The MAC address is unique for each wireless access point, and the SSID is the user-given name for the wireless network.)

Google discloses this behavior to its customers. Its privacy policy for mobile devices says: "If you use location-enabled products and services, such as Google Maps for mobile, you may be sending us location information." On the other hand, if you opt out of data-sharing, don't count on being able to use Wi-Fi hot spots for triangulation.

"With Android, location-sharing is opt-in," Google spokeswoman Christine Chen said today. "Whether we're talking about location provider services or individual apps that use location, Android provides users with notice and control over collection of location, sharing of location and use of location to help provide a better mobile experience...We don't share individual location collected from user devices with any applications or services."

Google had said in a blog post in July that it had halted Wi-Fi data collection through its Street View cars, but had not said whether it would be resumed or not.

Here are instructions for mobile users on how to disable this feature.

(cnet)

Only Chen

谷歌首席執行長施密特：將在搜索結果中增加社交數據

http://tech.weiphone.com/2010-10-15/Google_CEO_Schmidt_an_increase_in_social_data_search_results_224862.shtml

Tommy Chung

Google研發自動駕駛車反應比人靈敏

http://mag.udn.com/mag/digital/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=276505

(聯合新聞網)

Only Chen

Google Street View Invades Antarctica

Apparently there's not any pavement left to conquer, so the expeditioners at Google Street View have ventured to the frosty South Pole to let you stroll around online. My question is why are there so many people just hanging out?

Google Street View Invades Antarctica

Brian McClendon, VP of Engineering at Google Earth and Maps, snapped the footage while on a recent Antarctic trek to Half Moon Island with his wife. It seems like a pretty nice place! Penguins, sunshine, (frigid) water—and apparently a lot of dudes in orange jackets just sort of lounging around. Check it out for yourself, and pour some ice cubes down your pants for full sensory immersion. [Google Lat Long Blog]

(gizmodo)

Tommy Chung

Bing來勢兇谷歌高層怕怕

（法新社舊金山25日電）谷歌（Google）執行長施密特（Eric Schmidt）今天表示，微軟的搜尋引擎Bing是谷歌面臨的最大威脅，不是臉書（Facebook），也不是蘋果（Apple）。

「華爾街日報」（Wall Street Journal）將施密特的專訪影帶張貼在網路上。施密特說：「網路搜尋不是唯一的戰場，這是實話，搜尋資料才是重點。」

他形容蘋果是可敬的對手，臉書是「社群網絡傑出成績造就出來的公司」，但是微軟最新搜尋引擎Bing才是谷歌的最大敵人。

施密特說：「Bing是運作順暢、具備高度競爭力的搜尋引擎。」

根據尼爾森公司（Nielsen Co）的報告，微軟的Bing與其他網路搜尋服務8月首度超越雅虎，成為美國第二大搜尋引擎。

尼爾森表示，微軟的Bing、MSN及Windows Live，8月在美國網路搜尋市場有13.9%的市佔率，比7月成長0.25%；雅虎13.1%，比7月的14.6%減少。

谷歌市場佔有率平盤維持在65.1%。

(Yahoo!)

Tommy Chung

Google宣布，採用最新的GPU加速技術的Chrome 7將比 6的速度快60倍。

(WeiPhone)

Only Chen

谷歌創業12年十大啟示：微軟地位並不穩固
來自：騰訊科技

據國外媒體報導，谷歌創業已有12年的歷史了。在這12年裡，谷歌從一家雄心勃勃的初創公司一步步發展成為一手改變科技產業面貌的行業巨頭。無論是網路搜索還是軟體服務方面，谷歌都已自己獨特的方式佔領著龐大的市場份額。

但谷歌12年的成就並不意味著其完成的每一個項目都給用戶帶來了便利。事實上，谷歌本身秉承的“不作惡”的公司理念在過去的幾年裡一直飽受非議。從某種程度上來說，谷歌也曾迷失了公司發展方向。

截至目前谷歌給業界帶來的影響有利有弊。以下是過去12年裡谷歌給IT產業帶來的十個啟示：

1.搜索產業前景廣闊

當谷歌首次涉足互聯網搜索業務時，互聯網搜索業務佈局與現在大相徑庭。當時的搜索產業被幾家公司控制，這些公司雖然知道該做什麼，但對如何實施卻沒有明確的想法。谷歌的出現改變了當時的這一狀況。谷歌向業界證明只要依靠網路社區和自己獨有的創意，就可以在網路搜索產業獲得成功。

2.網路廣告是搜索產業發展方向

當谷歌確定利用廣告資源發展搜索業務的戰略後，該公司向產業內部證明了網路廣告既是當時搜索產業發展的需要，也是搜索產業未來的發展方向。目前，眾多的網路公司以前所未有的速度投資發展在線廣告業務。這一點他們不得不感謝谷歌。

3. IT企業應尋求多元化發展

曾幾何時，網路企業似乎都堅守這樣一個信條：如果能在一個產業獲得良好的發展就萬事大吉了。比如eBay立足於拍賣業務以及亞馬遜擅長在線零售。而谷歌卻向業界證明，網路企業應尋求多元化發展並可以做得很出色。谷歌的業務涵蓋了從搜索、廣告到雲端運算服務，再到行動操作系統等多個範圍。目前該公司正在計劃向光纖網絡擴張。至少谷歌已證明，一個網路企業不必非要死抱著網路不放。

4.小公司更容易獲得用戶認可

從建立之初，谷歌就表示要始終堅持“不作惡”的公司原則。但隨著公司規模的不斷壯大，谷歌越來越難以始終堅持這一原則。最近谷歌Buzz和街景服務就屢遭隱私保護組織的質疑。谷歌向業界同時證明，公司發展規模越大就難以取悅於用戶。

5.公司規模問題

谷歌目前是一家大公司，其公司規模決定了谷歌能夠抑制其他潛在競爭對手的發展。事實上，每當一家業界公司發展得稍微壯大了一些或者一家公司認為自己可以獨立發展自身業務時，谷歌就會輕易地將其收購。在過去的數年裡谷歌的這一策略屢試不爽，而且還會在未來繼續使用。但正是因為這樣，使很多希望重複谷歌成功之路的小企業面臨著越來越多的發展難題。

6.單個公司也可以獲得用戶接受

多年前的互聯網和現在完全不同。只有幾個公司各自提供單一的業務，卻沒有一個公司像谷歌一樣家喻戶曉。谷歌幾乎成了搜索的代名詞。在這個過程中，谷歌很好的詮釋瞭如果能夠提供好的服務，給用戶帶來好的體驗，網路企業也能夠得到用戶的廣泛接受。或許Facebook是唯一取得類似成功的案例。

7.好的創意是在網路成功的關鍵

從谷歌創始人塞吉布林(Sergey Brin)和拉里佩奇(Larry Page)策劃創立谷歌開始，這就注定是一個很好的創意。他們的成功再次告訴我們，好的創意會得到網絡用戶的支持。這是互聯網企業家們在策劃下一項服務時所必須考慮的因素。

8.微軟地位並不穩固

雖然12年前我們不能預知，但是谷歌的成功經驗表明微軟的地位並不穩固。微軟在研發軟體上花費了太多的時間和精力，而忽略了其自身網路業務的發展。微軟的戰略性失誤從某種程度上促成了谷歌逐漸發展壯大至目前的規模。要想繼續前進，微軟面臨著艱鉅的挑戰。看起來在未來發展的道路上微軟勢必要與Google展開全面競爭。

9.發展模式更像蘋果

在谷歌成長為搜索業巨頭的過程中，有人認為谷歌的發展模式是典型的微軟模式。也就是憑藉自己在業內的規模直接影響整個行業的發展，剩下一些小公司努力地想與之抗衡。但是在過去的數年裡，谷歌很好地證明了自己的發展模式更接近於蘋果模式，而非微軟模式。不錯，谷歌確實影響了整個行業的發展，但蘋果也是這樣做的。在產品設計方面，谷歌遵循的是蘋果的優雅之道，這遠比微軟要好得多。谷歌更像是微軟和蘋果的有機結合，但更像蘋果而不是微軟。

10.獲得行業控制力
　
很顯然谷歌想在其涉足的每一個領域都擁有足夠的控制力。谷歌希望在搜索領域遙遙領先其他搜索服務提供商。谷歌還想成為雲端運算領域的領跑者。目前谷歌正全力進軍手機行業。谷歌想要的就是行業控制力。

(Weiphone)

Tommy Chung

What Is Google Instant?

Google's just announced Google Instant! They say it's going to transform search forever—making it faster, better, stronger. But what is it, exactly?

It's predictive search...

Should you activate Google Instant Search, you'll start seeing search results as soon as you start typing. You'll also be shown a range of possible queries in grey to refine your options, all before you ever hit the "Search" button.

What Is Google Instant?

...that saves you time...

Google estimates that Google Instant will save people an average of 2-5 seconds per search. The reason? We read faster than we type, and predictive search pretty much takes typing out of the equation. If every Google user around the world switched to Instant, we'd save 3.5 billion seconds a day, or 11 hours per second.

What Is Google Instant?

...(unless you're looking for porn)...

While the normal SafeSearch filters—like those used in Image searches—apply, Google Instant draws the line at "pornography, violence and hate speech." Which means that when you try to autocomplete a generic "porn" search, you're stuck with this:

...that's already here for some users...

There's a good chance you've already got Google Instant up and running, but if not, don't feel too left out; it's going to take a couple of days for the service to hit all Google users. And a bit longer than that to hit mobile—Google says that it's not available in the immediate future for phones, but that it should be coming in the next few months. Ditto for the search bar in your browser. In any case, if you don't like it you're not forced to use it; next to every search box will be a link that lets you turn Instant off or on as you please.

...and has at least one neat trick up its sleeve.

When Google Instant is activated, the right arrow key acts as the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. Glad to see that a healthy sense of adventure has been maintained.
What Is Google Instant?

Illustration by Sam Spratt. Check out Sam's portfolio and become a fan of his Facebook Artist's Page.

...................................................

(gizmodo)

Only Chen

線上付費影片市場 YouTube尬蘋果

Google旗下的YouTube 網站目前正與好萊塢主要電影公司談判，希望能在今年底前推出全球性的計次付費電影服務，這項計畫將使Google與蘋果電腦在影片與電視內容數位化流通市場正面交鋒。

根據熟知內情者透露，Google向好萊塢電影公司推銷合作的理由是，這項計畫結合了全球使用者最多搜尋引擎與最受歡迎的YouTube網站，可使其線上電影點播服務具有國際性吸引力。Google將使用其搜尋技術與YouTube網站引導觀眾前往這項最新電影服務，未來可望自美國先開始上路，再推廣到其他地區。

由於DVD 銷售量日益下滑，好萊塢電影公司正努力開發新的收入來源，Google這項計畫令好萊塢相當心動。

新片收費五美元

YouTube的電影服務是採串流而非下載方式提供，每部較新的影片約收費五美元（約台幣一百六十元），YouTube上的電影將與DVD及蘋果iTunes商店及亞馬遜網站同步發行，這表示Google可仰賴最近的一些熱門電影替這項新服務衝買氣。

近來美國媒體與科技公司之間為了影片與電視節目的數位播送服務所展開的競爭愈來愈激烈，蘋果電腦本週還將公布一種能讓家用電視連上網路的新裝置，最終更希能把這種裝置開放給應用程式開發者使用。另一家線上租片公司Netflix 則正積極爭取電影的數位播放權，迪士尼、新聞集團與NBC環球公司所擁有的Hulu線上影片公司也正準備公開上市。

Google自二○○六年以十六億五千萬美元價格買下YouTube以來，就一直在尋找收費的獲利機制，YouTube也表示自今年一月起就開始在測試影片租用服務，並已於今年四月起提供一項免費看片服務。

(Yahoo!)

Tommy Chung

新!!! Google即時搜尋頁面 !! 快又準!!!

Only Chen

Google offers free voice calls via Gmail

By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley

Google's Craig Walker said the product promotes "cheap easy communication"

Google is taking on internet telephone companies like Skype by allowing users to call from its free web-based email service.

For the moment only users in the US will be able to make calls from inside their Gmail account.

Phoning anywhere in the US and Canada will be free until the end of the year, while calls to the UK, France, China and Germany will cost 2 cents a minute.

Until now Google offered computer-to-computer voice and video chat services.

"This is a real big deal because now hundreds of millions of Gmail users can make phone calls right from their Gmail page," Craig Walker, product manager for real-time communications told BBC News.

"They don't need to download an additional application or anything to start making really high-quality low-cost calls. For the user it means much more efficient and low-cost communications."

The product link will appear on the left hand of the Gmail page within the "chat" window. A "call phone" option will pop up along with a number pad to let you dial the number of the person you want to talk to.

Google said money raised from international calls will pay for the free US and Canadian calls.

"What surprised me was that they actually said they hope to make money off the calls," said Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of technology blog SearchEngineLand.

"Normally Google is like 'We don't know how we are going to make the money' or 'We will make money down the way, don't worry about it' and this stands out as a big benefit that they get actual revenue early on."

Competition

Skype, which is the most successful internet phone offering, claims to have over 560 million registered users. The firm said 124 million used the service at least one a month while 8.1 million were paying customers.

The company is planning to offer shares to the public later this year. But should it be worried that Google is putting a stake in the same ground as Skype?

Google hopes to roll the product out to users around the world soon

"Skype is a well known company in this place and they are almost like a verb in the internet calling world in the way Google is with search. You Skype someone. So I think there is some inertia there to get over and I am interested to see how Gmail users respond," said Tom Krazit, senior writer with technology news site CNET.com.

"But you always have to worry when Google comes after what you do. They don't do things half way and bring a lot of resources to any problem they try to tackle. It doesn't mean you are doomed.

"Google's product won't work on your mobile browser so Skype has an advantage there but I don't think it is a stretch to assume Google will come out with a mobile version pretty soon," said Mr Krazit.

The company plans an eye catching way to get non-Gmail users to give the product a go. It is in negotiations with a number of university campuses and airports to install red telephone boxes around the country to give users the chance to dial and try.

(BBC News)

Tommy Chung

Google的核心主題是：公司變這麼大、這麼有權力，「勿為惡」的理想在過程中一定遭遇無數挑戰：「你變得這麼有錢和有權的時候，還能不能擇善固執，堅持你的初衷和理想？」

這講得真好：對於個人、公司、大企業、團體、國家...都相當受用..，也許中間有許多波折起浮、跌倒失敗，一但過了挑戰，一切風清雲淡、過眼雲湮...天下就會太平起來

Tommy Chung

車庫誕生的Google傳奇搬上大銀幕

好萊塢對矽谷傳奇有永不厭足的胃口，注重資訊業消息的Deadline網站報導，兩個史丹福大學博士候選人1990年代在車庫創辦搜尋公司Google，如今年賺250億美元（台幣7980億元）的精采故事即將搬上大銀幕。

洛杉磯獨立製片公司Groundswell和製片家約翰‧摩理斯合作，買下Google傳記的電影版權。這本書名叫「世界被Google：我們所知的原有世界是如何終結的」，是「紐約客」雜誌媒體專欄作家奧雷塔（Ken Auletta）手筆，去年秋天由企鵝出版，全書描寫包括新聞、音樂、視頻和出版在內整個媒體產業如何被Google摧毀，一切改觀。

這個團隊將以這本書為藍本攝製劇情片，描繪Google兩位創辦人布林和佩吉，以及Google帝國的崛起。

Groundswell老闆兼科技投資人麥可‧倫敦說，片子的焦點將放在，Google在逐漸變成全球巨人和媒體八爪魚的過程中，布林和佩吉如何堅持他們的創業原則和理想，他們如何創辦了一家改變世界的公司，以及這個世界又是如何改變他們。

倫敦說，片子的核心主題是：公司變這麼大、這麼有權力，「勿為惡」的理想在過程中一定遭遇無數挑戰：「你變得這麼有錢和有權的時候，還能不能擇善固執，堅持你的初衷和理想？」

Google已無所不在，知悉其出身的人卻不算多；布林和佩吉在史丹福念計算科學博士學位而相識，1996年創辦Google，用意單純，就是如何求得最大的搜尋引擎效果，連公司名稱也是英文單字googol的誤寫，將錯就錯。googol這個英文單字指的就是在阿拉伯數字1後面加一百個0。

1998年，兩人以Google.com的名稱註冊，在加州一個朋友家中的車庫開張，傳奇也由此開始。

(Yahoo!)

Only Chen

索尼和谷歌合作又見傳聞：任天堂與諾基亞聯合研發手機 ?

Only Chen

雲端運算與智慧型行動裝置出頭天

財富：智慧型手機出貨量本季將超越個人電腦

Only Chen

谷歌技術總監：“搜索”已不再適合描述谷歌
來自：www.google.org.cn

伊斯特賽德高中校友克雷格西爾弗斯坦是谷歌的首位僱員，其在谷歌任技術總監一職。今年7月25日他回到故鄉蓋恩斯維爾進行演講，談論在線搜索引擎的未來並回答了到場觀眾的提問。

西爾弗斯坦在十多年前就被谷歌二位創始人看中，當時谷歌還是史丹福大學裡的一個畢業項目。當他在那時看到這個項目的時候就被震驚了，立即決定放棄學業來幫他們。

西爾弗斯坦的言論摘要如下：

“記住我的話：在未來 10年裡，幾乎你們做的所有搜索，都將從電話或類似電話的某個還未被發明出的設備發出請求。

'搜索'這個詞已經不再適合描述谷歌的工作，我們認為“訊息”這個詞更合適──就是你生活裡即時即地需要的各式各樣的訊息與資訊。

業務的變化包括技術的改進，比如允許人們通過對著手機說話就能搜索，技術的進化未來還將實現即時翻譯，想像一下人們用他們的手機跟其它國家的人直接多對話的情形吧，就跟星際迷航裡的翻譯設備似的。

目前的搜索還不完美：它們只是比問你朋友得到的信息多而已，但是你的朋友知道你的嗜好而且可以通過跟你對話來提供更佳的答案。將發展式的技術元素用於搜索將是搜索界的“聖杯”。我們以前比以前更接近了，但沒準還需要150年。“

西爾弗斯坦最後還回答了到場觀眾的問題，除了谷歌和蘋果之間關係的關係，他說他不想碰這個話題。

他的故鄉蓋恩斯維爾正在跟全美1100多個城市競逐谷歌的光纖網絡試驗田，西爾弗斯坦的到來無疑給蓋恩斯維爾增加了砝碼，西爾弗斯坦說蓋恩斯維爾有很強的競爭力，不過在實驗城市的選擇上他沒有發言權。

Only Chen

World's Best Preserved Crater Found Using Google Earth

This crater, located in a remote area of the Sahara desert, was discovered by researchers using Google Earth. And that's actually not even the coolest part. Kamil, as the crater is called, may be the world's best preserved crater.

The Kamil crater was first spotted back in February when an Italian researcher was surveying satellite images from Google Earth. The crater measures 147 ft at its widest point and 52 ft deep at its deepest. Using those numbers, scientists estimate that the meteor that hit Earth was only 4.2 ft in diameter (but was traveling at 8,000MPH!).

But what stunned scientists was just how pristine the crater was. Typically, craters on Earth erode or get buried over time as Mother Nature and weather work their magic. In the case of Kamil, the bowl-shaped crater still had a splatter pattern of bedrock around it. The splatter pattern, known as ejecta rays, are more often seen on other planets and moons with thinner atmospheres—not on Earth.

According to Luigi Folco, the study leader:

This crater is really a kind of beauty because it's so well-preserved that it will tell us a lot about small-scale meteorite impacts on the Earth's crust. It's so nice. It's so neat. There is something extraordinary about it he said, adding that craters as pristine as Kamil are typically found only on Mars or on the moon, where there are fewer environmental and atmospheric forces to degrade them.

The scientists estimate that Kamil is only thousands of years old. Sort of crazy to think a freaking crater could stay unknown and untouched for so long. [Red Orbit]

Only Chen

谷歌研發的3D海洋地圖工具“谷歌海洋” --- 谷歌地球 5.0插件

谷歌研發的3D海洋地圖

谷歌推出了全球知名的地圖和衛星照片瀏覽軟體---谷歌地球，後來，谷歌推出了一個插件，可以通過谷歌地球瀏覽浩瀚星空或月球、火星...等。

這一次，谷歌把視野瞄準了廣闊的地球海洋。

這一工具將讓用戶看到海底的地形圖，可以搜索特定海域，同時進行移動和放大縮小。

美國地理空間軟件專家蒂姆哈佛蘭德表示，在谷歌海洋工具中，沒有海洋深度模型，因此用戶還無法駕駛一個潛水艇，到深海中去漫遊。

“谷歌海洋”將提供海洋深度數據，另外，其他開發人員可以利用這一軟體作為平台，增加其他的海洋相關數據。據悉，谷歌還計劃在一些海域顯示高分辨率的衛星照片。

其他可以疊加顯示的海洋數據包括氣象模型，洋流，海洋溫度，珊瑚礁等等。

Only Chen

解密谷歌網路電視

作者：佚名

谷歌電視的推出，給“網路電視”賦予了新的內涵，也展示了開放平台在家電領域的巨大潛力。

網路電視的概念在廠商的大力推廣下已逐漸為人熟知，但目前在售的網路電視，其功能往往只是電視 +網路視訊。2010年5月21日，谷歌發布了其最新產品 ---谷歌網路電視，該產品除了正常的電視功能外，可搜索電視視訊，可瀏覽大量的網路視訊，還可以下載各種應用軟體，預計今秋上市。

谷歌電視與傳統“網路電視”最大的不同，在於其一出生即擁有豐富的軟體資源，用戶可由此完成種種定制功能。例如視訊搜索功能：如果用戶搜索“世界杯”，搜索結果將顯示與“世界杯“相關的視訊列表，並會註明電視訊號來源或視訊來源，是否高清HD，是否需在線上觀看等，如果用戶希望觀看視訊時能隨時關注新聞動態，可通過特定應用程式在視訊下方滾動即時新聞，天氣預報甚至日程安排...等等，算是人機互動的劃時代產品。

據了解，谷歌電視設備將可由無線網路接入Internet，其特性就像一台大號的“上網機”：內置機器人作業系統，可使用數萬款專為系統開發的軟體，用戶也可通過谷歌手機，Apple iPhone等智能手機設備來控制電視，完成輸入工作。以往在書房完成的上網操作，將由此擴展到客廳。

谷歌電視延續了其一貫特色，即開放性。系統本身即為開源系統，免費提供給廠商使用，這也吸引了索尼，羅技等廠商加入谷歌電視計劃。消費者將來既可以直接選擇內置系統的索尼電視，也可以用羅技生產的谷歌電視機上盒來完成網路電視功能。此外，谷歌電視看上去並未與任何既有的產業巨頭競爭，而僅僅是整合了各方的資源：例如YouTube上豐富的視訊可能分流觀眾、多方視訊會議，FaceBook Time...等，但電視台也可以通過網路提供豐富的節目單，背景，花絮等附加內容，提高觀賞體驗。

■觀察

谷歌打破封閉式平台

此前，另一科技巨頭蘋果也曾推出過自己的網路電視產品---蘋果網路電視，並延續了蘋果一貫的封閉風格：蘋果電視僅僅可以從蘋果自家網站的iTunes上購買影片，片源被控制在蘋果手中;支援的播放格式有限，僅僅是一個視訊和圖片播放器，而非“上網設備”。

已有的“網路電視”，與蘋果電視的思路更相似，電視廠商各自推出自己的視訊節目平台，在豐富性上存在欠缺，一些節目的版權也存在疑問，最重要的，各家的網路電視作業系統都是各自開發，即使有些電視支援自定程式開發，狹小的用戶數也無法吸引到足夠的開發者。

Tommy Chung

Google expansion helps economy, hurts stock price

AN FRANCISCO – Google Inc. is doing its part to stimulate the economy and hurting its stock in the process.

With its payroll swelling at the fastest rate in four years, some of Google's expenses are climbing faster than its revenue.

That's creating a drag on its earnings, which is pulling down the Internet search leader's stock price.

Consider Google's second-quarter results released late Thursday. Both net income and revenue rose 24 percent from the previous year, but that didn't impress investors because the earnings missed the target set by analysts.

Google shares dropped $23.32, or 4.7 percent, in Friday premarket trading. The stock had closed Thursday at $494.02 and declined in extended trading.

Here's the main reason for the earnings letdown: Google is spending more to maintain its commanding lead in Internet search while it also tries to diversify by developing products in other promising niches such as online video, mobile devices and computer operating systems. To help achieve its goals, the company added nearly 1,200 employees in the second quarter to end June with more than 21,800 workers.

Google, based in Mountain View, has hired nearly 2,000 workers through the first half of the year, putting it on pace to add the most people to its payroll since 2006 when it ushered in 6,100 new employees in 12 months.

The European debt crisis also worked against Google in the April-June period.

Investors are worried the euro will crumble if governments in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy default on their perilously high debts.

Those fears hurt Google because about one-third of the company's revenue comes from Europe, and customer payments made with the euro translated into fewer dollars than a year ago. Even so, the currency squeeze wasn't as severe as some analysts anticipated.

The dollar seems more likely to weaken than Google's commitment to bring in more engineers and sales representatives to peddle the online ads that generate most of the company's income.

Without making specific projections, Google's management left little doubt substantially more people will be joining the company in the months ahead as it pursues long-term opportunities.

"Google is building a business not for this quarter or the next quarter, but an infrastructure for the next half-decade to decade," Patrick Pichette, Google's chief financial officer, said in an interview late Thursday. "What a great moment for us to invest to create these fantastic products that everybody is going to live on."

Even as Google sacrifices earnings growth, it is accumulating more cash. Google had $30 billion at the end of June, up from $26.5 billion. And it might not even use that money to invest in new technology or buy more companies. That's because the company revealed Thursday that it may borrow up to $3 billion on the premise that its money managers can realize investment returns that outstrip its borrowing costs.

Although Google remains the Internet's most profitable company, investors have been fretting about signs of decelerating growth amid stiffer competition from Apple Inc., Facebook and Microsoft Corp. On top of those challenges, a showdown over online censorship in China has muddied Google's future prospects in the world's most populous country.

Those factors have contributed to a 23 percent decline in Google's stock price that has erased about $45 billion in shareholder wealth so far this year.

Google earned $1.84 billion, or $5.71 per share, in the second quarter, up 24 percent from $1.48 billion, or $4.66 per share, a year ago.

If not for expenses covering employee stock compensation, Google said it would have made $6.45 per share. That figure was below the average estimate of $6.52 per share among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue climbed 24 percent to $6.82 billion, from $5.52 billion a year earlier. After subtracting commissions paid to its ad partners, Google's revenue stood at $5.09 billion — about $10 million above analyst projections.

In another key figure watched closely by investors, the number of revenue-generating clicks on Google's ads in the second quarter increased 15 percent from the same time last year. The gain is in the same range as the increases in the past year.

The average price per ad click in the second quarter edged up 4 percent from last year, but it's slower than the growth seen during the previous two quarters.

Tommy Chung

China stops funding Green Dam web filter: report

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Developers of China's Green Dam Internet filter have not received government funding in the past year, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday, placing in doubt the future of the much-criticized software.

China delayed indefinitely the plan to force PC manufacturers to bundle the Green Dam software with computers sold in the country in June last year, after critics denounced the plan as ineffective.

Software developer Beijing Dazheng Human Language Technology Academy had closed the office where the software was promoted and maintained, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported, citing the company's general manager.

The company and another software developer Zhengshou Jinhui had received 41.7 million yuan ($6.16 million) in May 2008 to develop the software, the report added.

Officials from both companies were not immediately available for comment.

Beijing had said the Green Dam software was designed to block objectionable images and stamp out Internet pornography, but faced criticism that the program strengthened China's ability to censor political content.

(Writing by Kelvin Soh; Editing by Chris Lewis)

Tommy Chung

Next Apple TV to offer 99 cent streaming episode rentals?

Apple TV V.S. Google T.V.?

We've already had some indication that the next Apple TV might boast a low, low $99 price tag, and it looks like Apple might be working to make TV shows cheaper as well. According NewTeeVee, Apple is now trying to convince networks to let it offer rentals of episodes of TV shows for 99 cents. Like movie rentals, you would have 30 days to watch an episode after you purchase it, but the shows would reportedly be streaming-only, and not actually downloaded to the Apple TV, which would certainly line up with the cloud storage model we've heard about. Not many more details than that, unfortunately, nor is there any word that the rentals would extend beyond the Apple TV.

Tommy Chung

China confirms it renewed Google operating license

(Yahoo!)

Tommy Chung

inventor of cell phone: We knew someday everybody would have one

Tommy Chung

Google aims to make app creation easy

(CNN)

Tommy Chung

谷歌推出手機新應用---共享周邊停車位

如果你是有車一族，在現在越來越擁擠的城市中能擁有一個停車位似乎並不是一件很容易的事情，各種車位滿員讓大家只能開著車不停的尋尋覓覓，之前網上曾流傳最牛停車姐自己隨車帶著自創的停車位也讓不少網友大呼創意無限。

谷歌實驗室近日推出一項新的機器人應用程式，雖然不是一款大家在社交網站中常玩的“停車位”貼紙遊戲，但是這款名為公開賽席位的應用卻和“停車位”遊戲有些類似，用戶可以使用手機上的GPS找尋周邊其他用戶共享出來的空閒停車位。

其概念非常簡單，就是---我為人人，人人為我的共享模式，當你將車開離停車位的時候，你可以將當前的位置共享為大家，默認標註時間為幾分鐘，用戶可以通過不同的顏色標示當前位置的---車位緊張程度，比如幾分鐘之內就可能會有車停進來，就會用紅色的符號進行標註。

雖然這樣的應用在初期階段可能不會提供太多的可停車標記，但是隨著用戶的增長，其開放環境將會讓越來越多的用戶享受到網路的共享精神來解決現實問題的便捷，特別是像無處停車這樣的煩人問題。

目前這款應用可以通過在谷歌電子市場搜索“開放點”或者使用手機掃描二維條碼進行下載，要求手機的系統必須是機器人2.0以上的版本，不過目前僅支援美國，加拿大，荷蘭三個國家使用，希望谷歌實驗室能盡快增加其它適用地域。