Google News gets a new look, Android's 3.0 Gingerbread update may be aiming for October, and YouTube will let you skip ads.
- YouTube Gets It, Will Allow Ad Skipping
YouTube will introduce an ad-skip button later this year. If the viewer chooses not to watch the ad, YouTube won't charge the advertiser. [Gizmodo] - Flash and the HTML5 <video> tag
It takes a lot to make a video on YouTube playable. YouTube serves up praise for HTML5, but says that for the time being, Flash remains their video player. [YouTube] - How Data Travels Along a "Wireless" Network: With Infographic
This picture shows how data is transferred between a phone to a laptop, over different networks. [Untangled] - Extra! Extra! Google News redesigned to be more customizable and shareable
Google News gets redesigned so that you can customize the news based on your interests and which news sources you would prefer to see. It also gets easier to share, whether via Google Buzz, Google Reader, Facebook, or Twitter. [The Official Google Blog] - Android 3.0 Gingerbread details: 1280×760 resolution, 1Ghz minimum specs, mid-Oct. release
Rumor has it that Android 3.0 version, known as Gingerbread, will arrive in October. New handsets with the software will supposedly follow in November and December. [Unwired View] - Google to block outdated plug-ins in Chrome
In the future, Google Chrome will block and disable out-of-date plug-ins, and help users update them automatically. Firefox is currently the only other browser to warn users about old plug-ins. [CNET] - Microsoft Office Coming to the iPhone and Other Smartphones?
Based on speculation from a job posting, Microsoft may be developing a mobile version of Microsoft Office for smartphones. [WebWorkerDaily] - Google mobile apps collect Wi-Fi location data
Google is actually crowdsourcing Wi-Fi hotspot data from mobile and laptop users to maintain its geolocation services, even though Google's Street View cars are no longer collecting unauthorized data. The data sent to Google is anonymous, and users can opt out. [CNET] - IMDb Arrives on Android...and "Everywhere"
Popular movie site IMDB now has an Android app available, which takes advantage of Android-specific functions like its option menus and voice search. [ReadWriteWeb]