Jan 05
It appears as though Apple and Google are competing. A healthy competition amongst two very creative innovators of “gadgets” and technologies is intriguing to a technology geek as myself (and can be rather costly if I try to follow the current trends). Nevertheless, today there is a lot of web chatter going on regarding Google’s new Nexus One “Superphone” and Apple’s acquisition of the Quattro Wireless Mobile Ad Platform.
Google is stepping up its presence a few notches by joining in the smart phone phenomenon. Today was the official announcement of the Google Phone. Google’s Android software was first offered in 2008 on phones made by Taiwan’s HTC Corp. The new Nexus One Phone may feature more of Google’s own software, acting as the standard for other makers to follow. Now doesn’t this look a lot like Apple’s iphone?
Today Quattro Wireless announced on its blog Apple’s acquisition of the Quattro Ad network. The Wall Street Journal-affiliated blog All Things Digital reported late Monday, January 4, 2010 that Apple would pay $275 million for Quattro. “Surprisingly”, Quattro is a competitor to AdMob. Google agreed to acquire AdMob in November for $750 million.
2010 is going to be a VERY interesting year!
Dec 19
A few weeks ago, I received an email from Google stating that Google Chrome for Mac was available in beta for Mac OS X. I recently installed it on my Mac and have been using it in the place of Safari for a day or so. Thankfully, upon installation, it imported my bookmarks and browsing history from Safari. My reason for installing the browser stemmed from my research on the up and coming Google Chrome OS. This new OS seems to be following the web 2.0 technology progression. Will this OS be the new Windows?
Ben Parr of Mashable pointed out the 5 main differences of the OS compared to other OS such as Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
- The browser is the OS.
- It’s designed to fix itself.
- All apps are web apps, no installations.
- Chrome OS doesn’t support drivers and will not run on your laptop.
- Super-fast startup speeds.
Security!
Finally! For once an OS is being developed from the ground up with security on the forefront! Google has released an overview of security in its Chromium Projects that summarizes in great detail the efforts they are taking to secure the OS. They even have a System Hardening document that “lays out a technical vision for making Chromium OS-based systems difficult for remote attackers to compromise using various system-level mechanisms.”
However, the one security issue that the new OS contains is its single sign on (SSO) login. Everything that’s done on a Chrome OS netbook is based on the user/password concept. The SSO key unlocks all information stored in the Google cloud. Therefore, a bad password choice = major security compromise to ALL stored information. Not good.
The Next Windows?!
So, could Google Chrome OS become the next Windows? It’s definitely possible but I think it may be highly unlikely. People generally stay close to what they are familiar with. Microsoft Windows has been around for quite some time. Let’s face it; most non-technical folks were “raised” on this OS. They are familiar with it and all of its nuances, updates, and vulnerabilities. Techies that are into emerging technologies will find Chrome to be prominently relevant to the web 2.0 era. New start-up companies along with companies that are into their bottom line will also want to know what the Google Chrome OS netbook is all about. Most appealing is that Chrome OS will only be shipped on specific hardware from manufacturers Google has partnered with. That means if you want Chrome OS, you’ll have to purchase a Chrome OS device. According to web chatter, Google Chrome OS will not be released until around this time next year. The first Chrome OS netbooks will be available in late 2010. I am anxious to see how it all unfolds. I belief that because the price for a netbook is anywhere between $300 and $500–the going rate of today’s netbooks –the Google Chrome OS netbook will be a large success.
I will certainly be following the developments as they transpire….
