Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Nexus

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:38 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Nexus

(Cross-posted on the Google Mobile blog)

Beaming a video with a single tap or unlocking a device with only a smile sounds like science fiction. Now, you can actually do these things (and more) with a phone that fits in the palm of your hand.

Wednesday morning in Hong Kong—together with Samsung—we unveiled Galaxy Nexus, the first phone designed for the latest release of Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich.



With a super slim profile, Galaxy Nexus features a 4.65" Contour Display with true high definition (720p) resolution and a lightning-fast dual core 1.2ghz processor combined with 4G LTE or HSPA+ technology. Galaxy Nexus also features the latest in software: Ice Cream Sandwich makes Android simple and beautiful, and takes the smartphone to beyond smart.

Beauty and simplicity
With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that's optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets.

The desktop-class browser is significantly faster, featuring a refined tab manager and the ability to sync your bookmarks with Google Chrome. Ice Cream Sandwich also features the best mobile Gmail experience to date, with a new design that lets you quickly swipe through your inbox and search messages even when you're offline. Calendar boasts a clean new look and you can zoom into your schedule with a pinch.

Connect and share
People are at the heart of Ice Cream Sandwich. We rethought how you browse your contacts with the new People app, which combines high-resolution photos and updates from Google+ and other social services. It's also easier to capture and share your life with family and friends. Galaxy Nexus sports a high-end camera with zero shutter lag, automatic focus, top notch low-light performance and a simple way to capture panoramic pictures. Shoot amazing photos or 1080p video, and then edit and share them directly from your phone.

Beyond smart
Galaxy Nexus isn't just a smartphone—it's beyond smart. Ice Cream Sandwich gives you complete control over the amount of mobile data you use by helping you better understand and manage it. We're also introducing Android Beam, which uses near field communication (NFC) to instantly share webpages, YouTube videos, maps, directions and apps by simply tapping two phones together. Face Unlock uses state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to unlock your phone with nothing more than a smile.

This weekend marks the third birthday of the G1, the first-ever Android phone. Nine releases later, more than 550,000 Android devices are activated daily.

Starting in November, Galaxy Nexus will be available in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Check out the Nexus website for a product tour and more info.

Posted by Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President, Mobile
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/unwrapping-ice-cream-sandwich-on-galaxy.html

[G] Unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Nexus

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:38 AM PDT

Official Google Mobile Blog: Unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Nexus

(Cross-posted on the Official Google blog)

Beaming a video with a single tap or unlocking a device with only a smile sounds like science fiction. Now, you can actually do these things (and more) with a phone that fits in the palm of your hand.

Wednesday morning in Hong Kong—together with Samsung—we unveiled Galaxy Nexus, the first phone designed for the latest release of Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich.



With a super slim profile, Galaxy Nexus features a 4.65" Contour Display with true high definition (720p) resolution and a lightning-fast dual core 1.2ghz processor combined with 4G LTE or HSPA+ technology. Galaxy Nexus also features the latest in software: Ice Cream Sandwich makes Android simple and beautiful, and takes the smartphone to beyond smart.

Beauty and simplicity
With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that's optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets.

The desktop-class browser is significantly faster, featuring a refined tab manager and the ability to sync your bookmarks with Google Chrome. Ice Cream Sandwich also features the best mobile Gmail experience to date, with a new design that lets you quickly swipe through your inbox and search messages even when you're offline. Calendar boasts a clean new look and you can zoom into your schedule with a pinch.

Connect and share
People are at the heart of Ice Cream Sandwich. We rethought how you browse your contacts with the new People app, which combines high-resolution photos and updates from Google+ and other social services. It's also easier to capture and share your life with family and friends. Galaxy Nexus sports a high-end camera with zero shutter lag, automatic focus, top notch low-light performance and a simple way to capture panoramic pictures. Shoot amazing photos or 1080p video, and then edit and share them directly from your phone.

Beyond smart
Galaxy Nexus isn't just a smartphone—it's beyond smart. Ice Cream Sandwich gives you complete control over the amount of mobile data you use by helping you better understand and manage it. We're also introducing Android Beam, which uses near field communication (NFC) to instantly share webpages, YouTube videos, maps, directions and apps by simply tapping two phones together. Face Unlock uses state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to unlock your phone with nothing more than a smile.

This weekend marks the third birthday of the G1, the first-ever Android phone. Nine releases later, more than 550,000 Android devices are activated daily.

Starting in November, Galaxy Nexus will be available in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Check out the Nexus website for a product tour and more info.

Posted by Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President, Mobile
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/10/unwrapping-ice-cream-sandwich-on-galaxy.html

[G] More Google Wallet merchants are live. Now you can pay AND save in a single tap.

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:38 AM PDT

Official Google Mobile Blog: More Google Wallet merchants are live. Now you can pay AND save in a single tap.

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

We're hearing from people at check-out counters throughout the country that paying with your phone is a little like magic. Just look at the ecstatic reaction on the faces of our friends who made their first Google Wallet purchases last Thursday.



Today, our partners American Eagle Outfitters, The Container Store, Foot Locker, Guess, Jamba Juice, Macy's, OfficeMax and Toys"R"Us are rolling out an even better Google Wallet experience. For the first time ever in the U.S., at these select stores, you can not only pay but also redeem coupons and/or earn rewards points—all with a single tap of your phone. This is what we call the Google Wallet SingleTap experience.

With Google Wallet in hand, you can walk into a Jamba Juice, American Eagle Outfitters or any other partner store. Once you've ordered that Razzmatazz smoothie or found the right color Slim Jean, head straight to the cashier and tap your phone to pay and save—that's it. You don't have to shuffle around to find the right coupon to scan or rewards card to stamp because it all happens in the blink of an eye.

The Offers tab in Google Wallet has been updated to include a new "Featured Offers" section with discounts that are exclusive to Google Wallet. Today, these include 15% off at American Eagle Outfitters, 10% off at The Container Store, 15% off at Macy's and an all-fruit smoothie for $2 at Jamba Juice. There are many more Google Wallet exclusive discounts to come, and you can save your favorites in Google Wallet so they'll be automatically applied to your bill when you check out.




Organizing loyalty cards in your wallet is getting easier too. Today, Foot Locker, Guess, OfficeMax and American Eagle Outfitters are providing loyalty cards for Google Wallet so you can rack up reward points automatically as you shop. More of these are on the way.

One more thing—in response to user feedback, we've improved transaction details for the Google Prepaid Card with real-time transaction information including merchant name, location, dollar value and time of each transaction. Here's what it looks like:






Finally, a special thanks to Chevron, D'Agostino, Faber News Now, Gristedes Supermarkets and Pinkberry who are now also working to equip their stores to accept Google Wallet.

It's still early days for Google Wallet, but this is an important step in expanding the ecosystem of participating merchants to make shopping faster and easier in more places. If you're a merchant and want to work with us to make shopping easier for your customers and connect with them in new ways, please sign up on the Google Wallet site. And if you're a shopper and want to purchase a Nexus S 4G phone from Sprint with Google Wallet, visit this page.

Posted by Spencer Spinnell, Director, Emerging Markets
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-google-wallet-merchants-are-live_2354.html

[G] Designing an infinite digital bookcase

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:38 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Designing an infinite digital bookcase

(Cross-posted on the Google Code blog)

As digital designers, we often think about how to translate traditional media into a virtual space. Recently, we thought about the bookcase. What would it look like if it was designed to hold digital books?

A digital interface needs to be familiar enough to be intuitive, while simultaneously taking advantage of the lack of constraints in a virtual space. In this case, we imagined something that looks like the shelves in your living room, but is also capable of showcasing the huge number of titles available online—many more than fit on a traditional shelf. With this in mind, we designed a digital bookcase that's an infinite 3D helix. You can spin it side-to-side and up and down with your mouse. It holds 3D models of more than 10,000 titles from Google Books.

The books are organized into 28 subjects. To choose a subject, click the subject button near the top of your screen when viewing the bookcase. The camera then flies to that subject. Clicking on a book pulls it off the shelf and brings it to the front and center of the screen. Click on the high-resolution cover and the book will open to a page with title and author information as well as a short synopsis, provided by the Google Books API. All of the visuals are rendered with WebGL, a technology in Google Chrome and other modern browsers that enables fast, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics right in the browser, without the need for a plug-in.

If you've finished your browsing and find a book you want to read, you can click the "Get this book" button on the bottom right of the page, which will send you to that book's page on books.google.com. Or, you can open the title on your phone or tablet via the QR code that's in the bottom left corner of the page, using a QR code app like Google Goggles. You can also browse just free books by selecting the "Free Books" subject in the subject viewer.



Bookworms using a modern browser can try the WebGL Bookcase today. We recommend using Google Chrome and a fast computer with a powerful graphics card. Even with new hardware, this interface is experimental and may not work on some machines. For more creative browser experiments, check out Chrome Experiments, a gallery of more than 300 creative projects made by developers and artists from around the world, many utilizing WebGL.

Posted by Aaron Koblin, Data Arts Team and Bill Schilit, Research
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/designing-infinite-digital-bookcase.html

[G] Making search more secure

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:38 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Making search more secure

We've worked hard over the past few years to increase our services' use of an encryption protocol called SSL, as well as encouraging the industry to adopt stronger security standards. For example, we made SSL the default setting in Gmail in January 2010 and introduced an encrypted search service located at https://encrypted.google.com four months later. Other prominent web companies have also added SSL support in recent months.

As search becomes an increasingly customized experience, we recognize the growing importance of protecting the personalized search results we deliver. As a result, we're enhancing our default search experience for signed-in users. Over the next few weeks, many of you will find yourselves redirected to https://www.google.com (note the extra "s") when you're signed in to your Google Account. This change encrypts your search queries and Google's results page. This is especially important when you're using an unsecured Internet connection, such as a WiFi hotspot in an Internet cafe. You can also navigate to https://www.google.com directly if you're signed out or if you don't have a Google Account.

What does this mean for sites that receive clicks from Google search results? When you search from https://www.google.com, websites you visit from our organic search listings will still know that you came from Google, but won't receive information about each individual query. They can also receive an aggregated list of the top 1,000 search queries that drove traffic to their site for each of the past 30 days through Google Webmaster Tools. This information helps webmasters keep more accurate statistics about their user traffic. If you choose to click on an ad appearing on our search results page, your browser will continue to send the relevant query over the network to enable advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and to improve the ads and offers they present to you.

As we continue to add more support for SSL across our products and services, we hope to see similar action from other websites. That's why our researchers publish information about SSL and provide advice to help facilitate broader use of the protocol. We hope that today's move to increase the privacy and security of your web searches is only the next step in a broader industry effort to employ SSL encryption more widely and effectively.

Posted by Evelyn Kao, Product Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/making-search-more-secure.html

[G] Save time with targeting presets in DFP

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:38 AM PDT

DoubleClick Publisher Blog: Save time with targeting presets in DFP

Imagine you're a national news site with a section of your site that is popular with advertisers: a sports section reaching adult males on the West Coast. Since this is a segment that you frequently sell, and thus regularly target your DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) campaigns to, entering the same targeting criteria across multiple campaigns can become a repetitive process.

To help make this process quicker and more efficient for publishers, we're excited to introduce the ability to save a set of targeting criteria to reuse across your other campaigns and availability forecasts.

Using the example above, the news site would define a set of targeting criteria, in this case a targeting package that includes the site's sports inventory targeted to adult male users from the West coast, and then save the package "West Coast Sports".


For future campaigns where the news site wants to reach the same audience, they can simply select the "West Coast Sports" targeting preset that they've defined, and all of the criteria selected above will automatically be added to their new line item or forecast.



Your time is valuable and we're committed to helping publishers complete routine trafficking tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Posted by David Ramos, Software Engineer
URL: http://doubleclickpublishers.blogspot.com/2011/10/save-time-with-targeting-presets-in-dfp.html

[G] Music Tuesday: The art of the remix and an African guitar hero

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:38 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Music Tuesday: The art of the remix and an African guitar hero

This week on youtube.com/music, we delve into remixes of all shapes and sizes -- from music videos that pilfer vintage footage to create something new and unusual to the now-dominant art form of the music remix. Both take existing material and tweak it -- sometimes until it's unrecognizable. And, as independent musicians and the people who love them head to New York City this week for CMJ, check back to youtube.com/music every day this week to see a video from the artists participating in our Indie Artists Summit. With the launch of our YouTube Merch Store, there's never been a better time to be a musician on YouTube.



Found Footage = Music Video?

Experimental filmmakers have used found footage for many years. But increasingly music video directors are adopting the practice, culling source material from decades of forgotten recordings and making short films for musicians that are by turns amusing, creepy and beautiful. Case in point: Mayer Hawthorne's recent video for "A Long Time," which nabs tape from a '70s-era Detroit dance television show. Or check out Ratatat's video for "Drugs," which repurposes stock Getty footage to unsettling effect. Ambient heroes Boards of Canada even turn to NASA to create their hypnotic video for "Dayvan."







The 50 Best Remixes

eMusic's staff take us through some of the greatest remixes of all time this week, sharing everything from dub classics to contemporary hip-hop bangers. The remix is now one of the dominant facts of modern music, and the mixing board and its add-ons are arguably the most important instruments in pop music today. But don't just take it from us. As eMusic says, "Who invented the remix? Lots of people — and people are still reinventing it all the time. That's the point of remixing: proof that a piece of music is never finished as long as someone can tweak the parts till they shine brighter, move differently, or resemble something else altogether."







Meet An African Guitar Hero

At 15 minutes long, today's featured video is more of a mini-documentary than a music video. Filmmaker Michal Shapiro interviews Banning Eyre, the internationally-renowned co-founder of Afropop and champion of African music. The video begins with personal history, as Eyre talks about his early days studying with Malian guitar masters -- but it quickly moves into stunning footage of one master guitarist: Aboubacar "Badian" Diabate. Diabate's technique is unparallelled -- he's able to transmit the delicacy of other African stringed instruments like the kora to his instrument. Prepare to be ravished.







Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched "Plastic Flowers - Upperground Stories."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/3s0Sr9TVxAY/music-tuesday-art-of-remix-and-african.html

[G] Making search more secure: Accessing search query data in Google Analytics

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:37 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Making search more secure: Accessing search query data in Google Analytics

As search becomes an increasingly customized experience, particularly for signed in users, we believe that protecting these personalized search results is important. As part of that effort, today the Google Search team announced that SSL Search on https://www.google.com will become the default experience for signed in users on Google.com (see the Official Google Blog post to learn more). Protecting user privacy is important to us, and we want to take this opportunity to explain what the Google Analytics team is doing to help you continue measuring your website effectively in light of these changes.



How will this change impact Google Analytics users?

When a signed in user visits your site from an organic Google search, all web analytics services, including Google Analytics, will continue to recognize the visit as Google "organic" search, but will no longer report the query terms that the user searched on to reach your site. Keep in mind that the change will affect only a minority of your traffic. You will continue to see aggregate query data with no change, including visits from users who aren't signed in and visits from Google "cpc".



What is Google Analytics doing about it?

We are still measuring all SEO traffic. You will still be able to see your conversion rates, segmentations, and more.



To help you better identify the signed in user organic search visits, we created the token "(not provided)" within Organic Search Traffic Keyword reporting. You will continue to see referrals without any change; only the queries for signed in user visits will be affected. Note that "cpc" paid search data is not affected.



Our team continues to explore ways that we can surface relevant information, like search query data, to help you measure the effectiveness of your website and marketing efforts, and as always, we welcome any feedback or comments that you have. Thank you for continuing to help us improve Google Analytics.





Posted by Amy Chang, Google Analytics team


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/4_RBV2k_uXA/making-search-more-secure-accessing.html

[G] A fresh start for Google presentations

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:37 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: A fresh start for Google presentations

A year and a half ago, we released completely new document, spreadsheet and drawing editors. Google Docs has been picking up speed ever since with more than 60 new features and millions of new users. Today we're rounding out the suite by previewing a new version of presentations with faster collaboration and more features.

A collaborative approach
Presentations are made to be shared—whether it's presenting your thesis to your professors or inspiring colleagues at a conference. And the best presentations are made together, collaborating with others to build a compelling story that captivates your audience. Creating presentations together is easy because you can:
  • See exactly what others are working on with colorful presence markers
  • Edit with your team members simultaneously from different locations
  • Use revision history to see who made changes or to revert to earlier versions
  • Say hello, start a conversation or share new ideas using built-in chat

More than 50 new features
In the new presentations, we've added many of your most requested features, including:
  • Transitions to move between slides with simple fades or spicier 3D effects
  • Animations to add emphasis or to make your slides more playful
  • New themes to create beautiful presentations with distinct visual styles
  • Drawings to build new designs, layouts, and flowcharts within a presentation
  • Rich tables with merged cells and more options for adding style to your data
What's next
We're gradually rolling out the new presentations. To get an early start, click on the gear icon in your document list, and select Document settings. Then, from the editing tab, check the box to "Create new presentations using the latest version of the presentation editor."

Many of the new features were built using technologies that are only available in modern browsers. If you're using an older browser you'll be able to view, but not edit, the new presentations.

With today's launch, the Google Docs suite is now built on a single, solid foundation. Now that the groundwork is in place, you can expect more useful and collaborative features, delivered faster than ever before.

Posted by Steven Saviano, Software Engineer
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/fresh-start-for-google-presentations.html

[G] Update: Blogger’s new look

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:37 AM PDT

Blogger Buzz: Update: Blogger's new look

Back in August, we announced a completely new, streamlined blogging experience that makes it easier for you to find what you need and focus on writing great blog posts.

Since then, millions of you have opted to try it out, and we've received tens of thousands of feedback submissions. Based on that feedback we've fixed a number of bugs, including design updates, Safari compatibility for the iPad, and tweaks to scheduling posts.

In about two weeks from today, all Blogger accounts that haven't yet made the switch will be upgraded to the new user interface. You will be able to opt-out at any time by clicking the "Switch back" link; however, all accounts will eventually be permanently upgraded.

To help you get a better sense of what's changed and how to navigate the new interface, check out the short video below.


If you'd like to switch to the new look at any time, you can easily do so by clicking the "Try the updated Blogger interface" link at the top of your dashboard.

We hope you enjoy the updates we continue to make to Blogger and welcome your thoughts about the new look. If you have suggestions or feedback, click the gear icon in the top right of the navigation bar and select "Send Feedback."

Posted by Chang Kim, Product Manager
URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/10/update-bloggers-new-look.html

[G] A fresh start for Google presentations

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:37 AM PDT

The Google Apps Blog: A fresh start for Google presentations

A year and a half ago, we released completely new document, spreadsheet and drawing editors. Google Docs has been picking up speed ever since with more than 60 new features and millions of new users. Today we're rounding out the suite by previewing a new version of presentations with faster collaboration and more features.


A collaborative approach
Presentations are made to be shared—whether it's presenting your thesis to your professors or inspiring colleagues at a conference. And the best presentations are made together, collaborating with others to build a compelling story that captivates your audience. Creating presentations together is easy because you can:
  • See exactly what others are working on with colorful presence markers
  • Edit with your team members simultaneously from different locations
  • Use revision history to see who made changes or to revert to earlier versions
  • Say hello, start a conversation or share new ideas using built-in chat


More than 50 new features
In the new presentations, we've added many of your most requested features, including:
  • Transitions to move between slides with simple fades or spicier 3D effects
  • Animations to add emphasis or to make your slides more playful
  • New themes to create beautiful presentations with distinct visual styles
  • Drawings to build new designs, layouts, and flowcharts within a presentation
  • Rich tables with merged cells and more options for adding style to your data



What's next
We're gradually rolling out the new presentations. To get an early start, click on the gear icon in your document list, and select Document settings. Then, from the editing tab, check the box to "Create new presentations using the latest version of the presentation editor." Learn more about getting started with the new presentation editor over at our Help Center.

Many of the new features were built using technologies that are only available in modern browsers. If you're using an older browser you'll be able to view, but not edit, the new presentations.

With today's launch, the Google Docs suite is now built on a single, solid foundation. Now that the groundwork is in place, you can expect more useful and collaborative features, delivered faster than ever before.


Posted by: Steven Saviano, Software Engineer
URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleAppsBlog/~3/9Iei0PG-Zgs/fresh-start-for-google-presentations.html

[G] A fresh start for Google presentations

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:37 AM PDT

Docs Blog: A fresh start for Google presentations

A year and a half ago, we released completely new document, spreadsheet and drawing editors. Google Docs has been picking up speed ever since with more than 60 new features and millions of new users. Today we're rounding out the suite by previewing a new version of presentations with faster collaboration and more features.


A collaborative approach
Presentations are made to be shared—whether it's presenting your thesis to your professors or inspiring colleagues at a conference. And the best presentations are made together, collaborating with others to build a compelling story that captivates your audience. Creating presentations together is easy because you can:
  • See exactly what others are working on with colorful presence markers
  • Edit with your team members simultaneously from different locations
  • Use revision history to see who made changes or to revert to earlier versions
  • Say hello, start a conversation or share new ideas using built-in chat


More than 50 new features
In the new presentations, we've added many of your most requested features, including:
  • Transitions to move between slides with simple fades or spicier 3D effects
  • Animations to add emphasis or to make your slides more playful
  • New themes to create beautiful presentations with distinct visual styles
  • Drawings to build new designs, layouts, and flowcharts within a presentation
  • Rich tables with merged cells and more options for adding style to your data



What's next
We're gradually rolling out the new presentations. To get an early start, click on the gear icon in your document list, and select Document settings. Then, from the editing tab, check the box to "Create new presentations using the latest version of the presentation editor." Learn more about getting started with the new presentation editor over at our Help Center.

Many of the new features were built using technologies that are only available in modern browsers. If you're using an older browser you'll be able to view, but not edit, the new presentations.

With today's launch, the Google Docs suite is now built on a single, solid foundation. Now that the groundwork is in place, you can expect more useful and collaborative features, delivered faster than ever before.


Posted by: Steven Saviano, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/10/fresh-start-for-google-presentations.html

[G] Are you the next big chef or trainer on YouTube?

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:37 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Are you the next big chef or trainer on YouTube?

Since launching the first YouTube NextUp, we've been working to supercharge the careers of partners from around the world, and now we're expanding the program even further. Today we're kicking off two new YouTube Next Creator Programs to highlight the stars of tomorrow on YouTube today: YouTube Next Chef and YouTube Next Trainer.



Each program will have sixteen participants who take part in a three month virtual class held on Google+ Hangouts. Our chefs and trainers will each receive an equipment kit worth more than $5,000, mentoring from industry leaders, filming and editing lessons and more than $10,000 worth of promotion on YouTube. Here's more info on each and an introduction from our hosts.



YouTube Next Chef

Crafty in the kitchen? Love sharing your family's recipes with the world? With YouTube Next Chef, you could be selected to learn filmmaking tailored to cooking videos. Shea Hess of Hungry in Brooklyn will be your host.







YouTube Next Trainer

Personal health comes in many forms, and we're interested in your unique approach. From yoga to 100-yard sprints, this program will help you develop filmmaking talents specifically for fitness videos. Sarah Dussalt of SarahsFabChannel will be your host.







How to apply

Starting today through October 25, partners from Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States can apply at youtube.com/NextChef and youtube.com/NextTrainer, which also includes all rules and details.



We'll be back on November 9 to introduce you to the selected chefs and trainers, as we keep working on ways to help YouTube Partners turn their passion into their career.



Austin Lau, YouTube Creator Programs, recently watched, "How To Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/l8RilkE-SN8/are-you-next-big-chef-or-trainer-on.html

[G] Good to Know

Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:37 AM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Good to Know

Posted by Will DeVries, Privacy Policy Counsel

We know that staying safe while navigating the web can be a challenge for many people. Today, we're launching a new resource on the Google website, Good to Know, that makes learning about security and privacy even easier for our users.

Privacy policies and terms of service can often be long, complex and legalistic. Our goal with the Good To Know campaign is to provide people with practical guidance, like how to select a safe password or keep their online accounts secure. In the past few years, we've tried to make it easier for our users to learn about staying safe online by equipping them with a variety of tools through our Privacy, Security, and Family Safety centers.

The new Good to Know website builds on this commitment to explaining things in simple language. The in-depth resources are still there, but we hope a one-stop-shop resource will make this information more accessible for everyone. Improving media literacy is a shared task, and we'll continue to do our part to help empower and educate consumers.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2011/10/good-to-know.html

[G] How Google Analytics can help improve your online checkout

Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:20 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: How Google Analytics can help improve your online checkout


[The following is a follow-up post for a video (see above) that we made about websites that are difficult to use. Please watch, share and comment!]

Poor "nick4ever". All he wants to do is buy a loaf of bread from the supermarket, but the store's policies and procedures get in the way of him accomplishing this seemingly simple task! What appears to be a completely absurd situation is actually something that many online shoppers have to deal with on a regular basis. Some online stores have less-than-user-friendly steps that need to be completed for the customer to make a purchase. When visitors get frustrated, they leave the site and go find another place to make their purchase. Making it easy for your customers to complete a task on your site (like buying a product) is extremely important because, unlike in the real world, going to a competitor's shop is only a click away!

Imagine you are the manager of this brick-and-mortar supermarket and, as you are walking around the store, you see the scenario unfold that is depicted in this video. Hopefully, you would do something to fix this and make the shopping experience better for your customers. When managing an online shop, it isn't possible to walk around and observe your visitors to find out where they are running into trouble. Instead, you can use a free tool like Google Analytics to learn about where your customers are having problems using your site. Here are a few tips on how to set-up Google Analytics to get better visibility into where your site could be improved:

Improve customer retention in your checkout by using Goal Funnels
In Google Analytics, you can set up to 20 goals which are pages or events that represent a desired outcome from a customer's visit to your site. Goals can include actions like signing up to a newsletter, requesting a quote or making a purchase. If you have an online checkout, make sure to include the final confirmation (or "Thank You!") page as a goal page (as this is when an purchase has been completed.) When setting up a goal you can also include the steps or pages that the user has to progress through before arriving at the goal page. In the case of an online store, make sure that every page in the process is listed (e.g. "View Shopping Cart", "Select Delivery Option", "Enter Shipping Details", "Enter Payment Details".)
Once you have these goal funnels set up correctly, you can view the Funnel Visualization report which gives you an idea of how many visitors leave your checkout process at each step. Steps in the funnel that have a large dropout rate can indicate that visitors may be confused or frustrated with that particular page. Maybe there is new information (like a shipping charge) that scares them off? Or you are asking for information that they are unable or unwilling to provide? Is it possible that the page is just broken? You may want to investigate those pages with large drop-off rates to see if there is some way to make them easier for your customers to complete.

Reduce customer frustration by tracking errors with Event Tracking
In a process like a checkout, there are many ways that a visitor can experience a error message from a website. Incorrectly filling out a form field, forgetting to tick a box or taking too long are a few of the reasons why your checkout might raise an error to the visitor. Hopefully your error messages are clear and help your visitors correct their mistake, but is there something that you, as the site manager, can learn from them?
If possible, consider putting Google Analytics event tracking in the Javascript error handling code on your site. If correctly set-up, Google Analytics will count the number and types of errors that are shown to visitors. By looking at the Top Events report you can see which errors are experienced most often by visitors. Are these caused by confusion in what the form is asking for? Or is it from something like customers taking too long to complete a part of the checkout? Most importantly, is there anything you can do to reduce the chances of a customer running into these errors?

Ensure consistent customer experience across different browsers
There are a lot of different web browsers out there! When developing a web site, it can be difficult for your developers to test every bit of functionality on every single browser on every type of platform. This gets even more difficult when trying to take into account all of the different mobile browsers as well!
If you have a look at the Browser & OS report you can see which browsers your visitors use to access your site. This should give you a better idea of which browsers you should test on your site. To go even deeper, choose the option in the Browser & OS report to view how each browser contributes to total goal completions. If you switch between these two views, you should hopefully see similar pie charts where the percentage of visits from a particular browser is roughly the same as the percentage of orders for that browser. If 20% of your visitors use the Chrome browser, you would expect that about 20% of the orders placed would be from Chrome users. However, if you see, for instance, that 10% of your visitors use Safari, but 0% of orders come from a Safari browser, there may be a bug on your site that prevents users of that browser to finish placing an order. It might be useful to further investigate any browser incompatibilities that you discover.

As a website owner, you should strive to make your site as easy-to-use as possible for your customers. The data in Google Analytics and some of the tricks mentioned above can help you with this important job. Beyond this, there are several more tools like Site Speed Reports, Intelligence, Site Search and Google Website Optimizer which can help you further improve your site. If you need more help in setting up Google Analytics, consider working with one of our Google Analytics Certified Partners or purchasing Google Analytics Premium.

Posted by Clancy Childs, EMEA Manager for Google Analytics Premium


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/8nxAJAI-oYo/how-google-analytics-can-help-improve.html

[G] UPDATE: More Hack4Transparancy for everyone

Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:20 AM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: UPDATE: More Hack4Transparancy for everyone

A few weeks ago we told you about the Hack4Transparancy event, bringing techies together November 8th and 9th in the European Parliament for an all-expenses-paid good time eating, talking, and making important data accessible to everyone.

Well, now we've got more exciting news. We've broadened the scope of the event and extended the application deadline for those wishing to make data on Internet performance visible and meaningful.

What's changed?
• The application deadline for the Internet Quality track has been extended through noon, CET, Friday October 21st (that's this coming Friday).
• To diversify the skill-set of interested hackers, we've added a data visualization option to the Internet Quality track.
• We've expanded the criteria -- now, eligible hackers from anywhere in the world can apply.
• And, we've increased the prize money. One winning team or individual on each track will now receive €5.000,00.

Now, sharpen your coding and data visualization skills, and send in your application! Winners will be notified the week of October 24.

By Marco Pancini, Google Sr. Policy Counsel, Brussels
URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2011/10/update-more-hack4transparancy-for.html

[G] More Google Wallet merchants are live. Now you can pay AND save in a single tap.

Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:20 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: More Google Wallet merchants are live. Now you can pay AND save in a single tap.

We're hearing from people at check-out counters throughout the country that paying with your phone is a little like magic. Just look at the ecstatic reaction on the faces of our friends who made their first Google Wallet purchases last Thursday.



Today, our partners American Eagle Outfitters, The Container Store, Foot Locker, Guess, Jamba Juice, Macy's, OfficeMax and Toys"R"Us are rolling out an even better Google Wallet experience. For the first time ever in the U.S., at these select stores, you can not only pay but also redeem coupons and/or earn rewards points—all with a single tap of your phone. This is what we call the Google Wallet SingleTap experience.

With Google Wallet in hand, you can walk into a Jamba Juice, American Eagle Outfitters or any other partner store. Once you've ordered that Razzmatazz smoothie or found the right color Slim Jean, head straight to the cashier and tap your phone to pay and save—that's it. You don't have to shuffle around to find the right coupon to scan or rewards card to stamp because it all happens in the blink of an eye.

The Offers tab in Google Wallet has been updated to include a new "Featured Offers" section with discounts that are exclusive to Google Wallet. Today, these include 15% off at American Eagle Outfitters, 10% off at The Container Store, 15% off at Macy's and an all-fruit smoothie for $2 at Jamba Juice. There are many more Google Wallet exclusive discounts to come, and you can save your favorites in Google Wallet so they'll be automatically applied to your bill when you check out.


Organizing loyalty cards in your wallet is getting easier too. Today, Foot Locker, Guess, OfficeMax and American Eagle Outfitters are providing loyalty cards for Google Wallet so you can rack up reward points automatically as you shop. More of these are on the way.

One more thing—in response to user feedback, we've improved transaction details for the Google Prepaid Card with real-time transaction information including merchant name, location, dollar value and time of each transaction. Here's what it looks like:


Finally, a special thanks to Chevron, D'Agostino, Faber News Now, Gristedes Supermarkets and Pinkberry who are now also working to equip their stores to accept Google Wallet.

It's still early days for Google Wallet, but this is an important step in expanding the ecosystem of participating merchants to make shopping faster and easier in more places. If you're a merchant and want to work with us to make shopping easier for your customers and connect with them in new ways, please sign up on the Google Wallet site. And if you're a shopper and want to purchase a Nexus S 4G phone from Sprint with Google Wallet, visit this page.

(Cross-posted on the Commerce blog)

Posted by Spencer Spinnell, Director, Emerging Markets
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-google-wallet-merchants-are-live.html

[G] Honey harvest 2011: the sweetest time of year

Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:20 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Honey harvest 2011: the sweetest time of year

The second year at the Google Hiveplex was a busy one, and two weeks ago, we harvested a delicious bounty from our wildly productive hives. But the sweetest part about having the four hives on campus is the Googlers from all departments who have gotten into beekeeping or become more aware of honeybees because of their presence on campus.

During the honey harvest, guided by Bill and Debbie Tomaszewski of Marin Bee Company, Googlers from all walks joined in with the Google Beekeepers and local beekeeping friends from the San Francisco Chronicle on the harvesting activities. We pulled frames of honeycomb out of the honey supers (the boxes stacked on the very top of the hives in which the bees store the honey), uncapped comb, worked the extractor and filled jars bound for our cafes and beyond.

We also participated in a tasting featuring nine honeys from around the country, including entries from Google beekeepers' personal hives, the San Francisco Chronicle's urban rooftop hive, the Marin Bee Company's suburban hive and more. The colors, consistencies and flavors varied as much as their origins, and everyone got a chance to note their own impressions of these honeys during a "Silent Tasting" where participants added their guesses about the honeys' flavors and origins to tasting sheets. Afterward, we revealed the honeys' "hometowns" (one came from as far away as Illinois) and nectar sources, which ranged from pine and fennel to eucalyptus and mustard flower.

It's tough to say how our harvest this year compares to last year, as we still haven't devised an ideal method for weighing the honey harvests, but we did end up with more honey supers on the hives at harvest time this year than we did last year. After the harvest, the supers and their empty frames were returned to the hives to allow the bees to pick every cell clean as they get ready to settle in for a cozy winter.



Everyone who participated in the harvest walked away with a sweet reward and, we hope, a new appreciation for the work our tens of thousands of busy gals put in to make it happen.

Posted by Jessica Vaughan, Google Grants
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/honey-harvest-2011-sweetest-time-of.html
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