Google+ Gets Much Needed Improvements And Features

Google+ finally has search. And this is among a few other improvements and new features that Google unleashed on the world today.  Plus (pun intended), Google+ is now officially open for business.  No need to beg for invitations any longer.

While it's still in beta (Google is calling it "field trial"), it makes sense for Google to move as quickly on G+ as possible.  While interests remain high, it is nowhere near the level at the beginning.

Techcrunch has a few other features that you might be interested in.  I like the new Named Hangout.  More than that, we can now do mobile hangouts as well.  The Android app has been updated with this new feature and an iOS update will be pushed out soon.

G+ is beginning to take shape and it is vastly different from Facebook.  I like the better privacy control that we get with G+.  There's also screen sharing, video chats, and a sketch board as well.

How does this compare with Facebook?  Google+ should get a second wind with this batch of update but I don't think Google's done.  These are not innovative features by any means but it does show that social networks can be more than just about poking people and allowing the purveyors to sell user information to the highest bidder.

Source:  Techcrunch.

Green: Solar Charger For the iPhone, An Arsenal Every Mobile Warrior Must Have

I love writing these kinds of articles - mashing solar and mobile together.  Check out Mobius's recharageable solar case for the iPhone.  It's a case, battery, and a solar unit all in one.

An our of charge in the sun gives you an extra 30 minutes of data use, more than half hour of video, and nearly 2.5 hours of audio playback.  Charge it up to its full capacity and you get 8 hours of data and audio use and 1.33 days of audio.

I can't think of a better device for mobile folks.  You're using the sun's power to charge your device and on top of that, you are almost free.  Almost no need to look for an outlet.  I'm sitting here in my office, I can be charge my iPhone right now right under the sun.

This is where the future is headed.  Even if Mobius or others came up with a case without the added battery pack, a case with just the solar panel would also suffice.  Now, I don't know how the wear and tear of the battery inside the iPhone will be like but its definitely something I should mention.  However, Apple has been using the latest and greatest so I reckon the iOS batteries can take some charging on the go without much degradation.

Furthermore, it's likely that mobile device makers like Apple, and certain I've heard this from Samsung, that they'll be incorporating solar charging screens in the future.  More than that, universities are also on the path. UCLA engineers recently figured out a way on their own to use the LCD screen to charge and power the mobile device.  And the UCLA screen charge the device using ambient light.

The mobile green future is here.  Albeit, in a case but it's here.  Now, we wait for the tech giants to integrate them.  Until then, I think we can be satisfied with this Mobius solar charger.

Source: 9to5Mac.

Back To School: What Did Students Buy To Arm Themselves For This School Year?

This summer, millions of students hit the malls, retail outlets, and the Web for their shopping needs.  And this being 2011, electronics figures to play a big part of the back to school budget.

Let’s start with what the students did not buy.  Televisions seems to be out, down more than 70% compared to last year.  Smartphone phones account for 14% of purchases, down from 21% last year but smartphone shares did increase 4% to 73% from 69% last year.

And what about computers and tablets?

More at Greenjava.

Tablet Market Status: Individual Android Tablets Has Largely Failed To Penetrate Market; $500 Price Point Too Difficult To Sustain

Another tablet maker pars down tablet shipment.  This time, it's Lenovo, who had some strong fighting words for Apple and the iPad earlier in the year.  For Lenovo, it is another slap in the face as Apple has easily surpassed the China based PC company.  For Android, the 2 million tablets shipped (not necessarily sold) would help those keeping scores give Android a larger share of the tablet market, individually, we are seeing one tablet after another fail to gain traction.

The problem isn't that the tablets are inferior to the iPad.  It is that the $500 and up price point is the new "$1000".  For a premium tablet, people want the iPad just as folks who pay more than a $1000 probably wouldn't rule out the Apple's MacBooks. But if this is the case, where does this leave tablet makers?

For Android fans, buying a $500 tablet running Google's mobile OS is a non-starter.  For your average mobile warrior, they have two clear choices - the iPad or not.  At $400-450, it could sway a few users.  At $350-$400, an Android tablet versus a $500 iPad becomes more clear.  

At that point, the competition may not be with Apple but it pits one Android tablet maker against another.  HTC and Samsung might have gained enough recognition to become a household name but Lenovo or anyone else certainly has not.  And with Sony's tablets going on sale soon, Samsung's Galaxy brand stands in the way of anyone else gaining traction in the tablet market.

It's why Barnes and Noble's Nook has found some success where no others have.  And it's why Amazon's Kindle tablet will likely have a sub-10" screen and sell for around the same price as the Nook.  Furthermore, unlike regular device makers, Amazon and BN are not just selling tablets to the masses: they are also selling books, apps, and services.  

That is not the case for anyone else. Google has to really figure out something that will help its Android partners.  Android 4 better be really good but even that might not be enough.  Google has to offer its partners a reason for selling Android devices at razor-thing margins.

iPhone 5 and Next iPod Touch Could Put Final Nail In Dedicated Gaming Market

The Nintendo 3DS debuted with great fanfare that quickly died and sales at Mario and company sagged.  A price cut did help spur sales for a bit but that likely added very little to the bottom line.  In fact, Nintendo could be selling the 3DS at a loss.  When the 3DS went on sale last spring, it was up against a very vibrant mobile market.

However, it was fight against a 6-month old iPod touch and a 9 month old iPhone.  What are its chances against the iPhone 5 and the next iPod touch?  Not good, I wager.

Speech For Mobile Is Sputnik Moment For Apple

I've been writing about battery life since I started blogging.  But I think while that is one major aspect of mobile experience and this power issue has been show by Apple that we are nearing a time when worrying about finding and outlet will be a thing of the past, there is another battle front for the Cupertino company. And it is one that it's losing badly

That's voice control.  Google has demonstrated a natural integration of voice commands it balled "Voice Actions" into Android.  However, the iPhone's more rudimentary voice control is no where near what we have come to expect from Apple.  When Apple bought Siri last year, it was heralded as an important mobile moment where an intelligent voice system will be integrated into a mobile OS, not just simply voice commands.

However, even with iOS 5 this late in development, there is hardly any new information that showed a deep level Siri integration or anything that might have come of the Nuance rumors.  As a matter of fact, Nuance released its own Siri competitor, Dragon Go!, this July.  And yes, Siri is powered by Nuance as well.

If not from Apple, I like to see Dragon Go! improve upon what is already there.  Lack of innovation from Apple for such a long time could mean it has found no solution that is workable at the moment.  However, in the year since Apple bought Siri, there could have been a lot of work that we don't know about.  

Perhaps, Apple will surprise us next month.  Or at the very least, show us that it's trying by upgrading Siri.

Google's Flipboard Killer Will Be Popular For Those Who Live In Google Sphere

Google is working on their own version of Flipboard.  And from what we can tell based on its past work on the news and media apps, I think it'll be a winner to a certain extent.  First, let me say that there is not a whole lot of details about this.

One aspect about this app that I can pretty much be sure about is its tablet aspect.  And we might see this once Android 4 is out.  It could be a selling point of a new breed of Android tablets.  And you can bet that it'll be very sociable.  You can bet that Google Plus will be a part of any sharing that is related to the articles.  And Google News as well as Reader will both play big roles.

Will this make people want to switch from Flipboard to Google's new app, currently being dubbed the Propeller?  Well, I'm all for competition.  Keep in mind that CNN also has its own reader coming out.  And let's not forget Pulse News that is working on all mobile platforms.

At the end of the day, Propeller will have a big advantage over other readers because I'm sure Google will make it a default magazine styled app on all its Android devices.  And I'm sure over time, Google will not miss the opportunity to make it available on the iPhone and iPad.

Now, we'll just sit back and see if Google has a trick or two up its sleeves that might make its reader more appealing.  Simply copying what Flipboard is doing won't work.  Flipboard is very entrenched on the iPad now.  Google will have to really dazzle me if it wants to make me switch.

For Google, such an app could only have an appeal if the user already swears by all things Google.  

Lawsuits Could Force Google To Change Android Business Model - Might Be A Good For Google

According to FOSS Patents, Google maybe forced to change how the Android business works and it could mean that Google could do better because of it.  However, it would change how Android is perceived in the market place and make it less appealing to device makers.  

According to the lawsuit taking place between Google and Oracle, a win by Oracle could mean that anyone who activates an Android device, whether its sanctioned by Google or just a Chinese device maker going into business for itself with its own Android variant, Amazon and Barnes and Noble activating millions of Android based devices, or Baidu using it to create its own mobile ecosystem, Google may be on the hooks to pay Oracle a per device fee if Oracle wins.

The only option at that time is for Google to prevent Android form being used in the manners I described above.  After all, why should Google pay for someone else's mobile success in which it doesn't make money from them.

This will radically change how mobile devices view Android, and, in turn, case us mobile warriors to change our buying habits.  Google may be forced to charge its partners to pay Oracle.  And while this is no different than if HTC, Samsung, or anyone else licensing Windows Phone from Microsoft, Microsoft did not just buy a mobile device maker but Google did.

Google will no doubt give Motorola preferential treatments.  And what we may see is that Google will owning both the OS and hardware, not very different from the way Apple owns its OS and hardware.  

But I assure you that when it happens, it would be entirely coincidental.  This would not have been the route that Google anticipated.  

Voice Commands Could Put Us Closer To Star Trek Like Computer Commands

I always like how characters in science fiction novels and books are able to interact with their computers in ways that seem beyond the reach of anything we have here.  Computers that can interact with us as holograms or through auditory inputs and outputs.

Google's Voice Actions are pretty good and second to none in the mobile market.  Apple's Siri is impressive but nothing close.

However, third party solutions are paving the way for innovation in this field.  Couple with voice commands and better AI, we have Star Trek like interactions with our computers and mobile sooner rather than later.

So meet the Voice Chat Robot app that is leaps and bounds beyond what's on the market.

More at Greenjava.

I'm hoping that Apple will update Siri beyond what we already see.  Siri is pretty cool to use but it doesn't make us want to use it very much.  I've also used Dragon Dictation on the iPad and I hope that'll improve with iOS 5 as well.

Reading on A Mobile - We Aren't Doing It Enough

I had to go bring something to my dad this morning at his temple. I took advantage of the down time and decided to use it to write, game, and read.

So I decided to just read for a while. An ebook. Deadline by Mira Grant. Feeds was on the Nook and Deadline on the Kindle. I know, why mix the format? I have no idea why I did that.

I sat in one of the lectures but with language barrier keeping me from knowing that was being discussed, I decided to amuse myself a bit.

I read about 30 minutes. You know? It's one of those things that we don't do enough.

I started off on this with the original ebook reader, the Palm III.

I have so much distractions on the Anroid and iOS devices that reading ebooks hasn't really been an activity I do enough of.