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Posted by Will Scott, Software Engineer

Organizing your Gmail contacts into groups can save you time when you’re writing messages to multiple people at once. For example, if you create a “Family” group, instead of addressing an email to your mom, dad, sister and brother, you can just start typing “Family” and Gmail will complete the rest. Today we’re making two improvements to contact groups which should make them easier to create and control.

First, let’s say you have a list of coworkers you think you’ll want to contact again in the future. Now, you can paste that list into the Add to group menu when viewing your “Coworkers” group to populate or extend it.

Second, we’ve added the ability to specify which one of your contact’s email addresses you want to use in a given group. So, for example, you can now use your friend’s personal address in your “Poker Buddies” group and that same friend’s work address in your “Coworkers” group.

We’re always listening for feedback about what we can do to make Contacts, and all of Gmail, better, so let us know what you think.

It’s happened before when Canadian government overturned the CRTC’s decision and allowed Globalive to enter the Canadian cellphone market, and it looks like Ottawa is about to again weigh in and reverse an even more controversial ruling by the regulatory agency. As confirmed by Industry Minister Tony Clement on Twitter, the government plans to overturn the recent CRTC decision that effectively imposed usage-based internet billing if the agency doesn’t back down and “go back to the drawing board.” Citing a senior government official, The Toronto Star further reports that the reversal could come as early as next week. As any Canadians reading this may well be aware, the issue of usage-based internet billing has been simmering for some time, but it reached a tipping point with the CRTC’s decision last week that affected smaller internet service providers who rely on the major telecom companies’ networks. Under the new ruling, those companies would be have been faced with increased costs that would drastically limit the amount of maximum amount of data they’re able to offer to customers each month — one such ISP, Teksavvy, had in fact already sent out notices to customers informing them that their current 200GB cap would be dropping to just 25GB on March 1st, with any additional data use to be charged by the gigabyte.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: The CRTC has announced that it will review its decision, and delay any implementation of it by at least 60 days.

Canadian goverment vows to reverse CRTC decision on usage-based internet billing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows/Mac/Linux (Chrome & Firefox): CloudMagic, the previously Gmail-only add-on that significantly speeds up searching, has extended its powers to cover your Google Docs and Contacts. Find documents, spreadsheets, and people without the wait for Google to return your results. More »

Poor Samsung can’t catch a break. First executive Lee Young-hee was misunderstood, saying that sales of the Galaxy Tab were “quite smooth” but the transcript of that conversation saying that they were instead “quite small.” Now the company is refuting another claim, that return rates for the Tab are near 16 percent. The company did so in a statement so tersely worded we can feature its entirety right here:

The return rate of the Galaxy Tab in the US as claimed by an North American market research firm is incorrect. According to Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business the return rate is below 2 percent.

So, there you have it. Below two percent, and right on par with what we’ve heard for the iPad.

Samsung refutes high Galaxy Tab returns, says rate is ‘below 2 percent’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google is taking a hard line on the latest version of Android. Honeycomb, it turns out, is not for phones. Asked when a version of Android 3.0 would launch for smartphones after the event, a Google spokesman told the crowd that the last version of the operating system is intended to be tablet-only. “Features will arrive on phones over time,” he told the press.

The answer isn’t entirely surprising. After all, Google insisted that Android 2.2 wasn’t optimized for tablets–not that everyone listened, of course. We saw a number of Android tablets flood the market prior to the soon-to-be unreleased Honeycomb.

Now, such a proclamation raises questions–for starters, what does that mean for the numbering system? Before Honeycomb, every Android upgrade was tailored for smartphones–now that 3.0 is tablet-only?

Google’s in a bit of a precarious position at the moment. The company is still preaching the openness of the software, but it’s beginning to insist on more concrete rules, to help avoid risking further potential fragmentation for the OS.

Now that we’ve seen whats coming for Android tablets, the battle is on—we even think they're better than the iPad in many ways. For a more detailed breakdown, here’s a comparison between the iPad, Xoom, Streak, and Playbook tablets. More »

When Windows Live Essentials 2011 launched back in October, including Windows Live Messenger with Facebook Connect. The partnership paid off very well for both Microsoft and Facebook, as Windows Live Messenger had become the second most popular application behind Farmville on a daily basis on Facebook, logging 1.5 Billion minutes…

Usually, Valentine’s Day candy hearts say boring things like “I LOVE YOU” and “MY BABY” (or, once, “WEB SITE.”) But if you’re lucky you’ll get something exciting—like the 12-year-old who got a candy heart that said "NICE TITS.” More »

Chris Stavropoulos from Xcrew.net has analyzed the cost of bandwidth comparing Canada versus the rest of the world:

There are several key points of interest in this data.

1. The only country where unlimited bandwidth is actually more expensive than the 300 GB limit is Canada. This can be attributed to the fact that Canadian providers include a per-GB overage charge above 300 GB.
2. Unlimited bandwidth in Canada is up to 90 times more expensive than other countries.
3. By limiting the bandwidth to the Canadian provider maximum of 300 GB, Canadian customers are still paying more than twice that of any other country.
4. The pricing for Rogers in the 300 GB limited dataset is comparable to other Canadian Internet providers while their unlimited pricing is much closer to the rest of the world. This is due to the fact that Rogers currently has a $50 maximum charge for overage fees. Usage based billing (UBB) pricing is expected to come into effect for cable internet providers later this year which is likely to bring their pricing more in line with DSL providers such as Bell.

This data shows that of the countries examined Canada is by far the most expensive country to surf the web. This is due in no small part to monopolistic practices such as UBB brought about by the incumbent telecommunications providers. The inability of Canadian carriers to provide competitive levels of service and pricing compared to other countries is a sad testament to the lack of diversity and competition in the Canadian marketplace.

There’s not much to say, as the numbers speak for themselves. Canadians are kind people, yet we only complain, but don’t break out the torches and pitchforks. We also have relatively short term memories (straight out of movie Memento). Big Canadian telcos are smart enough to recognize this, and prey upon us at their will.

Times are changing though, as the StoptheMeter.ca campaign has reached over 334,000 signatures. This ‘noise’ caused by you and I has resulted in the CRTC head being called in front of a MP committee to explain his actions.

Let’s continue to make our voices heard! Visit StoptheMeter.ca and tell your friends!

If you’ve ever wished you could see your Android phone’s screen on your desktop or remote control it using your mouse and keyboard we’ll show you how in this simple guide to gaining remote access to your Android device.

Why would you want to gain access? When you’re done with this tutorial you’ll be able to view your phone’s screen on your computer monitor which is great for: putting your Android notifications right along side other notification boxes on your monitor, using it like an on-monitor caller ID, and taking screenshots and screencasts. Also if your phone is rooted (and it should be! rooting unlocks so many great features) you’ll gain the ability to use your computer’s keyboard and mouse to control your Android phone. Remote keyboard/mouse control is great for inputting data on the tiny screen without needing to peck at the on-screen keyboard.

The iPad is easily the best tablet you can buy right now, but that’s changing. Google showed off their upcoming tablets today, casting a spotlight on the iPad’s shortcomings. Here are the Android features we wish we had on our iPads. More »

Well, isn’t that just an adorable quirk of corporate timing? RIM just announced that BlackBerry App World 2.1 is now live with support for in-app payments using the BlackBerry Payment Service, matching Google’s similar Android Market announcement earlier today. Users should see the 2.1 update rolling out over the course of the day, and devs have had the appropriate SDK since January 5, so progs that use the service should be arriving shortly. Ah, commerce — ain’t it grand?

BlackBerry App World 2.1 gets in-app payments, too originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reportedly around 900 million Internet Explorer users where hit with a massive bug in their browser. According to Microsoft, the bug allows hackers to run a script via Internet Explorer that could result in personal data being stolen.

The bug affects all current versions of Windows, including Windows XP. The threat should be taken serious, and all users of Internet Explorer should download the patch from Microsoft. Even if you do not use IE very often, you should still download the patch as extra precaution for your own security.

Check out the full Microsoft press release for more information after the jump!

Here is the official statement from Microsoft:

Hard to believe that the infamous “fragmentation” term is now being bandied about in the web browser world, but sure enough, it’s Microsoft using the term today to describe the brave new realm we’re living in. If you’ll recall, Google defended its decision to not include H.264 support natively in Chrome, but maintained that WebM plug-ins were coming to Safari and Internet Explorer 9. Today, Microsoft’s kinda-sorta returning the favor. Following the outfit’s release of a Firefox add-on to bring full H.264 support to Windows machines, the outfit is releasing a plug-in for Chrome (only the Windows version for now) that provides support for H.264. Furthermore, it’s committed to supporting third-party WebM video plug-ins; to quote, users “will be able to play WebM video in IE9.” It’s fairly obvious that Microsoft’s taking this golden opportunity to push its browser as one that supports everything (rather than just its own preferred format), but regardless of the motives, we’re just happy to see differences put aside and compatibility finding priority.

Microsoft releases H.264 plug-in for Google Chrome, vows to support WebM video in IE9 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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