I’ve been using Chrome as my primary web browser heavily for the last day, and I’ve already run into a few snags. I am probably a bit of a heavy user, so I’ve run into a few things that might not bother the average user, but to me they are flies in the otherwise pleasant ointment.
mp3s/movies
Chrome treats media files very strangely. I suppose Google just assumes you will use YouTube to watch all movies. When I wanted to watch an .mpg video, it opened up in the browser, and secondly in Quicktime (UGH). The quicktime issue is problematic because Chrome doesn’t give you an option to change the default program. Very lame. Second, it opens up in the browser. I prefer to have the files open up in a separate media player. That way I can scale the video, or use any options the video player has.
RSS feeds
I love RSS feeds. I have about 250 news feeds that I check daily. Allows me to quickly browse news in a central area. Chrome surprisingly does not handle RSS well. In other browsers, it renders the page like a normal webpage to give you a feel for what it looks like, and gives you an option to subscribe in the program of your choice. Chrome does nothing. It shows you the raw code- very unfriendly. Secondly, most browsers gives you that familiar orange radar signal symbol – Chrome does not.
I might be going back to Firefox sooner than later.
Google has unveiled the OS they have been working on. As expected, it is basically just a browser that allows you to quickly access web apps – Google’s bread and butter.
It seems like a good idea for many people. How much of what you do really needs to be done on your computer? If you are like most you do email, web browsing, watch youtube, go on facebook, post to a blog maybe. For all that you really don’t need a full blown computer.
My concern however, is that for very specific instances this OS is just not enough. What about people who want to edit the videos they upload to youtube? No imovie or windows movie maker here (and no equivalent). Photoshop? nope. Even if these apps became available online somehow, would you really want to wait while you uploaded raw video over the internet? think of how much RAM photoshop uses. Think thats going to translate well going over your cable modem? Want to play a DVD – no media drives.
Better still – How would you sync an iPod with this? There is no online version of itunes.
Here’s the kicker. Nothing is saved to your computer. It’s all in “the cloud”, so you can just go to another computer and not have to worry about transferring your docs and files. But what if you don’t have internet access? Tough luck. Guess you won’t be using your computer.
Still very interesting. Microsoft and Apple should be a bit concerned. A big positive? You don’t run any native application locally, so less concern about security and viruses.
I got a notice in the mail for a recall notice on my explorer. I took it in to the local Ford dealer. I was fully expecting to have to endure the normal day long wait typical when I go in for any kind of service on my car.
To my astonishment not long after I dropped it off I got a call that it was done. I was shocked. This dealer is actually pretty advanced and emails you when you drop your car off, and when it is done. Note the time stamp – the repair took 3(!) minutes.
Lesson? If you want to get in and out quick, take it in for a recall if you have a big repair. When you aren’t paying, they get you in and out quick.
In all seriousness, they offer great service. I’ve been there before and they actually are surprisingly quick with repairs. If you need service on a Ford check out Universal Ford in Richmond.
I have gotten three requests for iPhone app suggestions from friends who have been picking up the phone. I figured thats a good sign I should write up a quick post giving a list of some starter apps that are generally applicable. As great as the App Store is, it is hard to discern what is a good app, from what is just crap.
These are all free unless I mention otherwise.
“Notifications” are something fairly new to iphone. Some programs allows your phone to be pinged like it would be if you suddenly got a text message, a little box pops up with some information. But, these are free, don’t use your texting plan.
Mobile Sites – just a tip. If there is a website you use a lot, you can add a “bookmark” to the site on the app screen. An icon will be added to your apps, and it goes straight to the website. Some websites, like CNN have iphone specific sites which are very easy to navigate, so it is wise to make links to those.
News:
AP Mobile – Notifications for big news items. Also, general news browsing.
CNN Mobile – $1.99. but totally worth it. Allows you to watch LIVE cnn video of breaking news. Also has notifications of big events like AP. (if you don’t want to buy this, you can still use most of cnn from their mobile site)
NPR News – lets you listen to streaming NPR shows on your phone, as well as text news.
AIM (Free) – don’t pay for the paid version. Free because there is a small banner ad at the top, but otherwise the same. Keeps you logged in for 6 hours and has Notifications for new IMs.
Skype – if you have a skype account pretty useful. Can do voice chats over WiFi.
Meebo – There is no Meebo iPhone app yet. However, you can go to their mobile specific site and create one of those apps shortcuts. Meebo is a great service that logs you into all your chat service on one website (AIM, Facebook, Gtalk are all supported plus MANY more)
Virginia has term limits for its Governors. Since Gov. Kaine’s term is up, he accepted as position as the head of the DNC. In addition, he recently announced he will teach classes at the Univeristy of Richmond – in the law school and the school of leadership studies.
Gov. Kaine has taught at the University before, and even practiced law in the area. I bet attendance at a few of his classes will be larger than the class roll.
Here is the email the school sent announcing his appointment:
I am happy to announce that Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will return to the University to resume teaching upon completion of his term in office in January.
Gov. Kaine served as mayor of Richmond and lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth prior to his election as governor. A Harvard law graduate, he practiced law in Richmond earlier in his career and also taught law courses at the University in areas including professional responsibility. He will hold a joint appointment in the School of Law and Jepson School of Leadership Studies and will begin teaching in the spring 2010 semester. He will also assist in advancing the University’s strategic plan, The Richmond Promise. To all of this important work, he will bring a valuable perspective from his leadership experience at the national, state, and local level.
Deans John Douglass and Sandra Peart join me in welcoming Gov. Kaine back to our community and in looking forward to the ways in which he will bring to life for our students the practice of leadership, decision-making, legislative process, and creating public policy.
Currently, different wireless companies use different types of wireless technology. Verizon and Sprint use something called CDMA (and EV-DO as the data part) while AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM (and its data flavors EDGE and HSPA). This means that their phones are incompatible. Hence why your cool iPhone can’t follow you to the superior Verizon network. GSM is also the preferred technology used around the world. CDMA is used mainly in the United States, with some small markets in Asia.
Now that all the major providers are on one standard – we could see a lot of easy switching of phones to different networks. That means that the exclusive contracts limiting phones to certain carriers might not be as important. Therefore, the carriers will have to actually provide good service to convince you to use them (or alternatively really low prices) which is good news for the consumer. And you will be able to take your phone to whatever network and it will work.
If you’ve been watching TV during the past few weeks you’ve probably seen that biting parody ad that Verizon put out attacking AT&T’s network.
It is a pretty direct attack on what Verizon must feel is their biggest threat. The tag line is “There’s a map for that.” A clear parody of Apple/AT&T’s “There’s an app for that” campaign for the iPhone. The “other” guy in the ad is also clearly using an iPhone if you look carefully.
The ad points out that Verizon’s 3G data map is 5 times larger than AT&T’s. The map they use to show that is especially illustrative of this.
AT&T has filed a lawsuit claiming that the map is misleading. While Verizon clearly states “3G” and says the same, the way the ad plays out is that that blue AT&T map shows coverage. What they don’t point out is that even if you don’t get 3G coverage in that blue map, you still fallback to the 2nd Generation EDGE data network. You have data coverage, its just slower.
Do you think it is a confusing ad? Did you understand that? If not, you are the reason AT&T is suing.
Google Voice is yet another product from the search giant (is that still relevant to what they do anymore?). I am a big proponent of Google Voice and push it on most of my geeky friends. Traditionally Google Voice is a service you sign up for and register a new number with Google. The cool part is that you get to pick your number (for example something with Jon in it, or callme, or pick a certain area code). But that is just the beginning.
You then register any phones you want – your cell, your work number, you home line. And if people call your google number it can ring any phone you register. You can set it up to call your work line from 9-5 on weekdays, home on weeknights, and your cell on weekends. You can set up different voicemails for different people. Imagine calling someone and hearing “hey Jon – sorry I can’t take your call, leave a message”. You can also have google transcribe your voicemails and email or text them to your phone. Finally, one of the features I like best – you can have numbers not in your address book go straight to voicemail, or force them to state their name before you answer. This handles telemarketers pretty well.
Plus, there are other cool features like downloading voicemails and recording calls.
If this doesn’t make sense just watch the video:
What stopped many people from using it was that they didnt want to have to give a bunch of people a new phone number. However, if you just want the voicemail features – which is most of Google Voice- Google has found a way around that. Today they announced you could simply work around your current provider’s voicemail.
After joining Google Voice you just choose that you want to keep your own number – and Google gives you a code to enter into your phone which forwards calls to your number to their voicemail system. It basically just skips your voicemail and puts any calls you miss into Google Voicemail. You get all the neat features like transcription, listening to them on the computer, having some calls go straight to voicemail- etc.
Again the video:
I’ve looked into using this myself, and found just a few caveats.
First, I have an iphone. So, I get visual voicemail already. Having them in my inbox doesn’t really change anything. In fact, I think it is easier to check my voicemail without opening the browser and navigating to google Voice first, or calling my google voice number without visual notices.
Second, the way the iphone handles the voicemail file is that it plays it as a media file. This mean the iphone plays it as a song over your speaker instead of in the earpiece. No more private voicemail listening!
Could this be fixed? Probably. The Google Voice app that Apple has so far rejected, and the FCC is looking into would probably help. If I could just go into the Google Voice app to see my voicemails that would eliminate the hassle.
With those points noted – if you are a traditional feature phone user (not a Blackberry, iPhone, Windows Phone, or Android user) then this might be really useful to you. You can have the voicemails texted to you or read them on your computer. You won’t be missing any “visual voicemail” features. It might be a great option!
