Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, August 08, 2011

Whatâs the Fastest Web Browser in the âReal World?â Chrome.

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/08/whats-the-fastest-web-browser-in-the-real-world-chrome/

Compuware’s benchmarks division, Gomez, has just released new data from a website measurement project whose goal was to determine what the fastest web browser is in the “real world” of desktop users. The project only measured load times of users on broadband connections.

The data, collected over a one-month time frame, captured the results of 1.86 billion individual measurements on over 200 websites. The results of the test? No surprise here – the winner is Google Chrome.

In the chart below, you can see the page load time (blue) is lowest (3.433 seconds) for Chrome 12, ~~the latest release of~~ Google’s Web browser. Update: Chrome 13 is the latest release, as of last week.

On the high end is Apple’s Safari 4 (6.149 seconds) and IE 7 (6.006 seconds), neither of which are the curent versions.

The second metric, perceived render time (green), refers to the amount of time it takes for the visible portion of the page to load in the browser. Again, Chrome did well here (2.374 seconds), but in this case, Firefox 5 did better (2.18 seconds).

To be clear, Gomez doesn’t test browser speed capabilities in a lab environment, it measures real-world performance – that is, a measurement of how the population actually experiences web browser performance. Traditionally, this data has been used by businesses that want to test their web applications after deployment.

As a Google Chrome user myself, these findings back up what I already believed regarding Chrome’s performance – that thing is fast! However, it also makes me think that Firefox 5 may be worth a second look.

More data from this report will be released at a later date, Compuware says.

Crunchbase

COMPUWARE

Company:
COMPUWARE

Website:
http://www.compuware.com

Launch Date:
1973

IPO:
CPWR

Compuware Corporation is a recognized industry leader in enterprise software and IT services that help maximize the value of technology investments. They offer a set of integrated solutions for...

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YC-Funded Snapjoy Will Organize Your Photos For You (And Make Sure You Donât Lose Them)

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/08/yc-funded-snapjoy-will-organize-your-photos-for-you-and-make-sure-you-dont-lose-them/

As an intelligent TechCrunch reader with the gift of foresight, you’ve probably backed up your hard drive — and all of the precious photos locked inside — to at least one cloud service, just in case the unthinkable happens and you lose both your computer and your local backup.

But you’re unusual. Many of your friends probably haven’t backed up their photos at all, which means they’re one crashed drive away from losing those memories forever. And even if that drive doesn’t crash, their photos are likely buried in several layers of folders where they’re gathering a thick coat of digital dust.

Snapjoy, a Y Combinator-funded startup that’s launching today, wants to fix that: they’re offering to keep your photos backed up and organized automatically. And they’re taking on the likes of Flickr, iPhoto, and Picasa as they hope to become your go-to app for photo management.

The web-based service, which launches today to the public, looks nice — you can try a live demo right here. After uploading some photos (a process which Snapjoy says is significantly faster than some competitors) the app categorizes your photos for you, using metadata to try to intelligently place the correct photos in each album.

Unfortunately the service doesn’t pay attention to any albums you’ve already created using apps like iPhoto, which could frustrate some users. But Cofounder Michael Dwan says that most users typically sort their photos into albums that are similar to the ones Snapjoy creates (arranged primarily by date) — or they haven’t created albums at all, in which case Snapjoy is a big improvement. Another nifty feature: if you upload the same photo multiple times (which is easy to do if your photos aren’t very organized), Snapjoy will ignore the duplicates.

If you’re on a Mac you can download Shoebox, a native client that makes it easy to drag and drop photos to automatically upload them to the service (it will also detect when you’ve inserted an SD card, so you can quickly upload new photos). Dwan says that the company has more native applications in the works, including an uploader for Windows and an iPad app.

By default, everything uploaded to Snapjoy is private — the site is looking to become the repository for all of your photos, after all. But you can still share photos with select groups of friends, and if you grant permission, a friend can actually copy one of your photos into their own Snapjoy album (a feature that will come in handy when you’ve, say, gone on a trip with some friends). Down the line Dwan says that the site will add more social network functionality for those who want it (like Facebook integration), but it will still keep the default private.

Of course, Snapjoy is still a nascent two-person startup, and there’s no way of knowing whether it’ll be around in a few years — which is key if you’re using it for backup purposes. Dwan says that the company knows it still has to prove itself, and that users will also be able to download full archives of their photos (at the resolution they were originally uploaded them) whenever they’d like.

The service is initially free of charge for everyone. In the near future it will begin charging for users that upload a lot of photos (more than a few gigs), though it will be inexpensive, on the order of a few dollars per month.

Crunchbase

SNAPJOY

Company:
SNAPJOY

Website:

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Airbnb Rolls Out 24/7 Phone Support, Additional Safety Features

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/08/airbnb-rolls-out-247-phone-support-additional-safety-features/

Less than two weeks ago, red-hot startup Airbnb got rocked by a wave of negative press after one of its guests blogged about the traumatizing experience of coming home to her apartment to find it utterly wrecked by a guest.

Airbnb’s initial response was lackluster at best. But after a couple of false starts, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wrote an unconditional apology that reaffirmed that the company understood the concerns and was going to do everything it could to make things right. He promised a $50,000 insurance guarantee for hosts, as well as additional safety features that were on the way. And a week after that apology, we’re seeing the fruits of their efforts.

Today Airbnb has announced a new 24-hour support hotline, giving users a safety net in case something goes wrong. The logistics and personnel required to staff the line would have been too costly for a scrappy startup, but the extremely well-funded company can afford it, and this will do a lot to help reassure customers.

Another important new feature to help boost safety is VoiceConnect, which now allows hosts to call potential guests to do a quick screen, without revealing their phone numbers. This works a bit like Google Voice — you initiate the call using the web interface, then immediately get a phone call from Airbnb, which routes you to the potential guest’s line. Calls are recorded by Airbnb for security purposes.

Next is an improved references system. This has been around for a while (as ‘recommendations’), but Airbnb now has better integration with Facebook that makes it easier for users to build up their reputation even before they’ve received reviews from other Airbnb users. And that’s important, because the service is young enough that many users are trying it out for the first time. Another addition: there are now video profiles — currently for hosts only — that let hosts create a video that’s shared as part of their listing.

These launches come on the heels of a series of other safety features that have rolled out over the course of the last week. These include member verification (you can validate your profile by connecting it to third-party services like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) and an integrated ‘photobooth’ feature that makes it easier for members to take a snapshot of themselves (and gives them less of an excuse not to have one).

Finally, in a blog post on August 5, Airbnb announced that it was using a tool on its new safety site that allows the community to vote on the changes it wants most. Less than five days after releasing that tool, Airbnb implemented the top two requests: it now allows hosts to mandate that all potential guests have a profile photo, and hosts can now decline reservations without that impacting where their space will appear in search results. The post explains that while it’s been possible to decline reservations before now, your results ranking would be negatively impacted if you rejected a reservation.

Get Ready For A Photo App Explosion With iOS 5

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/08/filter-this/

At this point, it’s already clear that the iPhone has become the camera many people use on a daily basis. The iPhone 4 is now by far the most popular camera on Flickr (and that’s true even though it’s being undercounted — likely drastically). And apps like Instagram, Hipstamatic, and Camera+ are exploding in usage, despite being iPhone-only. But some upcoming changes in iOS 5 point to an even brighter future for the iPhone as a camera. We’re likely to see an explosion of photo apps as a result.

Specifically, iOS 5 will include Core Image. This was previously announced at WWDC, but the current beta builds going around now point in the direction of what this should mean. With the latest beta (version 5), a ton of effects have been added. Last week, BGR posted the iOS 5 beta 5 changelog. Among the bullet points:

Several filters have been added since beta 1. The current list now includes the following filters: CIAdditionCompositing, CIAffineTransform, CICheckerboardGenerator, CIColorBlendMode, CIColorBurnBlendMode, CIColorControls, CIColorCube, CIColorDodgeBlendMode, CIColorInvert,CIColorMatrix, CIColorMonochrome, CIConstantColorGenerator, CICrop, CIDarkenBlendMode, CIDifferenceBlendMode, CIExclusionBlendMode, CIExposureAdjust, CIFalseColor, CIGammaAdjust,CIGaussianGradient, CIHardLightBlendMode, CIHighlightShadowAdjust, CIHueAdjust, CIHueBlendMode, CILightenBlendMode, CILinearGradient, CILuminosityBlendMode,CIMaximumCompositing, CIMinimumCompositing, CIMultiplyBlendMode, CIMultiplyCompositing, CIOverlayBlendMode, CIRadialGradient, CISaturationBlendMode, CIScreenBlendMode,CISepiaTone, CISoftLightBlendMode, CISourceAtopCompositing, CISourceInCompositing, CISourceOutCompositing, CISourceOverCompositing, CIStraightenFilter, CIStripesGenerator,CITemperatureAndTint, CIToneCurve, CIVibrance, CIVignette, and CIWhitePointAdjust.

“CI” obviously stands for “Core Image” and the part after that explains what many of the effects mean and/or do. All iOS 5 developers will now have access to many of these advanced tools. Simply put, it should make image/photo processing much simpler to implement and execute.

Previously, developers had to use the weaker Core Graphics to manipulate images on the iPhone. Or they had to jerry-rig their own solutions to tap into something like OpenGL for more powerful functionality. While filters may seem like a simple feature, they’re not easy to create from scratch. iOS 5 will now give developers built-in options and a base so they no longer have to create from scratch.

These Core Image options will also significantly speed up image processing for many of the apps out there already using some filters. The reason is that it gives developers easier access to OpenGL, which is what developers currently use for things like video game graphic rendering — it’s significantly more powerful than Core Graphics, but harder to access.

Does the mean the end of Instagram, Path, Camera+ and the like? No, those guys will likely continue to operate on the more advanced end of the spectrum. Camera+’s “Clarity” filter, for example, is likely far beyond what iOS 5 will offer out of the box. But it will be another step towards the commoditization of filters as a whole. If an app has camera functionality, many more will now likely include them because, why not?

You’ll also likely see more apps that focus on video as a result of these additions to iOS. And there should be many more that focus on “crazy” photo effects.

Of course, the next iPhone itself may have an even bigger impact in the space. Rumored to have an 8 megapixel camera with a new sensor, the device will also likely be much faster when it comes to processing power. Combine this with the changes in iOS 5 and we’re likely going to see another leap forward in mobile photography.

And don’t forget the largest player in the photo space, Facebook. Work continues on their next app geared more towards photography. Meanwhile, Google appears to be attacking the space from a number of angles. And support for Tweeting pictures will now be fully baked into iOS itself.

Crunchbase

APPLE

Company:
APPLE

Website:
http://www.apple.com

Launch Date:
1/4/1976

IPO:
1980, NASDAQ:AAPL

Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer,...

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Down Goes The Internetâ¦ Again. Amazon EC2 Outage Takes Down Foursquare, Instagram, Quora, Reddit, Etc

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/08/amazon-ec2-outage/

Are you trying to use the web right now? Just stop. It’s largely broken.

As indicated by about 20 tips in the last few minutes and pretty much all of Twitter, Amazon’s EC2 service appears to be down. That means services like Reddit, Heroku, Foursquare, Instagram, Fab, Quora, Turntable.fm, Netflix and many, many others are down.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because it just happened this past April. So far, it looks like the outage has been going on for about 30 minutes.

Update: It looks like the outage may be isolated to EAST-1, so not all of EC2. Still, all of the companies above and hundreds of others are clearly affected right now.

Update 2: And after roughly 40 minutes of downtime, the Internet appears to be coming back online. Amazon’s status site confirms that it’s being resolved.

Follow @davetufts@davetufts
Dave Tufts

Amazon EC2 us-east: also downgraded by S&P

28 minutes ago via webReply RetweetFavorite

Follow @shervin@shervin
Shervin Pishevar

AWSh….

21 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhoneReply RetweetFavorite

Follow @instagram@instagram
Instagram

Hey everyone – we're experiencing major problems with our hosting provider right now. We're doing our best to investigate. Updates soon

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Follow @harryh@harryh

ec2 east appears 100% down

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