As expected, Google rolled out their Nexus One during an invitation only media event days before the Consumer Electronics Show. The Android operating system gives this phone the edge it needs to win consumers away from industry giant, Apple.
The latest version of the Google Android includes an expanded home screen, live wallpaper option, a 3D photo gallery, and a new home panel navigation system. The smartphone has voice activated features that will make it the perfect tool for multi-taskers. A 1-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor is a first on any smartphone and makes it possible to have several functions running at the same time.
Nexus One has a sleek design is just under half an inch thick and weighs under five ounces. The beautiful 3.7 inch vivid color screen is a great way to view web applications and videos. A 5 mega-pixel camera is also included as a standard feature.
The best part of this new “superphone” is consumers can purchase the phone without signing a contract with any specific carrier for about $530. T-Mobile will be offering a special deal for its customers, the phone will be $180 with a new 2 year service agreement.
Good news for fans of Google street view! Google has added 9 new Canadian cities to their street view mapping service. They have added Victoria, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Edmonton as well as Saskatoon and Winnipeg. Google also added Sudbury, Ontario, Sherbrook, Quebec and St. Johns.
In October the cities of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Bringing the total amount of Canadian cities represented to 20. Google street view, gives a 360 degree eye level view of landmarks, streets, houses and businesses taken from photographs of several views of a particular landmarks.
Since 2007 Google has been gathering pictures of Canadian cities. Photographs are collected by cars that drive around with cameras mounted on top of them.
Google began its street view program in 2007 and has since added over 250 cities from around the world! Canada’s Privacy Commissioner raised privacy issues concerning people’s faces that get caught walking down the street or license plates of vehicles parked or driving down the street.
To help ease people’s concerns, Google has decided to blur both people’s faces as well as vehicle license plates.
Google has also begun taking pictures and adding them to the street view of the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Venues in Whistler and Vancouver will be the first for the Canadian specialized street view section.
Google is known worldwide for its internet searches. In addition to its renowned searching capabilities, the technology company has diversified and expanded in recent years, becoming a major player in online marketing, internet-based email, and other online services. However, is it possible that this technological powerhouse is now expanding into toilet paper?
If recent photos are to be believed, then it seems like anything is possible.
A Huffington Post reader recently submitted photographic evidence, clearly showing Google brand toilet paper. The product has been found in Vietnam. The packaging clearly displays the brand name as Google, with a catch line in Vietnamese. According to one translation, Google toilet paper seeks to please consumers with its soft and smooth texture and its highly absorbent nature, all things that are important for this daily bathroom product.
While the toilet paper is unarguably called Google, there is no evidence that the brand is directly related to the technological leader. Though the name is unmistakable, the logo is decidedly different, lacking the distinctive styling and appearance of the infamous search engine. There is also no evidence as to the true quality of the toilet paper, and how it compares to others on the market.
Sesame Street is the American television series (shown in Canada too) which has been pioneer in education for teaching young children. Combining learning and entertainment. Today Sesame Street celebrates forty years.
Originally the project include Jim Henson. He created the famous puppet-characters of Bert and Ernie, Cooke Monster,, Big Bird, Kermit the Frog, Grover and of course Elmo.
The show is produced in the United States by the company Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children’s Television Workshop (CTW), founded by Joan Ganz Cooney and Ralph Rogers.
Doodle Sesame Street
Google has paid tribute to the show by creating their famous doodles, incorporating the key characters. The Sesame Street doodle is visible in South Africa, Palestine, Belgium, Croatia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Spain, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Qatar.
Since Wednesday is the frenzy in Quebec. Everywhere on the web, Facebook and Twitter, people wonder if they recognize their home, their apartment on Google street wiew is now available. Is this an infringement on individual freedom?
In Canada, the online application is available in the cities of Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Halifax, Calgary.
When this feature of Google map, which allows you to see a place like if you were there and to recognize, was released, it was controversial. For people thought at first that the images were real-time. What was worrying, let’s face it. Then people were caught in uncomfortable situations: post a video store for adults, urinating (why do it in the street?), Tanning, picking his nose, etc.. The law protects privacy in Canada is very useful.
The images are taken by car with Pascal Forget Google took a photo and several others when strolling the streets of Montreal last spring.
The functionality of Street View is really impressive. With the mouse or keyboard, you can forward, backward (arrows lower back), swing left or right (left-right arrows), up or down to zoom (+ or – keys).
Faces and license plates of vehicles are scrambled by the computer system — house numbers are not hidden.
Street View is a Google service has experienced the highest growth of use in 2008, said the head research and development of Google, Luc Vincent.
Launched in 2005 as an experiment, Street View only covered five U.S. cities in early 2007. Since the service was implemented in 14 countries.
No income
The service is not yet generating revenue for the Web giant, he said. “The Google model is to first create a unique and useful tool to many people. Once we have this product and we see if it has a good attendance, we will start to think about monetization. This is not our main concern at present. “
In early October, Google and the U.S. cell phone operator Verizon announced a partnership to support the mobile platform Android. Pending the arrival of the Motorola Android Droid under 2.0 on their network operator pokes fun of the iPhone in a campaign.
The new TV spot points out all the things that Apple’s iPhone is unable to do including the issues of not running multiple apps, no 5mp camera, not customization and no widgets.
While pretending to continue to negotiate with Apple to try to get the right distribution of the iPhone when the exclusivity period of AT & T comes to an end by 2010, the U.S. operator Verizon has confirmed its commitment to Google Android earlier this month by signing a partnership with Google.
This involves a co-development of several models Android, with the imminent commercialization of several smartphones including the Motorola Droid (codenamed Sholes) in November. Verizon could not stand up now that the distribution of terminals blacberry and Windows Mobile and is therefore an extension of its support for major mobile platforms.
According to preliminary information, this new version should redesign the interface but also integrate inbox emails unified native support for Exchange, and a new version of Google Maps. In contrast, no sign of support for Flash 10.
Finally, it seems likely that the Motorola Droid, scheduled for release in October or November in the United States, will be the first Android mobile equipped with “Lightning” 2.0.
Google wants to better blur faces and plate numbers in its Street View service, but refuses to reduce the height of the camera that takes pictures. The company is responding to certain recommendations of the Federal Data Protection.
To improve the process of anonymous faces and vehicles, Google will use a new version of its software, the company said. Currently, Google Street View automatically blurs faces and license plates, but the system does not always work.
The American company refuses cons of reducing the height of the camera that takes pictures of streets of Swiss cities. The camera is currently set on a pole placed on a car.
Google hopes to continue photographing buildings and signs so that we can recognize them. “Reducing the height of the mast would also bring the camera in the faces of passersby,” the firm wrote.
The Federal Data Protection had requested that the camera is set so that it can not photograph the gardens or private lessons.
Google has finally given Canadians something they’ve been hoping for for some time: Street View. Now residents in a number of major cities can find their homes, parks, businesses and maybe even themselves on Google’s Street View.
Google Street View Canada currently has high-resolution images of 15 Canadian cities taken at street-level. Currently, the 360-degree views are available in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Waterloo, Kitchener, Squamish, Whistler, Chilliwack, Banff National Park, Calgary, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Abbotsford and Vancouver. The earlier part of this year has been spent gathering images for the Canadian cities.
The Canadian government has not hidden their apprehension regarding the technology and privacy. According to Google, all images are taken from public streets and do not infringe on anyone’s privacy. In compliance with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Google Street View automatically blurs the faces of people it captures, along with all license places. Anyone that finds themself of Google Street View can have their image removed by filling out a form online.
Already Canadians have begun sending in fun images they have found on Google Street View. Finds include a street accident at an intersection that disappears while viewing the street 180-degrees, garbage piles in an outdoor skating rink with handwriting on the sidewalk: “Toronto Parks Are Not Dumps!”, and an image showing a Tamil protest in Ottawa across from Parliament Hill.
The Street View application is currently available on iPhones, allowing anyone to enter an address and get a clear, high-resolution view of the intersection or building. All Street View images are patched together from many angles and allow a 360-degree view.
Google Street View was recently launched for 11 cities in Canada. The Canadian government has been very public about their apprehensions with this new technology. They have expressed their concern for the privacy of citizens and their homes.
Google has blurred all faces and license plates in order to ensure the privacy of any individual who may have been included in a photo. Google has explained the views are all taken from public streets, and do not violate anyone’s privacy. Google has included links for reporting any concerns a person may have. Any concerns that are reported will be reviewed. If they are found to violate a persons privacy, they will be removed.
The Street View technology is available on iPhones. Simply enter in an address, and you will get a clear view of the building or landmark you are looking for. Street View uses images that are patched together from several different angles. The Street View, gives a user a 360 degree view of a particular street address. This application was first launched in the United States in 2007. It is currently available in 10 countries.
A few local residents are a little embarrassed about the pictures that were taken during the garbage workers strike. Several of the local parks were filled with garbage and those are the pictures that appear in the Street View. Mayors of these particular cities are hoping to increase tourism with this latest technology.
The Canadian cities that are included in the Street View thus far are as follows; Halifax, Toronto, Quebec City, Calgary, Montreal, Squamish, Whistler, Waterloo, and Ottawa Kitchener.
Google Launches Street View for 11 Canadian Cities
Google has just added Street View for 11 cities in Canada. A few of the cities included are Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver.
The Street View application was first released in May of 2007. There are now 14 countries included in the system. The US was the first country to get Street View, and back then there were only 5 cities available.
Google Street View has recieved a significant amount of controversy.
In the United States in 2007, people complained of being photographed without their knowledge.
Others criticized Google for showing images where you could see inside their homes.
The Canadian government has expressed their concern over the privacy violations that may occur with this application. Google assures people, that the views published, are views that can be seen from any street. Google has blurred people’s faces and license plate numbers, that appear in the images. They have also included a link for people to report any issues they may have with the application.
These applications are available on the iPhones in the maps area. The views are taken from the street, and allow a user to see a panoramic view of a specific area. The views are not in real time. The images were taken over a period of time and patched together.
Users can view landmarks, city parks and other buildings by entering in an address. Several mayors of these particular cities, are excited to have the application go live. The mayors hope to increase interest in their cities, and draw in more tourists.
Google Street View is available in 14 countries.