It's that time of year again -- time to look back and offer my 2009 awards for the most malicious, obnoxious, offensive, or nonsensical behavior in technology. The 10 winners this year include some of the best-known companies on the planet, as well as some obscure but worthy candidates.
A venerable New Year's tradition in the tech world entails trotting out year-old predictions by analyst shops and laughing at their off-base prognostications. But here's a surprise: The two biggest analyst firms still standing -- Gartner and IDC -- did a pretty good job a year ago forecasting the shape of IT in 2009, as did the smaller Forrester Research and 451 Group.
Google's special event on Tuesday morning, when the company is expected to launch a Google-branded superphone, the Nexus One.
As 2009 becomes 2010, Google remains the most interesting technology company. Google is involved in so many--probably too many--things and the regulatory environment, if not competition, has begun to heat up.
It may be the moment the tech world's been waiting for: Google has just officially announced plans for an Android-related media event to be held next Tuesday, January 5, at its Mountain View campus.
Let's just assume for a minute that Yelp doesn't need the US$550 million that Google reportedly offered it in a failed acquisition attempt.
We all use Google. Well, maybe not Bill Gates, but that's about it. Now, Google is hoping to become an even bigger part of our everyday lives.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
With major questions, like how much it will cost and how it will be sold, still unanswered, it's hard to do more than guess about whether the Google Nexus One smartphone will be widely adopted by business.
The forthcoming Google "Nexus One" smartphone could weaken the Android smartphone operating system by further complicating purchase decisions for business and personal customers. Not all Android phones are alike, and that creates a problem.
So. It seems the oft-rumored and--until recently--never-pictured, "Google Phone" exists.
Google apparently isn't content to have its Android mobile operating system merely dominate the season.
Mobile searching has just gotten way, way cooler with the new Google Goggles visual search tool for Android, bringing a high-tech twist to accessing information on the go.
When Google first announced its Chrome OS project, many commentators assumed that the Internet giant was challenging the dominance of Microsoft Windows. The truth is, Chrome is not a threat to Windows, OS X, or any distribution of Linux--nor is it meant to be.
Misconceptions and misinformation have surrounded the Chrome OS almost since the day it was announced. This week's press conference at Google's Mountain View, Calif., campus helped to clear the air, but uncertainty about what the search giant's new OS has to offer still remains.