Google

Reports out of a Google developer conference in India indicated that Google was primed to add support for Java programs running on its presently Python-only Google App Engine. Java support is a top request for the Web application hosting site, but fans would be better off holding their horses for now.

The reports based the Java-on-GAE conclusion on remarks from a speech by Prasad Ram, director of Google research and development in Bangalore. Google, though, said nothing is happening soon.

"While we don't have any immediate plans or announcements, we are working on other languages for App Engine. … Read more

Google on Thursday announced that it has launched Gmail for Mobile 2.0 for J2ME-supported devices such as the Nokia N95, as well as BlackBerry phones.

According to a Gmail engineer, the focus in the second iteration of the popular e-mail client was to produce a faster and more reliable experience for users. The online application now offers faster performance and smoother scrolling, with no freezing, Google said. Users with multiple Gmail accounts also can now switch between them without using different applications to access messages.

Gmail for Mobile 2.0 offers the option to save multiple e-mail drafts in … Read more

Russian antitrust regulators have blocked Google's acquisition of ZAO Begun, an online advertising unit of Rambler Media.

The companies had agreed to the terms of the $140 million acquisition in July, but Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service said "nyet." According to Svetlana Gladkova's translation of a Russian news report, the reason is that Google hadn't submitted complete information on employees in Russia, so the FAS couldn't evaluate the deal's consequences.

Google is evaluating its next move.

"We are very disappointed to hear that FAS has come to this decision. We strongly believe … Read more

If you're unsure where you should be casting your ballet come November 4, Google's got you covered with a new maps layer that lets you search for local polling locations. Users simply plug in their home address and it figures out both what county they're in and where their poll location is.

I didn't have much luck getting this to work from a few business addresses in San Francisco, but it picked up two of my former residential addresses just fine. One of the things that makes the tool useful is the special set of instructions … Read more

When I fired up my Mozilla Firefox browser this morning, I received an unpleasant surprise. I tried my first Give Me Back My Google search of the day, only to be confronted with a 10 search results and a "Next" button for more results. What the deuce?

I haven't seen a "Next" button for Google results in a few years, ever since I installed the CustomizeGoogle extension for Firefox way back when. Along with key features such as ad blocking, secure connections for Google Docs and Gmail, and alternative search-engine results, my favorite feature of … Read more

Last week, my iGoogle home page suddenly got a new look via the addition of a pane on the left side containing shortcuts to my widgets. I didn't ask for the new arrangement, and I can't find a way to make the new left pane disappear.

What's worse, when I now click my Gmail in-box, I get an abbreviated version of the application, minus a search box and other useful features. To see the whole enchilada, I have to click the Launch Full Gmail link in the top-right corner of the window. Huh?

The upshot is that … Read more

Updated: To correct licensing information.

The music player on the Google Android G1 phone isn't bad, but can it scroll lyrics while the song plays, download you new songs for free, and play music videos?

All that is packaged into the free TuneWiki music player, a much more complex and ambitious Android app than most of its cohorts debuting in the Android Market today. Not only does TuneWiki catalog the songs already on your phone, it also supplies you with quick links to download free songs, and links to play videos coupled with lyrics, some licensed.

You can use … Read more

PicSay's stated purpose is to e-mail or text annotated photo messages to friends, but there's nothing stopping you from using the free program as a makeshift photo editor.

PicSay is a simple application made especially for Google Android, but it's nevertheless the most customization-focused application I've reviewed today. You start by choosing a picture from your photo album or the image you most recently viewed (this won't work if your Android phone is in mass storage mode.) Then press the Menu key to start adding in the special effects: word balloons, colorful headings, cartoony images, … Read more

WikiMobile Encyclopedia has been around for awhile for the BlackBerry and Windows Mobile Pocket PC, so it's no surprise to see it formatted for the Google Android G1 phone.

Just as advertised, WikiMobile Encyclopedia crawls Wikipedia.com for articles, offering up predictive search queries as you type your term. You can also search Wikipedia for a random article or browse what's popular, especially if you have a few minutes to kill or are looking for a factoid to impress people at a dinner party.

Interestingly, instead of scrolling or flicking the results page vertically, the app slices the … Read more