Posts from April 2006

Google is a bit upset to find it is not the default search engine in Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 browser and is starting to talk antitrust. Safari, Firefox, Camino, and Opera all have Google built-in as default and sometimes the only search option. "The market favors open choice for search, and companies should compete for users based on the quality of their search services," said Marissa Mayer, the vice president for search products at Google. "We don't think it's right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN. We believe users should choose." Want to change your default search...

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Nokia plans to release a podcast client for its latest smartphone lineup in early July. The application takes advantage of 3G cellular data networks and/or nearby WiFi hotspots to deliver new audio content to your phone right after it's published. Users can search for podcasts but it's not clear who is providing the directory and search content for Nokia. Tags: nokiaseries60...

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One of my favorite scenes in Lawrence of Arabia is "Chaos in Damascus." The Arabs have just captured Damascus from the Turks and various civil tasks are divided between multiple tribes. Damascus in the hands of Turks was a pie-in-the-sky dream they never thought was possible, yet they are now all in the great hall trying to organize. There is infighting among the tribes, civil tasks break down, and tribal leaders point fingers blaming other tribes or things they do not understand. The telephones do not work because they have no electricity. There is no electricity because no one will...

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Ben Goodger just blogged about feed discovery in Firefox 2.0. He was able to use the same feed sniffing techniques as Internet Explorer 7, making the feed world a bit simpler for both users and publishers. Tags: firefoxie7...

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According to The Wall Street Journal eBay is talking to Microsoft and Yahoo! about partnerships that could help the auction giant better compete against Google and its expanding offerings. EBay is a large advertising spender but sees Google's moves into e-commerce as a threat to its main businesses in auctions, PayPal, and Skype. Should eBay and other companies be afraid of Google as the search company expands to new areas? Is it fair to eBay sellers to exclude a large referral source such as Google? I think eBay is just asserting itself in the marketplace and shopping around for some...

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Popular social networking site Facebook is moving beyond schools and into the workplace. A new version of the site went live this morning allowing new registrations on corporate e-mail addresses. I was able to signup using my Microsoft address and completed my profile. Basic profile information still seems geared towards college students and dating. Members can self-select what they would like to find on the network including friendship, dating, a relationship, random play, or "whatever I can get." My Microsoft social network on the site is currently filled with recent graduates who most likely had a profile before entering the...

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Sony updated its system software for the PlayStation Portable last night. System update 2.7 includes support for Flash content inside the browser, AAC audio playback, and channel-level RSS settings. AAC support means the PSP might soon support QuickTime chapters, allowing podcasters to add images and descriptive text to individual segments. Flash 6 limits the functionality of new multimedia features such as streaming audio and video but it should work fine within websites using Flash for navigation. Tags: pspsonypsp...

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The next SF Tech Sessions event will take place this Thursday, April 27, from 7-9 p.m. in San Francisco. I selected a group of presenters covering online personal communication in various forms including text messaging, audio/video, and entire virtual worlds. Read more details and RSVP for this free event on the SF Tech Sessions blog. Participants will have a chance to chat with other local techies and hear 15-minute presentations from Meebo, Userplane, and Linden Lab. Each company has taken a unique approach to online messaging and you should come away with new ideas and perspectives on the technology industry....

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Fortune magazine mentioned an upcoming product from Microsoft named Live Drive in its story on Ray Ozzie this week. It's compared to Google's ambitions in online storage and other large Internet companies are starting to think of different ways to search more content online. I think Google's potential offering (GDrive) is totally different from what a company such as Yahoo, Microsoft, or even Apple might offer in terms of online storage because these large companies sell and help users create large media files. I'll use Microsoft and its Live products, both announced and speculated, as an example but similar ideas...

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I've read some chatter lately about free WiFi offerings by Yahoo! and others tied to a specific application. Connecting a product to an established network of connection points makes a lot of sense for companies with established branding power, and I think there will be many new partnerships to help users of specific applications stay connected on the road. While there is a lot of talk about companies building their own WiFi networks for specific purposes I think we will instead see partnerships with existing restricted access networks with some advertising and branding swap to offset costs. Yahoo! Messenger On-the-Road...

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