Jake Smith

A few weeks ago a report surfaced that Google Plus saw 1269% user growth, due to the social network opening up to the public and earning a nice spot on the Google homepage. Today, however, analytics firm Chitika is reporting that Google Plus’s traffic has dropped 60% — indicated by the graph above.

Are people not digging Google Plus?

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Google has released a new extension this weekend for Chrome fans. Chrome Remote Desktop Beta (what a mouthful) allows you to connect to other computers across the network in a Chrome window.

Where we can see this coming the most in handy is with a Chrome OS laptop. Being able to connect to your main computer when you’re away from it is definitely necessary for numerous tasks. When it comes to security, each session has to be granted each time you connect.

Interested in how this all works? Check it out after the break:

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As discovered by Fusible, Amazon has made the unexpected move of spinning its recently launched Kindle Fire (tablet) brand into a seperate company. Found in a filing with the U.S. Patent Office, Amazon has registered patents for both the Kindle Fire and Amazon Silk under the company Seesaw LLC. Both Amazon and Seesaw have the same patent lawyer.

Now what would be the reason? As Fusible points out, Amazon will probably be able to get the necessary investments for the Kindle Fire, and any other mobile/tablet brand they plan to launch.

While we’ve already seen it on video, Mobilissimo has gotten their hands-on a few more screenshots of Ice Cream Sandich. You can see the lock screen above, but if you head down south there are a ton more.

Ice Cream Sandwich is due out on October 12th at the Samsung/Google Unpacked event. Along with Ice Cream Sandwich, the Nexus Prime is also expected to be announced. Head on after the break:

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According to a report by Uncrunched this evening, Nuance has acquired Swype for more than $100 million. For those of you unfamiliar, Swype is a popular Android plugin that allows you to input text by simply swiping across the screen, and currently comes preloaded by many OEMs. Interestingly, Nuance has a similar product called T9 which predicts words as you type them.

Nuance already has T9, a predictive text application first developed in the 90s, and T9 competes directly with Swype. Oddly enough, the cofounder of Swype, Cliff Kushler, also founded T9. Check out this CNN article earlier this year on Kushler.

I have no idea how this acquisition affects the existing Nuance T9 product. I assume we’ll hear more about that in the future from Nuance.

So who will be getting incorporated into who?

The Youtube account that will be streaming the upcoming Samsung/Google event on October 12th has accidentally slipped with posting the stream already. The title confirms what we already pretty much knew: that Ice Cream Sandwich launches October 12th. Next up, Nexus Prime? (via TechCrunch)

Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sony is coming close to closing a deal with Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson to buy out their 50% stake of the Sony Ericsson brand. Sony Ericsson is currently the sixth largest mobile phone maker in the world, and Sony hopes to fully add them to their arsenal. As you can see in the graph after the break, Sony Ericsson’s market share has been declining rapidly in recent years.

While the talks could fall apart at any time, Sony Ericsson’s stake is estimated between $1.3 billion to $1.7 billion by analysts. Sony reportedly has high ambitions to regain the mobile phone market from primarily Apple and Google. For comparisons sake, Google acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, but of course the Sony situation is a little different.

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Following BGR’s exclusive this morning regarding the alleged Nexus Prime specs, GSM Arena is saying the specs are a little different than what was posted. Actually — they say this morning’s specs are “completely and utterly wrong.” GSM Arena believes the Nexus Prime will pack the following:

• 1.5GHz dual-core Exynos processor
• 8 megapixel camera with new improved sensor
• 1080p HD video reccording
• 2050 mAh battery rated for two days of moderate use without charging
• LTE with dual-mode CDMA/GSM radios

Now we’re not discounting BGR’s specs (seen after the break), because rumors are rumors. We’ll just have to wait for the upcoming event on October 12th to find out.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mF0j02SuFw&feature=channel_video_title]

At the Beats Audio event in London, HTC unveiled the Sensation XL this afternoon — a massive device packing Beats audio. The XL name is definitely not exaggerating, seeing as the device features a whopping 4.7-inch display (you really see how big it is after the break). The device also ships with Beats Audio embedded and urBeats headphones, like its Sensation XE brethren.

Full specs for the device include a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm processor, Android 2.3.5 w/ Sense 3.5, 16 GB of internal memory, a 4.7-inch display (800 x 480), 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and 1600 mAH battery.

The Sensation XL lands in Europe sometime in November.  Check out Engadget’s hands-on after the break:

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Google has posted the following on their homepage to commemorate the passing of Steve Jobs this evening.

More coverage on 9to5mac

For those of you who haven’t heard, Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs has passed away this evening at the age of 56. Google’s Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, and Sergey Brin have issued the following statements regarding Steve’s death:

I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve. He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me. He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well. My thoughts and Google’s are with his family and the whole Apple family.

T-Mobile has just begun sending out invites to the press, for their upcoming event October 12th — which has a HUGE focus on Android. The event will be T-Mobile’s official launch of the Samsung Galaxy S II and HTC Amaze 4G. You guessed it, 9to5google will in attendance.

Both of these Android devices are pretty decked out spec wise. The Amaze 4G features a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon processor, 4.3-inch qHD screen, Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread), 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1080P recording, 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and NFC technology.

On the other hand, the Galaxy S II packs a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon processor, 4.5-inch display, Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1080p recording, and 2-megapixel front-facing camera. Sound pretty identical, right? The Amaze 4G will be priced at $259 and the Galaxy S II at $229.

Check out both devices out after the break:

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During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Sony Ericsson’s CEO Bert Nordberg went on record saying he and Sony Ericsson, “should have taken the iPhone more seriously when it arrived in 2007.” He also said that the company will begin focusing more on Android, instead of feature phones. Interestingly, he dropped note that Sony was considering purchasing Motorola Mobility before Google, but said, “before you go shopping you have to become rich.”

Yep.

Also noteworthy, Sony Ericsson has no plans to go Windows Phone any time soon saying “why add an inferior platform?”

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Google has just begun rolling out a new Google Docs redesign, which features new menubars and a bigger focus on the content. Hasn’t it already been redesigned? Well — kinda, but this looks a ton better. Google highlights the changes:

• We made it clearer that your document is always saved, by showing “Saving…” right after you make a change and then “All changes saved” once it’s fully saved.

• We added an icon to the Share button so you can tell if your document is shared at a glance.

• If you’re looking for options that were previously under the Share button (e.g. “Email as attachment…”), you can now find these in the File menu.

• By default, the documents list automatically fits a comfortable number of documents on your screen (large desktop monitors show more, smaller laptop screens show fewer). We also added density options to give you more control:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXPeIeKYd8]

Google announced today a new pilot program called Trusted Stores. Trusted Stores will give shoppers a piece of mind when shopping online, telling them which stores ship on time, have good customer support, etc. Once awarded the Trusted Badge, credited stores can display it on their website (seen after the break).

If a company would like to participate they need to provide Google with information regarding shipping, and Google will also collect information from the store’s customers. Here’s a part we really like: if a customer decides to select free protection from Google, they will receive help from Google if a problem ever arises. Google will also offer a $1,000 lifetime protection package. Expect this to start popping up around the web a lot more.

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Google has just announced that they will be holding their Q3 earnings call on October 13th at 1:30 PST to go over financial results. We’ll be covering the whole thing, but if you’re interested you can listen to the audio here. Press release after the break:

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The fine folks over at Android Police have discovered that many HTC devices have a huge security hole due to a recent Android update. The results are pretty shocking, and HTC has no one to blame but themselves. In a recent update, HTC included a set of logging tools that logs users email accounts, last known network and GPS connection, phone numbers that have been recently dialed, encoded SMS data (probably can be decoded), and system logs.

Okay so HTC logs all of this, what’s the big deal? The big deal is that any app that requests android.permission.INTERNET can get their hands on this information. Phones include the Thunderbolt, Evo 4G, Evo 3D, and more.

As of now, the only way to patch this hole is to root your device and remove /system/app/HtcLoggers.apk. If you’re not rooted, stay away from sketchy apps. As Android Police points out, even a high-quality app could still get their hands on this information. Android Police has all of the technical details.

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Confirming previous reports, Conceivably Tech has uncovered a post that Google Chrome will soon be making its way into Android. A post on the Chromium Message Boards tells us that Android’s version of Chrome will have the same features as the desktop version — tabs, Skia 2D graphics library, and maybe a combined search and website bar?

Sadly, there’s no word on when this new browser will hit.  Now we’re not drawing any conclusions, but perhaps this will be announced at Google’s (and Samsung’s) event October 11th? For those of you who haven’t heard, Samsung and Google are rumored to announce the Nexus Prime and Ice Cream Sandwich. While this tour didn’t show it, let’s hope Chrome is bundled into ICS.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9tXDLyeoBE]

BGR has discovered a pretty big security flaw in AT&T’s version of the Galaxy S II, which hits shelves tomorrow. For users who have a unlock pattern or pin set, they can simply bypass it by waking up their screen to unlock and then let the screen timeout to go black. Then simply, the user can wake up the phone once again and they’ll no longer have to use a pattern or pin to access the phone. BGR shows how simple it is in the video above.

Samsung offers a temporary work around, while they work on a permanent solution, after the break:

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For those of you who manage a lot of sites, Google’s latest addition to Webmaster is sure to benefit you. Tonight, Google has announced a new Webmaster tool that allows you to see if you’re site is in good standing — to make sure there aren’t any issues. As you can see above it’s pretty simple. Here’s what Google checks for:

1. Have we detected malware on the site?
2. Have any important pages been removed via our URL removal tool?
3. Are any of your important pages blocked from crawling in robots.txt?

 

 

Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am has announced on Google+ that his music group will be hosting a backstage hangout, well, via Google+ Hangouts. The Hangout will take place tomorrow at 6 PM EST, before the BEP’s concert in Central Park. Will.i.am posted:

lets have fun at the backstage hangout…we even have a hangout onstage as well…
i want to re-define backstage interaction with fans who can not make the show…i think this will be the very first online backstage onstage web cam session…
“i like doing things 1st”

Yeah guys, Fergie will probably be there too.