File Transfer is now on Orkut, Gmail and iGoogle
30 Mar2010
Google has finally added one of the biggest omissions to the Web-based version of its Google Talk service: size limit-free, P2P file transfers.
The feature, which has been a part of the service’s desktop software since mid-2006, went live on the Google Talk widgets inside of iGoogle and Orkut on Monday.
The endgame here–which Google says is coming, is to bring file-sharing into Gmail’s integrated Google Talk. Imagine, if you will, a situation where you want to share a big file, and Gmail’s attachment limit is just not cutting it. Your options are simple: you could hop over to another Google property with storage (like Google Docs) and upload the file there. Or you could go with a myriad of external file-sharing and storage services. Once this feature comes to Gmail, though, you just bug the other person to hop on Google Talk, and then start your large transfer there.
That situation, as lovely as it sounds, could be a pipe dream, though. In our testing we couldn’t send executable files, which, while safer because it could limit the sending of malware, means you can’t send handy software-installing packages like Ninite (coverage). Here’s hoping future versions will pack the same kind of virus-scanning prowess Gmail’s attachment handler has had since 2005, but in real-time. That may, in fact, be what is holding it up from being a part of Gmail already.
Internet Explorer 9 Will not Support Windows XP
18 Mar2010
Windows XP users will not be able to run the final version of Internet Explorer 9, according to Microsoft executives, cutting out a decade-old, yet still popular operating system.
In fact, the Windows IE9 Platform Preview, as well as the final version, won’t run on anything but the latest Microsoft operating systems. Users trying to run the preview code on an XP system will receive the following dialogue box: “Windows Internet Explorer Platform Preview does not support any operating system earlier than Windows Vista SP2.
And of course, don’t even think about versions for non-Windows operating systems. IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch told TechGiraffe that Mac and Linux versions weren’t currently in the company’s plans.
Facebook Opens an Office in India
17 Mar2010
Like every other company that offers support, the first and the only option Facebook had in mind when it came to offering support was – well, India. Social networking company Facebook said on Monday that it is setting up an office in Hyderabad in southern India. The new office will have online sales and operations teams, said Don Faul, a director of global online operations at Facebook, in a posting on the official Facebook blog.
Facebook will start with a small initial team in Hyderabad, which will include experts on the Facebook product to help users with their questions, and specialists in online advertising to help advertisers, the company said in a statement issued separately on Monday. The company said last week that it was setting up an office in Austin, Texas. Both the new offices will allow the company to better serve Facebook’s more than 400 million users, besides advertisers and developers, Faul said.
- In: Social Things
Wi-Fi iPad – The new Goody from Apple
8 Mar2010
Apple tablet
I was getting tired of using sentences like — Much Awaited — when talking about iPad. Now, it is the new device, a Wi-Fi iPad which is available for pre-order for customers from the US.
Of course, the April 3 date only applies to the Wi-Fi-only models. If you’re holding out for the 3G versions, you’ll have to wait until late April. And those customers outside the U.S.–Apple specifically mentions Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K.–will have to wait until late April for either model.
Pricing for those countries is still unknown, though Apple said that it would be announced in April. The company also said that the iPad would ship in additional countries later this year, so if you’re not in one of the above locations, keep your fingers crossed.
- In: Gadgets / Computer| TechNews
- Tags: apple, iPad
Facebook hits $1 Billion Revenue mark
3 Mar2010
Facebook may pull in an excess of $1 billion in revenues, according to estimates and poking around on behalf of industry blog Inside Facebook. That’s an increase from the same publication’s estimate of $700 million last year.
Facebook board member Marc Andreessen said last year that he projected the company would break $500 million revenue in 2009, and that it had the potential to be a billion-dollar company already, but that it was acting conservatively.
(Naturally, Facebook says that as a privately held company it doesn’t disclose its financials.)
What can Facebook credit this big jump in revenue to? It’s all about the Social Ads program. Facebook ditched banner ads altogether earlier this year when its longstanding ad partnership with Microsoft ran out and has chosen to focus on its edgier “engagement ads” program instead–and often these are sold by encouraging brands to promote their presence on Facebook with ad space.
- In: Social Things
- Tags: Facebook