Not too long ago, Microsoft changed it’s Live Search to Bing, and has really stepped on the pedal to face it’s major competitor, Google (which, by the way, has about 65% of the market share)

Now, Yahoo will likely be pairing up with Microsoft to face Google in its domination of the search market. Bing will become the search engine on Yahoo, and Yahoo would deal with most of the search ad work.

I’ve used Bing quite a bit now, and I think it is definitely worthy to compete with Google. In particular, I’m fond of the daily picture on the homepage everyday and overall interface, though I’m not sure its results are as accurate to what I’m searching for as Google. Microsoft is pouring a lot of money into Bing’s, and if done properly will likely take a chunk of Google’s domination. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo will have 30% of the market.

Any thoughts on this Microsoft+Yahoo combo? Leave a comment!

More reading:

BusinessWeek

Article on AdAge

BoomTown

Also, as a side note, some photos I took in China are uploaded onto Flickr here. And a probably more interesting note that I just discovered is that Bing is blocked in China for some reason as well as sites like Flickr and Blogger.

Image from Wikipedia.Com.

Today, Google released a new version of its popular world browsing software, Google Earth. Some new features that was included in this update is being able to look at historical images, explore the ocean, and record your own tours. You also are able to explore Mars through Google Earth in addition to seeing the Earth and Sky. The ocean layer allows you to see the bottom of the ocean and 3-D models of shipwrecks. The recording feature is quite simple and you can add narration to it too. The new version is available at the Official Google Earth Page.

Tour of Google Earth 5.0

Demo of Google Ocean (I know this one looks similar to the video above, but it is a different one)

More Info:

Google Earth Blog (Unofficial)

• Google Mars Info
• Google Ocean Info
• Historical Imagery Info

Official Google Earth Site

• Tour of Google Earth

You can call it whatever you want: the T-Mobile G1, the HTC Dream, the gPhone, the iPhone-Killer, the phone-that-will, but it doesn’t matter as they are the same (well… for some of them, it depends on how you look at it) phone that is the first to fun the Google Android Platform. Yes, this is the result of collaborative work from T-Mobile, Google, and HTC to make this iPhone competitor smart phone.

Image from Engadget.Com

The phone is currently only available for pre-order on the T-Mobile Website and will be launched on October 22 at $179 with a 2 year contract ($399 without). Here’s a quick spec list (from Engadget.Com):

• HSDPA 1700 / 2100 plus quadband EDGE
• WiFi
• 3D graphics acceleration
• 3-megapixel camera
• 256 MB integrated storage, 1GB microSD card included
• Android Market for on-device app purchases
• Amazon MP3 app for on-device music purchases
• Push Gmail support with full HTML client
• Bluetooth (but no A2DP)
• Google Maps with Street View
• No Microsoft Exchange support
• No desktop synchronization — it all happens over the air
• 350 minutes talk time over 3G, 406 minutes over GSM
• 402 hours standby over 3G, 319 hours over GSM

An interesting note about the Street View is that the built in accelerometer makes it seem like a “window” into that area (see video)

The 3.2 inch touch screen has a resolution of 320 X 480 pixels.  The full QWERTY keyboard beneath the screen does seem a thousand times easier to use than the iPhone’s virtual one and will be a major appeal point when people are comparing the two. The G1 also has tight integration with the Google suite (Search, Gmail, Youtube, Maps, Talk, and Calendar). The home screen is customizable (to a much higher degree vs just location on the iPhone) and is extended to the left and right which are accessible by swiping. While the iPhone has the Apps Store, the G1 has the Android market, and instead of the iTunes store, we have Amazon.Com’s MP3 service.

You can see how the device has borrowed characteristic from the iPhone, but luckily kept away from the bad things about the horrid Apple device. It DOES have copy and paste (thank you Google) and multimedia messaging. Also, there is no “multi-touch” but that’s a small thing.

Amazingly, according to Engadget, the phone is being sold out really quickly. (though an update says that you can order them again) If you are interested, you can pre-order it here.

In the future when the phone does get released, I’ll post up a full review on the phone and my own thoughts about it (as long as I can look at the G1 at a T-Mobile store)

Well, Earth Day passed about a week ago, and I never got a chance to write a post. So here is the post I was supposed to write on April 22, 2008.

All of us have to type up documents and often times, we have to print out multiple copies for others to review and then that person has to edit them and print them again. The paper used in this process could easily be saved by online document apps.

Google Docs Screen-shot (From Wikipedia.org)

I know many of you, the readers, use Gmail. Did you know that Google also has a office suite online? And amazingly enough, it is called Google Docs. It is simple and easy to use. And one of the most shining parts of it is that you can collaborate with others on one document. Save paper, eliminate multiple copies, and best of all it is free! Included in the program is a word processor, spreadsheet editor, and even a presentation creator. All you need to use it is a Google Account, and go to http://docs.google.com/, so try it out. The interface is simple, quick, and clean. The experience is really enjoyable.

Microsoft Office Live Workspace (From ZDNet.com)

There are also many other apps online that help you accomplish this. Microsoft has the product Office Live Workspace. This integrates the Microsoft Office Suite with the internet. But the thing about the app is that you can’t actually write and edit on the site. But you can share, comment, and upload your document to the site. If you have Microsoft Office, I would recommend installing the plugin into Office. I personally don’t like having to have to go through so much to work on a document. I like how on Google Docs, everything is just there for me, or a collaborator, to go and work on it.

Zoho (From Wikipedia.org)

Zoho is currently one of my favorite online office apps (But, I do mainly use Google Docs because I can easily collaborate with my peers since many of them also have Google Accounts). It does a very good job making Microsoft Office users feel at home. The interface is much like Office (not the 2007 version) and is fast and easy to use. This is the most filled app with almost everything you can think of. It has the typical word processing and spreadsheet apps. But it also has a wiki creator, a database maker, a people manager (I have not tried this yet), and a few more. I would highly recommend trying this one out.

ThinkFree (From LifeHacker.com)

ThinkFree is another online app. I actually just found out about this one. Although this isn’t my favorite, it is still pretty good. The main thing that I don’t like about it is that it is slower than Google Docs or Zoho. It uses Java to run the editors and the loading times are just too long for me. But the product is well bundled with a easy to navigate interface, again similar to Microsoft Office, like Zoho, but is much, much more alike (look at the screenshot and you’ll see). It even has the whole ruler thing and a toolbar with the File, Edit stuff. It comes with apps similar to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Another app for notes is also coming soon. In Firefox, I have an issue with it in that the bottom toolbar is slightly cut off by Firefox’s own toolbar, but I’m not sure if it is the same for IE.

But if you have to print out drafts, please do it on the back side of another paper. This way we eliminate the cutting down of trees and help reduce waste. Of course, for a final draft, print it out on clean sheets of paper.

So those are the four main apps for online office work. If you already have a Google account, I would say to go with Google Docs. If you have Microsoft Office and would like to easily upload things onto the net, you could try Office Live Workspace. For an “at home feeling” for Office users, you can go with Thinkfree. But for an all purpose, easy to use program, go with Zoho. But the choice is up to you. All of them are free for personal use and allow you to bring your office docs online. Please leave a comment on which one you prefer, you own thoughts, or if you have another service you would like to mention. Again, Happy Earth Day and continue to keep our Earth clean and alive.

The Internet giant, Google is launching a program, named Project Virgle, for you Earthlings to live on Mars. Virgin and Google have partnered up to bring the first permanent Mars colony to reality. In 2014, the Virgle 1 be sent to Mars to set up the colony. After the Virgle 1 lands, a group of autonomous robots will be sent out. In 2016, the first people will be sent to Mars. After living there for 100 years, in 2108, a truly new community has emerged on Mars, just like a city on Earth.

Sign up for the trip at http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html. Good luck, and happy first day of April!

Yes, Google did announce its phone plans, but it’s not a gPhone. Yes, you must be disappointed. If you think it is bad, you are wrong, they are developing a new platform for phones. Instead of making a phone, they’ll pave they way for hundreds of models. Basically what they have been doing is making the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). They are planning to make an open platform for phones that are Linux based. The OHA consists of now 34 companies including Intel, eBay, HTC, T-Mobile, China Mobile Communications Corporation, and Synaptics.

Tomorrow (November 12th), they will release the Android SDK and they are trying to make it commercially available on handsets in the second half of 2008.

You can visit their website at http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/index.html

The Main Page Image on the Website (From MobileGazette.com)

So I’ve been out and busy the last few weeks, and I never got a good chance to write a blog post, until now. I have been still searching the web and doing other various things with my computer. So this blog post is dedicated to what I have found.

First, is a new product from Microsoft called Silverlight. It is a web browser plug-in similar to Flash. It isn’t much of a “breakthrough technology” but it is still pretty cool. One main difference between this and Flash is that this vector based. So you can resize the image without distorting it. Website: http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/default01.aspx

Microsoft Website “Vista-like” navigation: http://www.silverlight.net/mscom/

A Silverlight video player (Note: That is Bill Gates in the video)
http://silverlight.net/samples/1.0/Video-Library/default.html

The next thing is that Google unveiled a new name for its personalized homepage service. It is now called iGoogle (I wonder what Steve Jobs thinks about this). I always wondered why it was google.com followed by “ig”, now I now: it stands of iGoogle. Everything else hasn’t changed much other than that.

My iGoogle Homepage at http://google.com/ig

The next thing is a open-source, multiplatform game called Flight Gear. Some of you might know about Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X, well this is similar except that it is free. Note that this does’t have all the bells and whistles of Microsoft but hey you get what you pay for. I do prefer this over Microsoft’s mainly because I think it easier to fly. Plus, it doesn’t take up too much space like Flight Simulator X.http://www.flightgear.org/

FlightGear aircraft can have fully 3d, fully animated, fully clickable/interactive cockpits

Google has just launched a new program called Google TiSP. It allows you to get FREE internet through your toilet. Google describes: “Google TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access by connecting your commode-based TiSP wireless router to one of thousands of TiSP Access Nodes via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines.” I’m not kidding, it’s even on their site! http://www.google.com/tisp/

Also Google has announced Gmail Paper. A service where you can print your emails for free (with ads on the back). “The cost of postage is offset with the help of relevant, targeted, unobtrusive advertisements, which will appear on the back of your Gmail Paper prints in red, bold, 36 pt Helvetica. No pop-ups, no flashy animations—these are physically impossible in the paper medium.” Plus it isn’t bad for the enviornment: “Gmail Paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment. For every Gmail Paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier.” Link: http://mail.google.com/mail/help/paper/more.html

There is one more thing, but I think this one is a hoax. Google TV, some service that would be similar to TiVo. Then you could watch TV on-demand. Look it up on Google for more info or watch the video.