Continue reading »]]> Loopt, a mobile application, announced they are donating $1 for every check-in at Chipotle, Whole Foods or Panera Bread before the end of Sunday. The proceeds will go towards the relief efforts in Haiti and there’s no charge to the Loopt user either. Minutes later, I read that Gowalla, a competing app, will be launching a campaign called “Hearts for Haiti” on Monday, February 8th.

The Hearts for Haiti campaign will take place in the SF Bay Area at three specified locations — two Peet’s coffee shops and the Barenaked Ladies concert. When someone uses Gowalla to check-in at one of those locations during the event, $50 will be donated in to the Red Cross in that person’s name. Gowalla hopes to reach $20,000. In addition to Gowalla’s charitable efforts, the two Peet’s locations will also be donating 10% of sales towards Haiti efforts. Details on when to go where can be found over at the Gowalla Blog.

Okay, it’s great that these two rival apps are working towards a greater cause but… how do you check-in? What does it mean to check-in? Do you live in the dinosaur age and only use your cell phone for calls? It’s okay, because I live in that era as well. In fact, I don’t even do the text thing — I know I know, I get a lot of crap about it…

Well, Loopt and Gowalla are location-based mobile apps for the mobile user. Think of a “Super Twitter” (yes, I agree that Twitter is also very confusing) with an interactive map, sort of… Loopt and Gowalla allow you to share your location, status and photos with friends. These programs also allow you to share events and places with your friends. All this information is then provided conveniently on a detailed interactive map. There wasn’t much information on Gowalla, but Loopt describes itself as a “social compass.” I imagine it’s fairly useful when your friends are out and about and you are looking for something to do that night. Find out where your friends are and what they are doing through the app then, connect. Loopt even alerts you when a friend is nearby!

Anyway, when you “check-in,” you are basically sending an update to your friends. Does that make sense at all? If not, the Business Insider has a step by step slideshow of how Foursquare, a similar app, works. Sorry, this has been a very confusing post… Please comment if you can help explain things better!

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Continue reading »]]> As rumors and suspicions prove true, the Google Nexus One phone was announced today at the Android event. Already available sans service or with T-Mobile (but both seemingly unlocked), it will also soon be available for CDMA carriers (Verizon Wireless in the United States and Vodafone in Europe) in Spring 2010. AT&T users are able to use the unlocked Nexus One phone, but will not be able to use the radio feature trhough AT&T’s 3G network.

The Nexus One, closely designed in partnership with HTC, resembles an iPhone. Okay, maybe it looks a lot more like the DROID ERIS by HTC…

The Nexus One is 4.68″ (119mm) in height, 2.35″ (60mm) wide, no thicker than a No. 2 pencil (11.5mm) and weighs under 5 ounces (130 grams), or approximately 53 pennies. It features a high-resolution 3.7 inch 480×800 pixel AMOLED touchscreen. And it’s built with a second microphone for active noise cancellation, 3.5mm stereo headphone jack (eliminating the need for an adapter, as such with my LG), compass, Micro SD slot, light and proximity sensor, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and it’s Teflon coated (interesting). TechCrunch praises that this “is the best mobile phone display on the market today, blowing away the iPhone’s 480 x 320 display.” On top of being pretty, it’s also fast — the Nexus One, which runs the new Android 2.1 platform, is powered by a 1GHz snapdragon processor. This updated processor allows upped capabilities to handle 3D graphics and ability to run multiple applications simultaneously — less lag time and what not. Amped for more? Read more fancy tech spec stuff at Google.

Wait! There’s more cool stuff…

Google Maps Navigation, voice recognition, Facebook sync/widget, one-click YouTube upload, quick contacts, live wallpaper (there’s a wallpaper that pumps to your MP3s!), weather and a very cool new gallery app also come on the Nexus One. So that makes the phone… a weatherman, Rolodex, media library, GPS and social life manager all rolled into one, eh. And that wasn’t even a full list of everything the Nexus One has to offer! The new gallery app, a team-up with Cooliris, sounds will be awesome. Scroll and tip the phone to show a 3D layout of images? Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Then it syncs to Picasa! Awesome Bad ass! Get a taste for Cooliris by downloading their browser extension for FireFox or Chrome. I already use it and feel like I’m pulled into another dimension each time I search images through the 3D portal.

Mashable has a quick comparison chart if you want to make a more informed smartphone choice. But, I am psyched! Aren’t you? Verizon. Spring 2010. I’m ready.

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Continue reading »]]> How are you saying good-bye to 2009 tonight? Sleeping like any other day? Dinner with friends? Clubbing with strangers? Counting down with Dick Clark (or is it Ryan Seacrest now)? Here at SoftwareNewsDaily, we wanted to say farewell by reminiscing our top 10 technology news stories of 2009. When I say “our” top 10 stories, I suppose it’s really more “my” top 10 stories. That’s okay, I don’t mind dominating the office opinion; they’ll agree with me. Counting down to the number one story, here are “our” picks.

10. Obama stimulates IT
An avid techie, Obama creates stimulus packages to adopt various IT practices. Embrace change.

9. Bing
Cashback shopping, flashy and colorful interface for search – Powerhouses Microsoft and Yahoo team together to bring a new search. Bing ups the ante and brings a better competition to Google search.

8.Tablet computers and netbooks
My mom has one. Apple seems to be in the works towards creating one. They are the must-have accessory for the modern, swanky professional on the go, I’d say. They are just going to get more popular.

7. Windows 7 blows Windows Vista out of the water
Windows XP users finally have a reason to upgrade their systems.

6. iPhones are given a bit more competition with the Droid
I once heard a rumor that Verizon was originally approached to offer the iPhone. Were they waiting for the Droid all along? They’ve certainly put on a fierce campaign with the new Motorola phone. For weeks, I had thought it was an upcoming blockbuster film. Here’s one of the many commercials.

5. Bill Gates retires
Okay, so technically he stepped away from the reigns in 2008, but I honestly had no idea until just a couple of weeks ago. So it’s news to me in 2009! Ha, I know. I know.

4. Social media explosion
Although Twitter started back in 2006, more celebrities and other users jumped on board causing social media to explode and almost become a necessity in the workplace. Was this blog a result? Hm…

3. Google announces it’s own operating system: Chromium OS
I’m telling you! Google is going to dominate the world. It’s just a matter of time.

2. Switch to digital television
It was pushed back a bit, but it eventually happened this summer. I can’t decide if I like it or hate it. As someone without cable TV, it’s been easier to pick up better signals with the transition. But, as someone without cable TV and DVR, I can’t really utilize my VCR to record missed shows anymore. I suppose that’s why there’s Hulu…

1. The Birth of SoftwareNewsDaily.com
This article would not exist otherwise. This has to be the most important tech news of the year! Muwahahaha.

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Continue reading »]]> Did you get your invite for the Android press event from Google?

That’s okay, neither did we. But the announcement of this January 5th event is dominating tech sites right now. Everyone is expecting Google to present the highly anticipated Nexus One phone. According to the Boy Genius, this Android platform phone will be “sold directly and only by Google,” under T-Mobile service.

Apple announced the iPhone just before the Consumer Electronics Show two years ago. Apple stock rose over 7 percent that day while competitors sunk a give-or-take 6 percent. CES starts January 7th in Vegas. Could Google be attempting the same strategy?

Coincidentally, my friend Brooke suggested just yesterday that we invest in Google stock. It’s been soaring over the course of this year — not a bad choice. Unfortunately, my economic status ranks too incredibly low to even fathom the thought of buying a stock priced at over 600 points. Probably an awesome year for those who bought GOOG early on though, eh?

Itching for more details? See Boy Genius Report, Wired or All Things Digital for more extensive reports on the Android press gathering.

What do SND readers think? Will Nexus One be the one? Will the amp and rage of Motorola’s Droid be given a run for its money (haha, money, get it? money – stock?) come next week, this time?

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Continue reading »]]> Late last night, Google posted a new blog entry announcing their plans to develop a Google Chrome Operating System. A natural progression following their successful Chrome Browser, the Google Chrome OS will be their attempt to re-invent what an operating system should be. Their aim is to create a lightweight, open source OS that is designed around the web.

Just like the Chrome Browser, the Chrome OS will be focused on simplicity and speed. Google wants you to be able to start up your computer and be on the web in mere seconds. They want to re-structure the underlying architecture of the OS and go back to basics. Their goal is to keep the OS out of your way and to have it just work like it should. It will be safe from viruses and will perform updates automatically. They also want your data to live in the cloud, where it will be accessible from anywhere, no matter what happens to your computer.

Initially, Google’s focus will be on the netbook market. They have been quietly talking with manufacturers for the past few months to strike up OEM deals, and they already have netbook manufacturers on board. A completely different project from Android, which was designed for phones and mobile devices, the Chrome OS is being built for everything from netbooks to powerful desktops. Because it will be open source, this could dramatically lower the cost of buying a new computer.

Should Microsoft be worried about the Chrome OS gunning for Windows? Definitely. While it will take years for Chrome to gain any kind of major foothold in the OS arena, consumers definitely want more from their computers and are eager to try something new. Just look at all the hype surrounding the upcoming Windows 7 release. Vista was completely underwhelming, and it’s lukewarm reception left a huge hole in the OS market. Both Apple and Microsoft are releasing new operating systems this year, but neither one will deliver anything revolutionary. They are both just incremental improvements over prior versions. Google Chrome OS has a good chance of shaking things up and will generate plenty of buzz. Microsoft hasn’t ever really faced a serious threat to Windows. If anyone can change that, it’s Google.

Microsoft recently launched Bing, which was directly aimed at taking market share from Google search. It is only fitting that Google would immediately take a shot at the core of Microsoft’s business, Windows. I have a feeling these two companies will be battling on all fronts well into the next decade. As consumers, competition like this can only be beneficial, with new technology innovations and lower prices.

This announcement from Google was just a teaser of what is to come. They don’t expect to start shipping the Chrome OS on netbooks until the second half of 2010, but the open source code will be available well before then. This will give software developers lots of time to create new apps for the Chrome OS. Google’s goal is to have its applications based in the web, using the latest web technologies. This is the future of computing, and Google will be on the forefront.

For more details, check out the Official Google Blog. Stay tuned for more on the Google Chrome OS this fall.

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