Thursday, November 18, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Credit where credit is due

Posted: 18 Nov 2010 12:12 AM PST

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

Posted by Eric Weigle, Software Engineer, and Abe Epton, Publisher Technical Specialist

News publishers and readers both benefit when journalists get proper credit for their work. That can be difficult, with news spreading so quickly and many websites syndicating articles to others. That's why we're experimenting with two new metatags for Google News: syndication-source and original-source. Each of these metatags addresses a different scenario, but for both the aim is to allow publishers to take credit for their work and give credit to other journalists. Here's how to use these metatags:

  • syndication-source indicates the preferred URL for a syndicated article. If two versions of an article are exactly the same, or only very slightly modified, we're asking publishers to use syndication-source to point us to the one they would like Google News to use. For example, if Publisher X syndicates stories to Publisher Y, both should put the following metatag on those articles:
    <meta name="syndication-source" content="http://www.publisherX.com/wire_story_1.html">

  • original-source indicates the URL of the first article to report on a story. We encourage publishers to use this metatag to give credit to the source that broke the story. We recognize that this can sometimes be tough to determine. But the intent of this tag is to reward hard work and journalistic enterprise. For example, to credit the publication that broke a story you could use a metatag like this:
    <meta name="original-source" content="http://www.example.com/burglary_at_watergate.html">

In both cases, it's perfectly valid for a metatag to point to the current page URL. It's also fine for there to be multiple original-source metatags on one page, to indicate a variety of original reporting leading up to the current article. If you're not sure of the exact URL to provide in either case, just use the domain of the site that should be credited.

Although these metatags are already in use by our systems, you may not notice their impact right away. We'll need some time to observe their use "in the wild" before we can make the best use of them. But we're hopeful that this approach will help determine original authorship, and we encourage you to take advantage of them now.

To learn more about how these metatags work, and how you can implement them for your site, visit our Help Center article.
URL: http://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/credit-where-credit-is-due.html

[G] Editing your Google Docs on the go

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 09:19 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Editing your Google Docs on the go

(Cross-posted on the Google Docs Blog, Google Enterprise Blog and the Google Mobile Blog)

With Google Docs, we're always trying to make you more productive—and part of that means making it possible for you to get things done from anywhere, at anytime. That's why we're excited that the new documents editor now supports editing on your mobile browser. We're rolling this out over the next few days.

That means that...
  • You can work on that important memo...while on the bus or train to work.
  • If you're behind on a group proposal, but really want to make it to the ball game tonight, your whole team can work on it from the bleacher seats.
  • You can take minute-by-minute notes at a concert so you'll always remember the setlist. And your friends can jealously follow in real-time at home.
  • ...and the list goes on!
Take a look at this video to see mobile editing in action:



It's easy to get started: visit docs.google.com in a browser on a supported device, and select the document you want to edit. Then, when you're viewing it, press the Edit button to switch to the mobile editor.


In the next few days, we're rolling this out to English-language users around the world on Android with Froyo (version 2.2) and on iOS devices (version 3.0+) including the iPad. We'll be adding support for other languages soon. And as before, we also support editing of spreadsheets from your mobile device's browser.

We hope you enjoy editing your documents on the go—especially when you're at the game with a hot dog in your other hand.

Posted by Andrew Grieve, Software Engineer
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/editing-your-google-docs-on-go.html

[G] Editing your Google Docs on the go

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 07:10 PM PST

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Editing your Google Docs on the go

Cross posted on the Official Google Blog, Google Docs Blog and the Google Mobile Blog

With Google Docs, we're always trying to make you more productive—and part of that means making it possible for you to get things done from anywhere, at anytime. That's why we're excited that the new documents editor now supports editing on your mobile browser. We're rolling this out over the next few days.

That means that...
  • You can work on that important memo...while on the bus or train to work.
  • If you're behind on a group proposal, but really want to make it to the ball game tonight, your whole team can work on it from the bleacher seats.
  • You can put the finishing touches on your big proposal while waiting to be met in your client's lobby.
  • ...and the list goes on!
Take a look at this video to see mobile editing in action:



It's easy to get started: visit docs.google.com in a browser on a supported device, and select the document you want to edit. Then, when you're viewing it, press the Edit button to switch to the mobile editor.

In the next few days, we're rolling this out to English-language users around the world on Android with Froyo (version 2.2) and on iOS devices (version 3.0+) including the iPad. We'll be adding support for other languages soon. And as before, we also support editing of spreadsheets from your mobile device's browser.

We hope you enjoy editing your documents on the go—especially when you're at the game with a hot dog in your other hand.

Posted by Andrew Grieve, Software Engineer
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/11/editing-your-google-docs-on-go.html

[G] Spyder follows the snow, pushes the limits, and lives in the cloud

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 07:10 PM PST

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Spyder follows the snow, pushes the limits, and lives in the cloud

Spyder has always been a company that pushes the limits of design and performance, proving that it's as important to adapt with speed and grace to conditions on the mountain as it is in business. At Spyder they value speed and innovation in all that they do, and that includes their information systems. Google Apps helps Spyder design high-performance products and work with their athletes and manufacturers all over the world.

While Spyder has grown and expanded its product line over the years, its roots are in ski racing. Founder and championship skier, David Jacobs, started Spyder as a ski sweater company out of his kitchen in 1978. As a former coach of the Canadian National Ski Team, David understood that athletes depend on quality equipment to gain a competitive edge. For more than 30 years, Spyder has focused on engineering superior skiwear for its athletes, whether they're Olympic skiers like Julia Mancuso and Tommy Moe, back country enthusiasts, or just beginners. Rigorously tested by top athletes on some of the toughest terrain and the most competitive races, Spyder products embody a passion for performance.




Spyder is a business that needs to go where their athletes go. And these people feed on adventure and thrive on adrenaline, so they find themselves in some pretty interesting places - Alpine Ski World Cup stops, Chilean photo shoots, and wherever the Olympics are, to name just a few examples. Google Apps helps Spyder set up shop on any mountain. With Google Apps Spyder employees can just pick up their laptops, check their email on the go, and get to the next race or the next photo shoot.

Spyder works with designers and manufacturers all over the world, so they need to be able to share documents and spreadsheets, have meetings over video chat, and find what they're looking for in their inboxes - fast. Google Apps has helped Spyder's internal teams work more cohesively and efficiently, enabling them to get the best quality products to market, wherever they happen to be in the world. If Google Apps helps them get their work done faster so they can get back on the mountain, that doesn't hurt, either!

Posted by Ashley Chandler, Google Apps team
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/11/spyder-follows-snow-pushes-limits-and.html

[G] New Japanese 3D cities available in Google Earth

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 04:07 PM PST

Google LatLong: New Japanese 3D cities available in Google Earth

[Cross-posted from the SketchUp Blog]

Today, we're happy to announce that three more Japanese cities are viewable in 3D in Google Earth: Yokohama, Sendai and Saitama.

Sun rising over Yokohama.

You can now tour photo-realistic, 3D buildings in these cities without leaving your house—or climbing aboard a shinkansen.



If you'd like to extend your virtual stay in Japan, you can take a tour of Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka or Kyoto, which are also available in Google Earth's 3D Buildings layer.

We want to thank the many users who modeled and contributed 3D buildings for these Japanese cities. If you're interested in creating buildings for your town—or for any town—we have several easy-to-use tools to get you started.

With Google Building Maker, you can create and contribute a building in as little as 10 minutes. In Japan, Building Maker is available for the following cities: Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kobe, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Saitama, Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo and Yokohama. And if you'd like to refine your building bring it into Google SketchUp for fine-tuning.

Happy modeling!

Posted by James Therrien, Google Geo Group
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-japanese-3d-cities-available-in.html

[G] Getting from A to B just got a little easier

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 04:07 PM PST

Google LatLong: Getting from A to B just got a little easier


Over the past year, the Google Maps Directions team has been hard at work developing a variety of design improvements to make getting and following directions much easier.

It's now simpler than ever to switch transport modes, change the time/date of your trip, get a high-level overview comparing different routes, and view details of a single trip at-a-glance.


To explore these improvements in more depth, let's imagine that you're planning a trip to visit the beautiful city of Zürich, and would like to take public transportation from the airport to your destination in town.

We've made it super quick and easy for you to see all the available modes of transportation when you're planning a route - you can see that driving, public transit, and walking are all available in this area. The options for setting a time and date for your trip are also now open by default for public transit:


Having selected your start location and end destination, you are presented with a series of suggested routes to take you from A to B. Each description is now much richer, making it easier to differentiate between similar routes:


Once you select a route, the individual steps for the trip are dramatically simplified and cleaner in the new design. The stations at which you'll need to transfer, and the number of stops in between are now much more apparent. The sections of the route that involve walking are also much easier to spot since they're indicated by a dotted line on the left:


Clicking on any step will also display more information. For example, we now show the stop preceding the one where you'll need to get off, so that you can get your bags ready and prepare to disembark. And we've introduced turn-by-turn direction indicators for walking, driving and cycling:


Stay tuned for further changes as we continue to refine and improve your experience using directions from Google Maps. Enjoy your travels!

Posted by Jonah Jones, User Experience Designer
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/11/getting-from-to-b-just-got-little.html

[G] Editing your Google Docs on the go

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 01:17 PM PST

Official Google Mobile Blog: Editing your Google Docs on the go

Cross posted on the Official Google Blog, Google Enterprise Blog and the Google Docs Blog

With Google Docs, we're always trying to make you more productive—and part of that means making it possible for you to get things done from anywhere, at anytime. That's why we're excited that the new documents editor now supports editing on your mobile browser. We're rolling this out over the next few days.

That means that...
  • You can work on that important memo...while on the bus or train to work.
  • If you're behind on a group proposal, but really want to make it to the ball game tonight, your whole team can work on it from the bleacher seats.
  • You can take minute-by-minute notes at a concert so you'll always remember the setlist. And your friends can jealously follow in real-time at home.
  • ...and the list goes on!
Take a look at this video to see mobile editing in action:



It's easy to get started: visit docs.google.com in a browser on a supported device, and select the document you want to edit. Then, when you're viewing it, press the Edit button to switch to the mobile editor.


In the next few days, we're rolling this out to English-language users around the world on Android with Froyo (version 2.2) and on iOS devices (version 3.0+) including the iPad. We'll be adding support for other languages soon. And as before, we also support editing of spreadsheets from your mobile device's browser.

We hope you enjoy editing your documents on the go—especially when you're at the game with a hot dog in your other hand.

Posted by: Andrew Grieve, Software Engineer
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/11/create-and-edit-your-google-docs-on-the.html

[G] Google Voice for iPhone

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 01:17 PM PST

Official Google Mobile Blog: Google Voice for iPhone

(cross-posted from the Google Voice Blog)

Earlier this year we launched a Google Voice HTML5 web app for iPhone users. Today we're taking the Google Voice experience on the iPhone to a whole new level with the launch of the official Google Voice for iPhone app.

With this native app, you'll continue to have access to all the major Google Voice features on your iPhone, like:
  • Cheap rates for international calls
  • Free text messaging to U.S. numbers
  • Voicemail transcription
  • Display your Google Voice number as caller ID when making calls
In addition to these benefits, the app provides some features that make using Google Voice on your iPhone a much better experience:
  • With push notifications, the app will alert you instantly when you receive a new voicemail or text message
  • Most of your calls will be placed via Direct Access Numbers, making them connect just as quickly as regular phone calls


Google Voice for iPhone is available to download from the Apple App Store today. You'll need an iPhone with iOS 3.1 or later and a valid Google Voice account to use the app. At this time, Google Voice is available in the U.S. only.

Posted by Christian Brunschen, Software Engineer
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/11/google-voice-for-iphone.html

[G] Offline, meet online: a marketing experiment with Google Goggles

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 01:17 PM PST

Official Google Mobile Blog: Offline, meet online: a marketing experiment with Google Goggles

(cross-posted with Official Google Blog)

About a year ago, we launched Google Goggles, an app that enables people to search the web by taking pictures with their mobile devices. Since then, people have used Goggles to search for information about lots of different things: famous paintings, landmarks, products and much more.

Today, we're announcing a Google Goggles marketing experiment. We're working with five brands—Buick, Disney, Diageo, T-Mobile and Delta Airlines—to extend some of their offline marketing to the mobile web. They have "Goggles-enabled" some of their print ads, movie posters and other media. When users take pictures of these with Google Goggles, they will be recognized by the app, and users will have the option of clicking-through directly to a mobile destination from the brand.

For a closer look at these specific campaigns, take a look at our video:

We developed Google Goggles so that people could more easily explore the world around them with a mobile device. In this experiment, we're applying the same principles, and the same technology, by "Goggles-enabling" advertisements and other media, and offering to link people to the mobile sites from these brands.
To interact with these experimental campaigns, download Google Goggles from the Android Market or get Google Mobile App for iPhone from the iTunes store, and look for advertising and products from companies in the video above, and others that are coming soon.

Posted by Shailesh Nalawadi, Product Manager, Google Goggles
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/11/offline-meet-online-marketing.html

[G] Editing your Google Docs on the go

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 09:11 AM PST

Official Google Docs Blog: Editing your Google Docs on the go

Cross posted on the Official Google Blog, Google Enterprise Blog and the Google Mobile Blog

With Google Docs, we're always trying to make you more productive—and part of that means making it possible for you to get things done from anywhere, at anytime. That's why we're excited that the new documents editor now supports editing on your mobile browser. We're rolling this out over the next few days.

That means that...
  • You can work on that important memo...while on the bus or train to work.
  • If you're behind on a group proposal, but really want to make it to the ball game tonight, your whole team can work on it from the bleacher seats.
  • You can take minute-by-minute notes at a concert so you'll always remember the setlist. And your friends can jealously follow in real-time at home.
  • ...and the list goes on!
Take a look at this video to see mobile editing in action:



It's easy to get started: visit docs.google.com in a browser on a supported device, and select the document you want to edit. Then, when you're viewing it, press the Edit button to switch to the mobile editor.


In the next few days, we're rolling this out to English-language users around the world on Android with Froyo (version 2.2) and on iOS devices (version 3.0+) including the iPad. We'll be adding support for other languages soon. And as before, we also support editing of spreadsheets from your mobile device's browser.

We hope you enjoy editing your documents on the go—especially when you're at the game with a hot dog in your other hand.

Posted by: Andrew Grieve, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/11/editing-your-google-docs-on-go.html

[G] Faster typing, fewer mistakes

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 07:27 AM PST

Official Google Docs Blog: Faster typing, fewer mistakes

With Google Docs we try to make writing a document as easy and as fast as possible. Yesterday, we added two new auto-correction features to speed up your document writing.

LaTeX shortcuts in equations
Until now, the only way to enter an equation in documents was to create the equation from the Insert menu, and then use the equation toolbar to choose your symbols.

The toolbar makes it easy to discover which types of equations are possible.

Today we're making it a little easier for users to quickly type equations using LaTeX equation shortcuts. For anyone who heard of LaTeX before, it's a document markup language that's often used by academics to quickly type out complex formulas. In Google Docs, when you're inside an equation you can type '\sqrt' followed by a space or a parenthesis to automatically convert the text into a square root sign √. Other examples of useful shortcuts are '\frac' for a fraction and shorthands like '\epsilon' for Greek symbols.

If you want to quickly enter a superscript or a subscript while inside an equation, you can do that with '^' and '_'respectively. Here's a full list of the automatic equation shortcuts supported in Google Docs.

Text replacements
We also added the ability to substitute text automatically. For example, you can type '(c)' followed by a space to have it automatically converted into a copyright sign ©, or '2/3' and a space to have it automatically converted into the fraction symbol: ⅔.

This feature is especially useful if there are spelling mistakes that you notice yourself making over and over again. You can right click on a misspelled word, go down to the AutoCorrect option, and choose a way of automatically fixing this spelling mistake in the future.


If you don't want text replacements, you can disable them from the Tools > Preferences dialog. From that dialog, you'll also be able to manage your text replacements by adding and removing items from the list.

Finally, if a document ever makes an auto-correction that you don't want, you can press Ctrl Z (Cmd Z on a Mac) to undo it.

We hope that these new features will help make you a speedier writer in Google Docs.

Posted by: Evgeniy Stepanov, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/11/faster-typing-fewer-mistakes.html

[G] Introducing Boutiques: a new way to shop for fashion online

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 06:24 AM PST

Official Google Blog: Introducing Boutiques: a new way to shop for fashion online

The way we shop for fashion is different from how we buy cameras—especially online. With fashion, reviews and specs are less important; fashion shopping is about discovering something that fits your taste and feels right. The web works well for buying cameras and other hard goods but for soft goods, such as clothing and accessories, it's not the same as shopping in a store.

What's more, the market for soft goods online is growing tremendously. A year and half ago, our team (which at the time was part of Like.com) started to wonder if we could create a better experience for people to shop online. Our team consists of PhDs in computer science with an emphasis on machine learning and computer vision, along with fashion designers and stylists—we jokingly called ourselves the computer nerds and fashion nerds (and a few of us were both). So, we set out to create a new way to browse, discover and shop for soft goods online.

Today, we're excited to share with you our first step towards realizing this goal. It's called Boutiques.com: a personalized shopping experience that lets you find and discover fashion goods, by creating your own curated boutique or through a collection of boutiques curated by taste-makers—celebrities, stylists, designers and fashion bloggers. Boutiques uses computer vision and machine learning technology to visually analyze your taste and match it to items you would like.


In fashion, there are lots of choices. If there are, say, 500,000 items in a store, that means there are literally billions of different combinations of outfits you can make with those items. How do you sort through all of this? This site had to be a collaboration.

First we partnered with taste-makers of all types. We asked them not just to curate 10-50 great items they loved, but also to teach our site their style and taste. They did this by telling us what colors, patterns, brands and silhouettes they loved and they hated. They took a visual quiz that taught the site to understand their style genre: Classic, Boho, Edgy, etc. Our machine learning algorithms use this information to enable you to shop all of the inventory in the style of that taste-maker, on top of the 50 items they've hand-curated.

These days, bloggers, stylists and everyday fashionistas are expressing their sense of style online. We invited them to create boutiques so people could shop their diverse styles. But you have a unique and independent style too, so Boutiques also lets you build your own personalized boutique and get recommendations of products that match your taste.

In addition to all this, Boutiques offers a variety of features to search and discover merchandise including:

Advanced search filters - Filter by genre, silhouette, pattern, color families and sizes.


Inspiration photos - Try a search for [yellow pumps] and you'll see matching outfit ideas to the right of the search results. We feature images from streetstyle sites, and collage and styling sites to provide you with the online equivalent of styled mannequins to give you inspiration.

Complete the Look - Ever wonder what to pair with that dress? Our fashion designers wrote hundreds of style rules—like "heavily patterned handbags don't tend to go with heavily patterned dresses"—that we used to develop a tool to suggest items that match.

Visual search - Sometimes you love an item but not in a particular color. We analyze the photograph of an item for its color, shape and pattern and try to help you find visually similar items.

Boutiques on your tablet - Download our iPad application, lean back and move through inventory as if you were flipping through clothes on a rack at the store.

You can start shopping now at Boutiques.com. At this time, Boutiques is only available in the U.S. and only for women's fashion, but we plan to expand in the future. Tell us what you think on our feedback form. And if you're a designer, stylist, celebrity or retailer and want to participate on Boutiques.com, drop us a line.

Posted by Munjal Shah, Product Management Director
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/introducing-boutiques-new-way-to-shop.html
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