As a not-so-closet techie (or tech-geek, if you will), I find myself instantly attracted to all things new and shiny — even when the polish is not altogether there yet. This is why, on this US Thanksgiving evening, I find myself writing a post about Google Chrome OS from within a recently released build of Google Chrome OS (and I’m writing the post in Google Wave, no less). I’m positively giddy! I know, I know, so much hype is surrounding Chrome OS — and pretty much anything that Google does these days — but I don’t care. I want to play! I like to play!! And so here is my take on the current state and usability of the Google Chrome Operating System and how to check it out for yourself…
Tag: Google (page 11 of 12)
A few weeks back, Google unveiled the long-awaited push Gmail for iPhone and Windows Mobile. Push Gmail is part of the Google Sync package, which is still in Beta and previously offered only Google Calendar sync and Google Contacts sync. The calendar and contacts features have been working fairly flawlessly for some time now, aside from the inability to support multiple calendars and a few hiccups with the sync connection on some phones. Gmail push, unfortunately, has proven to be somewhat imperfect.
Google Sidewiki, a tool that allows people to comment directly on nearly any website, launched this past week to muted shrugs from the tech world and a nervous shudder by website and business owners alike. Sidewiki is a part of Google Toolbar, widely available for and in active use on Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers, and will be built directly into Google Chrome (it is not supported at this time).
If it’s handled well, Sidewiki could prove to be a very interesting and useful tool, from a user perspective. If handled badly, it will suffer a long and gruesome death (for both readers and abused websites). Read more
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.
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.