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Google Free Zone Philippines – Free Google Access Via Globe

Google Free Zone is now in the Philippines and in fact, the Philippines is the first country where this Google initiative goes live.

What is Google Free Zone?

Google Free Zone allows users of mobile phone to use Google Search, Google+ and Gmail without charges. You do not need to have a data plan, just your ordinary phone service will work. Here in the Philippines, Google has partnered with Globe in the project. It means, Google subsidized all the data consumed by the user using the three Google services mentioned.

Google Free Zone works only to mobile phones with a browser. Feature phones with WAP browsers up to smartphones like Android and iPhones with fully functional mobile browsers will work. Tablets and PCs won’t work.

Google Free Zone Philippines via Globe Telecoms

On Clicking Links and Attachments

Google Free Zone aims to reach billions of people in developing countries who do not have access to broadband connections. But there are certain actions that will incur a charge from the service provider. Here’s some of them.

1. Viewing an image outside Google or Gmail.
2. Viewing an email attachment.
3. Clicking a link on the results page will not incur charge and will allow you to view the webpage for free. But clicking a link on that webpage will incur charges.

Don’t worry much about this rules. Globe will pop-out a warning before you do anything that will incur charges.

Google Free Zone and Facebook Zero

Remember Facebook Zero? Similar to Google Free Zone, Facebook Zero allows users to view their Facebook accounts for free but there are also actions that may incur charges.

If you are asking how Google and Facebook benefit in these “free” (subsidized) services, well, the answer is simple: advertisement. I’m not sure if either Google or Facebook serves ads on pages viewed using these free services. If not now, it is likely that they will do in the future to compensate for the expenses.

For more details about how to activate Google Free Zone on your phones, please check this link:
Google Free Zone

For more details about Facebook Zero, check this article.
How to Register Facebook Zero – Sun’s Free Facebook Access?

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Jam with Chrome and Story Builder – New Google Tools

Google has always been in support of liberal arts and just like Apple, they were successful in marrying Arts and Technology. Today, Google unveils two new tools that makes use of technology to bring out the artist in you: Story Builder and Jam with Chrome.

Jam with Chrome – Chrome Experiments

Jam with Chrome

Jam with Chrome is part of Chrome Experiments project. This web application allows up to three connected users to make music together in their Chrome browsers. You can choose from 19 different musical instruments to play with your friends. You can always switch to another instrument whenever you like. Here’s an example.

Jam with Chrome uses advanced web technologies like HTML 5, CSS 3, Web Audio API, Canvas and more. Try for yourself here in www.jamwithchrome.com.

Google Docs Story Builder

Story Builder is a tool to make a video that prove how users can collaborate using Google Docs. Use your creativity to a make funny, suspense, or even romantic story lines. Add music to it. You can also have many characters conversing with each other demonstrating how Google docs can make a real-time collaboration between multiple users possible. I made one my self, here’s the link.

 http://goo.gl/UCNHX

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DepEd Goes Google, Leaps into the Cloud!

The Department of Education (DepEd) proudly announced today that they have teamed up with Google to provide IT infrastructure that will enable quick and easy collaboration among the 600,000 teachers, staffs and administrators nationwide. DepEd will be using Google Apps, Google’s cloud-based collaborative IT solution which is basically composed of email (Google Mail), chat (Google Chat), calendar (Google Calendar) and document storage, sharing, and editing (Google Docs and Google Drive).

Department of Education (Philippines) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With this move, the Department of Education is expected to save significant amount from their IT expenses. Also, DepEd will join over 16 Million students and and teachers around the world who uses Google Apps for Education.

Cloud Computing is a technology that allows the user to use software solutions without actually installing the software in their devices. The cloud-based software is typically used via internet browser. And because the software doesn’t need to be installed in many devices, cloud computing offers advantages in cost and ease of management because the data is centralized. One concern though with cloud computing is security.

Among the leading providers of cloud computing applications were Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple.

see press release here.

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How to Register Facebook Zero – Sun’s Free Facebook Access?

Are you a Facebook addict? Can’t let the day pass by without checking your newsfeed, posting status messages, or checking somebody’s wall? Well you can do that if you have a Smartphone and access to Wifi or 3G Network. But if you don’t have any of those? Well, here’s a nice treat from Sun Cellular, Facebook Zero.

Facebook Zero allows you to access Facebook Lite mobile page using your feature phone or a phone with a browser for FREE. Yes, its free to do anything except the following:

- Viewing Photos
- Viewing videos
- Viewing external links

warning: if you do any of the above, you will pay 10 pesos per 30 minutes.

So probably, you can just check out your Newsfeed, post status message, check somebody else’s wall. Also, Facebook Lite don’t have the Chat capability. Facebook lite is designed to be a light version of Facebook mobile that can be accessed even with poor internet connection.

How to Register and Access Sun Cellular’s Facebook Zero?

The first step is to key in “FBZero” and send to 2300. After a second or two, you will receive a message with the following instructions:

1. Activate your GPRS and handset settings by texting ACTIVATE to 2300.
2. Choose Sun WAP as your accesspoint.
3. Go http://wap.suncellular.com.ph and click the Facebook Zero link.

For clarifications, you can send direct message to Sun Cellular @suncelldeals.
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Google Chrome and Drive Now Available for iPhone and iPad

At the second day of their developer conference, Google announces that two of their products will be made available for iOS devices (iPhone and iPad) – Google Chrome and Drive. Google Chrome is posed to bring the fast and intuitive tabbed browsing experience in Apple devices while Google Drive allows you to store, access and edit your files in the cloud.

Google Chrome for iPhone and iPad

Google Drive for iPhone and iPad

Download them at the App Store now!

Fun: Google “Askew” and “Tilt”

This is another fun Google Search gimmick. Try searching for the word “askew”. First, go to Google.com and enter the word askew and press enter. What will happen is that the entire webpage will go “askew” or lean towards the right.

Searching the word "askew" on Google will turn the page askew.

If you enabled Google Instant in your browser, you will immediately see the effect upon completely typing the word “askew”.

Update: I just found out that the same thing is true with the word “Tilt“.

Similar Google Search tricks were Google Gravity and “do a barrel roll“.

Have You Already Checked Google Gravity?

Image via Wikipedia

Well, if haven’t heard of it already, Google Gravity was a “gimmick” from Google where it tweaked its famous Search Interface.

In Google Gravity, there’s gravity so everything not supported will fall. All the elements of the famous Google Search UI including the logo, the search bar, the buttons and the menu bar at the top will fall immediately after entering the experiment page.

But although everything moves, all the functionality of the those elements will remain ” as is”. In the search bar, you can still search but the results will just drop from the top as pulled by the “gravity”.

Check out for yourself Google Gravity.

Google Releases Chrome 13 – Adds Instant Pages Capability

Google has released the first stable version of Chrome 13 adding the much awaited “Instant Pages” enabling lightning fast page-loads. Chrome 13 also debuts the “print preview” capability for Windows and Linux versions (coming very soon to Chrome 13 for Mac).

Here’s short video demonstrating the dramatic improvement of page load times with Instant Pages ON:

In addition, Chrome 13 print preview adds the ability to convert web pages to PDF with the new  ”print to PDF” option in the print preview tab. The “omnibox” was also upgraded to be more smarter for quick and easier search and navigation to your web history. Chrome 13 also fixed several bugs and vulnerabilities in the earlier version.

Image via Wikipedia