google tv – DigitalOutbox

DigitalOutbox Episode 49
In this episode the team discuss Google IO.

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
0:47 – British Net Use Increases
– British web users are spending 65% more time online than three years ago, according to research of net habits.
– average surfer spends 22 hours and 15 minutes on the net each month
– Social networking gains, IM drops, e-mail rising
2:16 – Newzbin Gone
– owe the MPA £230,000 just in interim costs
– owe a software development house over £500k
– Newzbin closed May 19th
– The original site owners have confirmed that, based on source code fragments examined by them, and supplied by a third party, the site source code does appear to have been stolen and is in the hands of unknown parties.
5:36 – Google IO Day 1
– WebM Project
– http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/19/webm-google-h-264
– open, royalty-free codec that can run in HTML5 browsers without the need for Flash
– Google is donating a much better codec, called VP8, which it acquired with its purchase of On2 Techchnolgies. The WebM Project is a new container file format for Web video. It includes the VP8 video codec, the open Vorbis audio codec, file extensions and a new mime type.
– Any video player can adopt it, including Flash. And, in fact, Flash is one of the 40 launch technology partners supporting WebM.
– Chrome, Firefox, and Opera browsers will all support WebM, and Google will give it a big push by making YouTube videos support it as well. IE9 will support it too
– Google Wave Now Open
– Mmm, ok then
– Tech looking for a purpose?
– 1 million active users
– Can add to Google Apps for Domain
– Google Buzz API
– Now available and open to devs
– Tweetdeck, Seismic quick to support
– Will this save buzz or at least increase it’s usage?
– Chrome Web Store
– it’s a new store for finding and buying applications for use online
– Plants vs Zombies available for example
– HTML5 being pushed heavily
– Sports Illustrated demo HTML5 mag
– Chrome Web Store provides developers a window to over 70 million people, according to Google. It’s available in Chrome and Chrome OS and will be available in the Chrome Dev Center soon. For now, Chrome only.
– App’s will update automatically if bought via store
– Google Font Directory
– http://mashable.com/2010/05/19/google-font-api
– http://code.google.com/webfonts
– Google’s cross-browser solution is similar to what companies like Typekit and Fontdeck are doing, that is, providing users with a library of available fonts that they can easily embed into their sites.
– Google’s solution is unique in that it is comprised of open source fonts. Google’s Font API can be integrated into websites using either HTML or using a JavaScript WebFont Loader co-developed with Typekit.
– While Google’s font library isn’t as robust as some competing solutions, it is open source. In fact, the fonts in the library can even be downloaded and used in other ways including print.
22:17 – Google IO Day 2
– Android Stats
– http://mashable.com/2010/05/20/google-reveals-android-2-2-and-more-live
– More than 60 compatible devices.
– 21 OEMs, 48 countries, 59 carriers.
– Announcement: 100,000 daily activations of Android devices every day.
– Shot across the bow of Apple: Android is growing faster than every other smartphone maker except RIM, makers of the BlackBerry.
– Announcement: 50,000 applications in the Android marketplace.
– Froyo
– Better support for Microsoft Exchange, as well as new device admin APIs.
– Application data backup API.
– Cloud-to-Device messaging API. You can send a message to Google’s servers and can trigger an Android intent.
– If you send directions to your phone, it automatically opens up maps. No need to launch applications.
– Tethering and portable hotspot. We knew this would be coming, but it’s very cool. Demo’d iPad tethered to Android phone
– 2x-3x Javascript performance improvement. In addition, the V8 codec (announced yesterday) is coming to Android
– Google Maps tilts in the Android browser based on compass.
– Voice triggers: Saying “call” and a contact triggers the call.
– The microphone is in the browser. They’re showing it off in Google Translate, where “Can you help me find the nearest hospital,” is not only translated, but it’s repeated via voice to others
– Gundotra is railing againts Apple for not playing Flash, telling a story about how his daughter couldn’t go to her favorite website (Nickelodeon) on an iPad and asked for an Android phone.
– Android apps finally support installation on SD Card. If there is no space on your phone, it’ll automatically place the app onto your SD card.
– One-step updating of apps announced. Much easier to update.
– Marketplace is much improved
– Buy an app from marketplace – sent to your phone – no need to desktop sync
– Also allows buying of music – web competitor to iTunes?
– Android Froyo can bring your entire home music library to your phone as a stream. So yes, all of your iTunes songs can be streamed onto your Android phone, so long as you have an Internet connection. They’ve bought Simplify Media – wowsers.
– Android – It plays nicely with Flash and HTML 5. It does native and web apps. It makes devices run faster than the iPad. It streams music from iTunes or any other desktop music library. It does painless, wireless tethering. It makes transferring apps from the desktop to mobile completely automatic.
– 2-5x performance increase for Android users…demo showed it outperforming iPad
– Ads
– Google’s railing against Apple iAds for costing way too much. They don’t mention Apple during the entire keynote, but there are so many subtle blows that you can’t help but notice.
– AdSense for Mobile Apps — AFMA. Serving contextually relevant ads in the web browser. The ads can take you to the Android marketplace, to another website, etc. It works within applications or web apps.
– They’re showing off banner ads. And now a new format: expandable ads by tapping the ad.
– There is now a click-to-call option for Google mobile ads, starting today.
– Yet another: expandable ad with Google Maps and directions and click-to-call.
– HTC Evo
– .3-inch display, 1 GHz processor, 4G network, 8MP camera, HD video recording and has an integrated kickstand. Front facing camera too. Looks amazing.
– Everyone at Google IO got one.
– Watched the keynote – two hours of Apple attack 🙂
– Never again will someone tell me only Apple keynotes are smug. Google out Appled Apple on that front.
42:35 – Google TV
– Key elements of Google TV: “Less time finding, more time watching,” “Control and personalize what you watch,” “Make your TV content more interesting” and “more than just a TV”
– Google TV lets you search TV shows just like you would Google Search. It provides results from the web and from TV. You can tune in directly to your show.
– Google TV lets you search through the entire web.
– The demo is getting hurt by bad Wi-fi and connectivity. They’re trying to show off search and navigation.
– They searched for House — as in the FOX TV show. In search, it shows full episodes not only from TV (FOX, USA, Bravo, etc), but also from Fox.com, Hulu.com, and Amazon
– Transition from TV to web is seamless. No changing inputs, no different remote controls.
– With one button, you can flip right back to TV.
– Google TV allows for PIP mode (Picture in Picture), allowing you to browse the web while still watching the game. You can track what’s happening in the game (say via Yahoo Fantasy Sports) while watching it. It’s also easy to switch so that the web is the PIP.
– Google is showing how Google TV is superior as a photo viewer, game player, etc.
– Broadband connectivity, it’s “easy” to integrate with your Cable or Satellite Box, and it has a strong processor: enhanced GPU for graphics (even 3D).
– Google TV input devices include a keyboard and a pointing device. It combines keyboard, remote, and mouse.
– Phones can also be paired to Google TV devices over WiFi. He is using a Nexus One to “speak to his TV.” You can use Google Voice Search on your TV.
– Multiple phones can be paired with the same Google TV.
– You can push whatever website is on your phone onto your TV from your phone. Very cool.
– http://www.google.com/tv/developer/ – Designing websites for Google TV
– It runs on Android, it uses Google Chrome and it runs Flash 10.1.
– Google TV automatically syncs your Android apps to your TV.
– YouTube Leanback announced: It pushes YouTube videos to your TV from your friends, YouTube’s recommendations, your subscriptions and favorites, etc.
– YouTube Leanback is a web interface, not an application just within Google TV. It’ll be available in the next few weeks.
– Now they’re talking about Google Listen, a product for Android that is now in Google TV. It allows you to search and subscribe to audio podcasts and audio shows. Oh, and it allows you to watch podcasts too.
– You can search Google Listen & Watch via the quick search box.
– Google TV is open-source on Android and Chrome. Platform, not a single product
– Hardware partners – Sony, Logitech and Intel
– Fall 2010
– Early 2011 will have updates with Android market, Google TV SKD, and TV Web APIs. In summer 2011, it will open source Google TV.
– It’s everyone against Apple – people catching up and overtaking
– Apple’s arrogance starting to bite?
50:06 – Google Secure Search
– Not on .co.uk yet.
50:49 – Facebook Roundup
– Continuing ground swell of negative articles against Facbook and privacy.
– Wallstreet Journal highlighting that advertisers are able to gain user details (something that isn’t supposed to happen).
– Campaign for “Deactivate your Facebook account Day” on May 31st.
– Facebook announce they will once more look at their privacy and simplify.
– Facebook kiss and make up with Zynga. Deal to keep Zynga games (farmville et all) on Facebook not announced but safe to say that Faceook aren’t taking 30% of their sales.
57:51 – Spotify New Accounts
– A Spotify account that allows full PC access without adverts but not phone access
– £10 gives you mobile access as well
– Also added spotify open -free, no invite but limited to 20 hours per month
– Lots of competition in this space now, price drop is evidence of that. Is Spotify struggling to make money?
59:44 – HP future with WebOS
– To be added to printers, netbooks, phones, tablets
– Also indicating that the purchase was for IP
– $1.2b well spent???
1:01:55 – Mubi Comes to PS3
– From Autumn, UK PS3 users can download Mubi
– independent, international and classic cinema
– 300 films at launch, quickly growing to over 1000
– streaming – not downloading
– pay per view, rent for a week, all you can watch monthly subscription and also free movies

Picks
Ian
Springpad
– web, iphone, android – lets you save things you want to remember
– todo’s, recipies, movies, books
– tasks, list support
– can add friends, see what they are doing/adding/sharing
– slick iphone tool

Chris
Nike – Write the future

DigitalOutbox Episode 41
In this episode the team discuss Digital Economy Bill, IE9, CashGordon and the iPad cometh.

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
0:55 – Digital Economy Bill Rushed Through Lords
– What is this? Covers broadband, dig radio, spectrum etc
– Clause 17 – enable govt to change copyright law without parliamentary approval – now scrapped
– Ammedment 120a – Lib Dems – Gives high court ability to serve an injunction against web site or ISP to stop serving copyrighted material
– DMCA in America enables takedown of content – the UK amendment takes down the whole site!
– Now Lib Dems want to change it and govt also want to make their own changes to the amendment
– Next stop commons
– Being rushed through
– Labels already know that this won’t be debated in commons
– http://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2010/label-bosses-warn-debate-could-cost-the-disconnection
-[MPs] will have minimum input … from this point on. … John Whittingdate MP [DCMS committee] … has said this week it [the Bill] could be lost if enough MPs protest at not having the opportunity to scrutinise it. Whist true in constitutional terms, the hard politics of the situation makes it seem unlikely … Come the week of 29th March the main political focus is likely to be on the … Budget”
– This will allow all the decisions to be made in dirty last minute deals behind closed doors between the party whips in what they call “wash up”.
– This way, disconnection penalties could be agreed with no democratic scrutiny whatsoever.
– No debate.
– The memo, published by Cory Doctorow, shows BPI lobbyist Richard Mollett, who hopes to become a Labour MP at the next election, telling music bosses that if MPs do their job and debate the Bill, the BPI’s disconnection proposals may face defeat.
– E-petition – http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/dontdisconnectus/?
– Panorama this week – http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rl4dl/Panorama_Are_the_Net_Police_Coming_for_You/
6:19 – 02 condemns lawyers targeting alleged file sharers
– O2 condemned the attempts “by rights holders and their lawyers to bully or threaten our customers”.
– The row centres around UK law firm ACS:Law and its client DigiProtect, a anti-piracy firm which represents a series of content owners.
– The firm is in the process of contacting thousands of alleged UK pirates and offers them the chance to settle out of court for around £500 per infringement.
– 02’s broadband customers are among those sent letters. “Where we are legally obliged to provide information and the correct paperwork is presented, we will comply with the law,” said an O2 spokesman. “But we prefer the ‘win-win’ approach of encouraging the development of new business models that offer customers the content they want, how they want it, for a fair price,” he added.
– ACS: Law says it has so far identified around 60,000 different UK IP addresses, which reveal the identity of individual computers. Expects to get 400 actual physical addresses for every 1000
– Experts argue that an IP address cannot be used as evidence in court because it is not proof that the owner of the PC was actually responsible for the downloading.
– Hundreds of people have complained to consumer watchdog Which?, saying that they have been wrongly accused, including pensioners who claim they don’t know how to download content. It has caused distress to some of the accused, particularly as some of the content they are accused of downloading is hardcore pornography.
– Law firm declined to identify any of the clients represented by DigiProtect, beyond saying “there are a variety, some in music, some computer games and some in adult content movies”.
9:55 – CashGordon
– http://www.flickr.com/photos/meg/4453821027
– Tories launch a campaign – tweet with the tag ‘cashgordon’ and it will appear on our homepage
– Now, what could possibly go wrong…
– Flickr image tells the story…
– Now spinning that CashGordon was hacked by Labour stooges….in the Telegraph
– http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/willheaven/100030915/cashgordon-com-is-hacked-by-labour-stooges-the-online-election-gets-nasty/
– Wasn’t hacked, just poorly implemented as it didn’t block HTML or Javascript
14:29 – Windows Phone 7 Series
– Silverlight, XNA, Blend
– Developer tools available now
– Future looking really bright for MS with this updated platform
– But wait…….
– No copy and paste
– LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
– Suck it Windows fanboiz – http://blog.chrisgran.de/post/455131811/paul-thurrott-on-windows-phone-7-series
– Paul Thurrott on iPhone 1.0 on 2007 – And what’s up with the lack of cut/copy and paste? This is a basic OS feature that Apple included in the first Mac OS almost 25 years ago. It’s inexplicably missing from the iPhone, unavailable in any application or the wider system itself. Unreal.
– Windows Phone 7……There have been weird complaints this week, and you can almost feel the anti-Microsoft brigade chipping away at the patina of perfection that Microsoft has tried to erect around its new baby. The multitasking is limited. Users will only be able to get apps from the Marketplace, and not from third parties. Gasp! Is it true that there’s no copy and paste?
– No matter. Windows Phone combines those very few things that were right about Windows Mobile—primarily some business functionality—with a much wider set of new functionality that is exciting in both scope and possibility.
18:22 – IE9
– http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/news/ie9-may-actually-be-a-great-browser/
– Focus on performance and wait for it….HTML5
– Platform preview available today
– CSS3 features such as opacity, rounded corners, and selector APIs. SVG is now supported, something of a surprise given the company’s efforts to promote its Silverlight plug-in for rich graphics in the browser. It is not yet clear, however, whether the Canvas element is supported.
– Support for the audio and video tags is also promised, though it is not in the current preview. Microsoft showed H.264 720p video running directly in the browser.
– Same as chrome and safari – firefox video support of ogg theora only is looking like an isolated stance
– New javascript engine – better than Firefox, slightly behind other 2
– 6 times better than IE8
– IE9 also makes full use of hardware acceleration, speeding up HTML and graphics rendering, including that for the new SVG support.
– Throwing dev code, resource and testing behind JQuery
– MS supporting open source and open standards. Nice. Well played MS
– One more thing……
– No XP support
22:20 – Germans Running out of Browsers
– German government has issues warning that people shouldn’t be using Firefox…
– Browser security issue has come to light that Firefox are currently fixing.
– Following similar advice regarding IE, Germans are a little short of options for browsing!
24:05 – Opera Downloads Doubled
– Opera says their browser downloads have doubled since MS introduced the browser selection screen
– Not just Opera….
– http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62L1KE20100322
– IE down 1% in UK, Italy by 1.3% and France 2.5% in March compared to Feb
25:25 – Google TV
– Google, Intel and Sony working on Google TV
– Bring web to living room through set top box
– The partners envision technology that will make it as easy for TV users to navigate Web applications
– Google intends to open its TV platform, which is based on its Android operating system for smartphones, to software developers.
– The three companies have tapped Logitech, which specializes in remote controls and computer speakers, for peripheral devices, including a remote with a tiny keyboard.
– Imagine a version of google TV setup to auto download, unpack and move to the correct folder TV and Films
29:03 – iPad is coming
– Kindle for iPad…exept it’s Kindle Apps for Tablet Computers including the ipad
– Won’t be ready for April 3rd
– Will allow for browsing/buying books from Kindle store
– Supports read on one device, continue on another
– Bookmarks, notes, annotations
– Customise screen fonts, brightness, layout etc to suit your needs
– Barnes & Noble also coming to iPad, and many magazines too
– http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/first_looks_magazines_on_the_ipad.php
34:11 – Football Real Kick
– Plays football by blowing air out of the iPhone
– Hilarious!
35:28 – 17 Month Old baby using iPhone
– Even a 17 month old baby can use it

Picks
Ian
LastHistory
– visualizing last.fm listening history