fidzu : Google

The Galapagos Islands are some of the most biologically unique ecosystems in the world. Explorers and scientists alike have long studied and marveled at these islands-made famous by Charles Darwin. The Ecuadorean Government, local conservation groups and scientists are working to protect the Galapagos from threats posed by invasive species, climate change and other human impacts.

It's critical that we share images with the world of this place in order to continue to study and preserve the islands' unique biodiversity. Today we're honored to announce, in partnership with Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galapagos National Parks Directorate (GNPD), that we've collected panoramic imagery of the islands with the Street View Trekker. These stunning images will be available on Google Maps later this year so people around the world can experience this remote archipelago.

Images, like the one you see above, are also an important visual record that the CDF and GNPD will use to study and protect the islands by showing the world how these delicate environments have changed over time.

Our 10-day adventure in the Galapagos was full of hiking, boating and diving around the islands (in hot and humid conditions) to capture 360-degree images of the unique wildlife and geological features of the islands with the Trekker. We captured imagery from 10 locations that were hand-selected by CDF and GNPD. We walked past giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies, navigated through steep trails and lava fields, and picked our way down the crater of an active volcano called Sierra Negra.

A Galapagos giant tortoise crawls along the path near Googler Karin Tuxen-Bettman while she collects imagery with the Street View Trekker in Galapaguera, a tortoise breeding center, which is managed by the Galapagos National Park Service.

Life underwater in the Galapagos is just as diverse as life on land. We knew our map of the islands wouldn't be comprehensive without exploring the ocean that surrounds them. So for the second time we teamed up with the folks at the Catlin Seaview Survey to collect underwater panoramic imagery of areas being studied by CDF and GNPD. This imagery will be used by Catlin Seaview Survey to create a visual and scientific baseline record of the marine environment surrounding the islands, allowing for any future changes to be measured and evaluated by scientists around the world.

We truly believe that in order to protect these Galapagos Islands, we must understand them. As they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words." We hope this Street View imagery not only advances the important scientific research, but also inspires you to learn more about this special place. Stay tuned for updates on this collection-the first time we've captured imagery from both land and sea! We can't wait to share this amazing imagery with you later this year.

Posted by Raleigh Seamster, Project Lead, Google Maps

23 May 2013 4:00pm GMT

We started rolling out the next generation of the Penguin webspam algorithm this afternoon (May 22, 2013), and the rollout is now complete. About 2.3% of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice. The change has also finished rolling out for other languages world-wide. The scope of Penguin varies [...]

23 May 2013 12:34am GMT

Last year, Google Drive added an advanced image search feature powered by Goggles that recognizes objects and uses OCR technology to extract text. The same feature is now available in Google+: search for [sunflower], click "More", restrict the results to "Photos" and select "Most recent". You'll find sunflower images from Google+ posts that don't even include "sunflower", not even in the image filename.

This also works for the images you've uploaded to Picasa Web Albums/Google+ Photos or the images uploaded by your circles.

{ via Android Police }

22 May 2013 11:25pm GMT

Google Trends has a new section that shows monthly popularity charts for topics like scientists, cars, movies, songs, people, animals, chemical elements and more. Charts are limited to the US for now and they show the most popular things, not the "movers and shakers". Google uses the Knowledge Graph to restrict the charts to real-world things and "measures interest in a broader topic, so it might also count different searches with the same meaning".

"Top Charts are lists of real-world people, places and things ranked by search interest. They show information similar to our Year-End Zeitgeist, but updated monthly and going back to 2004. To check them out, go to Google Trends and click 'Top Charts' on the left-hand side," informs Google.

Google Trends shows information from Wikipedia, links to Google+ or other top search results, the number of months in chart and the previous month's rank.

Google also added a Metro-inspired page that lets you visualize hot searches in full screen. Mouse over the top-left icon to show multiple searches at the same time and click the country name at the bottom of the page to switch to a different country.

{ via Google Blog }

22 May 2013 9:24pm GMT

After 130,000 submissions and millions of votes cast, Sabrina Brady of Sparta, Wisc. has been named the 2013 U.S. Doodle 4 Google National Winner. Her doodle, "Coming Home," will be featured on the Google homepage in the U.S. tomorrow, May 23.

Students across all 50 states amazed us with their creative interpretations of this year's theme, "My Best Day Ever..." From scuba diving to dinosaurs to exploring outer space, we were wowed by the ways young artists brought their best days to life in their doodles.

Sabrina's doodle stood out in the crowd; it tells the story of her reunion with her father as he returned from an 18 month deployment in Iraq. Her creative use of the Google letters to illustrate this heartfelt moment clearly resonated with voters across the country and all of us at Google.

In addition to seeing her artwork on the Google homepage, Sabrina-who is in 12th grade at Sparta High School-will receive a $30,000 college scholarship, a Chromebook computer and a $50,000 technology grant for her school. She will attend Minneapolis College of Art and Design this coming fall, where she will continue her artistic pursuits. Congratulations Sabrina!

In addition to the National Winner, voters across the country helped us determine the four National Finalists, who will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship:

• Grades K-3: Reagan Gonsalves (Grade 1, Santan Elementary School, Chandler, Ariz.) for her doodle "My best day ever is learning about nature." Reagan says, "My best day ever is to be around the pretty animals and plants in nature, because I love to know about what is around me. I love to watch hummingbirds drink nectar out of flowers. I love to read books on nature and how plants and animals grow."
• Grades 4-5: Audrey Zhang (Grade 4, Michael F. Stokes Elementary School, Levittown, N.Y.) for her doodle "...When I discover paradise!" Zhang says, "My best day ever will be when I discover paradise. In paradise, I could play with dragons, romp with leopards, and chat with fairies...It would be the best day ever when I could finally live in a mystical, dreamy realm."
• Grades 6-7: Maria Iannone (Grade 7, Chestnut Ridge Middle School, Sewell, N.J.) for her doodle "The best day ever." Maria says, "Where I live, it's difficult to view the night sky very well. Having an interest in astronomy, a day where I can observe the things I study on my own time would satisfy me."
• Grades 8-9: Joseph Han (Grade 8, Falmouth Middle School, Falmouth, Maine) for his doodle "Late-afternoon bliss." Joey says, "For me, 'the best day ever' doesn't consist of ambitious dreams, but rather the enjoyment of a day spent in carefree euphoria. Being in the woods is something that evokes such happiness in me. The lighthearted joy of rafting, fishing or catching fireflies is what I've attempted to capture."

After the awards ceremony, all 50 of our State Winners will unveil a special exhibition of their artwork at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where their doodles will be displayed for the public to view from May 22 - July 14.

Thanks to all who voted and helped us select the 2013 Doodle 4 Google winners. Even more importantly, thank you to all of the students who submitted their artwork and the parents and teachers who continue to inspire and support their young artists. Until next year... happy doodling!

Posted by Ryan Germick, Doodle Team Lead

22 May 2013 4:32pm GMT

Ever wonder what the world is searching for? With Google Trends, you can see what's hot right now, and also explore the history and geography of a topic as it evolves. Today you'll find new charts of the most-searched people, places and things in more than 40 categories, from movies to sports teams to tourist attractions. You'll also find a new colorful visualization of real-time Hot Searches.

Top Charts-a new monthly "spirit of the times"
Top Charts are lists of real-world people, places and things ranked by search interest. They show information similar to our Year-End Zeitgeist, but updated monthly and going back to 2004. To check them out, go to Google Trends and click "Top Charts" on the left-hand side. For example, you can see the 10 most-searched cities, movies and scientists in April:

Top Charts is built on the Knowledge Graph, so the data shows interest in real-world things, not just keywords. When you look at a chart of sports teams and you see the Golden State Warriors, those rankings are based on many different related searches, like [gs warriors], [golden state bball] and [warriors basketball]. That way you see which topics are most popular on Google Search, however people search for them. Top Charts provide our most accurate search volume rankings, but no algorithm is perfect, so on rare occasion you may find anomalies in the data. You can learn more about Top Charts in our Help Center.

Hot Searches, now in hot colors
In addition to Top Charts, now there's a vibrant new way to visualize trending searches as they happen. On the Trends homepage in the left-hand panel, you'll find a new link to "Visualize Hot Searches in full-screen." You'll see the latest trending topics appear in a colorful display:


You can customize the layout by clicking the icon in the upper-left corner and expanding it to see as many as 25 searches at a time. You can also pick any region currently supported by Hot Searches. Use fullscreen mode in your browser for the biggest, purest eye candy.

...and a few design updates
We're also continuing to spruce up our site. Among other things, now the homepage shows you more interesting stuff up front, and the search box is always available at the top:

We hope you enjoy bringing new stories to life with Google Trends. We love feedback, so please feel free to let us know what you think by posting online or by clicking "Send Feedback" at the bottom of any page in Google Trends.

Posted by Roni Rabin, Software Engineer

22 May 2013 3:00pm GMT

YouTube experiments with some new search features. When you click a video from the list of YouTube search results, there's a red progress bar displayed at the top of the page until the video page loads. YouTube loads pages using AJAX and uses HTML5 history.pushState to change the browser URL without reloading the page. Here's the new feature in action:


The search box still includes your query when you watch the video. Another experimental feature shows a list of search suggestions when you watch a video and click the search box. The list of suggestions is probably generated based on the video's title.


Click the homepage search box and YouTube shows a list of recent searches.

Here's how you can try the new features (the red progress bar seems to be Chrome-only). If you use Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari or Internet Explorer 8+:

1. open youtube.com in a new tab

2. load your browser's developer console:

* Chrome - press Ctrl+Shift+J for Windows/Linux/ChromeOS or Command-Option-J for Mac

* Firefox - press Ctrl+Shift+K for Windows/Linux or Command-Option-K for Mac

* Opera - press Ctrl+Shift+I for Windows/Linux or Command-Option-I for Mac, then click "Console"

* Safari - check this article

* Internet Explorer - press F12 and select the "Console" tab.

3. paste the following code which changes a YouTube cookie:

document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=jyDR-4Ljl_I; path=/; domain=.youtube.com";window.location.reload();

4. press Enter and close the console.

To go back to the standard UI, follow the same steps, but use the following code:

document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=; path=/; domain=.youtube.com";window.location.reload();

{ Thanks, Yu-Hsuan Lin. }

21 May 2013 7:17pm GMT

Dr. Anita Borg revolutionized the way we think about technology and worked to dismantle the barriers that keep women and minorities from entering the computing and technology fields. In her lifetime, Anita founded the Institute for Women and Technology (now The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology), began an online community called Systers for technical women, and co-founded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. We're proud to honor her memory through the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship, established in 2004.

Today we'd like to recognize and congratulate the 30 Google Anita Borg Memorial scholars and the 30 Google Anita Borg Memorial finalists for 2013. The scholars, who attend universities in the United States and Canada, will join the annual Google Scholars' Retreat this summer in New York City, where they will have the opportunity to attend tech talks on Google products, network with other scholars and Googlers, participate in developmental activities and sessions, and attend social activities. This year, the scholars will also have the opportunity to participate in a scholars' edition of 24HoursOfGood, a hackathon in partnership with local non-profit organizations who work on education and STEM initiatives to make progress against a technical problem that is critical to their organization's success.

Find out more (PDF) about our winners, including the institutions they attend. Soon we'll select the Anita Borg scholars from our programs around the world. For more information on all our scholarships, visit the Google Scholarships site.

Posted by Azusa Liu, Student Development Programs Specialist

21 May 2013 7:00pm GMT

Reminders are a new feature in the latest version of the Google Search app for Android. You can create reminders using voice search and Google Now will show notifications.

Now you can also create reminders from the desktop Google Search when you search for events. Use queries like [when is bonnaroo 2013?], [when is the first day of summer?], [halloween day] and Google shows a link that says: "Remind me on Google Now".

Click the link and "Google Now will remind you 1 week before." For now, notifications are only available if you use the Google Search app for Android, which also lets you manage reminders (delete reminders and set new ones).

{ via Search Engine Roundtable }

21 May 2013 6:02pm GMT

Google removed yet another advanced search tool: cross-language search. It was available in the "Search tools" menu as "translated foreign pages" and it allowed you to find pages written in other languages.

Google automatically suggested a few languages for your query, but you could manually add other languages. Your query was translated into all these languages, Google performed multiple searches for the translations, compiled a list of results and translated titles and snippets into your language.

Here's a screenshot from 2009, when Google Search added this feature:

"If you're traveling and want to find hotels, restaurants, activities or reviews written from a local perspective, or if you're just curious to find what's being written about a company, product or topic in another language, give Translated search in the Search Options panel a try," suggested Google at that time.

The feature was first available in 2007 as part of Google Translate, but the initial version supported a single destination language. "Now, you can search for something in your own language (for example, English) and search the web in another language (for example, French). If you're looking for wine tasting events in Bordeaux while on vacation in France, just type 'wine tasting events in Bordeaux' into the search box on the 'Search results' tab on Google Translate. You'll then get French search results and a (machine) translation of these search results into English," informed Google.

It's sad to see this feature disappear because it was very powerful and difficult to replace. It integrated Google Translate and Google Search, so Google performed multiple translations and searches just to shows you 10 cross-language search results.

Why was it removed? "The translate foreign pages feature is no longer offered. Removing features always involves tough choices, but we do think very hard about each decision and its implications for our users. You can still translate entire pages in Chrome. Streamlining enables us to focus on creating beautiful technology that will improve people's lives," explained Google. Most likely, not many people used this feature.

I assume that most "search tools" features are rarely used and the same thing is true for other features for power users: advanced search, operators. They're not obvious, they're difficult to use and few people need them. As Google focuses more on answering questions, I expect to see fewer and fewer advanced search features and that's disappointing.

21 May 2013 5:41pm GMT

Google likes to discontinue products without waiting until it launches some proper replacements. Lately, Google closed products that were used by millions of people. There's a race to destroy everything that was built by the old Google and build new products that are aligned with the most important features of the new Google: social and mobile.

Google Checkout is one of those old products. It was launched in 2006 as an effort to improve online shopping and to offer more value to AdWords advertisers. "One cool feature of Google Checkout is that you can buy from stores with a single Google login - no more entering the same info each time you buy, and no more having to remember different usernames and passwords for each store. To help you find places to shop, you'll see a little icon on the Google.com ads of stores offering Google Checkout," explained Google at that time. Google Checkout was free for merchants until 2008, then Google started to increase fees until it moved to PayPal's tiered pricing. Then Google Checkout became less attractive.

Back in 2011, Google launched Wallet, a new product focused on mobile payments. It started as an Android app available for Sprint Nexus S phones that used the NFC chip to make credit card payments at physical stores in the US. Since then, the app started to support a few other phones, mostly from Sprint. Google Checkout merged with Google Wallet, but it still remained a distinct product focused on online shopping and available internationally.

Now Google announces that Checkout will be discontinued. "Merchants can continue to accept payments using Google Checkout until November 20, 2013. If you don't have your own payment processing, you will need to transition to a different solution within six months. To make things easier, we've partnered with Braintree, Shopify and Freshbooks to offer you discounted migration options. If you are a U.S. merchant that does have payment processing, you can apply for Google Wallet Instant Buy, which offers a fast buying experience to Google Wallet shoppers."

Instant Buy is a simplified version of Google Checkout that has no fees because Google no longer processes payments. Instead, Google "passes a Virtual OneTime Card, a MasterCard-branded virtual prepaid debit card product that can only be used for the specific purchase for which it was issued. Using this card, merchants can process payments with their existing payment processor." Instant Buy is tied to Google Accounts and it's faster to use than the regular checkout experience, especially on mobile devices. Right now, Instant Buy is only available in the US.

Since Google Wallet is mostly a US-only service, users outside US will be limited to Google Play, other Google services and some web apps. Google has recently announced that Gmail users in the US will be able to send money using a new button from the Gmail interface. There's also Wallet for Digital Goods, an API for in-app payments limited to web apps, and it works outside US.

For now, Wallet remains a product with limited availability and many disjointed features. The virtual wallet that stores information about your credit cards, coupons, loyalty cards, gift cards, tickets and makes payments frictionless is still a work in progress. Google has a huge opportunity to create a successful product for payments: it owns Google Play, it can integrate it with Android and Chrome, not to mention Google Shopping and Google+. Google now has the most popular search engine, online video service, ad network, analytics service, webmail site, the most popular browser and the #1 mobile operating system.

21 May 2013 2:02pm GMT

Every day on the Art Project Google+ page we post a snippet of information about a painting, an artist or a talk-and every day, at least one of our 4 million followers has something to say in response. We're constantly delighted by how the appetite for art online is growing and today we have a veritable feast in store with a swathe of fresh artworks, gigapixel paintings and museums on Street View.

New artworks from the famous to the unusual
Mario Testino is a world-famous photographer, known for his work in the fashion industry. Fewer people are aware of his photographs focusing on the culture of his native Peru. A new body of photographs called "Alta Moda" (high fashion), featuring Andean people in traditional and festive dress, is currently on display in Testino's cultural institution, MATE. And for those of you not lucky enough to visit Lima, you can now see this collection of 27 photos online on the Google Art Project.

In total, we have more than 1,500 new high-resolution artworks including masterpieces such as Monet's "Waterlilies," Rembrandt's "Portrait of a Man in a Broad-Brimmed Hat" and Johannes Vermeer's "The Geographer" (meaning Art Project now houses 15 of his 34 total works, all contributed by different museums). However, the diversity goes well beyond paintings; from ancestral relics used to worship the dead to an ancient Jinsha gold mask from China thought to have been worn by sorcerers. Often the old contrasts with the new, with inscribed Arabic gemstones existing alongside contemporary glass structures from Germany as you can see in this "Compare" image below.

Zoom in to "gigapixel" paintings
Gigapixel paintings-very high-resolution works which enable you to zoom in at brushstroke level-have long been at the heart of the Art Project. They're a great example of the magic that can happen when technology meets art-and today we have 16 new ones to add, ranging from famous pieces like "The Scream" by Edvard Munch to those chosen by public vote such as "Whitewashing the Old House" by L.A. Ring.

The beauty of gigapixels is their ability to surprise. Look at the painting "Fra Stalheim" by Johan Christian Dahl, shown in full on the left below. You'll see a beautiful landscape. Zoom in, however, and you discover scenes within a scene-a village with smoking chimneys, a woman tending to her child, and cows grazing on the hillside. Details that can't always be fully appreciated by the naked eye are brought to life online.

Immerse yourself in Street View
Through Street View and the Google Art Project, many museums have opened their galleries to the world the past few years, and today we're launching 20 more. For example, Fondation Beyeler Museum in Switzerland houses a collection of seven Mark Rothko paintings. Now anyone in the world can virtually explore the collection.

Of course art collections are not exclusively found in museums-we're delighted to have our first monastery on Street View in the Art Project. The Monastery of St. John the Theologian on the Greek island of Patmos was founded in 1088 and is a World Heritage Site. In addition to their 116 contributed artworks, you can also explore the architectural splendors of this ancient building.

Jump inside a whole range of beautiful buildings and corridors here by clicking on the orange pegman where it appears.

In a week that celebrates International Museum Day, we're glad to be able to showcase some of the great treasures held by museums and cultural institutions the world over. There are so many benefits to bringing more content online, be it discovering a new style of art or artist, creating your own gallery, stumbling across a hidden detail of a painting you thought you knew or simply being inspired by something beautiful. With more than 40,000 total works and 250+ cultural organisations around the globe, we hope the experience will be more enriching than ever.

Posted by Marzia Niccolai, Google Art Project

21 May 2013 8:00am GMT

There's an interesting Google Settings page for phone numbers. By default, the page only includes a message that says: "No phone numbers associated with this setting."

A help center page explains that this feature will help your friends find your phone number.

"Help people who have your phone number find you on Google services and connect with you. For example, your friends will be able to start a Hangout with you by typing in your phone number. When this setting is checked, it makes it easier for people who have your phone number to find you on Google services. When this setting is unchecked, people may not be able to look up your name, photo and public Google profile (and other profile information you have shared with them) via that phone number."

It's related to the new Google+ Hangouts service, which asks users to verify their phone numbers so that the people who have their numbers could find them. Google tries to compete with services like iMessage and WhatsApp that replace text messaging.

If you confirm one or more phone numbers, the settings page will include them and you can uncheck some of them.

{ Thanks, Herin. }

20 May 2013 6:22pm GMT

I'm trying to understand Google+ Hangouts. It's supposed to replace products and features like Google Talk, Google Chat, Google+ Messenger and to become Google's unified messaging service.

Let's start with the name. It includes "Google+", so it looks like a Google+ feature. The product actually borrows the name of Google+'s group video chat feature.

How can you use this product? There are 5 ways: inside Google+ (replaces the Google Chat box), inside Gmail (optionally replaces the Gmail Chat box), using a Chrome extension (has already replaced the Google Chat extension and it requires Google+), an Android app (gradually replacing the built-in Google Talk app) and an iOS app (entirely new, requires Google+).

As you can see, 3 of the 5 ways to use it require Google+. You can refuse to upgrade to Hangouts in Gmail, but the Gmail Chat feature will eventually be discontinued. Probably most Android users will upgrade from Google Talk to Google+ Hangouts. The only other Google Chat clients are the Google Talk app for Windows and the chat boxes from iGoogle and orkut.

Google+ Hangouts doesn't require Google+, but most Google+ Hangouts clients require Google+. Actually there are 2 features that are somehow tied to Google+: sharing photos (they're uploaded to Google+ photos) and group chat. Here's what happens when you try to use them in Gmail, without joining Google+:

Google+ Hangouts has little in common with Google Chat/Talk, it's actually an upgraded Google+ Messenger. Hangouts focuses on conversations, not people, that's why you won't see a long list of buddies. Ideally, Hangouts lets you communicate with anyone you've added to a Google+ circle or anyone else, if you know his email address or phone number. When you open mobile clients for the first time, Google asks you to verify your phone number and that's optional.

Many people complain that Hangouts doesn't show if someone is online. Google's new service does away with busy/away/invisible/offline and has a different way to show if some is "connected": a green bar under the photo if someone can reply immediately. It only shows up if someone actually uses the application.

Hangout's tagline is "conversations come to life". Maybe because there are hundreds of emojis you can add to your messages, maybe because there's video chat, maybe because of the presence signals. "Hangouts inserts tiny little square avatars into the chat history, called 'watermarks.' These watermarks show when somebody else is typing, but they also indicate how far others have read in the conversation," reports The Verge.

Google+ Hangouts lacks many features from Google Chat: voice chat, phone calls, sending SMS, formatting tricks. You can now use keyboard shortcuts, but only for the desktop clients. Hangouts has its own Easter Eggs and they're really funny. Unfortunately, Hangouts drops support for server-to-server XMPP, it can't interact with other XMPP apps/services. It still works with Gmail Chat and Google Talk, though.

So what's Google+ Hangouts, after all? "The single communication app that we want our users to rely on," says Nikhyl Singhal, from Google. "We don't see Hangouts as a messaging product, we see it as a communication product," says product manager Kate Cushing.

Hangouts lets you decide for each Google+ circle if you want to be added to a hangout by its members or if you want them to send a request. Notifications are supposed to be synchronized for all your devices, so you only see them once, but I got multiple notifications.

Google+ is about real-life sharing, so Hangouts is built on top of the original Hangouts and Messenger features. The initial name of Google+ Messenger was Huddle, which means "draw together for an informal, private conversation".

The Talk era was about openness, the Chat era was about ubiquity, the Hangouts era is about Google+, the new Google that's all about social and mobile. From OpenSocial to ClosedSocial, from OpenMessaging to ClosedMessaging, from idealism to realism.

17 May 2013 11:59pm GMT

Google Accounts settings page has a new feature called "SMS for Hangouts". You can "add your phone number to receive messages from Google+ Hangouts as SMS, when you are idle." Google goes on to explain that "SMS is less secure and may be less reliable than web-based communication. All messages sent by SMS are sent via your mobile carrier network, without encryption."

This features works for most of the countries where Gmail SMS is supported, but not the US. It works for India, Pakistan, Israel, Turkey, Ukraine, Congo and many other countries from Africa and Asia.

{ Thanks, Herin and Camilo. }

17 May 2013 7:39pm GMT

By now, you've probably received the invitation to try the new Google Maps. It's not available without an invitation and it's likely that it won't replace the classic Google Maps very soon.

The new interface is the most radical change to Google Maps since 2005, when Google's online mapping service was launched. Here's Google Maps in 2005 (screenshot from this page):

Depending on your computer and the browser you're using, you may not see the Google Earth view and other 3D features. WebGL features require Windows Vista/7/8, Mac OS 10.8.3+, Chrome OS, the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox and up-to-date graphics drivers. This page explains what's the lite mode and provides links for the lite mode and the full 3D mode.

Probably the most impressive feature in the new interface is the Google Earth integration that doesn't require a plugin. It looks great, even if it doesn't includes all the features of the desktop software. Earth view replaces the old satellite view, which is only available in the lite mode.

If you want to find "how Google Maps went from a flat map where Greenland looks bigger than Africa to a beautifully realistic 3D globe", Evan Parker from Google shares the story. From the Google Earth plugin to MapsGL and the new Earth view, it took almost 7 years to make Google Earth work smoothly in your browser.

Another impressive feature is the "Explore" box at the bottom of the page that combines Street View, panoramas and static photos. It's the best way to find interesting places and explore them from your armchair. Unfortunately, Street View keyboard shortcuts don't work well.

Standard maps look better, colors are softer, labels are easier to read. Google Maps finally has permalinks that automatically update in the address bar, so it's easier to share pages and bookmark them (permalinks only work in the new Google Maps, but you can also use the URLs generated by the old Google Maps).

You can no longer find a contextual menu when you right-click, so features like "directions to/from here", "zoom in/out", "center map here" are missing. Now you can click any place on the map and you'll get a small info pane below the search box that shows the address and lets you get directions and go to Street View. Double click to zoom in, use the mouse wheel or the "+"/"-" buttons.

The new Google Maps simplified navigation and removed many useful features like the zoom level bar, panning, "show my location" and the Street View Pegman. Layers like Wikipedia, weather, webcams, photos, videos, previous searches are no longer available, while transit, traffic and bicycling can be found in the "getting around" box.

"My Places" is not part of the new Google Maps interface. Click the "options" icon in the black navigation bar, select "My Places" and you'll go back to the old interface. It's a trick that lets you temporarily switch to the old interface. You can also click "classic maps".

The new full-screen interface places all the navigation controls on top of the map and invites you to explore the map. To get directions, mouse over the search box and click "directions". To find a place, use the search box. The transitions are smooth and Google Maps uses a simplified version of Google Instant: you're automatically sent to the place you've selected without having to press Enter. You can even find your contacts on the map.

You can restrict the results to places from top reviewers or your Google+ circles. Google emphasizes the reviews from your Google+ circles, so search results are personalized. Results are placed on the map and this is disconcerting: you don't know which one to click. Mouse over the results to get some information, click them to get even more information. It's a strange way to display search results, since you don't know which one is better. Google used to rank the results and ranking was an important component of local search. You can click "go to list of top results", but you're sent to a different page that includes other results and the list isn't comprehensive.

I don't like the new interface for directions because the step-by-step directions are no longer displayed automatically. You need to click "step-by-step" and you're sent to a different page. Switching between the suggested routes is more intuitive because all of them are displayed on them map and you can compare them. Google also includes transit directions, which have a simplified interface that summarizes information. There's also a new button for flight search, but it's limited to a few countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands). Printing directions requires an additional click and you can no longer hide the map or include maps for all steps.

The new Google Maps requires a lot more resources, especially more RAM, so it's not a great idea to use it if you have an old computer. Earth View and Street View use a lot of memory, so don't be surprised if you see this:

The new Google Maps builds on the MapGL experiment, does away with plugins and has a cleaner interface that's better suited for mobile devices. Unfortunately, it's a memory hog and basic features like local search and directions are cumbersome. It's still a work in progress.

17 May 2013 4:11pm GMT

I found a great paragraph in a Google page about Gmail actions:

"Google Search is evolving from surfacing search results to answering questions. With Voice Search and Natural language queries, users can speak or type questions they have and see highly structured information cards in Search."

That changes how people interact with Google Search, how Google Search pages look, how queries are processed and what people expect from Google. When Google will be able to answer complex questions, to summarize long pages, use inferences to find new information and truly understand human language, you'll no longer need a browser for most searches. A Google search button can be embedded in any smart device from watches, fridges to smart glasses and cars.

In a recent video, Matt Cutts tries to predict the future of Google search: "It ought to be able to go out and take multiple sources of information and figure out how to combine those together and fuse or synthesize that information. And it should really be able to handle difficult syntax. So moving up the chain towards not just data or knowledge, but analysis, towards wisdom."

16 May 2013 7:08pm GMT

Wouldn't it be nice to deal with an email message without having to read it? Sure, you can read the subject line and archive the message, delete it or flag it as spam, but what happens when you receive notifications for online orders, flights, hotel reservations, reviews?

Gmail introduced quick action buttons that are placed next to the subject line in a list of messages. "These buttons appear next to certain types of messages in your inbox and let you take action on an email without ever having to open it. For example, you can RSVP to your friend's party invitation or rate that restaurant you went to last night all right from the inbox. You'll be checking things off that to-do list in no time."

For flight notifications, Gmail has a special card displayed above the message that includes real-time information about the flight and a "check-in" button.

Google detects the type of message and tries to extract the most important action, but you can help Google by adding schema.org markup to the mail you're sending. Right now, Gmail support 4 quick actions (invitations, reviews, one-click actions and links to other pages) and one interactive card (flights). Now that Google includes Gmail results in Google search (Field Trial) and uses Gmail data to show Google Now notifications, the structured markup is even more useful.

Gmail actions "will roll out over the next few weeks" and I'm sure this will be a very useful addition to Google Apps for Business. What kind of quick actions and interactive cards would you like to see?

16 May 2013 6:42pm GMT

Google didn't announce a new Nexus device at Google I/O, but you'll still get something close to a Nexus phone: Samsung Galaxy S4, unlocked, with LTE support for T-Mobile and AT&T, Google software and quick updates. It will be available on June 26 from Google Play US for $649.

"This is a Samsung Galaxy S4 with the same software experience we ship on our Nexus devices. It's Google's take on Android and it feels awesome on the S4," said Google VP Hugo Barra.

It's good news for everyone. Google can sell a powerful LTE phone that doesn't compete with Nexus 4 because it's more expensive. Samsung has access to Google's software updates, so there's less work to keep up with the new Android versions. Developers can buy a Nexus version of the most popular Android phone and can even use a MicroSD card, replace the battery, use a physical home button and two other capacitive buttons. People who want to buy a Galaxy S4, but don't like Samsung's TouchWiz software, no longer have to rely on custom ROMs. Projects like CyanogenMod will do a better job of supporting Galaxy S4. Even if you buy the regular Galaxy S4, you'll get better software, whether you stick with Samsung's software or you install a custom ROM.

Samsung manufactured 2 other Nexus phones (Nexus S - 2010, Galaxy Nexus - 2011) and a Nexus tablet (Nexus 10 - 2012).

16 May 2013 5:36pm GMT

Until Google sends invites that let you preview the new Google Maps interface, check the MoreThanAMap site to see the new maps. It's a site that shows demos for various Google Maps API features, but the "base maps" demos are the most interesting because you can see the new map tiles.

"For the last decade, we've obsessed over building great maps-maps that are comprehensive, accurate, and easy to use," says Google.

You can also check the new colors, the new icons for local business and the corresponding cards.

The new Street View powered by WebGL:

Old vs new:

{ Thanks, Florian K. }

16 May 2013 12:39pm GMT

Many people expected to hear some information about a new Android version at the Google I/O keynote. Google decided to focus on new development tools, Google Play Store, Google Play Music and new APIs for Google Play Services.

Actually Google focused on the things it can control and quickly update. Google Play Services is automatically installed by Google Play Store and it adds new APIs that Android apps can use, regardless of the Android version (Play Services requires Android 2.2+). That's a great way to deal with Android fragmentation and it allows Google to announce APIs that can be used by any app and that can reach almost any Android device.

"Devices running Android 2.2 and newer and that have the Google Play Store app automatically receive updates to Google Play services. Enhance your app with the most recent version of Google Play services without worrying about your users' Android version," suggests Google.

For example, Google Play Games services can be used by any Android game to provide features like saving state, leaderboards, achievements, auto-matched players, real-time multiplayer. These services can also be used on iOS and for web apps, so they're even more useful. If Google added these features in Android 4.3, few people could use them and few developers would update their games to support them. Most likely, only Nexus devices would be updated to Android 4.3 shortly after the announcement, while other devices would be updated in 6 months or later or maybe never. Android 4.2 was launched 6 months ago and only 2% of the Android devices run it.

New Android versions are still important, but Google has some other meaningful ways to make Android better. Most Google apps are available in the Play Store and can be updated without waiting for a new Android version. Chrome, Google Search (with Voice Search and Google Now), Google Maps, Google Hangouts, Google Calendar, Google Play Music and the other Play apps can be improved and change the way you use your Android device. Play Services can improve entire categories of apps, add features that improve battery life, make notifications more useful, improve Google+ and Google Maps integration.

Android's flexibility is a double-edged sword. In this case, detaching system apps and APIs from the operating system is a huge advantage and makes new Android versions less important.

16 May 2013 8:25am GMT

Sometimes it's a good idea to question browser stats. While some companies claim that Chrome loses market share, Google says that the number of active Chrome users increased from 310 million (June 2012) to 750 million. According to Google, Chrome is now the most popular browser in the world.

"With over 750 million active users on Chrome, we're now focused on bringing to mobile the speed, simplicity and security improvements that we've seen on the desktop," says Google.

Sure, this number includes Android users and iOS users. The Android app has less than 100 million downloads, but the number of active users should be lower than the number of downloads.

But what if Google's stats are wrong? After all, Google is the most popular site in the world and owns the most popular analytics service. Not to mention YouTube and Blogger, two other very popular sites.

15 May 2013 10:52pm GMT

This morning, we kicked off the 6th annual Google I/O developer conference with over 6,000 developers at Moscone Center in San Francisco, 460 I/O Extended sites in 90 countries, and millions of you around the world who tuned in via our livestream. Over the next three days, we'll be hosting technical sessions, hands-on code labs, and demonstrations of Google's products and partners' technology.

We believe computing is going through one of the most exciting moments in its history: people are increasingly adopting phones, tablets and newer type of devices. And this spread of technology has the potential to make a positive impact in the lives of people around the world-whether it's simply helping you in your daily commute, or connecting you to information that was previously inaccessible.

This is why we focus so much on our two open platforms: Android and Chrome. They enable developers to innovate and reach as many people as possible with their apps and services across multiple devices. Android started as a simple idea to advance open standards on mobile; today it is the world's leading mobile platform and growing rapidly. Similarly, Chrome launched less than five years ago from an open source project; today it's the world's most popular browser.

In line with that vision, we made several announcements today designed to give developers even more tools to build great apps on Android and Chrome. We also shared new innovations from across Google meant to help make life just a little easier for you, including improvements in search, communications, photos, and maps.

Here's a quick look at some of the announcements we made at I/O:

• Android & Google Play: In addition to new developer tools, we unveiled Google Play Music All Access, a monthly music subscription service with access to millions of songs that joins our music store and locker; and the Google Play game services with real-time multiplayer and leaderboards. Also, coming next month to Google Play is a special Samsung Galaxy S4, which brings together cutting edge hardware from Samsung with Google's latest software and services-including the user experience that ships with our popular Nexus devices.
• Chrome: With over 750 million active users on Chrome, we're now focused on bringing to mobile the speed, simplicity and security improvements that we've seen on the desktop. To that end, today we previewed next-generation video codec VP9 for faster video-streaming performance; the requestAutocomplete API for faster payments; and Chrome Experiments such as "A Journey Through Middle Earth" and Racer to demonstrate the ability to create immersive mobile experiences not possible in years past.
• Google+: We unveiled the newly designed Google+, which helps you easily explore content as well dramatically improve your online photo experience to give you crisp, beautiful photos-without the work! We also upgraded Google+ Hangouts-our popular group video application-to help bring all of your real-life conversations online, across any device or platform, and with groups of up to 10 friends.
• Search: Search has evolved considerably in recent years: it can now have a real conversation with you, and even make your day a bit smoother by predicting information you might need. Today we added the ability to set reminders by voice and we previewed "spoken answers" on laptops and desktops in Chrome-meaning you can ask Google a question and it will speak the answer back to you.
• Maps: Today we previewed the next generation of Google Maps, which gets rid of any clutter in order to put your individual experience and exploration front and center. Each time you click or search, our technology draws you a tailored map that highlights the information you need. From design to directions, the new Google Maps is smarter and more useful.

Technology can have a profound, positive impact on the daily lives of billions of people. But we can't do this alone-developers play a crucial role. I/O is our chance to come together and thank you for everything you do.

Posted by Sundar Pichai, SVP, Android, Chrome & Apps

15 May 2013 6:48pm GMT

We just recently taped a new round of webmaster videos, and I thought this video deserved a full-fledged blog post. This is my rough estimate (as of early May 2013) of what search engine optimizers (SEOs) and webmasters should expect in the next few months: Bear in mind that this is a very rough estimate, [...]

13 May 2013 4:17pm GMT

This is a "hairball" post you can ignore. However, this post does trace my thinking about how to scale webmaster communication. Part of me wants to start answering questions I get via email by stripping out the identifying information and then replying with a blog post. Instead of one person getting a single reply, everybody [...]

13 May 2013 6:59am GMT

A quick "hairball" post about how sometimes it's better to just go with the flow. I like how xkcd made this point with a chart of whether it's worth the time to fix something that's bugging you. I have a friend who is mechanical engineer. A few years ago he took me for a tour [...]

13 May 2013 6:58am GMT

This is a harmless "hairball" post I had as a draft. Me: Hey, they added me to popurls.com! My wife: Never heard of it. (pause) Had you heard of it before? Me: Yeah. Wife: Really? Me: Yeah! Wife: (with an extra helping of sarcasm) Really? Me: Yes! Wife: (dripping with condescension) You're a very important [...]

13 May 2013 6:51am GMT

This is the last half-finished "hairball" blog post about USB devices on Linux. I actually did manage to get a working program that controlled a USB foam missile launcher. Unfortunately, I didn't document all the steps, so this blog post just sort of stops at some point. I got a USB Missile Launcher for Christmas. [...]

13 May 2013 6:45am GMT

What, *another* half-finished blog post about Linux USB drivers? Yup. Suppose you have a device and want a Linux device driver for it. There are a few steps you'll need to take. One of the heroes in this area is Greg Kroah-Hartman. Greg wrote USBView, which is a Linux tool to enumerate a list of [...]

13 May 2013 6:41am GMT

Here's another "hairball" post about USB devices and drivers on Linux. I wish some expert would write the definitive "here's how to reverse-engineer a USB device and write a new USB driver" guide. I am definitely not that expert. Once you reverse engineer a Windows USB device enough to know how it works, you're ready [...]

13 May 2013 6:39am GMT

For a while, I was really into reverse-engineering USB drivers. Don't ask why. The heart wants what the heart wants. I didn't finish this "hairball" post, but it has some info in it that still might be good. I recently stumbled across this post and it inspired me. I decided to try to reverse engineer [...]

13 May 2013 6:35am GMT

Over the years I've written a lot of blog posts to debunk misconceptions or claims that weren't true. Sometimes I publish the blogs posts but often I don't. This is a pretty typical example post. Someone claimed that Google was evil for removing a particular domain, when in fact the domain had been removed from [...]

13 May 2013 5:55am GMT

Today, we're making it possible for you to go back in time and get a stunning historical perspective on the changes to the Earth's surface over time. Working with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), NASA and TIME, we're releasing more than a quarter-century of images of Earth taken from space, compiled for the first time into an interactive time-lapse experience. We believe this is the most comprehensive picture of our changing planet ever made available to the public.

Built from millions of satellite images and trillions of pixels, you can explore this global, zoomable time-lapse map as part of TIME's new Timelapse project. View stunning phenomena such as the sprouting of Dubai's artificial Palm Islands, the retreat of Alaska's Columbia Glacier, the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon and urban growth in Las Vegas from 1984 to 2012:

Feel free to share these GIFs! More examples can be found on Google+.

The images were collected as part of an ongoing joint mission between the USGS and NASA called Landsat. Their satellites have been observing earth from space since the 1970s-with all of the images sent back to Earth and archived on USGS tape drives that look something like this example (courtesy of the USGS).

We started working with the USGS in 2009 to make this historic archive of earth imagery available online. Using Google Earth Engine technology, we sifted through 2,068,467 images-a total of 909 terabytes of data-to find the highest-quality pixels (e.g., those without clouds), for every year since 1984 and for every spot on Earth. We then compiled these into enormous planetary images, 1.78 terapixels each, one for each year.

As the final step, we worked with the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, recipients of a Google Focused Research Award, to convert these annual Earth images into a seamless, browsable HTML5 animation. Check it out on Google's Timelapse website.

Much like the iconic image of Earth from the Apollo 17 mission-which had a profound effect on many of us-this time-lapse map is not only fascinating to explore, but we also hope it can inform the global community's thinking about how we live on our planet and the policies that will guide us in the future. A special thanks to all our partners who helped us to make this happen.

Posted by Rebecca Moore, Engineering Manager, Google Earth Engine & Earth Outreach

09 May 2013 11:20am GMT

Developers today have the power to introduce powerful, breakthrough technologies to the world through their code. That's why we look forward to bringing Google developers together year after year at Google I/O, our annual developer conference. In one week, we'll welcome more than 6,000 developers to I/O through the doors of Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif.-and many more via our event's live streams. If you're looking for inspiration and want to learn more about the future of our products, we hope you'll tune in to our live keynote and technical sessions.

Starting on May 15 at 9 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC), join us as Google Developers Live (GDL) powers multiple channels of live streamed content from Google I/O on developers.google.com/io. On this page, you can:

• Stream the keynote on your computer, tablet or phone. Get in on the action, and listen to product and technology announcements straight from our teams. Live streaming will run on developers.google.com/io from 9 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC) to 7 p.m. PT (2:00 UTC) on May 15 and 16.
• Watch exclusive interviews with the Googlers behind the latest product announcements. This year, GDL will broadcast one-on-one product deep dives, executive interviews and Developer Sandbox walkthroughs from our onsite stage.
• Get the latest news in real time. We'll post official announcements during I/O. You'll be able to see the feed on the Google I/O homepage, in the I/O mobile app (coming soon), and on +Google Developers.
• Never miss a session. The keynote and all sessions will be recorded and made rapidly available on GDL and the Google Developers YouTube channel.

Whether you're joining us from the comfort of home for Google Developers Live at I/O or at an I/O Extended event, tune into developers.google.com/io at 9 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC) on May 15 for the latest from Google product teams. Add +Google Developers to your circles and follow #io13 to stay updated on official conference announcements and connect with the community.

Posted by Mike Winton, Director of Developer Relations

08 May 2013 10:33pm GMT

If you took a quick snapshot of content available on the web, you might think that everyone around the world spoke English, Chinese, French or Spanish. But in fact, millions of people around the world speak an incredible array of languages that currently have a small presence across the web.

Google Translate helps bridge the divide between the content available online and people's ability to access that information. Starting today, you can translate another five languages using Google, which combined are spoken by more than 183 million people around the globe:

• Bosnian is an official language in Bosnia and Herzegovina that's also spoken in regions of neighboring countries and by diaspora communities around the world.
• Cebuano is one of the languages spoken in the Philippines, predominantly in the middle (Visayas) and southern (Mindanao) regions of the nation.
• You can hear the Hmong language spoken in many countries across the world, including China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and throughout the United States.
• Javanese is the second most-spoken language in Indonesia (behind Indonesian), with 83 million native speakers.
• Marathi is spoken in India and has 73 million native speakers. Google Translate already supports several other Indian languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

With the exception of Bosnian, these new languages are "alpha," meaning while the quality isn't perfect, we will continue to test and improve them over time.

You can access Translate via the web at https://translate.google.com, on your Android or iOS device, or via Chrome and in Gmail. We're excited to reach the 70+ language milestone, and we look forward to continuing to add more languages.

Bosnian: Google Prevodilac sada podržava više od 70 jezika!
Cebuano: Google sa Translate misuporta na karon sa kapin sa 70 ka mga!
Hmong: Google Translate nim no txhawb nqa tshaj li 70 hom lus!
Javanese: Google Translate saiki ndhukung luwih saka 70 basa!
Marathi: Google भाषांतर आता 70 पेक्षा जास्त भाषांचे समर्थन करते!

Posted by Sveta Kelman, Program Manager, Google Translate

08 May 2013 12:00pm GMT

As both a daughter and a mom, Mother's Day gives me the opportunity to tell my mom how much I appreciate, respect and admire her. It also reminds me to aspire to do my best for my own kids, just as my mom did for me. My best almost always begins with a hug.

As families search for new ways to make the most important women in their lives feel extra special, we have some suggestions to help you celebrate your mom, or another great mom in your life.

Visit our special page for Mother's Day for gift ideas, to find local flower delivery options, and for tips on how to stay connected-and to just say "thank you."



We also encourage you to share your favorite photo or video of mom (or a note to mom) and tag your post with #HeresToTheMoms.

Starting this week, you can also tune in to Mother's Day Google+ Hangouts from +AskMen, featuring editors from +Parenting.com that will provide you with creative ideas about how to make this a day your mom won't forget. Join the Mother's Day Guide Google+ community to ask questions and hear what others are planning.

From all of us at Google, we wish moms everywhere a happy Mother's Day!

Posted by Sabrina Ellis, Director of Product Management, Google+, loving daughter, and proud mom of 11-year-old Vivian and 8-year-old Ryan

07 May 2013 2:00pm GMT

Computing's early days are full of stories about great technical leaps forward. But sometimes what matters most isn't a shift in technology so much as a change in the way it is used. The "Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator" (EDSAC)-64 years old today-is a stellar example.

EDSAC is noteworthy for marking the transition from "test to tool" in civilian computing. Maurice Wilkes, EDSAC's designer, sought to build a multi-purpose, reliable workhorse that would bring unrivalled calculating power to University of Cambridge researchers. His aim wasn't to be at the cutting edge of engineering; rather to be at the forefront of delivering a computer-powered general calculation service. Above all else, Wilkes wanted EDSAC to be a practical computer, useful and accessible to a wide range of researchers.

In May 1949 EDSAC became the world's first general purpose stored program computer to enter regular service, transforming scientific research at the University of Cambridge by making it possible to speedily tackle analyses of previously impractical scale, across disciplines as varied as astronomy, economics, biology and more.

But EDSAC's legacy stretches far further. Subroutines-a central tenet of programming today-were invented by David Wheeler to make it easier to program EDSAC by re-using lines of existing code. The world's first computer science diploma had EDSAC as its foundation. The world's first business computer was built with EDSAC as a prototype.

Sadly, little remains physically of EDSAC today. That's why a team of U.K. volunteers have embarked on an ambitious project to construct a working replica of the original EDSAC, in partnership with The National Museum of Computing. We're delighted to support the EDSAC Rebuild Project, and we look forward to welcoming it back to regular service-as a reminder of the U.K.'s illustrious computing past.

Posted by Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, External Relations

06 May 2013 8:00am GMT

Recently we sent our Street View cars driving through the historic seaport town of Kaliningrad (the modern name for Koenigsberg) in Russia as part of our quest to keep Google Maps comprehensive, accurate and useful. While there, we were reminded of a classic mathematical problem: the Seven Bridges of Koenigsberg.

The mathematical problem posed an interesting challenge: find a route through Kaliningrad-which was once separated by the Pregel River-by crossing each of the seven bridges in town. The catch? One could only cross each bridge exactly once.

In 1735, Leonhard Euler, one of the most prolific mathematicians of all time and our recent Doodle subject, concluded that there was no solution to the problem because it was impossible to find a route that would cross each bridge only once. This famous problem and Leonhard Euler's non-resolution paved the way for important discoveries in the field of mathematics including graph theory and topology.

Fast forward 278 years to today where we still rely on Euler's findings to calculate optimal driving routes for our Street View cars. We use sophisticated algorithms, based on graph theory, to determine the best route through a city or town-helping us capture all the images we need in the shortest amount of time. Though these algorithms are complex, in simple terms, it's equivalent to solving the problem of drawing a house without lifting your pen and never going over the same segment twice. Like this:

(Source: Vincent Furnon, Google Operations Research Team)

While the bridges of Koeningsberg may be one of Kaliningrad's most famous landmarks, you can also explore other parts of this historic town with Street View-including the oldest building in the city, the Juditten Church, which was built before 1288, and King's Gate, one of the city's original six gates built during the 19th century.

In other words, leave the mathematics to the mathematicians and just enjoy the scenery with Street View!

Posted by Daniele Rizzetto, Operations Manager, Street View

03 May 2013 4:00pm GMT

Students from across the country sent in more than 130,000 doodles for our 2013 U.S. Doodle 4 Google competition. Today, we're proud to share with you our 50 amazingly talented state winners. Exploring their "Best Day Ever..." from life down under to flying from planet to planet in outer space, we were wowed by the imaginations and talent of young aspiring artists from coast to coast.

To reveal the local winners in all 50 states, we've sent Googlers to their schools, where they're celebrating the winning artists along with their parents, classmates, teachers and friends.

Now it's time to make your voice heard. Starting today and through May 10, we're inviting the public to vote for their favorite doodle from each of the five different grade groups. Your votes will determine the five national finalists, from which the national winner will be selected and announced at our May 22 awards ceremony in New York City.

We'll display the winning doodle on the Google homepage on May 23 for millions to see. In addition, you'll be able to see all 50 doodles created by our state winners in person at a special exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City from May 22 to July 14.

We'd like to send a special thank you to the parents, teachers and administrators who supported young artists and helped students across the country bring their "Best Day Ever" to life. We've loved looking at each and every entry that came in this year, and we hope you all enjoy the talent and creativity these 50 students have shared with us.

Posted by Ryan Germick, Doodle Team Lead

01 May 2013 12:00pm GMT

Today is International Dance Day, a celebration of a universal art form that spans cultures and countries. But dancing isn't just limited to holidays. Since 2003, Matt Harding has famously been dancing his way across the globe with people from all walks of life and sharing to millions on his YouTube channel. His mission is simple: Dance. Dance with everyone. Dance everywhere. Dance to spread joy.

Matt's journey began with a serendipitous, single dance step in Hanoi. While traveling through Southeast Asia, his friend encouraged him to dance for the camera-and he just kept dancing. At first, he was amused by the idea of capturing himself dancing in front of famous landmarks and in famous cities around the world. Since then, Matt's videos have evolved beyond a single man dancing; his videos now focus on individuals that gather together to share in the fun of dance, as you can see in his 2012 YouTube film.

The joy that goes into Matt's work is apparent-and well documented. However, there's also a fair amount of planning involved to choreograph his efforts. Matt relies on Google Maps for comprehensive, accurate and useful tools to execute and track his steps.

Before he sets off on each adventure, Matt uses Google Maps to scout various locations. Using Street View and photos in Google Maps, he finds landmarks and points of interest around the globe that are prefect dance spots. For instance, he came across Piazza del Popolo while exploring Rome with Street View. These tools come in handy to help Matt choose a backdrop to highlight his assembly of exuberant, local dancers.

Scouting is only part of the process. Once Matt has coordinated a group in a city, he helps everyone get to the designated destination by creating a customized My Map and sharing it with the participants so they can easily navigate to the planned meetup location. The end result is something everyone around the world can relate to.

Follow Matt as he continues to travel the world on his site www.wherethehellismatt.com.

Keep dancing!

Posted by Dave Kim, Google Maps Marketing Manager

29 Apr 2013 4:00pm GMT

Many of us can no longer imagine life without our smartphones. We use them for all sorts of things, like getting reminders of important calendar appointments (say, a first date), and driving directions to the Italian restaurant where your table for two awaits. Today, with the launch of Google Now on iPhone and iPad, your smartphone will become even smarter.

Google Now is about giving you just the right information at just the right time. It can show you the day's weather as you get dressed in the morning, or alert you that there's heavy traffic between you and your butterfly-inducing date-so you'd better leave now! It can also share news updates on a story you've been following, remind you to leave for the airport so you can make your flight and much more. There's no digging required: cards appear at the moment you need them most-and the more you use Google Now, the more you get out of it.

Google Now for iPhone and iPad is available as part of the updated Google Search app. Together, Google Now and voice search will make your day run a little smoother.

In addition to the handy cards in Google Now, the Google Search app still gives you instant answers to all your questions. Try tapping the microphone and speak to your phone-you'll get quick answers spoken back to you. For example, ask Google, "Do I need an umbrella this weekend?" and you'll get the forecast. Or ask "Who's in the cast of 'Oblivion'?" to decide if you want to see it. Voice Search is particularly handy on the go-try "Show me nearby pizza places" and you'll see a map of restaurants around you with directions, phone numbers, ratings and hours.



Get the Google Search app with Google Now from the App Store. Drag it to the tray, open it, sign in and you're ready to go.

Posted by Andrea Huey, Engineer

29 Apr 2013 2:30pm GMT

When we started holding our Big Tent events in London two years ago, we wanted to stir up lively conversation about some of the hot topics relating to the Internet and society. After all, the political meaning of a "big tent" is to attract diverse viewpoints to come together in one place. Since then, we've held more than 20 Big Tents on three different continents to debate issues ranging from arts and culture online to the economic impact of the web.

Later today, the Big Tent is coming to Washington, D.C. for the first time. Along with our partner Bloomberg, we'll hear from some of the top names in media, government and the arts for discussions about one of the values we hold most dear: the right to free expression.

Can free speech survive in the digital age? At a time when too many governments deny their citizens the right to dissent, we'll ask if the Internet is reaching its promise of empowering people around the world. We'll have sessions on the limits to free speech online, national security in the Internet age, and creativity and freedom on the web.

Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt and senior vice president and chief legal officer David Drummond will be joined by a variety of speakers, including former U.S. attorney general Alberto Gonzales, deputy secretary of homeland security Jane Holl Lute, Bloomberg chief content officer Norman Pearlstine, former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller, and Saudi Arabian comedian and YouTube star Omar Hussein.

Things kick off at 1:30pm EDT today-you can watch the entire event on Bloomberg's live stream and tune in to the Big Tent Google+ page for updates as the event unfolds. Later on, we'll also upload video clips to the Big Tent YouTube channel. We hope you'll join us for exciting conversations about how to best keep the Internet free and open.

Posted by Susan Molinari, Vice President, Public Policy and Government Relations

26 Apr 2013 2:17pm GMT

The Emperor instructed the gardener to set up the new court's garden. "I want you to plant five trees growing the Crataan fruit," the Emperor said, "Because we asked people what fruit they like best, and most named the Crataan fruit!" The gardener replied, "Emperor, that is excellent thinking! But let me make some suggestions: First, how about we make one of the five trees bear the Muran fruit. Only one out of ten citizens loves it, but those peculiar citizens tend to love multiple times as much!" "Second," the gardener continued, "How about we make one of the five trees bear the Dratean fruit. No one loves it, but that's because no one knows it yet!" "Third," the gardener said, "How about we leave one spot in the garden empty. Who knows what new type of tree we'll discover that we can put there in the fut ...

26 Aug 2011 12:12pm GMT

For those of you who've been wondering whether I had turned to stone, fallen into a bottomless pit, or been climbing the Himalaya... no, none of that is true, even though you probably did notice I'm not actively blogging about Google here anymore*! Just now, a new iPad app I've been working on called Color Sound Machine went live, and this -- and all the other apps and games at Versus Pad** -- are actually what I am doing while not blogoscoping. *I've drafted unpublished posts explaining much more about past, present and future of Blogoscoped, and the history of Google news reporting, but ... oh, for now le ...

15 Aug 2011 4:00pm GMT

One of the earliest specialist services provided by Google was reverse phone number lookup. If you used the "phonebook:" or "rphonebook:" operators together with a 10-digit US phone number, Google would show you the owner of that phone number, unless the number was unlisted. Google no longer provides that service. Not surprisingly, there was no press release marking the closure, but Google employee Daniel Russell has acknowledged the closure of the service in his blog. He hints at the possible pressures leading to the shuttering of the service: "As you can imagine, this was an endless source of hassles for people (who were surprised to see themselves searchable on Google) and for Google (who had to constantly de ...

25 Feb 2011 11:23am GMT

This website would take the top headlines from a tech or political site for that day -- at first just from Reddit (you gotta start somewhere), but later, from other sites too, in aggregated form, similar to Techmeme, but across different topics you can navigate to from the frontpage (entertainment, politics, technology etc.). It would present them in some sort of list of headlines with a link to the discussion source. Below every headline on the frontpage there's an expandable chat box window. You log-in once into the site and then you can expand any one of these chat boxes, and see who's in there, and read the chat log, and join yourself with remarks by typing them in a box, similar to IRC and others. The chat wouldn't be a replacement of the discussion going on at the other site, but an addition to it. One benefit: a discus ...

16 Dec 2010 2:55pm GMT

Two groups have a text chat using a web interface, arguing about a certain topic. For Group B to reply to what Group A says, each member of Group B proposes a sentence. Then, each member of Group B quickly votes on which sentence of another member of their group they like best. (You don't have to propose a sentence, and you don't have to vote on one; both proposing a sentence as well as voting on one are time-limited to just a certain amount of seconds, though.) Then, the highest-voted sentence will be shown to Crowd A as answer. Crowd A now goes through the same process to formulate a reply directed at Crowd B, and so on. To join, you can pick any of the two crowds based on reading the chat log, provided this group hasn't reach its limit of X members (beyond just group size that limit may also depend on how active current me ...

16 Dec 2010 7:26am GMT

If you're using the Google Chrome developer channel (or Firefox 4 Beta) have a look at the new Body Browser to explore a body in 3D. [Via Google OS.]

16 Dec 2010 2:17am GMT

MBegin in the forum writes: I ran home for lunch today and was VERY pleasantly surprised to find a Cr-48 Chrome OS Notebook at my doorstep!! -Thanks Google! I took a few quick pics and I'll post more about my experiences later... Feel free to bug MBegin with questions in this post's comments, just in case he finds time to get around answering them!

10 Dec 2010 5:23am GMT

Using open source technologies from Google, could someone create a tablet that would let you add both Chrome Web Store apps/ web apps in general, as well as Android Market place apps, and you as user wouldn't even need to bother much about which comes from where as you'd only see a single merged Store, and apps would all be added to a nice homescreen with icons like on the iPad, and apps would always open full-screen no matter if the app maker made it that way or not, and Flash would work too? And would anyone want that thing?

09 Dec 2010 12:40pm GMT

Watching evolution is fun, especially when it happens right around you, and happens so fast. A mutation we saw yesterday was a new animal scientists gave the name "Chrome OS Notebook", but it's surrounded by other smart animals of all kinds and shapes. What do they fight for? Their nature are our offices, living rooms, cafes and parks; their food are our individual interests. Computing devices: the more we have, the less we notice them. Sneaky things, changing the color of their skin on different backgrounds... we don't even know they're computers anymore! The sneakier they fade in, the more likely they'll hunt down our interest when it appears. You're in your room, and you just had the idea of going to a cafe to read a newspaper, and perhaps chat with some friends. You can now hear small leafs crack, the surroundin ...

08 Dec 2010 5:17am GMT

If you find Google's Instant Previews feature as useless as I do -- you know, those images popping up near search results, often similarly unwanted (when triggered by a wrong click) as Snap site previews -- maybe this User script is for you. I use several machines and browsers, though, so always installing add-ons when Google rolls out something unwanted is suboptimal in the long run (opening links in a new window is something else I don't like, for instance, and whenever I disable it -- even if I would do so across browsers and machines -- it'll come back the next time I empty my cache, because Google thinks that's best for people located in China; another feature which I practically never use is the left-hand side bar... perhaps one day we'll need a Simple Google add-on to get r ...

17 Nov 2010 3:08am GMT

Google's newest Question and Answer service is Google baraza beta, launched on 25 October 2010. Baraza is offered in English and French, although Google's links to the French questions aren't working for me. Baraza operates on a Points basis. You get 20 points for signing up, and 4 points each day you log in. If you are already logged into your Google account, there isn't actually any signup process. Your name and photo from your Google profile are automatically used, although you can change your username and avatar if you like. Asking a question costs 5 points, and you earn 5 points for choosing a "best answer" for your question, so you can use the service on an ongoing ...

16 Nov 2010 4:20am GMT

15 Nov 2010 8:26am GMT

Here's a fully playable web demo of my new free iPad two-player game Knights vs Knightesses... it runs in Google Chrome and Safari. Note the graphics load much slower than the iPad app because it's online. If you're interested, the full source is viewable. It's all JavaScript because I'm using the PhoneGap wrapper for this one.

12 Nov 2010 7:00am GMT

The release of a massive but not complete Geocities archive made me wonder about all the past stuff we probably can't recover anymore (and the usage of stylesheets over time makes design changes so easy that they're also easily undocumented) -- so my question: Which of your lost websites would you most love to get back?

04 Nov 2010 2:58am GMT

Click the MapCrunch Go button and you'll be transported to a random (Google Street View covered) place in the world. [Via Reddit.]

24 Oct 2010 6:42am GMT