Email delegation: Granting access to your Gmail account

Google Goggles

Google Goggles is a downloadable image recognition application created by Google Inc. It is currently found in the Google Labs as a beta version. Currently, it is used for searches based on pictures taken by handheld devices. For example taking a picture of a famous landmark would search for information about it, or taking a picture of a product's barcode will search for information on the product.

The program proposed will be capable of identifying virtually anything. Currently the system is able to identify various labels or landmarks, allowing the user to learn about such items without needing a text-based search. The system can identify barcodes that allow users to search for similar products and prices, as well as save codes for future reference, similar to the failed CueCat of the late '90s, but with more functionality. The system will also recognize printed text and using Optical character recognition (OCR) produce a text snippet, and in some cases even translate the snippet into another language.

For more details check it here
http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/#text

Source : Wikipedia

Google's new Smartphone Nexus S launched with Gingerbread

Google has launched its new flagship Android phone the "Nexus S" made by South Korea's Samsung. The new phone is the first device to run Android 2.3, codenamed "Gingerbread".

The Nexus S will be made available in the U.S. from December 16 from Best Buy stores and from December 20 at Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy retailers in Britain, said Google Vice President of Engineering Andy Rubin. He further added that Nexus S delivers unfiltered access to the best Google mobile services and the latest and greatest Android releases and updates.

The new phone is a slab-style, 1-GHz smartphone like Samsung's popular Galaxy S line. It has 5-megapixel rear-facing and VGA front-facing cameras, 16 gigabytes of internal memory and HD video playback and 720-by-480 video capture. It works on both T-Mobile's 3G network and AT&T's 2G EDGE network.

The Nexus S spotlights key features in Google's Gingerbread OS, including support for near-field communications (NFC), built-in voice-over-IP calling, faster speed, better power management, more sensors and front-facing cameras. NFC chips store personal data that can be transmitted to readers.

Nexus S will cost $529 unlocked, or $199 with a two-year T-Mobile contract.

Source : SiliconIndia

Will emails die soon?

According to experts, email is dying and the time is not so far when social media will replace it as the dominant form of communication not only in our individual lives but also in the world of business. Well, with the increased use of text, instant messaging, VoIP, and now microstreaming solutions like Twitter and Facebook, it seems that email is having a tough time, but does it really indicate a slow death of email?

Research firm Gartner would answer 'Yes' to the question. According to its recent prediction, social networking services, coupled with changing demographics and work styles will surpass email as the main form of communication in businesses by 2014. It says that around 20 percent of employees will switch to social networks from email as their business communications' hub. While this is just a prediction, it has got strong support from a wide range of capabilities that have emerged in communications, enabling richer interactions among people.

It's true that features of technologies like persistent chat rooms, and instant messaging offer real benefits that can't be supported by email communication. There are people who say that email was better suited to the way we used to use the Internet, logging off and on, checking our messages in bursts. Now, whether we are sitting at a desk or on a mobile phone, we are always connected. This feeling of ever connectedness that services like instant messaging, Twitter and Facebook offer can be the key factor for email losing its ground (if it ever happens).

No doubt that newer ways of communication have brought a lot of possibilities, but a new communications medium doesn't necessarily replace the old one. Although micro-blogging on platforms like Twitter and Facebook are reshaping both individual and enterprise communications, it won't put an end to email services, it doesn't need to. Today, the distinction between email and social networks is likely to be eroded with email taking on many social attributes, while social networks developing richer email capabilities. Vendors like Microsoft and IBM are going to add links to internal and external social networks from within e-mail clients and servers, making services such as contacts, calendars and tasks shareable across email and social networks.

From an enterprise perspective, email is not just a mere form of communication and collaboration; there is something more to it. Corporate email also means 'filing systems', 'corporate memory' and the likes. These are the functions we simply can't perform with tools like Facebook, Twitter, or SMS.

Consider this; email is very good at things that seem like spam: sending unsolicited and perhaps unwanted messages to people that are unknown aside from their email address. The basic protocols of store-and-forwarding of email means that email can be filtered into spam folders, but it basically has to be delivered.

At this point, it is better to get active using email and adding it to the mix when new things come along. This will surely make a strong integrated approach. Email is alive.

Source : SiliconIndia

Blogger Buzz: Welcome, Google Apps Users!

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