Upcoming App Engine conference appearances

Fresh from our exciting news from Google I/O last quarter (launch of Google App Engine for Business and new product developments), we now look ahead to the mid-summer months. Since I/O, we've already appeared at a number of events including the Google DevFest Australia and Philippines, PyCon AU, and the Malaysia Open Source Conference, with many more coming this month. There are several well-known large conferences (and many smaller ones too) that our team members will be attending and/or speaking at, so hopefully we'll get to meet you at one of them!









In addition to the ones listed above, Google will be hosting more DevFests in Asia and South America later this year. Keep an eye out for specific dates and locations on the Google DevFest home page. There are also 5 larger global Google Developer Day events in the fall. We would love to meet with App Engine developers at a DevFest, Developer Day, or any of the other conferences above!




See you around the world!






YouTube Mobile Gets a Kick Start

(Cross-posted with the YouTube Blog)

It’s well known that the mobile internet is huge and growing fast; what’s surprising is exactly how fast. According to a recent report, within 5 years more users will connect to the internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs. YouTube consumption on mobile devices has also grown considerably -- playbacks were up 160% in 2009 over the previous year. And we’re excited to announce that YouTube Mobile now receives more than 100 million video playbacks a day. This is roughly the number of daily playbacks that YouTube.com was streaming when we joined forces with Google in 2006.

We launched YouTube on mobile devices in 2007 with about 1,000 videos available on the mobile site (m.youtube.com). While this suddenly opened up the possibility to access videos on the go, our site, mobile browsers and the hardware had limitations that prevented the mobile experience from keeping up with YouTube on the desktop. Today, more than ever, we know that you want to be able to find and access your favorite videos wherever you are. That’s why we’ve been working hard to roll out an updated version of the mobile site.

Here's what's new about the new mobile site:
  • It's really fast.
  • The new user interface incorporates larger, more touch friendly elements, making it easier to access videos on the go.
  • It incorporates the features and functionality you’ve come to expect from the .com site, like search query suggestions, the options to create playlists,the ability to designate “favorite,” “like,” or “unlike” videos directly from your device.
  • As we make improvements to Youtube.com, you’ll see them quickly follow on our mobile site, unlike native apps which are not updated as frequently.
As the world continues to go mobile, we think this is a great improvement for users who want a more consistent YouTube across many devices, no matter where they are. We're launching in English only today, but will be rolling it out in other languages in the coming months. You can access the latest YouTube mobile site from your iPhone or Android browser. To learn more, visit m.youtube.com to check out the latest improvements and take a minute to watch this demo video:



RF/Microwave Calculator and Converter Apps

I recently came across this very nice microwave toolbox for Android mobile devices that Faust Nijhuis developed (posted on our LinkedIn Community). He has created a free lite version with a few useful calculators and a 1.99 euro version that has 6 calculators and 2 converters for the full toolbox. Below are a couple of sample screen shots from his web site.


MW calculator lite is the lite and free version of the microwave tool box with the following tools:
  • PI and T attenuator calculator
  • Reflectometer calculator
  • Mismatch error limits calculator

MW calculator is a microwave tool box with the following tools:

  • PI and T attenuator calculator
  • Reflectometer calculator
  • Mismatch error limits calculator
  • Microstrip calculator
  • Stripline calculator
  • Coplanar waveguide calculator
  • Power and voltage converter
  • Field intensity and power density converter

You will find the applications in the Android Market and more information can be found on his web site at http://www.mwave-design.nl/mw/index.php?title=Android.

At IMS 2010, Agilent launched the Agilent MicroWave calculator to help calculate the errors in microwave measurements. It consists of Directivity Error Calculator, Mismatch Error Limit Calculator, and Ratio-to-dB Calculator. The Directivity Error Calculator shows the accuracy of a reflection measurement of unknown impedance based upon the directivity of the coupler used for the measurement. The Mismatch Error Limit Calculator shows the potential error in a transmission measurement due to imperfect source match and load match. The Ratio-to-dB Calculator simply converts between voltage ratio, power ratio, and dB.

It can be downloaded at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microwave-calculator/id369705771?mt=8.

Please let us know if there are RF/microwave related tools that you would like to have in an app. What other mobile phone apps have you seen that would be useful to microwave engineers? This should be a very interesting area to watch as new apps are developed for our industry.