1000memories

Shoebox app on the iPhone

A new app released by a "memory sharing" site makes converting photo prints to digital a little easier by turning an iPhone into a mobile photo scanner. 

Shoebox, the first app released by 1000memories, gives iPhone users the ability to scan and share large collections of photos and documents on Facebook and Twitter, as well as on 1000memories. 

While it seems like it's impossible there was ever a time when cameras weren't digital, many of us have ample evidence there was such a thing as film and photo prints. Albums — and shoeboxes, as the video below shows — bursting with dusty images remind us that we used to spend time sitting down and reliving those moments with others, rather than solo clicking and commenting.

Not that those times are dead. Plenty of photobooks are available through digital sharing sites, but this app may actually be quite useful for those of us who have been eyeing daily deals for mass photo scanning packages. Using this free app, which will soon be available on Android and other mobile platforms, users can produce scanned 4x6 photos with a DPI of up to 550 (web quality only requires 72 DPI, optimal printing DPI is around 300). The best photos will come through the new iPhone 4S, which will produce scans at 2448 x 3264 pixel resolution. The app will take advantage of the improved f2.4 lens, for lower-light scans to show up in better quality. 

The app will remain compatible with all previous iPhone models, including the iPhone 4, 3G, and 3GS, as well as the iPad.

Shoebox also incorporates cropping and straightening as it auto-detects the edges of a photo. Users who already caption and tag photos taken on mobile phones, Shoebox users can do the same with these scans. The photos are then automatically uploaded to 1000memories, where it can be organized and shared with friends and family.  

1000memories claims your account will never expire, and it has partnered with the Internet Archive "to make your content as close to permanent as possible." To feel a little safe, users can download unlimited copies of their entire photo collections at any time.

Kids today have plenty of videos uploaded to YouTube and a gazillion Facebook albums taken by their parents, but for many of us, our photos are the only physical links we have to our past, beyond the last decade or so. 

Since it has such a keen stake in digital images, 1000memories noted in a blog post that an estimated that 2.5 billion people around the world own digital cameras (also those with mobile phones). If the average person snaps 150 photos this year that would total 375 billion photos this year — a third of them on Facebook.

In an informal poll we conducted, that's where most of you (71 percent) upload to as well. 

More stories:

• 1000memories adds the living as well as the dead
• One-third of year's digital photos are on Facebook
• How to make your new Facebook profile look awesome
• Life everlasting on 1000memories

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Google

Editors' Choice apps from the Android Market

With so many more models than the iPhone, it's no wonder that Android devices have finally surpassed iOS in mobile app downloads, with 44 percent of the market share vs. 31 percent.

ABI Research released the figures Monday, at about the same time that another study showed a gain in Android apps — 500,000 (vs. Apple's 600,000).

"Android’s open source strategy is the main factor for its success," says Lim Shiyang, an ABI research associate, in a statement released with the findings. "Being a free platform has expanded the Android device install base, which in turn has driven growth in the number of third party multi-platform and mobile operator app stores. These conditions alone explain why Android is the new leader in the mobile application market."   

But in both cases, it's not a pure numbers game. Quantity doesn't necessarily translate to quality.

German-based research2guidance reported that more than 37 percent of the apps published in the Android Market were later removed "for various reasons, whereas the Apple App Store has removed just 24 percent of published apps in comparison."

It seems that since Apple is more discriminating about its apps, its users are also more appreciative of that screening process.

"Despite leading in total mobile application downloads, Android's app downloads per user still lag behind Apple’s by 2-to-1," adds ABI's Dan Shey, practice director of mobile services, in the same statement. "Apple's superior monetization policies attracted good developers within its ranks, thus creating a better catalog of apps and customer experience."

Overall though, it's an app-crazy world, with all downloads expected to hit 29 billion by the end of this year, compared to 9 billion last year. But let's be real — it's so easy to tap that download button on just about anything that catches the eye, and you probably have a lot of apps that you never use, or just as quickly uninstall.

While one analyst interpreted a first-ever drop in U.S. smartphone sales as an indication that Android had hit its peak and was on its way down, the decline in the third quarter could also be attributed to those who were waiting for the next iPhone to arrive, or the next iteration of their particular Android handset.

More stories:

• 500,000 apps now in Android Market
• 25 reasons Android should fear iOS right now
• Top 10 ways iOS outdoes Android
• iOS gadgets outnumbering Androids by huge margin

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Morgan Keegan

A new report that shows a first-ever decline in U.S. smartphone sales may be an indication of buyers waiting for a better phone — though it could be the harkening of "ominous" times for Android.

Morgan Keegan tech analyst Tavis McCourt released a report showing a drop in smartphone sales in the third quarter of this year, which would be a first for a market that's only known one direction for its entire existence, at least in the U.S.: up.

In the report, which was excerpted on CNNMoney, McCourt analyzed data from Verizon and AT&T and found decreases in both Android and iPhone sales, with a more dramatic dip in the iPhone camp, which he explained:

Obviously, a big part of this was the impact of the iPhone 4S being delayed until Q4, but there are also some ominous signs for Android vendors in these results given that there were a number of Android launches in the quarter at AT&T and Verizon, and yet Android sales likely declined sequentially and had only modest growth Y/Y.

McCourt sees this as a sign of a continued decline in Android sales, and that the hold on buying Android can also be interpreted as anticipation for the next iPhone. "We believe slowdown in Android/BlackBerry/[Windows Phone] sales at AT&T/Verizon likely indicates a reasonable number of customers choosing not to upgrade in Q3, but rather waiting to switch to the iPhone in Q4," he wrote. "The strong initial sales figures for iPhone 4S would seem to back up this assumption."

But we think folks were not only waiting for the next iteration of the iPhone, but for the next gen of Android phones, too — the superphones. For instance, if you love the Samsung Galaxy S II, maybe you'd rather wait for the Galaxy Nexus. Or if you waited for the delayed Motorola Droid Bionic, you're best be now is to wait even longer for the Droid RAZR instead. That doesn't mean you're giving up on Android, just delaying the inevitable purchase.

After all, with more than 100 models, Android phones as a collective entity are a worldwide sales powerhouse, even as the iPhone is the best-selling individual phone. Android's market share continues to grow, a lot, year over year, with Gartner reporting it at 43 percent, compared to 17 percent a year earlier. Apple's share grew, too, but only to 18 percent, from 14 percent.

Take our poll and let us know if you're going to buy a smartphone before year's end.

More stories:

• New Android OS ensures Google dominance
• Richest phone owners use BlackBerrys
• Buy iPhone 4S or wait for iPhone 5?
• Report: Android dominates, iPhone sales double

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Ladies: if you had a choice between giving up Facebook or sex for a week, which would you choose? While the majority of the 2,000 women recently surveyed by Cosmopolitan magazine picked Facebook (whew!), 20 percent of them said they would abstain from carnal relations rather than miss out on their News Feed, updating their status and liking/commenting on posts.

Nearly half of the respondents said they would give up their cellphone and another 70 percent would give up texting for sex.

A recent TeleNav survey showed that 33 percent of 514 respondents said they'd sacrifice sex for a week rather than live without their phones for the same duration.

But let's not start panicking about the rise of the machine here. Most women would still prefer to be with their significant others than the glowing screens on their phones and computers, and one could always hedge the question by finding sex online, or even through Facebook.

Still, there's no doubt, technology has definitely staked its place in people's lives, right alongside primal, basic functions like sex. But nowadays, sex can be consumed online just as much as it is in person.

A Playboy survey that came out in early summer showed porn viewing was up to 78 percent now, compared to 40 percent nearly three decades ago.

A BBC Newsbeat survey released in the spring found that 25 percent of men surveyed among 1,000 adults aged 18-24 "worried about the amount of porn they are watching on the Internet." Almost 8 out of 10 of them admitted they had looked at porn online, but those who consumed it for at least 10 hours a week "were also more likely to say it can put them off real-life sex."  

More stories:

• Survey: One-third would rather give up sex than phone
• Internet wrecks sex? Not so much
• Study: Third of Americans would give up sex to keep remote control
• Even if you don't have a sex site, .XXX can be yours

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Google

Mary Blair is probably not a household name, but the Disney illustrator left a lasting impression in classic animated films such as "Cinderella," "Alice in Wonderland," and "Peter Pan" — as well as anyone who has ever ridden "It's a Small World" at the Disney theme parks.

Google doodle honors her today on what would have been her 100th birthday with a non-animated image on the search engine home page. 

Don't blame her for the song (because we know you've now got it on annoying repeat in your head), but try to remember the design elements that made that ride so trippy good, because that's the kind of work that made Blair so memorable, and so groundbreaking, in many ways. (But if you want to relive that childhood magic, just a little bit, check out this vid taken by a fan going through the ride at Disneyland, where it originated in 1966):

Her Disney biography quotes animator Frank Thomas for some insight into what made the Chouinard Art Institute grad so special: "Mary was the first artist I knew of to have different shades of red next to each other. You just didn't do that! But Mary made it work."

That doesn't sound so crazy to us, but then again, we've been living with the legacy of Blair's work for so long, we take it for granted that's the way it's always been. She was honored as a "Disney Legend" in 1991. She died in 1978.

Much of the style associated with now-classic Disney was then considered ahead of its time and Blair had a lot to do with that. It's kind of fitting that this forward thinking woman was also responsible for murals, such as one found in the Tomorrowland section of the theme park. And thanks to DVD releases, future generations will continue to enjoy her influence in those classic Disney films.

Google is prolific when it comes to producing doodles. While some are relatively simple tributes like this one to Blair, some have been much more complex: the dancing Martha Graham-inspired piece, the animated interpretation of John Lennon's "Imagine," and the playable/recordable Les Paul guitar. 

More stories:

• See what Google doodle can do today: Gumby!
• 'Don't stop' Google doodles now, or ever, with Freddie Mercury
• Not just for fun, Google Doodles drive traffic, too
• Google doodle: Alexander Calder's moving mobile

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Jeff Chiu / AP

MC Hammer, Chief Strategy Officer for DanceJam.com, poses for a photograph as a dancer performs near Pier 41 in San Francisco on Nov. 20, 2007.

In his latest move as a tech player, MC Hammer demonstrated a new tool that would enhance searches by giving results that would be logical follow-ups, right away.

Hammer, whose real name is Stanley Burrell, made a presentation at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco earlier this week that showed an early peek into his WireDoo project. Still in development, it is a "deep search" service to give users more results related to the keywords. Using "car" and "homes" as examples of searches, he showed how results could yield info about insurance, mileage, community, schools, location, crime rates and shopping.

The benefit, he says, comes from having it all come through in one query, cutting down on the time it takes to get relevant information. His tagline for now: "Search once, see what relates!"

Hammer, who had almost been forgotten as a D-lister whose heyday image is frozen mid-Hammer-Time rapping and dancing with parachute pants, has reinvented himself as a tech entrepreneur. (He also had a reality TV show which put him back in the spotlight.)

Jim Wilson / Redux Pictures

MC Hammer takes pictures with guests at the welcome party of the Web start-up Airbnb, in San Francisco, Aug. 16.

In an example of resilience and resurrection from a 1996 bankruptcy, he has become a presence at tech events and an investor in sites such as DanceJam.com and someone whose longstanding interest in technology has made him an investor in no less than 8 companies. In social media, he's considered something of an influencer, with 2.2 million followers on Twitter.

He said this "deep search" or "relationship search" (which makes some of us think it's a dating tool) is "not a competitive attempt to recreate search," but "you can always make things better." Here's the video of his presentation, so you can judge for yourself:

— via InformationWeek

More stories:

• Your Google searches just got more secure
• Facebook and Bing team-up for social search
• Google holds steady with 65 percent of US search queries
• Twitter keeps search deal with Bing, not Google

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Google

One of the many features on Google+: Hangouts on air.

After nearly four months, Google+ now has 40 million users, says Google CEO Larry Page.

In a statement released by Google about its third quarter financials, Page mentions G+ right off the bat:

We had a great quarter. Revenue was up 33% year on year and our quarterly revenue was just short of $10 billion. Google+ is now open to everyone and we just passed the 40 million user mark. People are flocking into Google+ at an incredible rate and we are just getting started!

It's true, people have been going to G+ since an auspicious beginning when the site already had 20 million users in its first two weeks — a milestone that took more than two years each to reach for rivals Facebook and Twitter. But since the initial frenzy of being part of The Next Big Thing, where access was only allowed through invites, heightening the need to be a part of it, that "incredible rate" has dropped off considerably. Even after G+ opened up to all and traffic boomed 1,200 percent, the numbers of users didn't explode exponentially. 

Page didn't say anything about active users on the site, but Chitika Insights, which documented a 60 percent drop in page views on the site after it went public, did have more to share on that:

Chitika Insights researched traffic patterns of the social network to determine whether the downward trend we witnessed was a short term fluctuation as some proposed, or just the beginnings of a long term trend.

As it turns out, our data shows that the trend seems to be continuing. After a brief blip in Google+’s traffic surrounding the site going public, we saw a prolonged and sustained downward trend in overall activity coming from the site. At its greatest, the gap between peak and trough measured over a 70% decline in traffic.

Chitika Insights

Chitika Insights' graph of the decline in page views on Google+.

They explain their methodology here.

Forty million is nothing to sneeze at, but the 750 million-strong Facebook had an estimated one trillion page views worldwide in June (we'll see how the recent changes make any impact on those numbers) and Twitter has 200 million registered on its site (half of which are logging in at least once a month).  

In a poll attached to a recent story about a drop in page views for G+, the highest percentage of the 1,429 respondents said that they were not on the social network that would take down Facebook.

More stories:

• Google+ traffic drops 60 percent?
• Google+ opens up, traffic rockets 1,200+ percent
• Google+ now open to all -- no invitation required
• Honeymoon over for Google+?
• Facebook learns from Google+, improves Friend Lists
• Ignore friends, stalk celebrities with Facebook's Subscribe button
• Survey: Google+ can 'catch up to Facebook'
• Google+ to pass 18 million users, many of them ladies
• Kickoff of Google+ stomps Facebook, Twitter

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Microsoft

Messages blocked by FOPE filters, by category

In a bi-annual security analysis, spam messages are down, but no one should start breathing any easier. 

The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report focused on the first half of 2011 to bring to the surface the dangers often lurking right in front of you as you're going about your daily business on your computers.

(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

The 168-page tome is bursting with more insights than we could fit in a blog post, but Ars Technica's take-away intrigued us, too: 

In July 2010, 89.2 billion spam messages were blocked by Microsoft’s Forefront Online Protection for Exchange service, which is used by thousands of enterprise customers. By June 2011, that monthly total was down to 25 billion.

The report attributes the dramatic downshift to "takedowns of two major botnets: Cutwail, which was shut down in August 2010 , and Rustock, which was shut down in March 2011 following a period of dormancy that began in January. The magnitude of this decrease suggests that coordinated takedown efforts such as the ones directed at Cutwail and Rustock can have a positive effect on improving the health of the email ecosystem."

While overall it seems like measures like these are working, this is no time to yield vigilance. Taking the pre-emptive step of regularly installing security updates "is one of the most fundamental steps that IT departments and individual users can take to reduce their risk from malicious software."  

The report found that phishers, which traditionally have targeted financial sites, have now turned their sights on social networks, where they "can effectively target many more people per site. Still, the potential for direct illicitaccess to victims’ bank accounts means that financial institutions remain perennially popular phishing targets, and they continue to receive the largest or second-largest number of impressions each month." 

Nearly 30 percent are run of the mill advertisements for everyday household and medicine cabinet supplies — the complete opposite of bringing sexy back. In fact, sexually explicit email only makes up just about five percent of potentially damaging spam messages that were blocked by filters.

Consistent with previous reports, "nonsexual pharmaceutical products" and "nonpharmaceutical product advertisements" together account for the majority of spam messages (28 percent and 17.2, respectively). The third biggest category was the “419” advance-fee loan scams (13.2 percent). These emails were blocked using Microsoft's Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (FOPE), which "scans billions of email messages every year to identify and block spam and malware." 

If you want to see what else wants to infiltrate your email, see the pie chart above, which breaks down the kinds of messages that want to grab your attention — as well as your money and your identity.

More stories:

• Hotmail looks to eliminate 'graymail'
• Facebook experiments with spamming you less
• Following security breach, expect a lot of spam

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Research in Motion

BlackBerry Curve 9350

After four days of outages that deprived them of smartphone basics like email and Internet, BlackBerry owners cried out their collective angst and rage on Twitter, even as the service sputtered back to life early this morning.

Whether it was a symptom of withdrawal from their CrackBerry, or the end of CrackBerry addiction as we know it, the tweets that flew every which way showed how vulnerable a once mighty telecomm force can be, and how quickly they can fall.

Some forgot they could still text, they were so used to BlackBerry Messenger. Others put their devices aside, rested their thumbs and decided to experience life away from their little keyboards or touch screens, hoping by morning it was all a bad dream. For Research in Motion, taking such a long time to resolve the problem may have cost them the battle to stay relevant in a smartphone and tablet race dominated by Android and iOS. RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis tried to do what damage control he could, with a YouTube apology.

In a press call this morning, RIM execs said the problems were of "great concern," and that they were committed to working with their customers "to earn that trust." If there are still any delays, it's because of the backlog of data that has accumulated in the absence of access these past few days. (The execs advised pulling the battery and restarting to resync the device.)

Maybe the reaction was so strong because usually, that's the one thing that BlackBerry is: reliable, with a "99.97 percent uptime for 18 months" until this "service degradation."

This "service degradation" played out on the social network as a constant barrage of complaints, with some tying the breakdown with the death of Steve Jobs, which preceded the first outages in Europe,  the Middle East, Africa and India by a few days.

Others made wry observations about BlackBerry's nostalgia factor, as a remnant of a bygone era for those who were too stubborn to accept the reality of other mobile operating systems.

Take our poll and let us know if this is the last straw for you and your BlackBerry, or whether you're willing to give it a second chance.

More stories:

• RIM co-CEO apologizes for BlackBerry outage on YouTube
• Richest phone owners use BlackBerrys
• Teen charged for inciting riots using BlackBerry
• New BlackBerry 7 smartphones coming out today?

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Before video games, CGI and green screen ramped up animation expectations for modern youth, there was clay animation king Gumby, which is the Google doodle du jour, celebrating what would have been the 90th birthday of his creator, Art Clokey. 

Greeting visitors to the Google home page today (or for some abroad, last night) is that fabulously flexible green thingy, asking —practically begging —  you to click on the balls of clay around him and after that big "G" block above the search box. And when you do, Gumby's cohorts come to life: Blockheads, Prickle, Goo, Gumby, and pony pal Pokey.

While we appreciate all the work it takes to create a piece of clay animation, do you know how hard it is to take a screen capture of it in motion, especially when they bounce back so fast into balls of clay?

Thanks, PC Magazine, for making a slideshow out of it.

And thanks, YouTube, for providing videos of it in play, accompanied by the theme song to a show that spanned 34 years:

Clokey, a Detroit native, died in January 2010 at the age of 88. But as is the trend with doodles, his life and work live on in these interpretative tributes. 

An obituary of Clokey gives a little background for those who might not be familiar with the evolution of his famous high pitched voice creation.

Gumby grew out of a student project Clokey produced at the University of Southern California in the early 1950s called "Gumbasia."

That led to his making shorts featuring Gumby and his horse friend Pokey for the "Howdy Doody Show" and several series through the years.

He said he based Gumby's swooping head on the cowlick hairdo of his father, who died in a car accident when Clokey was a boy. And Clokey's wife suggested he give Gumby the body of a gingerbread man.

Here's a video msnbc.com ran when Clokey died:

Over the years, Clokey's star, this legend, has made many cameos in popular culture. One of his most memorable iterations: Eddie Murphy on "Saturday Night Live." While not the most wholesome representation of the big and bendy fellow, it's certainly one of the funniest.

Gumby is not a garbage mouth, ok?

(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Google keeps on upping the ante when it comes to its doodles. Some doozies we've covered in the past year include: the dancing Martha Graham-inspired piece, the animated interpretation of John Lennon's "Imagine," and the playable/recordable Les Paul guitar. 

More stories:

• 'Don't stop' Google doodles now, or ever, with Freddie Mercury
• Not just for fun, Google Doodles drive traffic, too
• Google doodle: Alexander Calder's moving mobile

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

AT&T;

Motorola Atrix 2

AT&T had a goal of releasing 12 Android devices this year, but with today's announcement of five new smartphones available on the carrier, the total is now 19.

The phones range from the “extreme power” meets “life of the party” $100 Motorola Atrix 2 (see image above) to the pre-paid AT&T Avail. The other phones include: the Samsung Captivate Glide, Samsung DoubleTime and the Pantech Pocket. The Atrix 2 will be available Oct. 16 in AT&T company-owned retail stores and online and the rest before the end of the year. (The Atrix 2's $100 price tag is good with a two-year contract and doesn't include a rebate.)

AT&T;

AT&T; Avail

"But this simply isn’t a numbers game — AT&T is committed to offering Android options for every kind of customer:  from large screen, superphones (eg Samsung Infuse, HTC Inspire) to value-oriented options with unique services like the HTC Status ($49) and its unique Facebook integration as well as the AT&T Impulse that sells for $29," said AT&T spokesman Seth Bloom. "Our commitment shows that we’re a leader with our Android portfolio now and have closed the gap here, and that we made a bold entrance at the right time."

It's not hard to find reports that document Android's ascension as a power player in mobile telecomm, so it's no wonder AT&T is coming out strong on the Google mobile operating system.

"We are bullish on Android and it is a significant part of our portfolio," Bloom said. But that doesn't mean they're not hedging their bets on the preferences of non-Android users.

"The landscape is changing somewhat, but until this year, some customers might have felt like their choice of operating system defined thecarrier they chose," Bloom said. "That hasn’t been the case for us because we’ve offered leading products from every major operating system: iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry."

But these phones should suit most types of Android users.

The Atrix 2 comes with a 1 GHz dual core processor, a 4.3-inch qHD display and is capable of 4G speeds. It's also got Firefox pre-installed and runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Snap happy users have an 8 MP camera and LED flash, as well as a front-facing camera. Video addicts will love its ability to capture scenes in 1080p HD. It's also no slacker for business users, with device and microSD card encryption, enterprise-grade VPN, enhanced Exchange options, personal information management and remote wipe.

AT&T;

Samsung Captivate Glide

The Samsung Captivate Glide will also be 4G ready and powered by a 1 GHz dual core processor, but this one comes with a thin, side-slide QWERTY keyboard. It'll run Android 2.3 under a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen. It's also got the same camera and video functions as the Atrix 2. It's also looking out for those who want to double up on the phone as a business investment, with enhanced Exchange ActiveSync support for IT policies, task synchronization and global address lookup.

AT&T;

Pantech Pocket

The Pantech Pocketalso runs on Android 2.3 and is capable of accessing 4G speeds underneath the hood of a 4-inch SVGA touch screen display. It has a 5 megapixel camera. 

Underneath pink (buttons) and a white frame encasing a touch screen,the Samsung DoubleTimesports a full flip keyboard and runs on Android 2.2. Its camera has only 3.2 megapixels, but it can also record video. 

AT&T;

Samsung DoubleTime, opened

The AT&T Availmay be pre-paid, but it doesn't skimp on too much for the Android consumer who doesn't want to be tied down to a contract. While it may have a smaller touchscreen (3.5-inch), it touts a 5 megapixel camera and runs on Android 2.3.

More stories:

• AT&T 'Toggle' gives your phone two personalities
• More people buying smartphones, mostly Android
• 4G Android phone for under $100
• Are the newest Android phones already obsolete?

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Raven

Raven Web App Shop

A new web browser for Mac wants to change the way you use browsers, so that you think of sites like apps: Raven.

It has none of Edgar Allan Poe's spooky appeal. In fact, quite the opposite. The appeal of this kind of browser lies in its ease and simplicity, breaking down a user's most visited websites into apps. It comes pre-loaded with Facebook, Twitter, Quora, Google+ and LinkedIn, for example. Then it creates a vertical left frame "Smart Bar" with those apps for easy access. 

No new tabs or windows, you just click on those apps and it gets you there, no muss, no fuss. And once you're in those apps, there are shortcuts to pages you view most often on sites like Facebook (News Feed, Events, etc.) and Twitter (@mentions).

Some other features worth mentioning that might persuade some to at least try out Raven:

Raven

History browser preview pane

• History browser: use the Smart Bar to pop out a preview pane of the sites you've just visited 
• Sites divided into bookmarks and favorites: so you'll have quick access to the faves, but can still go back to that story you wanted to read. If you have an Instapaper account, Raven will automatically send the link to you.
• Works like Chrome in that you can type in the search/key words right into the address bar
• Minimalist menu items shown in icons that connect users to favorites and creating new tabs (keep track of them by looking at the bar at the bottom of the page)
• Ability to import bookmark bars (only from Safari, it looks like)

While I'm not ready to give up on Chrome yet, some days, I really hate it. It's super fast, but it crashes more often than my liking (especially when Flash is involved) and sometimes the search just conks out for no reason (like today). I rarely use Safari anymore, and then only for certain sites where it seems to work better than on Chrome. There's still Firefox, too, but it got buggy on me years ago so I haven't ventured back in awhile (once bitten, twice shy syndrome). So something like Raven seems like just the ticket to a smoother, simpler experience. At least it's worth checking out as an alternative, if you have a Mac.

Let us know what works for you!

More stories:

• Chrome inching up to No. 2 browser
• Internet Explorer 9 safest Web browser?
• Tab heaven: Firefox for Android

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.