PaulSpoerry.com

Google Voice is about giving you more control over your communications, through dozens of features — ranging from call screening to voicemail transcription to the ability to send and receive SMS by email. While we’ve heard from users that they love our growing list of features, we’re conscious of the fact that Google Voice can seem overwhelming to people trying it for the first time. So we’ve created a short video that gives an overview of what Google Voice can do.

In addition, we’ve created a set of short videos that dive into more detail about ten features of Google Voice:

1. Voicemail transcription
2. One number
3. Personalized greetings
4. International calling
5. SMS to email
6. Share voicemails
7. Block callers
8. Screen callers
9. Mobile app
10. Conference calls

The videos show why you might want to use each feature and basic instructions for getting started. And each video focuses on just one topic so you can learn about the features that matter to you.

Finally, we just launched our own YouTube channel at youtube.com/googlevoice. You can view all of the videos mentioned above in a custom video gadget we built for this channel, which will help you keep track of which videos you’ve already watched.

A 17-year-old bug in Windows will be patched by Microsoft in its latest security update.

The February update for Windows will close the loophole that involves the venerable DOS operating system.

First appearing in Windows NT 3.1, the vulnerability has been carried over into almost every version of Windows that has appeared since.

The monthly security update will also tackle a further 25 holes in Windows, five of which are rated as “critical”.

Home hijack

The ancient bug was discovered by Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy in January 2010 and involves a utility that allows newer versions of Windows to run programs that date from the DOS era.

Mr Ormandy has found a way to exploit this utility in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and 2008 as well as Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The patch for this vulnerability will appear in the February security update. Five of the vulnerabilities being patched at the same time allow attackers to effectively hijack a Windows PC and run their own programs on it.

As well as fixing holes in many versions of Windows, the update also tackles bugs in Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2004 for Apple Macintosh machines.

The bumper update is not the largest that Microsoft has ever released. The security update for October 2009 tackled a total of 34 vulnerabilities. Eight of those updates were rated as critical – the highest level.

In January 2010, Microsoft released an “out of band” patch for a serious vulnerability in Internet Explorer that was being exploited online. The vulnerability was also thought to be the one used to attack Google in China.

Following the attack on Google, many other cyber criminals started seeking ways to exploit the loophole.

Also this week, a security researcher has reported the discovery of a vulnerability in Internet Explorer that allows attackers to view the files held on a victim’s machine.

Microsoft has issued a security bulletin about the problem and aims to tackle it at a future date. At the moment there is no evidence that this latest find is being actively exploited online.

OK, before I get into the specs, leaks, etc let me explain the title. Right out the gate the major things to know are:

• They’ll be sold unlocked – no contract required
• Developed by HTC and sold directly from Google
• GSM with possibility of UMTS (3G) on AT&T and T-Mobile (what I read here is “SIM CARDS”)
• CDMA is likely in the future (why would they NOT want Verizon and to a lesser extent Sprint)
• Android 2.1
• They just purchased Gizmo5 – next in line to Skype as a VOIP service

The phone itself will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1 GHz ARM CPU, it will use an OLED display, and have a capacitive touch screen with on-screen keyboard (*sigh*… I hate touch screen kb’s… I need a physical keyboard).

Daring Firball says they’ve found the strings of a Google phone visitor in their weblogs:

Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.1; en-us; Nexus One Build/ERD56C) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/530.17

So back to how they’ll gut the cellular industry… If you add up all the different pieces what you’re looking at is a phone that:

• Requires no contract
• Is VOIP enabled
• Has Google Voice built in

If you REALLY wanted too… you could skip the carriers all together and simply use the phone on open Wifi or even Mifi. At that point the carriers are meaningless. Voice communications via cellular doesn’t fit into Google’s business plan at all. ANYTHING over the Internet, be it voice call via VOIP, text messsages via Google Voice, location based look-up with Google search on your phone, etc go directly to Google’s bottom line… search and advertisements. As far as Google is concerned if the carriers become nothing but data providers… so be it.

Look for this to be released in January (sad they missed the  holiday season). Google KNOWS that mobile is the next major wave of computing. They’ve been angling in this direction for quite some time and the release of an unlocked Google designed phone makes it crystal clear that they intend to dominate mobile in the way they’ve dominated search. It’s not a lock… they have to battle the entrenched iPhone and of course Microsoft is coming out with Windows Mobile 7 (though admittedly they’re moving so slowly that they may miss the bus). The point here is that unlike Apple and Microsoft and RIM, Google is making a move here that in the long run could completely sidestep the major carriers… or at least cause them to be nothing but data providers. We are of course a few years out from anything like this happening en mass… but if you look at what Google is doing that’s definitely a very real possibility.

They’ve already released specs for a replacement for HTTP called SPDY. Now it looks as if Google is set for all out Internet takeover by replacing DNS. DNS (Domain Name Service) is used to translate the web friendly named addresses user type in their browser (like www.PaulSpoerry.com) into their machine friendly IP (Internet Protocol) numerical addresses (like 122.222.12.221).

Google Public DNS, announced on Thursday, is still in an experimental phase but will attempt to improve on existing DNS technology with faster, more efficient caching and additional security safeguards against spoofing attacks that try to dupe users into visiting malicious Web sites.

To use Google Public DNS users will have to change network settings so that their Web site requests go to the Google service instead of to their ISP. Google has set up a Web page with detailed instructions on how to do this.

“We believe that a faster DNS infrastructure could significantly improve the browsing experience for all web users. To enhance DNS speed but to also improve security and validity of results, Google Public DNS is trying a few different approaches,” wrote Prem Ramaswami, from Google’s Public DNS Team, in an official blog posting.

This is interesting and I wonder how much better than can do than OpenDNS by rolling out a new DNS infrastructure.

Images of the new ‘branded’ Google phone surfaced this week after months of rumors. This will be a branded Google phone, not one developed by the likes of HTC, that will use an even newer version of Android than that of the Droid?the only Android phone currently running 2.0. Most interesting is that this phone may use VOIP, which uses a wireless connection to the Internet for calls rather than a cellular network. For the end user this could could mean lower or even free cell phone bills (you will still pay for data).

VOIP  (Voice Over Internet Protocol) uses an Internet connection to transmit voice signals the same way emails and text messages are transmitted, and is far cheaper than using a cell phone network. Services like Skype are becoming more attractive, offering free domestic calls, no minutes to count, no roaming, and international calls at a fraction of the cost of cell phone rates, but even Skype has not been convenient enough for consumers to abandon their familiar phone service providers.

For the most part, computers have been the only hardware that was convenient to make VOIP calls. It required the caller to use a headset to both send and receive messages (or monitor mounted speaker/mic or one of the newer Wifi phones). Smartphones were the next logical device to get VOIP, and like their PC counterparts required the user to download an app and secure a wireless connection.

The Google phone may be the first smartphone designed specifically for VOIP service, and will come with all of the goodies Google has introduced this year:

1. The Android operating system in a newer version than what is currently offered on the Droid, on schedule to sell a million units before the end of the year, far ahead of analysts’ expectations.
2. Google Voice, Google’s free multi-phone number and message management application, currently available by invitation only and only in the US.
3. Google Latitude, the free app that lets friends share their locations with one another.
4. Google Maps, the free GPS app for mobile phones offering voice guided, turn-by- turn directions that could replace not only the pricier phone apps, but stand-alone GPS systems altogether.

The last piece of the puzzle is WiFi connections or hotspots. Lucky residents of Seattle, Austin, San Francisco and Atlanta have fairly reliable, complimentary WiFi coverage. And of course, if you find yourself in Beijing, the city was fully covered prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics. Corporate sponsored WiFi is growing: Google paid for WiFi in 45 US airports over this holiday season, offering the service free to travelers, and bit by bit companies are seeing WiFi installations as effective branding strategies.

But for now, WiFi hotspots and connections are spotty at best. Even hands- free calling on the road becomes impossible without a connection, and we can only wait for more auto manufacturers to follow General Motors who began offering the Autonet WiFi router in GM SUVs and trucks in November. At $500 for the device plus $59 a month for 5GB data service, it’s a pricy and limited solution.

Verizon offers a pocket-sized solution with MiFi, providing a wireless connection for up to five devices virtually anywhere for $60 a month with two year contract. Alternately, Google phone users may be able to purchase just a data plan from a cell phone provider, assuming providers cooperate.

The best solution would be an integrated mobile hotspot in the Google phone, activated only when an external hotspot was not detected.

The Google phone is expected as early as January 2010.