9to5 Staff

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtELiwNmTSc]
Some people are claiming they’ve been participating in a design experiment by Google related to the look and feel of the search results page. Although we cannot tell whether the above clip is genuine, it sure strike us as the familiar Google search results. Looks quite nice and a bit easier on the eyes, too.
Notice how the links in the lefthand pane, which provide shortcuts to individual search silos, appear in gray rather than in multiple colors? By the way, where did the search button go? The “I’m feeling lucky” thing is also MIA.

via Search Engine Roundtable
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This is my next reports that Google will update Honeycomb to version 3.2 with support for tablets with seven-inch screens, in addition to Qualcomm processors and Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chip. They also heard that the software update will contain the obligatory bug fixes and better hardware acceleration plus updated widgets and apps such as Movie Studio, Movies and Music. Motorola’s Xoom will apparently get the update in the “next few weeks”. Three independent sources have confirmed these tidbits, telling the publication:

Android 3.2 will be the last Honeycomb point upgrade before Google opens up the Ice Cream Sandwich freezer, and it will indeed run on a “range” of screen sizes, meaning that proper 7-inch Android tablets are about to become a reality.

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Here comes a new leak from IT168 (via Phone Arena), the same Chinese forum which last week brought us a glimpse of Sony Ericsson’s first-ever dual-core smartphone allegedly dubbed the Xperia Play. The crisp image is downscaled and appears to be the official press shot for the product. You can tell from the shot that the handset has a custom interface layer running on top of Android.

No word yet on a processor except for dual-core whispers. An eight-megapixel camera with Sony’s Exmor R sensor and 1080p video capture is also mentioned. Frankly, we wouldn’t fathom anything less for a flagship device from Sony Ericsson in 2011. Take a look at another image showing the Xperia Duo and Arc side by side, included right below.

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Listen, the recession has obviously helped Google Apps hit the ground running, but the number of high-profile organizations adopting the Google-hosted suite of productivity web apps is growing at an alarming rate (if you’re Microsoft, that is). Lately, Google has won over the #1 hotel chain and today we learn that The McClatchy Company, the country’s third-largest newspaper publisher, has made the switch.

“Historically, each newspaper has operated independently with on-premise software and their own various business operation departments and specifically IT. To date, our technology has been both destandardized and decentralized”, says Terry Geiger, director of corporate IT with The McClatchy Company. Blame that on Microsoft’s technology, he says…

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After Google pulled life support on its free and open source browser extension called Gears, many road warriors were left scratching their head because by doing so Google had also killed the useful offline mode in Google Docs. The company relied on Gears to add features to web apps that were not possible in HTML at the time, like the ability for web apps to cache data and maintain operation without continuous network connectivity. Google has been promising to re-write the offline functionality in HTML5 ever since. While no announcement has been made yet, the Google Operating System blog spotted a black status bar in Google Docs labeled “Offline Docs” and links to switch manually between online and offline modes. This means that the search company is internally testing the feature and will probably make an announcement soon.

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Pictured above: Tim Hoeck’s TiVoRemote app for Android

It’s been known for a while that TiVo is working on mobile apps for Android devices and they’ve had a simple remote app for iPad since January of this year. The June issue of CEPro magazine sheds more light on the upcoming software, quoting Bard Williams, director of retail and channel marketing for TiVo:

It offers a beautiful, easy-to-use interface; complete control over management and program selection, a multi-touch remote that features gestures-based navigation, and the ability to manage and navigate Season Pass recording, your queue and info about cast, crew, similar shows – without interrupting your TV experience. When you’re not at home, the app still lets you interact with your Premiere for basic management and recording tasks.

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Huawei launched at Singapore’s CommunicAsia show a seven-inch tablet dubbed MediaPad that the company says is the first to utilize Android Honeycomb 3.2, which they claim is the same as Honeycomb 3.1 sans the added support for the seven-inch form factor. That doesn’t make sense to us and is probably just a marketing gimmick, but the device itself looks interesting.

They’ve got a 217 pixels-per-inch IPS capacitive touchscreen on that thing, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor from Qualcomm, forward-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls, a five-megapixel camera on the back, a six-hour battery, 802.11n wireless and HSPA+ 3G cellular support (both are included as there’s no WiFi-only version), a Bluetooth module, video output via HDMI and 8GB of internal storage plus a microSD card slot.

With profile measuring at 10.5 millimeter, the MediaPad ain’t the thinnest thing to lug around (for comparison, the Galaxy Tab is 8.6 millimeter). The device should hit US shores in the third quarter of this year. They promised more details later today so watch this space. Full press release and another press shot included below.
via Engadget

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Chinese-language forum IT68.com claims some knowledge pertaining to Sony Ericsson’s upcoming smartphone, said to be the company’s first-ever foray into the dual-core game. Relayed by Phone Arena, the word on the street is that Sony Ericsson will market the product under the Xperia Duo moniker, signifying the importance of a dual-core processor. If a blurry photo is anything to go by, the phone will sport ay least a  4.3-inch display with edge-to-edge design, which is also rumored to be one of the tricks of an upcoming fifth-generation iPhone. That’s about all the news the rumor mill spelled out about the Duo. We’ll keep you posted…

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Motorola’s Droid, the successful smartphone family which put Android on the map, this year enters its third-generation incarnation with the anticipated Droid 3. Surprisingly, Motorola Mobility chose to launch the handset in China under the Milestone 3 moniker, which is a non-US name for the Droid.

Per Motorola’s press release, the handset known as the XT883 will be carried by China Telecom, the country’s CDMA wireless operator. The Android 2.3 Gingerbread device runs on China Telecom’s Surfing 3G cellular network and WiFi networks and supports Android World Phone capabilities in more than 200 countries. The innards are quite beefy…

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Apple is applying more oomph to copycat claims against its key supplier Samsung. Just days after it wrote in court documents that Samsung was “harassing us”, Apple yesterday amended the filing with more intellectual property rights against more products – even re-phrasing accusations more strongly. The legal maneuver comes on the eve of today’s court hearing where the judge will decide about granting each party access to the other’s unreleased products. FOSS Patents spotted the updated complaint:

The original complaint specifically accused the following products of infringement: “the Samsung Captivate, Continuum, Vibrant, Galaxy S 4G, Epic 4G, Indulge, Mesmerize, Showcase, Fascinate, Nexus S, Gem, Transform, Intercept, and Acclaim smart phones and the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet.”

The amended complaint accuses all of the above plus the Droid Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S (i9000), Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Sidekick, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy S II (aka Galaxy S 2). It also specifies the accusation against “Showcase” products, naming the Showcase i500 and Showcase Galaxy S.

Per rephrased wording, Samsung “has been even bolder” than other companies by putting out “products that blatantly imitate the appearance of Apple’s products to capitalize on Apple’s success”. The company claims that the F700 released in 2007 was the first Samsung phone to “copy the clean flat clear surface of the Apple iPhone Trade Dress and the Apple iPhone/iPhone 3G/iPhone 4 Trade Dress”. Apple also points out that its products and brand have been featured in credible newspapers and magazines and even points out the #1 position it took in the BrandZ index. In Apple’s words, this is why iPhone is an iconic product:

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If you’re concerned about data people see when they google your name, you should check out a new section in your Dashboard, aptly named ‘Me on the Web’. It’s a one-stop shop for your online identity needs, Google says, stressing the section helps you “understand and manage what people see when they search for you on Google”. ‘Me on the Web’ features a useful at-a-glance overview of all the outbound links published on your Google profile, the stuff like your social profiles, YouTube and Flickr accounts and so on. There are also links to Google help files explaining how to manage your online identity and how to remove unwanted content.

More importantly, you can create custom search alerts for your own name to receive email notifications when your personal data is posted publicly. You can also set up additional alerts for your specific personal data, such as telephone number and address. In the example below, I’ve set up an alert for my author byline, allowing me to track in near-real-time when my posts go up or other people mention my name in references to my articles. You could have created those alerts before in Google Alerts, but now everything is in one place, which should appeal to non-techies.

Whether you just wanna stay in touch with your folks while on that Afghanistan mission, check your email after the lunch on a construction site or post statuses about the perks of working your tail off on an oil platform, Panasonic has you covered with this rugged tablet which has obviously taken clues from their brand of durable notebooks.

They sure call it the Toughbook for a reason: The rigid, strong device is designed to operate smoothly and reliably in extreme conditions. Featuring front and back cameras, the Toughbook has a 10.1-inch high-brightness display which is easily readable under direct sunlight thanks to a special matte coating. That’s not all…

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Sony is joining the streaming music craze with today’s release of Music Unlimited, a brand new Android app that lets you stream from Sony’s catalog of 7+ million songs, with monthly fees starting at just four bucks for the Basic streaming plan (a pricier Premium plan is also available). From release notes:

With the Basic plan, you can access personalized channels that adapt to your music tastes and your mood and enjoy the songs in your personal library that have been previously synched from your PC. The Premium plan offers all the features of the Basic Plan, plus full access to our entire catalogue and premium streaming channels.

The Music Unlimited service is also available via the PlayStation3, Internet-connected Sony television sets and Blu-ray players. What’s best, they let you sign up for the Premium plan with a free of charge 30-day trial period. So ho ahead, grab the free download from Android Market now. Bear in mind that the app is currently available only in the United States, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Also – good luck with that PlayStation Network streaming!

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Google’s Android Market, Amazon’s Appstore for Android and other lesser known outlets, specialized websites and carrier-specific app bazaars are all nice venues to discover software for your Android device, but they’re far from perfect – especially if you access them directly on your device.

Not surprisingly, Google and Microsoft wouldn’t drill through their index in order to create a dedicated search page for mobile warez so Yahoo! took it upon themselves to fill the void (after all, they don’t have a mobile platform of their own to protect). Today, Yahoo! unveiled new search tools that help seek apps for your Android device easier than ever before. The initiative consists of a dedicated search engine called Yahoo! App Search and a mobile app dubbed Yahoo! AppSpot which is so far available only for iOS devices (Android version is in the works)

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Not sure how this one went unnoticed, it’s a lovely tweak to Google’s mobile search page on iOS and Android devices. It is also noteworthy as Google rarely alters the look of its mobile landing page. Now, when you visit google.com from your mobile browser, you’ll notice four big icons sitting right below the search field: Restaurants, Coffee, Bars and More (which includes shops, ATMs, fast food and attractions).

Each icon takes you to a location-based listing with corresponding places, taking the pain out of finding the nearest place to eat or have a quick drink, wherever you happen to be. You can browse places in either list or map view, as well as check photos, reviews, business phone numbers and star ratings from credible sources such as Trip Advisor.

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You’ve probably heard by now that today marks a rare astronomical event, a 100-minute total lunar eclipse. It begins today at 11:20am Pacific time, but only folks from the right hemisphere will be able to enjoy it (South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia). Worry not, Google has partnered with Slooh Space Camera “to let you experience the spectacle wherever you are in the world, in real time”.

Googler Noel Gorelick, chief extraterrestrial observer and technical lead in special projects (you gotta love Googlers for their sense of humor) noted in a blog post that Slooh will host a live mission interface using Google App Engine right here.

Live event begins in an hour or so so don’t forget to visit the site, they’ll host audio narrations from real-life astronomers. Live stream? On Google’s official YouTube channel. You can also check out the Sky layer in Google Earth or enjoy the eclipse on the go using the free Slooh Space Camera app for Android.

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CNN Money reports that Google and SolarCity, a rooftop solar power company, partnered on a new initiative aimed at making solar energy affordable to the masses. The deal worth $280 million was announced yesterday. It’s the nation’s largest residential solar project to date that will enable SolarCity to lease solar power systems to some nine thousand homeowners in the ten states where it operates and Google will recoup its investments through those leases. The deal comes on top of the 15,000 SolarCity’s solar projects that are either completed or under way.

Customers who wish to have the company’s solar system installed at their home can pay for it outright, but most choose instead to let SolarCity retain ownership of the equipment and rent back the use of it through monthly solar lease payments.

Google is all out on the green front, with investments ranging from wind farms to eco-friendly datacenters.

This is my next reports HTC has changed its mind and will bring Android 2.3 Gingerbread to the Desire after all. HTC’s UK office posted on their Facebook page two hours ago:

Contrary to what we said earlier, we are going to bring Gingerbread to HTC Desire

Just a day ago, HTC argued via Facebook that the Desire wouldn’t be getting Gingerbread because they “can’t shovel Sense on it as well” due to constrained RAM. Interesting how they fixed that limitation just 24 hours later. HTC also announced last month it would unlock all of its phones’ bootloaders.

HTC London Meetup in April of 2011: You know, Apple fans aren’t the only ones lining up for product launches

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Pictured above: Samsung-built, Google-designed Nexus S, which is available in 4G via Sprint.

Boy Genius Report just provided some exclusive details about Google’s upcoming successor to the Nexus S smartphone, apparently dubbed the Nexus 4G. The device will run on fourth-generation networks based on Long-Term Evolution radio technology, it will have a native 720p display and will run a yet unreleased Android 4.0 version. And check out these juicy hardware specs:

We have been told that the Google Nexus 4G will feature a next-generation dual-core 1.2GHz or 1.5GHz CPU, and contrary to reports about it featuring an NVIDIA Kal-El processor, our source indicates it’s most likely an OMAP 4460 or a, ultra low-power 28nm Krait-based Snapdragon. The display is said to be a 720p HD “monster-sized” screen, and it won’t feature physical Android menu buttons below the screen anymore – everything will be software-based.

Other details include the following…

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQnZe_Iggx0&w=670&h=411]

Voice Search from mobile is now available on your desktop on google.com in English. From the official Google blog:

We first offered speech recognition on mobile search, but you should have that power no matter where you are. You should never have to stop and ask yourself, “Can I speak for this?”—it should be ubiquitous and intuitive. So we’ve added speech recognition into search on desktop for Chrome users. If you’re using Chrome, you’ll start to see a little microphone in every Google search box. Simply click the microphone, and you can speak your search.

And why does Voice Search matter? Well, it’s for showing off, that’s for sure, but you may find it useful for hard-to-spell searches or complex ones that you can speak aloud faster than type. After all, we first learn to talk before we learn how to type, right?

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Search by Image breaks down source image into little blocks matched against Google’s vast content database

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could simply ask Google to analyze an image and return relevant results? Recently, I’ve been discussing this with my beer friends and we came away wishing a feature like that sooner than later. Before any of us could have dreamed of, however, Google at a San Francisco presser this morning took search to the next level with a science-fiction like enhancement. They call it Search by Image and that’s exactly what it does.

You simply drag an image and drop it on the search box to get matching results, just as if you manually typed in your query. Tapping Google’s advanced image recognition back-end, Search by Image works – and this is the cool bit – with offline images that Google has never touched and doesn’t have in its index.

On-stage demos were pretty impressive. One example included dropping a scenery image on the browser’s window, which returned a list of locations Google thought accurately represented what’s on the photo. Similarly  dropping a  logo returns the name of the associated company. There’s more…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t99BfDnBZcI&w=670&h=411]

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