Google Service Uses Cell Towers to Locate Users

Google launched a location service for mobile users on Wednesday that doesn't rely on GPS.

Google Maps with My Location, currently in beta, locates users who don't have GPS-enabled phones based on their location to nearby cell towers. The result isn't as accurate as GPS (Global Positioning System) but works for people who lack the positioning technology in their phones.

"It helps users speed up search by showing the general neighborhood they're in," said Steve Lee, product manager at Google for the service. Without the location service, users must type in their address or neighborhood in order to find nearby businesses using Google Maps.

Google Maps with My Location will use GPS data to locate the user if the phone has the capability. But even for users of GPS-enabled phones, the cell location service might be useful, Lee said. That's because the cell tower feature works better indoors than GPS, it doesn't drain the phone battery as quickly and can bring up a result quicker, he said.

The service could be useful to a person who might be traveling in an unfamiliar city and looking for restaurants or other businesses. A user pulls up Google Maps and hits the zero key on the phone. A blue dot will appear on the map in the user's location. If the service used GPS in the phone, the blue dot will be solid. If the service used cell towers to determine the location, the blue dot will have a halo around it, indicating that the location isn't precise. The user can then search for nearby businesses.

Google says the cell tower technique will locate the user within about 1000 meters. It doesn't use triangulation, which calculates a user location based on the user's distance to three nearby towers. Instead, it essentially shows the range of the tower that the user's phone is connecting to.

But the accuracy should improve as more people use the service, Lee said. That's because Google is keeping a database of location queries, minus any personal information like individual phone numbers or names. That will allow Google to learn more precise information about the range of each tower, so that it can deliver a more accurate location area to users. The coverage area of cell towers can vary from about a quarter of a mile to several miles based on whether the tower is in an urban or rural area.

For now, Google Maps with My Location doesn't feature any advertising, but it could in the future. "This product makes a lot of sense for advertising," Lee said.

In order to use the service, phone owners must download a free application from Google. The application will work on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian phones as well as many phones that support Java. A few notable exceptions include the Samsung Blackjack, Moto Q and Palm Treo 700W, which don't support the APIs (application programming interfaces) Google requires to find cell towers, Lee said.

3G iPhone coming in '08, says AT&T

It's not often that someone trumps Steve Jobs with news on upcoming Apple products, but AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall did that on Thursday by saying Apple would announce a 3G version of the iPhone in 2008, according to a Bloomberg report.

Stephenson's comments came at a meeting of the Churchill Club in Santa Clara, California. "You'll have it next year," he said. He didn't know how much the phone would cost, saying that Steve Jobs would set the price for the new iPhone.

A 3G network is the third generation of mobile phone standards and technology. One of the main benefits of 3G networks over 2G is the faster data speeds. Unlike Wi-Fi networks that require close proximity to connect, 3G networks are also on in areas where cellular service is available.

There are about 200 million people connected to 3G around the world, with Asia and Europe making up the majority of users, according to the GSM Association trade group.

When Apple released the iPhone domestically in June on AT&T's network, the two companies used Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) or Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS). The decision to use the slower 2G standard caused complaints among users, but U.S. customers have the option to use Wi-Fi where available.

One of the problems with the 3G chips is that they are "power hogs," commented Steve Jobs during the U.K. iPhone rollout. Jobs said they expect to see better battery consumption later next year.

Apple has set a goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008 -- the company sold its one millionth iPhone on September 10, 2007, 74 days after it was introduced.

Vistas work on Virtual Machines

John Kerry would be proud with the buzz Microsoft Vista has created - you don’t know whether to love it, or hate it. Whether to buy it or bury it . Our readers are so smart that only 10% of them are willing to take a chance on it.

Nevertheless, if you wish to install Windows Vista on your Intel powered Mac, you need to spend a lot more money that regular people. Folks at the Parallels, the company that makes an awesome virtualization software of the same name dug into the Microsoft End User License Agreement (EULA) and realized that …

“only certain versions of Vista – Business and Ultimate (and Enterprise for corporate customers) are eligible to be run in a virtual machine. The EULA says that Home Basic and Home Premium CANNOT be run in a virtual machine.”

Now Mac users are used to overpaying for everything, but Windows Vista too! Ultimate costs $399 and the Business Vista is only slightly cheaper at $299. Well, maybe Bill has finally realized that Mac users want top of the line stuff. But seriously, looks like Microsoft is leaving money on the table. For Mac users, well another reason not to think about Vista.

PS: this is true of Parallels Workstation for PC as well.

Mythbusting Linux

Download Squad wrote another excellent article debunking some of the most common myths surrounding Linux. My favorite myth from the list is debunked below:

Linux won’t allow you to watch your favorite video files.

False. Out of the box many Linux distributions have so-so support for common video formats but, did you know there are open source players which can handle almost anything you can throw at them? It’s true. Due to patent restrictions you may have to install them yourself but, fear not, there are great forums for popular Linux distributions and, installing an application under Linux is usually a snap. For Ubuntu or Debian users, check out Automatix, which will help you install a whole host of useful but patent restricted applications and add-ons which make Linux a force to reckon with.

There are several other common Linux myths addressed by the folks over at Download Squad. The article is on the cusp of being dugg — so go check it out and push them over the edge.

Microsoft Internal Emails Show Mac Envy

The bane of Windows was when OS X was launched. And copying OS X into Longhor– err Vista was the sincerest form of flattery. What’s rather hard to understand,at least from a computer enthusiast perspective, is why, with the addition of OS X-like features on Vista, the problem of efficiency comes in when trying to run Spotlight search, “gadgets” and Aero on Vista.

I guess the fact is that Apple IS a hardware company and I would be damned to open up a Mac and know what to do, as compared to opening up a some damned PC and disassembling it to bits.

In any case, this article shows how Microsoft was indeed bowled over with how quick OS X Spotlight was, apart from the many FUNCTIONAL and ATTRACTIVE features there are.

I Love It When The World Goes Crazy Breaking Windows Vista

This is crazy. There are already false claims circulating that Windows Vista has already been hacked; but until now, no one has earned the recognition and these hackers would remain as rumors.

News among different sources are reporting that hackers are working extra hard to gain recognition to be the first one to hack Windows Vista. Fame and financial gains could come to be the guy who put shame to the thousand of hours put on by thousands of engineers who have worked hard to make Windows Vista the most secure application Microsoft has ever launched.

Google’s 2006 Money Shot, $10 billion in revenues

If you are a baseball fan, then you have seen Gary Sheffield swing the bat, you get a feeling that if the bat connects with the ball, then the leather is in for some serious hiding. The non scientific description of such an act is called ‘hitting the covers” off the ball. Well, that’s exactly how one feels about Google’s fiscal performance for the fourth quarter 2006 and for fiscal 2006.

Google just reported¹ its fourth quarter 2006 sales of $3.2 billion, and net income of $1.03 billion. The sales for fiscal 2006 are $10.6 billion, and profits for the year came in just over $3 billion. By itself, these numbers don’t mean anything. However, if you put them in context of what Wall Street was expecting, then you understand why Google just took a Sheffield type swing.

For starters, the most optimistic estimate for the 2006 revenues was $7.3 billion, and they just blew past that number. They were supposed to do $10 billion-plus in sales in 2007. Google is in a bit of a hurry. For the fourth quarter 2006, the high end revenue expectation were $2.31 billion. This is a moon shot.

Interesting tidbit from the earnings release:

Other cost of revenues, which is comprised primarily of data center operational expenses, as well as credit card processing charges, increased to $307 million, or 10% of revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2006, compared to $223 million, or 8% of revenues, in the third quarter.