Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Fancier graphics, safer downloads, and more privacy controls

Posted: 10 May 2011 11:13 PM PDT

Google Chrome Blog: Fancier graphics, safer downloads, and more privacy controls

Today's beta channel release includes a number of additions, as well as one subtraction!

First, we've made Chrome's graphics snazzier. We've finished implementing support for hardware-accelerated 3D CSS, which allows web developers to apply slick 3D effects to web page content using CSS.

Second, we've taken Safe Browsing a step further. In addition to protecting you against malware and phishing websites, Chrome now warns you before downloading some types of malicious files. As mentioned on the Chromium blog in April, Chrome uses the same fancy algorithms for checking downloads as it does for checking websites, so Google can help protect you without ever needing to know the URLs you visit or the files you download.

Third, you now have more control over your online privacy. Many websites store information on your computer using forms of local data storage such as Flash Local Shared Objects (LSOs). In the past, you could only delete Flash LSOs using an online settings application on Adobe's website, but we've worked closely with Adobe to allow you to delete Flash LSOs directly from Chrome's settings. You can learn more in our post on the Chromium blog.

Fourth, we've improved screen reader support in Chrome. Many people who are blind or visually impaired use a screen reader, a special type of software that describes the contents of the screen using synthesized speech or braille. It's a very important technology for people who would otherwise be unable to use a computer, so we've added preliminary support for many popular screen readers including JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver.

Finally, the subtraction: In this beta release, we've removed the Google Gears plug-in, as promised on the Google Gears blog in March. We're excited about the potential of HTML5 to enable powerful web applications, and we hope that Google Gears rests in peace.


Posted by Vangelis Kokkevis, Software Engineer
URL: http://chrome.blogspot.com/2011/05/fancier-graphics-safer-downloads-and.html

[G] In-App Payments for web apps at Google I/O

Posted: 10 May 2011 08:20 PM PDT

Official Google Checkout Blog: In-App Payments for web apps at Google I/O

Google I/O is coming up just a week from today, and the Commerce track will showcase some of the newest ways to buy and sell online. In the Commerce sessions, Google product developers and their guests will explain and show examples of how to use Google tools to monetize your business.

Web application developers may be especially interested in the In-App Payments session of the Commerce track. We invite developers to a deep dive into the social games and digital goods industries and Google's solution for payments for these areas. We trust that you'll leave with the knowledge of how to better monetize your web application and a special gift by which to remember it. Look forward to seeing you there!

Posted by Amit Fulay, Product Manager
URL: http://googlecheckout.blogspot.com/2011/05/in-app-payments-for-web-apps-at-google.html

[G] Accelerating diversity outreach to businesses in local communities

Posted: 10 May 2011 04:58 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Accelerating diversity outreach to businesses in local communities

(Cross-posted on the Google Small Business Blog)

This is the latest post in our series profiling entrepreneurial Googlers working on products across the company and around the world. Here, business development manager Chris Genteel tells how Googlers across the U.S. are diversifying our marketing and sales outreach efforts to help communities of minority-owned small businesses around the country build an online presence. - Ed.

In May 2009, a team of Googlers and I attended the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference near our office in Ann Arbor, Mich., where we talked with dozens of small business owners. These folks were true entrepreneurs and clearly not afraid to try new things, yet many were unaware of Google's products and services, such as AdWords and Apps for Enterprise. In fact, many of them didn't even have an online presence.

The following Monday, two women Googlers who were new to the team and passionate about Google's diversity initiatives busted into my office already on a mission—to help educate small businesses on Google tools in order to help them better connect with their target audience. They had attended the conference as well and decided to start a 20 percent project to increase awareness of and engagement with small, minority-owned businesses. Two months later, we proposed a business plan to Bonita Stewart, vice president of sales, to start reaching out to businesses. She approved our proposal and gave us the go-ahead to lead the initiative; it was our responsibility to find people who wanted to help.

We found our first volunteer when an intern on the team decided to make our initiative her 20 percent project, and, throughout that summer, more people were inspired to contribute their expertise part-time as well. Before we knew it, we had more than 40 Googlers working on what eventually became Accelerate with Google—a program to help minority-owned small businesses grow their online presence by working with organizations and partners who encourage the adoption of web tools within their local communities.


Throughout 2010, we traveled across the country to places like Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami, Chicago and New York to learn more about the minority-owned, small business community. Along the way, we built partnerships with leading business organizations, such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council, which already have respect and support from these communities. Our original goal was to build partnerships with minority community organizations nationwide, but that quickly developed into a larger mission to not only help small businesses move online, but empower them to be the web tools educators in their communities as well.

This May, we're excited to be part of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council annual conference; they've been our chief partner and recipient of a grant for $175,000 to support the development of our program within its business community. We've trained Council representatives to be experts in Google tools like AdWords, and in turn they've led workshops for small business owners on how to build an online presence. We've built a similar partnership with the Louisiana Council by funding a $100,000 initiative to build outreach to small businesses in the area through programs such as Google Certified Partners and Trainers, which help people certify and demonstrate their proficiency in our ads tools.

All of this is just the beginning. This month marks the two-year anniversary of the initial inspiration for this project, and our team will once again be attending the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, this time with a very different perspective. A project that began as a side job has now become a full-time role for myself and one of the project founders, with our ad hoc group of Googler volunteers still helping out part-time. We've seen measurable shifts in online engagement with the communities we're working with—adding more than 100 minority-owned businesses in 2010 alone—and I'm excited to keep pushing this initiative out to business owners everywhere.

Posted by Chris Genteel, Business Development Manager, Global Diversity Programs
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/accelerating-diversity-outreach-to.html

[G] Android: momentum, mobile and more at Google I/O

Posted: 10 May 2011 10:22 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Android: momentum, mobile and more at Google I/O

(Cross-posted on the Google Code Blog)

This morning at Google I/O, the Android team shared some updates. It's hard to believe a little more than two and a half years ago, we were just one device, launching in one country, on one carrier. Thanks to the ecosystem of manufacturers, developers and carriers, the platform has grown exponentially. There are now:
  • 100 million activated Android devices
  • 400,000 new Android devices activated every day
  • 200,000 free and paid applications available in Android Market
  • 4.5 billion applications installed from Android Market
Mobile—one OS everywhere
Over the past two and a half years, we've shipped eight releases of Android and there are now more than 310 Android devices around the world, of all shapes and sizes. This morning we talked about our next version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich. Our goal with Ice Cream Sandwich is to deliver one operating system that works everywhere, regardless of device. Ice Cream Sandwich will bring everything you love about Honeycomb on your tablet to your phone, including the holographic user interface, more multitasking, the new launcher and richer widgets.

We also launched Music Beta by Google, a new service that lets you upload your personal music collection to the cloud for streaming to your computer and Android devices. With the new service, your music and playlists are automatically kept in sync, so if you create a new playlist on your phone, it's instantly available on your computer or tablet. You can use a feature called Instant Mix to create a playlist of songs that go well together. You can even listen to music when you're offline: we automatically store your most recently played music on your Android device and you can choose to make specific albums or playlists available when you're not connected. The service is launching in beta today to U.S. users and is available by invitation.



We've also added Movies for rent to Android Market. You can choose to rent from thousands of movies starting at $1.99 and have them available across your Android devices—rent a movie on your home computer, and it'll be available for viewing on your tablet or phone. You can rent from Android Market on the web today, and we'll be rolling out an update to Verizon XOOM customers beginning today. We'll start rolling out the update to Android 2.2 and above devices in the coming weeks.

The Android ecosystem has been moving really fast over the last two and a half years and rapid iteration on new and highly-requested features has been a driving force behind Android's success. But of course that innovation only matters if it reaches consumers. So today we're announcing that a founding team of industry leaders, including many from the Open Handset Alliance, are working together to adopt guidelines for how quickly devices are updated after a new platform release, and also for how long they will continue to be updated. The founding partners are Verizon, HTC, Samsung, Sprint, Sony Ericsson, LG, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Motorola and AT&T, and we welcome others to join us. To start, we're jointly announcing that new devices from participating partners will receive the latest Android platform upgrades for 18 months after the device is first released, as long as the hardware allows...and that's just the beginning. Stay tuned for more details.

More—extending the platform beyond mobile
From the beginning, Android was designed to extend beyond the mobile phone. With that in mind, we've developed Android Open Accessory to help developers start building new hardware accessories that will work across all Android devices. We previewed an initiative called Android@Home, which allows Android apps to discover, connect and communicate with appliances and devices in your home. We also showed a preview of Project Tungsten, an Android device for Music Beta to give you more control over music playback within the Android@Home network.

You can watch the entire Android keynote from Google I/O on our Google Developer YouTube Channel shortly. On behalf of the team, we want to thank the entire Android community of developers, OEMs and carriers who are pushing the platform into new areas and building great experiences for consumers. Without you, the Android platform wouldn't have grown so large in the past two and a half years. We look forward to seeing where you take it next.

Posted by Hugo Barra, Product Management Director, Android
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/android-momentum-mobile-and-more-at.html

[G] Google App Engine - a new version and a preview of future plans

Posted: 10 May 2011 10:22 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google App Engine - a new version and a preview of future plans

Posted by Greg D'Alesandre, Senior Product Manager, Google App Engine

Editors note: Today we're at Google I/O, and we have a few announcements about how we're making our developer tools more available and better for businesses. The first, below, summarizes important improvements to Google App Engine.

Google App Engine, which provides the ability to develop and host applications on Google's infrastructure, has gained momentum quickly since it launched as preview status in 2008. More than 100,000 developers use App Engine every month to deliver apps that dynamically scale with usage without the need to manage hardware or software. App Engine now hosts more than 200,000 active apps that serve over 1.5 billion site views daily.

Over the last three years, we've collected great feedback from our customers and now believe that the biggest thing we can do to help them is to graduate App Engine from preview status. When App Engine graduates from preview status, which we expect to do in the second half of this year, we'll add additional enterprise-grade features that allow us to support many more business application scenarios. Graduation from preview status also indicates Google's a longer term commitment to the product and establishes a deprecation policy whereby we will support prior versions of product APIs for a guaranteed amount of time, allowing applications written to prior API specifications to continue to functioning.

Today, we're moving forward with our business focus with the release of App Engine 1.5.0 which includes Backends, improved Task Queues, and more:
  • With Backends, App Engine can now support applications that require long running and high memory processes. This feature allows for new classes of applications such as report generation apps and custom search engines to be hosted on the platform.
  • The improvements to Task Queues allows for applications to control how tasks are executed and easily share the work using the new REST-based APIs. This API access expands App Engine's compatibility with other on-premise and cloud services, furthering our commitment to an open development platform.
In addition, when we take App Engine out of preview in the second half of this year, we will provide a 99.95% uptime service level agreement, operational and developer support, offline billing, and a new Terms of Service agreement geared towards businesses. We will also introduce a new billing structure for App Engine based on more transparent usage-based pricing.

We're announcing these features and pricing changes in advance so that our customers have time to review. Adding business features will help App Engine meet a broader set of needs and the new, more transparent pricing model will help customers better align their App Engine investment with their business goals. Learn more about these changes on the App Engine Blog.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-app-engine-new-version-and.html

[G] Faster time to information: Google Search Appliance and EMC VNX Storage join forces

Posted: 10 May 2011 10:22 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Faster time to information: Google Search Appliance and EMC VNX Storage join forces

Posted by Rajat Mukherjee, Google Enterprise Search Group Product Manager

Google Search Appliance (GSA) customers are probably already familiar with the ecosystem of connectors that allow the GSA to seamlessly integrate with a variety of third party enterprise systems, including Microsoft SharePoint®, EMC Documentum® and IBM FileNet®. Today we're pleased to announce the release of a new connector, developed by EMC using its VNX Event Enabler® platform, that will improve time-to-information with on-the-fly indexing for content stored on EMC VNX™ Unified Storage.

The VNX Connector for the Google Search Appliance uses VNX's Event Enabler functionality to publish event notifications when changes are made to enterprise content, for example adding, changing or deleting files. When these events occur, the VNX Event Enabler automatically sends notifications to the GSA, providing users with more up-to-date search results for content that is stored on the VNX. Moreover, metadata about these updated results will feed directly into the dynamic navigation feature available on the GSA, for quick drill-down and navigation of the content using facets and attributes. Administrators can also target which information is indexed and made searchable through the VNX storage console.

We're excited to be working with EMC on this unique implementation of our connector technology. The solution will provide users with a great experience as they grapple with the rapid expansion of information in their business.

For those of you who are attending EMC World, taking place in Las Vegas this week, we will be on the ground at the EMC Unified Storage booth to talk more about this solution. We look forward to seeing you there to explain how VNX Storage and the Google Search Appliance work together to maximize your IT investments.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/faster-time-to-information-google.html

[G] Live Webinar: Effective global teams with WWF & Google Apps

Posted: 10 May 2011 10:22 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Live Webinar: Effective global teams with WWF & Google Apps

Posted by Matt Charman, Google Enterprise Product Marketing Manager

WWF is a charity foundation that works with a number of partners to drive conservation and sustainability projects around the world. At any one time, WWF has over 1,300 projects underway in more than 100 countries.

With projects spanning the globe, there had been a long standing need to provide a more interactive and collaborative environment to support these dispersed project teams.

WWF began rolling out Google Docs, Google Sites and Google Calendar in May 2009, aiming to deliver an efficient platform for creating project workspaces and file repositories, as well as provide a new framework for their intranet.

For this live webinar we are excited to be joined by Neil Morgan, Global Intranet Manager at WWF, who will provide insight into how WWF is using Google Apps to collaborate more effectively across global teams.

Neil comments, "18 months on, we have achieved significant adoption of the new collaborative platform, resulting in improved content management processes, greater efficiencies, and less reliance on email for collaboration purposes."

This live webinar will be hosted by Angela Ashenden, who is a Principal Analyst at MWD Advisors and leads the Collaboration practice.

When: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 14:00 BST (GMT+1)
Who: Angela Ashenden, Principal Analyst, MWD Advisors; Neil Morgan, Global Intranet Manager, WWF International; Kaisa Qvist, Product Specialist, Google Enterprise.

Register now
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/live-webinar-effective-global-teams.html

[G] Introducing Staff Picks on the Google Apps Marketplace

Posted: 10 May 2011 10:22 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Introducing Staff Picks on the Google Apps Marketplace

Posted by Steve Bazyl, Google Apps Marketplace team

As the Google Apps Marketplace continues to grow, finding the right apps to run your business among the hundreds available becomes more challenging. Today we're kicking off a new effort to help make that process a little easier, and offering some of our own personal picks of apps we think are worth checking out. A few times each month via Twitter, we'll highlight an app that offers a combination of great functionality, ease of use, and deep integrations with Google Apps that can save valuable time. We'll use the Twitter hashtag #mpstaffpick to make these easy to find.

Our first staff pick is Mavenlink, a custom-branded project management solution that allows teams to collaborate online, share files, track time, invoice, and make or receive payments, all inside one end-to-end app. Google Apps users can also easily share documents, access contacts, and track projects on their calendars.



If you're in need of a great project management app, give Mavenlink a try. And if you happen to be at Google I/O next week, you can meet the Mavenlink team in our Developer Sandbox.

To stay up to date and hear about our next pick, follow us on twitter at GoogleAtWork.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/introducing-staff-picks-on-google-apps.html

[G] Going Google in Canada: This story almost began with a server.

Posted: 10 May 2011 10:22 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Going Google in Canada: This story almost began with a server.

Editor's note: Over 3 million businesses have adopted Google Apps. Today we'll hear from Marawan El-Asfahani, Managing Principal of Oxygen, a creative design agency based in Toronto, Canada. To learn more about organizations that have gone Google, or to share your own story, visit our community map or test-drive life in the cloud with the Go Google cloud calculator.


At Oxygen Design Agency, we offer branding services, develop retail campaigns, build corporate communication and more, helping companies market effectively, discover their voices and reach their audiences quickly. Four years ago, we were using the Apple® product for email, and it was constantly crashing on us. I figured the solution was clear: a server and Microsoft® Office. But then this tech buddy of mine made a suggestion. He said we could either go with a pricey server and software suite, or we could give Google Apps for Business a try at $50/user/year. "Hmm...", I thought. That's when we crossed over.

It was so easy to set up Google Apps, and with it, our downtime worries went away. As a business owner with 16 people on staff, I always want to make sure my teams are set to go in their jobs. When a new employee used to walk into the studio, it would take a lot of time to set them up with email and other software. Now it takes five minutes.

Google Apps also helps us stay connected. Our designers work very closely with our clients and suppliers, which requires them to constantly be on the move. Now, whether we're at client sites or photo shoots, Google Apps keeps us in touch; we can chat right from our email and access important work files from any web-enabled device.

When we first adopted Google Apps, we did see some push-back from a few employees. There were certain features these employees didn't see, and this made them skeptical. But then Google consistently released new features that made the products better and met those needs, and now those people are the ones who are most enthusiastic about our company's use of Google Apps.

At Oxygen, we're now heavy users of Google Apps -- especially Sites, which we've found to be an intuitive system to work from. We've used it to build a company intranet where we store employee manuals, health insurance policies, stock photo sources, and even a restaurant corner to showcase some of the really cool boutique restaurants we have in our city. Our designers can write reviews on local places for everyone to see -- from their desk or even from their mobile devices.

With Google Apps, we're a much more powerful company. I'm proud to say we've gone Google.

Posted by Marawan El-Asfahani, Managing Principal, Oxygen Design Agency
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/going-google-in-canada-this-story.html

[G] Google Apps is a recipe for success at EAT.

Posted: 10 May 2011 10:22 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google Apps is a recipe for success at EAT.

Editor's note: Today's guest blogger is Cesar Ramanauskas, Systems Engineer at EAT., a restaurant chain in the U.K. Learn more about other organizations that have gone Google on our community map or test drive life in the cloud with the Go Google cloud calculator.

EAT. is a fast growing and dynamic restaurant chain with more than 1,700 employees and over 100 stores throughout the U.K. We pride ourselves on serving "good, fresh, uncomplicated food" in our stores every day. It is our job in the IT Team to adapt that philosophy and provide simple, fast and uncomplicated systems to our customers and employees. In addition to free customer Wi-Fi, Twitter feed (@eat_news) and iPhone app, we have pioneered technologies such as an integrated Chip & PIN contactless payment solution in the U.K.

In preparation for our goal of doubling in size, EAT. migrated to Google Apps for Business, after more than a decade of using Novell GroupWise®. We found the GroupWise upgrade process very costly and time-consuming, and because of long release intervals between versions our users had to wait years to access new features. We needed something better.



Our research for an alternative led us to Google Apps for Business. Its innovative approach to communication and collaboration, tied to its highly scalable and secure environment, was second to none. All the steps in this transition, from seamless deployment and migration to user training, were performed by the small in-house team of experts.

I, for one, believe that the cloud is not just another buzzword, but is definitely where the future of productivity lives. Outfitting our users with software that works in a web browser means there is less need to install and update local applications. Plus, it gives them extra flexibility to take their work away from their desks onto mobile phones, tablets and other gadgets.

Furthermore, with Google Apps' on-demand capacity, we avoided the ever growing capital and time expense of owning, running and protecting the servers ourselves. We also steered well clear of the upfront cost of building the infrastructure required to accommodate our aggressive expansion plans, without either wasting or having insufficient resources.

Time and cost savings didn't stop there. Although BlackBerry® devices are fully supported by Google Apps, we appreciated the flexibility of Android devices with native Gmail, calendar, and the latest corporate and management apps, such as Google Apps Device Policy and Authenticator for 2-Step verification. We kept the momentum and in just one day all users were migrated to new the HTC Desire Z™. Retiring BlackBerry Enterprise Servers in the process was a welcome saving on our infrastructure!

Ultimately, it all adds up. With Google Apps for Business, our costs, risks, and storage usage shrank considerably while our user satisfaction, productivity and revenue opportunities multiplied. We are now able to allocate more time and resources to activities that really matter - good service and quality food.

Posted by Cesar Ramanauskas, Systems Engineer, EAT.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2011/05/google-apps-is-recipe-for-success-at.html

[G] Music Tuesday: Raphael Saadiq, Jane’s Addiction, PJ Harvey and more

Posted: 10 May 2011 09:22 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Music Tuesday: Raphael Saadiq, Jane's Addiction, PJ Harvey and more

Live music, soul music, war music...this week, we bring you a little bit of everything. Let's dive in!

Raphael Saadiq's old soul
Before Amy Winehouse, before Sharon Jones, before a whole slew of singers realized there were still jewels to be mined from classic soul and R&B, Raphael Saadiq got it. The guy had been one third of Tony! Toni! Tone! in the 1990s, but in the years since, he's reinvented himself, transforming from silky crooner into vintage soul man...and sought-after producer. His new album drops today, and to celebrate, he shares the sounds of kindred spirits, be they The Black Keys, the White Stripes or everybody in between.



Jane's Addiction...live
We're bringing Jane's Addiction to Google I/O tonight, but no need to hunt for sold-out tickets. You can watch the band perform live tonight at 8 p.m. PT on youtube.com/googledevelopers. And while you're waiting, why not enjoy a few videos hand-picked for you by none other than Perry Ferrell and Dave Navarro? Their introductory video proves their rapport remains strong after all these years.



PJ Harvey "Let England Shake"
Polly Jean Harvey needs no introduction. The woman single-handedly resuscitated rock in the 1990s for a lot of fans; she's fierce and uncompromising and she never stands still as an artist. Case in point: her new album. "Let England Shake" is a wide-ranging meditation on violence and war, and in commissioning a series of videos for the new album, she certainly isn't blazing new ground -- we've recently profiled album-length films from R.E.M. and TV On The Radio -- but as always, nobody does it quite like PJ. Find out why.



Steve Earle "NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert"
Some may know him for his roles on HBO series like The Wire and Treme, but in fact, Steve Earle is the great unsung troubadour of this generation, a songwriter of uncommon humanity and grit. This live performance in NPR's offices captures his wit, his irreverence, but most of all his talent.



Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched "Steve Earle: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/3DIXdjzspgg/music-tuesday-raphael-saadiq-janes.html
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)