AT&T Launches Digital Life Home Automation Service in 15 Cities

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Review: Amara is a Web-based service that lets anyone transcribe and translate online video

Producing video subtitles is a laborious process. First you must transcribe the original video, writing down everything that's said, proofread and correct then, synchronize the subtitles with the audio so they appear on-screen right when the lines are being delivered. Finally, you translate the text into other languages. Amara is a platform that tries to crowd-source all of this work, making it possible for you to set up a system where droves of volunteers help you produce video subtitles for free, without having to download or install anything. It's not entirely successful, but it's an interesting first step in the right direction.

Before you can translate a video, you must first transcribe it. You can select any video for transcription – you don't have to own the content: it just has to be available online. Simply provide Amara with a video's URL on YouTube, Vimeo, or another online video service, and it launches into the transcription interface. You don't have to open an account before you begin–you can just start working.

Amara's Beginner mode lets you play 4-second snippets of video as you transcribe, hitting Tab to play the next snippet when you're ready.

The first step in the transcription process is just writing down what the people in the video say without worrying too much about typos and capitalization. Amara's transcription interface is simple and intuitive. By default, it plays four seconds of video, then automatically pauses. You then type what you've just heard, and hit Tab to play four more seconds. If you miss anything, you can hit Shift-Tab to rewind four seconds and listen again. If you don't like to constantly hit Tab and Shift-Tab, Amara can also auto-pause the video for you. In this mode, you simply listen to the video and type as you listen, with Amara pausing it automatically to let you catch up. The way this works isn't clearly explained (Amara calls it "magical"), but it works remarkably well: The video paused and played right when I needed it to, and I had to hit Shift-Tab to rewind only rarely. Even with the excellent auto-pausing engine, transcription is still a laborious process, though. I touch-type quickly, but transcribing a four-minute video took me about twenty minutes of intense concentration.

The "magical autopause" mode pauses the video cleverly to let you catch up on your typing, and works very well for touch-typists.

The next step after transcribing the video is timing the subtitles. Here, you must watch the video and click a button whenever the speaker starts on the next subtitle. Just like transcription, this requires unbroken concentration; fast reflexes help, too. Amara's video introduction to this step says it's "like a computer game," but it’s not one I would play for fun. The interface is effective, but it definitely feels like work.

The directions also say you don't have to worry if you get the timing slightly wrong, as you'll be able to correct it later. Accordingly, I didn't worry much – but when I got to the final step, reviewing and correcting the subtitles, I discovered things aren't so simple to correct. I wasn't always able to extend or contract the subtitles along the timelines so they synced correctly, and the whole process quickly got out of hand. The end result I got reflects Amara's strengths and weaknesses: The video was fully transcribed, but the synchronization was only so-so. Another issue was that some of the subtitles were too long: Amara doesn't offer an easy way to shift text from the end of one subtitle to the beginning of the next (except for manually copy-pasting), so if you happen to break things down into too large chunks when transcribing, you'll have a problem later on.

Once a source-language transcription is ready, Amara lets you (or others) translate it into your language of choice while watching the video for reference.

Once you've got a timed transcription of a video, you can now translate it into different languages. Translation is simpler than transcription: Just type the translated text under each subtitle. Of course, how good the end product is depends both on the transcription's quality and on the translator, but the interface itself is easy to use. Also, to enjoy the subtitles, viewers would usually have to use Amara's player.

Amara is an interesting product, but after using it, I remain unconvinced that video subtitles can truly be crowd-sourced, if "crowd-sourcing" implies casual, untrained work. Producing a high-quality subtitled translation is a complex process, with each step requiring its own expertise. Still, if you want to dabble with subtitling or translation, or if you have a video and volunteer or professional translators dedicated to putting out a professional-quality result, Amara is a powerful platform worth experimenting with.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor's site, where you can use the latest version of this Web-based software.

Endlessly tweaking his workflow for comfort and efficiency, Erez is a freelance writer on a mission to discover the simplest, coolest, and most effective software and websites to make tomorrow happen today.
More by Erez Zukerman

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What’s the Fastest Cloud Storage Service?

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Forget Contracts, T-Mobile Introduces Simple Service Plans

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Review: CloudMagic's personalized Web search service grows up

CloudMagic is growing up. This super-speedy search service debuted a few years ago and over time has evolved to offer some very useful features, including Facebook and Twitter search. Now, though, CloudMagic is making some of its biggest changes yet, including the ability to integrate your personal search results with Google's global Web results. And the company is no longer offering unlimited searches for free, a move that may alienate some users. However, 50 free searches a month will suffice for many; the unlimited searches of the Pro subscription costs $5 a month.

CloudMagic's core search tools work the same as always: you sign up for an account, and link the services you'd like it to search. It supports a huge range of services, including AOL, Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Gmail, Google Apps, Google Talk, GMX, Hotmail, iCloud, Mail.com, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Microsoft Office 365, MSN, Outlook.com, SkyDrive, Twitter, Windows Live, and Yahoo.

Once access has been granted, CloudMagic then begins indexing your accounts, which can take some time if your accounts are sizable. It took several hours to index a Gmail account containing thousands of messages, but only a few minutes to index a newer Twitter account. You can begin searching right away, but waiting until the indexing process is complete will deliver more accurate results.

CloudMagic displays your own personal results in an unobtrusive box that appears alongside Google's Web results.

The service is still available as it has been in the past, as a browser extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, an add-on for Internet Explorer, and a mobile app for the iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.  The browser extensions and add-ons appear as simple search box on any relevant Web pages; if you surf to a page that doesn't support CloudMagic, you don't see the box. You can move the search box around the page if it's in your way, and you can minimize it to a corner, too.

You enter your keywords in the search box, and CloudMagic goes to work, instantly (and I do mean instantly) displaying results as you type. The results appear in a column that appears below the CloudMagic search box as soon as you begin typing. Results are organized by source; if you enter a search string while on your Gmail page, you'll see results from there, but you also can scroll down to see results from your other accounts, like Facebook and Twitter. In CloudMagic's latest iteration, the results are as accurate as speedy as they have always been.

What's new about CloudMagic is how you can access its search results. It  is no longer limited to displaying results in its own search box. CloudMagic now lets you see your personal CloudMagic results when conducting Google searches. This feature, which is available using Chrome, Firefox, and Safari with the browser extension installed (except Internet Explorer) works whenever you enter a search query in Google. CloudMagic displays your personal results—from any accounts you've indexed—alongside your Google search results. If you search for a local restaurant on the Web, CloudMagic could, for example, display any tweets or Facebook status messages your friends may have posted about it. It's a handy way to mix personal and global Web search together. Results are displayed right on Google's results pages, in a box that appears to the right side of Google's results. You can see messages, tweets, Google docs, and more, all of which are organized by source, just like any other CloudMagic results.  They don't interfere with your Google results, as they sit off to the side, but when a relevant result is returned, it's easily accessible.

While all users will appreciate CloudMagic's new search tools, some may not appreciate the new price tag that comes along with using them too frequently. CloudMagic is still offering a free version, but it's not unlimited, as it was in the past. The free version of CloudMagic is for users who need less than 50 "previews" a month; anyone needing more will have to pay $5 a month for its Pro account. CloudMagic considers a preview the action you take after getting the search result, in which you click the result that seems relevant and you're shown a quick preview of the content it returned.

In all of the time that I've been using CloudMagic, I've never used more than 50 previews per month, but if I needed to search more often, I'd be willing to pay for CloudMagic Pro. $5 a month is a small price to pay for one of the best search services around.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

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“Facebook Card” Launched, Offers A Physical Gift Card Service

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Microsoft, Chicago Agree to Deal for Public Employee Cloud Service

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AOL Unveils Alto, A Clutter-Clearing Visual Inbox Service

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RadioShack May Launch A No-Contract Wireless Service Sept. 5

Pretty soon, people who bellyache about restrictive plan changes and high fees imposed by the major carriers could have yet another way to connect. According to Engadget, RadioShack may be planning to roll out its own no-contract wireless service of its own on September 5th, supplementing the electronics company’s current ability to offer phones and plans for the Verizon, AT&T and Sprint networks.

A screenshot sent in by an anonymous tipster claims that the cleverly named RadioShack No-Contract Wireless plans will be powered by Cricket’s wireless network. In a ploy to differentiate itself from other Cricket Wireless distributors, RadioShack apparently plans to offer a free 8GB SD card with any phone that comes with the carrier’s Muve Music service preloaded — assuming the leak is legitimate, of course.

Previous leaks reported by Engadget suggest that RadioShack’s no-contract service will include several phone options, including all the phones currently being carried by Cricket along with the HTC One V, the Huawei Mercury, the Huawei Pillar and a 4.3-inch offering by Alcatel.

If the information turns out to be true, September 5th is going to be a busy day for the mobile world. In addition to RadioShack No-Contract Wireless’s launch, Nokia and Microsoft are holding an event where they are widely expected to announce the first Windows Phone 8 devices. Motorola and Verizon also have a big event scheduled that day, which could be the official unveiling of the Motorola Droid RAZR HD.

Image via Engadget

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Cloud-Friendly Microsoft Office 2013 Is a “Service First”

When designing the new Office, Ballmer said, Microsoft kept modern devices – and Windows 8 – at the front of their minds. Office 2013's mobile-friendly capabilities include touch support, the ability to annotate documents using digital ink, support for ARM devices, native Windows Phone 8 functionality and a visual style that closely mirrors Windows 8's Metro UI.

Microsoft’s CEO pointed out that Office 2013 represents a much greater departure from previous editions than just touch-friendly integration. The productivity suite fully integrates cloud storage (primarily using Microsoft’s own SkyDrive) and social networks (Microsoft recently purchased the enterprise-focused social networking service Yammer for $1.2 billion), with the goal of allowing users to access their documents and templates from any device and seamlessly collaborate with others.

Ballmer and his crew also showed off a few key features of the new suite. 

PowerPoint

Microsoft’s Kirk Koenigsbauer demonstrated PowerPoint on a Samsung tablet. Like all Office 2013 applications, PowerPoint features much more intuitive touch capabilities – with his fingers, Koenigsbauer used pinch-to-zoom and moved from from one slide to the next.

More impressively, the user interface has been designed with hands in mind – buttons to open and close option ribbons, for instance, appear large enough to press with your finger, without needing to use a stylus – although a pen or stylus can be used to write notes directly on slides, as Koenigsbauer demonstrated.

Outlook

Similarly, Outlook features large ribbons that can easily be closed and opened with the tap of a finger. Koenigsbauer showed the Quick Actions menu on the far right of the screen, which allows users to perform common actions such as Reply and Delete without having to open a cumbersome menu. Outlook also allows users to “peek” at sub-menus such as Calendar and People just by hovering over them (although this functionality likely only works with a stylus or mouse).

OneNote

After PowerPoint and Outlook, Koenigsbauer jumped to OneNote, Microsoft’s digital note-taking application. Using a stylus, he demonstrated how users can – in addition to using the mouse and keyboard) write notes directly into the application. A radial menu allows users to change the font, color, font size and other features of their notes. OneNote also features native camera integration, allowing users to take a picture using their phone or tablet, import the photo into OneNote and quickly crop and place the picture where they like.

Word

Office 2013's cloud and social network integration truly come to the forefront in the latest version of Microsoft Word. As Koenigsbauer demonstrated, users can sign into each service (Word, PowerPoint and others) to access their custom information; on Word, that means a user’s documents, templates and custom dictionary. Word’s cloud-based functionality also allows users work on a document from multiple devices, picking up where they left off each time.

Content is stored on SkyDrive by default; it wasn’t made clear whether or not other cloud storage platforms could be used.

As the demonstration continued, it became clear that Microsoft believes most Word documents will be read on mobile devices rather than on paper. In fact, many of the most dramatic additions support this very idea. Reading Mode (pictured above) automatically resizes documents for optimal viewing on any device, including phones and tablets. Users can also embed videos in their documents – a feature designed to appeal to users who read primarily on their mobile devices.

Excel

While the cloud and social integration wasn’t as immediately apparent during Koenigsbauer’s demonstration of Excel, it’s clear that Microsoft has aimed to make their spreadsheet tool more powerful and – at the same time – easier to use. Flash Fill, for instance, makes it simple to pull individual nuggets of information out of columns; the software can recognize if the user trying to pull out a specific type of word (names, for instance), and will automatically populate the rest of the column with the names found in the adjacent column. Quick Analysis, on the other hand, makes it easier to create tables and charts by giving users previews and recommendations.

Perceptive Pixel

The last piece of new technology demonstrated by Koenigsbauer was Office 2013's integration with Perceptive Pixel technology (PPI). Using a whopping 82-inch capacitive touch screen, Koenigsbauer showed how Office 2013 and PPI technology can be used to join video conferencing and online collaboration in a single application. Using this technology, users can view and annotate PowerPoint presentations simultaneously, or join common note-taking sessions using OneNote. Although Ballmer says Microsoft’s working to bring the cost of this technology down, he’s confident that it will be widely adopted by businesses.

The Microsoft 2013 preview is available as a free download.

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Verizon Wireless and GameTanium Offer Unlimited Gaming Service on Big Red Phones and Tablets

Verizon Wireless is giving its Android smartphone and tablet customers two ways to game. There’s the old way: downloading and paying for games a la carte at anywhere between free and $15. And there’s the new way: paying Verizon Wireless $5.99 a month to download any game available in its new digital storefront.

That storefront comes fully stocked with titles courtesy of the GameTanium service, a digital repository of casual games for the Android platform. Verizon’s intentions are simple. Download the GameTanium app from Verizon’s app market, pay the carrier-billed monthly $6 fee, and enjoy unlimited access to each game therein. Of course, the benefits of that proposition depend on the quality of GameTanium’s selection.

Right now, the service lists Doodle God, Fruit Ninja, World of Goo, and Plants vs. Zombies as its most popular titles, but none of these appear in the Google Play Store’s Top Paid games. Meanwhile, popular titles like Temple Run: Brave ($.99), The Amazing Spider-man ($6.99) and Max Payne Mobile ($2.99) are noticeably absent from GameTanium’s lineup. 

Still, GameTanium could be a boon for heavy mobile gamers who don’t like to shell out dough on a game-by-game basis, as long as they make sure to take advantage of the service’s library and download several new titles a new month.

For those with happy thumbs that are eager to tap, slide, and drag their way to victory, GameTanium includes a free three-day trial and can be downloaded from the Verizon app store. Just remember, GameTanium requires Android phones and tablets running Android 2.2 or higher and at least a 1GB SD card.   

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Bye, Bye Cable? Aereo to Expand Mobile TV Service Beyond NYC

Score one for the cord cutters! Actually, make that score two: a mere day after a federal judge denied a temporary injunction television broadcasters were seeking against Aereo, the company’s billionaire backer, Barry Diller, said that the company has plans to expand to several U.S. cities in the coming months.

What’s all the hub-bub about? Aereo keeps a multitude of dime-sized HD antennas — one for each customer — in its New York data center, which capture the free television signals being transmitted over the air by local broadcast stations. Aereo then streams a feed of the live stations over the Internet to its subscribers, who pay $12 per month to receive the local TV programming via web browser or Aereo’s mobile apps and supported devices. DVR-style recording and playback is also supported.

Aereo says it’s the way TV will be watched in the future; CBS, Fox, Univision, PBS and others say it’s copyright infringement and are suing to sideline the company. Aereo claims it doesn’t need to pay fees to retransmit the stations’ signals due to its unique antenna array.

The judge’s ruling certainly seems to have bolstered Diller’s spirits. Aereo is currently only offered in NYC and only streams to devices within city limits, but yesterday, Diller told Bloomberg that will change soon.

“We’re going to really start marketing,” he said. “Within a year and a half, certainly by ’13, we’ll be in most major (markets).”

Don’t sell off your Slingbox in anticipation of Aereo’s arrival in your town just yet, though; the actual lawsuit brought by the television stations still needs to work its way through court before Aereo gets the legal all-clear.

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First Look: Nivio Cloud Software Service Is Promising, but Overly Complicated

Because Nivio is still in by-invitation beta, with elements such as a native iPad app not ready in time for this article, it's a bit premature to develop a formal opinion on Nivio. An ambitious attempt to adapt Windows--and Windows applications--for mobile devices, Nivio could turn into a powerful service, but right now it's just too darn complicated to use.

Even launching Nivio is a hassle. While the developers put the finishing touches on its iPad app (which I'm hoping will streamline the process), beta testers are directed to a third-party virtualization app, Wyse PocketCloud. Once you install it, however, you don't actually run it to use Nivio; rather, you open Safari and navigate to the Nivio website. (Nivio uses the Wyse technology behind the scenes to power its system.) Once you've logged in, Nivio brings you to a home page from which you can launch the Nivio Desktop app (which requires a second login).

Once you finally see Nivio's Windows desktop, you still have to hunt for the Office apps: All that appears on the desktop are shortcuts to nDrive (Nivio's storage service), nApps (a store with virtualized versions of desktop apps), Internet Explorer, the Recycle Bin, and a shortcut to Nivio's online help desk.

This Web page showing your Nivio files is one stop of many on the way to seeing its Windows desktop.

At the bottom of the screen, Nivio has added its own taskbar, with half a dozen icons whose functions aren't particularly intuitive. One icon brings up a pop-up menu linking to a file browser, a desktop-snapshot utility, help, and a disconnect command. An arrow-shaped icon turns into a virtual mouse, which helps you pinpoint small icons on applications (a lot of Office Ribbon icons are pretty tiny). Another icon summons the virtual keyboard, a different one zooms in on an area of the screen, and still another one relates to PocketCloud Companion (which apparently relates to the Wyse technology).

It's all very confusing, and none of it helped me access the Office applications. I finally found them listed in the folder you get when you tap the nApps icon; you can also reach them by tapping on an arrow at the right end of the Nivio taskbar, which brings up the familiar Windows Start button (which in turn lets you summon programs). But Nivio should consider simply putting shortcuts on the default desktop.

Nivio's service offers access to virtualized versions of several dozen Windows applications and applets.

Nivio's navigation tools (particularly the virtual mouse) are its concession to the problem of dealing with the Office Ribbon on a small screen, without a hardware mouse. Once you get used to the arrangement, it's a reasonable compromise, but I prefer CloudOn's decision to tinker with the Ribbon design in order to make icons large enough to use with a fingertip.

Nivio's version of Internet Explorer worked well on static sites--I was able to play a Flash-based bridge game that I couldn't log in to in OnLive Desktop's version of IE. But Nivio engineers say they haven't gotten around to optimizing it for video, and the clips I saw did indeed look jerky.

Admittedly, Nivio offers a larger selection of virtualized applications than the other cloud-based services I looked at; most notably it's the only one to offer the Microsoft Visio diagramming program. Because you can run Nivio on PCs as well as on mobile devices, accessing files on nDrive is easy regardless of what device you're working on.

But price may become an issue, as Nivio will charge subscription fees for the applications you use, on top of a monthly fee for use of nDesktop, its virtualized version of Windows. For example, Office use will run $15 a month, while individual Office apps will go for $7.50 a month. The company is making 10GB of nDrive storage available for free to all comers, but you'll have to pay by the hour for using nDesktop. Individuals can pay $5 per month for 10 hours of nDesktop use or $15 a month for unlimited use.

Until Nivio becomes simpler to use (and eliminates IE video problems), it's a tough sell at any price. But if it solves those problems, its growing application portfolio could make it attractive.

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Lincoln Announces Online 24/7 Concierge Service, iPad App

The process of purchasing a new car can be strenuous. There’s hours of research, traveling to car dealerships and doing battle with swarmy car dealers. Lincoln is attempting to make the process of purchasing and maintaining a Lincoln a little smoother with their new online concierge service. 

The service can be accessed through Lincoln’s website and will provide a personalized walkthrough of Lincoln products and vehicles. Users caa also create a portfolio with customer preferences that can be shared with the dealer. The portfolio can be accessed from multiple devices including laptops, smartphones and iPads. Consumers can also grant a chosen Lincoln dealer access to the portfolio to better assist them in finding their perfect car. 

In addition to the 24/7 service, Lincoln also announced an iPad for Lincoln dealers to better assist consumers. Similar to the conceirge service , the app will help dealers navigate through vehicles and specific features to better assist consumers. The app will also quickly compare competitor prices.

Both services will kick off in 2013, just in time for the launch of the 2013 Lincoln MKX.

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Next Issue Launches “Netflix for Magazines” Newsstand Service

Despite the availability of multiple magazine titles on the tablet, subscribers have met the offerings with a lukewarm reception at best. It’s been two years since the iPad launched, yet digital represents a mere 1% of the industry’s circulation; publishers know there’s a problem here that needs to be solved. Now, they’re finally addressing it with the launch of a new Android app by Next Issue Media — a joint venture by the five biggest magazine publishers including Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredeth, News Corp. and Time Inc.

The service — touted as the “Netflix for digital magazines” — is actually a pretty good idea. Subscribers pay a fixed monthly fee and get access to all the magazines available on Next Issue Media’s virtual newsstand. Dishing out $10 opens the door to monthly and bi-weekly content, while ponying up $5 more grants you admission to all the weeklies as well (titles like The New Yorker, and more). At the moment, there are 32 magazines available, including Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Vanity Fair, Esquire and many others. The company has even promised that more publications “will be available soon.”

But as is usually the case with a great deal, there are a few caveats. Right now, the app only works on Honeycomb-endowed Android tablets, and there’s no word thus far on availability for the Kindle Fire or Barnes & Noble’s Nook. (Both of these devices run modified versions of Google’s mobile OS.) For once, Apple users will have to experience delayed gratification, too — Next Issue Media has yet to submit an iPad version to the App Store. And lastly, print issues aren’t part of the package at all, so if you like owning the physical copies of the magazines you subscribe to, you’ll find yourself out of luck.

Still, anyone who likes reading magazines on tablets should find the service a welcome new scheme. Not only will you be able to peruse individual articles at leisure, reading only the longform articles or special issues that interest you, never again will you succumb to that nagging guilt after seeing how high that unread pile on your nightstand is getting.

The Next Issue Media Android app is available for download now with a free 30-day trial.

via AllThingsD and TechCrunch

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Verizon Proposes Video Service, Puts Netflix and Hulu in Jeopardy

According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam announced that the company is planning to launch a service that will allow Verizon customers to stream cable television onto their mobile devices. Amazingly, customers using this service may not have to worry about exceeding their data caps — a feat made possible by Verizon’s recent purchase for $3.6 billion of airwaves (known as spectrum) from major cable companies such as Comcast and Time Warner.  The deal, which is still pending approval by federal regulators, could spell disaster for rival video streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, all of which bump up against the data caps.

In the interview, Mr. McAdam expressed his excitement for the deal, arguing that an integrated service such as the one Verizon has proposed will allow customers to pick and choose the channels they want to watch, rather than being forced to buy bundles of channels.

Critics, however, are less sanguine about the prospect. They argue that allowing Verizon to stream its own content over spectrum that it owns could lead to anti-competitive pricing designed to muscle out other video streaming services such as Netflix. If this happens, critics worry, consumers could ultimately pay more for streaming video on their mobile devices as competition declines.

Jeff Kagan, a tech analyst, worries that smaller video streaming companies such as Netflix could be forced out by Verizon if regulators allow the deal to go ahead. “Netflix discovered a vein of gold,” Kagan told us in a phone interview. “When something like streaming video becomes a successful niche, the big companies move in. In the past, small companies similar to Netflix have not survived when larger providers offered the same services in a cheaper bundle. If two companies offer the same services and features, people will choose the cheapest option.”

Within the last few years, data has rapidly surpassed voice as the most profitable part of wireless service. In just a few years, Kagan believes, data will account for as much as 97 percent of spectrum usage, while voice will account for just 3 percent. This dramatic shift in spectrum usage underscores the importance of streaming content to wireless providers, who are going to great lengths to acquire as much spectrum as possible.

Kagan worries that less financially powerful carriers such as T-Mobile won’t be able to keep up with Verizon and AT&T in the race to acquire spectrum. “The wireless marketplace has consolidated so much in the last few years, the government needs to step in and ensure that we have more than just two companies providing wireless service,” Kagan argues. “Regulators have to be concerned with what is best for the rapidly growing industry as a whole, and not one competitor or the other.”

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Verizon Says 4G Restored, Service Still Spotty

For the fourth time in the last three months, Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network has suffered a service outage. Verizon Wireless spokesman, Tom Pica, said the outage was brief and that service has since been restored.

We tested the network from our New York office using the Speedtest.net app on our Droid RAZR Maxx and. We got a decent but unspectacular average download speed of 9.4 Mbps. Upload speeds were far lower, reaching just 1.5 Mpbs. During out initial testing, the phone managed 12.9 Mbps down and 8.8 Mbps up.

According to Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney, the network outage was limited to Verizon’s 4G service and did not impact 3G or voice networks. However, several users reported that they were unable to establish a 3G connection with Verizon. In an interview with Bloomberg, Pica said complaints from New York area residents began at around 6:30 a.m. today.

Verizon has been forced to cop to a series of network issues in the past three months. In December alone, Big Red’s 4G network went down as many as three times. Most of those outages, however, lasted just a few hours before full connectivity was restored.

Verizon’s 4G LTE service has been the fastest of the four major carriers and generally the most reliable. In fact, the company took the top spot in our 2011 Nationwide 4G Showdown. But with AT&T getting more aggressive with its 4G LTE rollout, Verizon will need to figure out a way to keep outages to a minimum.

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Report: Google To Launch “Drive” Cloud Storage Service

Never one to  let others hog the spotlight, Google is getting set to launch a new cloud storage service, putting the search giant on a collision course with the likes of Dropbox and SugarSync.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the new service, which is simply called Drive, would allow users to upload and store their music, video, and other files to Google’s servers where they can later be retrieved from any web-connected device.

The service, the Journal says, will feature a smartphone and tablet app for mobile users, similar to those offered by the aforementioned Dropbox, SugarSync, and to a lesser extend Apple’s iCloud. Apple’s service is currently only available to iOS 5 users. In the report, the Journal cites sources familiar with Google’s Drive as saying the service will make it to market in the coming weeks or months.

Drive will in all likelihood offer users a certain amount of storage space for free. Users looking for more space will probably have to cough up some cash. The interesting thing here is that Google already offers some form of web-based storage for photos, videos, and documents via Picasa, YouTube, and Google Docs. What makes Drive special is it will be the first time Google allows its users to storage all of their files in one place.

Since cloud storage and mobile computing go hand-in-hand, we’re curious to see if Google will integrate Drive with its Android operating system. Could a cloud-ready Ice Cream Sandwich be on the horizon? We’ll just have to wait to see.

via The Wall Street Journal

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