Android and iPhone Users Seem More Loyal Than BlackBerry Users

Users of iPhone and Android devices seem to be more loyal than BlackBerry users, a new analysis by Nielsen suggests.

Based on "next desired smartphone" responses, existing iPhone and Android users are more likely than BlackBerry users to want to stick with the same operating system when they buy their next devices.

Gowilla says it has "not yet" been approached by Google about a potential acquisition, though there is some speculation that could be in the offing as Google ramps up its efforts in the social media and social networking areas.

Google Docs Gets New File Conversion Feature

Google has announced a new file conversion feature in Google Docs that lets you convert files that are already uploaded to your document list into a Google Docs format, as opposed to only being able to do so upon upload.

For example, you can convert PDFs to text using Google’s Optical Character Recognition technology. The changes make it easier for users to use Google Docs and then export content in ways that are compatible with Office and other productivity suites.

Files that can be converted include:
For spreadsheets: .xls, .xlsx, .ods, .csv, .tsv, .txt, .tsb
For documents: .doc, .docx, .html, plain text (.txt), .rtf
For presentations: .ppt, .pps
For OCR: .jpg, .gif, .png, .pdf

To use the feature, simply right click on the file and click 'make a Google Docs copy'

Google Docs Gets New File Conversion Feature | jatiN mahindrA doT coM

Revamped Google Images Now a Bandwidth Hog?

Google's redesigned "Google Images" is intended to allow searchers to discover more images faster. My own anecdotal experience with image search is not entirely conclusive, yet.

Google Web Search Help does have a complaint from a school in New Zealand with 1,200 students. Their Google Image Search data usage has more than doubled their weekly bandwidth fees, the post claims.

That's a pretty startling result.

Google Images Redesign Doubles Schools Bandwidth Bill | jatiN mahindrA doT coM:

Google "Caffeine" Promises 50 Percent Fresher Results

Google's latest search indexing system, "Caffeine," promises search results that are 50-percent fresher than Google used to be able to provide under the old indexing system. In a world where real-time and near-real-time content is boosted by applications such as Twitter, that's important.

"Whether it's a news story, a blog or a forum post, you can now find links to relevant content much sooner after it is published than was possible ever before," the Google Blog notes. Google noted that faster indexing is needed in part because with the advent of video, images, news and real-time updates, the average webpage is richer and more complex, and user expectations simply are higher.

Searchers want to find the latest relevant content and publishers expect to be found the instant they publish.

The old index had several layers, some of which were refreshed at a faster rate than others; the main layer would update every couple of weeks. To refresh a layer of the old index, we would analyze the entire web, which meant there was a significant delay between when we found a page and made it available.

With Caffeine, we analyze the web in small portions and update our search index on a continuous basis, globally. As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index. That means you can find fresher information than ever before—no matter when or where it was published.

Caffeine lets Google index web pages on an enormous scale, processing hundreds of thousands of pages in parallel Caffeine takes up nearly 100 million gigabytes of storage in one database and adds new information at a rate of hundreds of thousands of gigabytes per day, Google says.

Tiered Access Pricing the Result of Google-Verizon Net Neutrality Deal?

Well, yes, in a manner of speaking, but probably only in the sense that "cable TV" or multichannel video entertainment services are sold.

Netflix and Epix Plan to Disrupt On-Demand TV

Start-up pay-TV channel Epix is in serious negotiations to give Netflix exclusive online rights to films from its three equity partners -- Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The five-year arrangement would allow Netflix subscribers to watch movies such as Iron Man 2, Dinner for Schmucks and The Expendables on a streamed basis.

Netflix and Epix working on major digital partnership to shake up pay TV landscape