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Google Continues World Domination w/ Toolbar

When I started my computer earlier today I noticed something different along the very bottom of my monitor. It was something new in the Windows Start taskbar that I hadn’t seen before. Something had invaded my system and put something there I don’t remember asking for in the past.

google-world

There was a new button sitting right next to my "Start" button. I was familiar with the name on the button, as I’ve been generally pleased with my experiences using their products.

bnpositive-taskbar

It appears in a recent update to my Google Toolbar, which I don’t remember approving automatic updates to my toolbars to be installed with no warning.

My first thought was "Do I really need to give Google anymore real-estate on my computer?" Particularly in my Start / Taskbar? However, I’ll give Google the benefit of the doubt here and see how I like it. Hoping I can remove it later, but I didn’t see any options for that at the time I was digging around in my toolbar settings for how the update got applied automatically.

When you click on the button you’re presented with the following options to choose from. I can see how this would be helpful.

google-start-search-button

My second thought was that with the ability to start programs and its similarity to the Windows Start button, could this be a foreshadowing of what a Google OS would start to look like?

Anyone else seen this and already using it? What do you think? I’ve got to say that I do love the Google Toolbar as it lets me access all my favorite items / bookmarks on the web, regardless of what computer I’m on.

Image Source: Snagit images from my personal computer. Earth image from www.sxc.hu.

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IMO.IM – Bringing IM Clients Together Online

There seems to be quite a bit of development going on in the Instant Messaging arenas on a variety of different fronts. You’ve got your individual clients that are always releasing updates. Third party clients that aggregate the individual platforms to a single interface and buddy list. Then you have the website applications that aggregate the individuals to a web page interface with no software to download.

imo-im

imo.im is the latter and have provided a very simple interface to combine your IM clients onto the web. I tried it out and it does a good job of quickly connecting to your accounts and displaying your buddy lists.

imo.im brings together all the major platforms and has just released the ability to pull in Skype contacts as well, which is a big plus in my opinion.

April 20, 2009 – Palo Alto — imo.im is a free online service that aims to make online communication more intuitive and accessible.  It couples voice, video, and text chat capabilities with the most popular instant messaging protocols. Currently in alpha stage development, the startup has released an update that introduces major new features and makes imo.im one of the only multi-protocol instant messaging services to offer Skype support.

In addition to Skype, MySpace Chat support has been added in the latest release. Voice and Video capabilities are now also functional on all supported networks–AIM, GTalk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, MySpace, Skype, and Yahoo. No download or registration is required to use the service, and multiple accounts on different instant messaging networks can be linked together to one sign-in.

Language support has been expanded as well, through imo’s user-driven translation program launched in April 2008. With this system, imo now offers language support for Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Macedonian, French, Turkish, and more.

Finally, eight new features have been added giving users the ability to:

  • Star favorite buddies for easy reference
  • Upload and view buddy icons
  • Search for offline as well as online buddies
  • Change how a buddy’s display name appears in the contacts list
  • Move buddies between groups
  • Block and unblock buddies
  • Set yourself as invisible upon login
  • Voice and video chat with anyone

For a comprehensive list of imo.im features, please visit the imo.im website at https://imo.im/features.html

About:
imo.im (https://imo.im/about.html) is a web-based multi-network instant messaging service. It lets users IM chat with buddies on AIM, Google Talk, MSN, MySpace, Skype, and Yahoo simultaneously. The company was founded by Georges Harik (co-developer of Google’s AdSense technology), Ralph Harik, and Praveen Krishnamurthy in April 2007.

My personal preference is a separate application if I’m running on my own computer. I currently use Trillian Pro by Cerulean Studios, however sites like imo.im come in very handy when you need access to your IM Buddy Network, but aren’t on your own computer.

I’m still waiting for the application that will combine IM, Skype, Facebook, twitter and other social media sites into one interface. Now THAT would be nice.

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Cellphone to Watch Bluetooth Link

What’s one of the first cool gadgets you remember seeing and then thinking to yourself, “Oh that would be so cool if it were real!”. For me it was probably the Dick Tracy communicator watch. Not sure why, the logic of it isn’t too outstanding, but at the time I saw it, it seemed so out there, but so useful, it was a perfect match.

watch-cellphone
Photo Source: Source Images from www.sxc.hu

There’s this watch you can use that looks pretty close to Dick Tracy’s, but I’m not really looking for a watch I can talk to at this point. It’s just a couple of features I’d like to integrate into my watch from my phone that I’m interested in instead. Bluetooth seems to be the logical connection link, but I’m not picky.

What I’m interested in is a watch that connects to my cellphone via Bluetooth that will silently notify me of a phone call without my phone vibrating or ringing. Either a tiny kinetic probe on the underside that would gently poke me when I receive a call, or maybe even a slight electric shock.

Maybe I’m just sick and tired of hearing cellphone go off around me, even my own, but these days I completely silence my phone most of the day now. I just set it in front of me so I can tell when it goes off when it lights up.

Now that I think about it, it would also be nice to have a little CallerID display on the face of the watch too. Maybe the face of the watch could display the face of the caller in my address book.