Apple Making Google Maps Competitor?

This could be a possibilty as Apple just bought the Canadian mapping company Poly9. Poly9 makes several products but the most interesting is Poly9 Globe, which is a browser based, 3D globe which can be used on all Platforms. The interactive software allows 3D rendering of the Earth in the 3 axis. 

Poly9 was apparently purchased "recently" by Apple, but there hasn't been any official confirmation of the purchase. It was also said that Apple asked Poly9 employees to not discuss the matter. But if it is true, the purchase of Poly9 would be the second mapping related purchase for Apple. Last year, it was revealed that the company had purchased Placebase, a direct Google Maps competitor. 

Because of these purchases, some people have wondered that Apple is going to create its own mapping service on its mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad which would replace the current Google Maps on its iOS devices.

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Source AppleInsider | Gizmodo

Android 2.2 Now Available on Open Source

 

Today at the Droid X announcement in New York, Andy Rubin announced that the latest version of the Android OS 2.2 Froyo is going to be available today for open source. Froyo was announced at the latest Google I/O conference and has loads more features including a JIT compiler for better graphics, wifi hotspot and full flash support.

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Google Voice Now Out of Beta

 

Google has now made Google Voice public as before it was a invite only service. However it is still only available to United States, but now you can have free calls, free SMS messages (anywhere in U.S. and Canada), voice mail and having one number for all of your phones. Go here to find out more and sign up.

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Source Google

Droid X Teaser Website Goes Live

  

Not much info on this at the moment except that the Droid X gets added to the Verizon's official Droid website. The site is boasting a 4.3" screen, HDMI output and a 720p display for the Droid X! You can also enter you email address for updates so we might see a release sooner than we might think.

Read Here

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Source AndroidCentral

Update on 2010-06-17 22:05 by Patrick Rigby

Now the website is showing 720p capture rather than a 720p screen. Could be a marketing slip-up or could just to make people stop pre-ordering iPhones and waiting to see what the Droid X has in store.

US to Get HTC Desire

 

For all those US people looking across the pond at the HTC Desire longingly will now finally be able to get their hands on the HTC hit in the UK and mainland Europe. The Desire will be available on US shores in August but instead of being with on one of the "Big 4" carriers, the HTC Desire will be on "select regional operators," and HTC was quick to say that the HTC Hero has been "well received in regional markets." The HTC Desire has similar specs as the Nexus One with a 1GHz Snapdragon Processor and running Android 2.1. Expect a Froyo update soon.

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Source Tracyandmatt.co.uk

Google Hates Windows

The Financial Times is saying that Google is banning the use of Windows internally. This is in light of the security breach caused by Chinese hackers; Google's IT team are saying that they "feel that Microsoft's OS represents too great a risk across the enterprise to keep using it."

Google has always allowed employees to choose what OS they want to work on. But as of now they can only choose between Mac and Linux, (I know which one I would choose...) as installing Windows on desktops is "strictly forbidden." Because of the "security risk." However, all those Windows fanboys over at Google can still use Windows but only on Laptops.

So what will happen to all that Wintel hardware? Well, they will either run Linux or Google's upcoming Chrome OS, but adding Mac OS X will mean buying Mac hardware. Maybe that's what the Steve-Eric Coffee Summit was all about as Eric said that "truckloads of MacBook Pros heading for the Googleplex."

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