Author Archive | Erica Ho

Why Have People Stopped Posting on Google+?

Posted by Erica Ho on September 19, 2011 at 6:51 am

So young, so promising. It was in its prime, and stood to reap the rewards of all of Facebook’s flaws—and in a weird twist, made Facebook copy Google+ for some of its newest “changes.”

But the fact of the matter is, public posts on Google+ have decreased 41 percent since the social networking service launched a few months ago. Even Larry Page, you know – Google’s CEO – last updated one month ago. And I thought something was wrong with me when I forced myself to post something on Google+ so my friends didn’t think I’d virtually disappeared.

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Watch: How Long It Takes to Boot Windows 8

Posted by Erica Ho on September 9, 2011 at 11:02 am

Since I can’t turn on my laptop with the power of my mind, I guess I’ll have to live with waiting for it to boot up. You know, for eight seconds. It might be seven-and-a-half seconds too long, but since I can’t expect my phone to also cook, wash my clothes and let me travel into the future, I might have to recalibrate my expectations.

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Qik Lets You Video Call Between iPhones and Android Phones

Posted by Erica Ho on April 27, 2011 at 10:40 am

Coexistence is possible. The newest version of Qik lets Android video call iPhone users – and vice versa. Now let’s all hold hands and sing around the campfire.

The latest version of the apps works across Android (as long as you’re running software 2.1 to 2.3.3), all iPhones, the iPad2, and every iPod touch with a camera. The new app also introduces video mail.

So if you’re keen on doing some video mingling with people on the other side of the ‘hood, you better grab it now. Qik is dropping the price of their iOS app back down to gratis for a limited time. After June 1st, you’ll have to shell out three George Washingtons (fine, three dollars).

The video mail is also only free until June 1st, but prepared to pony up for a subscription afterwards.

Fring also offers video calling – in fact they have just launched a beta of group video calling – but it looks like it may be easier to talk to your best friend without jumping off the iPhone (or Android) bridge.

(This post republished from Techland.)

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Google Blames China for Slowing Down Gmail

Posted by Erica Ho on March 21, 2011 at 7:24 am

The concept of “free internet” never really takes hold until the very first moment you sit down at a Chinese computer and type in “Facebook.com.” Here in China, it’s blocked. And even though tech giant Google pulled out of mainland China over a year ago, it’s only been harder to access Google’s services recently.

One of the most noticeable effects of China’s Great Firewall as of late has been Gmail’s increased inaccessibility. The slowdown has been reportedly going on for weeks, since early March. A source in Beijing reports that Gmail has been “…slower definitely. By far. Sometimes we’ve been unable to connect, and many times unable to use Gchat.”

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