Google Wave had its first birthday yesterday

The folks at Google posted a Happy Birthday to Wave yesterday.

 

Just over a week ago, Google finally opened up Wave -- taking it out of secret society mode and gifting it to the general public.

Google Apps gets more compelling with Docs updates

The most recent updates were announced which simplifies the migration from Outlook to Google Apps.

With Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook®, you can:

- Import mail, calendars, and personal contacts, either all at once or in separate stages
- Import only mail sent before or after a specific date
- Skip importing Junk E-mail and Deleted items
- Exclude specific mail folders from being imported
- Monitor the progress of your migration
- Easily pause and resume the migration
- Run subsequent migrations that import only new data (not data that’s already been imported)

Tour Facebook's new privacy settings

 

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Yahoo! Gets Its Game on with Zynga

Zynga, the social gaming outfit behind Farmville and Mafia wars, has inked a distribution pact with  Yahoo. Yahoo will put Zynga games on the home page, Yahoo Games, Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Messenger.

 

For Zynga, the Yahoo deal is a bit of a diversification play since the company is dependent on Facebook for a lot of its usage. In any case, it’s a win-win for Yahoo and Zynga.

 

Zynga games are expected to roll out on the Yahoo! network in the coming months and will include:

• Ability for people to play Zynga games and access their personal Zynga game updates across Yahoo!’s properties including the Homepage, Yahoo! Games, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger and others.
• Sharing of updates across multiple social experiences simultaneously while playing their favorite Zynga games on Yahoo!
• Product integration of Zynga games with the Yahoo! Application Platform (YAP), Yahoo!’s OpenSocial container through which third-party developers can develop applications on Yahoo!

 

Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga:

“With over 35 million unique users playing our games every single day, social games are fast becoming a leading source of entertainment worldwide surpassing most television shows. Our partnership with Yahoo! gives millions of new users the ability to connect with friends and families through games.”

Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on now ready for download

"A global browser based plug-in to allow users to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics." It's now here, and ready for users of Chrome, Firefox 3.5 and 3.6, and Internet Explorer 7 and 8.

 

The add-on communicates with the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics.

Microsoft Office 2010 Web apps revealed (screenshots)

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Everybody’s talking about the CLOUD

Cloud computing:

Cloud computing is an increasingly broad topic that covers everything from Google Apps to data center services to virtualization to software, infrastructure- and platform-as-a service. Technology executives are increasingly interested in cloud computing as a way to save money. Nevertheless, cloud adoption remains in the single digits among security concerns. Rest assured that cloud computing is a game changer. Key players include: IBM, HP, Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Salesforce.com, NetSuite, VMware as well as dozens of others.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong: Next phase of Internet is about content

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong:

“The next phase of the Internet is about content. I believe AOL has a very large set of assets in that space. It’s virtually impossible to build a global brand on the Internet, or it takes a very long time…it’s being able to go to a company that people were ready to win. There’s a lot of fight in them. I spent first year unlocking their [desire] to compete.”

Now Remote Control Your uTorrent Downloads from Any Browser…

uTorrent released a no-configuration tool that allows you to remotely access and control uTorrent from any web browser.

 

 

After downloading the beta, all you need to do is head into uTorrent's remote access preferences by hitting the Remote access preferences button in the toolbar (to the very right of the other buttons). Once you're in the remote access preferences, check the "Enable Remote Access" checkbox and enter any username and password you desire. Hit apply and confirm that you want to create a new account. From that point forward, you can access your downloads from any computer by going to http://falcon.utorrent.com and entering your login information (provided your home computer is powered up and uTorrent is running).

Microsoft launched Technical Computing Initiative 2.0

Microsoft created a new Technical Computing Group. The new group falls under Bob Muglia, who is President of Microsoft’s Server and Tools business, but will work closely with various groups in Microsoft Research, company officials said. The three areas of focus of the group and the broader initiative will be…

 

Cloud || Parallel-Programming || New Technical Computing Tools

There is a new technical computing community Web site, www.modelingtheworld.com, launching as part of the effort.

Operating system Usage By Month

 

Facebook: Simple privacy controls coming soon…

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg:

We have heard the feedback. There needs to be a simpler way to control your information. In the coming weeks, we will add privacy controls that are much simpler to use. We will also give you an easy way to turn off all third-party services. We are working hard to make these changes available as soon as possible. We hope you’ll be pleased with the result of our work and, as always, we’ll be eager to get your feedback.

Adobe brings HTML5 and CSS3 to Dreamweaver

 

Dreamweaver fans ought to be pretty happy about this one: Adobe released an extension pack on Tuesday that brings extensive HTML5 and CSS3 functionality to Dreamweaver CS5. The pack is available as a free download from Adobe Labs, and installs with zero hassle.

Google releases Skynet ...'Prediction API'

One of Google's biggest strengths is its ability to make predictions based on data. If you're a developer with a bunch of data, there's now an API for that. Google's Prediction API analyzes patterns in your data to do things like generating product recommendations, sorting email, routing messages, or identifying suspicious activity.

 

To use it, you'll have to drop your data into Google Storage for Developers, but the API itself works as a pretty easy-to-use RESTful Web service. You can use it with existing Google products like App Engine or Apps Scripts. It's currently only available by invitation, but you can sign up for the waiting list today.

Internet Explorer 9 finally get a download manager

Just a couple days ago, Microsoft posted a new application on their download site. It's called Microsoft Download Manager.

 

Its features are fairly basic compared to the download managers.Microsoft's app currently only handles HTTP downloads, but it can pause and resume transfers, automatically retry, and it supports up to 16 simultaneous connections. Here's what the MS page has to say:

 

The Microsoft Download Manager enables you to download files from the Internet in a more reliable and faster way than using a browser alone. Using the Download Manager makes it easier to download large files such as an application or multimedia files. The Download Manager has been specifically designed to manage file downloads from supporting Microsoft Web sites in a secure and reliable way.

Google I/O Keynote

Google I/O keynote: The big G is expected to talk about the future of Chrome, Android, Wave, Google TV, the Google Apps suite, and more—and we're live-waving the whole thing.

 

Update: The keynote is over, but the Wave lives on. You can read the discussion below, and Google should post the video for re-watching at their Developers channel on YouTube if you want the full experience.

Google Wave Available for Everyone

 

Google Wave openly available to everyone. You no longer need an invitation to wave. -- simply visit wave.google.com and sign right in.

Password Sync Coming Soon to Google Chrome

It just landed in the open-source code for Chromium, so expect password syncing to arrive soon in Google Chrome's Dev Channel. It will likely require a command line switch

(-enable-sync-passwords) to activate.

 

 

And no details yet on whether Chrome will offer a master password to protect your browsing.

Google launches web font API and open source font collection

 

 

There are so few "web-safe" fonts, and there's no standard way to bring new ones into the equation. Google has taken a big step toward addressing that problem, by introducing an open source font library, and an API that makes it easy to use the new fonts on your own webpage.

 

That means that along with Georgia, Arial and the rest, you're about to start seeing a lot more Droid Serif, Molengo, and Tangerine on the web.

Google buys a VoIP company, might build a Skype competitor

“The Web is evolving quickly as a development platform, and real-time video and audio communication over the Internet are becoming important new tools for users”.

 

 

Google on Tuesday said it will acquire Global IP Solutions Holding, which makes processing software for voice and video over IP, for $68.2 million. The deal means that Google will own the voice and video conferencing engine behind its competitors’ instant messaging systems.

 

GIPS is an established player that currently provides Internet calling for companies including Oracle, Samsung, Yahoo!, and AOL, and it could add a lot to Google's current VoIP offerings (which are built into Google Talk)

Facebook makes 5-year deal with FarmVille company Zynga

Zynga -- the games company behind FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and plenty -- couldn't exist without Facebook. Likewise, Facebook probably wouldn't be as big as it is without Zynga's addictive games. That's why the two companies have officially agreed to continue their relationship for five more years.

 

Both companies have to keep one another happy, because Zynga games are played by over 200 million Facebook users, and Facebook is Zynga's entire business model.

Hotmail: attachments up to 50MB, better organization, and much more…

• One of the biggest changes is with file attachments. Hotmail can now handle up to 200 pictures or Office documents of up to 50MB each in a single message (GMail can only handle messages up to 25MB) -- the result of integrating Hotmail with SkyDrive.
• Hotmail has also added inline thumbnail previews and offers a slick, built-in slideshow viewer.
• Office Web Apps have also been integrated, so if you receive an Excel, PowerPoint, or Word attachment you can open it right in the appropriate web app and make changes.
• You can now create multiple nested subfolders.

 

• Hotmail has a preview pane. Split your view horizontally or vertically and read the full text without having to leave your inbox -- just like Outlook.

 

• Hotmail can also now preview content from certain sites like LinkedIn, Hulu, and YouTube right in your reading pane.

There's a massive list of changes and new features over at The Windows Blog -- check it out for more details about what's new.

There's now an app to search your Facebook status updates.

A new site called OpenBook lets you search facebook users public status messages. You can even filter your search by gender, to see updates from just men or just women.

 

Know your Facebook privacy options, and thinking about locking your account down a bit, if you haven't already.

Trial Extender lets you use Microsoft Office 2010 free for six months

Maybe you like the idea of using Office 2010 for free for as long as possible. Either way, the Office 2010 Trial Extender is the tool for you.

 

It's a simple app which performs the same trial re-arming magic you've seen before with other Microsoft offerings. Fire it up once your 30-day trial period has expired and Extender rolls the clock back to day one. You can repeat 5 times -- giving you a grand total of 180 days of payment-free use of Office 2010!

By then you'll probably have made up your mind and either like Office 2010 enough to pay for it -- or move on to an alternative suite.

 

[Into Windows]

Google Chrome receives major updates to the Beta channel; faster JavaScript, integrated Flash plug-in

The overlords at Google have finally deemed Google Chrome 5 ready for the Beta channel! Along with some fantastic performance boosts to the V8 JavaScript engine, there's also a load of HTML5 features and an integrated Flash plug-in.

Google prepares to launch its own digital bookstore this summer

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google's bookstore could go live as early as next month. The service, called Google Editions, plans to make its books compatible with as many operating systems and devices as possible.

 

To make Google Editions a success, Google just needs to finalize deals with publishers and make sure it can compete with existing bookstores when it comes to selection and pricing

The first step of Google's redesign explanation?

Google posted brief history of their new redesign that had been going through heavy testing over the past few months. Jon Wiley, their senior designer on the project, went into detail explaining the process they went through in deciding on the new look.

 

 

If you’re curious, here are some of the other design prototypes Google Designer Team tried… Blue homepage: They’ve always had a strong affinity for blue — after all, blue is usually the color of web links, so it binds the web together. It became the basis for many designs. Blue button: The big blue button made it all the way to our first external experiment, where it was promptly rejected by users. We heard you loud and clear and changed the button in the next round. Universal bars: This design emphasizes different types of results with labeled blocks in the main results pane, such as books, news and shopping. Blue results: This is one of the final blue designs we created and marks the point when we renamed the "Web" link to "Everything" — a label that gets closer to the intent of our mission to organize all the world’s information.

                                                        By: Jon Wiley, Senior User Experience Designer

Facebook took chat feature offline to plug gaping privacy hole

If you've been wondering why Facebook chat was mysteriously "down for maintenance" during normally high-usage hours, it's because they were alerted to a pretty serious security hole in their privacy settings.

 

The hole allowed for what can only be called one of the easiest exploits in recent memory; it allowed any Facebook user to see his or her friends' live chats and pending friend requests just by typing their names in the site's built-in privacy preview page.

 

Facebook's Reaction:-

"For a limited period of time, a bug permitted some users' chat messages and pending friend requests to be made visible to their friends by manipulating the "preview my profile" feature of Facebook privacy settings. When we received reports of the problem, our engineers promptly diagnosed it and temporarily disabled the chat function. We also pushed out a fix to take care of the visible friend requests which is now complete. Chat will be turned back on across the site shortly. We worked quickly to resolve this matter, ensuring that once the bug was reported to us, a solution was quickly found and implemented.”