In a stunning announcement last night, Google has indicated it’s desire to create a new Operating System based on it’s Chrome browser, taking full aim at Microsoft:

Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

…And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates.

…Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems.

…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.

Let the OS wars begin.

Tags: chrome, Google, Microsoft, operating system, os

As a registered iPhone Developer you are allowed to try out new builds of the iPhone Operating system to allow you to develop against an actual iPhone instead of just the provided iPhone emulator.I’ve been fortunate enough to be using the 3.0 builds for quite some time and now that Apple has announced the full feature set of the new O.S. here are some first impressions on some of the features:

• Cut and Paste – It works great, but the funny thing is I use a lot more than I thought I would. Maybe Steve was right after all, LOL.*Waves Hand*”You don’t need cut-and-paste. This is not the text you were looking for”
• Media Downloads – I had been waiting for this for some time. You can now download movies, TV shows, and audio books from iTunes on your iPhone. I’m actually downloading “Predicatably Irrational” on my iPhone while writing this Blog entry, nice! You need Wifi for this functionality, and it will take a while to download your book. Don’t try this on a low battery!
• Landscape Keyboard – Finally! You can now use landscape mode with your email, notes, and Safari.
• MMS – ready as far as the iPhone is concerned, but AT&T still hasn’t got their act together. AT&T says they are working on MMS and it will be ready sometime at the end of the summer…Grrrrrr.
• Internet Tethering – Don’t get excited, AT&T hasn’t got this feature working either. They are getting really annoying. And you better believe that if/when they allow tethering at all, they will charge a lot for the privilege.
• Spotlight Search – You will love this feature, I use it constantly. Here’s a tip, use it to launch your Applications. No more remembering what screen that app is on, just start typing the first few letters of your Applications name and away you go!
• Voice Dialing – Sorry Charlie, this feature is only on the new iPhone 3GS and isn’t a part of the 3.0 update. My personal reaction? Whaaaaaaah! *Stomps Foot* I want it, I want it.
• Voice Memos – Kinda lame, really. Works O.K. but has absolutely no features at all. Think of it as just a big, red, record button. Wait a minute, that’s exactly what it is.
• Turn By Turn and Video Recording – Fooled you. You don’t get these either. Buy the new iPhone 3GS.

Tags: boost, firmware, iPhone, media, os, update