google

Google cracking down on Marketplace apps offering their services

May 5, 2012 | By Surur

It is no secret that Google does not see much reason to support Windows Phone 7 with their numerous services, such as YouTube, Google Voice etc, but it seems the company has now gone on the offensive even against 3rd party applications which offer their services on Windows Phone platform.

The developer of YouTube Live has received a notice from Microsoft on behalf of Google asking them to remove YouTube Live, reading:

"This message is to notify you that Microsoft has received Content Infringement Complaint (“Complaint”) regarding your application Youtube Live. A copy of the Complaint is attached for your review.

Remove Application Access Immediately

You must remove access to the application from the Marketplace within one business day. If your application is still available for download after one business day,Microsoft may remove the application without further notice. Please note that under certain circumstances Microsoft may remove your app immediately without providing you the opportunity to remove it."

Google services form a pretty important part of the online experience for most internet users, and it would be pretty damaging if Windows Phone 7 appears not to offer any access to their services. While Google is within their rights to ask for these apps to change their names, it does make it more difficult for new users to find these apps.

At least the notice means Windows Phone has become big enough for Google to take notice, which is not a bad thing in itself.

Via WPCentral.com

23

Is Google killing itself with Android?

March 30, 2012 | By Surur

I stumbled across an interesting article at the Examiner.com, asking if Google was still relevant.

Its a pretty long article, so I will summarise the main point.

They note Android is not making Google much, with recent estimates arising from a Google filing in court suggesting the company only made $550m since 2008 from Android, but, with the Motorola purchase, would have spent more than $20 billion so far on the OS.

At the same time while nearly dominating the mobile market, the company is diverting users away from their real cash cow, the desktop search market (with the desktop supported for free by Microsoft of course), responsible for much more than 90% of their earnings.

And on mobile, users do not search the web, they use apps to get information. Brian Hall at the Examiner writes:

In almost all cases I instead go to Siri or an app. For flight information, for restaurant reviews. To check on what friends are doing. To discover new relationships. I go directly to the Wikipedia app or to the Amazon app or to WorldMate or Yelp, for example.

I go into the Twitter app to discover trends, find new people to follow.

And of course you can fit much less ads on a small screen.

At the same time their “android success” is distracting the company from concentrating on real challenges like Facebook and Twitter and even Bing. All the time while Motorola drains their profitability.

The full article is a fascinating read at why Android may end up being Google’s white elephant. See it here.

34

Hands on video with the new Google app

March 7, 2012 | By andrewbares

The new Google search app is essentially useless. The only new thing it brings is voice search, and we’ve already got that in Windows Phone.

In fact, Windows Phone’s voice search has been far more accurate than Google’s app in my experience.

Otherwise, the Google app is simply a search box that displays an embedded IE9 window with the results, instead of generating results in a nicer, more app-like format as Bing does.

The worst part is that you can’t open links in the full Internet Explorer so you’re stuck using the annoying embedded browser window. There’s no sharing links, no opening links in different tabs…. it’s terrible.

You should either visit google.com from Internet Explorer or use Bing Search instead of this useless app!

10

Privacy advocate demands Google replace his Android phone with a Windows one

March 1, 2012 | By Surur

Alex Hanff, a prominent privacy campaigner based in Lancaster, England, has filed a claim against Google at the small claims court for around £400 to replace his HTC Desire.

The action is a response to Google’s recent privacy changes, which would pool data from Google’s various services, including Android location data, so the company can build up a more precise profile to sell to advertisers.

“The changes are a significant infringement of my right to privacy and I do not consent to Google being able to use my data in such a way,” said Alex Hanff, calling the changes an unfair change in contract terms andwhich will force Mr Hanff to buy a new smartphone.

Google is under intense scrutiny at present by regulators in US and EU for abuse of its monopoly position in search, which means for many people de facto the internet and Google is synonymous.

“They’ve been asked to suspend the changes several times, and Google keeps telling the regulators where to go,” said Mr Hanff, who was previously closely involved in the campaign against Phorm, an advertising company that aim to profile web browsing by doing deals with broadband providers.

“They’ve basically stuck two fingers up,” he added. "Hopefully my case will open an avenue for other consumers to take similar action."

While Google has not responded to the specific case, they did say their Android phones could still be used for basic features without being tracked.

"Users can choose not to log into an Android phone with a Google Account and still use it to place phone calls, send text messages, browse the web, and use certain Google applications that do not require account authentication such as Google Maps. Some Google applications such as Android Market and Gmail require authentication with a Google Account."

Mr Hanff said that he will replace his Android device with a Windows Phone smartphone.

“There’s not much choice but I wouldn’t want to be subject to Apple’s privacy policy and Microsoft’s seems the least threatening at the moment,” he said.

Read more at the Independent Ireland here.

16

Google shamelessly steal Metro (again) for new website

February 6, 2012 | By Surur

Solve for X.htm_20120206225324

Either Google has decided to start promoting Windows 8, or they have once again decided to steal Microsoft’s new UI paradigm to make their website look a bit more hip and modern. This is of course Matias Duarte’s idea, and he is delusionaly convinced he did not get his inspiration from Metro.

Hopefully we cam help keep him a bit more honest.

See the new site here.

Thanks Kamal for the tip.

27

YouTube now provides High Quality video playback option on Windows Phone

February 5, 2012 | By Surur

youtubehd

Google’s YouTube have thrown Windows Phone 7 a bone by providing an option to stream YouTube video at high quality, rather than the more pixelated standard quality playback that has been available up till now.

The YouTube web app now offers access to most of the features of desktop YouTube, except for uploading and downloading videos.

While this is still no native client, ones does have to start wondering, in these days of HTML5 web apps, whether there is still really any point in wanting or waiting for a native app from the company.

What do our readers think? Let us know below.

Via WPCentral. com

14

Gizmodo recommends Windows Phone to escape Google’s evil clutches

January 25, 2012 | By Surur

medium_2e6a352b01e4c0913179af4bf30e6b5c With Google recently making sweeping privacy changes which will mean they can get even better at selling you to their advertisers, some people have been re-evaluating the bevy of Google services which they are using.

Included with the wide variety of substitutes they also recommend worried users replace their Google listening and location device, also called an Android phone, with a Windows Phone 7 handset.

They note:

It’s tough to get out of your contract if you’re locked in on an Android phone. But if you’re up for an upgrade some time soon, and you want to sidestep Google’s info-grab, you should take a long hard look at Windows Phone. Yes, there’s the iPhone. That’s really great. But Windows Phone is a totally fresh take on phones, and if you’re going to be an Android expat, you should take a dip in the totally-new-and-different pool before trudging back to familiar waters like iOS.

Of course we can recommend a Windows Phone to just about anyone, even with the limitations, simply based on the satisfaction rate. We suggest however if you are going to jump into a Windows Phone you might as well chuck your Gmail for Windows Live Mail and nestle into the comfortable Microsoft ecosystem, which is actually pretty completely also.

See Gizmodo’s other recommendations here.

33

NewsSpot v2.3 adds synchronization of read articles, navigation to feeds, appearance customization

December 28, 2011 | By FourSpotProject

NewsSpot, your Google Reader with advanced sync-engine, image caching and article search was recently updated to Version 2.3.
The last two updates added a lot of features and bug fixes, such as:

Added sync for read articles.
Added navigation to single feeds.
New application icon exclusively designed by Zed Martinez.
Added application themes, so you can e.g. use the app with dark letters on a light background without switching the system theme.
Added option to lock screen orientation to portrait or landscape.
Added option to auto sync periodically while the application is running.
Added option to sort unread articles by oldest to newest.
Added option to hide system tray.
Fixed crash when exiting application from credentials page and returning to it.

Try the ad-supported version which has all features with the only one restriction that it lets you sync at a max 200 unread and 50 starred articles. The full version costs 1.99$ and supports up to 1000 unread or starred articles.

For suggestions, bug reports or other feedback, please feel free to contact us: [email protected]

Twitter: @FourSpotProject

0

WTH! Now HTC’s YouTube app also pulled from Marketplace: Update: Still there if you search

December 22, 2011 | By Surur

ythtc

We heard this morning about MetroTube being removed from Marketplace due to a violation of Google’s APIs.

Now it seems the HTC YouTube app has also been pulled from Marketplace.

We don’t know what is behind the change, but if it is Google turning on the screws on Windows Phone 7 maybe we are not particularly impressed. We have been informed Microsoft has no response yet, but are considering their options.

Update: The app is still there if you search, but has been moved from HTC’s app section.

31

In lieu of actual apps, Google offers pinnable shortcuts for Windows Phone

December 2, 2011 | By Surur

googlesearch

There are 6 million odd people Google love to ignore, and they all user Windows Phones. Google app support on the platform is near non-existent, but today they did throw the OS a bone by alerting users that they could pin the Google search page to their start screen (see the screen shots via WPCentral above).

The move actually simply extends their other efforts to support the OS via web apps, including the YouTube web app, but I would suggest if Google wishes to retain users who chose the Windows Phone platform they need to work a little harder.

Via WPCentral.com

9

Microsoft signs up but Apple and Google hold out on Mobile ESRB game age rating

November 29, 2011 | By Surur

esrb The Wireless Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) have announced a newly-developed rating system, the CTIA Mobile Application Rating System with ESRB which will utilize the well-known and trusted age rating icons that ESRB assigns to computer and video games to provide parents and consumers reliable information about the age-appropriateness of applications.

AT&T, Microsoft, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless are all members of the rating system, but significant hold-outs are Apple and Google, who both use their own rating systems.

The ESRB system is developer and industry financed and widely supported on consoles and on the PC, but with different systems on each mobile platform it will mean that the same game may have different age ratings on different platforms.

The announcement is an extension of CTIA’s 2010 Guidelines for Application Content Classification and Rating.

Via CNET.com

1

Windows Azure Cloud Computing Powers Popular Line of Windows Phone Apps

November 23, 2011 | By aemami

Seles Games, the company behind popular news readers Weave (reviewed here), Windows Phone News, Tech News Now, as well as several other apps, recently switched to Windows Azure to provide fast delivery of news for WP7 users. Their press release appears below.

Windows Azure competes with Amazon Web Services as well as Google App Engine in the realm of cloud computing – and while Amazon’s cloud solution is the more widely used and discussed platform, Microsoft has made an excellent case for Windows Phone developers to use Azure for Windows Phone development.

“Press Release: Seles Games switches to Windows Azure for all news apps – sees huge speed gains.

Since switching to Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, we have seen a dramatic reduction in the amount of time it takes to download articles in our news apps.

The gains have been staggering – even on a slow cellular connection, our apps are able to download news in a fraction of the time it took prior to using the Windows Azure platform!

By leveraging Azure, our apps such as Weave and Windows Phone News are able to bring users fresh news up to 5000% faster than competing products. That is no typo – compared to an app like Pulse, we can download over 3 times as many feeds and do it 50 times faster.

We are very pleased with Windows Azure as a platform. We will be continue to leverage Azure for our news reader apps, as well as some new apps we have in the pipeline.

We believe it is a very compelling platform for Windows Phone developers who need a fast cloud-based solution.

Seles Games is a company dedicated to providing incredible Windows Phone application experiences to users.

Our apps.

Follow us on Twitter for news on app updates, sales/promotions, and more! @SelesGames”

3

gMaps Pro now supports Mango – as close as Google Maps on WP7 as you will ever get

September 21, 2011 | By Surur

It is no secret Google is not exactly providing much support apps-wise to Windows Phone 7.

gMaps Pro has done a lot to fill that gap however, with the the app, which uses Google’s Maps, supporting map navigation with different layers, GPS tracking, local and business search with multiple results, routes search with route statistics (include A-B routes), Driving Mode with auto-rotation and much more.

The app has now been updated to Windows Phone 7 Mango and brings one new surprise – support for Google’s Lattitude service.

The app is $1.99 and can be found in Marketplace here.

Via WPCentral.com

8