Goo.gl URL shortener officially launches

Last December, Google unveiled a URL shortener that formatted a link as "goo.gl." The service has been in development since then and has only been accessible via an API.

We first introduced the Google URL Shortener (goo.gl) last December as part of Google Toolbar and Feedburner. Since our initial release, we’ve integrated the technology into many other Google products including News, Blogger, Maps, Picasa Web Albums, and Moderator, but people have been asking for a direct way to use the service. Today we’re giving goo.gl its own website (http://goo.gl/, of course!). We don’t intend to overload goo.gl with features, but we do want it to be the stablest, most secure, and fastest URL shortener on the web.

Google promises near 100% uptime, span detection, and speed, which they believe will set them apart from the other URL shorteners.

Google to announce WebP image format, set to kill JPEG files on the Internet

A PNG file that displays the quality of WebP technology

CNET is reporting today that Google is preparing to announce a new image format for the Web, which they call WebP, later today.

Google plans to announce the new WebP graphics format today along with its research that indicates its use could cut image file sizes by 40 percent compared to today's dominant JPEG file format. That translates to faster file transfers and lower network burden if Google can convince people to adopt WebP.

WebP is derived from WebM, another open-source technology developed by Google which is for videos. WebP is also open-source.

You can expect the first Web browser to get WebP support will be Google Chrome, but it should be interesting to see if any other Web browsers get on board the WebP train.

"When we took a bunch of images, recompressed them from their current lossy formats into WebP, we saw on average about 40 percent decrease in size, which is staggering," said Richard Rabbat, lead product manager on Google's "make the Web faster" effort. Shrinking images by that much is particularly important considering that, by Google's estimate, "65 percent of bytes on the Web are from images," he said.

Verizon Wireless smartphone roadmap leaked

Engadget is reporting today that they have been leaked Verizon Wireless' roadmap for Android and BlackBerry smartphone devices for the next few quarters.

BlackBerry 9570 (Storm 3)

The device has been cancelled for release at this time. It won't be launching on Verizon Wireless, but may on another network.

BlackBerry Tour, BlackBerry Bold 9650, BlackBerry Curve 3G

The devices will all receive an update in October.

Samsung SCH-i400 Continuum

The device is scheduled to be released in late October. Sporting a 1 GHz processor and carrying the codename "Garnett," it'll be an interesting device.

Motorola Venus

The device will be launched in October. The device is said to carry the "BlackBerry look and feel," with a QWERTY keyboard underneath the display, 1 GHz processor, CDMA and GSM / HSPA radios, and Android 2.2.

Motorola Droid Pro

This smartphone is scheduled to be released in late October or early November. It is reportedly sporting a 1.3 GHz processor, Android 2.2, global radios, and Flash 10.1.

This phone could end up being called the Motorola Droid 2 World Edition and could replace the Droid 2 when released.

HTC Merge / Lexicon / Lexikon

The device is also carrying a release date of late October or early November. Keep in mind that those are all codenames and no one really knows what the official name will be when it is released. The smartphone sports global radios and a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor.

LG enV Pro

The device is reportedly scheduled to be released in November and will run on Android OS. It will reportedly have the same design as the current LG enV touch, but run on Android OS and feature a 1 GHz processor with a global radio.

Motorola Stingray tablet

The rumored tablet from Motorola is set to be released in quarter 1 of 2011. It appears as though it will sport a 10-inch display, along with Android 3.0, 16 GB of storage, and Tegra 2. Finally, it will be "hardware upgradable to LTE" technology, but it's unclear whether than means there will be some type of separate purchase or something else. This also means that the device will ship with CDMA.

There's certainly a lot going on with Verizon Wireless over the next few months, mainly with Android and BlackBerry. Something not very surprising is that they are no Windows Phone 7 device leaks on Verizon at this time, as the company announced the first CDMA WP7 device will be released in 2011.

Léo Apotheker is the new CEO of HP

HP has announced today that the company's new CEO and President will be Léo Apotheker, who is the former CEO of SAP. Apotheker will officially take his spot at Hewlett-Packard on November 1st.

The Board of Directors of HP today announced the election of Léo Apotheker as Chief Executive Officer and President. Apotheker, who previously served as CEO of SAP, will also join HP’s Board of Directors. The Board also elected Ray Lane, Managing Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as a new member of the Board and designated him as non-executive Chairman. Both elections are effective November 1.

The announcement comes almost two months after HP's former CEO, Mark Hurd, left the company following a harassment investigation. Hurd has since been hired by Oracle as a co-President.

iOS 4.2 beta 2 for iPad shows Internet tethering options

According to 9to5Mac, the latest beta of iOS 4.2 for the iPad (released to developers two days ago) carries a section within the APN network settings that clearly shows several "Internet Tethering" options. The tethering appears to be traditional Internet tethering, rather than using an iPhone's connection to power the network on an iPad.

The section asks for a username and password which is exactly what the iPhone sported before it gained official tethering. It certainly seems possible than Internet tethering will be coming to the iPad sooner than you expect, and could be landing as soon as iOS 4.2 is released in November.

It is important to note that the screenshot above is an iPad running on a 3G network in Europe, not on AT&T's network in the U.S. The setting could not be found on an AT&T iPad.

Nokia beings shipping N8 smartphone

Following the announcement early last week that Nokia would be delaying the shipment of N8 devices, the company has confirmed today that the first batch of the smartphone running Symbian^3 has left the manufacturing facility. The devices should be in customer's hands shortly, all over the world.

Nokia has stated that the first customers will get the N8 “before the weekend” while most will be receiving it “over the coming days and weeks.”

The company has provided the above photo to prove that they are actually shipping the long-awaited device to customers.

Google releases several enhancements to Instant Search, rolls out to other countries

Google announced today that they are rolling out several new enhancements to Google Instant Search which allows you to receive live search results as you type new keywords.

The first change allows you to use the arrow keys and enter keys on your keyboard to navigate through search results. For example, you can scroll through results and hit the enter key on your keyboard to go directly to that Webpage. This feature will surely save a bunch of time for Internet users.

Google also revealed that they are rolling out Instant Search to services such as Videos, News, Books, Blogs, Updates, and Discussions. It will act the same way as it does on Google web search.

Finally, Google announced that they are rolling out Instant Search to 12 new countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. The company will also be releasing Instant Search support to other countries in the coming weeks.

Confirmed: Zombie Mode coming back in Call of Duty: Black Ops

Treyarch has announced today that the popular zombie mode (which first made an appearance in Call of Duty: World at War) will be coming to the next game in the series, Call of Duty: Black Ops. Treyarch called it one of the "worst kept secrets." A teaser site has also been launched that shows off zombie mode.

Four players will be able to face zombies in the co-op mode, and the company claims that the mode has been improved: "We've taken extra special care to retain the essential ingredients of our Zombie game, and have also crafted a nice surprise for the fans."

Zombie mode was first introduced in Treyarch previous title, Call of Duty: World at War. The feature was a big hit, and the studio hopes they made it even better in Call of Duty: Black Ops.

The game is set to hit retail store shelves on November 9th for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, and DS.

New Apple TV sports 8 GB of internal storage, 256 MB of RAM

The guys over at iFixit are currently in the process of tearing down the new Apple TV, searching for interesting components and features. iFixit has discovered that the new Apple TV features 8 GB of on-board NAND storage, something Apple never mentioned during the announcement because of the focus of streaming with the new device. Also, the new Apple TV sports 256 MB of RAM which is the same amount as the iPad and iPod touch fourth-generation, but less than the 512 MB found in the iPhone 4.

Other notes:

• Carries the same Wi-Fi chip as the iPad, and A4 processor that is developed in-house by Apple
• There is an empty space next to the onboard storage chip, possibly for another storage chip that didn't make final production
• There are solder pads on the logic board that match Apple's 30-pin dock connectors perfectly
• The power supply rating comes in at 5.95 watts

Gmail message threading can now be disabled

The Gmail team announced today that they have begun rolling out a new feature that allows users to turn off threaded conversations. Conversation threading has been debated between Gmail users since it launched in 2004, with some liking the organization it provided and some not.

The way Gmail organizes mail into conversations is like cilantro. You either love it -- and, like me, enjoy the nice citrusy, herbal finish it gives to everything from salsa to curry -- or you hate it. And those of you who hate it hate it enough to launch sites like nocilantro.com and ihatecilantro.com (“an anti cilantro community”), where you can hate it together.

The feature to disable conversation threading will be rolled out over the next several days to users. To turn off threading, simply go the the Settings page in Gmail and look for the "Conversation View" section, select the "Off" option and you can once again view your emails the way you like it.

Nintendo 3DS coming to Japan on February 26th, U.S. and Europe in March

Nintendo announced today at a Tokyo press conference that its new 3DS handheld gaming system will be released to Japan on February 26th, 2011 for ¥25,000 (about $300). In the following month, the device will be released to United States and Europe consumers. VideoGaming247 is reporting that Nintendo plans to offer the Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black as initial color choices.

The Nintendo 3DS is a device that allows you to play 3D games on the go, without the need of those funky 3D glasses. If the device works well, it will surely change how people game.

Sony preparing to launch PSP2?

According to Develop, Sony has begun sending out PlayStation Portable 2 (PSP2) development kits to a number of game studios. The portable gaming console reportedly has a much-needed hardware upgrade with claims of 60 frames per second during gaming.

It was claimed earlier in the year that developers were shown the device, and Sony has since sent out dev kits to numerous development studios – both third-party and in-house.

The report also claims that Sony is preparing a "significant launch window line-up" for the PSP2, making it clear that the company wants to get this thing out into the world and have everyone know about it.

Sony is expected to announce the PSP2 sometime in early 2011, possibly at CES.

[UPDATE: Changes x3] Apple releases iOS 4.2 beta 2, iTunes 10.1 beta to developers

Apple has released the second beta version of the upcoming iOS 4.2 update to registered developers today. The company also seeded the iOS 4.2 beta 2 software development kit (SDK) and Xcode 3.2.5 to developers. There are no noticeable changes at this time, however, some users are reporting fixed issues with 3G data and Wi-Fi.

iOS 4.2 will be available for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch this November and will be the first OS to unify the software versions of the three devices.

Alongside the iOS 4.2 release, Apple seeded the first iTunes 10.1 beta to registered developers as well today. Once gain, there are no noticeable changes, but if/when we hear something, we'll let you know.

UPDATE: Some users are claiming that iOS 4.2 now displays the new iTunes 10 icon on the "Connect to iTunes" screen on the device.

Here are the full release notes for iOS 4.2:

Notes and Known Issues

The following issues relate to using the 4.2 SDK to develop code.

Xcode

Xcode can sometimes appear to hang and unresponsive for a few seconds. If you run into this issue, you can disable the automatic documentation download, to prevent this from happening again.To disable the automatic documentation download, choose Xcode->Preferences->Documentation and uncheck the “Check for and install updates automatically” option.

In iOS Beta 2, there is a new option for specifying the Base SDK called “Latest SDK”. This is the Apple recommended (and best) choice for most iOS developers. It will cause your project to always use the newest available SDK.

Advertising

Using iAds for the first may throw some errors, often followed by a successful request. This should not block development and will eventually work.

Audio

The iPad screen rotation lock switch now functions as a sound/silent switch in iOS 4.2. This switch behaves as the ring/silent switch does on iPhone.Applications targeted for iPad will need to take this into account when implementing audio behaviors.For more information on audio behavior guidelines and how to implement them, see “Handling Common Tasks” in iPhone Human Interface Guidelines and the Audio Session Programming Guide.

Calendar

Calendar can now import .ics files directly as a way to add events. If your app has access to .ics files, you should test importing them with the UIDocumentInteractionController API.

GameKit

Apps can use the GKFriendRequestComposeViewController class to initiate friend requests.

Media Player Framework

Applications using MPMoviePlayerController and MPMoviePlayerViewController to play movies now automatically benefit from AirPlay for Videos, provided they use the standard transport controls. However, video streams that rely on cookies for credentials are not supported and should be passed in the URL.

Printing

iOS 4.2 devices can print wirelessly to printers that support AirPrint, including:
HP Photosmart Premium Fax e-All-in-One Printer – C410
HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One Printer series – C310
HP Photosmart Plus e-All-in-One Printer series – B210
iOS 4.2 devices can print to printers shared through a Mac or a PC.
For iOS 4.2 beta 2, testing printing requires:
A printer that supports AirPrint, running the latest available firmware
A printer shared through a Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.5 beta, available on the iOS developer page
A printer shared through a PC running iTunes 10.1 beta, available on the iOS developer page
Choosing the menu item “Open Printer Simulator” from iPhone simulator does nothing.Launching the PrinterSimulator directly from /Developer/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/Applications provides access to the PrinterSimulator.

Simulator

Building an app that weak links CoreVideo.framework against the 4.2 Simulator SDK and running against the 3.2 Simulator will result in a crash. The same configuration will work when building against the 4.2 device SDK and running on a 3.2 device.

It also appears as though iOS 4.2 adds a "Game Center" tag to apps in the App Store that are compatible with Apple's gaming network. Also, a video uploaded to YouTube shows a new app switcher interface for the iPad:

9to5Mac has also posted an image that shows the ability to upload a YouTube video in "Public" mode, "Private" mode or "Unlisted" mode in iOS 4.2.

Roku and TiVo bringing Hulu Plus support

Both TiVo and Roku have announced today that they will be bringing support for Hulu Plus subscriptions to their products. Support for the service on TiVo and Roku products, which will require an extra $9.99 monthly subscription fee, is expected to launch within the next few months.

Hulu Plus offers one of the deepest offerings of current TV shows on a streaming platform to subscribers in the U.S., including every episode of more than 45 current hit programs from ABC, FOX and NBC like Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy, Glee, Family Guy, The Office and 30 Rock. In addition, TV lovers with TiVo Premiere DVRs will be able to enjoy full series runs and numerous back seasons of dozens of classic shows like The X-Files, Law and Order: SVU, Arrested Development, Saturday Night Live, Miami Vice, Ugly Betty, Quantum Leap, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Roswell and Ally McBeal.

Due to this announcement, rumors have already been flying around that the Apple TV may also be gaining support for Hulu Plus subscriptions. However, keep in mind it's just an early rumor and may not be true.

Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 to launch on October 26th

Microsoft today announced that Office for Mac 2011 would be available to users beginning October 26th, 2010. Pre-orders for the next version of Office for Mac are beginning today through Amazon's website. Microsoft also posted the final behind-the-scenes video that goes over the making of Office for Mac 2011. The final episode goes over the speed improvements, dynamic re-ordering of layers, and full screen viewing improvements.

Pre-order links:

Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 - Single License ($119.99)

Office Mac Home and Student 2011 - Family Pack (3 Licenses) ($149.99)

Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 - 1 Pack ($199.99)

Office Mac Home and Business 2011 - 2 License Pack ($279.99)

Apple approves official Google Voice app?

TechCrunch is reporting today that Apple has accepted the official Google Voice app into the App Store, and users can expect it to appear within the coming weeks. Google reportedly had to re-code the app to work with the iPhone 4, and iOS multitasking.

Google initially submitted their official Voice application into the App Store in July of 2009, but it was removed since Apple claimed it copied to many default actions of the iPhone. The removal later prompted an entire FCC investigation into the matter.

Earlier this month, Apple announced that they were relaxing their development restrictions, publishing an entire document regarding why certain apps are not be accepted into the App Store. Since many developers believed that Google Voice apps followed Apple's guidelines, they resubmitted their apps, eventually being accepted a few weeks ago.

Founders of The Pirate Bay begin their appeal process

Supporters of The Pirate Bat line up outside a courtroom last year

The TorrentFreak is noting that the founders of popular BitTorrent website, The Pirate Bay, will be going to court tomorrow to appeal their one year jail sentence and $905,000 each in fines. There will also be 8 trial days before October 15th.

The founders of The Pirate Bay, Gottfrid Svartholm, Fredrik Neij, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde, were all found guilty of assisting in making illegal downloads of copyrighted materials possible. All four founders pleaded not guilty to the ruling, claiming they were not responsible for how The Pirate Bay was used by its users.

10 months ago, The Pirate Bay's tracker was shut down due to another lawsuit. That previous lawsuit was a media frenzy, with supporters lining up outside the courtroom, and mainstream media reporting on it. However, this appeal is not gaining that much attention compared to the previous.

The results of the appeal will be known in a few weeks.

Apple is the most covered tech company in media

The New York Times is reporting on a new research note from Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism which found that Apple was the most covered technology company in media during June 2009 to June 2010. The note mentions that Apple was the focus of over 15% of technology-related articles and stores appearing on media outlets.

In the battle among the tech titans, Apple Inc. won the title in the last year for press appeal. The 34- year-old company attracted more coverage from the mainstream press than any other technology company - and the bulk of it was positive. Its popular devices and orchestrated PR strategy helped it even outpace Google Inc.

From June 2009 through June 2010, 15% percent of the technology stories focused primarily on Apple, versus 11% about Google.

On a related note, only 3% of technology-related articles discussed Microsoft.

As far as social media goes, Twitter and Facebook came in at 7% and 5% respectively.

The two social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook, came next (7% and 5%). Twitter’s coverage during this time period largely centered around its communication role during the Iranian protests in the summer of 2009. Attention to Facebook was largely focused on the service itself and its interaction with its users.

Google turns 12 years old today

Web giant Google officially celebrates its 12th birthday today, Monday September 27th, 2010. The regular Google logo has been substituted to celebrate the day by a birthday cake image, painted by the American painter Wayne Thiebaud.

In the past, Google has sometimes celebrated its birthday on September 7th, as an exact launch date isn't known. However, the domain google.com was registered on September 15th, 1997.

In 12 years, Google has expanded from just search to email, news, desktop software, a social network (kind of), and arguably one of its greatest purchases, YouTube.

From It's All Tech to you Google, happy birthday!

Microsoft announces October 11th press conference

Engadget is reporting today that Microsoft has begun sending out invitations to a October 11th press conference for 2 PM in London. Microsoft neglected to say what the press conference would be about, but rumors over the past weekend lead us to believe it will be the official announcement of Windows Phone 7, along with a release date and several device announcements.

Microsoft has already released the RTM (Release to Manufacturing) build of Windows Phone 7, further hinting that the newest mobile OS from the software giant is nearly complete.

We'll be covering the press conference all day on October 11th.