Yesterday, Google announced the Data Liberation Front, "whose singular goal is to make it easier for users to move their data in and out of Google products." While this should give users some peace of mind that they won’t be locked into Google products, and even attract some people to Google products, it does raise an important question. Specifically, do we rely on Google too much, such that we should think about spreading our eggs among other baskets? For many of us, it seems that our lives are in Google. I’ll be the first to admit that my productivity is dependent on Google. I use Google Apps, Gmail, Reader, Voice, and Docs, among others. Are you doing this, too? Is this unwise? I’d like to know what you think, in both the poll and comments after the jump.
Category: Google (page 20 of 21)
It is time for another digest of recent content on 40Tech’s Posterous site, where we post content that is too brief for this site, but too long for Twitter. Since the last digest, our Posterous site has taken a look at the following items:
Turn By Turn GPS Navigation for GPS for $35 Bucks?? — CoPilot Live 8 – An affordable GPS app for the iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile (Touchscreen and Smartphone) looks intriguing, given the price.
Google is Listening to My Google Voice Suggestions – Google has made some improvements to Google Voice that address two of our earlier concerns.
If any of those headlines interest you, check out the 40Tech Posterous site.
Google Voice offers many great features, such as transcription, call filtering and free U.S. calls. Voice is not perfect, though. In fact, there are a few aspects of the service that are downright disappointing. Fortunately, Google does have time to work out the kinks, as Voice only has limited availability at the present time. In the meantime, here are five improvements that Google Voice needs to make before going mainstream.
RSS Readers are a convenient way to stay on top of many web sites, without having to visit the sites directly. One reader, Google Reader, stands head and shoulders above other readers in terms of popularity. That doesn’t mean Google Reader is easy to understand, though. Many users (including me, until recently) either don’t use or don’t understand three of Google Reader’s features – the ability to "Star," "Share," and "Like" an item. Here we take a look at those three features of Google Reader.
Google Voice, Google’s free service to help you make and receive calls, is currently open only to former GrandCentral subscribers. Soon, though, Google will make Voice more widely available. Between free U.S. calls, call filtering, multiple telephone ringing, and call transcription, Voice offers many enticing features. Google Voice is so different from traditional telephone service, though, that it can be difficult to comprehend exactly how the service works. Today we take a look at the basics of Google Voice.