Category: "Opinions"
Google Street View is available in Hong Kong
I am living in Australia but I came from Hong Kong and I have not backed to there for around two years. I don't know what does my home in Hong Kong look like now. Then I heard about Google Street View is avaliable in Hong Kong. I did a search for my home address. I found it. Moreover, the photo in Street View seems to be very recent. In the photo, I can see there are some constructions on the external wall of the buildings which I lived in Hong Kong. I remember my family told those constructions near the end of last year. So, the photo should be taken not long ago.
Related website:
Google Street View Hong Kong
Microsoft Tag
One of my twitter friends mentioned "Microsoft Tag", so I had a look in Mirosoft Tag website. That looks like a Bar code. Actually, that is very QR Code. But you need to download the scanner program from Microsoft. No worries, it supported in the most of platforms,Windows Mobile,iPhone,Blackberry,Symbian S60 2nd, 3rd Editions,J2ME. Even I tried on my Android phone as well, there is a Microsoft Tag reader app in the Android Market. The app worked fine in my HTC Magic. One interesting point I found is all URL directs need to go through Microsoft Servers. When I scan a QR Code with a web address, a web browser will be poped up and load the URL directly. But when I scan a Microsoft Tag, it will load a URL with Microsoft Server Address. I believe the reason for this is tracking the scan. After I logined at Microsoft Tag, I can generate a report about the number of scans for each tag!
Well, that is another interesting technology. But I am more prefer to use QR Code because that is a "opened" standard!
iRiver eBook Reader
I went to Harvey Norman tonight. I saw an iRiver eBook Reader. This is my first times to see the real product. It looks very tiny. The screen is too small for me. Moreover, it costs $395(if I remember correctly). That is too expensive. Anyway it looks very cool, it got a white skin!!!
Google Buzz Hands On
I tried the new service from Google, Buzz. That is very very similar with Twitter! You can follow other people and others people follow you. But it can get from other sites, such as Blogger,Picasa, Google Reader, even you can connect to Twitter, getting your tweets to Buzz!
Another great feature is Buzz completely integrated with Gmail. That such as another menu item under your Gmail menu.
Well, so far, I am using twitter and set my Buzz connected to Twitter. So, my Buzz is only a mirror of my twitter at this moment.
Android Team World Tour
After Google released their first Google Phone, their Android Team will go to a world tour. The team will stop at the cities Europe, North America, and Asia. But No Australia! Maybe, our market is too small. I have seen a lot of people using iPhone, few people using Window Mobile. But I have seen very few Andorid users on the street in Australia.
Related Link:
Android Developers Blog - Android Developer Lab World tour