Google Nexus 7 - I just got one!

Just got my Google Nexus 7 (16GB) by special delivery. Great looking device, set it up to charge and on switching it on it welcomed me by my name as my google apps account was already associated with this device. Had to enter my google apps password to get all my e-mail, contacts and calendar on the device. This did not take long maybe 2-3 minutes.

The OS (android jellybean) is pretty easy to use specially if you have been using any of Google's other android products. In my case I was comparing most of the navigational features with the IPad and found it stood up to it.

The 7" screen is great, the resolution is also very good. The touch screen works very smoothly, no jerks etc. It's very comfortable to hold

I was very keen to try out 'Google Play' their online store for Books, Movies & Apps. Oh forgot to mention the Nexus came with a free Movie (Transformers Dark of the Moon) and one free book.

Cannot watch movies on this device for too long as it gets very tiring unless you have it propped up on a desk. The sound quality is good and works better with headphones like most portable devices. 

Google Play had most of my favourite apps like Dropbox, Kindle, Zinio, BBC News, Catch, Google Drive, Evernote, Fring, Kobo, Skype that were installed on my IPad. Google's Talk works brilliantly the voice is very crisp and clear and the video is also good.

Transferring movies or music to the device can be done via the USB cable supplied as this device does not have an SD/USB slots nor does it have any other connector ports except for the power and headphones port.

As soon as you plugin the UBS cable to your computer it's picked up as another storage device. Navigate to it and copy your music to the music folder, movies to the movie folder, pictures to the picture folder etc.

There are some issues like you cannot view flash sites as Adobe is not developing a version of the flash player for the latest android version called jellybean. So BBC iPlayer does not work and neither does 4od. Oh and Lovefilms instant movies does not work on this device as yet.

Keeping aside the above drawbacks the biggest ommission I feel is that of a 3g connectivity. Google is clearly a company in the cloud and by not providing a 3g option it has shot itself in the foot.

Yes new versions might have this option but it might be too late as the tablet race (10") has already been won by Apple. If Apple decide to release an IPad with a smaller screen then they have won this section of the tablet too.

Overall I would give it 7/10. Good upgrade to a Kindle but cannot replace the IPad as yet .

P.S wrote this entire blog on the nexus.
  

Google Operating System

What does one look for in an operating system? Well, in my case I would like one that loads fast, has some cool application pre-installed and costs nothing. Dream on!

I think not. Google is coming close to fulfilling my wish. The new browser 'CHROME' has been designed to work each web site or web application as a new process. This means that if a web page crashes it will not crash the browser but only the tab the web page was open on.

The idea is simple and has huge implications for the PC/Laptop users. As more and more applications are going on-line a browser like chrome can make all the difference for mobile workers.

If we look deeper into Google's treasures we know they already have a very successful e-mail application which also incorporates Google Talk an IM application. Then there is a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation applications available on-line all packaged under Google Apps. With Google Gears installed the same is available offline.

The other graduates of the Google labs like Google Reader, Notebook, Desktop can all be incorporated into a neat little package.

The only thing missing with Google is a piece of software that can join all these web centric services and be installed as a single entity called an operating system.

Knowing how Google operates I won't be surprised if they are already working on modifying an open source version of Linux to incorporate the above and hopefully many more of their great products into a Google Operating System.

I am looking forward to the day I can install a small and quick OS from Google on my EEE PC which will allow me to access all my web applications without having to bother about software versions, viruses, updates etc. :-)

Check out the Google Chrome comic that explains it all.

Google Calendar Sync with MS Outlook

Finally a Calendar Sync product from Google. We have tried out a number of products both free and paid but were never really satisfied with the results. Google Calendar Sync is a small download which will help you synchronise your Google Calendar with your MS Outlook Calendar and vice-versa.

The installation and set-up is simple. Just enter your gmail account details or your Google Apps. account details and you can keep your calendar information up to date.

                   

Learn more about Google Calendar Sync and also download from here

Xobni

Xobni Insight is an add-on for Microsoft Outlook that offers effortless email management and provides instant access to the most important information in your email. After a quick install, you'll see the new Xobni toolbar appear in Outlook. giving you email search, automatic phone number discovery, threaded conversations, and more. Watch the Xobni demo video for more details or click on the banner below to visit the site and sign up for an account.

Vista Revisited

We first experimented with Vista Business upgrade edition when it was released in 2007 and were not impressed at all. The new OS refused to recognise the DVD/CD-RW, the video and the WiFi card on our machine. Manufacturers of the same did not have compatible drivers as yet. We were forced to reformat the system and install Windows XP back on the machine.

One year on we got our hands on a full version of Vista Business and decided to try it again. This time we experimented with it on a tablet PC (HP tc4400). The tablet PC came installed with XP table pc version and since we were not too keen to loose this we replaced the hard drive, went to HP's web site and downloaded the latest drivers for Vista and installed the Vista Business edition on a brand new hard drive.

Installation took about a hour. What impressed us was that Vista was connecting to the Internet to look for drivers and downloading them for installation. Once this was done we installed the drivers that we had downloaded from HP's web site.

Vista looked very good on this system. It recognised that the system was a tablet PC and installed software to allow input using the pen. The battery life also is better on Vista. We were able to get an extra hour out of it.

The standby and hibernation features also work flawlessly on the tablet pc unlike XP where we always had trouble with these features. Using standby/hibernation we are able to start the pc up in under half a minute which is great when you are moving from one meeting to another.

When we connected the PC to an overhead projector while the pc was on it recognised this and displayed the output without asking which was great as with XP we had to either connect it while it was off or we needed to restart the PC after connecting.

The last thing we tried was sending a fax and this too went without a hitch. The only issue was that we could not head a dial tone so were not sure what was happening but the fax software updated the status once it was done.

Vista is a much better OS than XP and if you are buying a new PC get it with Vista.

Go mobile with Skype, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, SIP, Twitter, AIM and Yahoo

A brilliant application for your mobile phone called Fring. I have been looking for an application that would allow me to use Skype and a SIP account on my mobile without having to load too many applications.

Fring is one such application that installs on your mobile and give you access to not only Skype and SIP but also to a hot of other messenger services. Not only can you chat with your contacts but an also talk to your Skype contacts. Sign up for a free SIP account with Draytel or Sipgate and start making SIP or VOIP calls from your mobile using Fringe.

Fringe uses your Internet data plan or Wi-Fi on your mobile. I found the Wi-Fi more effective as the call connection was much better than over the data plan.

This software is available to a whole range of mobile phones and you can do a search to find your model. You can install the software via the website by typing in your mobile number or use the browser on your phone to go to www.fring.com and download the software directly to your mobile. You can get more details about how Fring works on their website.

 

Google Apps New Features

Google apps for your domain has been running successfully for almost a year. We have moved a lot of our clients on to this service especially for their e-mail services. Google apps now also provides IMAP support which is great news for mobile/remote users.

The Google apps Premium edition has a few more features than the standard edition. One huge difference is the space provided on the premium edition which is 25 GB. The other 'system management tools' are not so significant for small businesses but would be useful for companies with many e-mail users on Google apps. See a comparison of the Google apps features between the two versions.

If you move around a lot and need to access your mail on various PC's then Google Apps for your domain is a great choice.