Google Docs is great, but not for everything

I just watched this on the Google Docs login page and it made me laugh.

Google "superphones" and dishwasher-safe "smartphones"

The introduction of a Google phone, the Nexus One, has been all over the news this week. And rightly so, as Google's business model heralds a departure from the conventional way of buying a phone - through a carrier. And the disruptive potential of that is great - read here to find out part of why. What's more, it means people will have much more choice about the type of phone they have and what they do with it. Who knows, there might even be a dishwasher-safe phone out soon. Now that would be very handy. Oh, look, there already is.

Google Wave approaches, but it just washes over me

The thing with Google is that they always come up with intuitive products that are way ahead of the curve. That's why until we actually get to play with it, we won't even understand the half of it. Still, the above vid looks great - and that images stuff looks crazy. The translation stuff looks dubious though.

What is a browser? What is a browser war?

Some would say you could walk out onto an American street and ask just about any simple question and get a similar response, but the above vox pop by Google is surprising nonetheless. You really would think that in this world where everyone carries a powerful computer in their pocket, most of them would know what a browser was. Then again, it explains why Google is trying to break into the browser market, through the back door, as Slate says, by building a Google Chrome plug-in for Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Watch the sparks fly between those two...

P.S.: YouTube has dozens of examples of Americans giving dumb answers to really simple questions.

Google to print 2 million books on Espresso book machine

We are pleased to have spotted the Espresso book machine way back in May because now Google has signed a deal to print off out-of-print books on demand. Read more here.

Google launches DoubleClick Ad Exchange

This is how Google plans to "grow the online advertising pie for everyone". For a better explanation, check out this pdf.

Google to launch own Linux-based operating system

As a Linux user, Microsoft hater and believer in the open-source movement, it is with great joy I read of Google's announcement to launch its own operating system Chrome OS, via its blog, of course. Not only will the code be Linux-based and opened up to developers, the marketing might of Google will allow free software to at last be pitched up against Microsoft's propriety offering in the collective consciousness. As Google say themselves:

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.

Great news for everyone - except Microsoft.