Google Phone to be unveiled next week
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-techblog17-2008sep17,1,630124.story
For those of you who have been anticipating the so-called Google Phone as if it were the next iPhone, the wait is almost over.
T-Mobile USA said Tuesday that it would unveil the much-anticipated mobile phone loaded with Google Inc.'s Android software next Tuesday at a news conference in New York. The G1 phone, which is being manufactured by HTC, won't be for sale until October. But expect T-Mobile to finally divulge some key details such as pricing.
T-Mobile is just the first carrier to market the phone. Other cellphone manufacturers and carriers are expected to dial for dollars using the Google brand as bait, but they apparently have hit some snags. The Android phone is being positioned as a rival to Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
For Google, this seems like a no-lose proposition. The Internet search giant wants to make sure that all of its services, including its lucrative advertising, are available on all cellphones. So it created software for mobile phones that does that.
Pundits have been saying for years that the mobile Web will dwarf the nonmobile Web once enough people have access to so-called smart phones and all of the bells and whistles that come with them. Already Google is readying a store for downloadable mobile software similar to the one that has proved so successful for the iPhone.
Google showed off the handset at a developer conference in London on Tuesday.
Next week, Google and T-Mobile should start to reveal whether Android will live up to the hype.
--
Jessica Guynn
View movies, shows on IMDB
The millions of people who visit the Internet Movie Database to learn about movies and television shows can now stay there to watch them.
Parent company Amazon.com Inc. said IMDB.com, famous for providing casts, memorable quotes and other trivia from film and TV, had started offering more than 6,000 feature films and television episodes for free viewing online.
The current selections include recent and classic films, such as "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Hoop Dreams" and "Some Like It Hot."
The lineup also includes such hit television shows as "Heroes," "The Simpsons" and "The Office," together with television classics including "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Star Trek."
Content is provided by the NBC Universal and News Corp. online video venture, Hulu, as well as by CBS, Sony Pictures Television and more than 500 independent filmmakers.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-techblog17-2008sep17,1,630124.story
For those of you who have been anticipating the so-called Google Phone as if it were the next iPhone, the wait is almost over.
T-Mobile USA said Tuesday that it would unveil the much-anticipated mobile phone loaded with Google Inc.'s Android software next Tuesday at a news conference in New York. The G1 phone, which is being manufactured by HTC, won't be for sale until October. But expect T-Mobile to finally divulge some key details such as pricing.
T-Mobile is just the first carrier to market the phone. Other cellphone manufacturers and carriers are expected to dial for dollars using the Google brand as bait, but they apparently have hit some snags. The Android phone is being positioned as a rival to Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
For Google, this seems like a no-lose proposition. The Internet search giant wants to make sure that all of its services, including its lucrative advertising, are available on all cellphones. So it created software for mobile phones that does that.
Pundits have been saying for years that the mobile Web will dwarf the nonmobile Web once enough people have access to so-called smart phones and all of the bells and whistles that come with them. Already Google is readying a store for downloadable mobile software similar to the one that has proved so successful for the iPhone.
Google showed off the handset at a developer conference in London on Tuesday.
Next week, Google and T-Mobile should start to reveal whether Android will live up to the hype.
--
Jessica Guynn
View movies, shows on IMDB
The millions of people who visit the Internet Movie Database to learn about movies and television shows can now stay there to watch them.
Parent company Amazon.com Inc. said IMDB.com, famous for providing casts, memorable quotes and other trivia from film and TV, had started offering more than 6,000 feature films and television episodes for free viewing online.
The current selections include recent and classic films, such as "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Hoop Dreams" and "Some Like It Hot."
The lineup also includes such hit television shows as "Heroes," "The Simpsons" and "The Office," together with television classics including "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Star Trek."
Content is provided by the NBC Universal and News Corp. online video venture, Hulu, as well as by CBS, Sony Pictures Television and more than 500 independent filmmakers.