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Google's Chrome OS: "It Just Works"

John Paczkowski — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:51:03 +0000

Speaking at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans this past July, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said of Google’s forthcoming Chrome OS, “Who knows what this thing is?”

Today, he found out. The operating system, a direct challenge to Microsoft Windows, was on display at a media gathering at the Google HQ this morning.

Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management, and Matthew Papakipos, engineering director for Google Chrome OS, presided over the event, which the company described as a “technical announcement.”

That meant that Google (GOOG) was not releasing a beta of the operating system this week, as had been rumored.

That said, it was an overview of Chrome, as well as Google’s plans for its launch in 2010, so let the Chrome OS liveblogging begin:

There will be no beta today. Pichai says Google is still a year away from an official launch. However, the company is making the code available today.
Pichai says that a year after launch, the Chrome browser has some 40 millions users. He boasts about the browser’s speed, noting that it handles Javascript 39 times faster than Microsoft’s (MSFT) Internet Explorer. There will be three more big Chrome announcements sometime in the future: Chrome for Mac, Chrome for Linux and the debut of Chrome Extensions.
Google’s goal is to ensure that Web applications function as well as desktop apps. Pichai says that the company is figuring out a way for Web apps to safely take advantage of the operating system in the way desktop apps do. A few examples: Graphics, video/audio applications, real-time communication, notification and local storage.

“By 2010 we expect to have all these things built into Chrome,” Pichai adds.
The advent of Chrome coincides with a perfect storm of converging trends, Pichai says, noting the tremendous popularity of netbooks during the recession, the growing acceptance of cloud apps and the rapid innovation in mobile devices. Smartphones are becoming more like laptops, Pichai adds, and laptops are becoming more like smartphones. Is there a better level of computing available for these devices?

There is, according to Pichai, and Google believes it is Chrome OS.
Among Chrome OS’s advantages, Pichai says: Speed, simplicity and security. Every application will be a Web application. There will be no desktop apps. Chrome OS is essentially a browser with a few modifications. All data in the Chrome OS resides in the cloud. Pichai: “We want all of personal computing to work that way….If I lose my Chrome machine, I should be able to go out, buy a new [one] and re-create my previous computing experience easily.”

Chrome OS will run completely inside the browser security model, he adds, noting that security is one of Google’s top priorities along with speed. “Turning on a PC should be like turning on your TV,” he says.
Chrome OS is very similar in appearance to the Chrome browser. “Chrome OS is Chrome,” says Pichai. Google made it look like a browser, because the browser is familiar.
And indeed, Chrome OS does look quite a bit like a browser. Multiple apps load into tabs, for example. It also features “Panels,” which Pichai describes as persistent lightweight windows. “All Chrome data resides in the cloud. Anything you put in the machine is immediately available to you anywhere.”
As netbooks become more advanced and battery life improves, they will evolve into entertainment devices, says Pichai, who notes that via Google Books, a netbook can become an e-reader, and, through YouTube, a video device.
A quick demo of the user interface, which seems very simple and intuitive. “It just works,” says Pichai in an unintentional nod to Apple (AAPL).

An interesting remark: Anyone who writes an app for the Web has written an app for Chrome, says Pichai, joking that Microsoft is already developing for it.
Speed, simplicity and security, says Pichai. We’re trying to make the computing experience delightful.

With that, Pichai hands the stage over to Engineering Director Matt Papakipos.

Papakipos, too, offers the “we want to make computing delightful” sound byte and notes once again that turning on the PC should be like turning on the TV.
Chrome OS eliminates the bootloader, auto-launching the browser. The OS also auto-updates itself, making sure that it’s always current with security patches, etc. Everything from the firmware to the kernel is secured with a cryptographic signature to ensure a secure boot. In the event malware is detected, the system repairs itself automatically.
The basic application security protocol for current operating systems allows apps the same privileges as the user. This presents obvious security issues. Whenever you install a new app, you’re taking a risk, says Papakipos.

But Web applications like those that Chrome OS use, are different. They are Web apps, so they don’t have system-level privileges. Additionally, all apps run in secured sandboxes that are separate from one other and from the OS. Finally, all apps must be signed and verified before each use.
In terms of file systems, Chrome’s is locked down. It’s a read-only root-file system, obviously quite different from other operating systems. All user data are encrypted and synched to the cloud. Essentially, Google uses the PC for caching. Again, if you should lose your machine, you buy a new one, fire it up and it synchs with the cloud, restoring your previous computing experience.
How will Google bring Chrome OS to market? The company is working with vendors to specify reference hardware. You cannot download and install Chrome on just any device, you will have to purchase a Chrome device. Google is looking at a launch window of late 2010, before the holidays.
Google sounds very concerned about the end-user Chrome OS experience. Pichai says the company wants to ensure that the displays, keyboard, etc., on the netbooks that run Chrome are robust and easy to use.
Pichai wraps things up, but before the Q&A, we’re shown a short explanatory video. “The first thing I want to do when I fire up my computer is browse the Internet….If there isn’t any Internet, I might not even use my computer….What if when you pressed on, your PC turned on, what if your operating system was more like a Web browser…what if it was a browser?…Chrome OS is a totally rethought computer that lets you focus on the Internet, which is what most of use our computers for these days anyway.”

Q&A

At this point, Pichai opens the event to questions:

If you’re specifying hardware components, do you must have an idea of what they’ll cost?

A: We expect Chrome netbooks to be in the price range of what people have come to expect….We are not specifying a price target. Price will be determined at the OEM level.

Will the APIs support W3C standards?

A: We’re working very closely with the W3C to standardize as much as we can….In general, we want to see everything standardized across multiple browsers.

Will there be an application store?

A: The Web offers hundreds of millions of applications. Our job is to make people aware of them.

What about desktop applications that are not available on the Web?

A: We expect most of our users to have a second machine at home….Chrome OS is about a delightful experience on the Web….If you’re a lawyer spending your entire day on contracts, etc., this is not the machine for you.

Will you support Microsoft Silverlight?

A: In the case of certain selection plug-ins, we are working to integrate them. No comment beyond that.

Since Chrome is open source, could people build their own variations?

A: Yes. We expect people will do many interesting things with it.

Do you see Chrome running on laptops or desktops?

A: We’re initially focused on netbook-like form factors–clamshells, etc. That said, the OS is being developed to work on other devices.

Is there any level of offline access? What happens when I’m on a plane and don’t want to pay for Wi-Fi?

A: Chrome devices are primarily intended to be Internet-connected. That said, it will have some caching abilities so, for example, you could play a game offline.

Virtualization?

A: Yes. You could run Chrome today on a virtual machine.

Are you working with outfits like Adobe to, say, build a Web-friendly version of Photoshop?

A: We’re very excited by things like Photoshop on the Web and we’re working hard to make that possible.

Will Android apps work on Chrome? Are there plans for third-party apps?

A: [Pichai dodges this one.] If it’s a Web app, it will work on Chrome. The Web works very, very well for our purposes.

Will Chrome work on both X86 and ARM?

A: Yes.

Is there a direct business model for Chrome OS or is this another variation of the-more-people-that-use-the-Web-the-better-for-Google?

A: We are working with partners. No plans for advertising. That said, Pichai notes again that anything that runs on the Web will run on Chrome. And of course, AdWords does, indeed, run on the Web.

[Sergey Brin joins the Q&A]

Do you want Android Apps to run on Chrome?

A: We are focused on creating the use case in which everything is a Web application, but hopefully we can do more in the future.

How does Chrome handle peripherals? Can it print?

A: Most keyboards, cameras, phones, etc., will work. In terms of printing…yes, Chrome OS will print and we’re working hard to make that possible.

What is Chrome’s strategic position for Google?

A: [Brin]: Call us dumb businessmen, but we really focus on user needs rather than focus on business strategies. We believe that the Web platform is a much simpler way of computing for individuals to use, and that’s a very important need in the market right now. That’s what we’re trying to fulfill.

Internet Explorer's Extreme Makeover

John Paczkowski — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:00:13 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

Devoid Android

John Paczkowski — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:36:09 +0000

Google’s Android mobile platform will become commercially available before year end, just as the company promised. But with one caveat: It will lack some of the features Google (GOOG) first intended. Seems that in order to get Android out the door in time for the holiday shopping season, the company has been forced to defeature it. Google has dropped planned APIs for Bluetooth and Google’s own GTalk instant-messaging service in Android 1.0, according to the Android Developers Blog. Seems there are issues with both APIs that need to be resolved before Google is comfortable releasing them into the wild, and the company couldn’t do that before the end of the year. “… We plain ran out of time,” said Android engineer Nick Pelly. “The Android Bluetooth API was pretty far along, but needs some cleanup before we can commit to it for the SDK. Keep in mind that putting it in the 1.0 SDK would have locked us into that API for years to come.”

Unless you simply kept it in beta for a few years like some of your other products. …

Steve Jobs at WWDC 2008: iPhone 3G for $199, on Sale July 11

John Paczkowski — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:59:39 +0000

Apple’s much lauded iPhone captured 28% of the smart-phone market in the States by the fourth quarter of 2007–just six months into its launch. Today it holds something less than that–about 19.2%. But to look at the headlines, you’d think it controlled the market in its entirety. A quick search on Google returns 19,035 results for “iPhone”– from Jun. 2, 2008 to today. Why? Because in a few hours, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will address the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, at which he is expected to unveil the next version of the company’s iPhone.

And for Apple’s (AAPL) sake, I hope he does. Because with expectations running this high, I’d hate to see what happens if he doesn’t. Although the new Apple Store housed in a life-size replica of the Golden Gate Bridge pictured in the invite would certainly take some of the heat off …

Anyway, I’ll be live-blogging from inside Moscone West in San Francisco starting at 10 a.m. PDT. Here’s something to read while you wait …

From Moscone West: This is crazy. They just opened a single door to let cameras in and the media rushed the gate. Its like that 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati.

The hall in Moscone West is filling quickly to the sounds of Jerry Lee Lewis. From the looks of it media and developers are here in equal numbers.
Jobs takes the stage. I’m sitting about 20 rows back, but even I can see he’s looking pretty thin from here. He gets right into it, pulls up a slide of a stool and describes Apple as a three-legged company. Macs, music and the iPhone.
Jobs will spend the morning talking about the iPhone. This afternoon Apple will discuss OS X “Snow Leopard.”

Talking about iPhone SDK: In the past 96 days, 25,000 people have applied to Apple’s paid developer program. It’s had 250,000 downloads of the iPhone 2.0 software SDK.
Three parts to iPhone 2.0: enterprise, SDK, “new features.”
Apple has built exchange support into iPhone 2.0: push email, push contacts, push calendar, auto-discovery, global address lookup, remote wipe. Also supports Cisco VPN security.
Everything enterprise has told us they’ve wanted in the iPhone, we’ve built into it right out of the box, he says.
35% of Fortune 500 companies have participated in iPhone 2.0 beta: top five banks, securities firms, 8 of 10 top pharma companies, 6 of 7 leading airlines. Lots of support from higher-ed market as well.
Cutting to video now: Execs from Disney (DIS), Genentech, U.S. Army discussing iPhone 2.0 beta: all of them talking about the extraordinary demand for the iPhone among their employees.
“iPhone 2.0 is extraordinarily well-integrated with Microsoft (MSFT) Exchange.”
Video goes on: Talking about security now. Army rep talking about how important remote wipe is. Disney exec describes iPhone as “an enterprise-level device that packs the power of a laptop into a device the size of a phone.” Video ends.
Moving on to iPhone SDK. Jobs welcomes Scott Forstall to the stage to discuss the SDK. “We’re opening up the same developer tools we use internally,” he says. “Developers will create applications in exactly the same way we do.”
Core OS: Core operating system of iPhone uses the same elements as OS X. Offers a quick overview of Cocoa Touch, Xcode, Interface Builder, Tethered Debugging, Instruments and other developer tools, before moving on to a quick demo of Interface Builder.
Launches Xcode and creates a new project in Xcode. App will use built-in address APIs as well as core location APIs to locate contacts within a 10-mile radius of the iPhone.
He opens Interface Builder and drags and drops some buttons and fields onto an iPhone test screen on his desktop.
The UI finished, he opens the iPhone simulator to test it out. It works.
He links the UI features up to the code he’s written and bang, it’s linked up and ready to go. That’s it.
Forstall says developer response to the iPhone SDK has been enormously positive. He refers to a number of developer quotes that really lionize the platform: “It blows away anything we’ve seen from RIM” says one.
Forstall invites a Sega rep up to the stage to demo some of their work for the iPhone. Sega’s Ethan Einhorn offers a bit of background on their Super Monkey Ball project. He notes that the company was able to demo an early version of the game after just a few weeks of work at the iPhone SDK launch announcement. Now, after a few more months of work, they’ve managed to create a full-featured version of the game.
Super Monkey Ball will be available at the launch of the App Store for $9.99.
Up next: eBay’s Ken Sun. The iPhone has become the No. 1 mobile device for accessing eBay, Sun says.
Six weeks ago, eBay began developing a new interface for the iPhone and was able to quickly pull one together.
The application supports auction watching and bidding. Bids placed on an iPhone are instantly registered in eBay’s system. The eBay app will be available for free when the App Store launches.
Loopt’s Sam Altman takes the stage to talk about the company’s location-based social-networking app: “We make serendipity happen.” Pffft. He pulls up the app and uses it to locate a friend and a list of the thing’s she’s done today. He notes that the friend is close by at a cafe and sends her a quick message asking if she’s available for lunch.
Next up: TypePad and its mobile blogging application. Michael Sippey takes the stage and after talking up TypePad as a blogging platform, he moves on to the company’s new iPhone app.
Demo will focus on photoblogging. He browses the photos on his iPhone, selects a picture, crops it, adds it to a blog post, publishes it to his blog, taps view and Safari launches and displays his new post. Very fast, very slick. Oddly, no mention of a cut-and-paste feature.
This app will also be available at the launch of the App Store for free.
Associated Press follows TypePad. AP’s Benjamin Mosse describes AP’s Mobile News Network, which uses the device’s location API to provide location-based local news, photos and video.
The app also supports citizen journalism and permits AP readers to send the news agency their own photos and news reports. This app will also be available for free at the launch of the App Store.
Next up: Brian Greenstone from Pangea software. The company has ported two of its games from OS X to the iPhone.
The first is Enigmo. The second is Cromag Rally–a 3D caveman racing game. The graphics in both games look great. Greenstone notes that in this particular game, the iPhone itself is the controller–in this case, the steering wheel.
Greenstone really talking up the SDK, says porting the game was almost a no-brainer.
Forstall welcomes Moo-Cow-Music’s Mark Terry to the stage to demo Band. It’s a collection of virtual instruments that allows users to create music on the iPhone. He pulls up a keyboard and plays the first few bars of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
He moves on to a drum kit, and then to a “blues interface” that includes all the instruments you need to play the blues. And now the bass; he plays a few bars of Pink Floyd’s “Money.” He notes that tracks can be recorded and mixed together to create songs individually or collaboratively.
Onstage now is Jeremy Schoenherr from MLB.com to demo an app developed exclusively for the iPhone. The app offers real-time updates of game info and also nearly real-time video highlights. Videos will reportedly be uploaded minutes after a play is made.
Next: Modality, which will demo the first of two apps designed for the medical industry. S. Mark Williams takes the stage to talk about a learning application for med students. Looks like they’ve created an iPhone version of “Netter’s Anatomy.” All the graphics have been ported to the iPhone, and you can zoom in and out, and use touch to locate different areas of the body, the same way you use the Google maps application. Modality says that within weeks of the App Store launching, it will be offering this application as well as others for different education markets.
Mark Cain from MIMvista onstage now. Looks like we’ve got a medical imaging application. Onscreen now is a CT scan and a PET scan overlaid on an iPhone screen. (My god, this is really cool.)
The application relies on the iPhone’s pinch, slide, touch and drag to navigate images. You can also toggle to a planar view as well. Whoa–it supports movies as well. Cain stresses that this is a highly complex and computing-intensive application that’s been ported to the iPhone. And his company was able to do it with relative ease.
Up now: Digital Legends to demo another game. They’ve developed Krull, a fantasy action game, on the iPhone. Accelerometer is used to move the character, to jump, swing weapons, etc. The graphics are very impressive.
The person demoing notes that in some cases they’re better than those of handheld gaming platforms. The app will be available later this year. What we were just shown–which was damn impressive–was pulled together in just two weeks.
Forstall back onstage. He’s talking about one feature that developers have requested that wasn’t included in the SDK: The ability to run applications in the background as well as the foreground.
He pulls up a Windows Mobile task manager to demonstrate the wrong way to address that request. “This is nuts,” he says. Apple has come up with a far better solution: We’ve developed a push notification service.
Apple will maintain a persistent IP connection to the iPhone through which third-party applications can push notifications to the device. These can be badges, text notifications and audio notifications. There is also a unified push notification service for all developers that preserves battery life, maintains performance and works over the air. This will be available in September, but Apple will begin seeding it soon.
Jobs strolls back onstage to discuss some new features.
The first: Contact Search. Your standard contact search.
Second: Full iWork document support: pages, keynote. MS office support as well: Word, PowerPoint. (Cut-and-paste support?)
Third: Bulk delete and move.
Fourth: Save images from email.
Fifth: A landscape view of the calculator.
Sixth: Parental controls.
Seventh: Languages: there are two forms for Japanese, two forms for Chinese (simplified and traditional) including one that allows you to draw the characters with your finger. “One of the great advantages of not having a bunch of plastic keys on your keyboard,” says Jobs.
What about 8, 9 and 10? Cut-and-paste, chat and a better camera? No? Damn.
“iPhone 2.0 raises us to a whole new level,” says Jobs. “We’ll release it in July. It will be free to all iPhone owners, and $9.95 for iPod Touch users.
Moving on to the App Store. It will be on every iPhone, and it supports wireless downloads, automatic installs and automatic updates. Developers can set the price of their apps. Developers take 70%. No credit card or hosting fees. Apps will be DRM’d for FairPlay.
If a developer chooses to offer their app for free, Apple won’t charge them anything. Apps under 10 MG can be downloaded over the air. Apps above that size can be downloaded over iTunes or via Wi-Fi.
Apple has also developed an enterprise version of the apps store that will allow companies to distribute their custom applications only to their employees on their phones.
There’s another distribution method as well: Ad Hoc. Developers can mail apps to up to 100 users.
Now we’ve got something entirely new: It’s called MobileMe. Phil Schiller takes the stage to talk about it. What’s MobileMe? “It’s like Exchange for the rest of us.”
(Haha.) He just slipped up and called active sync “active stink.”
With MobileMe, iPhone users can have mail, calendar, etc. pushed to their phones. Information is stored in the cloud and then pushed to all a user’s Apple devices. Change a meeting on your phone, the update is pushed to MobileMe, which then pushes that update to your laptop and the machines of the people who are scheduled to attend it.
All this is done over the air. MobileMe works directly with Apple apps. It also works with Outlook for PC users. Apple has also built a suite of Web-based applications. You’ll find them at me.com. The applications look pretty robust. More like those you’d see on the desktop than on the Web.
Mail, contacts, calendar, photos–which can be sent directly to MobileMe from the phone–iDisk for storage.
He’s demoing it now: supports drag and drop. Also supports real-time contact search with links to Google (GOOG) maps for directions.
Calendar supports drag and drop as well. Want to reschedule a meeting? Drag it to another date and time.
Moves on to iDisk, which has a new interface. All this is tightly integrated with the iPhone. He checks a push email on his phone, saves the sender as a contact. Now he checks his MobileMe account online. The email and new contact are already there.
Now he creates a new calendar entry on his laptop. He check his phone and there it is. Now he leaves the iPhone view up on the screen behind him, walks back over to the laptop and adds another meeting to his calendar. A few seconds later, the iPhone screen updates with that new meeting. He demonstrates the same thing with a photo.
MobileMe will be available for $99 a year, with 20 gigabytes of storage. It will be available in July. And yes, MobileMe does replace .mac. Mac users will be automatically upgraded.
And what about that cut-and-paste support? No? Anyone? Bueller?
Jobs back onstage. In a few weeks, it will be the iPhone’s first birthday, he says.
He shows some photos of the crowds outside the Manhattan Apple store.
Jobs: “This is the phone that has changed phones forever.” He says the iPhone has 90% customer satisfaction; 98% of iPhone users are mobile browsing; 94% are using email; 90% are text messaging; 80% are using 10 features or more. “You can’t even find 10 features on other phones,” he adds.
Apple has sold 6 million phones so far, Jobs says. Now we need to address our next challenges:
1. 3G
2. enterprise support
3. Third party applications
4. more countries
5. more affordable.
Jobs notes that everyone wants one, but 56% of consumers Apple surveyed said it was too expensive.
iPhone 3G announced to roar of applause, camera flashes.
iPhone 3g is thinner, full plastic back, solid metal buttons, but same display, camera, a flush headphone jack, dramatically improved audio. “Feels even better in your hand, if you can believe that,” Jobs says.
How does the iPhone 3G tackle the challenges I just mentioned?
Video of EDGE vs. 3G pageload on Safari: 3G takes 21 seconds, EDGE still grinding away. Web site is National Geographic, very image heavy. EDGE still grinding; audience begins laughing. EDGE takes 59 seconds; 3G is 2.8 times faster than EDGE.
Jobs notes that 3G speeds approach those of Wi-Fi. Apple compared the iPhone 3G to two other state-of-the-art 3g phones, and the iPhone is 36% faster than Nokia N95 and Treo 750.
Video of same comparison with an email attachment: 3G downloads it in five seconds; EDGE takes 18 seconds. 3G is 3.6 times faster.
Talking about battery life now: iPhone 3G has 300 hours standby. 2G talk time: 10 hours; 3G talk time: five hours–that’s an industry-leading metric.
Five to six hours of browsing. Seven hours of video. Twenty-four hours of audio.
One other thing that benefits from fast data is GPS, and we’ve built that into the iPhone 3G, Jobs notes
Jobs talking about how location based services for the iPhone are about to explode. He’s demoing GPS tracking now. Jobs tracks a car driving down San Francisco’s Lombard Street.
Now, he circles back to enterprise support, third-party apps, and international distribution. Apple hoped to put the iPhone in 25 countries. World map appears on screen. Theme from “It’s a Small World” plays as countries in which the iPhone is distributed are quickly colored in. Half-hearted “Small World” sing-along fades after a few verses.
Lots of applause for this: “We’ll be rolling out the iPhone 3G in 70 countries over the next few months.” The next time you’re in Malta and you need an iPhone, it’ll be there.
Deals for all these countries are signed, sealed and delivered, according to Jobs.
Moving on to price: iPhone 3G will sell for $199 for 8GB version. Huge applause.
“With think at that price point it will be affordable for everyone,” Jobs says. The 16GB model will be $299 and will be available in black and white. Apple will start rolling the iPhone out in 22 of the largest countries on July 11.
on to a new ad: “It’s finally here. The new phone that beats the iPhone–it’s the iPhone 3G.”
The ad’s tagline: “Twice as fast. Half the price.” You can almost feel the early adopters in the audience wincing.
Jobs after ad ends: “Isn’t that nice? Would you like to see it again?” Audience roars; Jobs plays the ad again. “Just like the first iPhone, this new iPhone is one of the most amazing products I’ve ever had the pleasure of being associated with.” Jobs asks iPhone team to stand. Lots of audience applause.
Looks like that’s it. “Take advantage of the great sessions and go make some great products,” says Jobs. And the keynote ends. Sadly, there’s no “one more thing” moment today — no video-chat support, no chat support, no cut-and-paste.

Developers, Start Your App Engines

John Paczkowski — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:00:48 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

New From Google: Google Acquisition Engine

John Paczkowski — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:00:42 +0000

Here’s a clever way of streamlining the acquisition process: Become a platform-as-a-service provider and encourage developers to create Web applications using your proprietary database and your APIs (application programming interfaces).

That seems to be what Google (GOOG) has done with App Engine, a new service for developers who’d like to write and run their Web applications on the company’s infrastructure. With App Engine developers can establish their own little Google Labs outposts, building Google-friendly applications using Google’s own building blocks on the Google File System and Google will handle the scaling and fail-over issues.

That’s a compelling proposition–assuming you want Google to control your entire end-to-end development environment. And who wouldn’t these days? What better way to pique the search giant’s acquisitive interests than building a great big Web 2.0 sandcastle in its very own Web 2.0 sandbox? Who knows, you may be the next YouTube or, at the very least, the next Zingku or Jaiku. And if it turns out that you are, how convenient would it be for Google to acquire you, as Dave Winer noted a while back at Scripting News:

How much would it be worth to buy companies without having to transition their technology to their platform? There would be no retraining either, all the programmers in the companies they acquire would know how to work in the environment. Further, can you imagine that they’d charge universities to teach comp sci using their cloud?

“Given the cost of acquisitons, recruiting and training they can afford to blow a lot of money on free bandwidth, storage and CPU to make the buying and hiring process more efficient and increase the hit rate (the percentage of programmers who work out).”

Embrace. Extend …. What Comes Next, Again?

John Paczkowski — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:09:00 +0000

In order to build the necessary respect and win the mindshare of the Internet community, I recommend a recipe not unlike the one we’ve used with our TCP/IP efforts: embrace, extend, then innovate. Phase 1 (Embrace): All participants need to establish a solid understanding of the infostructure and the community–determine the needs and the trends of the user base. Only then can we effectively enable Microsoft system products to be great Internet systems. Phase 2 (Extend): Establish relationships with the appropriate organizations and corporations with goals similar to ours. Offer well-integrated tools and services compatible with established and popular standards that have been developed in the Internet community.”

–J Allard, corporate vice president of design and development for the Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division, “Windows: The Next Killer Application on the Internet,” 1994

In February, Microsoft (MSFT) surprised industry watchers and embraced the idea of data portability, throwing its support behind OpenID, a decentralized digital-identity protocol.

This morning came the inevitable extension of that idea, the announcement of a partnership with five social networks on a new data-portability strategy. LinkedIn, Tagged, Hi5, Bebo (TWX) and Facebook have all agreed to use Mirosoft’s Windows Live Contacts API to, in the words of John Richards, director of Microsoft’s Windows Live Platform, “create a safe, secure two-way street for users to move their relationships between our respective services.“

In other words “Windows Live Messenger.” Certainly, it’s hard not to look at Microsoft’s announcement that way, given the simultaneous debut of invite2messenger.net, a new Microsoft Web site through which people can invite friends from participating social networks to join their Windows Live Messenger contact list.

“In completing this two-way street, both Windows Live and our partners have paid special attention to relationship context and privacy management in order to create the best possible user experience,” explains Richards. “We understand that just because people have a friend relationship with a contact on one social network, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they want that same relationship on another network. To preserve the context of the relationship, we are requiring that relationships be re-established in each experience with permission from the friend or contact, rather than automatically storing the data. We encourage you to visit www.invite2messenger.net to see these ideas in action, and to invite your Facebook, Bebo, Hi5, LinkedIn and Tagged friends to join you on the world’s largest instant messaging network, Windows Live Messenger.”

iPwned

John Paczkowski — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:00:46 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

UseTube

John Paczkowski — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:22:37 +0000

YouTube’s going white label. This morning the online video outfit published APIs (application programming interfaces) giving publishers the ability to offer YouTube’s services directly to their own users. The move allows for the creation of so-called “chromeless” players–tailored to a publisher’s specifications and outfitted in their own branding–through which videos can be uploaded and viewed without ever visiting YouTube’s site. From the announcement:

YouTube’s latest API offerings allow anyone building a Web site or software application that is connected to the Internet to upload videos straight to YouTube; let users comment, rate and favorite the videos; and customize and control the Flash player in which the videos are played. This can be used in conjunction with the existing APIs, which launched last year and which provide the ability to view videos on other sites and to search for videos on YouTube.

“The enhancements to the YouTube APIs and Tools offering are free and easy to use, giving YouTube users yet another way to engage the world of video and actively participate in the YouTube community wherever they are, whenever they want.”

Of course, these enhancements also give YouTube and, by extension, Google (GOOG), another way to engage the world of advertising. In the API’s terms of service, YouTube reserves the right to serve ads through a publisher’s API Client, but prohibits publishers from selling their own. Two relevant excerpts from the TOS:

I. Definitions
“API Data” means any data or content, including but not limited to YouTube video content, obtained from YouTube using any YouTube API, including advertising content that YouTube may, in its sole discretion, provide along with or insert in data or content obtained from YouTube using the YouTube API.”

4. Commercial Use. You agree not to use the YouTube API for any prohibited commercial uses, which include the following actions taken without YouTube’s express approval:

the sale of the YouTube API, API Data, YouTube video content or related services, or access to any of the foregoing;

use of the YouTube API for the primary purpose of deriving revenues from your API Client, such as advertising or subscription revenue or the sale of copies of the API Client;

the sale of advertising, sponsorships or promotions targeted to, within or on the API Client or YouTube video content.

Ah. So that’s how it is: YouTube doesn’t just broadcast you, it broadcasts advertisements as well.

UPDATE: YouTube product manager Jim Patterson tells TechCrunch that the API is open to YouTube Partners, who will share in the advertising generated by their players.

We are not introducing any fundamentally new way to monetize. Any video that is uploaded through our API is treated exactly as on YouTube.com. In general if a video is uploaded to YouTube, in some cases we serve ads into that on YouTube.com. When people embed those we reserve rights to serve ads in the future.”

What, No Oracle Database 11g for iPhone?

John Paczkowski — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:18:35 +0000

We’re telling IT executives to not support it because Apple has no intentions of supporting (iPhone use in) the enterprise. This is basically a cellular iPod with some other capabilities and it’s important that it be recognized as such.”

–Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney, July 2, 2007

Today’s an important one for Apple (AAPL). The company is hosting a “town hall” meeting to discuss an iPhone software roadmap. Presumably, this event will see the release of more details about the eagerly anticipated iPhone SDK, but perhaps not the debut of the SDK itself. Certainly, that’s the impression given by the invitation to the event–”Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features.” Enterprise features? Ready to eat your words, Dulaney?

But whether the SDK is released to developers today or not, this event promises to be a watershed one. Because it heralds a vast new addressable software market for developers. After all, the iPhone and iPod touch run OS X, and presumably most future iPod models will as well. Which likely means that applications written for Mac in Xcode–Apple’s development toolset–will be deployable on any OS X device. They’ll be “write once, run anywhere”–anywhere there’s OS X, that is. And word on the street has it that we may see a few of them as early as today.

The event begins at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET). Updates to follow …

UPDATES:

The event’s begun. You’ll find streaming video of the event here.
The next iPhone software update will include support for Push Email, Push Calendar, Push Contacts, Global Address List, Cisco VPM, Certificates and WPA2/802.1x, Security Policies, Device Config, and Remote Wipe. Wow.
Responding to customer demand for Microsoft Exchange on the iPhone, Apple has gone ahead and licensed ActiveSync for the device.
Exchange will be native to the iPhone. Jobs must be muttering multiple “BOOMS” from backstage.
Nike and Disney have been testing Exchange for iPhone and are pretty happy with it.
Scott Forstall is now taking the stage to talk about the iPhone SDK. Apple giving developers the same tools and APIs it uses to develop iPhone apps.
Apple took Cocoa and created Cocoa Touch, a new framework for building apps.
The OS X kernel is the same for desktop and iPhone.
Xcode has been expanded to support iPhone. It will code complete APIs for the iPhone SDK. (See? What’d I tell you: write once, run anywhere there’s OS X.)
SDK includes Interface Builder and iPhone Simulator that allow developers to run their apps on their desktops. “It runs on a Mac and simulates the entire API stack on your computer,” Forstall says.
Forstall builds a quick “Hello World” app, drops it on the iPhone and runs it. Quick and easy.
“This is an app I just built in two minutes. But we wanted to see what we could build in two days. So we built Touch FX,” Forstall says. It’s an image editor that allows you to warp photos by pinching them.
Forstall then demos Touch Fighter, a point-and-shoot game.
Did I mention the SDK is available today? Good luck downloading it …
Whoa. Travis Boatman from Electronic Arts takes the stage and demos an iPhone version of Spore. They’ve already ported 18 levels. (Hope SDK includes tool for building spare batteries.)
Apple really pulling out all the stops on this one. Chuck Dietrich from Salesforce.com onstage now.
Salesforce ported one of its automation tools to the iPhone, one that graphically displays how salespeople are performing against their goals.
Next up: AOL. AIM for iPhone. Took five days to build.
Larry Ellison takes the stage to announce Oracle Database 11g for iPhone.
Kidding.
Epocrates demo. Clinical reference app for doctors.
Ethan Einhorn from Sega up next.
Ha! Super MonkeyBall for iPhone. “This is not a cellphone game. This is a full console game. … We had to fly in a developer to upscale the art for the iPhone,” Einhorn says.
Jobs back onstage. Announces the iTunes App Store. “You’re a developer who just spent two weeks or a bit longer writing an application. What’s your dream?” Jobs asks. “To get it in front of every iPhone user.”
Apps can be downloaded wirelessly or sideloaded via iTunes. “This is the exclusive way to distribute iPhone applications,” Jobs says, adding: “We are controlling distribution.” (We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to… The iTunes App Store.)
Developers price their own apps and they get 70% of the revenues they generate. Apple takes 30% for running the App Store. ” … To be clear, we don’t intend to make money off the App Store. We’re basically giving all the money to the developers, and the 30% that pays for running the store, that’ll be great.”
Apple plans to release an iPhone 2.0 software update in June that will include enterprise capabilities, App Store, etc.
One more thing …
Oh, look: It’s KPCB’s John Doerr. Must be here to demo i’MRich for iPhone.
Doerr announces the iFund for iPhone developers.
$100 million to start. Boom.BOOM. BOOM! “That should be enough to start about a dozen Amazons, or even four Googles! … If you want to invent the future, the iFund wants to help you build it,” Doerr says.
END

(Spore photo courtesy Gizmodo)

Yahoo! Buzz: Like Digg, But Purple and 3 Years Late to the Social News Space

John Paczkowski — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:37:27 +0000

We have taken the proposal Microsoft (MSFT) delivered to us very seriously. We made a public statement why we have not accepted the proposal. In many ways it has been a galvanizing event for all of Yahoo.”

–Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Feb. 25

A galvanizing event, indeed. Jerry Yang has about 20 days to convince Yahoo (YHOO) shareholders that they’re better off saving the company than selling it, and he is pulling out all the stops.

Last night Yahoo officially launched Buzz, a social news service where “buzz-worthy” articles are ranked according to user interest. It’s essentially Digg (if Digg was purple), redundant and three years late to the social news market.

“You cast your vote on the most interesting Web stories, images or videos about anything and everything–from a late-breaking political story on a major news site, to the coolest photo of the lunar eclipse, to a shocking celebrity-gossip blog post that shouldn’t be missed,” Yahoo’s Tapan Bhat explained in a post to Yahoo Anecdotal. “The best part is that the stories with the highest Buzz Scores–determined by combining your votes with organic search popularity rankings–may be featured on the Yahoo! homepage, giving you the power to influence what millions of people see on Yahoo!.” (And, yes, that us a Yahoo Buzz! icon appended below. Be sure to click it on your way out and “Buzz” this post up to Yahoo’s homepage.)

Also debuting from Yahoo today, Search Monkey–a set of open-source application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow publishers to annotate search results for their sites. “… Our intent is clear–present users with richer, more useful search results so that they can complete their tasks more efficiently and get from ‘to-do’ to ‘done,’ ” Vish Makhijani, senior vice president and general manager of Yahoo Search, wrote in a post to Yahoo Anecdotal. ” … So instead of a simple title, abstract and URL, for the first time, users will see rich results that incorporate the massive amount of data buried in Web sites.”

So essentially, it’s like Google’s Subscribed Links, but purple and two years late to the market.

Microsoft Announces Significant Announcement

John Paczkowski — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:57:55 +0000

Microsoft (MSFT) made a “significant” company announcement this morning, one thankfully unrelated to its bid for the much diminished Yahoo (YHOO) Inc.

But what is there for the software giant to talk about these days other than Yahoo, really? Why that old saw, software interoperability, of course. In a statement issued this morning, the software giant announced changes to its technology and business practices intended to “increase the openness of its products and drive greater interoperability, opportunity and choice for developers, partners, customers and competitors”–which translates roughly as “appease European antitrust officials.”

Among the key changes:

Microsoft will make the protocols and APIs in its high-volume products openly available to the developer community.
Microsoft will indicate which protocols are covered by Microsoft patents and will issue licenses to those patents on “reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, at low royalty rates.”
Microsoft will implement a covenant not to sue open-source developers for development or noncommercial distribution of implementations of those protocols.
Microsoft will support open standards and work with developers and standards-setting bodies to enable the transfer of user data from Microsoft applications to apps designed by third-party developers.

“Customers need all their vendors, including and especially Microsoft, to deliver software and services that are flexible enough such that any developer can use their open interfaces and data to effectively integrate applications or to compose entirely new solutions,” Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, said in a statement. “By increasing the openness of our products, we will provide developers additional opportunity to innovate and deliver value for customers.”

Quite a move for a company whose leadership once likened Linux to “cancer” and derided open-source licensing models as “Pacman-like.” Though it’s not like we haven’t seen this all before.

“They are not making the source codes open, but they are opening the gates that allow you into the compound,” said Matt Asay, a general manager at open-source management company Alfresco. “It’s a great first step. … It’s a bold move by Microsoft. It’s a good indication of Microsoft’s self-confidence that it feels it can open up what effectively are its crown jewels and not lobotomize its company at the same time.”