Google's New Operating System
Google has announced a new operating system for PCs, stemming from its Google Chrome Web browser launched nine months ago. The new operating system, called Google Chrome OS, will be in direct competition with Microsoft's Windows operating system. Google executives say that Google Chrome OS will be used on netbooks at first, with the potential to run on larger computers in the future. Additionally, the new OS will not need constant security updates or have issues with malware or viruses and should have the user online within a matter of seconds. The technology will soon be open source, meaning that outside computer programmers will have the capability to modify it or make any positive changes to the system. Google spokesmen announced that netbooks containing Google Chrome OS will be available in the second half of 2010.
Yahoo!'s New Home Page
For the first time since 2006, Yahoo! has redesigned its home page to be more accessible to its existing users. Users are now able to customize the page with email sites, social networking sites, create their own applications, and more. The new version of the home page is designed to allow users to see what is going on across the Web without having to navigate away from Yahoo.com. The new home page, which will be introduced in France, India, and the UK this week (and the rest of the world over the following year), aims to regain audiences lost to other popular websites such as Twitter, Facebook, or other personal email websites.
Yahoo! Buys Xoopit
Yahoo! has recently acquired Xoopit, an online photo sharing and indexing company. Yahoo! will be adding this technology to their existing email platform, allowing users to easily compile all of the photos they send or receive through email into one organized scrapbook. The addition of Xoopit indexing technology will also allow Yahoo! Mail users to put together private photo albums they wish to share with a select group of people. The engine hopes to offer this service as an alternative for social networking sites that allow access to personal photos by everyone who sees a certain user's page. The Xoopit application will be integrated into existing Yahoo! Mail accounts over the coming months.
Google Adds Moon to Google Earth
In celebration of the Apollo 11 expedition to the Moon, Google has added the Moon to its Google Earth 5.0. The new application allows users to see panoramic views of the Moon as well as explore destinations reached by U.S. astronauts. In addition, guided tours of the Moon from astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Jack Schmitt will be available, as well as obscure footage taken from the surface of the Moon.
Google Wave to Begin Beta in September
Google will unveil a new program later this year, called Google Wave. Although a live demo may be seen on wave.google.com, bloggers are calling it a \"Live Email,\" with a mix of instant messenger, social networking and regular email all in one program. Features of Google Wave include collaborative editing of documents, the ability to have, store and share conversations, and the ability to drag and drop selected pictures to other people who also use Google Wave. The program will be in beta testing later this year and will eventually be available in open source.
New Bing Web Crawler on the Loose
As a pre-emptive warning to website owners, Microsoft has announced that a new user agent string for the Bing crawler may appear in website referrer logs. The company says that although there will be a new user agent string (msnbot/2.0b), the old string (msnbot/1.1) will still appear as it is still Bing's primary bot. Although Microsoft has said they do not expect that any problems will arise, they have set up a forum for reporting any issues with bot crawling for Bing or for any user agent string issues.