Google Shifts to Mobile
April 21, 2010
I read “Global CIO: Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s Top 10 Reasons Why Mobile Is #1”. My immediate reaction was that David Letterman’s top 10 list had a new challenger. Then I realized that these 10 items are no spoof. Taken as a group, Google is making it clear that the “old Web” is not where the future will be for Google. Is this a big change? No. Google has long had an interest in mobile with some interesting patent applications from a decade ago as tiny markers bobbing in the Google’s technical river.
What I find interesting is that the article identifies 10 reasons. I discerned one—money, but you can read the article and make your own decision.
Two of the points in the article struck me as notable.
First, put your best people on mobile. Sergey Brin’s name appears on a couple of patent documents related to mobile; for example, voice search. That’s a good person. I think that Google has applied quite a few of its best people to infrastructure and supporting technologies as well. Instead of looking at this top 10 item as unique, I think Google is applying resources to mobile and to other, related technical areas. The approach makes Google particularly noteworthy because it is more than a product company. Google is more diverse and mobile is one application of Google’s capabilities.
Second, the “everything now” idea. Google has been an everything now company, but it has been quite patient. Google’s management has rolled out puzzle pieces at different times. The result has been to make it hard for some analysts to see the big Google picture. I think mobile is another puzzle piece. As impressive as the company’s push into mobile has been, I think there is more to come. Mobile is not the end game. The everything now demographics will demand more connectivity, convenience, speed, and services. Google is going to make a run at providing that array. Devices can be implanted, embedded, and sewn into people, places, and things. Is this everything now and everywhere?
To wrap up, this article is one of the first that has been able to identify 10 points made by a Google top gun since I have been tracking the company. I still see one point—money. But that’s my narrow perspective.
Stephen E Arnold, April 21, 2010
No sponsor for this article.
Quote to Note: Games Consoles Follow the Snail darter
April 19, 2010
Quote to note: Fascinating quote from Japanese game superhero Hideo Kojima, who created Metal Gear Solid. In “Japan’s Video Game Visionary: The Console Is Dying,” Mr. Kojima allegedly said:
“In the near future, we’ll have games that don’t depend on any platform,” Kojima said at a news conference announcing the latest installment in a game saga that began in 1987. “Gamers should be able to take the experience with them in their living rooms, on the go, when they travel — wherever they are and whenever they want to play. It should be the same software and the same experience,” he said.
The end of history came and went. Now the end of consoles. Big news for some folks I suppose. Is a mobile device the new console? Is Google’s rich media infrastructure shaped for this portable playability?
Stephen E Arnold, April 10, 2010
A freebie.
iPad Search Apps
April 7, 2010
Short honk: At lunch one of the goslings mentioned “8 Search Engine Related iPad Apps.” I took a look at the listings and thought that iPad lovers would want at least one of these. If I were younger, I would probably dive into iPad search. For now, I will float in the goose pond and watch the apples drop from the tree.
Stephen E Arnold, April 7, 2010
A freebie. No worms. No core. No Apple iPad.
Wolfram Alpha Reloads
April 5, 2010
I enjoy firing queries into the Wolfram Alpha system. The challenge for me is figuring out exactly how to get the system to respond. Addled geese are notoriously bad searchers and I get a fair share of “Wolfram Alpha isn’t sure hw to compute and answer from your input.” If I can do an input, then Wolfram Alpha can’t do an output. I don’t have that problem when I fire a query into Bing.com or Google.com. Those systems display something, often anything. For most users this approach is exactly what’s needed. In my experience, some people looking for information don’t know what they don’t know. Hence, any information is likely to be relevant in my opinion.
I learned when I read “Wolfram Alpha Tries Again: New Mobile Site, Big Refunds,” that the company is “making a new start” with its mobile search app for the iPhone. The article revealed:
The company has also drastically cut the price of the Wolfram/Alpha App for the iPhone and iPod touch to $1.99, down from the previous rather unfeasible $49.99. It’s offering refunds to anyone that bought at the old price, here – apparently 10,000 people did. It’s a particularly generous move on the company’s part, as it means Wolfram/Alpha is covering the cut Apple took on that price.
Is Wolfram Alpha blazing a trail for the many iPhone application developers who want to cash in on the Apple craze for shiny, touchy gizmos? Publishers of “real” content are among the most interesting segment of app developers. I am looking forward to seeing the results of their software / content initiatives. Refunds would be even more unwelcome than making no app sales in my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, April 5, 2010
No one paid us to write this.
iPad, the Contrarian View
April 4, 2010
Short honk: This is a quote to note and a recommendation to read the full write up from the tech industry’s premier contrarian. The article, “Publishing’s Last Hope”, points out that some “real” journalists may not be presenting balanced reviews of the Apple iPad. I agree. Since Apple has a lousy search system for iTunes, I don’t have much to say about a device I don’t have in my possession from a company with a search system that gives me nosebleeds. Read the full write up.
For me, the article has a quote to note.
So if you drink the Kool-Aid, you’ll be reading Newsweek and Time and all the dying print magazines and newspapers on the iPad. No matter that you are not reading these journals now.
This is an important point. Information acquisition and consumption for certain segments of the population are very different from those my cohort uses. An expensive magazine, whether digital or in print, is not the ringing the chimes of some of the younger readers whom I know. We will know if the contrarian is right or if the companies with expensive content is right in a few months. Exciting stuff.
Stephen E Arnold, April 4, 2010
Nah, unpaid post.
Another Google Should, This Time for Android
April 3, 2010
Short honk: My feathers tingle when people write down what Google should do. I confine my self to questions and observations. The addled goose gets nervous around woulda coulda shoulda types. The write up “How Android Can Compete with Apple’s Third Party iPad Apps” asserted:
Another tip: Google should set up application design guidelines for each platform so things don’t look all wonky when jumping from one app to an other on a particular platform. I’m thinking… anything less than what I’ve described above would make Android a complete mess in terms of cross-device usability.
Great idea and I explain an even more challenging task for Google developers in my KMWorld column I submitted a day ago. It is quite difficult to locate information for Google’s code snippets for various device initiatives. I don’t use “should”. I just point out that Google’s approach is not mature, a synonym for very confusing. I think the column will run in May or June 2010, and it will be available on the KMWorld Web site.
Stephen E Arnold, April 3, 2010
Because I get money from Info Today, I suppose this is a sponsored article about myself.
Search Utility for Mobile Users
April 2, 2010
In the early days of personal computers, utilities were a big deal. Not so much now. Microsoft Windows includes many useful features which made utilities drop off my radar. I am not sure if a trend is building, but I wanted to call your attention to “ACTRocket 1.3 Web Search Shortcuts for iPhone and iPod Touch.” Presumably the app will be compatible with the frenzy-inducing iPad that has the gliterati cheering.
What struck me is that this utility is “pre-configured [to work] with many popular search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) as ell as a large selection of Web sites (Wikipedia, IMBb, Twitter, eBay, Flickr.) The idea is that this app gives a user quick access to search, shortcuts to select a particular search engine, a history of queries, and smarts to allow the user to explore search results within an application. You can get more information from Houdah Software, an outfit in Switzerland.
I think the notion of utilities for finding information may be a good one. I want to monitor what other search-related apps surface.
Stephen E Arnold, April 2, 2010
A freebie. No one paid us to write this.
Mindbreeze Goes Mobile
April 2, 2010
Fabasoft has rolled out a new add-on to allow licensed users to search via a smartphone or other mobile device.
I spoke with Michael Hadrian, the managing director of Fabasoft Distribution in Linz, Austria. Fabasoft is the holding company of Mindbreeze enterprise search system. In that conversation, I picked up two interesting insights into the Fabasoft Mindbreeze push into the market for enterprise search.
Mindbreeze Enterprise Mobile result list.
First, the Mindbreeze search technology, recently profiled in a consultant’s report, is now available as a cloud-based service. The idea is to shift from an on-premises installation to one that Fabasoft / Mindbreeze can provision and operate from the cloud. Mr. Hadrian told me, “The major benefits are achieving business related results faster and reducing the burden on an organization’s internal information technology resources.”
Second, a Mindbreeze licensee gains access to the company’s mobile interface. The idea is that a worker, regardless of his / her location, can use the Fabasoft Mindbreeze products to locate information in a wide range of sources processed by the Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise system. These range from the standard Microsoft Office file types to more proprietary repositories such as those used by Lotus Domino / Notes customers.
A mobile search metadata display.
Data Phase Change: Mobile Outpaces Voice Traffic
March 25, 2010
Short honk: “Mobile Data Overtakes Voice Traffic” documents what I had heard at a conference on March 22, 2010. The key point for me was the subtitle: “Facebook is more popular than talking.” The actual factoids are useful for supporting an argument with those who think that computing is a tethered affair. Example:
he data, which was collected during December 2009, showed that data traffic has ballooned by 280 per cent within the past two years. The tipping point for data traffic was 140,000 Terabytes or, if you prefer the marketeers, conversion, 140 Petabytes per month. Although that figure sounds vast, doing some back of the envelope calculations it works out to around 8 bits per second, not exactly broadband speeds. We got that figure by using last year’s UN mobile subscription figures, which put the number at 4.1 billion mobile subscribers and coupled that to a nominal 30-day month.
So the trend is clear. Now what?
Stephen E Arnold, March 25, 2010
A free write up. I will report this to whomever I see when I am next in Washington. Maybe a Verizon employee? Maybe the cookie vendor in Union Station? Probably not a person with a wireless device.
The Open Source Card in Apple HTC Dust Up
March 17, 2010
The goslings and I are not attorneys. We are addled geese, and we do not understand the ins and outs of litigation. The article “Apple’s HTC Patent Lawsuit Is a Bluff” presented some angles on the Apple HTC patent matter. HTC seems to be a more convenient target than Google because HTC is manufacturing Android phones. These devices have some shared DNA with Apple’s iPhone. The write up suggests that Apple is engaging in some saber rattling. Litigation is expensive and risky, particularly if the parties cannot reach an out of court settlement. Juries can be darned exciting. For me, the most surprisingly passage in the write up was:
Android’s open-source status creates all kinds of logistical and legal problems for Apple. The company really doesn’t want to be labeled with a big Scarlet Letter as an open-source opponent. Apple has benefitted from open-source community development. It’s a vocal group Apple doesn’t want to piss off. Then there are all the nasty legal issues and potentially damaging precedents should Apple make a frontal open-source assault.
Android, as new Googler Tim Bray pointed out recently, is not about open source. The idea is that Apple does not want to be hoisted on the open source noose.
My view is that open source is becoming a highly charged phrase. Marketers, programmers, and investors have their own view of the concept. If the write up is correct, will Google use its open source approach to create more problems for Apple? There are some advantages associated with open source. But there are also some advantages associated with the proprietary approaches taken by companies like Apple.
Open source “plays” have a dual nature. Viewed one way, open source decreases the “lock in” that most vendors covet. Viewed another, open source could be a kinder, gentler form of getting people into a more spacious walled garden.
One thing is certain. The Apple patent matter will be with us for many months and there will be twists and turns as Apple builds out its server centers, gets serious about search, and expands into cloud services for its chain of devices.
Stephen E Arnold, March 17, 2010
Free. The bane of real journalists. I did this without compensation or the hope thereof, and I will report this to the event manager at the National Press Club.
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