In what can only be described as yet another set back for Google’s privacy battle, Gmail users are accusing the search giant of accessing their contact lists and sending spam emails to contacts with non-Gmail email addresses. “STOP IT!,” an irate user wrote on Google’s support forums. “At no point did I say it was ok for Google to send email messages to my non-GMail contacts recommending they sign up for GMail.” The user, posting to Google’s forum under the name MrChe...

Google just dropped this bomb of a video on its Android YouTube page, and it is the first real look of the Android 3.0 operating system, known as Honeycomb. From the video we can see that Honeycomb is indeed only for tablets and not for smartphones due to the usage of the “Entire for Tablets” phrase. Google Talk video calling is a go, but the biggest change is obviously the redone user interface which has carried over Gingerbread’s darker, more polished and professional looking changes into ...

CNET is reporting that “Google is testing a Web-based service within Gmail that will allow users to place phone calls from their in-boxes.” The new reported service will allow users to make VoIP calls to landline and cellular phones, not just other Gmail or Google Talk users. CNET explains, “This is the likely culmination of Google’s work to integrate Gizmo5′s similar product, which it acquired late last year, into its arsenal.” Details on exactly how the service will work ...

Google, Inc. has purchased internet VoIP company Global IP Solutions for a cool $68.2 million; a 27.5% premium over the company’s current stock price. While Global IP may not be a household name, you might be familiar with what they provide and to whom they provide it: the back-end VoIP engine used by the Yahoo!, AIM, WebEx, Baidu, and Lotus chat systems. Google continues to bolster its portfolio of acquired companies that supplement its Google Voice and Google Talk services — you may recall Googl...

The implications of this deal are exciting. Google has purchased, in cash, the internet VoIP company Gizmo5 for a cool $30 million. The deal brings a true SIP/VoIP provider into the Google fold — the potential to merge the acquired technology with Google Voice and/or Google Talk is staring us right in the face. Last month there were rumors that perhaps Skype, due to legal issues with its own VoIP technology, might purchase Gizmo5 as a backup plan of sorts. However, that deal went south after Skype’...

Up until this morning, we would have confidently put big money on Gmail maintaining its beta status for the next hundred years. Seriously… Has a more widely used and reliable service ever held onto its beta tag for so long (that was rhetorical)? To our shock and amazement however, Google has officially removed Gmail from beta status along with Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Talk. Both consumer and enterprise Google Apps categories are now out of beta in fact, and the latter is certainly the mot...

Google rarely sends new features out into the wild before they are ready for prime time, despite the fact that it stamps just about everything with “beta”, but SMS via chat was something that apparently had one too many hiccups out of the gate. Google first announced SMS integration back in October but ran into a few snags early on and had to pull the service rather quickly. SMS is back however, and Google claims it’s better than ever. The service can be activated from within the Labs tab &#...

In a move that can only be described as “long overdue”, AT&T has finally pushed out the service books necessary to run the RIM native AIM and ICQ clients on the carrier’s BlackBerry handsets. The clients have long been available to other carriers, (unless you did the bait and switch Service Book trick) but now that AT&T has finally given them their blessing, the apps can be had through mobile.blackberry.com. Both apps integrate perfectly with the OS of course, and compliment the Goog...