Google

Google overhauls Gmail under the hood

Google is making major structural code changes to Gmail and rolling them out slowly. The user interface changes are pretty subtle and you might not even notice them. But the code modifications likely presage more significant design and function improvements to come.

To tell if your account has been affected, a hyperlink at the top of the screen will say "older version" or "newer version," allowing you to choose which version to use.

One thing you might notice is that mail browsing is faster. Google pre-fetches messages in the current view, so when you open an … Read more

Does it matter if Google Orkut goes open source?

If you can't join 'em, beat 'em: this seems to be Google's rally cry, and this time its Facebook taking a potential beating. The New York Times is reporting that Google is in the process of creating an open platform to allow software developers to write widgets and full-fledged programs for Orkut. Never heard of it? It's the Google version of Facebook/MySpace. But Google decided to make it a swarming strategy; the platform will also allow development for other social media sites including Friendster, LinkedIn, Ning, Plaxo, and Facebook's arch rival, MySpace.

Facebook has built … Read more

Microsoft court filing touts Google's 'rapid success'

Google "is perhaps the most notable example of how open and competitive the software industry has become," with "prospects...so bright that the capital markets value the company at approximately $231.5 billion, making it the fifth most valuable company in America." Or so says a document that landed in my in-box last night.

No, it's not a Google press release. It's a snippet from a federal court filing made late Tuesday by perhaps its chief rival today: Microsoft.

Google's formidable presence forms the basis for one of Microsoft's major arguments against … Read more

Gas stations getting pumped for Google Maps

Cars and maps are kind of a match made in heaven. People get lost, and roads are confusing. Luckily, pumping gas is not, and despite some states like Oregon requiring people to pump your gas for you, most other places are a self-serve affair. The Associated Press is reporting that a new line of gas pumps from Gilbarco Veeder-Root, due to ship next month, will be equipped with a touch-screen panel that includes a slightly stripped-down version of Google Maps to let you browse local attractions like hotels, amusement parks, and restaurants that have been handpicked by the gas station'… Read more

Now on Google Earth: Map where Congress spends your tax dollars

Politicians are famous (infamous, some would say) for setting aside billions of federal taxpayer dollars each year to bankroll pet projects in their home districts. Now it's possible to map precisely where at least some of those funds may be headed.

The Sunlight Foundation on Tuesday released a downloadable Google Earth layer that plots what it says are some 1,500 earmarks attached to a proposed U.S. House of Representatives defense spending bill. The Washington-based group describes its mission as promoting political transparency through use of Internet technologies.

Once activated, each project shows up on the layer in … Read more

Rule the planet? Manage your site links in Google

Having your site rank high in the search engines can be a real boost to traffic for your site. Could anything be better than achieving that top spot in Google? How about getting eight more keyword-rich links up there? What I'm talking about is the highly coveted site links.

Site links have been the icing on the cake for a top listing in Google. Site links are additional links to a site that occasionally appear below the listing. What made these especially sweet was that they haven't been something that you had direct control over, but were like … Read more

How will Android affect the other mobile operating systems?

Like a number of my colleagues here at CNET, I had my ear pressed to the phone yesterday morning as the members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), including Google, Motorola, and HTC, revealed their plans for Android, a new open platform for mobile devices. I'm not here to recap all the details of the event here--CNET News.com has a comprehensive story on that--but rather just to jot down some of my thoughts.

Looking at the big picture, I welcome today's news. I think it's a really interesting move for all the parties involved, and … Read more

Google and the wrongly jailed Indian Net surfer

On August 31, Lakshmana Kailash K. was arrested in Bangalore, India, and charged with posting insulting images of a revered historical figure on the Internet. The police claimed that he had uploaded disrespectful images of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the Indian equivalent of George Washington. Free speech, it seems, does not extend to that sort of thing in India.

Normally, this wouldn't be a press-worthy story. After all, India is not the first country to take a hard line against Internet free speech. The Thai military regime blocked the entire YouTube Web site earlier this year after a single video posted … Read more

Will Android be more like Google Earth or Orkut?

Google has ambitious plans for reforming the mobile Internet world. But not everything Google touches turns to gold. Given the challenges Google faces getting the biggest U.S. carriers to play along and the mixed report card on Google products, the Android isn't a slum-dunk.

For instance, Google's foray into the social media space hasn't been as successful as the company would have liked. We've all heard about Orkut, Google's social network that's big in Brazil. The site, which has had its share of legal problems, doesn't make Nielsen Online's Top 20 … Read more