service

Google has unveiled several changes to its cloud-computing based office application service, Google Docs. Changes include the ability to collaborate on documents in real time and improvements to the spreadsheet editor. While Google Docs is a free ... service, and meant as a more basic edition of Google's paid Apps package, it is used by many business users -- particularly those on tight budgets. That explains today's launch of the Docs updates at Google headquarters, which was attended by chief information officers from 400 companies. Google Docs Allows for Collaborative Editing The big update ... (view more)

Google is rumored to be testing a search tool for Dish Network-powered televisions. It would allow users to search both for programming on the satellite broadcasts and for online videos. According to the Wall Street Journal, the service is being ... tested with a small group of employees. Based on Android and designed for use with a plug-in keyboard, the service would work with Internet-enabled television sets. Those are becoming more popular with the advent of streaming versions of rental services such as Netflix and even Blockbuster. (Source: wsj.com ) The idea appears to be that the service ... (view more)

Critics this morning are wondering what impact an outage of Microsoft's Hotmail email service will have on consumers, who are increasingly leaning towards Google's Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. According to reports, yesterday at about 12:30pm Eastern Time, ... or 9:30am Pacific Time, Microsoft's Hotmail email service and the Windows Live Messenger instant messaging program both stopped working. Many users were barred from entering into their Hotmail or Messenger accounts, and at this time it's not 100 per cent clear what was behind the outage. Some initial reactions to the news included fears that the ... (view more)

One of the first major tech breakthroughs of the new decade will see television channels being offered in 3D. Discovery Communications recently announced a joint venture with Sony and IMAX to provide 3D viewing service to millions of people across ... the United States. The announcement came ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where sources have been buzzing about a 3D feel to the event. While details are still forthcoming, the channel will provide 24-hour content filled with movies, nature programs and other material that will lend itself to 3D viewing. (Source: ... (view more)

Reports suggest Google will soon unveil its own smartphone running Google's own Android operating system. However, analysts are split on how significant the move is and whether it will have a major impact on the market. Rumors of a "Google-phone" ... have been rampant ever since the company launched its open-source operating system Android, which now appears on a growing number of handsets, most prominently Motorola's Droid phone. Blog Posting Drops Strong Hints Officially, the firm has only said "We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative ... (view more)

It appears Apple has gone ahead with plans to buy the rather unique music streaming service, named "LaLa." Some say the purchase could lead to big changes and, hopefully, improvements to the company's own iTunes service. LaLa has tested several ... different projects in the past, including CD swapping and radio, but in recent years has been known as a challenger to other popular music streamers like Pandora and Last.fm (frustratingly, like those other streamers it's also unavailable internationally). LaLa allows site members to create playlists of their own uploaded music and to allow ... (view more)

A couple weeks ago, we reported on Microsoft's plans to unveil special Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm applications for its popular Xbox Live online service. They've now been officially set live on Live, and they're being heralded as handy ways to ... keep in touch with friends. For those unfamiliar with Xbox Live, it's Microsoft's online service for the Xbox 360 console. It allows those who subscribe to the service (about $60 per year) the ability to play games with one another, chat, download free (and not free) games and movies, and upload music and videos to the system's hard drive. Although ... (view more)

One of the Internet's most popular free web hosting services, GeoCities, is closing down for good. Yahoo, which has owned the service for the last decade, announced in April it planned on shutting off the pages remaining in operation, and yesterday ... the lights went down on GeoCities for the very last time. Started back in 1994 under the title "Beverly Hills Internet," GeoCities early on adopted an operating design that emulated its name. For example, a site about celebrities might fall under the city-themed title "Hollywood," while those constructed for the purposes of blogging about PC ... (view more)

When you buy something online, sometimes waiting is the hardest part. Waiting several days, a week, or even longer is simply painful for many consumers, particularly as the holiday season approaches -- which is why Amazon announced late yesterday ... that it would begin shipping packages to homes in seven select cities, arriving the same day. Residents of Boston, Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Seattle, and Las Vegas will soon have the opportunity to order and receive goods from Amazon.com in the very same day. It's expected that those living just outside these cities will also be ... (view more)

Service Tuner Service Tuner is a utility that lets users tweak the start-up state of the background services using some presets. It is also capable of saving the current start-up state of all services, as well as restoring that saved state at a ... later time. http://www.hiren.info Taskbar Commander This tool is only for the most eccentric of Windows users: it lets you control the order that buttons appear on your taskbar. Alphabetize them, color them, do anything you want! Requires IE4+ with shell integration. http://www.hiren.info Today's fresh software picks were provided courtesy of Bob ... (view more)