Gmail, Google Reader, Wave And Voice Notifier For Google Chrome

The extension development for Google’s web browser Google Chrome seems to be in full swing with new extension being uploaded daily to the official extension repository. Extension support is still limited to Google Chrome 4 which is currently only available as developer releases. Many experts assume that the development of extensions will get another boost once version 4 of the web browser is released officially by Google so that the general public can download and install the browser.

One Number is an interesting extension for the Google Chrome browser that acts as a notifier for the four Google services Gmail, Google Reader, Google Wave and Google Voice. It places a single icon in the web browser’s toolbar that displays the number of unread messages as one number.

The main benefit of this approach is that it saves up space in the Chrome toolbar if several Google services are used regularly (the extreme would be a reduction to one icon from four).

All four Google services are monitored by default. The options can be used to disable checks for specific services.

The first step after installation is to log into a Google account by left-clicking the icon in the toolbar and selecting the Log In link there.

The login redirects to the Google account login on the Google website.


The same menu contains a link to the options which can be used to disable and customize specific services (changing the color code or excluding their unread count from appearing in the number that is displayed in the toolbar) as well as server query intervals, timeouts and misc toolbar colors to indicate if multiple services have unread messages.

One Number is a Google service monitor that can be helpful for Googleholics who use at least two of the services that are currently supported by the Chrome extension (it’s also good for monitoring only one service but that would defeat much of its purpose).

The extension is compatible with Google Chrome 4 and can be downloaded from the official Google Chrome extensions website.

Google tells media to tap into YouTube

Media groups would be better off handing their online video activities to Google's YouTube video-sharing site than pursuing home-grown efforts such as Hulu.com and the US cable industry's TV Everywhere

initiative, according to Google executives.

"At some point in time it becomes an economic choice by the content owners. It's a matter of core competencies," Nikesh Arora , Google's president of global sales operations and business development, told the Financial Times.

Mr Arora said media industry efforts to replicate cable television's business model online through TV Everywhere were "clever". The initiative, which is undergoing trials, aims to offer a full channel line-up to proved cable subscribers.

However, Mr Arora questioned traditional content owners' ability to be successful content aggregators online.

"When all that happens, they will still have to figure out how to sell advertising," he said, arguing that specialist online advertising networks such as Google AdSense could do a better job than broadcasters' traditional sales teams.

Four elements were required to deliver online video advertising revenues: content creation, technology, advertising production and advertising sales.

Mr Arora said that after last year's acquisition of DoubleClick, the online display advertising group, "we are playing in three of the four".

David Eun , Google's vice-president for strategic partnerships, said Hulu , which generates "a lot of traffic" from its YouTube channel, and TV Everywhere were at early stages.

Google was talking to members of the cable industry about TV Everywhere, he said, and "we'd love to figure out a way of being part of it".

High Windows 7 satisfaction spurs corporate IT spending

One in five IT buyers say OS accelerated PC purchase plans; 93% satisfied with Microsoft's latest

Windows 7, just two months on the market, is accelerating the pace of corporate computer buying, market research firm ChangeWave said.
Part of the reason may be that 93% of the IT professionals polled said that their company is satisfied with the new operating system, a one percentage point increase over a similar survey in July.
The results of ChangeWave's November poll of more than 1,700 U.S. corporate IT buyers wasn't a total surprise. "Previous ChangeWave surveys found companies deferring their PC purchases in anticipation of Windows 7," said director of research Paul Carton and researcher Adam Golub in an entry to the ChangeWave blog Tuesday. "The latest results show the opposite now occurring."

Nearly one in five respondents said that Windows 7 is making their firm quicken the pace of their normal computer upgrade cycle over the next six months. While only 3% said that Microsoft's new operating system had caused "significant acceleration" of upgrade plans, 6% said it had had resulted in a "modest acceleration" and 10% said it had created a "slight acceleration."

About 10% of the corporate IT buyers polled said that their company had already bought PCs with Windows 7 installed.
Microsoft launched Windows 7 Oct. 22, when the OS debuted in retail boxed copies and on new PCs. The successor to the problem-plagued Windows Vista has been available to Microsoft's volume license customers since August.
As ChangeWave said in July, Microsoft's timing of Windows 7 was "fortuitous" because U.S. corporate PC buying plans began to rebound before its release. The research firm's November poll showed that the rebound was strengthening, giving PC vendors -- and Microsoft, which makes most of its operating system income on the back of new PC sales -- reason for optimism.

According to ChangeWave's polling, 22% of the IT buyers said that their company plans to increase its spending during the first quarter of 2010, a four percentage point increase since a similar poll in August. Only 21% said that their firm would reduce IT spending, also a four-point change.
The last time more IT buyers said their company would be increasing spending than others predicted a spending decline was November 2007.
Microsoft, again because of Windows 7, will be one of the big beneficiaries of that increased spending, said ChangeWave. More than a quarter of those polled (26%) said that their company plans to boost its spending on Microsoft products in the next quarter, up from just 16% in August and 10% last February.
It doesn't hurt that companies are almost universally happy with Windows 7. Of the IT buyers whose companies already use the new OS, 37% said their firm was "very satisfied" with the operating system, while another 56% said their company was "somewhat satisfied." Those numbers were slightly better than the results of a July survey ChangeWave did with users running Windows 7 previews.

But Microsoft's success with Windows 7 does not seem to be hurting rival Apple, Carton and Golub said. "Planned Mac buying has hit a new high in the latest survey, with 10% saying their company will be buying Mac laptops and 7% desktops in the first quarter," they wrote. The 10% for Mac notebooks is a record in ChangeWave's surveys, which have tracked IT buyers' plan-to-buy responses for Apple hardware since mid-2005.

Microsoft could keep XP if customers want it: CEO

Microsoft could re-think plans to phase out its Windows XP operating system by June 30 if customers show they want to keep it but so far they have not, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said.

"XP will hit an end-of-life. We have announced one. If customer feedback varies we can always wake up smarter but right now we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments," Ballmer told a news conference on Thursday.

Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) has announced that it will stop licensing Windows XP to computer makers and end retail sales by June 30.

Ballmer said most retailers sold computers with Vista, the latest version of its Windows operating system, and most consumers were choosing to buy Vista.

Some consumers have complained they were unable to buy XP at retail stores, or as consumers. They say that in order to get XP they must buy their computers as small businesses.

"In the business environment, we still have customers who are buying PCs with XP" because information technology departments often have to work with old machines, Ballmer said.

Vista requires high-speed central processing units installed only in newer machines.

Ballmer was also asked whether the company would appeal against an 899 million euro ($1.42 billion) antitrust fine imposed by the Brussels-based European Commission in February.

The Ugly Side of Vista SP1 vs. XP SP3

With Windows Vista and Windows XP concomitantly available on the market, the Redmond company inherently catalyzed the comparison between the two Windows clients.

But the fact of the matter is that the benchmarks, comparisons of features, capabilities, market shares and security vulnerability measuring contests performed since Vista became available have managed to hurt Microsoft's Windows business where it counts more. In the end, the repercussions of the constant Vista RTM vs. XP SP2 which grew into the smackdown of Vista SP1 and XP SP3 have unfavorably impacted the Windows client total revenue and operating income.

On April 24, Microsoft published its financial results for the third quarter of the 2008 financial year, and the picture is bleak to say the least when it comes down to the Windows client division, including both Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. "Client revenue decreased during the three months ended March 31, 2008, primarily reflecting revenue of approximately $1.2 billion recognized during the third quarter of the prior fiscal year upon the January 2007 release of Windows Vista to consumers," Microsoft stated.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2008, Windows client revenue amounted to just $4,025 billion, having plummeted no less than 24% compared with the similar quarter of the past year. Back at the end of March 2007, Windows client accounted for no less than $5,274 billion in revenue, which translates into a difference of $1.2 billion. Operating income dropped 26% from $4,204 billion in Q3 2007 to $3,097 billion in Q3 2008.

"Client revenue increased during the nine months ended March 31, 2008, primarily reflecting licensing of Windows Vista. During the three months ended March 31, 2008, OEM revenue decreased $1.1 billion or 25%, primarily reflecting revenue recognized during the third quarter of fiscal year 2007 related to the technology guarantee program, partially offset by a 5% increase in OEM license units," Microsoft added.

Microsoft continues to see the largest portion of Windows client revenue coming from operating system copies that ship preloaded with OEM computers. Even though machines from original equipment manufacturers saw an overall growth of just 8% to 10% worldwide, Windows OEM revenue jumped by $1.3 billion or 14%. However, Vista sales, even with the advent of Service Pack 1, failed to match those of the Vista RTM. And the fact that, as of April 21 Windows XP SP3 RTM is added to this equation, does not deliver good signals for future market performances of the Vista SP1 client.

As Windows XP Deadline Looms, OEMs Turn To Vista Downgrade Rights

Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) may be preparing to discontinue sales of Windows XP, but some OEMs have found a way to circumvent the software giant's June 30 deadline.

In yet another sign of the market's resistance to Windows Vista, Dell (NSDQ:Dell) Computer, Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ), and Sony on Wednesday all confirmed plans to exercise the downgrade rights Microsoft offers with OEM versions of Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate in order to continue offering XP-equipped PCs to their customers.

Downgrade rights, which Microsoft also offers to volume licensing customers, give users the ability to roll back to the previous version of the product they're using. Downgrade rights have existed since 2001 for Windows, but many Microsoft partners say they've been seeing a recent uptick in the number of customers exercising downgrade rights to roll Vista back to XP Professional.

HP will sell PCs pre-installed with XP Professional on its business desktops, notebooks and workstations until July 30, 2009, a spokesperson for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based vendor said in an email to ChannelWeb.

"After June 30, 2008, if a customer already has the XP image and license, HP also can also install that customer's image on their Vista Business systems through our HP PC Customization Services," the spokesperson said.

Dell, Round Rock, Texas, plans to offer Windows XP Professional pre-installed on new PCs for customers that buy Vista Business or Vista Ultimate "for as long as Microsoft supports it," according to a Dell spokesperson, who declined to offer a more specific timeframe.

A Microsoft spokesperson said OEMs have been given the right to provide downgrade media for Windows XP with new Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate PCs until January 31, 2009, which is also the cutoff date for system builders.

OEMs appear to have different approaches to dealing with the time costs of performing the downgrade from Vista to XP Professional before shipment.

Microsoft Reports Record Third-Quarter Revenue

Microsoft Corp. Today announced third-quarter revenue, operating income and diluted earnings per share of $14.45 billion, $4.41 billion and $0.47, respectively.

Operating income and earnings per share results included a charge of $1.42 billion, or $0.15 per share, for the European Commission fine. Income taxes were reduced by $0.15 per share for the resolution of a tax audit.

“Our third-quarter results demonstrate the benefit of our diversified business model,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer of Microsoft. “Our broad span across geographies, product categories and customer segments is a tremendous asset and supports our outlook for double-digit revenue, operating income and earnings per share growth for this fiscal year and also for fiscal year 2009.”

Entertainment and Devices revenue for the quarter grew 68% over the comparable period last year driven by robust demand for Xbox 360 consoles. Cumulative console sales surpassed 19 million during the quarter, up 74% from a year ago. Server and Tools revenue growth of 18% added to its string of consecutive double-digit revenue growth quarters, which now stands at 23.

“The breadth of our product offerings and our ability to provide solutions across a range of customer and partner needs paid off again this quarter. The third quarter also kicked off the largest enterprise platform launch in our company history, which highlights Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer of Microsoft. “These new products strengthen our ability to help business customers and partners save money, optimize their people, processes and technology, and position IT as a strategic asset for their businesses.”