Android Gets Adobe Flash 10.2 Updates

Tablet PC market now seems to be more competitive with Adobe releasing Flash Player 10.2 which will now be integrated with Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. No doubt, the users of Android-based devices like Motorola Xoom were eagerly waiting for this move from Abode.

Apple iPad may be way ahead of other tablet competitors in the market, but its lack of Flash support could now be well-exploited by Google’s Android platform. The latest Android model named ‘Honeycomb’ has been featured in Motorola Xoom and a series of Android Honeycomb-based devices are waiting to hit the market.

However, the initial version of Xoom did not support Adobe Flash, and to some extent, it affected its sales too. Now that Adobe comes up with the 10.2 beta version, Xoom users would be able to run videos and animations very soon. The GA (general availability) version of Flash 10.2 would be released for Android Honeycomb later on.

Users can now just download the beta version of Flash 10.2 from the Android Marketplace and install it on Android 2.2 (Froyo), 2.3 (Gingerbread) and 3.0 (Honeycomb).

Google is going to test NFC technology in the next four months

Google is going to start a new mobile-payment system on-test basis within four months in New York and San Francisco. It will pay to install “special cash-register systems” from VeriFone Systems Inc. at different business locations. ViVOtech Inc., a company that specializes in mobile-payment technology, will also play a major role in the test.

Bloomberg has been tipped off by an inside man. Google service would combine users’ financial account information, gift-card balances, store loyalty cards and coupon subscriptions on a single chip inside a phone.

The NFC system allows shoppers to buy products using their mobile phones. They would pay for the product or services by tapping on a device against a register at checkout. To support this system, users would have to carry phones supporting NFC technology.

Google Nexus S smartphone running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread comes with NFC support. Earlier, news reports came out that Apple would include NFC technology in its upcoming iPhone 5 but later the UK mobile network officials revealed that Apple is not going to include any NFC chipset in their next iPhone for there is no clear industry standard for NFC but it understands the potential of the technology and is said to be working on including this technology next year and it will link payments through iTunes.

Related articles:

Bloomberg

Gotta Be Mobile

Mobile Beat

Google patched WebKit vulnerability discovered at Pwn2Own

At the annual, Pwn2Own hacking contest, three researchers- Vincenzo Iozzo, Willem Pinckaers and Ralf Philipp Weinmann stole the spotlight by hacking the browser of BlacBerry Torch 9800 smartphone by exploiting multiple WebKit vulnerabilities.

The hackers “chained an information disclosure bug to a separate integer overflow flaw” and then stole the contact list and image data base.

On March 11, 2011, Google patched the WebKit flaw in its Chrome browser making it the first patch ever released by a browser developer to cover up a vulnerability discovered at the Pwn2Own hacking contest. Google rated the threat "high" and made sure that outsiders do not have access to the details of the vulnerability.

Sponsored by HP TippingPoint and its Zero Day Initiative bug bounty program, Pwn2Own started on March 9, 2011 and continued till March 11, 2011.

On March 10, 2011, Vincenzo Iozzo, Willem Pinckaers and Ralf-Philipp Weinmann won $15,000 by hacking the BlackBerry Torch. Both Iozzo and Weinmann won Pwn2Own 2010 by hacking the iPhone. On that same day, Dion Blazakis and four-time Pwn2Own winner, Charlie Miller hacked Apple Safari by exploiting another WebKit flaw.

Related article:

Computer World

Google has big plan for Blogger in 2011

Google has stated in the official Google Blog that it would add a lot of new interesting features in 2011. Yes, 2010 was an important year for this platform as the search engine giant really added many great and important features.

One of the important changes that is going to take place right away is the user interface. It will become more modern and user friendly. Another important change is ‘content discovery feature that lets you uncover interesting and related content based on the topics of the blog you’re currently reading.’

I am a very big fan of Blogger platform and I wish Google changes the commenting system in Blogger. It should be similar to WordPress and then a blog has more possibility of getting more comments. 

Google announces Video ad Formats to the DoubleClick Ad Exchange: Plans big for YouTube

In the last few years, Google made two big acquisions: DoubleClick and YouTube. Both of them were billion dollar acquisitions. While DoubleClick has become a financially successful story the same perhaps cannot be said about YouTube. Well, YouTube is one of the most popular and visited websites in the world. So, Google just needs to use the heavy amount of traffic in a proper way to earn money.

Perhaps, Google has found a good strategy after all in this read. Today, in the official blog, Susan Wojcicki, Senior Vice President, Product Management and Neal Mohan, Vice President, Product Management have announced a new kind of Ad for video:

We’re kicking off year four with another step towards our overall vision: the addition of video ad formats to the DoubleClick Ad Exchange. We’re about to start a beta test, allowing Ad Exchange buyers to run in-stream video ads on YouTube using real-time bidding technology. (We’ll eventually extend this capability to include additional video formats and will serve ads on more videos across the web.)

You can find more information here. So, it may bring more revenue from YouTube for Google. Perhaps, with this aim in mind, Google is now hiring more people for YouTube. 

Google’s logo is the most viewed logo in the UK

MyVoucherCodes.com has conducted an interesting survey among 1,654 people to know the name of the most viewing logos during an average day. The survey question was “which logo do you see the most during an average day?”

According to the survey, Google’s logo has become the most prominent voted by 34 per cent of respondents. It can be seen that most people selected it as the most seen logo. Microsoft has become the second most viewing logo with 15 per cent.

Popular social-networking site, Facebook, is in third position with 11 per cent following Apple in fourth on 9 per cent.

The survey also unveiled the most surprising thing is that 53 per cent of people use Google as a spell checker. However, 52 per cent of those surveyed said that they use Google search for something between 10 and 20 times a day.

The survey also revealed that 25 per cent respondents had installed a Google search bar into their browser.

The Top 10 most viewed logos has been arranged based on the percentage of the people who answered the question "which logo do you see the most during an average day?"

1. Google - 34%

2. Microsoft - 15%

3. Facebook - 11%

4. Apple - 9%

5. Coca Cola - 8%

6. BBC - 7%

7. Sony - 5%

8. Sky - 4%

9. Twitter - 3%

10. Blackberry -2%

This survey shows that 47 per cent people admitting Google as their homepage. They view the logo when they come online.

Google will Launch Music Store to Compete with Apple’s iTunes

It seems that the rivalry between the two top companies, Google and Apple, will be increased sooner. Both Google and Apple are known as arch rivals, and it is expected to increase their rivalry soon as Internet giant, Google Inc, is planning to take on Apple’s dominance developing a competitive online music store.

With a 70% market share, Apple’s iTunes is still in the dominant form in terms of downloading digital music. However, Google is looking forward to take on Apple in this market.

Google’s online music store will allow users to listen to songs wherever they go. According to various media reports, Google is in talks with music lables on the plan for a download store and a digital song locker. Industry executives are hopeful about Google entering the market to compete with iTunes 10, which comes with social networking feature Ping.

It has not yet confirmed about what a new Google music service would look like. Sources close to Google said that Andy Rubin has been leading conversations about it. It is expected to launch by December 2010.

In 2003, Apple started the sales of digital music through the launch of iTunes. Since its journey, it has been dominating the music industry.

It is thought that Google can shine in the market and make a big competition as it can use large data from YouTube and from search engine. May be for the first time, Apple is going to face a strong competitor.

Google Joins OIN: Good News for Linux Developers

Open Invention Network (OIN) was formed to help Linux developers to minimize problems about patents while working on something based on Linux. Patent can be a bone of contention in the business world and we hear of patent problems, conflicts and lawsuits all the time. OIN can help to reduce the problem significantly if you are a Linux developer.

Good thing is that Google has joined OIN now and it would surely boost OIN further. Google is the big name in Internet world today. In the official blog of Google, Chris DiBona, Open Source Programs Manager has written an article about this matter.

He wrote:

In turn, we feel a strong responsibility to the Linux community, and we’re always looking for creative ways to put our resources in the hands of Linux developers. That’s why today we became a licensee of the Open Invention Network (OIN), an innovative patent-sharing organization founded to create a legally protected environment for anyone who works with Linux.

The concept behind OIN is simple. All OIN licensees, including participants such as IBM, Oracle, NEC and Sony, agree to cross-license their Linux-related patents to the others free of charge. Patent issues therefore become a much smaller concern inside the community, and OIN members can focus their energy on writing and releasing software rather than vetting their code for intellectual property issues. It's the legal equivalent of taking a long, deep breath.

This is good news for all the Linux developers around the world. The inclusion of Google in OIN will help everyone in the long run.

What do you think about it?

Google Explains video ID Tools of YouTube

YouTube is now one of the top 5 websites in the world. Everyday, millions of people visit YouTube and enjoy the videos uploaded there by the users. Many companies are sensitive about the copyright issue. Of course, some videos get posted and they are copyrighted materials. Well, it happens to any user generated website all the time. I mean, it is impossible to keep watch of the materials that are getting posted in every minute.

There has been some criticism against Google about the posting of copyrighted materials in YouTube. Now, in its official blog Steve Chen, YouTube co-founder has given a detailed explanation about this matter with the entry:

The state of our video ID tools

In this entry, Steve Chen has talked in details about what YouTube officials are doing to fight against copyrighted materials and indecent videos. He wrote:

If a content owner identifies material that she doesn’t want on YouTube, she can request its removal with the click of a mouse. If particular users repeatedly infringe copyrights, we terminate their accounts. We have long made a practice of creating a unique "hash" of every video removed for alleged copyright infringement and blocking re-uploads of the hash. We educate users on what is and isn’t permissible under the law. Our upcoming video identification system will be our latest way of empowering copyright holders, going above and beyond legal requirements.

I guess that many companies will not get satisfied with this reply from Google. On the other hand, many companies will feel assured to see that Google is trying to fight back and prevent unauthorized copyrighted materials being posted in YouTube.

Google Calendar gallery: More than an Online Calendar

I often get surprised to see the creativity and ingenuity of the people working in Google. All the time, they are adding great things in Internet to make our life easier. And the best thing is that Google gives everything for free. Of course, many of its services are ad supported but so what! I don’t mind the nice text ads- do you?

Google’s official blog has written about Google Calendar gallery and the title of the news is:

Spice up your schedule with the Google Calendar gallery

You can add a lot of events and things in your Google Calendar gallery. It is really a very useful thing. I really strongly recommend you to give it a try even if you don’t need an online Calendar. Who knows you may even fall in love with it and get addicted.

YouTube Channel from Deutsche Welle (DW)

Deutsche Welle is a very popular radio and TV station and it is in fact run by German government. It has joined the YouTube band wagon and now Deutsche Welle has a channel in YouTube.

Variety reported:

The initiative follows recently launched YouTube outlets from other international broadcasters such as BBC Worldwide and Al Jazeera English.

Holger Hank, head of new media at DW, said the growing number of users who specifically look for video content on the Internet moved the pubcaster to launch its own YouTube channel offering selected material from Deutsche Welle.

It will surely help Deutsche Welle to be more accessible to more listeners and viewers from around the world. I guess that it is time that other media organizations join YouTube and Google becomes only bigger.

"Claim Your Content" in YouTube: A Smart Move from Google

I guess YouTube is now the fourth most popular website in the world according to Alexa ranking. Millions of people are visiting YouTube every month and they are uploading and enjoying videos. The bad side is that anyone can upload anything in YouTube and many copyrighted materials are being uploaded every minute in YouTube. This is not a good thing for entertainment companies and they are very angry with Google.

Google is trying to fight back and has come up with a very smart idea of "Claim Your Content". This will give the entertainment companies to remove any copyrighted materials from YouTube easily and quickly.

CBC News reported:

CEO Eric Schmidt said a "Claim Your Content" option would soon appear on the site to make it easier for copyright holders to report infringements on YouTube.

The new software will not restrict uploading or downloading of copyrighted material, but will allow owners to more easily search for and flag material they wish to be removed.

I think that it will satisfy many entertainment companies. In Internet, it is difficult to control users. YouTube is so popular website that trying to control it will be an impossible task for anyone. So, if the companies can remove their materials then they will be happy.

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