Web 2.0

Google has released the source code for an an Android phone GPS program called My Tracks, which lets people record where they've been, log journeys in Google Docs, and post their trip maps online.

"You can expect My Tracks to become better than ever with the contributions we hope it will receive from other developers, and also that many applications which work side-by-side with My Tracks will be written," Google engineer Rodrigo Damazio said in an e-mail list posting Friday. "For instance, one could easily build an application for tracking fitness activities, geocaching, aviation, and so … Read more

Better performance topped the feature list for Android 2.2, aka Froyo, the next version of Google's mobile-phone operating system detailed Thursday.

Froyo's Dalvik virtual machine, the foundation that actually runs Android applications, includes new technology that runs software two to five times faster for heavy-duty applications, said Vic Gundotra, Google's vice president of engineering, at the company's Google I/O conference.

Speed is a big issue for the small, power-sensitive processors in mobile phones, especially as the smartphone duties expand to include tasks such as videoconferencing and games. Also faster is the Android browser, which … Read more

In an attempt to move beyond drab typography on the Web, Google on Wednesday released 18 freely usable fonts and an open-source tool designed to smooth over browser issues in displaying downloaded fonts.

A number of Web designers--if not all readers--are excited that newer browsers support downloadable fonts so sites can use more than the handful that it's safe to assume are installed already on people's computers. For every eyeball-searing grunge font and blood-pressure-raising instance of Comic Sans, there's a tasteful use of an artful logo or distinctive text.

But font licensing rules mean a Web designer … Read more

Offering a direct competitor to a widely used Amazon.com service, Google on Wednesday launched an early version of an Internet-based storage system.

As with the better established Amazon Web Services (AWS) option called Simple Storage Service (S3), Google Storage for Developers provides a mechanism to tap into data that Google houses and keeps safe and accessible.

The service is designed to offer low-level access to information stored on the Net. Web sites and Web applications can tap into the data as needed, and Google charges through a utility-computing model that means the more customers use, they more they pay. … Read more

In a modest boost for a brand-new Google effort to overhaul Web video, Microsoft said Wednesday it will "support" the open-source, royalty-free WebM technology--as long as Windows users install software on their own.

Google launched the WebM project Wednesday at Google I/O, drawing support from Mozilla and Opera for the video technology based on its VP8 video encoding technology. Microsoft offered a lukewarm statement on the matter:

"When it comes to video and HTML5, we're all in. In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video as well as VP8 video when … Read more

Google Wave, a Web-based tool to let people chat and collaborate in real time, is now open to the public.

The Google service brought a social dimension when it arrived with much fanfare a half year ago, but in that domain, it was overshadowed by Google Buzz. Buzz, built directly into the widely used Gmail, had a much better built-in user base from the start.

Making Wave public could help restore its fortunes.

"It's clear from the invaluable feedback we've received that Wave is a great place to get work done, in particular for teams working together … Read more

Even as opposition mounts against Adobe Systems' Flash technology, the company is showing Wednesday it's working hard to ensure it's not the only arrow in its Web programming quiver.

At the Google I/O conference, Adobe Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch is expected to announce the release of an HTML5 update to Adobe's Dreamweaver tool for creating Web sites. HTML5, a still-developing revision to the Web page standard, is a key part of the threat to Flash, but Adobe is indicating it's willing to embrace the alternative.

Adobe has been telegraphing its interest in HTML5 and … Read more

"If you build it, they will come" isn't always enough. Sometime you have to let somebody else build on your foundation.

That's what Google is now doing with Gmail, letting Google Apps customers add various third-party applications that integrate with the e-mail service.

"Starting today, third-party developers can build Gmail contextual gadgets and distribute them in the Google Apps Marketplace. These gadgets can display information from social networks, business services, Web applications and other systems, and users can interact with that data right within Gmail," Chandrashekar Raghavan, product manager for Google Apps extensions, said … Read more

It's widely expected that Google will use this week's I/O conference to announce how it hopes to rewrite the rules of Web video by releasing its newly acquired video technology as open-source software.

Now, one analyst has offered a name for the plan: the WebM Project.

Dan Rayburn, a Frost & Sullivan analyst and executive vice president of StreamingMedia.com, said in a blog post Tuesday that he was tipped off about the project name and Web address.

The WebM Project name has an "under construction" Web site that was registered April 28 by Google. … Read more