Gmail = E-mail + Chat + more…! You can now make telephone calls as well!
Gmail is not only about e-mail anymore. Google has now officially announced that users can make calls to telephone across the world from its e-mail service itself.
PC - to - PC voice/video chat had always been available by means of Google Voice, but not everyone gets to sit in front of the computer all through the day. Telephones are a better way to catch hold of someone immediately and now, Gmail has a feature that allows one to call and receive calls from telephones. Also, you will not necessarily have to have a Google Voice account for making these calls. However, international calls will be provided for by means of Google Voice only.
Users can make calls by means of the newly included “Call phone” option. It is very easy to use and all the user has to do is to choose the option, enter the telephone number and dial. The Gmail user will also get an incoming call alert, just the same way as you get an alert when someone messages you… you can choose to attend/ignore the call as you may please.
According to the post in Google’s blog, calls to telephones within USA or Canada are free of cost. Calls to other countries will have some tariff defined and rates will differ based on the country to which the call is placed. Calls to countries like the UK, France, Germany, Japan will be charges as low as 2 cents a minute. However, calls to other countries might be slightly more expensive.
As of now, Skype has been the major player in the internet telephone service provider industry. By launching this service, Google has now jumped headlong in competition with Skype. How the service will pick up is something that we have to wait and watch; however, since Gmail is one of the most successful e-mail services available with a major portion of the world using the same, chances are that this service will do very well indeed!
Microsoft all set to launch its IE9 Beta version
Microsoft has officially announced the launch date of its most awaited IE9 Beta version as September 15, 2010. Although the actual date of release of IE9 is not yet known, it is expected that we should get wind of it during the Beta launch.
Since March, when Microsoft first announced IE9, they have released four developer preview builds, the last of it being in the first week of August. It has been using preview inputs/feedback from various developers to tweak the product to perfection. However, these previews lacked in providing a true user interface such as search, history or bookmarks.
During the fourth preview build release, Microsoft had given a lead saying that this would be the last of the builds to be released before the official beta launch.
It is said that the IE9 team have primarily focused on two major aspects namely, speed of the browser and support standards for HTML5. Microsoft claims IE9 browser to have an enormous advantage over IE8 with respect to its speed of loading Web pages. This seems to have been proved in the Acid3 test conducted to check the speed at which a browser loads the Web pages. The speed acceleration is attributed to its new JavaScript engine christened “Chakra” that runs directly in the browser’s code instead of the traditional method where they run as a separate script engine.
Although Microsoft has been boasting about the speed element, the actual look and feel of the IE9 browser is left to much speculation since even the preview versions were not available with as much as the basic user interfaces.
Also, it is unfortunate that only a minimal number of Windows users might be able to use the IE9, reason being that it is not compatible to work on Windows XP that is used in almost 65 – 70% of the PCs that run on Windows. IE9 shall be compatible only with Windows Vista or Windows 7. This means that majority of the Windows users do not actually get to take advantage of IE9’s speed. Hopefully, Microsoft will find a way through this hitch.
Will “Bing” bong Google?
Microsoft and Yahoo have finally signed the long anticipated search and advertising deal that is likely to last for the next ten years. The Microsoft-Yahoo search deal allows both companies to share resources and combine scale, through which they aim to compete Google search. Microsoft’s new search platform, Bing is said to have innovative and powerful features; and if combined with the scale provided by Yahoo, it is more likely to deliver rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Bing is expected to become a strong competitor for the current leader in search – Google.
As per the Microsoft-Yahoo search deal, Microsoft will obtain an exclusive ten years license to Yahoo’s search technologies and also be able to integrate Yahoo’s search technologies into its existing web search platforms. Microsoft’s Bing search platform will be the sole algorithmic and paid search platform for all Yahoo sites. This means that Microsoft will now power Yahoo search i.e., Bing search engine will become the default search engine for Yahoo sites. However, Yahoo will continue to use its technology and data in other areas of its business such as enhancing display advertising technology. Yahoo will own the user experience in all Yahoo sites, including the user experience for search, even though it will be powered by Microsoft technology. Also, Yahoo will do the necessary sales advertising for both companies’ premium search advertisers.
The Microsoft-Yahoo search deal is expected to benefit web users and advertisers in such a way that it improves their web search experience by churning out search results fast and also with lot of relevance; thereby increasing internet efficiency. By combining both companies’ complementary strengths and search platforms and the scale provided by Yahoo, it is likely that the pace and breadth of internet search and search advertising is bound for a new high with Bing. The Microsoft-Yahoo search deal also provides for protecting consumer privacy by restricting the data sharing between both the companies to a minimum necessary that is needed to operate and improve the combined search platform, Bing.
“Will ‘Bing’ bong Google?” - Only time can tell…
