The BBC reports Google sees voice search as a major opportunity to generate presence on the mobile web.
Vic Gundotra, Google’s Vice-President of Engineering, made the comments during a wide-ranging discussion at a recent Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.
“We believe voice search is a new form of search and that it is core to our business,” he stated.
As newspapers continue to experience decreasing ad spends, they’re looking for ways to maintain relevancy and existence.
And the slow economy isn’t helping. Some of the papers’ biggest customers – retail, auto and real estate – are hurting badly.
One way newspapers seem to fit nicely into the overall information delivery system, is by getting the Web to grab readers and allowing them to get in-depth information from print sources.
That could definitely work for some years, or at least until screens provide the same readability as paper and people learn to cuddle with their Sumsungs.
We came across a compelling video that makes you reflect on where we’re headed with technology, and just how fast.
Some of the gripping facts:
In the end, the video asks: What does it all mean? Perhaps if we don’t fully embrace technology, we’ll literally be left in the dust – sooner than later.
Check it out right here, right now.
Dreamweaver is dying, or so suggested Tom Arah in a PC Pro blog.
He wrote: “The problem is that Dreamweaver is dying…to be fair it’s not Dreamweaver’s fault. Nor is the problem Adobe and its development team — the last Dreamweaver CS4 version was the most impressive release in years.
“The real problem for Dreamweaver and for its users is that the nature of the Web is changing dramatically. Dynamically-generated web applications, from Amazon right down to the humble blog, all offer much more — in-built commenting, voting, RSS feeds, etc. — than the best sites built on static HTML can ever hope to provide.
Google is preparing to launch a service that could make desktop computers a thing of the past, reports The Guardian.
The Google Drive, or ‘GDrive’, slated to be launched later this year, will enable users to access their personal files and operating systems from Google’s servers via the internet.
“The PC would be a simpler, cheaper device acting as a portal to the web, perhaps via an adaptation of Google’s operating system for mobile phones, Android,” reported David Smith, The Guardian’s Technology Correspondent. “Users would think of their computer as software rather than hardware.”
Critics are concerned about Google’s increasing power, considering its reach and access to vast personal information. A hacker’s dream? Others worry about having all their eggs in one basket, in the event of server crashes or Internet downtime.
Call Google the best thing since sliced bread, or a monster to be feared, this appears to be the direction the Internet is headed. Clever? Definitely. Wise? Time will tell.
Read the full article here: Google plans to make PCs history.
I got to participate in a debate last week about the future of newspapers. Some say they’re dying; others insist they’re here to stay.
It seems most newspapers won’t be able to replace their traditional business with an online alternative. With each day, they become less relevant. In Vancouver, there’s a classified ad publication that used to be a leader in its field. Today, trying to compete with the likes of Craig’s List, it’s clinging on to a mere few pages.
Consumers are spending more time online, and that’s where the advertising dollars are going.
Hence, one can claim it’s ultimately consumers – not technology – that are burying the once-loved pulp chronicles.
After getting grief from a couple of designers, I agreed to post an iPhone version of a recent ‘Top 5 addiction signs’ post. Here we go…
5. The magazine rack in the bathroom has become obsolete.
4. You’ve developed the ability to read e-mails unbeknownst to the person talking to you.
3. Your friends get concerned if they don’t get an e-mail response from you within the minute.
2. You’ve experienced deeply religious “Thank God” moments after finding your iPhone in your other pocket.
1. Humans have become annoying things that disrupt quality time with your iPhone.
5. The magazine rack in the bathroom has become obsolete.
4. You’ve developed the ability to read e-mails unbeknownst to the person talking to you.
3. Your friends get concerned if they don’t get an e-mail response from you within the minute.
2. You’ve experienced deeply religious “Thank God” moments after finding your BlackBerry in your other pocket.
1. Humans have become annoying things that disrupt quality time with your BlackBerry.
The current economic landscape may be daunting, but there’s a silver lining for businesses in the web services industry.
As consumers continue to take their business online, businesses are doing the same to accomplish savings in the sales, marketing and even operations budgets.
Indeed, the web service providers allow businesses to reach farther, faster and for a fraction of the cost of traditional offline counterparts.
Case in point: Webcopyplus is looking into a promotional campaign targeting close to 5,000 organizations. Strategically leveraging e-mails costs just a fraction of old-school postcards and post.
Time Online’s Jonathan Weber shares signs of underlying resilience in the economy, and discusses how the rise of the Internet as the dominant information medium “will not be halted by even a steep recession.” Read A sliver of hope for the online economy.
President-elect Obama will be the first president to post videos of his weekly Democratic address on YouTube, in addition to the traditional radio format, reports the Washington Post.
There’s no denying his party’s tech savvy. During the presidential campaign, the Democrats sent out countless text messages to people throughout the U.S. to remind citizens to register to vote, to go to the polls, and to get others involved in the campaign.
Reportedly, the Democrat party’s text message announcing Joe Biden as Obama’s running mate reached 2.9 million U.S. mobile subscribers. That made it “one of the most important text messages” ever, noted Nic Covey, Nielsen Mobile’s Director of Insights.
