Google has revealed that users can now transfer files via chat in iGoogle and Orkut. This is good news for web users with a preference for software-free chatting, but the better news is that Google promises to bring the same functionality to Gmail, which already supports voice, video and group chat. The iGoogle and Orkut file transfers will work for photos, documents and presumably small video files. In addition, web users...

We knew vaguely that Google was looking toward the living room, but the NYTimes has the details on Google TV, an ambitious platform to deliver web content to Android-based set-top boxes and TVs through partnerships with Sony, Intel, and Logitech. Google hopes that the new platform will succeed where dozens of lesser efforts have failed—to truly and seamlessly integrate web content onto TVs, bringing services like Twitter...

One of the lesser-known features of Gmail is its ability to help with multitasking. Frequently, I find that I need to find an old message while I’m composing an email. When this happens, I click on the “new window” icon to pop my compose area into its own window: There’s only one problem — it’s been slow! Today, we’re rolling out a change that will fix this (reload your account to make sure...

I was doing some routine backup and restore of my apps in between flashing my HTC Hero rom using the awesome Titanium Backup app and came to realize something substantial. If you follow my Twitter feed, you would have noticed the other night I posted that I found a way to get market apps for free. A lot of people asked me how. This is how the other night went. I thought to myself with my overly analytic brain, that surely if...

I have been playing around with a great app for rooting Android handsets. I have shown you before how to ‘root‘ and ‘un-root’ Android handsets, especially the HTC Hero. I came across an app made by RelentlessRooter. Its fairly clever in that it runs the necessary commands that Androids SDK ADB command line offers. Relentless Command Centre The idea is that you drop the recovery image files or the custom ROM files...

  By now you have realized that having an Android phone is great. And you’ve installed all your wonderful apps and played with it to death. But you’ve probably already realized that if you lost your phone, or sent it away for repair, you will likely lose all your nice new shiny apps. In my experience, the whole log back in to the Android market and your apps are there hasn’t really been the case. In one case,...