Updates on Chrome

There have been a lot of recent changes with Chrome. The most notable being the new logo. Google explained that it wanted to simplify the logo, since the whole browser but the logo was simple. Some love it, some hate it.

Don't freak out if you don't see your icon change, this is for Chrome 11 and up. Another change is the New Tab page. Many think this for when Chrome OS arrives on tablets. Looks pretty cool; looks pretty Jolicloudy.

That's about all for Chrome, tell me what you think in the comments.

Google Hits the Big Red Button

Android is known for having malicious apps. Some estimate that half of the free apps in the market secretly send your information. Google recently removed these apps from the market, but many have already downloaded them. For these, Google hit the big red button, remotely removing them from all phones. This is pretty good, but shows how much control Google has over your phone. They also banned their developers from developing more apps, and contacted law enforcement, this is an attack after all. Some are afraid of this control Google has over their phones as well as Chrome, but that's just the price of a free product. Are you OK with this? Comment!

Cr-48 (Chrome Notebook) Major Update

The Cr-48, the Google beta laptop running Chrome OS recently got a major update. This mostly addresses touchpad issues, and a few other minor fixes. If you don't own a Cr-48 (which you probably don't), this is still very important, because when Chrome OS first came out, blogs laughed at it, saying that Google doesn't even know what tech support is. Google constantly fixing issues that users report, so it's tech support seems pretty promising. Hope this keeps going when Chrome OS is available to the general public. 

Supersonic Magnum USB 3.0 Drive has Amazing Speeds!

The Supesonic Magnum is one of the first USB 3.0 drives. USB 3.0 is much faster than USB 2.0, and combined with some magic makes 200 mb/second. If you want that translated, that's about 175 photo transfered from computer to the flash drive in a second, literally. That's pretty amazing! Just remember, those will likely come at a high price.

And the Winner is ... Android!

Everyone has a reason to celebrate ... almost. Android fans (horay!, horay!) are proud because they have the most widespread operating system (horay!, horay!), Apple has had for a very, very long time, and that Google has been trying to steal for a very, very long time. Apple and RIM (Research in Motion, Blackberry makers) fans (okay!, okay!) have reason to celebrate as they have the most widespread hardware. Android is on all kinds of phones: Motorola, HTC, Samsung, all kinds. RIM and Apple have their own hardware, so in a way it a victory for them too. Windows Phone 7 should be quite happy. It's really new, and has gained a lot. Nokia and HP are out of the game, and I won't even mention Symbian. Well, mobile phone fans, OS differences aside, let's celebrate!

iPad 2

Yikes! I haven't blogged in over a month! As almost everyone knows, the iPad 2 came out a little while ago. Quite nice. Engadget blogged all about the event here. Steve Jobs says that now is the "post PC" era. I don't know if he meant PC computers, or just no more computers; it's a tablet world. In a way, he's right. Many people use tablets and smartphones, and I mean a lot. Honeycomb looks good too, and the Xoom clearly has better specs than the iPad or iPad 2 for that matter, but it costs a lot more. Apple argues that it's all in the user experience, not the hardware. So what do you think of it? Comment!

Samsung may be the next "Work Phone"

Most offices are using Blackberries. This is mostly because of it's security, and a few features that are good for businesses. Android decided to not only crush the iPhone, but blackberry as well. Can you be a corporate phone and consumer smartphone? The Droid Pro is. (take a look, it looks like a real Blackberry killer) Samsung wants to play too. Well, they're working with Sybase for super security and administration, and with Cisco for some nice business features. I hope Android succeeds as a consumer and business phone, something no one has done before (you could argue Blackberry, but that's not such a great consumer phone.

Favicon Displays Unread Mail - Fresh from Gmail Labs

Gmail is always making new Labs, and this one might be one of the better ones. That icon thing with the Gmail logo on your tab can now show the unread mail count, so you can see it with a glance! I have Gmail Checker Plus for Chrome, so I already see my unread mail. But, if you don't want that extension for some reason, this will be great for you! Tried it? Comment!

Android Honeycomb News Conference Wednsday? UPDATE: TechCrunch too!

Mashable claims it got invited to a Honeycomb event on Wednesday. Mashable says that the email invites them “for an in-depth look at Honeycomb, Android ecosystem news and hands-on demos.” Well, this is just like the Chrome event on December 7th. I hope they have a live report of what happens, because this should be interesting. It's the 1st version of Android especially for Tablets, and it will open up the way to iPad competitors. I'll try to blog about it as soon as I can. What do you think about Honeycomb? Comment!

LG Optimus Black on Amazon: About $680

The LG Optimus Black. You know, one of the thinnest phones around? Well, it's been found on  Amazon and priced at about $680 (499 euros). Well, that seems pretty expensive, but I hope that when bought with a contract, it will lower the price. The iPhone is pretty thin, and it's not that expensive. We need an Android phone that can fully match up with the iPhone without completely cloning it, and this might be the one. As long as the price is kept down, though...

Chromium hits version 11

Well, Google releases a new version of Chrome every 6 weeks, so it's no surprise. But, it's nice to know that Chromium is in version 11, which means Chrome 9 is on the way, since Chromium is usually 2 versions ahead of Chrome. (Chrome 8 came out on December 3rd, Google is behind). Let's hope Chrome 9 comes out soon!

Apps on New Tab Page Rearrangable ... on some dev or canary build

Somewhere over the rainbow, apps are rearrangeable on the Chrome New Tab page. It's not on stable version yet, but it is on some dev or canary build. This is one of the most annoying problems with Chrome for me, because some of my most important apps need to be scrolled to. It's good to know that at last, someone at Google is working on this feature.

Imo.im New Look Out of Alpha

Horay! Imo.im, my favorite chat client has had a new look for a while, but it wasn't on by default, and it was in alpha. Now, it looses its alpha label, and it's on by default! Here's some more about imo.im. It's a site that lets you combine your different sites (MSN, Skype, Yahoo, Google Talk (Gmail), AIM, Jabber, Myspace, Facebook) so that you can see all of your contacts from all your services and chat with them. I use the extension for Chrome because it lets me chat without opening Gmail, and it lists me as online so that people can chat with me whenever my browser is open. Try it, it''s free, and you don't need to sign up; all you need is an account that imo supports. Click here to try it!

Android Honeycomb SDK

Finally, you can try "non-final" Android Honeycomb! In case you missed honeycomb is supposed to be the tablet-only OS for Android (probably iPad OS rival). It looks completely different than the regular Android UI. At last, you're allowed to play with it instead of watching videos of it! To download the Honeycomb SDK, click here and download whatever's right for your OS. It's pretty self-explanatory.

Bad News for Nokia

Nokia isn't doing much better than LG. It too reported it's Q4 2010 results, and it's market share is 31% and that's down from previous months. It looks like more and more people are turning to Android, which is getting more growth than the iPhone. Here's an image from Mashable mid-2010:

LG not doing to well

Poor LG. It recently reported its 2010 Q4 results, and cell phone sales are down 15%, and it's profit down 93%! Yikes! I think that the reason for this is probably because they don't make very many good Android phones, and that's what people are looking for. Yes, there are people looking for nice, simple, and few-featured cell phones out there, but if you want to make cell phones, you need lots of Android! HTC and Motorola are popular right now, and many of their phones are Android. So, I know that LG has to potential to make great phones, like it's LG Optimus Black, which may be the thinnest Android phone ever, but it just needs more selection, since selection is key. Come on LG, we want Android!

Nearly 10 Billion App Downloads from Apple App Store UPDATE: Apple Hit the number

In my emails, I like to say "read subject" because there is nothing more to be said. Unfortunately, that is not something I can do in blogging as that would make this the most boring blog ever blogged on. So, as the subject says, the Apple App store is nearing 10 billion App downloads. That's a lot more apps than the Android market downloaded, so better catch up. Also, if you're an iPhone user and you download the 10 billionth app, you'll get a 10,000 dollar iTunes gift card. Good, unless you're an Android user. I'll definitely be doing a blog post about Android's 10 billionth download. Just to give you an idea, Android is at a little over 2 and a half billion downloads. We need to do some serious catching up. Want more stats? Head over this way.

Quick Math: At the rate apps are being downloaded, we'll likely hit that 10,000,000,000mark in about 2 years.

Verizon Gets the iPhone

Yes, I know I'm late. You've probably already heard, but I don't want to be the only tech blog that didn't cover this. Verizon got the iPhone. Do they deserve it? Well, that's an opinion. Before going to At&t with the iPhone, Apple actually asked Verizon to be its carrier. As smartphones were new and Verizon didn't want to take chances, they said no. The iPhone then blasted off with At&t behind it, and Verizon realized that not getting the iPhone was a big mistake. Well, it looks like in the future, Android will actually overtake the iPhone, and Verizon has by far the most Android phones of any carrier. So, clearly, Verizon understood its mistake, and stocked up on high-end Androids, many of which, in my opinion, beat the iPhone. Verizon never did take its eye off of the iPhone, and as At&t's contract with Apple came to an end, Verizon wanted it. They got it. So, after reading this story, you're probably asking why I care. Well, not only I care because I follow "my" competitors, but because this is a big deal for Android. Verizon is Android's biggest carrier. It will get probably 6 million iPhone users transferred to it. Many people initially chose Android because it had Verizon behind it. This is a test of loyalty for Android users: now that they have the iPhone on their favorite network too, will they switch to iPhone or stay with Android? We will soon find out with Android's market share reports for the next few months.

Happy? Sad? Neutral? Mad? Comment!

Chrome Settings now Tabbed and Searchable ... By default!

It's no surprise that Google decided to make tabbed settings. It's been in about:flags for a while now. My way of interpreting this is just Google trying to make Chrome all one windows so that when Chrome OS comes, they'll won't have to worry about windows management. Searchable settings? Well, that comes as a little bit more of a surprise, but still isn't too surprising: Google exists because of search. All of its products have search. Why not the Chrome setting? The surprise is, it's gotten to be that way by default. I would expect a little more time to pass, but it looks like not only Chrome is fast, but Chrome's features are fast to be released. Wow, Google! Nice work! How do you feel about this? Comment!

Jolicloud: Chrome OS's leader

Jolicloud. Has anyone ever heard of it? It's been out for quite a while, but I didn't really think it was worth trying. I recently installed onto a flash drive, and plugged it in, not expecting it to be to great, just to get a feel of what a cloud os is really like before Chrome OS officially comes out. I was surprised at how nice everything was! The UI looked great, it was easy to set up and use, and it was fast, too! This is my primary os for now, and I encourage anyone who wants to to try it. Comment if you have any thoughts on this! Visit the Jolicloud page on Pixelforpixel for instructions and tips.

Happy Birthday Google Translate for Android!

Google Translate for Android is celebrating its first birthday, and Google is getting it a pretty nice gift: conversation mode. With conversation mode, two speakers can talk to each other, and Google will translate everything. So, you can have a real time conversation with someone and not let language get in the way. Right now, it's in Alpha, and it will only do English and Spanish. It also has trouble with accents and background noise, but hopefully it can soon carry the beta badge. Any experiences with this? Comment!

iPhone Alarm not Fixed

Remember how the iPhone was having problems with its alarm? Well, 9 to 5 Mac said it would get fixed automatically on Janruary 3rd. As many iPhone uses said on Twitter, it didn't. It probably won't get fixed automatically, and will need an update from Apple. As you might know, Apple isn't very good at addressing issues quickly, so you may have to wait a while.

Android Text Message Bug Fix on the Way

Remember that Android text message bug that sent a text message to the wrong person? Well, a Google employee responded to the bug report, saying that Google has recognized the bug and is working on a fix. It was such a long delay because it took a while to reproduce the bug. The employee also said that it was actually 2 bugs, not one. And, the issue status was marked "Future Release" and priority "Critical". So, Android users, a fix is on the way. Suspicious? Here's the bug report. The response is at the bottom of the page. [bug report]

Android 3.0 Video

It wasn't too long ago when Gingerbread came out. Now, we see a video of Android 3. It seems that Google's on fire with new releases; they release a new version of Chrome every six weeks, and I think they might put in something similar for Android. Okay, here's the video, since you probably don't want to listen to me talk about versions of Chrome and Android: [video]

Galaxy Tab Price Drops, Verizon Employees Tell Droid Life

The Galaxy Tab, Samsung's 7" Android tablet, might have its price dropped to $500, about $100 off from its current price. This is not official, but this is what Droid Life claims that some Verizon employees told them. I really hope that they do drop the price, since it's pretty expensive right now. At $500, it will still pretty expensive in my opinion. Well, it's certainly better that $600! Will you get one because of the price drop? Comment!

Facebook's new Home

There are some rumors going around about Facebook's new home. The Social Networking giant has chosen Oracle's Headquarters as its new home. There isn't any official word, but with over 2,000 employees, it's outgrown its current headquarters quite fast. Although there is no confirmation, this seems like a valid claim, since it looks like Facebook has been looking for a new headquarters for a while now. Pixel for Pixel will do a post as soon as we have confirmation, or if Facebook denies this.

LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader

Well, is Apple TV not good enough, and Google TV just too expensive? For some, the LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader may be the perfect alternative. It isn't expected to be as expensive as Google TV, while still having a web browser and apps. So, this may be the upgrade box for you. This box will be unveiled at CES, says LG on their press release. If you're looking for an upgrade box, don't forget to also check the Logitech Revue, Boxee Box, and Apple TV. Do you have one? Comment, and maybe you can do a guest post.

Two Seriously Bad Bugs in Two Seriously good Mobile OSes

Recently, some pretty bad bugs have shown up on Android and the iPhone. On the iPhone, the alarm has been having problems for a while. You may remember how on daylight savings, the alarm went off an hour late. Now, on New Year's, it won't go off at all. According to 9to5 Mac, this will automatically be fixed on Janruary 3rd. So, you may not want to rely on your iPhone to wake you up, as Apple seems to have some serious problems with it's alarm clocks. Now, Android has some serious bugs with texting. It misdirects messages occasionally, which could get you into big trouble if your text message goes to the wrong person. The details are a bit boring, so I won't share them, but this could get you into big trouble. So, just stick with Gmail chat instead of text messaging is my advice!

Poll Results

We didn't have very many people vote, which is disappointing. 2 people voted for iPhone OS, and 4 people voted for Android. I"m not sure this is fair, since only 6 people voted. So, technically Android wins, but I'm going to call it a tie between the two. Should I reopen the poll? Comment!

Google's Cr-48 Runs Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS

Well, Google certainly isn't like Microsoft: it actually hacked it's own Cr-48, the world's first notebook with Chrome OS pre-installed. Microsoft makes sure everything is just the way it wants it: locking 3rd party themes off of Windows XP, making sure that's its hard to customize the welcome screen, and making aero hard to modify. Well, Google hacked Ubuntu onto the Cr-48, and some other hackers hacked on Windows and OSX. I don't think the OSX is legal, I'm pretty sure Apple forbids installation of OSX on any non-Apple devices. But, it shows how hackable it was made. I know that Google believes in net neutrality, so this is sort of like it: it's your device, so you do what YOU want, not what's better for the company that made it. Anyways, here's the video of OSX: