Google

Kevin Fox, a former lead designer for Google Reader, has made an offer to Google on his blog. Kevin offers that he will sign a three month contract to come back to Google to help restore the Reader product after this week’s changes — which he isn’t a fan of by any means. In fact, most people aren’t happy with Google getting rid of old social features to implement Google+.

Kevin says that he will keep with the design changes that Google is making across all products, but will restore and enhance Google Reader to the product it should be. Here’s to the best Kevin.

Google’s Vincent Mo announced on his Google+ profile this evening that users can now +1 Google Plus Photos. The feature is available on the iPhone app and will make its way to the Android app soon. This is a highly requested feature that we’re very happy to see!

I’m super excited to announce one of the top requested features on Google+ Photos: You can now +1 a photo! Click on a photo to open the lightbox photo viewer, and you’ll see the +1 button at the bottom left side of the photo. Click to +1 the photo, or click the counter to see who else has +1’d it. Try it on the photo below! (Photo credit: +Thomas Hawk)

+1’ing a photo is also available in the latest Google+ iPhone app (http://goo.gl/gArY7) and is coming soon to the Android app and the mobile web site.

Thanks, and keep the feedback coming!

The new Android Market version 3.3.11 has begun being pushed to Android handsets. The new update adds a ton of welcomed features, and what seems to be the most welcomed feature is the auto-updating of apps over Wi-Fi — which rids away of having to go back into the Market every time a new update is pushed. 3.3.11 also allows you to select the app being downloaded to automatically set an icon on your homescreen. Other tweaks include voice search inside of the market and a new app drawer.

While you’re waiting for the update to be pushed to your device, you can go ahead and give it a try by downloading it here. We must worn you, though, that the manual install doesn’t work well on tablets and has a few bugs on handsets. Let us know in the comments down south if you’re seeing the update. (via Android Police)

Head on past the break for a full gallery:

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The Galaxy Nexus could launch the week after Black Friday if a timeline leaked by Droid Life stands to be true. Our first look at Ice Cream Sandwich will reportedly launch with Samsung’s Holiday Portfolio after Black Friday, which is the busiest shopping day of the year. Samsung’s Holiday Portfolio most likely includes the Galaxy S II and various other devices.

Verizon’s holiday lineup is sure to be packed with Samsung’s offerings and Motorola’s new Droid RAZR and Motorola’s portfolio. Oh yeah, there’s the iPhone 4S too!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2YcNm6eVGlg]

Google has posted the following video on their blog today showing off the new Street View feature inside of Google Maps that allows users to view local parks. Google has traveled across the world to add parks from 22 countries. You can check out the full list of parks here.

Do you see your local park on there?

It seems about every week that Google is testing out new features inside of Search. Today, Google Operating System discovered a small tweak inside of Search — that is pretty redundant. Google has put new specialized search options in a horizontal view under the search box. Previously it was a feature in the black bar and to the side.

As you can notice, quickly things are getting a bit redundant, but hey, that might be a good thing in this case. That’s three places you can now refine your search!

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Google announced on their blog last week that they’d be redesigning Google Reader, and today the redesign has hit the interwebs. The redesign takes shape like almost every other Google product in terms of color, shapes, and speed.

Google Reader now also features Google+  functionality built in, after turning off friending and following in Reader. Users will be able to +1 a post and then from there have the ability to share it with their Google+ friends. Check it out after the break.

The redesign will begin rolling out to users in the coming days, so hold tight if you’re not yet seeing it. For me, the new redesign is welcomed, because I thought the last one was just plain bleh. Having the new look around Google is giving the company a cutting edge feel.

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We got the highlights before but here’s the whole hour long interview.

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Important quotes below:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y7pE9UTTfy4]

GoogleTV updates should be happening any second now.  We’ve just got the following email from Google:
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YouTube announced on their blog yesterday that they plan on adding more well-known content creators to the video platform in the coming weeks. YouTube’s efforts are to make the website more like a TV network, bringing in well-known personalities from fields outside of the internet.

Today we’re announcing that even more talented creators and original entertainment will soon join YouTube’s existing channel lineup, including channels created by well-known personalities and content producers from the TV, film, music, news, and sports fields, as well as some of the most innovative up-and-coming media companies in the world and some of YouTube’s own existing partners. These channels will have something for everyone, whether you’re a mom, a comedy fan, a sports nut, a music lover or a pop-culture maven.

The channels YouTube hopes to provide will appeal to everyone, as they state above. YouTube says they’re doing this to “broaden their range of entertainment”. The new channels will be due out in the coming weeks.

Google’s Propeller app is reportedly launching in a couple weeks says AllThingsD. The new app will be available on both Android and iPad tablets, and will act like Flipboard providing content from many different sources. Publishers will be able to package their content in a web app to be presented on tablets in HTML 5.

Propeller will launch with a frenzy of publications and be integrated into Google+ — like Google is doing with most of their products. Launching before Propeller however is Yahoo’s Livestand which will also have similar content delivery functionality. But I think we all know which is going to be better, right?

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The key here is that these Chromebooks are easy to maintain and won’t put a burden on hospital staff.  If Microsoft wanted to give away computers, it would be quite a bit harder to train up staff.

Full press release follows:
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Up above here you have the graphic heading around the Internet today made by Michael DeGusta at the Understatement.com.  While some of it is unfair/sloppy –  He says the Nexus One was hanging back because it didn’t have Android 2.2 when it was announced, but that was a beta period before the final version was released – that’s like saying no iPhones had iOS 5 for 4 months back when iOS 5 was announced in June, Also the Samsung behold isn’t the most expensive Android phone offered ever on T-Mobile – the point is still valid

Overall it does serve to demonstrate the major problem with the Android ecosystem.  The motivations of the carriers and manufacturers are short term gains and keeping customers by locking them into proprietary overlays.  As DeGusta says:
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Motorola Mobility has announced their Q3 earnings this afternoon, reporting $3.3 billion in revenue up 11% from Q3 of 2010 and a net loss of $32 million, which is better than Q3 of 2010’s $56 million net loss. Motorola Mobility also announced that they sold 100,000 Xoom tablets and shipped 4.8 million smartphones in Q3.

In the press release, seen after the break, Motorola Mobility shed some more light on their on-going acquisition by Google. November 17th the company will hold a meeting with shareholders to gain approval, and also has current pending approvals from the US Department of Justice, European agencies, and other governments around the world. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2012.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kAop9GMiZ7s#at=28]

As part of Google’s ongoing effort to expand their Google Offers service and compete with daily deal aggregators like Groupon, the company announced today plans to expand the service with 14 new deal providers and deals tuned to your interests with a new personalization quiz.

Included in the list of new (mostly little known) providers–Dealfind, Gilt City, DoodleDeals, HomeRun, Juice in the City, GolfNow, kgbdeals, TIPPR, PopSugar Shop, Mampedia, ReachDeals, Plum District, Active.com, zozi, and Schwaggle. All of these services will now have their daily deals displayed through Google Offers as the company aims to provide offers in several new categories including outdoor adventure sports, educational classes, luxury experiences, and events geared towards families. According to TechCrunch, Google will also be handling the customer support for the new deal providers as well.

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Spotted by TechCrunch, music.google.com begins to confirm rumors of Google’s new Music store that will drop in a few weeks. The webpage loaded on an Android device drops a hint at purchasing music through the Android market. As you can see in the image above, the webpage says, “Get songs from your favorite artists in Android market, or hundreds of free tracks.”

Currently, Music Beta is only available on the Android Market to those in the beta. The beta currently only features uploading of songs and not actually purchasing them . Purchasing is a rumored feature that is rumored to come out in the next two weeks with Google Plus integration.

Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system meant for both smartphones and tablets, will support the previous-generation Nexus S smartphone in addition to the forthcoming Galaxy Nexus device manufactured by Samsung for Google, the search giant confirmed. However, owners of the original Nexus One smartphone, which had been manufactured by Taiwan’s HTC Corporation as Google’s showcase Android phone in January 2010, will be left out in the cold because that device is not powerful enough to run the latest Android software, The Telegraph reported today.

Google’s Hugo Barra told the paper that Ice Cream Sandwich will drop as a free software update for the existing Nexus S handset “within weeks”, shortly after the latest Galaxy Nexus device lands on store shelves in November. Realistically, there are some limits as to which software can perform well in a satisfactory manner on older devices. MG Siegler pointed out that the iPhone 3GS is seven months older than the Nexus One and yet it runs the iOS 5 software. However, it should be points out that Apple is routinely leaving out older-generation devices with its mobile operating system revisions.

iOS 5, the latest version Apple released for public consumption earlier this month, does not run at all on the original iPhone or iPhone 3G. Even though it does run on iOS 5, it should be noted that some high-end features are not supported on that handset because the hardware is just not up to the task. Apple also intentionally limits some software features to the latest hardware for marketing purposes. Search assistant Siri, for example, is an iPhone 4S exclusive.

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A user on the XDAdevelopers forum has posted a somewhat stable ROM for Ice Cream Sandwich running on the Nexus S. This build shouldn’t be mistaken as complete though, seeing as it does have a number of bugs.Problems with this ROM include 3G connectivity (for some), data, NFC, panorama mode, and camera will force close with the first boot. If you’re just dying to checkout Ice Cream Sandwich this ROM is for you but shouldn’t be used day-today. Get the full details here.

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Motorola announced via their official Twitter account that they will be updating all of their Android devices to Ice Cream Sandwich, six weeks after Google releases it to OEMs. Like any new Android update users worry about how quickly it will be available on their devices. Luckily, Motorola is being pretty proactive about this one, most likely because there wont be much customization — since MotoBlur is no longer. It is unclear how other OEMs will respond with the update.

It was recently rumored that the Droid Bionic would be updated to Ice Cream Sandwich in Q1 of January 2012. We’re certainly happy that Motorola gave us an official timeframe to ease the waiting. Now its Google’s turn to get the ball rolling.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BPeWJTuD7G8]

Canadians are getting a little bit of love today from Google as Google Map Maker for Canada officially goes live. The project has been available in the U.S. since earlier this year and elsewhere since 2008, but now Canadians too can add local geographic data to Google Maps.

By heading over to www.google.ca/mapmaker, you can now start adding points of interest (adding/naming buildings, restaurants, schools, etc.), rivers, trails and roads, or update existing landmarks to make them more accurate. Of course all of your edits will first have to be approved for accuracy by Google engineers before being displayed on Google Maps.

The tool isn’t too difficult to use. You can easily select a route for a bike path or newly constructed road, drop a familiar red pin to add a point of interest, or draw a shape to add a building or landmark. You’ll already notice a lot of edits and additions to the Canada map, as Canadian Google employees have been testing out the tool in preparation of today’s launch.

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As you probably know, they Steve Jobs book is now in public hands and there will be lots of coverage.  As is also known, Jobs wasn’t a huge fan of Android and Google in general, though he was known to council CEO Larry PAge and cofounder Sergey Brin on more than one occasion.  Here are some of Jobs’thoughts on building an iTunes client for Android like they did on Windows:

“We thought about whether we should do a music client for Android. We put iTunes on Windows in order to sell more iPods. But I don’t see an advantage of putting our own music app on Android, except to make Android users happy. And I don’t want to make Android users happy.”

He lumps Google in with the Axis of evil:

“IBM was essentially Microsoft at its worst. They were not a force for innovation; they were a force for evil. They were like ATT or Microsoft or Google is.”

And Jobs’ meeting with Eric Schmidt:

“We spent half the time talking about personal matters, then half the time on his perception that Google had stolen Apple’s user interface designs,” recalled Schmidt. When it came to the latter subject, Jobs did most of the talking. Google had ripped him off, he said in colorful language. “We’ve got you red-handed,” he told Schmidt. “I’m not interested in settling. I don’t want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won’t want it. I’ve got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that’s all I want.” They resolved nothing.

And then there was the thermonuclear War…

“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong,” Jobs said. “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.” Jobs used an expletive to describe Android and Google Docs, Google’s Internet-based word processing program.

He did have constructive criticism for Larry Page however:

We talked a lot about focus. And choosing people. How to know who to trust, and how to build a team of lieutenants he can count on. I described the blocking and tackling he would have to do to keep the company from getting flabby or being larded with B players. The main thing I stressed was focus. Figure out what Google wants to be when it grows up. It’s now all over the map. What are the five products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest, because they’re dragging you down. They’re turning you into Microsoft. They’re causing you to turn out products that are adequate but not great….

I suppose it is better to be hated by Jobs than dismissed (Microsoft).