Tag: Google

Posted on

March 17, 2014: Google Talk is Down

On Monday, March 17, 2014 Google Talk is experiencing service disruptions. Users reported that they could not access Hangouts through Gmail, Google+ and mobile Apps.

IMG_0162

Google acknowledges service disruptions with Google Talk and Google Sheets.

Google Apss Status 20140317

Google Talk status on 3/17/14 10:15 AM (Mountain View, CA Time):

Our team is continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by 3/17/14 11:15 AM with more information about this problem. Thank you for your patience.

20140317 Google Talk is down

Google Voice users still can receive calls on their phones but not on Google Talk or Hangouts.

Twenty hours earlier, itnews.com.au reports that Google DNS servers suffers brief traffic hijack.

 

Posted on

Google’s Matt Cutts is hunting for Scraper Sites

Google’s Matt Cutts tweeted:

If you see a scraper URL outranking the original source of content in Google, please tell us about it: http://bit.ly/scraperspamreports

IT is truly frustrating to see your original contents stolen by these scraper sites. That’s an outright theft. It is relatively to find these scrapers, there are a lot of scraper blogs on WordPress.com.

Dan Barker replied and hilarity ensues:

.@mattcutts I think I have spotted one, Matt. Note the similarities in the content text: pic.twitter.com/uHux3rK57f

Dan Barker Replies to Matt Cutts

Posted on

Google Hangouts 2.0 for iOS

Google releases Hangouts 2.0 for iOS.

What’s New in Version 2.0.0

  • Fully-optimized for the iPad, including picture-in-picture video calling
  • Animated stickers that help you share exactly how you’re feeling
  • Record and send video messages up to 10 seconds long
  • Send a map of your current location
  • Optimized for iOS 7

Google Hangouts 2.0

Google Hangouts paired with Google Voice on iOS devices make one great VoIP phone.

As of this writing, Google Hangouts on Android still doesn’t allow users to make phone calls.

Posted on

Four months on, Google+ Hangouts for iOS is still better than its Android counterpart.

Google+ Hangouts for iOS gained Google Voice integration back on October 18, 2013 while its Android counterpart is still without this feature.

Google Hangouts Phone Dialer on iPhone 5s

This sure infuriated some hardcore Android users; their comments unintentionally become comedy gold.

According to Nikhyl Singhal, a Google Employee:

  •  Finally, we want to make Google Voice as secure as possible. There are a few third-party applications that provide calling and SMS services by making unauthorized use of Google Voice. These apps violate our Terms of Service and pose a threat to your security, so we’re notifying these app developers that they must stop making unauthorized use of Google Voice to run their services and transition users by May 15, 2014.

Reading between the lines, there seems to be an inherent security issue in Android Platform and/or Google Voice. If not, Google would have already deployed Google Voice integration within Hangouts for Android.

I want Google Voice integration within Hangouts on my Nexus 4; and so does my colleague with his Nexus 5. I guess we all still have to wait.

IMG_0017