Google Friends Newsletter - October 2009

POWER TIP

Better music information in search results

We have just introduced a new feature to help you better find music information using Google search. Now, when you enter a music-related query — like the name of a song, artist, album or a line or two of lyrics — into the Google search box, your search results will include links to an audio preview of those songs provided by our music search partners MySpace (which just acquired iLike) or Lala. This feature not only makes search better, it also introduces millions of music seekers to new sources of licensed music online.
http://www.google.com

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NEW PRODUCTS & UPDATES

Google Flu Trends

Google Flu Trends has expanded from four to 20 countries, including much of Europe. It's also now available in 38 languages. By tracking the popularity of certain flu-related Google search queries, we are able to estimate how many people actually have flu symptoms in a given location, in near real-time. While some traditional flu surveillance systems may take days or weeks to collect and release data, Google search queries can be counted immediately. Google Flu Trends provides an additional surveillance tool that may help public health officials and the public make more informed decisions about preparing for the flu season.
http://www.google.org/flutrends/

Introducing Google Building Maker

Here is a fun and simple online tool for creating 3D buildings in Google Earth, called Google Building Maker. This tool makes it possible for anyone with a web browser to make high-quality, photo- textured 3D models. It works like a very large, and very smart, collection of building blocks: By assembling the blocks to match the shape of your favorite building, you can make a whole 3D building in a few minutes. Building Maker is available for 50 cities and in 14
languages.
http://www.google.com/buildingmaker

Google Wave opens up invitations to a limited preview

We've started sending invitations to preview Google Wave, a new tool that lets you communicate and collaborate in real time, to 100,000+ users. Developers working with Wave now have some new extensions and a roadmap for our APIs. Finally, based on early responses from Google Apps customers, we have also invited to a set of businesses and schools to preview Wave, and look forward to their feedback on how Wave might help with collaboration and productivity.
http://wave.google.com/
http://wave.google.com/help/wave/extensions.html

New security solutions in Google Pack

Google Pack now provides a free way for individual PCs to detect and remove viruses, spyware and rootkits. PC Tools Spyware Doctor with
Anti-Virus SE is available in most locales while Avast! 5.0 Free Antivirus will be used in major European locales. The new versions significantly increase protection for Google Pack PC users and are distributed for free.
http://pack.google.com

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MISCELLANY

Recently we began a weekly series on the Official Google Blog reflecting the heart of our company: search. We're always making changes to improve your search experience, so we have gathered together the seemingly-small details of those changes in one easy-to- find place. We cover a wide variety of aspects within search — tools that webmasters can use to make their sites safer, our recent agreement with Twitter for adding real-time search results and how we've used our search technology to improve recommendations in Google Reader. As we continue to work on improving the search experience, we will keep you updated through this series and posts elsewhere.
http://bit.ly/2LPopW

Google Friends Newsletter - October 2008

POWER TIP

Sports OneBox on results pages

Sports fans now have an easier time finding game times and scores for their favorite NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and MLS teams by simply searching for the name of the team. For example, typing [miami dolphins] or [pistons] into the search box will return information on those teams, respectively, at the top of the search results page. We'll soon be expanding this to other leagues and sports teams around the world, so stay tuned.
http://www.google.com
 

NEW PRODUCTS & UPDATES

Google Earth for iPhone and iPod touch

Google Earth is now available for both the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. Beyond searching for cities, places, and businesses around the world, you can use auto-tilt to adjust your view and see 3D terrain, view geo-located Wikipedia articles and Panoramio photos, and use "My Location" to virtually fly to your current location. You can download it directly from the iTunes App Store.
http://mobile.google.com/apple/earth

New iGoogle features

Now you can do more on your Google homepage using the newest features on iGoogle. With this latest release, you can view gadgets in an expanded "canvas" view and do a lot more with them, like watch videos or play games in full screen, write and respond to Gmail messages, or see your feeds with inline photos and videos. And iGoogle now has a lefthand navigation that gives you faster and easier access to all of your stuff.
http://www.google.com/ig

2008 Election Site

Our US Voter Info site is designed to help you get up-to-date election information in one place: voter registration deadlines and requirements, polling place locations and election news. There are also several tools that will help poll-goers become more informed and engaged during the voting process, and election-related resources from Google Maps, YouTube, iGoogle, Google Reader, Google Mobile, Knol, and more.
http://maps.google.com/vote

New Blog Search homepage

Google Blog Search has a new look. The updated format takes some of the underlying technology from Google News, and by grouping similar content together, we've made it easier to see trends across multiple blogs. We hope this update helps you more easily track the latest trends and news from across the blogosphere.
http://blogsearch.google.com/

MISCELLANY

With the days getting shorter and the temperature dropping, it's the perfect season to talk about energy efficiency. And quite fittingly, many of the energy-wasters in our homes are named after the ghouls of Halloween. Living rooms are infested with "vampire" electronics that suck power even when turned off; open chimney flues let the "ghosts" of winter steal our heat; and quite often there's a "monster" furnace lurking in the basement. By taking small steps to drive out the goblins of inefficiency, you can save money and ward off carbon emissions. So we've created a handy energy saving calculator and a list of tricks to help you do just that. And as you gear up for the changing season, check out these tips, and don't forget to set your clocks back on Sunday, November 2.
http://www.google.com/hauntedhouse08/index.html

Google Friends Newsletter - October 2007

POWER TIP

Gmail with IMAP

You now have the ability to use the IMAP protocol for Gmail (including Google Apps) free of charge. Unlike the POP protocol, IMAP enables you to keep your inbox synced across all devices, so that whatever you do in your email -- whether on your phone, desktop mail client, or web browser -- shows up everywhere you access your email. Reading, sending, deleting and other actions you take on your messages are reflected automatically and instantaneously any place you get Gmail.
http://www.gmail.com

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NEW PRODUCTS & UPDATES

YouTube layer now in Google Earth

We're excited to announce the arrival of a YouTube video layer for Google Earth. It's not only a new way to explore and discover YouTube videos; using Google Earth as a navigation tool, you can zoom in on remote regions of the globe and watch videos tied to that specific location (for example, surfers in Hawaii).
http://earth.google.com

Google Desktop 5.5 beta

New features in Google Desktop 5.5 (beta) include the ability to run Desktop gadgets in iGoogle, a better looking Quick Search Box, and improved Microsoft Outlook search functionality. You can use Desktop gadgets like the virtual flower pot, wireless signal meter, and media player remote on iGoogle.
http://desktop.google.com

Docs for mobile

Now you can access your list of documents and spreadsheets, and view all of these Google Docs, on your BlackBerry, iPhone or Windows Mobile device; iPhone users can also view presentations.
http://www.google.com/mobile/docs/

Google Maps Profile Pages

When you come across a map someone created or a review someone wrote, the new Profile Pages in Google Maps let you hover over the person's name to see a snippet of information about the author. Click on the nickname to access his or her complete profile page, which aggregates all the public maps and all the review he or she has created on Google Maps. You can also customize your own profile picture and information by clicking on the "My Profile" link.
http://maps.google.com

Google Experimental

We're always experimenting with new Google search features, and we've made it easier than ever for you to participate in our testing. Now you can temporarily add these  experimental features to your Google searches: for example, see your search results on a timeline, navigate using keyboard shortcuts, change how your result snippets appear each time you do a search on Google, and a few other features.
http://www.google.com/experimental

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MISCELLANY

"I get by with a little help from my friends," as the song goes. It's always been true in the real world; these days the help of friends (some you know, many you don't) makes online experiences all the more powerful. Open source software, Wikipedia, movie, music, book, or travel recommendations from others -- all "get by" with input and participation from lots of people. One very real-world application of this kind of collaboration we're particularly excited about is the ability to "mash up," or integrate different open software tools, to create something new. Google Maps has really benefited from this approach, because people are able to add local annotations and even up- to-the-minute details. In October the value of this particular "mashup" became very apparent when many people put together details of the various Southern California fires. To be able to see evacuation routes, new danger zones, emergency housing sites, means a real lifeline in time of need. We're grateful that people are able to make use of these tools when it really counts.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/southern-california-fire-maps.html




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