Google Docs Preparing For Life As A Platform

Google Docs appears to be getting fixed up again, this time in preparation for third-party applications.

Google Docs emerged from a major software engineering effort last spring with a rewritten editing engine and support for real-time collaboration, a move in part designed to undermine the then imminent launch of Microsoft Office 2010.

There were plenty of other notable, if less significant, upgrades in 2010 too: mobile editing, OCR support, new drawings and charts editors, generalized file storage, user interface improvements, and support for additional fonts, among others.

Google is presently working on perhaps the most important Docs feature to date: offline support for Google Docs. The company has said that it hopes to deliver this capability during the first quarter of the year.

And it looks like several other new features may surface soon, particularly support for audio playback from Docs, a preview pane to display more information about files stored in the cloud, support for third-party applications, and a revised user-interface.

In recent years, there have been periodic predictions that Google will launch a generic file storage service, dubbed "G-Drive." Last January, Google more or less did so by allowing any kind of file to be stored in Docs. While the file storage capabilities in Docs have been more limited than what's offered by dedicated file storage services like Dropbox, that distinction is likely to fade as Google continues to add more features.

Google also appears to ready to look to third-party developers to provide capabilities that it doesn't have the inclination to implement itself. Docs only allows users to view a subset of the file types that can be stored with the service. Allowing third-party developers to create file viewers and applications for file types that Google doesn't offer, such as online editors for photos or videos, could add significant value to Docs without straining Google's engineering resources or capital.

Google already allows third-party developers to create applications that work with Google Apps, which includes Google Docs, through the Google Apps Marketplace. But the marketplace currently requires an account with Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, or Google Apps for Education. Many consumers who could use Google Apps, which is free, simply use Docs and Gmail as separate services rather than using Google Apps as a suite under their own domain. Extending the Apps Marketplace to the standalone version of Docs is a logical next step to fill in the gaps in Google's cloud offerings, particularly in conjunction with the recent launch of the Chrome Web Store and upcoming launch of Chrome OS.

The music player that's apparently destined for Docs may merely be a way to add audio to presentations. Google recently added a video player to Docs as a way to add video to presentations.

But Google is also said to be working on a cloud-based music service. Such a service would likely be tied to a Google Account and Docs would make a sensible place to store one's music files for streaming to one's Android phone, computer, or Chrome OS netbook

A year after China retreat, Google plots new growth

Google is reloading its guns in China to focus on display advertisements and the booming export sector a year after a blowout with Beijing over censorship and hacking all but ensured its demise in the country.-Analysis shows.

The road to recovery will certainly be a bumpy one, but the Internet giant looks to have enough in place to rebuild its presence in the world's biggest Internet market with more than 400 million users.

"Do I think they can do it? Yes, the market is still growing very fast, a small piece of the big pie is still a big piece," said T.R. Harrington, chief executive of search marketing consultancy Darwin Marketing.

China's search market was worth 11 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) in 2010 and is expected to grow an average of 50 percent each year over the next four years, according to iResearch.

While Google's share in China's search arena is set to further decline for a few more years, the sheer size and the rampant pace of growth of the overall market should provide it with enough buffer for now.

Under the new game plan, Google is targeting Chinese firms to advertise on its dominant overseas search market, a business which already constitutes about half of its China revenues, according to Harrington.

Google is betting that rapidly-growing Chinese exporters, keen to reach out to overseas customers, will make use of the company's global reach through its international search sites.

Since last year, the firm restructured its operation to focus on getting small and medium Chinese businesses to advertise on its platform.

"We have many new export products being rolled out which will be more helpful for the local SMEs," a Beijing-based Google spokesman said.

Google told Reuters it will increase its sales staff in China this year to boost its advertising business targeted at the rapidly-growing export sector.

ANDROID AND DISPLAY ADS:-

Last January, Google announced it may withdraw from China after a serious hacking episode and that it was no longer willing to self-censor searches. Months of incrimination between the search firm and China followed, resulting in a diminished Google China presence.

Google's search engine market share fell to around 26 percent last year from around 30 percent in 2009 due to the company's partial pullout from China, while rival Baidu increased its stake to 73 percent around 69 percent.

Google is likely to give up more ground in 2011.

"Google's China market share won't return to the level seen before the incident, even though their revenue in China is increasing, the rate is much slower," said Li Zhi, a Beijing-based analyst with Analysys International.

Its mobile operation system Android, seen as Google's bright spot in China, is now coming under threat from rivals Baidu and Tencent.

Local websites have reported that Baidu, China's top search engine, is set to create its own mobile operating system and Tencent already bundles it highly popular QQ services with mobile phones.

Google's popular Maps product is also under siege as China's new regulations require online map providers to acquire a license. Google said it is still examining the impact of those new rules.

While weakness in such products will dent its branding in China, it is unlikely to directly hit its revenue stream, which is still dominated by its search business.

Investors have priced in Google's struggles in the China market and are now focusing on other areas of growth. In 2010, Google shares fell 5 percent, underperforming the Nasdaq.

"People realized that China is not that important to Google today and that there are other things that are important to Google today, such as display adverting, mobile advertising," said Walter Price, a portfolio manager with RCM Capital Management which owns Google shares.

Brand advertising, of which display advertising is a component, made up 69 percent of China's online advertising market in 2010 and is set to remain a dominant destination of advertising spend to 2014, iResearch said.

"Display advertising is a big focus for Google globally and particularly in China, where it's already a big industry," John Liu, Google's VP of sales in Greater China, said in an email to Reuters.

Display advertisements do well in China as Chinese netizens cluttered webpages with many visual and audio stimuli whereas Westerners prefer neater more organized website designs.

Android tips and tricks

Android tips and tricks

Many of the tips are specific to Android 2.3 so mind it.

                       Tips

• Visual cue for scrolling: When you are in a scrollable list (like your Gmail inbox) and you reach the end of the list it shows an orange hue—a visual cue that you can’t scroll anymore.
• Notification bar icons (Wi-Fi, network coverage bars, etc.): Turn green when you have an uninhibited connection to Google, white when you don't. Hint: if you're in a hotel or airport using Wi-Fi, the bars won't turn green until you launch the browser and get past the captive portal.
• Voice actions: Tell your phone what to do by pressing the microphone icon next to the search box on the home screen, or long press the magnifying glass. You can tell it to send an email or text message (“send text to mom, see you for pizza at 7”), call someone ("call mom"), navigate somewhere (“navigate to pizza”), or listen to music ("listen to Mamma Mia").
• Find things you’ve downloaded from your browser: Your downloads are now neatly collected in a Downloads manager, which you can find in the apps drawer.
• Turn a Gallery stack into a slideshow: In Gallery, when you are looking at a stack of photos, put two fingers on the stack and spread them. The stack spreads out and the pictures flow from one finger to the other, a moving slideshow that lets you see all of the photos.
• Walk, don’t drive: Once you’ve gotten directions within Google Maps, click on the walking person icon to get walking directions.
• Easy text copy/paste from a webpage: To copy/paste from a webpage, long press some text, drag the handles around to select the text you want to copy, and press somewhere in the highlighted region. To paste, simply long press a text entry box and select paste. Gmail is a bit different: you need to go to Menu > More > Select Text.
• Turn your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot: Go to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Tethering & Portable Hotspot. (You may have to pay extra for this feature.)
• Look at Maps in 3D: With the latest release of Google Maps, you can now look at 3D maps. Tilt the map by sliding two fingers vertically up/down the screen, and rotate it by placing two fingers on the map and sliding in a circular motion, e.g., from 12 and 6 o’clock to 3 and 9.
• Cool shutdown effect: When you put the phone to sleep, you’ll see an animation that resembles an old cathode tube TV turning off.

Keyboard tricks

• Shift+Key to capitalize a word: In Gingerbread (and supported hardware), you can Shift+Key to capitalize a letter instead of going to a separate all caps keyboard.
• Auto-complete: The space bar lights up when auto-complete can finish a word.
• Quick replace: Tap on any previously typed word, then tap on a suggestion to automatically replace it with the suggested word.
• Easy access to special characters (like numbers, punctuation): Press and hold any key to go to the special character keyboard. You can also press and hold the "," key for an extensive punctuation keyboard.

Applications

• Angry Birds: Popular game that lets you knock down blocks by slingshotting birds.
• Astro: Awesome file explorer app. Browse and access the directories on your phone, and take full advantage of its capabilities. Great if you’re a power user.
• Chrome to Phone: This one is really useful for Chrome users. You can send anything you browse on your computer to your phone. So if you are heading out to a restaurant or party and look up directions on your computer, just click the “send to phone” button (requires Chrome to Phone extension) and that exact page will open on your phone. Same with virtually any webpage.
• Flash: Install from Android Market to watch Flash videos embedded throughout the web. Runs even better on Gingerbread.
• Fruit Ninja: A juicy action game that tests your ability to smash flying fruit. A fun time-killer on the bus or train.
• FXCamera: Popular photo sharing app with slick effects and filters.
• Google Maps: Use your device as a GPS navigation system with free turn-by-turn voice guidance, and take advantage of other Google Maps features like Street View, Latitude and Places.
• Instant Heart Rate: Measure your heart rate using your camera.
• Phoneanlyzr: Track your phone usage: who you text most, call most, average call length distribution, etc.
• RemoteDroid: Control your computer from your phone. Gives you a mobile wireless mouse and keyboard. Great if you’re using your computer for music or movies.
• Shazam: Identifies virtually any song you are listening to.
• SoundHound: Record a snippet of a song and get it identified instantly. You can even hum (if you can carry a tune!).
• Tango: A free, high-quality video call app that works on both 3G and Wi-Fi. If your device has a front facing camera (e.g., Nexus S), you will love this app.
• YouTube: New UI. Plus, portrait-mode player, and view comments and drop-down box video information

Do inform me for any more tricks on this issue.....