Got My Google Wave Invite Today!

I haven't personally been able to check out a whole lot about it, but you know me, I'm all for trying out something new. Especially when I have heard claims that it will "change email forever" and change the way we communicate online. So I applied for an invite a couple months ago and this morning I got an email inviting me to use it. Check it out: About Google Wave

I'm currently using Internet Explorer 8 and when I accessed the Wave site I was prompted that I had to install the Google Chrome Frame. I could either install the frame or use Chrome, Firefox, or Safari instead. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but I'm using Windows 7 and the added functionality of IE with W7 (tab previews) is enough reason to use it over the others. So I tried to run the installer and it failed, I'm assuming it's because of my firewall at work so I'll just have to use Chrome instead.

Finally got signed in and this is what it looks like:

At this moment I have no idea what to do with it, and I'm assuming that will change once I have more contacts using it as well. So for now, I'm just going to play around a little and read up on the Google Wave website.

It says I have 6 invites. First come first served my friends, it says that the invites are not instant, but email me if you're interested and I might could hook it up!

Sony Adding “Premium Level” Subscription to PSN

In the never ending console war there are always stupid reasons people choose to be on board strictly with one console or another. I have always found console loyalty to be one of the stupidest things people can tie themselves to, but then again, I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where I do not have to choose one console or another.

Seemingly one of the biggest reasons people claim PS3 to be "better" than the Xbox 360 is because their online service is free. There are a lot of things that come along with "free service" though and with Xbox Live being a paid service, they clearly have set themselves apart as the premiere online gaming community. Just ask anyone who had to suffer through connection issues on a PS3 game running over PSN that simply do not exist on the same title running on Xbox Live and it becomes clear that Live's model is a success. The stability of online play, the major updates to the dashboard, the burden of running a server being taken off the developer, the uniformity of Xbox Live features in all titles…the list goes on and on.



Obviously Sony has taken notice as well. This is just my speculation, but I think today's announcement by Kaz Hirai himself shows that PSN knows they need to step it up and catch up to Live. Announcing some vague plans for a "premium level" service, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai confirmed the plans. "We will be building upon our current free [PSN] service offering with premium content and services to start the subscription model," he said. What this means is still up in the air, but I would bet that we can count on seeing some type of "pay-to-play" model similar to Xbox Live.

Chrome OS Released as VMWare

Want to try out Chrome OS a little? Well now you can – via Virtual Machine. There has been a virtual version of Google Chrome made available completely free, you just have to have VMWare or VirtualBox (free) installed. You can head over to GDGT.com Google Chrome Virtual Machines to get image files for VirtualBox and VMWare. (I was only able to successfully install the VMDK (VMWare link) version so I'm not sure what the "VirtualBox" link does).

A few things to keep in mind, I did not create the image, it came from a torrent. This means that some open source guy could have injected some code to steal your Google info, probably not, but it could happen. Just use alternate/junk Google account credentials and that potential threat is nipped. Second, this is virtual machine, hopefully the people reading this blog are experienced enough to know that with a virtual machine, the OS will never run natively and the performance will reflect that. There will be no 10 second boot time and you may find things to be more sluggish than the native OS (running on a SSD no less) will perform way better.

OK, so I don't have VMWare so here are instructions on how to do this on VirtualBox. Download VirtualBox for whatever OS you have from here: VirtualBox Downloads. Install VirtualBox and start it. Click the "New" button:

A wizard will start and walk you through the OS setup process. Click Next:

Type in the name for your OS and select Linux for the OS Type and Ubuntu for the Version. Click Next.

Select the amount of RAM you want to give the machine and click Next.

Now extract the compressed VMDK image file you downloaded because it needs to be loaded into VirtualBox.

Select to "Use existing hard disk" and click the folder icon to navigate to the VMDK image file you just extracted. Click Next.

Review the settings and click Finish.

Now you can highlight the OS you just installed and click "Start"

The OS comes up as "chromium os" and the log in is via a valid Google account.

Have fun!

Google Reveals ChromeOS

Google previewed Chrome OS, a new operating system based on Linux and the Chrome browser. It's very early on, as there's not even a beta available for it, but it seems pretty exciting. The OS runs within a Chrome browser. The idea is to provide an OS for people who just get on the internet, it boots up in about 10 seconds, has no file system, and no installing of apps. The OS can detect USB devices like external drives, or smartphones and uses a notepad which can create Google Docs documents. Web apps can be launched from persistent app panels and things like Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, and others can be minimized to "panels" and run in the background. Google is very up front in saying that Chrome OS is focused on very clear use for people who primarily use the web and they are not at all trying to "do everything".

Google has talked details on a launch but they say that "by this time next year" it will be available and it won't run on just any device – there are going to be some specific hardware requirements. For example, the biggest thing is that Chrome OS won't run on anything other than solid-state drives. This means you will have to have a "Chrome approved device" which is an interesting move by Google. But since the thing is open source, there can potentially be many different hacks that allow it to be installed on anything.

For more info, check out the coverage on Engadget.com:

Google's Chrome OS revealed -- with video!

Palm Pixi Arrives

Palm releases its second WebOS device, the Palm Pixi, and again it's exclusively on Sprint: The Now Network.

The Pixi has a cool form factor and is slimmer than the Palm Pre. The obvious difference between the two is the lack of a slide out keyboard on the Pixi. Instead, the device is all in one with the screen and keyboard, similar to a Blackberry or Treo. According to Palm, the Pixi is aimed at a different audience than the Pre. They're going for a younger audience with less money on hand and less need for productivity functionality. For starters, WiFi is no included with this device like the Pre. You could say that with Sprint's EVDO data speeds, you really don't need the WiFi, but it still seems silly to take it out. The camera is 1 megapixel lower than the 3MP Pre, the screen is a little smaller, and the processor is a little slower as well. All this to keep costs down.

The Pixi is obviously not intended for every user, especially not for those who already have a Palm Pre. It does introduce another WebOS device to the market though, and at a price of $100 from Sprint, it's quite affordable. Looks like Walmart is selling the Pixi for $50:

UPDATE: Looks like Amazon is letting it go for $25!!
Via http://Twitter.com/engadget: Palm Pixi one step closer to free, now $25 on Amazon http://bit.ly/2jbq4R

For a full review of the Palm Pixi, head on over to Pre|central.net and check out their write up. Videos are included as well.

Palm Pre WebOS 1.3.1 Available Now

Another major update from the folks at Palm. I'm downloading it as we speak.

Here is a list of the included changes, though some of these are hidden features not made known in the change log.


Enjoy:
Speed Improvements:

- Photo app switching between individual photos by swiping left to right is faster in portrait and landscape

- Scrolling in the photo app is definitely much faster

- Music app speed improvements. Switching in and out of screens within the app is much faster.

- Scrolling in contacts has become much smoother and it doesn't get stuck quite as often.

- Browser scrolling has improved. Seems much smother zooming in and out.

- Google maps loads much quicker.

Phone App:

- Contacts logo in the top right has been changed to match the contacts app logo.

- Answer calls and hanging up is much smoother less buggy.

- New option to allow international calling. In phone > Preferences you can slide option left to right.

Contacts App:

- When linking accounts to a contact it no longer changes the default profile to the most recently linked contact.

- Two more options have been added to Contacts > Preferences & Accounts: Company & first name, Company & last name

Calendar App:

- When you tap and hold an event without moving your finger, then lift, you can edit the title of that specific event.

Photo App:

- Options are now displayed at the bottom of the screen.

- Photos are now only displayed in their respective folders. There is no 'All Folders' view anymore.

- Screen captures no longer takes two screen shots when pushing the hot key combo one time.

Launcher:

- Default applications app is there and you can change the default app for phone, emails, addresses, or web links as well as different file types. (This option is greyed out)

Messaging:

- When you tap on a single message in the messaging app you now have the options, Forward, Copy Text, and Delete.

- If you set a custom tone for the messaging app it will only play it when the card is not in focus. Otherwise it plays the default notification.

Music App

- Now when listening to a song in the music app you can bring the drop down menu up and choose to add that song to a Pandora playlist, Search it on YouTube, or search it on Amazon MP3.

- You can now bookmark your place in multiple songs. Any songs or podcasts you start on in the music app will now all be saved afterwards. In 1.2.1 Palm added the feature that allows your music app to remember where you last left off but only for one track.

Email:

- Empty trash button is now available.

- You can now search for folders in the search option on email by simply typing that folders name.

- You can now use short cuts to complete some specific tasks while viewing an email.

Examples:

Gesture + M = Move To Folder

Gesture + G = Set Flag

Gesture + S = Show Recipients

Gesture + K = Mark as Unread

These commands can also be found in the drop down menu.

- New Gesture hot keys are also available while writing a message.

Examples:

Gesture + J = Set as High Priority

Gesture + D = Discard Message

Gesture + S = Save as Draft

These commands are also available under the drop down menu.

Browser:

- Under preferences there is a new 'Default Search Engine' option. (Google is the only choice right now)

System:
- WebOS 1.3.1 has laid the groundwork for Adobe Flash's soon to be released Flash 10.1. Place holders are now in locations where Flash content is.

- WebOS 1.3.1 has laid the groundwork for video recording by including the Linux binaries needed to record video that is compatible with the stock media player. (Via Precentral)

- When 'Data Usage' is turned off in phone > preferences WebOS will not stay connected to your WiFi even when the phone is locked. If 'Data Usage' is turned on WiFi will automatiically turn off when the screen is locked.

- When you are out of space while trying to download a new app there is a new message. 'There is not enough memory in the application storage area'. (Please Palm fix this by the time the App Catalog is out of BETA)

- When the Palm Pre is now on a Touchstone charger you can set the screen to lock after a certain time.

- When you restart or shutdown your phone there is a new circle symbol on the screen.

- Shutdown screen now has additional options. You can hold down the power button and tap power and choose to reset or power off.

- Airplane mode as the small (i) next to it which will link you to the help menu about Airplane mode.

- LEDs on the center button no longer flash when you lock the phone.

Sprint TV:

- App UI has been changed