Updated Google Search App for iPhone
March 30, 2011
Out with the old and in with the new according to “Google Search App for iPhone – a New Name and a New Look”. The former Google Mobile App has been replaced by the redesigned Google Search app.
Naturally the interface has changed. An Apps button is included at the bottom of the screen to quickly interact with other Google products. There is also a toolbar for filtering results to make sure you only get what you are looking for, i.e. images, news etc. They’ve also included a way to hang on to former searches so you can pick up where you left off should you temporarily walk away from the process. And that’s not nearly all. The blog post asserts:
… there are a number of improvements we’ve made to everything else you love in the app, including Google Goggles, Voice Search, Search with My Location, Gmail unread counts and more. There’s a lot in the app, so we’ve added a simple help feature to let you explore it. Access this by tapping the question mark above the Google logo.
Good updates, but it looks as though the Google app for iPhone has surpassed the app for Android. Based on the litany of comments to the post, I’m not the only one who’s noticed Google is catering to iPhone users over patrons of its own platform. Wonder when we can expect the same treatment for Android?
Sarah Rogers, March 30, 2011
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Google Android Malware Factoid
March 13, 2011
No idea if this is spot on. Fascinating example of what happens when controlled chaos blends with a Microsoft-like approach. The source is “The Walled Garden Has Won.” Here’s the factoid:
It [Malware] infected more than a quarter of a million devices before Google intervened.
I use a clumsy BlackBerry. No fear of malware. I bought one app, installed it, and it killed my phone. Now I check mail and use the phone as a phone. Life is simple in Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky.
Stephen E Arnold, March 13, 2011
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Another Internet Kill Switch Need
March 11, 2011
Could the UK Government Shut Down the Web? signals that another country wants to have a way to control access via the Internet. This article does a good job substantiating why it is a highly improbable and nearly impossible endeavor.
In Britain the person with the power to flick the “kill switch” is Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The Civil Contingencies Act and the 2003 Communications Act give Hunt the ability to suspend internet services by ordering internet service providers to close their operations or by shutting off internet exchanges. Here’s a point that struck me as important:
“The problem comes down to the very nature of the internet in developed countries. It is a mesh of networks. It transcends borders and has no definable beginning or end. As a result of this structure it is almost impossible to isolate all the connections.”
While Hunt has the power to shut Britain off from the rest of the world via Internet, he cannot use the power except in times of extreme emergency should the country be threatened. Even then, due to the vast network interconnections and backup network systems, a secondary network system would quickly develop should the primary networks be shut down.
We have seen postings that indicate there are work arounds for “kill switches”. These range from dial up access to more elaborate methods. And what about search? No one seems to care. The issue appears to be Facebook-type and Twitter-like services, email, and the real time flow of information through RSS.
What is clear is that governmental authorities are nervous about what can happen when people use Internet technology to organize and disseminate information. But will turning off the Internet solve the problem or just be a temporary measure. The UK does not want to take a chance it seems. A desktop computer does not lend itself to mobility, but phones and other portable devices change some of the information dynamics due to real time messaging and interaction among one or more individuals.
Leslie Radcliff and Stephen E Arnold, March 11, 2011
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Is 97 Percent of a Market a Monopoly?
March 9, 2011
Quite a question which I have not seen anyone ask. I did read the startling spider food headline “Google Controls 97 Percent Of Mobile Paid Search: Report.” I wonder if any eagle eyed regulators paid attention. Now the data come from a source that may not be familiar to some—an analyst report from a financial outfit. Most of these data are carefully screened and often support a position that the analyst wants to take with regard to a particular firm or market sector.
Notice that the rotini noodles are 98 percent the same. Is this consistency or a monopoly among the rotinis?
Google is the outfit the possible monopoly position. I suppose that someone at Google was surprised to be given such a accolade. Google has worked hard to present itself as just another friendly competition. Now an analyst firm asserts that the data from Efficient Frontier “proves” Google is the big dog in mobile paid search.
Now I am not sure what “mobile paid search” is. When I looked for a Pizza Hut last night, I had to resort to calling someone to look up the phone number. I then called the Pizza Hut, ordered the rotini my 89 year old father wanted, and drove to the aforementioned Pizza Hut. I want to note that my trust BlackBerry map did not get me to the Pizza Hut. I drove around until I spotted the building tucked next to a $5 haircut outfit.
Here’s the key passage from the write up which is probably going to be cited a number of times in the next 24 hours:
Just as Google dominates mobile search share in the US (with roughly 98 percent), the report said that 97 percent of mobile search spend (for Efficient Frontier clients) now goes to Google, while 3.2 percent spend goes to Bing/Yahoo.
Not too many qualifiers in this write up. Check out the charts. The pie chart is a keeper and will probably surface at some Congressional hearing later this year.
Stephen E Arnold, March 9, 2011
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Fabasoft Mindbreeze Goes Mobile, Again
March 4, 2011
Fabasoft has updated its information about Mindbreeze mobile search. We first reported this story in April 2010 in “Mindbreeze Goes Mobile.”
Fabasoft Mindbreeze asserts this year that smartphones are becoming more ubiquitous each year, and with ever progressing mobile bandwidth capabilities, consumers increasingly demand the ability to efficiently search on-the-go. We agree.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze elaborates on its mobile search in “Mobile Search for your Enterprise.” Says the blog entry:
“Our Mobile Client is specially-tailored for the restricted screen sizes and special haptic requirements of modern touch mobiles (like the iPhone or Android based mobiles). This empowers you to access information anytime from anywhere without any hassle.”
The company also offers a version for the iPad. We think the iPad version is the news. The mobile information is a gentle recycle in our opinion. Mobile devices continue to outsell desktop boat anchor computers, so the new device trend is documented and widely known.
Cynthia Murrell March 4, 2011
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Embedded Functionality: The SIM Option
February 28, 2011
We worked on a project a decade ago to slap content processing in firmware. The problem was snail like CPUs and memory bandwidth. These problems are close to getting solved well enough to open a new era in search and content processing.
The article
Embedded SIM Technology “MWC: Embedded SIMs key to Machine-to-machine communications. is a harbinger. We think this development may exert some influence certain types of search deployments.
SIM cards, or subscriber identity module cards, have become integral to mobile security. Now, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) is pushing standards for embedded SIM technology. Says the organization’s Rob Conway,
To drive the rise of connecting “things” the embedded SIM is vital, so that’s why the GSMA announced the embedded SIM initiative[ ] in November and published requirements for standards around the technology. This will help ensure that the SIMs cannot be easily removed, which helps operators provision over-the-air updates up to the point of sale and beyond. This will bring mobile broadband to all sorts of devices, like cars and smart meters.
The MWC helps ensure that the embedded SIM security will remain consistent with that of SIM cards. They also predict that mobile payments will soon eclipse other payment methods, adding another powerful reason to get mobile security right.
The standard requirements will be submitted to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute at the end of this month. This is certainly a trend worth watching. We are pondering the implications for mobile search.
Cynthia Murrell February 28, 2011
Google, Turkeys, and Eagles
February 20, 2011
We have to revisit this turkey eagle metaphor.
“Google’s vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra has attacked both Nokia and Microsoft with a bird analogy: ‘two turkeys do not make an eagle.’”
Google attacks Nokia and Microsoft with bird analogy via Twitter just days before the official announcement on February 11, 2011, that Microsoft and Nokia will join forces, adopting Windows Phone 7 as the primary platform for Nokia’s line of high-end smartphones. Nokia has infamously lagged behind other phone manufacturers in the smartphone race.
The truth is that Apple’s iPhone sets the pace with their integrated package – phone and OS. Google’s Android platform comes on a variety of smartphones and providers, allowing it to seize a sizeable share of the market. Meanwhile, Microsoft is once again late to the party, hoping the partnership with an ailing Nokia will make them a player in the market. Unless Microsoft shakes things up, this could be the Zune all over again.
What’s the next metaphor? What’s the next revolution?
Emily Aldridge, February 20, 2011
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Not Search, But Mighty Useful
February 12, 2011
The article “50 Free iPad Apps for Business Users” at Datamation provides a helpful service. The authors have combed through the apps at the iTunes Store and compiled a list of free apps they feel are worthy of your attention:
Whoever claimed that business software costs a bundle never heard of the free iPad app.
Indeed, the iPad is showing that you don’t need a speedy notebook full of programs to run your company on the go; all you need is a tablet with free iPad apps.”
The offerings are organized by category: productivity, utilities, remote access, and knowledge.
It does look like there are some decent entries here- do check it out. Unfortunately, though, there is not a robust search app in the lot. (Job-hunting tools don’t count.) Search just doesn’t command respect in the free iPad app world. Sigh.
Cynthia Murrell February 12, 2011
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Online Outfits as Political Power Houses
February 9, 2011
We noted “Google Launches Phone Tweeting Service as Last Egyptian ISP Goes Down.”
The headline that Egypt turned off the Internet has made the global rounds and scared the entire developed world. If you do your research, you’ll find that in the US it will be extremely difficult to shut down the web, especially if Google is your ally. Noor Group, the last surviving Egyptian ISP, was shut down and totally blacked out the web. Maximum PC has the story, “Google Launches Phone Tweeting Service as Last Egyptian ISP Goes Down.”
“Over the weekend, engineers from Google, Twitter and SayNow — a company the internet giant bought just last week — extended a lifeline to the restive Arab country by coming up with the “idea of a speak-to-tweet service—the ability for anyone to tweet using just a voice connection.”
Google and Twitter to the rescue folks! Who would have thought these Internet companies would provide a voice in a time of crisis. While I applaud their efforts, I’m curious where Facebook, Amazon, and Apple are. Why aren’t these online outfits involving themselves in the political affairs of countries half a world away? What happened to search and content processing as an objective activity? Maybe search and content processing are no longer objective? Quite a shift for some, not much of a change for other organizations, however.
Whitney Grace, February 9, 2011
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Is Google Ignoring an Apple Method?
February 7, 2011
Love it or hate it, the Apple iPhone set the yardstick against which smartphones are measured. Microsoft has not slipstreamed fixes to its Windows 7 Phone. Now Google seems to be following the Microsoft path, not the Apple four lane superhighway.
Secure Computing Magazine reports that “Google Fails to Fix Android Flaw” in the newest 2.3 version. Google was aware of the flaw in Android 2.2 last year and promised to fix the defect. When 2.3 was churned out, hackers went to work and easily cracked the patch. Android’s flaw is as follows:
“If a user is tricked into visiting a malicious site, the flaw could let hackers view any files stored on the SDcard, as well as view a list of apps and upload them to a remote server.”
Disabling JavaScript support and/or using a third party browser can avoid the hacking problem. Google has again promised to fix its popular mobile OS in the next version and are already working on a solution, but we’ll see how that goes.
What may be important is that Google has not gotten its chickens in the coop. Another indication of the similarity in management approaches and customer focus between Microsoft and Google? And search? Maybe taking a back seat? Just a thought.
Whitney Grace, February 7, 2011
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