I absolutely love Google Voice. I was skeptical about it at first, but now that I have it, and I have the app on my phone, I don’t know what I’d do without the ability to review, listen to, and archive voicemail without actually having to place a call to anyone. And while I find Google’s ability to transcribe messages still a little inaccurate, it’s getting better all the time.

I haven’t taken the leap to telling everyone to use my actual Google Voice number instead of my mobile number, and I haven’t gotten as deep into setting the app up to send certain calls to certain places or to do different things for different contact groups just yet – I’m certain I haven’t scratched the surface of Google Voice’s abilities yet. That being said though, there are lots of really cool things you can do with Google Voice, considering you can score yourself an invite.

Over at MakeUseOf there are a few really great Google Voice features you may not be aware of that are definitely worth knowing about, including making outbound calls with Google Voice, listening in on your voicemail as it’s being recorded, and even using it to record calls that you make. Check out the whole list:

[ MakeUseOf :: 5 Cool Things You Can Do with Google Voice ]

I’ve been mulling over this column for a long long time, and it’s pretty difficult to write, but some recent developments have really thrust the topic forward. Let me give you the breakdown first: there’s a problem with Linux: it’s just not ready for prime time. As much as Ubuntu users will cry the opposite, and while admittedly they have the most robust and close to prime time version of Linux for the desktop available, it’s just not there yet – it’s not an OS that anyone would seriously install on a system for the average user. The fact is that virtually every distribution of Linux is still too bulky, too difficult to administer and manage, too quirky, and too poorly supported.

This isn’t news in and of itself; the Linux community has been struggling under its own weight for years now, with half of it complaining that if you can’t figure out how to manage and administer Linux distros on your own then you have no right using it (the elitists), and the other half begging and pleading with the rest of the community to build a version of Linux for the desktop that can actually get some traction with everyday people and some support from software developers other than ones who want to port Windows apps to it (the populists). This schism is at the heart of the problem, and it always has been.

But lately, there’s been a dramatic shift in the Linux landscape, and it hasn’t had to do with this schism – it’s been in the way that other companies have gotten behind customized distributions of Linux for selected platforms and really put their weight behind advancing them, each in their own specific way. The big news? They’re (almost) skipping entirely over desktop Linux in favor of mobile platforms.

Let’s dive into this a bit more behind the jump.

Continue reading Spinning Gears: The Linux “Problem,” and How Apple and Google Are Solving It…

The shot above is from my own Google Wave inbox (is it called an inbox?) and I’ll admit that even though I’ve been fiddling with Google Wave for at least a couple of weeks and I’m still getting the hang of it. I see how incredibly useful it can be for collaboration and conversation, but like my heroine Gina Trapani has mentioned before on her Twitter: that Google Wave is really interesting, but it’s a lot like e-mail used to be back when no one was on it – it’s pretty lonely if you don’t have anyone to wave with!

That being said, if you have a Google Wave account, Gina has written an amazing Google Wave 101 post at Lifehacker that can help you get started, help you find some public waves to get involved in and start finding your way around and start talking with people.

To that point though, Gina Trapani has just finished a new book called The Complete Guide to Google Wave, which has even more tips, tricks, and use cases for Google Wave! Check out both links below.

[ Lifehacker :: Google Wave 101 ]

[ Lifehacker :: The Complete Guide to Google Wave ]

When I’m at the office, Google Chrome is my friend. My computer there is low-powered and sadly so bogged down with company-mandated apps and plug-ins that even Firefox crawls barely through my daily browsing or through regular activities like clicking to see a link from an email. So I use Firefox for some sites where I need to make use of my extensions, but Google Chrome is lean and mean enough to get me through the day without crashing every other minute or dragging itself down so much as to be unusable like Internet Explorer and Firefox on the same system.

As if right on cue, Lifehacker just released its Power User’s Guide to Google Chrome, complete with some of the benefits of running a dev or beta build instead of the standard stable build, and some interesting tweaks and plug-ins you can get to keep your installation of Google Chrome slim and trim while adding some features on top (like bookmark sync via XMarks, for example). Lifehacker also describes how you can customize the start page that greets you when you open Chrome, give your search engines keywords, and more.

If you’re using Chrome or even thinking about using it, head over and check it out.

[ Lifehacker :: The Power User's Guide to Google Chrome, 2009 Edition ]

(photo taken by Danny Choo)

I know I just linked to Danny’s site last week, but he went to a Google Chrome party this past week that I thought was also worth posting. Google Japan knows how to party, too – complete with tons of delicious looking sandwiches, a Google Chrome logo cake, and in some of the other pictures from his photo set you’ll see some Chrome-colored drinks and other impressive effects that made the party pretty unique and more than just an average social event. I mean, Danny Choo in his stormtrooper armor doesn’t hurt that at all, but it looked like it was a good party!

That being said, the photos are great, and the party was to celebrate the launch of Google Chrome themes, and there are some great ones in the intro video here:

I kind of dig some of those themes! I use Chrome at the office more than I do at home, mostly because my machine at the office is woefully underpowered and my computer at home is so fast that I can’t tell the difference between Chrome and my old standby Firefox, but once these themes are widely available (hell, they may be now and I’m just not looking in the right places) I might use some of them, they’re really cool!

[ Danny Choo :: Google Chrome Japan ]

Google has taken a few lumps over privacy concerns and Google Street View, especially in Japan where some members of the legislature have even taken steps to try and ban Google from mapping the streets and taking photos as they pass through. Google, of course, has stressed that they take very deliberate measures to protect the privacy of the people who are in those photographs as the Google cars drive by, and have put together the adorable video above to target their response to the Japanese market.

Whether the video will serve to allay the fears in Japan over Google simply knowing too much about you, the car you drive, and the place you live remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: the video is ridiculously cute, incredibly heart-warming (you can’t help but empathize with the little camera-headed guy working long hours to protect your privacy), and targeted perfectly for the Japanese.

[ YouTube :: Google Street View Privacy Video ]

There’s been a simmering flamewar on tech news blogs, forums, and e-mail distribution lists for years: will Google ever release an operating system? The debate has gone both ways:

On the one hand: “Never ever would Google release an operating system to compete with the likes of Microsoft and Apple! They’d shoot themselves in the foot! They already develop for all popular OSes including Linux, why would they build their own?”

On the other: “It makes perfect sense for thin client computing! Google already makes apps for just about every possible use, an OS would bring them all together! Google has the know-how and development prowess to make it happen, even if it’s a reskinned distro of Linux!”

The argument was put to rest today when Google announced the Chrome OS, scheduled to ship in late 2010. There are still tons of questions around the OS and exactly what platform it’s designed for, but most people assume it’ll be a desktop compliment to Android on the mobile side (or perhaps, as PC Mag’s Sascha Segan pointed out on Twitter, an excuse not to bring a decent browsing experience to Android) and will likely be targeted at netbooks and thin clients where Windows XP is a resource hog, Mac OS isn’t really present, Windows 7 is anticipated, and Linux (sadly) is largely ignored or disliked.

So what does Google do when it appears there are no great OS options on a platform? They come to the rescue with their own and do it themselves. They did the same thing with the mobile platform (even though they’re off to a rocky start…or perhaps more accurately limping out of the gate there) but I see what they’re doing. It makes sense for Google to launch their own OS, and the innovation that they will (hopefully) bring to the table may spark Microsoft and Apple into trimming down dead weight but beefing up features in their own OSes.

At the same time, one has to wonder if there’s any coincidence to Google’s announcement coming right on the heels of Google ripping off the “beta” label from some of their most popular products, like GMail and Google Apps.

[ ExtremeTech :: Google Announces Chrome Operating System ]

[ Wired :: Google Announces PC Operating System to Compete with Windows ]

Ah GMail. I can happily say I was one of those users clamoring for a GMail invitation back in the day when you needed one to get on the service. Remember back then? Before anyone could create a GMail account whenever they wanted? Yeah – I remember those days.

That being said, I’ve been using GMail for a long time and Google keeps adding features. I read about them, I even use some of them, but if someone came to me and said “show me how to be a GMail power user,” I wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to help them. I use a fraction of GMail’s full potential, and would love to use more. For people like us, Eric Griffin at PC Mag has put together An Unofficial User’s Guide to GMail, which walks us through some of GMail’s most useful and even some of its most advanced features.

The Guide will show you how to use labels, dots and plus-signs in your addresses to see who signed you up for spam and make it easier to create filters, some mobility tooks and tweaks and how to get your GMail on the go, even how to get GMail on your desktop. All this and more in an article well-worthy of a bookmark if you have a GMail account, or even want to know what makes GMail so special.

[ PC Mag :: An Unofficial User's Guide to GMail ]

This is the first in a new series here at Gears and Widgets called “Spinning Gears.” Spinning Gears will hopefully do two major things: encourage me to update more often and provide more original content to GnW. So sit back, relax, and get ready for some hopefully informed and interesting commentary on relevant technology news.

A couple of days ago I had the privilege of covering Apple’s announcement that they’re dropping the NDA on App Store software. The original NDA kept developers from publicly discussing details and features of their applications that they’re submitting to Apple for considering on the Apple App Store. Additionally, the NDA prevented developers from discussing why their apps were rejected if they were.

Developers raged about the NDA, and many threatened to stop developing for the App Store entirely. At the same time, Google opened up its App Market, designed to provide developers a stage to sell applications for telephones running Google’s Android operating system. The Google App Market puts them in direct competition with Apple, and the HTC G1 on T-Mobile in direct competition with the iPhone on AT&T.

I mused about this connection in the comments on the post linked above around the original NDA, but I think there’s an important and somewhat troubling post that’s worth expanding on.

Apple’s behavior with regard to the App Store, especially when contrasted with Google’s openness with regard to the App Market, is eerily remniscent of the early days of the Macintosh, and if that’s the case, then Google is setting itself up to be the Microsoft of the mobile world; producing a popular OS that runs on multiple platforms. This could be good or bad for Apple, depending on how they respond.

Read more behind the jump.
Continue reading Spinning Gears :: Is Apple’s Walled-Garden for iPhone Development a Case of History Repeating?…

(image courtesy of Lifehacker!)

Our fine friends at Lifehacker finally managed to find a way to keep your Google Calendar and contacts synched up with your local calendar, whether it’s iCal on the Mac or Outlook Calendar on the PC, without needing to pay for an application like Spanning Sync, as well as it works.

There’s a beta, open-source app called GCalDeamon that, with a good heaping of configuration and a ton of geekiness, can get the job done in exactly the way you need it done, and best of all it’s completely and totally free. From Lifehacker:

Two-way update and sync between your desktop and the web is the ultimate golden ticket; it gives you offline access, local backup and the rich desktop experience while dealing with data stored in the cloud. With GCalDaemon running, you can view and update your Google Calendar from any desktop calendar program – even if you’re offline. Additionally, you can access your Gmail contacts list in a desktop email program or address book like Thunderbird or Outlook Express.

The best part is that Lifehacker goes through the step by step instructions and how-to, for the benefit of all of us who have been dying to have this kind of functionality.

[ Lifehacker :: Sync Google Calendar and Gmail Contacts to Your Desktop ]