Unit of China's Alibaba to launch search engine

BEIJING — A unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said Tuesday it had launched a search engine, in an apparent effort to capitalise on Google's shrinking market share in China.
John Spelich, a spokesman for Hong Kong-listed unit Alibaba.com, told AFP in an email that the engine, called Etao, was up and running but was in its final testing stage.

After testing he said Etao would be officially launched by Taobao, which is owned by Alibaba Group and is China's largest online consumer e-commerce site.

Spelich declined to provide further details.
As well as search options for e-commerce, Etao will provide a search engine powered by Microsoft's Bing, a minor player in China's search engine market, which is dominated by Chinese company Baidu and to a lesser extent Google.

"The website is very good news for Microsoft as it may guide clicks to Bing," said Fiona Zhou, a Shanghai-based analyst at consulting firm Pacific Epoch.

"It differentiates itself from comprehensive search engines such as Baidu or Google by focusing on online shoppers.

"If (Etao), which may have a limited number of users initially, is embedded into Taobao.com, the number of users would be quite significant."

Google has seen its market share in China shrink since it announced in January that it would no longer bow to Chinese government pressure to censor its content, and threatened to pull out of the country entirely.

It later effectively shut down its Chinese site google.cn, re-routing mainland users to its uncensored site in Hong Kong.

Google's share of China's online market fell to 24.2 percent in the three months to June, from 30.9 percent in the first quarter, figures from research firm Analysys International indicated.
Meanwhile, Baidu increased its dominance, with its market share rising to 70 percent in the second quarter from 64 percent in the first three months of the year, Analysys said.

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AppleTV vs. Google TV: An In-Depth Comparison

Little more than a week after Apple started shipping their all-new AppleTV, Google announced that they too would join the home entertainment party and offer a TV service of their own. It’s iOS vs. Android all over again, but this time the battle’s in your living room, not in your pocket.

The first product to offer Google’s new TV service is the Logitech Revue. It’s a black set-top box, just like you’d get for AppleTV, but it’s not as pretty, obviously. So, let’s take a look at how the two devices compare.

Here’s a comparison chart that compares the features and technical specifications of the two devices:

	AppleTV	Google TV on Logitech Revue
OS:	iOS	Android
Video Content:	iTunes, Netflix, YouTube	Netflix, Amazon VoD, YouTube, NBA Game Time, Blip.tv, VEVO
Non-video Content:	Flickr	Pandora, Napster
Web Browser:	✗	✓
Flash:	Of course not	✓
Content Recording:	✗	✓
Apps:	Not at present	✓
Hardware:	Small, sleek, black set-top box	Slightly larger, uglier set-top box
Processor:	1GHz Apple A4 Chip	1.2GHz Intel Atom Z515
RAM:	256MB	4GB
Connectivity:	802.11n Wi-Fi & Ethernet	802.11n Wi-Fi & Ethernet
Ports:	HDMI, optical audio, micro-USB	Dual HDMI, dual USB, S/PDIF out

Hardware

The hardware specs for Logitech’s Revue certainly look pretty nice. The device runs a slightly faster processor – the same one used in many Netbooks on the market – and boasts a whopping 4GB of RAM. It’s also home to dual HDMI and dual USB ports. Whilst these features will come in handy when it comes to running apps, I have to question whether some of them are a little unnecessary in such a device, and whether they’ve just been crammed in to look good on paper.

The new AppleTV features Apple’s A4 chip, which has already impressed us all with its excellent performance in the iPad and the iPhone 4. As usual with an Apple product, the device is small, sleek and sexy, and will blend in nicely with the rest of your home entertainment devices. Logitech’s Revue is a little larger, and it’s nowhere near as pretty.

Content and Operating System

Google has tried to rope in every content source it can for Google TV: it boasts services like Netflix, Pandora, Napster and Amazon Video on Demand. Apple has kept it simple and provided customers with the choice of purchasing content through the iTunes Store, or by renting the latest blockbusters from Netflix through a simple user interface.

Google TV runs its Android operating system, which should be nice and reliable to begin with, until developers start releasing their own apps in to the open market. With no regulation, it won’t be long before you begin to stumble across poorly made applications that can make the O.S. buggy and undependable, as it often has done with the Android system on smartphones.

AppleTV’s OS and user interface has been around a while now, so many users will already be familiar with it. It offers simple to navigate menus, easy access to your content, and complete control through the minimalistic remote control, or Apple’s excellent Remote application for iOS.

Applications

One of the deal-breakers for many customers will be apps. Google will be releasing an SDK for developers to create their own applications for the service that will give users access to a whole range of new services and games. AppleTV is currently lacking this feature, however, there has been lots of talk of an App Store coming to the device.

Another nice feature that the AppleTV is currently lacking is a web browser, whereas Google TV has Chrome built-in. It also boasts a Twitter application for those who want to to tweet from their TV, and it supports flash, something that we can safely rule out of ever officially appearing on Apple’s device.

Content Streaming

One of the new AppleTV features is AirPlay, which allows users to seamlessly stream content from their iPad and iPhone to their TV. You can start watching a movie on your iPad in the kitchen, then continue from where you left off on your TV when you enter the living room. Google TV contains a similar feature that allows you to “Fling” what you’re watching on your Android device to your TV.

Conclusion

Each device has its strengths and excels in individual areas; Google TV boasts more content sources and applications, whereas AppleTV has a remarkable operating system and access to the popular iTunesStore. It all boils down to user experience, and which device will better suit you. Those used to AppleTV’s simplistic user interface and familiar features may find Google TV slightly overwhelming. With it’s numerous content sources and long list of OS features, the average user looking for simple home entertainment may find it a pain

Digital Camera Accessories Cost Less On The Internet

If you own a digital camera, chances are you will need accessories to go with it. Probably, you are little bit confused about where you should get the ones that you need.

Well, of course you could go to a brick and mortar store such as your local photography shop, electronics retailer or hypermarket, look for what you need amongst their limited range of products and wait in line to pay.

However, there is an easier way to find just what you want and get great deals on digital camera accessories. Internet retailers offer a wealth of digital camera accessories – plus you have a much wider choice, and can compare the pricing of items from different stores (possibly with the help of a dedicated product comparison site) without having to walk from shop to shop.
Digital cameras are truly wonderful, a great step forward compared to their analogue counterparts. But it still makes a lot of sense to equip yourself with digital camera accessories to maximize your chances of taking the best pictures.

On the internet, your choice of digital camera accessories will be truly wide. You will find flashlights, lenses, tripods, filters, and more specialized items in all types and specifications. Don’t overdo it though; make sure that you get the right items for your kind of photography.

As an alternative to an online retailer you can try an Internet auction site, such as eBay, where you can bid on the digital camera accessory that may be second hand, but also new, as there are lots of small specialized retailers selling new items on auction sites. Chances are you will get the desired digital camera accessory for a ridiculous price.

Check the Internet right now to browse through all the latest digital camera accessories and decide which ones you want to add to your photographer’s arsenal. Quality camera accessories can help you take better pictures quickly.

There is an active second hand and used accessory market on the internet that offers the buyer a great opportunity to buy, trade, exchange and recycle. For instance, professional grade SLR lenses are designed and manufactured with precision and durability in mind, and often people ‘outgrow’ their current lens set and need to replace part of it. So, buying second hand lenses is a real viable option.

However, any online purchase must be accompanied by the necessary research in pricing, and awareness of the risk of fraud and on how to counter it. Most auction sites and online notice boards for used digital camera accessories have valid sections on how to avoid being scammed.

virtualvillage.com Photography category is the premier resource for camera accessories on the Net, with information on subjects such as how to choosing camera lenses, as well as on digital storage, flashlights, camera cases and luggage, tripods – click the links above to find out more!