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Gears, Google's project to make Web browsers a better foundation for elaborate online applications, now supports Firefox 3, the company plans to announce soon.

"Gears for Firefox 3, as of today, is available for all users," said Aaron Boodman, a Google programmer working on the Gears project, in an interview Tuesday. "We hope to announce it either today or tomorrow."

Indeed, the Google Gears code site lists Firefox 3 support in version 0.3 description. Firefox 3 itself is due this month; the open-source browser currently is in its second release candidate.

Google is working on Gears--formerly called Google Gears--as a way to advance Web programming. It's a key enabler to the cloud computing model exemplified with Web applications such as Google Docs and Gmail.

The company hopes features developed for Gears will eventually settle into HTML, the standard used to describe Web pages. There has been some success: the offline page access and internal database technology released in the first Gears incarnation, has made its way to the HTML 5 specification under development.

At the Google I/O conference conference in May, the company described several Gears features under development--though not promised--for Gears. The Gears history page is more specific about two of those features, listing the "blob" module and the geolocation module as "in the oven" for Gears 0.4.

The blob module lets a Web browser handle a large chunk of data in pieces, for example, uploading a large video bit by bit to better protect against unreliable network connections. The geolocation module gives browsers abilities to use data about where exactly a person using the Web is located, but Google hasn't worked out exactly how to handle the privacy implications of that work.

Also demonstrated in version 3 is the ability to make a Web site into a shortcut users can drop onto their computer desktops. That feature is built into Gears 0.3.

The primary initial feature of Gears was offline access to Web applications, which has obvious utility for somebody editing a spreadsheet on an airplane. Future Gears features, such as the geolocation technology, likely will have broader adoption on Web applications, he predicted.

"We started with offline, a very hard feature because it involves synchronizing data with multiple computers," Boodman said. "I don't think every Web app needs offline. But as we add additional capabilities beyond just offline, it will be appealing to more Web sites."

Gears, an open-source project, already supports Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer. Google is working hard on a version for Apple's Safari browser, and Opera is extending support to its own desktop and mobile browsers.

"We do plan to make it work across all major browsers across all major platforms," said Sundar Pichai, the Google vice president in charge of Gears, iGoogle, Google Desktop, Gadgets, and various other products.

Gears has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times, Google said, and the company expects it to spread. Also at Google I/O, MySpace announced it's using Gears to augment its online inbox.

Google isn't alone in the area: Yahoo is working on a conceptually similar project called BrowserPlus to improve Web browsers.

SAN FRANCISCO--Google showed off working prototypes Wednesday of new possibilities for its Gears project to goose Web browsers' abilities.

When Google launched Gears a year ago, the company overemphasized one important feature, its ability to make Web applications work even when the browser is disconnected from the Internet, Chris Prince, a lead Gears engineer, said in a talk at the Google I/O conference here Wednesday. The new features, though, head in dramatically different directions: notifications on the desktop of various events, support for location information, better interactions with a computer's file system, and technology to let large file uploads proceed even when hampered by intermittent network connectivity.

Chris Prince, a Google engineer, describes new possibilities for Google's Gears software to improve Web browsers.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)

At the same time Google is working on the open-source Gears project, competitor Yahoo has begun similar efforts, announcing its BrowserPlus effort this week. The moves show that the Internet giants are trying to steer the basic fabric of the Internet into more lively directions.

"I think people have realized the browser is kind of broken," Prince said in an interview after his talk. "A lot of us are trying to improve it."

The project initially was called Google Gears, but the search giant removed its name Wednesday in an effort to show it's not just the company's work. MySpace announced it's using Gears for its mail system at the show.

Prince wouldn't commit to any of the new features ever making their way into Gears, but it's clear the company has grand ambitions for what can be done with web applications. "We want to make it so Web applications can be just as powerful as desktop applications by unlocking the capability of the local machine," Prince said.

He demonstrated five Gears prototypes:

• One let a Web page create a shortcut icon on a computer's desktop so people could launch that Web application with a double-click instead of a more laborious process.

• A notification process, which like Yahoo's BrowserPlus feature ties into a computer's general system notification abilities, is a major missing piece in letting Web applications seize a user's attention the way desktop apps can. "Web apps have this problem where they can't tell users about important things happening on their system," Prince said.

• His file system demonstration showed a dialog box that let him select a large group of photos for upload rather than the one-file-at-a-time process that today afflicts Web site operations.

• A "blob"-processing ability could be used, for example, to divide a large file into bite-sized pieces, an approach that makes it easier to restore an upload interrupted by a bad network connection.

• He used a geolocation-processing ability to process latitude-longitude information to provide a more useful Google map showing bars near Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Gears still needs to handle privacy, though, when it comes to sharing location information with Web sites, he added. "There has to be permission for using location data. We haven't figured out the best model yet," Prince said.

And though he didn't demonstrate anything, Prince also said there's work under way to try to build Webcam and microphone support into Gears.

A year ago it was Google with its Gears project. Now Yahoo wants to make your browser better, too.

Yahoo BrowserPlus makes it possible to tag, crop, and perform other sophisticated operations for a Flickr photo-uploading Web site.

(Credit: Yahoo)

A year after the Google launched its Gears project, Yahoo announced software called BrowserPlus that has a similar philosophy: expand what's possible to make Web applications a better alternative to programs running natively on a personal computer. Right now, it's available only in a "sneak peek" on some Yahoo-operated Web sites.

"BrowserPlus is a technology designed to 'extend the Web,' so that developers can build more exciting Web applications and so end users can get more done inside their Web browsers," Yahoo said on a BrowserPlus frequently-asked-questions page.

Among its abilities: "Different Web sites can use BrowserPlus to support things like drag and drop from the desktop, easier file uploads, more efficient and secure acquisition of feeds and information, and native desktop notifications," Yahoo said.

This sounds good to me, at least in principle. I've been trying Google's and Facebook's Web-based instant-messaging applications, but without desktop notifications, they're only as immediate and useful as any old Web mail software.

Yahoo's BrowserPlus project aims to make Web browsers more powerful.

(Credit: Yahoo)

The software, along with Gears, shows an interesting trend in Web design: the biggest players are working to expand what can be done with the Internet. It's reminiscent of the early days of the Web, when Netscape and Internet Explorer would implement new features to permit more elaborate Web sites.

Google appears to be trying to make it easier for competitors to embrace Gears. At its Google I/O conference here Wednesday, Google de-branded Gears today, taking its name off the project and announcing some new Web browser support in the works.

BrowserPlus works on Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 machines and on Windows XP and Vista machines. Supported browsers are Internet Explorer 7 or later, Apple Safari 3 or later, and Firefox 2 or later, Yahoo said.

Those who want to try it out can visit Yahoo's BrowserPlus demo site. That site offers an in-page Flickr photo uploader that lets users drag, tag, rotate, and crop photos, an IRC IM client; and for the programmer types, a JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) inspector.

SAN FRANCISCO--MySpace said it's using Google's Gears, software for augmenting Web browser abilities, to make the social-networking site easier to use.

When MySpace users go to their mailbox, they'll be invited to install Google Gears, said Allen Hurff, MySpace's senior vice president of engineering, in an appearance here Wednesday at the Google I/O conference. "It's available to everyone today," Hurff said.

Allen Hurff, MySpace's senior vice president of engineering, speaks at Google I/O.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)

When users install Gears, they'll be able to quickly search their in-boxes for specific terms or sort messages, for example to show unread mail, Hurff said.

Gears, an open-source plug-in, endows browsers with a number of useful features to make them a better foundation for running elaborate software. Gears hasn't caught on widely, but MySpace gives the project more clout. And Google thinks some of Gears' success is actually measured in its influence over the new HTML 5 standard for describing Web pages.

In MySpace's case, one useful Gears feature is local storage on a computer. Another is the ability to run multiple threads at the same time--in effect, to walk and chew gum at the same time. For MySpace, that includes letting a computer index text at the same time it draws user-interface elements on the browser screen, Hurff said.

On Wednesday, Google announced it's changing the project's name from Google Gears to just Gears.

"We want to make it clear that Gears isn't just a Google thing," said Chris Prince, a Google software engineer, in a blog posting. "We see Gears as a way for everyone to get involved with upgrading the Web platform."

Google also announced that it's expanding browser support for Gears.

"We are currently adding Firefox 3 and Safari support. And Opera is working to support Gears on both desktop and mobile," Prince said.

Borland Software has sold its CodeGear development tools division to Embarcadero Technologies for about $23 million, the companies said Wednesday.

CodeGear sells the products that Borland used to be best known for--its JBuilder Java development tool, Delphi, and C++Builder. More recently, CodeGear has created development tools for PHP and Ruby.

Borland Software CEO Tod Nielsen

Two years ago, Borland CEO Tod Nielsen announced a plan to sell off the tools division separate from its application lifecycle management product line. The tools division has been hurt from competition from free, open-source products, notably the Eclipse IDE.

CodeGear products are aimed at individual programmers, while the lifecycle management suite is designed for teams of developers, testers, and architects.

Since then, Borland hadn't been able to find a buyer.

Embarcadero brings in more than $60 million in annual revenue selling database management and design tools. The acquisition gives it access to the millions of developers that use CodeGear software, it said.

Update 7:50 AM Pacific: corrected figure for Embarcadero's annual revenue before its planned acquisition of CodeGear.

CNET's Gamespot posted a news blurb today on a report that, "Microsoft has entered into talks with Sony to bring Blu-ray to the Xbox 360." The report comes from a Financial Times story that quotes an unnamed "senior executive," who says that Sony and Microsoft "are not simply discussing a successor to the Xbox 360's now discontinued, dirt-cheap external HD DVD drive," but that "there is also the possibility of an internal Blu-ray drive being incorporated into a new, more expensive 'premium' 360 model."

Cocept art for MGS4, which won't fit on a DVD.

(Credit: www.azeemalim.co.uk)

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January Xbox group marketing manager Albert Penello alluded to the possibility of a Blu-ray option for the 360. However, Penello wasn't talking today and Microsoft denied that it had made any official move to Blu-ray.

While you could argue that having a built-in Blu-ray drive is now a competitive advantage for the PS3, Sony stands to make millions in licensing fees for the technology if Microsoft adopts it. That possibility presumably trumps the potential edge Blu-ray might give the PS3. As for Microsoft, at a certain point it has to consider going Blu--partially because premium game titles are beginning to push the limits of a DVD's 8.5GB storage capacity. The PS3-exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4, due out in June, apparently fills an entire Blu-ray disc, though it's unclear whether it's a single-layer 25GB disc or 50GB dual-layer disc.

What do you think? Will disc capacity force Microsoft to make the move to Blu-ray--or is it just so that it can say it's game console also plays Blu-ray movies? Let us know by posting in the comments.

Google is bringing Google Gears to mobile phones so that people on the go can access Web-based applications even when they're not connected to the mobile Net.

Smartphones and 3G data services are changing the way some people work, allowing them to access documents and applications from anywhere. But when their wireless connection is interrupted or not available at all, they're cut off.

Google Gears for mobile helps solve this problem so mobile workaholics can even get stuff done on airplanes or when they're supposed to be on vacation in some far-off destination with no wireless access. (On second thought, maybe having access to work documents and other Web-based applications from anywhere isn't such a good idea.)

Google Gears is an open-source browser extension that lets developers create Web applications that can run offline. Google has been developing the software for PC users, but now it is extending it for mobile users too. Google Gears is still in its early days. The mobile version right now supports Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 phones. This means that other smartphone users, such as those using Apple's iPhone, or people using other popular mobile browsers, such as Opera, won't be able to use Google Gears.

But Google has said that it plans to expand support to other browsers and cell phone platforms, including its own Android software.

Another issue is that mobile Gears only works with applications that are Gear-enabled. So far, Google Gear applications aren't widely available, but Google is trying to make it easier for developers to create Gears-enabled mobile Web applications.

Charles Wiles, product manager for Google's mobile team, posted a blog explaining how Google Gears for mobile would work. He used the example of Zoho, a Web-based productivity application, and Buxfer, a Web-based personal finance application.

Google Gears is integrated into these applications. When users go to the Web site where these applications are located they will be asked to install Google Gears for mobile. Once installed, Gears sits on the phone and people can access their data even when there is no network connection.

Google is providing more information for developers on its developer Web site.

Ready to rumble in April

(Credit: Sony)

If you're waiting for Sony to finally release its new rumbling DualShock 3 wireless controller here in North America, you won't have much longer to go. Today, Sony announced that the wireless DualShock 3 will be available sometime in April with a somewhat hefty $54.99 price tag (the current nonrumble wireless controller has a list price of $5 less).

Sony also had a few other PlayStation-related announcements. To coincide with the much-anticipated North American launch of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots in late Q2 2008, Sony said it will introduce a PS3 bundle that includes an 80GB PS3, MGS4, and a DualShock 3 wireless controller for $499 (MSRP).

In case you're wondering what "late Q2" means, think June. That's also when Sony will release a limited-edition God of War PSP Entertainment Pack for $199.99 (MSRP). According to the press release, the bundle will include a "'Deep Red' PSP with God of War himself, Kratos, silk-screened on the back of the unit," a copy of God of War: Chains of Olympus for PSP, the movie Superbad on UMD, and a PlayStation Network voucher to download Syphon Filter: Combat Ops from the PlayStation Store. The standalone version of God of War: Chains of Olympus arrives March 4.

What's this all add up to? Well, a little pressure for Microsoft and Nintendo. With Sony hot off its Blu-ray victory, a couple of AAA PS3 titles on the horizon, and a little rumble in its controllers, things are looking up for PlayStation fans. What do you think?

I'm not sure whether the Compaq merger is far enough in the past for Hewlett-Packard to contemplate another major acquisition. But if so, I believe that HP could really shake up with networking status quo by buying Juniper.

This move would certainly take some chutzpah, and it would cost HP somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 billion to pull this off. Nevertheless, I believe that an acquisition of Juniper makes a ton of sense.

First off, HP and Juniper have almost no product overlap. HP has a strong business in Ethernet edge and core switches, as well as lots of network management strength with OpenView and now Opsware. Juniper, by contrast, is a leader in routing, security and application networking. A combined entity would offer top-notch edge-to-core network infrastructure, along with all the goodies needed to secure and manage the whole enchilada. In other words, HP would be able to pretty much match Cisco Systems product for product.

Would enterprise users actually buy networking equipment from HP/Juniper? Yup. Cisco owns the enterprise network market and there isn't a No. 2 vendor in sight. Viable vendors that establish this position tend to do extremely well. Remember Amdahl and HDS in the mainframe market? These guys gave IBM fits in the data center for years. And it isn't like HP is a stranger to the enterprise.

Finally, this new networking tide could float a lot of other HP boats, pulling in server, PC, software, and professional services dollars as well. HP would also bolster its already strong presence in the global telecommunications sector, an industry that is growing quite well again.

Lots of system vendors like IBM and Sun Microsystems walked away from networking, and Cisco has benefited every time. Quietly, HP has built a multibillion-dollar, successful business with its ProCurve networking division.

A Juniper acquisition would be an extremely bold step. Although HP may not want to stick its neck out quite this far, I believe there is a potential huge payoff if it does.