Tag: Google

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Google

Google adds Managed VM to its Cloud Platform – Best of IaaS and PaaS

Google announces Managed Virtual Machines at the Google Platform Live Event in San Francisco. Managed VMs lets you run any binary inside a VM and turn it into a part of your App Engine app with just a few lines of code. App Engine will automatically manage these VMs.

Urs Hölzle, the senior vice president at Google overseeing the company’s datacenter and cloud services, talked up the appeal of PaaS services like Google App Engine, which provides a complete managed stack but lacks the flexibility of services like IaaS. The downside of IaaS, of course, is it requires extensive management.  Google’s Managed VMs give enterprises the complete managed platform of PaaS, while allowing a customer to add VMs. Those using Google App Engine who need more control can add a VM to the company’s PaaS service. This is not typically offered with PaaS offerings and often forces companies to use IaaS.

You can start with App Engine and if you ever run into a case where you need more control, or need to use a language or library that App Engine doesn’t support, you can replace part of your application with a VM. For example, your application may need access to a native resource, such as a file system or network stack; or you might require a library or framework that is only available in C or C++. Current Platform as a service offerings lack this type of support and developers are forced off the cliff into an Infrastructure as a service world. With Managed VMs, this is not the case.  You can also take an application built on unmanaged VMs and let Google handle management and scaling. You get a good combination of total control and freedom of Compute Engine VMs with the auto-management capabilities of App Engine.

Going a step further, Google is also re-architecting how cloud instances are sold. In the typical cloud model, on-demand based pricing for virtual resources is always more expensive than if a developer buys some form of a reserved instance. In order to bridge the gap between reserved and on-demand virtual instances, Google is now introducing the idea of sustained-use discounts. In the sustained-use model, an on-demand Google Cloud user will get a discount after a virtual instance is used for a specific amount of time.  For more details on the sustained-use discounts, click here

Google is also allowing operating systems such as Suse, Red Hat Linux and Microsoft Windows Server to be used within its cloud. This is considered a minimum necessity for many established businesses. BigQuery is being modified to take in 100,000 data records per second, allowing for the fast analysis of large streams of data.

Managed VMs are currently available to early access users and will soon be more broadly available as a preview technology. If you are keen to try it out, please sign up.

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Google

Google Offers Stock Android with Unlocked Galaxy S4

Finally a million prayers are listened. Today at Google I/O, the company has announced one of the most anticipated and requested products: a Samsung Galaxy S4 with the stock version of Google’s Android OS.

The Galaxy S4 has the top-of-the-line hardware of the traditional model, but with a sleek and minimalistic software that echoes the experience of Google’s Nexus 4.

But the device also has some drawbacks. It’s pricey — $649, to be exact — and is only available through the Google Play store.  The device also may buy Google a little time to get the much-rumored and highly anticipated Motorola phone ready.

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Google

Your Child’s design could be Google logo – Doodle 4 Google Contest

Doodle 4 Google, a competition where Google invites K-12 students to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign Google’s homepage logo for millions to see. This year they’re inviting U.S. kids to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, “What I’d like to do someday…”

Whether students want to find a cure for cancer or take a trip to the moon, it all starts with art supplies and some 8.5″ x 11″ paper. And, one lucky student artist will take home a $15,000 college scholarship and $25,000 technology grant for their school, among many other prizes.

Register your kid’s design here for the Doodle 4 Google Contest

Registration closes at 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time (PT) on March 2, 2011, and entries must be postmarked by March 16, 2011 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time (PT). The winning doodle will be featured on our Google.com homepage on May 20, 2011.

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Google

Did you try out the New AdSense User Interface Beta from Google?

This morning, while I was looking on my Adsense account to see if I have managed to earn some money, I was little surprised to be welcomed with the new AdSense interface. Google has added new features and made the existing features easier to use.  If you are a publisher and use Adsense, this information must be a welcome addition to you. The new interface is designed to help publishers get more out of AdSense.

Google has added new features and made the existing features easier to use.

  • Comprehensive performance reports: View your daily stats in graph format, and gain insight into your performance with new metrics detailing the amount you’re earning from different ad types, ad sizes, targeting types, and more. Learn more
  • Quicker account maintenance: Google has streamlined the process for a number of common tasks to help you get things done more quickly. Whether you’re updating your contact information or editing a number of ad units at the same time, you’ll find that these types of tasks require fewer clicks and less account navigation than before.
  • Prominent help links: There’s now help content available on every page, so you’ll be able to quickly find answers to your questions while navigating through your account.
  • Easier access to online resources: Visit the redesigned Resources page, where you can find the latest content from the Inside AdSense blog, our YouTube channel, and our Twitter account, all within your own account.
  • Renamed features: Google has updated the names of several features in your account, in an effort to more clearly explain their purpose. While we hope the new names are more intuitive, if you’re unclear what they do, refer to the help links on the page or in the sidebar.

Try out the new user experience of Google Adsense here – http://www.google.com/ads/newadsense

What hasn’t changed in this new interface-

With all the enhancements to AdSense, you may be wondering if everything is different about the program. Some things we’ve left alone:

  • Payments: The payment methods and schedule have not changed.
  • Ad code: You do not need to update the code on your pages, and the process for adding the code to your site remains the same.
  • Ad targeting: Ads will continue to be matched to your pages as they have in the past.

Courtesy: Google Support Pages

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General Google IT News, Tech Information and Analysis

Google will Block Facebook / Web Services from Automatic Data Import

Google will no longer let other services automatically import its users’ email contact data for their own purposes, unless the information flows both ways. It accused Facebook in particular of siphoning up Google contact data, without allowing for the automatic import and export of Facebook users’ information.

Facebook, with more than 500 million users, relies on email services such as Google’s Gmail to help new users find friends already on the network. When a person joins, they are asked to import their Gmail contact list into the social network service. Facebook then tells the user which email contacts are also on the social network.

“We will no longer allow websites to automate the import of users’ Google Contacts (via our API) unless they allow similar export to other sites,” Google said. In a statement, Google said Reuters that, websites such as Facebook “leave users in a data dead end.” Facebook did not immediately provide a comment on Friday. Read the complete story here

They are fighting with our data as a weapon. Being open, is definitely not open here.  Well, how many of you really read the Disclaimer / Terms of Service when you sign-up for an email address?

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Google

Google Chrome OS to be made available, by this year-end!

Chromium OS is an open-source project that aims to build an operating system that provides a fast, simple, and more secure computing experience for people who spend most of their time on the web. Google first announced Chrome OS, a cloud-focused operating system back in July last year. It looked a little unrealistic at that time, but now things seemed to have changed.

According to Chrome developer forums the current version of Chrome OS is labelled as a release candidate and a final version looks likely to be released by year-end. In a statement published on the TechCrunch site Google said: “We are very happy with the progress of Google Chrome OS and expect devices will be available later this year. We’ll have more details to share at launch.”

Google has so far said that Chrome OS will not be generally released for download but will be shipped on specific hardware devices from its partners.

For more information on Google Chromium Open Project, check this – http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os.

Technically, Chromium OS consists of three major components: The Chromium-based browser and the window manager, Firmware, System-level software and user-land services: the kernel, drivers, connection manager, and so on.

Overview of Chromium OS

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General Google

Did you know about the Secure – Google SSL Search?

Yesterday while I was goog’ling for some information, I noticed this below screen in the Google homepage. Wondered, if it was any new Doodle from Google!

Well, this is the Google Search over SSL. Using this, you can have an end-to-end encrypted search solution between your computer and Google. This secured channel helps protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party. This provides you with a more secure and private search experience.

Google SSL

To use Google SSL, visit https://encrypted.google.com , when you perform a search!

What can you expect from searching over SSL?

  • SSL encrypts the communication channel between Google and a searcher’s computer.
  • As another layer of privacy, SSL search turns off a browser’s referrers. Web browsers typically turn off referrers when going from HTTPS to HTTP mode to provide extra privacy.

Note that SSL search does not reduce the data that Google receives and logs when you search, or change the listing of these terms in your Web History. Google web search is available over SSL, so other search products like Google Images and Google Maps are not currently available over SSL.!

Courtesy: Features: SSL Search (Google)

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Google

Google’s Two Step Authentication model for Google Apps Users

Google Apps Premier, Education and Government Edition administrators can now have users sign in with the combination of their password (something they know) and a one-time verification code provided by a mobile phone (something they have). Users can continue to access Google Apps from Internet-connected devices, but with stronger protections to help fend off risks like phishing scams and password reuse. For the first time, we’re making this technology accessible to organizations large and small without the costs and complexities that have historically limited two-step verification to large enterprises with deep pockets. Furthermore, in the coming months, Standard Edition and hundreds of millions of individual Google users will be able to enjoy this feature as well.

Google Two-Step Verification

Courtesy: Google Official weblog

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Google

Develop Android Application using App Inventor from Google

This morning, i got an invite from Google to try out  App Inventor. I was personally very excited because, you do not need to be a developer to use App Inventor and develop Android Apps. Instead of writing code, you will be visually designing the way your app might looks and use blocks to specify the app’s behavior.

I couldn’t wait to try no longer and started to play with it. The initial reactions were really impressive. It never made me feel that, i am working on a Web application. The Experience was just too good. App Inventor is simple to use, but also very powerful. Apps you build can even store data created by users in a database! You also have a separate work area to save your works. All of this, with just your gmail account. (click the image below to see the complete layout on how this platform appears)

Google App Inventor

App Inventor runs through a Web browser. Your phone will be connected to your computer through a USB cord and your app will emerge on the phone as you work in the Web browser. When you’re done, you can “package” your finished app to produce an “application package” (Android apk file) that can be shared around and installed on any Android phone, just like any other Android app.

The compiler that translates the visual blocks language for implementation on Android uses the Kawa Language Framework and Kawa’s dialect of the Scheme programming language, developed by Per Bothner and distributed as part of the Gnu Operating System by the Free Software Foundation.

Complete this form and you will be all ready to build apps soon!

For more information on Google App Inventor –

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General Google

Google Doodle – BuckyBall’s 25th Anniversary

Check out the Google home page today. The Doodle celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the BuckyBall. Buckyball is a spherical fullerene, a molecule composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube.

Do check – http://www.google.com/ to experience it!

The invention of buckyball was made in 1985 and was named after buckminsterfullerene. The rare phenomenon was named after Richard Buckminster Fuller. The discovery of buckyball helped lot to understand the chemistry and technological applications in material sciences, electronics and nanotechnologies. Fullerenes greatly contributed to understand the number of carbon allotropes, which were just limited to graphite and diamonds.

Some Google Doodles which was blogged in the past –