Google Chrome review

A layman's review of Google Chrome. Well after all there are very few of those(laymen) from where i come from and where i currently am, but still read on :)

Its easy to download. Very light weight. Once installed it starts in no time at all. But it wasnt so when i started using it. The loading time of the browser is realy quick, yes quicker than firefox or Opera. But while using it, i found no difference between Mozilla and Chrome. Infact as a user who has high expectations from Google, i have to say i am a bit disappointed.when i open a new tab, it takes much of the process memory.Let me tell u what i ve observed.. i ve opened some 5 tabs each n chrome and firefox now in my task manager, firefox has just 70 mb whie each of chrome uses 30 mb. When i open a new tab in firefox, i can easily work with my current tab.But in chrome it isnt that easy.. having just 512 mb ram, chrome isnt that suited for me.


Google Chrome initially looks cool. With the promise of multi processing instead of multi threading, it is seen as the panacea to the current evils in the existing browsers. The lone advantage that i can see from opening each tab as a seperate process is the fact that browser crashes arent that big a problem anymore. I havent had browser crashes with firfox anytime, so i wouldnt know if thats a big deal. But when further enlightenment dawned, i realised that each tab in Chrome is sandboxed, to "prevent malware from installing itself" or "using what happens in one tab to affect what happens in another".



Eclectic is the word that comes to my mind when i am asked to describe Chrome in one word. The multiprocessing architecture is what Opera used once in 1994 and what the recent implementations of IE 8 uses. The Sad Tab is very similar to Sad Mac . The main UI has back, forward, refresh, bookmark, go and cancel option which is similar to Safari, while the settings location is similar to Internet Explorer 7/8. The new tab page is not as good as that we see in Opera, but still user friendly (though i still like opera better in this regard)


The URL box at the top of each tab is the called the Omnibox. It does have autocomplete features but autocompletes only those links which are manually entered by us. In this regard Firefox 3 is better. Again the main UI has very little to offer, which is typically the basic style of Google. On one hand, the web pages have as much room as possible, but personally I feel that Firefox has struck a balance between necessary elements and still providing decent space for web page . Opera is similar to Firefox in this regard. I dont generally use IE so no comments from that end.


Speed. Almost every browser is equally fast. Except when it comes to the JavaScript Virtual engine. This aspect of Chrome is deemed faster than Firefox 3 and Safari 4. And Google Gears is also included. For those who dont know what it is, check it out here. For the rest, all you need to know is that it allows web pages to run in a more native environment, and have data accessible while offline.


Overall, i can say Google has done a decent job. But it doesnt appeal that much to me as Gmail or Google search did. It is just an effort to conquer the Internet market and this is just one of the many steps being taken and not the final step. Loads need to be done if Google has to emerge as the undisputed leader. A rating of 6 on 10 would be a fair marking.

A Small quiz

places
1. on the banks of which river is Delhi situated?
a. Yamuna
2.In which state is the Sabarmati Ashram?
a. gujarat
3.which state is the most literate state?
a. kerala
4.What is the capital of Madya pradesh?
a. Bhopal
5. Where was the battle of Mahabharatha fought?
a. kurukshetra
6. Which city is known as the pink city?
a.Jaipur
7. how do we know delhi in the olden days?
a. Indraprastha
8.Where is the famous Sun temple located?
a. Konark
9. In which city did the Jallian wala bAgh massacre take place?
a. Amritsar
10. What is the capital of Uttaranchal?
a.Dhera Dun
11.Where was the seventh IIM opened?
a. Shillong
12. Which city is known as city of pearls? it is also famous for its briyani
a.Hyderabad
13. In which city does ganga meet yamuna?
a.allahabad
14. Which river is known as Tsang Po in china?
a. brahmaputra
15. which lake is partly in tamil nadu and partly in AP?
a.Pulicat lake

Technology meets sports- Beijing Olympics

This is where technology meets sports. Here's a peek into the Leading technologies that have been used for the Beijing Olympics
1. Beijing purchased one of the fastest supercomputers in the world to help detect weather in and around Beijing. The chinese are also adept at controlling weather, as they plan to inject seeding material into the clouds and drain them before they can do any damage to the games
2.Cyber wars. A lot is being spoken about China strict internet regulations. Now more is coming into the picture with China promising to shut down websites illegally broadcasting the olympics
3.Security. A blanket security has been put up at Beijing for today. Literally, even birds cant fly without escaping the attention of the watchful Chinese
4. Most Olympic races are timed to the thousandth of a second. In track events, the timer is set off by the starter's gun and stopped by a laser at the finish. A high-speed camera at the line takes 2,000 images per second to help determine the winner if the race is close. Swimming events, held in the Water Cube (pictured), are timed by contact plates that determine when a swimmer leaves her mark and when she touches the wall to end the race

Google offers Free music in China Legally

Baidu is the leading search Engine in China. But Google is catching up. Baidu's presence can be said to be mainly because of the free but illegal music it provides and Goole has now found a way to provide music LEGALLY

The U.S. search engine launched a beta version of a Chinese music service called Music Onebox, which is available only in China at www.google.cn.

"We are launching Music Onebox to give users an easy and legal way to find the music they're looking for, and to give music labels and publishers a new channel to distribute, promote and make money off of their valuable music content," a Google spokesperson said.
When visitors to Google's home page search for artists or bands, they are directed to www.top100.cn, a music site, to download or stream music. The site has financial backing from basketball wonder Yao Ming. Google said it would not share in the money made off of ads on the music service. Instead, the ad money would be split between Top100.cn and the music labels and publishers.

The new service is a direct challenge to Baidu.com Inc., at a time when the company is under increasing pressure to pay up for facilitating music piracy, according to technology blog Ars Technica. So far, the selection at Top100 is limited.

google Insights

With Google Insights for Search, you can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames.

Choosing advertising messages
Insights can help you determine which messages resonate best. For example, an automobile manufacturer may be unsure of whether it should highlight fuel efficiency, safety, or engine performance to market a new car model.

Examining seasonality
Insights can be used to determine seasonality. For example, a ski resort may want to find out when people search for ski-related terms most often. The results are fairly consistent throughout the years: interest picks up in August and peaks in December and January. With this information, the ski resort can anticipate demand and make informed decisions about the appropriate allocation of everything from its advertising budget to staffing to resort resources.

Creating brand associations
Insights can be a helpful tool in creating brand associations. Take, for example, an advertising agency that needs to build a compelling advertising campaign for its client, a computer hardware company. The agency needs to know what competing brands are doing: how should they position their client’s product against them?

Entering new markets
Insights can be useful in determining a new market. A wine distributor may be looking to expand into new markets. By entering in wine + vino, and comparing the data across multiple countries, such as Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela, the distributor can get a sense of where interest is more prevalent.

Why the Mojave Experiment fails

The "Mojave Experiment" is conceptually a fresh marketing effort—at least for such a lame marketer as Microsoft. But after looking more closely at Mojave and reviewing Microsoft Watch reader comments, I have to call the experiment perhaps the worst kind of marketing.

I apologize to readers. I got caught up in the Microsoft glow after so many months of marketing darkness. Did I drink Microsoft Kool-Aid? Sadly, yes. The reasons why the Mojave Experiment fails should have been obvious. They are:

1. Microsoft treats its customers like they're stupid. I've had this complaint for a decade. Wizards perhaps best personify the attitude. Microsoft compels customers to go through long and unnecessary step-by-step processes to set up something. It's click, click, click, click, click, click, click, where one or two clicks should be enough. The iPod model is an example of the right approach. The end user plugs in the device and it begins loading music.

Microsoft takes an infantile approach, of holding the end user's hands, like a parent with a child learning to walk. But Microsoft doesn't let go—doesn't let Windows users grow up. Microsoft's handholding holds them down.


The marketing campaign presumes that people are too stupid to see how great is Windows Vista.

"Telling the customer that they have been stupid is a great way to get business," wrote commenter Ken Houghton. "Especially the customer who then goes to her Corporate IT department and says, 'Gee, I see people saying Vista is a great OS?' and is then told that there are no plans to roll it out this decade." Or maybe if that person works in the IT, they're fired for seeming to be so stupid or having given out bad advice.

2. Microsoft embarrasses Mojave participates. Continuing on the stupid theme is how Microsoft finally gets that "ah-ha" or "wow" reaction to Windows Vista. As I said yesterday, "I am wrong" isn't the best emotion to elicit about a product. Nobody likes being shown they're wrong or for it to be insinuated that they're stupid. "Wow, I feel like an idiot" is light years removed from "Wow, this is a great product."

Good marketing campaigns tout product benefits, show how the product will make the buyer's life easier. There's nothing aspirational or good feeling about making someone look foolish or stupid.

Last night, I watched Monday's "Saving Grace" from a DVR recording. To my surprise, Apple had two separate iPhone ads in the program. Right now, iPhone 3G is one of the hottest products on the planet. The hype alone, propagated by blogs, mainstream media and word of mouth, is like billions of dollars in free advertising. Yet Apple chooses to advertise on TV, to spend hundreds of millions more to tell its story.

What story does Microsoft choose to tell about Vista after about 15 months of silence: You the customer are too stupid to see how great is Windows Vista. Wow, that's brilliant marketing, guys.

3. The marketing campaign blames customers for Vista's problems. It's easy for Microsoft to say that bloggers, reviewers, forum posts and even Apple advertising are major reasons for negative perceptions about Windows Vista. But the blogs and reviews are negative for a reason. Many advanced users don't like Windows Vista. Problem: Mojave doesn't really blame them directly but the people in the videos. Everybody else is the problem with Vista but Vista.

There's presumption here that there's nothing wrong with the operating system. This was a consistent theme coming from Microsoft executives during last week's Financial Analyst Meeting and the Worldwide Partner Conference two weeks ago: Vista is OK now; Service Pack 1 has come to the rescue.

Oh? Then why are so many customers still asking for Windows XP? And why are so many OEM partners aggressively pushing XP over Vista when that means, after June 30, shipping two Windows licenses on new PCs? Something's wrong here that is much bigger than negative perceptions.

"The first step in fixing a problem is admitting that you have one. The only way to read this campaign is that Microsoft considers Vista's failure to be due to customer ignorance rather than failings of the product itself," wrote commenter Phil. "Either fix the product, or lower the cost to make it a justifiable purchase."

Microsoft isn't good at fixing some of its problems. On the one hand, the company's corporate culture is self-deprecating, in a fairly positive way. Company execs can laugh at themselves. But this "It's not my fault," blame the customer or partner attitude is pervasive. Microsoft treats many customers and partners with contempt. Licensing polices are great example, but that's topic for another blog.

4. Microsoft denies there is a real problem. Contempt and blaming relate to corporate cultural denial. Microsoft's way of deflecting fault is to look ahead. Microsoft messaging consistently is that the next version will be better. It's "Let's look to the future," when the problem is now.

The company will spend billions of dollars on research and development for future products but barely a fraction of that promoting its existing stuff. It's the same "tomorrow will be better thinking" that denies problems now and arrogantly presumes research is the only way to make things better.

When it comes to advertising, Microsoft is the worst kind of cheapskate. Microsoft should spend a whole lot less on R&D for the future and lots more now selling its products' benefits. Microsoft does advertise. Its TV commercials are about corporate vision, about how people will achieve their dreams. They're arrogant commercials. They're feel good for Microsoft, rather than feel good for customers, by showing them how the company's products could make life better.

5. Mojave seethes with arrogance. Microsoft's stated Mojave Experiment hypothesis: "If people could see Windows Vista firsthand, they would like it." The real hypothesis: If we trick people, they will see just how stupid they are.

From conception to execution, Mojave carries a strong undercurrent of arrogance: We're smart. You're stupid. The mechanism of tricking customers, who were specifically chosen because they had strong negative attitudes about Vista, is hugely arrogant. Microsoft says that "Hardy har har har, we're better than you."

There's already a perception of arrogance about Microsoft, and now company marketing executives want to reinforce it? Who's really being dumb and dumber here?

If the Mojave Experiment is example of what Microsoft spent $300 million on to promote Vista, bad is going to get much worse.

Kindle

Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader, an embedded system for reading electronic books (e-books) launched in the United States by prominent online bookseller Amazon.com in November 2007. It uses an electronic paper display, reads the proprietary Kindle (AZW) format, and downloads content over Amazon Whispernet, which uses the Sprint EVDO network. The Kindle can be used stand alone without a computer. Whispernet is accessible through Kindle without any fee. Amazon does not sell the Kindle outside the United States as Whispernet only works in the U.S. On the release day, the Kindle Store had more than 88,000 digital titles available for download, but that number has steadily increased. Amazon's first offering of the Kindle sold out in five and a half hours and the device remained out of stock until late April 2008. At launch, the device retailed for $399; Amazon subsequently lowered the price to $359.