Hasta La Gadget!

Google’s Cloud Print is now live, and you can print directly from your Android or iOS device to any printer you might have lying around. Right now, you can see the new feature by going to Gmail and pressing the double-arrowed “more” button. “Print” is now an option in the resulting drop-down menu.

Unlike Apple’s AirPrint, which works over the local Wi-Fi network and currently requires an AirPrint-compatible printer (or an easy workaround), Cloud Print sends your print jobs via the internet. You need to install the Chrome browser onto any computer with a printer, and then enable Cloud Print in the settings. This is tied to your Google account, and there’s even a page for managing your printers and print jobs.

Right now, you’ll need a Windows PC hooked up to the printer, running Google Chrome 9.0.597.1 or later. Linux and Mac support should be following soon. Currently you can print emails from Gmail and documents from Google Docs. You can also print from Google’s Chrome notebook computers.

This is exactly how printing should always have worked – no worrying about drivers or installations, just sign into your account and print. It’s ironic it has happened just when most of us no longer need to print anything onto paper. I have been using a version of this ever since I ditched my own printer years ago: I just email my documents to the local copy shop and pick them up on my way to the bar next door.

Cloud printing on the go [Google Mobile Blog]

See Also:

• HP Printers Work with Apple's iOS4 AirPrint
• AirPrint
• Print Wirelessly From iPad to Any Printer? There's an App for That …
• How to Print With Any Printer From iPad, iPhone
• Rumor: Apple's iOS Printing Crippled on Release

Ever been freaked out by an online ad that seemed to know you that little bit too well? It’s the result of good old advertisers tracking your net-navigating habits and delivering targeted commercials to your eyeballs, but it can be prevented. Both Google and Mozilla have stepped up (or perhaps been pushed by the FTC) to try and tackle this issue of pernicious tracking cookies, but they’ve gone about it in different ways. The Chrome solution is a Keep My Opt-Outs browser extension that remembers the sites you don’t want personalized information from, while Firefox will start beaming out a Do Not Track HTTP header that should be respected by advertisers and result in you receiving generic, repetitive ads. The important commonality between the two is that they don’t rely on you preparing a cookie file with all your anti-advertiser bile contained within it (which was the FTC’s original, somewhat impractical idea). Google intends to open-source its extension and bring it to other browsers as well, though obviously it’s taking care of Chrome first, which can benefit from the add-on right now.

Chrome and Firefox adding new opt-out features to prevent third-party advertisers from tracking you originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink New York Times  |  Google Public Policy Blog, First Person Cookie  | Email this | Comments

LAS VEGAS — Samson is proudly showing off its new Meteor Mic at CES. And rightly so: the thing looks stunning, with chrome-plated retro-styling and cool, fold out tripod legs.

The USB microphone is designed for podcasting, and features a 25mm diaphragm, a cardioid pickup pattern and a stereo one-eighth-inch headphone jack for monitoring. It’s also driverless, showing up natively as a USB audio device. That means you can plug it onto an iPad via Apple’s camera connection kit and it will just work.

I actually have a different Samson mic, and while I don’t use it much, it sounds great – a hell of a lot better than the iPad’s built-in mic. If the Meteor Mic sounds as good as that one, it could prove to be very popular for budget podcast setups, especially at a price of $100. Available April.

Meteor Mic [Samson. Thanks, Mark!]

See Also:

• Microphone
• Touch-4-VoIP: Microphone For iPod Touch Now Available
• Super-Microphone Picks Out Single Voice in a Crowded Stadium …
• Why Does the New Kindle Have A Microphone?

Chrome closes out the year with ten percent browser share, gains at expense of IE originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  Net Applications  | Email this | Comments

Are you the guy that calls Google creepy? Do you find the company to be borderline evil in the way that it snoops on your local WiFi network, promotes online bullying, and steals your identity or iPhone OS? Is Google’s Net Neutrality flip-flop after the Droid launched on Verizon the final straw? Ok, then here’s your chance, hater — prepare to unleash hell upon the very symbol of Google’s new Chrome operating system. Hit up the source link below and describe to the lab tech exactly the kind of demise you think that Google’s Cr-48 should meet. Go ahead, be creative: by gunfire, Canadian, or monkey, anything goes. Then do it again and again until the voices inside your head are deafened by Google’s subtle marketing effort and an infinite ability to regenerate itself.

Google haters, now’s your chance for revenge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink DownloadSquad  |  Google Demo Labs  | Email this | Comments