Luke Hubbard

The Wall Street Journal speculates that the recent deal between Yahoo and Microsoft gives Google an opportunity to “…refine its technology and craft a counter strategy….”

I absolutely agree.

Google works at the speed of light. Considering that both Yahoo and Microsoft have proven to struggle with fast roll-outs and technology updates, Google will have two solid years to progress and gain market share before Microhoo launches. The partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo will slow down the company’s research and development as their main focus will be on the partnership. Fusing the Microsoft and Yahoo technologies will be quite the project over the next two years.

I expect that the already well oiled Google machine will leave the others so far behind that they will never be able to catch up.

Do I want this to happen? Of course not. While I love Google, I do think competition in the market place is better for consumers and shareholders. I worry that Microsoft + Yahoo will turn into one of the largest messes we’ve seen thus far in the dot com world. I hope instead that the companies work well together and create solid competition for Google.

-Luke Hubbard

Did you know you can access Gmail even when you don’t have an Internet connection? Google Gears is a program that allows users to access applications such as Gmail while they are offline. Here’s Google’s official blog post on Offline Gmail.

Without an Internet connection, Gmail can’t access Google servers according to the official Google video on offline Gmail above. Google Gears allows Gmail to “store the information it needs to run all on your computer.”

Here are some simple instructions on how to get offline Gmail on your computer:
1. Click Settings in the top right of your Gmail
2. Click on Labs. (This may appear as a little beaker icon)
3. Choose “Enable” for Offline Gmail
4. Save changes
5. You should arrive back to your Gmail inbox. Select “Offline 0.1″ or “Offline 0.2″ in the top right.
6. Set-up for offline Gmail via Google Gears should begin. Follow the steps and I do recommend allowing Gears to place a shortcut icon on your desktop for easy access.

-Luke Hubbard

Beware Microsoft, Google OS may destroy you!

Google plans to release an operating system (OS) sometime in 2010 to compete with Microsoft Windows. Google OS is genius, relying heavily on cloud computing, which basically means users won’t have to ever worry about updating their systems, upgrading storage, or fumbling around with software installations. Most impressive, Google OS promises to make viruses a thing of the past! Here’s a direct quote from Google’s official blog: “…we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.”

Google OS will first roll out on small net book computers, which are devices used mainly for an internet connection. Because Google products such as documents, maps, and email all rely on Internet connections and cloud computing, Google OS will be able to provide a suite of applications without the user needing to purchase or install software.

The most important features of Google OS are the speed of operation, it’s supposed to be super fast, and the fact that it’s open source. Wow, with an open source operating system, Google leverages the minds of millions of developers. The sky is the limit with creativity.

Warning to Google: don’t use the same marketing plan that failed for the Chrome Internet browser! Users must be able to understand the benefits of your products before they’ll spend the time converting. While the Chrome browser appealed to techies, the general population simply didn’t understand what the heck you were talking about in your “viral comic.”

I was chatting with a friend over at Turner Broadcasting and he informed me that cable providers are pretty angry that many television clips are available for free online. Cable providers think that the networks are unsupportive and it’s causing some pretty harsh friction.

Therefore, the TV networks, cable providers, and online video sources may all come to an agreement to require users to login before being able to access any videos that are normally also available via cable television. The user would have to be a paid cable customer to get a valid login. Obviously, the details haven’t been worked out at all and there are a lot of conflicting opinions on the topic.

I disagree with the requirement for logins. And just for the heck of it, here’s a pretty funny clip from the free online video service call Hulu.