Women & Technology

Posted on 16/06/2010 by Richard Morgan
Apple, Communication, Google, iPod, Technology

The devices we can’t live without

A recent report, carried out on behalf of the BCS, found that having access to computers, the internet and communication devices increased people’s sense of satisfaction and wellbeing. A far from shocking conclusion, but what we at IT Lab found particularly interesting was the finding that women, in particular, benefited more having access communication and technology devices. That got us thinking, what piece of technology could the women of IT Lab not live without?

Candice McQueen, HR Manager: “Technology isn’t the driving force behind my happiness, but if I had to pick something it would be my iPhone. The integration between work and play is seamless and having a device which integrates phone, email, music and the internet is amazing. Mainly though I love my iPhone because it staves off the boredom on the long journey home.

Rachel Kerr, Client Advocate Manager: “I couldn’t live without my iPod. The ability to listen to music and remove myself from the here and now is very calming in a modern, fast paced city like London. Whether I’m on the Tube, at the gym or working at my desk, my iPod gives me the ability to zone out from distractions and focus completely on the task at hand. On a practical front they’re easy to use and with all the different playlist options I can tailor my music to suit my mood – which to me is something very important!  Some might say that an iPhone is better as it integrates more functionality but for me the iPod is all about simplicity and the ability to escape from the outside world.”

Pritee Hurnam, Sales Process Manager: My favourite piece of tech is Google. Google is the front door to the internet and helps me on a daily basis better understand our clients businesses. It is an invaluable resource when it comes to finding vital bits of information for the completion of a sale such as company registration numbers. Google is a true workhorse and makes me happy as it saves time and allows me to present the IT Lab sales team in a professional manner”

Helena Quinn, Business Development Manager: My favourite piece of technology is without doubt my iPhone. It has completely revolutionised my life. I’m a news junkie so it’s a real luxury to have all the newspapers sitting on my phone ready to read without having to get my fingers dirty. I find myself reading news articles while still in bed half asleep so that later in the day I’m not sure whether I dreamed about a particular event (like Cameron becoming PM) or whether it happened in real life (like Cameron becoming PM).

Sangeeta Tailor, Support Engineer: Google Maps is an absolutely invaluable resource that I couldn’t be without. I love the fact it is free and accessible from a variety of mobile devices. It helped me a lot when I use to be an onsite engineer and needed to navigate my way around London. It’s really useful for finding some brilliant shortcuts and means you don’t have to jump on the tube all the time.  It’s not perfect however, the car directions it gives aren’t always accurate, but the street map functionality is brilliant and it’s hard to imagine how people survived without it.  When exploring a new area, looking out for landmarks or making a journey to a new town I wouldn’t be without it.

Google goes into real-time

Posted on 15/01/2010 by Rich Adams
Bing, Google

It may be moving into software, operating systems and mobile phones, but Google clearly still intends to keep its search engine fresh by creating a real time function – search is its bread and butter, after all!

This means, rather than undertaking a single search, Google will continue to trawl the internet and deliver the latest social media content as it's posted online. You can even filter the results down to scan for microblogs like twitter.

The concept certainly seems rather impressive/ imposing – depending on whether you work for a rival engine or not. They even have a star studded line-up of partners on board, such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace – it’s like a who’s who of the social media world.

Google's vice-president of engineering, Vic Gundotra, stated… "Information is being posted at a pace I have never seen before… In this information environment, seconds matter."

Not to be outdone (although many suspect they will be) Bing has also launched its own real-time service. Their version, however, only has twitter on board and doesn’t embed the links on the actual search page.

While not every search term on Google will trigger the real-time function, only those it considers relevant, it will still come in handy if searching for things like tickets: where offers can be shown as they are uploaded.

Google NEXUS One gets off to slow start

Posted on 15/01/2010 by Rich Adams
Google, NEXUS One

Latest reports suggest Google’s attempt at taking on the iphone (NEXUS One) hasn’t exactly set the mobile phone world alight. Where as the app laden, iTunes friendly Apple handset sold 1.6 million in its first week, NEXUS One is only estimated to have sold 20,000.

This appears to be a tremendous own goal by the search and technology giant, as few people are actually disputing that Google have produced a decent piece of kit. The reason for the disappointing take up seems to be poor distribution and customer service on their part.

One user stated… “This isn’t about whether or not NEXUS One a great phone… It’s about the botch job Google did on distribution – they’re far too difficult to get hold of.”

What’s more, Google decided to provide only online technical support via email.  The adverse publicity created as a result of the disgruntled punters who flooded Google’s inbox has clearly taken its toll.

So far, however, Google has refused to disclose sales figures, stating only that… “All estimates should be treated with caution.”

The general consensus is that Google simply took their eye off the ball, and didn’t prepare properly. They may know their stuff when it comes to developing technology, but they clearly didn’t realise the importance of great customer service.

Google vs China

Posted on 14/01/2010 by Rich Adams
Baidu, China, Google

Not content with taking on Microsoft through its software and Apple with its Nexus phone, it now seems that Google has declared cyber war on yet another foe: China.

It would appear the Chinese government has been caught trying to phish around in the gmail accounts of leading human rights activists. Although apparently unsuccessful, Google is now threatening to shut down both its China office and the heavily censored Google.cn service it runs.

The search giant said, "We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn… We recognise that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China."

Has Google actually just decided to cut its losses?

Some commentators have suggested it's really all a smoke screen, and that Google is looking for a way to pull out of China without losing face. They are currently lagging behind in the Chinese search market with only a 19% share, while Baidu hold what many people believe to be an unsalable lead with a whopping 77%.

However, 19% is still a huge amount of users in a country with an estimated 1.3 billion people. So it might seem unlikely that Google would want to throw in the towel just yet. Plus, the relatively cheap outlay needed in China helps make it a viable business venture. It all depends on whether Google thinks it will be able to a) cut away at Baidu’s lead b) keep hold of their 19%.

Google Chrome previewed

Posted on 20/11/2009 by Rich Adams
Google, Lab News, Microsoft

Another week, another round in the ongoing struggle for supremacy between Google and Microsoft. No sooner did Microsoft release its (pretty impressive) Windows 7 operating system, than Google has previewed its answer: Google Chrome.

Open souced (that means free!) and specifically designed for netbooks, all applications are designed to run in a web browser and all the user's data is stored on Google's own servers. That means it can be downloaded straight from the net.

Google has been able to boost the speed of the system by designing it for specific hardware. The firm said that it would only run on computers using "solid state drives" instead of traditional hard drives.

During a recent demonstration, Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management, stated "We want Google Chrome OS to be blazingly fast."  He then showed it booting up in just seven seconds. He also gave a demonstration of its pretty speedy game playing, music and typing capabilities.

Microsoft still has 90% of the operating system market, which puts it light years ahead. Chrome OS, however, is a clear sign that Google isn’t simply prepared to chip away at this lead. It’s after a much larger slice of the pie.