Started in 1998 to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," Google has gone great lengths to fulfill its mission: it began as a search engine but now lists over one hundred and fifty domains under its umbrella. Lately Google has been making big moves, and from cataloging the world's books in an online library to developing new phone platforms, Google is looking to expand even further...will their growth step on Apple's toes?
Projects
Aside from search and maps, Google has been doing a lot to advance the internet, mostly through digitizing content. New initiatives like Google Books and the Google News Archive have revolutionalized the way people use their computers--now because of unprecedented agreements with authors, publishers and news outlets it's easier then ever to get your information fix. Google Books, for example lets you search over ten million books (as of October 9th, 2009) to discover new authors from the comfort of their own homes. The News Archive has a host of features too, including a timeline and links to articles that are fee based, or free if you're lucky! Another endeavor, Google Scholar, lets you access abstracts, papers and other scholarly sources to support your own. Digitizing all this content is no small task, but then, neither is translating the internet--they're working on that too.
Open Platforms
What good is it all, though, without universal access? In the same spirit as their intenet offerings--accessibility and usefulness--Google has developed the Android platform. It's completely open, and that's revolutionary. It has the benefit of being designed by a company looking to get their information across at any cost, and so it didn't need to be tied to one handset or one carrier...Google can afford, with this mindset, to diversify in their outlets as well as their applications. They certainly have the requisite fan base and their audience is growing as their efforts reach more news outlets.
Encroachment?
Google Chrome, Android, Google Calander, Google Docs...they've all got one thing in common: they compete with products and services that Apple has pioneered. While the iPhone is still the undisputed leader in the smartphone market, Android's open capabilities and multiple handsets means it could creep up on Apple from many angles. And while Safari still has the edge on Chrome in market share, Chrome runs JavaScript heavy websites faster than Safari...which is fitting since all of Google's services are JavaScript based. The Silicon Valley scene is heating up, and with the departure of members from Apple's board who served on Google's and vice-versa it's fair to say it's only going to get hotter. As long a Google doesn't come up with an MP3 player with a video camera we think the two corporate giants will continue to co-exist relatively peacefully and, hopefully, spur each other to new heights.
More Apple
More News
iPad Costs
iSuppli Corp., which generally waits until it can actually get the new Apple product to estimate its production cost, has decided to forgo hands on examination in the case of the iPad. They have--from just looking at it, it's amazing--decided the base model only costs $219.35 for Apple to produce. According to AppleInsider the base model won't make Apple anywhere near as much profit as the 32 GB model with 3G wireless priced at $729...that one reportedly costs only $287.15 to produce.
That's some profit! No wonder Apple execs have said they'd stay nimble on pricing! With demand for the iPad under scrutiny and this week's news that the "Take Picture" hint was removed from the Address Book app in the iPad simulator even we are starting to wonder if it's not worth waiting for the 2nd generation.
Trust us, it's painful to say.
Google Challenges the Internet
"Think Big" indeed. This time, Google is setting its sights on the very way we transmit information and asking people from around the country to nominate their city or state to be included in an ultra-high speed open internet network of Google's building. Set to include anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 people, this network will boast 1GB per second fiber optic connections that Google reps are hoping will bolster developer creativity, test new ways to build the infrastructure and challenge internet service providers to band together to create a better internet instead of shunning change to maintain their bottom lines.
This is huge news, and we hope our city is on the receiving end of the new interwebs...here's the official Google Blog if you want to read it all in detail or submit your community.
Dogs on Twitter
From the country that's given us karate and karaoke comes the newest iPhone app: that's right, Japan's Index Corp. has announced the release of "Bowlingual," the dog emotion translator. Latest in a long line of technological advances, this app (to be released this summer) analyzes Fido's bark and puts it into one of six categories, like "needy." Or "happy." Then it adds a caption based on the emotion and allows you to snap a photo of your pooch in its current mood; as if that weren't enough it can modify that photo to enlarge your pet's eyes...oh...so cute.
Seriously, the app is set to sell for $5 and will post your pet's barks to Twitter. Silly? Yes. Fun? Probably!!
Will you let your dog speak his mind? Tell us here.
