Google Gears - Offline Functionality for Web Apps

Web applications bring your data online and make it available anywhere there's an Internet connection. But happens when you're on a plane or when you can't find a WiFi hotspot?

Google launched an open source browser extension for IE and Firefox called Google Gears that enables web applications to be available offline.

"Gears is an incremental improvement to the web as it is today. It adds just enough to AJAX to make current web applications work offline. Gears today covers what we think is the minimal set of primitives required for offline apps. It is still a bit rough and in need of polish, but we are releasing it early because we think the best way to make Gears really useful is to evolve it into an open standard. We are releasing Gears as an open source project and we are working with Adobe, Mozilla and Opera and other industry partners to make sure that Gears is the right solution for everyone," explains Google.

Once you install the extension, every Gears-enabled web application will ask your permission before storing data offline.


Depending on the functionality implemented in the application, Google Gears caches resource files so they're available offline, stores data in a SQLite database that has powerful search features and synchronizes data in the background.

Google Gears will enable you to read the most recent messages from Gmail while offline or to edit your documents in Google Docs even without a network connection.

Google Reader is the first Google application powered by Gears. To enter the offline mode, just click on the small arrow and all the recent feed items are downloaded to your computer. You can disconnect from the Internet or click on "work offline" in your browser and you will still be able to read your favorite feeds in Google Reader. Like in any feed reader installed on your computer. Well, almost, because Google Reader doesn't download images or other multimedia files embedded in the posts.




You can even close Google Reader's tab and try to load the site again: it will instantly show the cached data. Try to add tags to a post or star it; once you go back online, Google Reader will synchronize the data.


P.S.: Another nice update in Google Reader is that you can see the exact number of unread posts for each feed. Google Reader learned to count beyond 100.

Found on http://googlesystem.blogspot.com

Linux Embraces Mac-Like Dock

Linux only: Free open-source app Awn is an application dock for Linux.

Awn allows you to setup custom launchers exactly the same way it's done on the Mac OS X Dock. Additionally, Awn supports the drag and drop method of adding launchers, and it even tracks your open windows. The homepage describes the features of Awn very concisely:

Clicking an icon switches to that window, clicking again will minimize the window. Right-clicking will bring up a menu exactly like that of what you see on the window-list, allowing you to maximize, minimize, close, and resize the window. Dragging something on top of an icon will activate that window. Visually (and quite attractively) responds to 'needs attention' & 'urgent' events. Can show windows from the entire viewport, or just the visible viewport.

Ubuntu users should closely follow the installation instructions on the Awn homepage. Users of other Linux distros can find specific instructions on the homepage, also. Awn is a free download for Linux and requires Affinity.

Adding Awn to the Ubuntu Feisty Repositories [Awn.Wetpaint] Found on LifeHacker

Google Gears: Take Your Online Apps Offline

The only problem with Google’s web applications, is that you need to be ONLINE to use them. Google Gears hopes to fix that. Gears is a browser extension using Java, that enables web applications to provide offline functionality. So, now you can load up your favorite enabled Google applications (Think Writely, or Feed Catcher) when you DON’T have an internet connection.

The Google Gears Beta is currently available for Windows XP, Vista, Mac and Linux.

More Information
Google Gears (BETA) is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality using following JavaScript APIs:

	Store and serve application resources locally
	Store data locally in a fully-searchable relational database
	Run asynchronous Javascript to improve application responsiveness

Get the BETA version here!

What to Expect from Dell's Ubuntu Machines (Hint: It's Fantastic for Linux Users Who Don't Buy Dell)

Now that Dell's on the verge of shipping Ubuntu-installed computers, potential Linux converters could have some questions as to what they're getting when they buy the package. Dell's got some answers.

First off, Dell's going to be shipping the default install of Ubuntu. However, when it comes to drivers, they're going to be supporting a subset of other OS installations, and using some closed source drivers when it's necessary—as in, when there's no equivalent open source version. For you, this means better compatibility.

However, the fact that Dell is entering this Linux game means they're going to push people hard to make drivers compatible and/or open source. Fantastic for Linux users.

As for peripherals, Dell is going to set up a wiki page so you can see which ones are supported and what problems they have. This includes printers, which they recommend you buy from Dell (shocker).

For other hardware, Dell is working on adding support in conjunction with other manufacturers, which means it's actually great news for Linux fans since a big manufacturer like Dell will lean hard on peripheral makers to provide Linux compatibility.

The bad news is they're not going to support any "proprietary audio or video codecs" like MPEG 1/2/3/4, WMA, WMV, DVD, Quicktime and others. If you want those, you're going to have to install them yourself. – Jason Chen

Ubuntu 7.04 Offering--Technical Details [Direct2Dell]

Found on Gizmodo

Penguins at home

I found the below article on Akihabara News.com

A Matsushita Electric brand called "National" came up with a new system to control the electrical and power consumption at home. You'll tell me that this is nothing new and you have your very own with a 1 inch 2 colors screen but this is Japan, it HAD to be different !!

As a result you'll be helped by penguins, they'll tell you if it's ok or if you're a naughty power consumer using famous "mangas attitudes" that are really part of the Japanese culture and tradition.



The Lifinity ECO can also be used as an alarm. Just make sure your kids don't think it's a new GameBoy because it costs 350.000Yen (2.000€ or 2.700$). Available in October.

Google’s Gmail integrates Office Powerpoint viewer

Yet another reason to make the move to Gmail as your primary email service, Google quietly released the option to view attached Powerpoint slides using a Google Flash tool. Since making the move to Gmail and deciding to drop Microsoft Office, Google & Gmail have definitely helped make life without Office much easier - contacts / clients still prefer to send Office documents (there’s just no way around it).

Now that attached Powerpoint slides can be viewed from [select] Gmail accounts, when will we see Google Docs updated to support the file format?

found on uneasy silence - well said.

Facebook offers free classifieds

Social networking service Facebook adds a new Marketplace area where members can post free classified ads. Marketplace works a lot like Craigslist, except you get to see how you know the guy who's selling his old projector. The Times reports:

On Facebook, buyers will be able to see how they are connected to the seller -- the series of links between the friends they share. "There are no anonymous listings, and we give you a very clear path to see how you can trust the other person you are conducting business with," (Facebook founder) Mr. Zuckerberg said.

You can list job and housing opportunities, stuff wanted and items for sale in Facebook Marketplace. —Gina Trapani on Life Hacker

Macbooks Just Got Even Better...

I'm happy to be bringing good news in this post, for it is M.O Photo's 200th Post.
Okay, stop applauding and cheering, let's get down to business.

Apple has done something I've been hoping they would for a while now; Apple updated its MacBook consumer notebooks with faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 1GB of memory and larger hard drives in every model. Apple Insider's description of the Macbook and what it now has to offer is simply perfect and so I'm sharing it with you here.

The new line of MacBooks remain just one-inch thin and feature built-in 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g. Every MacBook also includes a built-in iSight video camera for on-the-go video conferencing, Apple's MagSafe Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain, and iLife '06, Apple's award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications.

"The MacBook is a huge hit with customers, and is one of the reasons that Mac sales are growing three times faster than PC sales," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "The new MacBook is faster, has even more memory and storage, and is an ideal notebook for customers' growing library of digital music, photos and movies."

Featuring a 13-inch glossy widescreen display, the one-inch thin MacBook comes in three models: white 2.0 GHz and 2.16 GHz MacBook models, and a black 2.16 GHz MacBook model. The MacBook includes a built-in iSight video camera for video chatting on-the-go with friends or family using iChat AV, recording a video podcast or iMovie using iLife '06, or taking fun snapshots with Photo Booth. Designed for the mobile lifestyle, the MacBook includes Apple's MagSafe Power Adapter that magnetically connects the power cord to the MacBook and safely disconnects when under strain, and the latest generation of 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g.

The MacBook comes with iLife '06, the next generation of Apple's award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications featuring iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand and iWeb. The MacBook also comes with the latest release of the world's most advanced operating system, Mac OS X version 10.4.9 Tiger, including Safari, Mail, iCal, iChat AV, Front Row and Photo Booth.

But wait, there's more good news...for Europeans, that is. Europeans will enjoy a nice price cut and the new Macbooks may also have better LCD's. Apple insider says...

Italians who received news of the spring 2007 MacBook update directly from Apple may have also been tipped off as to a change in the 13.3-inch displays used for the systems.

In its announcement, Apple Italy listed a 250cd/m2 brightness figure for the top 2.16GHz black model. The company has previously refrained from mentioning the display's specifications in the past, suggesting that the brightness was a selling point for at least the top system.

Europe as a whole also saw the price of the systems drop despite the change, with each system dipping 70 Euros to 1,049, 1,249, and 1,449 Euros respectively.

Pricing & Availability

The new MacBook is available immediately through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,099 (US), includes:

13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display;

2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor;

667 MHz front-side bus;

1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;

80GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;

a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive;

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950;

Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);

built-in iSight video camera;

Gigabit Ethernet port;

built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;

two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port;

one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;

Scrolling TrackPad;

the infrared Apple Remote; and

60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.16 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US), includes:

13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display;

2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor;

667 MHz front-side bus;

1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;

120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;

a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD +/- RW/CD-RW) optical drive;

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950;

Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);

built-in iSight video camera;

Gigabit Ethernet port;

built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;

two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port;

one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;

Scrolling TrackPad;

the infrared Apple Remote; and

60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.16 GHz, 13-inch black MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:

13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display;

2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor;

667 MHz front-side bus;

1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB;

160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;

a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD +/- RW/CD-RW) optical drive;

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950;

Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);

built-in iSight video camera;

Gigabit Ethernet port;

built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;

two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port;

one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;

Scrolling TrackPad;

the infrared Apple Remote; and

60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Additional build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to 120GB or 160GB (5400 rpm) or a 200GB (4200 rpm) hard drive, up to 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, Apple USB Modem, Apple Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, Apple Mini-DVI to VGA adapter, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Additional build-to-order options also include pre-installed copies of iWork '06, Logic Express 7, Final Cut Express HD 3.5 and Aperture 1.5.

[Apple Insider]

Yahoo's Web Messenger

In March, Google introduced an online version of Google Talk that extends the limited features previously available in Gmail. Yahoo didn't want to give yet another competitive advantage to Google, so they integrated the IM into Yahoo Mail and now offer a standalone version of Yahoo Messenger for the web.


Like Google Talk gadget, it's built in Flash, each conversation opens in a new tab inside the same window, you can find a contact and see his status. Yahoo's web messenger saves all your conversations and makes the history searchable from the same interface. Google Talk saves your conversations from any client, but the history is only available in Gmail.

While Google Talk's gadget is compact and can live inside your personalized homepage, in a new window or in your browser's sidebar, the new Yahoo Messenger for the web adopts the Meebo style of occupying and entire page. If you don't trust third-party clients like Meebo and most of your friends use Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live Messenger, the new interface can be useful when the desktop client is not installed or is blocked.

found on http://googlesystem.blogspot.com

Dell Goes Ubuntu

It seems that the wildly popular linux variant will sign a deal to get distributed and supported on Dell PC’s.

Ubuntu senior support engineer Fabian Rodriguez wrote, “Many people have been involved in this and I can only say I am excited to be a tiny small part of it: Ubuntu will be officially supported on Dell computers. Any other details will come on www.ubuntu.com, check it for the official press release

Although nothing has been formally announced, this deal seems finalized. Finally, this will allow you to buy a PC and run the operating system of your choice (with a little hackery you can use the MacOS too) without paying the dreaded “Windows Tax”.

found on Uneasy Silence

This is BIG news for the Linux community!

Joost

Joost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping.

What's Joost?

Joost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping.

Inside the box

You get great internet features too, such as search, chat and instant messaging, built right into the program - so you find shows quickly and talk to your friends while you watch. And with no schedules to worry about, you can watch whatever you want, whenever you like - as often as you want. Joost is completely free, and works with most modern PCs and Intel Mac-based computers with a broadband connection. Get Joost today!

Free TV

Now showing at Joost: hundreds of full-screen shows from your favourite channels.

Exciting extras

Chat, instant messaging, search and more - baked right into the TV experience.

Complete control

With Joost, you're in charge. No more schedules - watch what you want, as often as you like.

Coming soon...

Write your own add-ons, watch yet more great content. Come back regularly for updates.

Screenshots:

For more screenshots click here to see it on the Joost website.

iGoogle Gadget Maker

As reported by Google Blogoscoped, Google Personalized Homepage will be rebranded as iGoogle and will let you build your own gadgets using wizards. The gadgets are very simple and are more like containers for things that matter to you: photos, videos, events.

"Once the gadget is created, you can invite other people to view & use the gadget, and make it publicly available for other people to view & use it." So whatever you choose to add to a gadget will be visible to the people you invited.

The wizards let you enter the settings for seven new gadget templates:

1. Photo album - add up to 7 photos that can be rotated.

2. GoogleGram - enter seven greeting messages.

3. Daily Me - type what you are doing.

4. Countdown - count the days until a special event.

5. Simple list - you can use it as a ToDo list, shopping list.

6. YouTube videos - up to 10 videos.

7. Freeform gadget - add an image and some text.

The gadgets are a way of staying in touch with your friends: if one of your Gmail contacts creates gadgets you'll be able to see them in a new section of iGoogle called "My Community".

found on http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/

Fresh News Become Standard Search Results

As promised last week, Google's web search results integrate results from Google News. The standard news OneBox that was displayed at the top of the page for queries related to recent news was replaced with a list of links to news articles, displayed anywhere in the top results.

The important news will rank higher than less important ones and they become a standard search result. This is the first step in Google's big plan of integrating every type of content in one index: an universal search engine that mixes web pages, images, videos, books, scholar papers, news articles and more.

It will still take some time until the change propagates to all Google's data centers, so you may not see results from Google News displayed as standard results (try to search for news-related queries like Bush, Iraq).

Creative Commons-licensed by rustybrick. More screenshots.

found on googlesystem.blogspot.com

HP Shows Off Some Sexy Ideas for the Future

Hewlett Packard, more commonly known as HP, is going on tour. The HP Mobile Innovation Tour will show off HP's radical ideas for personal electronics in the future, the near future that is, because HP plans to make these awe-inspiring new toys available as of 2012. In the tour's latest stop in Mumbai, India, HP looks ahead to 2012, where all devices will be able to communicate with each other. Cool? Hell, I think so.

Some of the highlights of the broad range of upcoming products include a flexible display, a smart shelf, a media hub in the form of a watch, a digital wallet and an odd looking notebook. I'll provide the link at the bottom of the post, but first here are some eye catchers.

Try Google's Next Design Before It Goes Live

Google's latest design test for the search results pages and homepage is clever and has big chances of replacing the current one. The big change is that Google adds a navigation menu for its services placed at the top of the page. The list of services includes Gmail, Calendar, Google Docs (the last two are hidden under "more"). If you click on one of the navigation link, you'll go to the homepage of that service, strange as that may seem for search-related services. Under the search box, you'll see links to other specialized search engines that provide useful results for that search. For "Bush", there are many services listed, including news, news archives and blog search, but for most queries you'll see few services listed (for "Google", you'll see only news search; for "flowers", image search; for "c++", code search, blog search and groups).


Courtesy of Webbsnack, here's how you can test this new design.

Copy this code:

javascript:document.cookie= "PREF=ID=fddb01133a87d314:LD=en:CR=2:TM=1177334998:LM=1177334998:GM=1:S=OOg0FEVzpPplxe9J; path=/; domain=.google.com";void(0);

go to google.com/ncr, paste it in the address bar, press enter, then search for something clever. I absolutely love the new design, but if you don't like it, clear your Google cookie and it'll go away.


Small observation: the number of results should be at the top of the page. I sometimes search for things on Google just to see the number of results (this is my primitive grammar checker).

found on http://googlesystem.blogspot.com

iPhone's Technical Difficulties

Whispers on the street have it that Apple has run into some issues with the iPhone's OS, preventing a solid supply of the much-ballyhooed phone to hit stores in time for the launch. A source from the manufacturer has this to say on the situation: "It does not look feasible that Apple will be able to ship units out in May to make the shipping date in the US (June), so expect units to trickle by end of June or early July."

Apparently, Apple has sent 50 engineers to Taipei to work around the clock to get the bugs worked out so the iPhone can ship on time. That's a lot of engineers. The source claims that such a shift in manpower is part of the reason Leopard was delayed. We're not sure how likely it is that Apple would send that many people halfway around the world, but anything is possible. Take it with a grain of salt.

Is it just me, or is the iPhone sharing more traits with the much-maligned Playstation 3 than anyone cares to admit? Let's see: The pricing is exactly the same ($500 and $600 models), there are manufacturing delays that are going to make for a very unpleasant launch, and both products are banking on the popularity of their predecessors to become huge sellers. Add to that a touchscreen without tactile feedback that might not be what people are expecting and this might not be the home run that Apple (and everyone else) is anticipating.

These are, of course, just rumors, and it's entirely possible that the iPhone will roll out as smooth as honey in mid-June, with thousands upon thousands of people lining up to toss more money at Apple. In any case, it should be interesting. –Adam Frucci

The above article was found on Gizmodo.

Google Spreadsheets Adds Charts

Google Spreadsheets finally added charts. This feature has been developed for many months and was one of the biggest lacks from Google's spreadsheet application.

You can create more types of charts: columns, bars, lines, pie, scatter, add labels and a legend. Just select the columns you want to plot and click on the new chart icon. After inserting the chart in the spreadsheet, you can save it as a PNG image or edit it.

The charts are rendered as SVG in Firefox/Opera and VML in Internet Explorer, so they don't require plug-ins. As usually, Opera is not officially supported, so you'll find things that don't work as expected.



You can annotate cells and Google search the content of a cell.


The above was all found on googlesystem.blogspot.com

Leopard Screenshot?

It isn't much really, but I found the above screenshot (no confirmation on it's legitimacy) on Gizmodo with the following article...

"The fanboys are sad that OS X Leopard is going to be late, so in the meantime, here are some fresh screenshots to keep em held over. There, there, it'll be ok.

These are shots from the latest build seeded to developers, 9A410. Charming name aside, this evolution of the beta unifies the UI elements, ditching the now aging brushed aluminum window borders, along with the interesting Finder sidebar icons. Check em out.

BTW, these won't be around very long, so look at em, love em, and kiss em goodbye.

UPDATE: I also like Leander's take on the low probability of these being real, and the logic behind that reasoning.–Brian Lam"

More Shots: (hint - click on the pics and they'll get bigger!)

Apple's iPod may gain Wi-Fi by holidays

Apple plans to launch new iPods featuring Wi-Fi during the second half of 2007, according to a report at DigiTimes, the same publication which first reported that Apple would be forced to push out Leopard's release until October.

In a brief posting, the Taiwanese rumor publicized cited "portable music player component makers" who say that Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) has been contracted by the Cupertino-based iPod maker to produce the Wi-Fi modules and that Foxconn will act as the OEM system assembler.

USI will reportedly begin the first shipments of its Wi-Fi modules to Apple later this month, while Foxconn isn't expected to deliver the completed players until the third quarter, which runs July - September.

DigiTimes's report is somewhat in line with expectations published by AppleInsider over the course of the past few months. Sources initially reported that three distinct iPod models lie on Apple's roadmap for 2007, later adding that one of those players --- a next-gen video iPod -- was tracking for a third quarter release.

Thus far, Microsoft's Zune has led the way to increasing development of Wi-Fi portable music players, with Creative and SanDisk most recently showcasing such players at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show. According to DigiTimes, Samsung and Sony are also planning to offer similar products in the near future.

found on AppleInsider

Apple delays Leopard until October because of iPhone

By Peter Cohen on Macworld

Apple on Thursday released a statement noting that Mac OS X v10.5 “Leopard” won’t be released until October. The cause of the delay? The iPhone.

“iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned. We can’t wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is,” reads a statement published by the company.

Getting the iPhone ready for its June launch has had an unintended consequence, however: QA and “some key software engineering” resources allocated to Mac OS X needed to be diverted from their work to finish the iPhone. As a result, Apple won’t release Leopard at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, as it had first planned.

“While Leopard’s features will be complete by then, we cannot deliver the quality release that we and our customers expect from us. We now plan to show our developers a near final version of Leopard at the conference, give them a beta copy to take home so they can do their final testing, and ship Leopard in October. We think it will be well worth the wait. Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we’re sure we’ve made the right ones,” reads the statement.