• Google To Announce Music Cloud Service At Google I/O Conference Today

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Cloud, Featured, google, Rants & Raves, Rumors 1 Response

    It seems as though Google is going to launch Google Music today at it’s annual Google I/O developer conference. and why Google rushed it out is only to beat Apple and keep up with Amazon Cloud Service.

    Google will be taking the same approach to streaming music as Amazon. This means that they will not have a master copy, but rather they will have the user upload their library. AKA, Google has no licenses with the record labels.

    Google’s service is rumored to be flash only, so no iOS devices or Android devices running anything lower than 2.2. would run it. Google is going to launch this as an invite-only beta for Google I/O attendees, Motorola Xoom owners, as well as people who want to sign up for a beta. remember, No “official” announcement has been made yet.

    We will wait now for Apple to launch their licensed, and more secure, cloud that is rumored to also have video, photos, contacts, calendars, etc. which expected to be shown off at WWDC 2011 on June 6th!

  • YouTube Announces Film Rentals From Major Movie Studios

    // Gradly // blog, google, Movies, News, Youtube No Responses

    YouTube has announced the launch of film rentals from major Hollywood studios.

    Today, we’re announcing another step in our goal to bring more of the video you love to YouTube: the addition of thousands of full-length feature films from major Hollywood studios available to rent in the US at youtube.com/movies. In addition to the hundreds of free movies available on the site since 2009, you will be able to find and rent some of your favorite films. From memorable hits and cult classics like Caddyshack, Goodfellas, Scarface, and Taxi Driver to blockbuster new releases like Inception, The King’s Speech, Little Fockers, The Green Hornet and Despicable Me. Movies are available to rent at industry standard pricing, and can be watched with your YouTube account on any computer.

    The new titles will begin appearing later today and over the coming weeks at www.youtube.com/movies.

  • Apple Surpasses Google as World’s Most Valuable Brand

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, google, Microsoft, News, Rants & Raves, Tech. No Responses

    Apple has overtaken Google as the world’s most valuable brand, ending a four-year reign by the Internet search leader, according to a new study by global brands agency Millward Brown. Apple’s brand is now worth $153 billion, almost half Apple’s market capitalization, says the annual BrandZ study of the world’s top 100 brands.

    Apple’s portfolio of coveted consumer goods propelled it past Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable technology company last year.

    Peter Walshe, global brands director of Millward Brown, says Apple’s meticulous attention to detail, along with an increasing presence of its gadgets in corporate environments, have allowed it to behave differently from other consumer-electronics makers and went on to say:

    Apple is breaking the rules in terms of its pricing model. It’s doing what luxury brands do, where the higher price the brand is, the more it seems to underpin and reinforce the desire. Obviously, it has to be allied to great products and a great experience, and Apple has nurtured that.

    Other Top-100 list companies including: Apple (1), Google (2), IBM (3), Microsoft (5), AT&T (7), Coca-Cola (6), McDonalds (4). Facebook entered the top 100 at number 35 and No. 10 spot on the top tech brands with a brand valued at $19.1 billion. Here is top tech brands list:

    Download Full Millward Brown’s 2011 BrandZ study – PDF 11.8MB

    [Via Reuters]

  • Google Knows Where You’ve been Using Your Smartphone

    // Gradly // blog, google, Humor, Infographic, News No Responses

    Here are some of the key findings from “The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users,” a study from Google and conducted by Ipsos OTX, an independent market research firm, among 5,013 US adult smartphone Internet users at the end of 2010:

    71% of smartphone users search because of an ad they’ve seen either online or offline; 82% of smartphone users notice mobile ads, 74% of smartphone shoppers make a purchase as a result of using their smartphones to help with shopping, and 88% of those who look for local information on their smartphones take action within a day.

    Google commissioned this research with the objectives to better understand how smartphones are used in consumers’ daily lives and how smartphones have influenced the ways consumers search, shop and respond to mobile advertising. Check out the video below: