Category: GMail
Google admitted that the navigation UI launched last year wasn’t good enough and brought back the black bar (the color is actually dark gray). Some of the features from the old interface are still available: the list of services, the notification and sharing boxes, the settings menu.
“The new design retains many of the feature changes we made in November that proved popular, including a unified search box and Google+ sharing and notifications across Google. The biggest change is that we’ve replaced the drop-down Google menu with a consistent and expanded set of links running across the top of the page,” explains Google.
The black bar doesn’t look that great in Google’s redesigned interfaces, but it’s more functional than the “invisible” menu hidden behind the Google logo. It’s always a bad idea to hide important navigational features, even if they clutter the interface. When you have to explain basic features because they’re not obvious, you’ve already failed:
{ Thanks, Cougar and Matan. }
The Bump is back; only this time, sexy new smartphones are doing the dance instead of booty-shakers. Users of iOS and Android mobile devices are being treated to a new phenomenon, created by a tiny business in California called Bump Technologies, Inc. The company employs thirty techies whose passion it is to make life easy for the millions of smartphone users who wish to exchange information.
Imagine you are in Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The networking amongst colleagues is fast and furious. Instead of having to put down everything you are carrying, pull out your pen and paper, and jot down phone numbers, email addresses, or exchange business cards, you simply “bump” your phone up against the other person’s phone and voila – you have both just shared your contact info!
"Bumping" Money from One Phone to Another with PayPal
The service has been around for a couple years, but the next iteration has some surprises to offer. Users will be able to exchange photos and share personal interests like that being share on social media sites. Money transfer between phones is also enabled thanks to Bump’s partnership with PayPal. Unfortunately, the service is currently unavailable to Blackberry and Windows Phone users.
The intricate dance is manifested by using Cloud software and storage combined with motion-sensing-hardware and GPS features built into today’s mobile devices. When two people touch their phones together, the system recognizes that action as a desire to exchange and automatically sends data to the cloud and then back down to the other device. This saves the user from having to walk through the standard technical steps that prove so confusing to many smartphone owners.
In the following video, Bump CEO, David Lieb, explains the value and the mechanics behind the tricky fun. Thank you, to our great friend Robert Scoble for the enlightening video.
This year’s doodle is actually a video that uses Tony Bennett’s song “Cold, Cold Heart” to tell the story of a boy who tries to find a gift for the girl he loves, but fails to impress her.
The doodle is available if you visit Google Australia, Google Japan and other domains for countries that celebrate Valentine’s Day because it’s already February 14 there.
Here are the other Google doodles for Valentine’s Day.
{ Thanks, Dan. }
Gamers are anxiously waiting for the next powerful gaming console from Microsoft. Dubbed Xbox 720, it is expected to be 6 times more powerful than Xbox 360.
However, it seems the rig will bring more exciting features by delivering the unique experience of 3D gaming to its users.
Though there were rumors floating around hinting that the new Xbox may have 3D capabilities, the company has not admitted it so far. Though Microsoft is yet to announce anything official about the 3D features on the upcoming console, a new job ad from the company hints that they are working seriously on 3D features of the product.
The ad looks for an Algorithm Research & Development Engineer for Xbox team based in Haifa, Israel. The major responsibility of the engineer will be designing and implementing algorithm into state of the art 3D imaging systems working in an integrated HW and SW leading team and others.
Though the ad restricts itself from going into more details, it gives loads of hints that the Xbox team is researching into introducing 3D interface into the consoles. It is an obvious move from Microsoft since 3D gaming is getting popular.
Moreover, earlier leaks have suggested that Xbox 720 will be using ATI’s Radeon HD 6670 GPU which can offer support to 3D technology.
It is expected that Microsoft will unwrap the new gaming console at the E3 trade show scheduled to take place later this year. However, you will have to wait till 2013 to find it in market.
DeviceMAG
For some reason, Google added a YouTube contact group to many Gmail accounts. I currently have 82 contacts in the YouTube group and they have only one thing in common: they sent me or I sent them an email in 2006, 2007 or 2008. They don’t have anything to do with YouTube and some of the email addresses couldn’t be used to create Google accounts (for example, the Writely email address for importing documents).
The YouTube group can be renamed or deleted, but it’s strange that it was automatically created. Gmail has some system groups for Google Latitude, Google Talk, Google Buzz, but they’re hidden and can’t be removed.
Do you see the YouTube group in your Gmail account?
{ Thanks, Katty and everyone who commented on Google+. }
Google usually returns pretty good search results, but only if there are pages that include the words from your query or some synonyms. Google doesn’t understand the query, it only tries to match the words from that query. Sometimes Google can answer questions like “How tall was Albert Einstein?” or “What’s the real name of Al Pacino?”, but it can’t go beyond simple facts.
Amit Singhal, Senior Vice President at Google, says that Google works on building “a huge knowledge graph of interconnected entities and their attributes”. Freebase was just the starting point: Google’s knowledge graph has 200 million entities, while Freebase only has 22 million entities. The graph is actually an encyclopedia with structured information obtained from the web. This will help Google understand your queries, provide answers to complex questions and find more relevant results.
Right now, Google only uses the graph to show a list of related searches for singers, actors, painters etc. As Google improves its infrastructure, the knowledge graph will be used more and more.
Google’s feedback tool that’s used in many services for reporting bugs has a new interface. It looks much better and it doesn’t open a new page to show the information that’s sent to Google. You can also see a list of all your bug reports.
“Google Feedback lets you send Google suggestions about our products. We welcome problem reports, feature ideas and general comments,” informs Google.
To try Google Feedback, go to Gmail, click the “settings” menu and then “report a bug”. A similar feature is available in Google Docs, YouTube and many other Google services. You can see the old version of Google Feedback if you click “Report a bug” in YouTube’s footer when you watch a video.
Google Feedback started as an extension and now it’s a web app.
{ Thanks, Sterling. }
Various rumors are suggesting that Apple’s 2012 iPhone and iPad will come with 4G LTE support, and considering that more and more carriers are going to be deploying LTE networks this year, we certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple adopt the new technology.
We’ve seen the first LTE smartphones and tablets debut last year, most of them, if not all of them, being Android devices. Apple has explained at the time that the then-current state of the LTE chips was not satisfactory for its needs, although the fact that LTE adoption among consumers was very limited when the statement was made is probably another reason that explains why the company seemed never interested to make the iPhone 4S its first LTE device ever.
But things will change this year, as Apple’s next-gen iPad and iPhone are reportedly going to be LTE-ready thanks to a new, slimmer Qualcomm chip that will be employed by both devices. The company has not confirmed such plans yet, but with the iPad 3 media event scheduled to take place in the first week of March, we’ll probably find out more details about Apple’s LTE plans very soon.
In the mean time, today we see the first 4G LTE micro SIM cards from AT&T getting leaked, a move that indirectly implies the upcoming iPad 3 and the sixth-generation iPhone 5/6 will indeed come with LTE support. Furthermore, Apple’s smartphone and tablet are the main devices that use a micro SIM card on AT&T’s network, if not the only ones, so we certainly expect the company to confirm LTE support starting with its 2012 generation of iOS devices in the weeks to come.
In addition to 4G LTE, the iPad 3 and iPhone 5/6 are likely to also offer support for AT&T’s HSPA+ network, also labeled as fake 4G. The iPhone 4S, while lacking an LTE chip, does come with such fake 4G powers, which make AT&T iPhone 4S units the fastest iPhones in the U.S. since neither Verizon nor Sprint offer HSPA+ support.
Anyone excited to buy an LTE-enabled iPhone or iPad?
It was something of a surprise, reverberating throughout large chunks of the blogosphere that–surprise, surprise–ladies like the gadgetry too. Indeed, the word from the Consumer Electronics Association–you know, those guys who put on the Consumer Electronics Show every year?–says that eight out of ten ladies surveyed said they were interested in gadgets. And of that 80 percent, nearly half–41 percent–of them said they were “very interested”. That’s up from 31 percent just five years ago. And what that means is there’s a good chance that special lady in your life is looking forward to Valentine’s Day, and maybe even a new gadget. So, like we usually do on Fridays, we put together a list of the top seven gadget gifts a lady might like for Valentine’s Day.
7. Capacitive Touch Screen Gloves
Terrific if you live in a colder climate, one thing you quickly learn in such an environment is that your hands need covered. And that’s not always conducive with touch screens. Better yet, you can get extra schmaltzy and pull the “cold hands / warm heart” gambit. And these are especially good for either front as they’re made with touch screen fibers in the fingers, allowing you to not only wear the gloves, but also interact with the touch screen. Best of all, they’re only .99 out at ThinkGeek.
6. Ballistic iPhone 4S Case
If your lady has an iPhone 4S, you know she’s put a lot of cash into it, and a lot of hard work just to get one. What better way to say “I care about the things you care about” than giving her one of the best multi-layer protection setups yet in the Ballistic iPhone 4S case? While the sentiment is certainly there, there’s no denying that a Ballistic case will do a nice job protecting your lady’s iPhone against drops and weather conditions, so it’s worth adding to the shopping list.
5. Kindle Fire
This one works delightfully on several levels. Is she a reader? It handles ebooks smoothly. Does she like mobile computing? This is a light-grade tablet. Or do you just want to get sappy? Tell her she Kindles that Fire in your heart and watch the misty-eye effect kick in. A Kindle Fire’s got just about every possible facet of gift-giving awesome you could want in your Valentine’s Day, so take advantage of the sheer array of possibilities!
4. A MP3 Player Mix Tape
This is a concept that’s steadily coming into vogue, and the perfect example of absolute customization. See, these days, MP3 players aren’t pricey. Some of them even serve double duty as USB sticks. And when you pre-fill them with your songs of choice, easily had at any of a variety of music sites, it only gets better. Couple a good shopping value together with the opportunity to make an emotional impact and that spells a smart move in the making.
3. Membership to your MMO of choice
A video game for Valentine’s Day? The hell you say! It’s not so outlandish as you might think, as it’s been discovered that ladies like video gaming as much as guys do…okay, maybe not as much, but the numbers are closer than you’d think, and for different reasons. See, for many of the ladies, gaming is an opportunity for a social experience. And an MMO is a great opportunity for gaming to get social. Plus, it’s a game that she doesn’t have to stand around and watch you play–rather, she can play too. And if she’s playing right along side you, that’s a much, much different story.
2. Dave Barry’s A Complete Guide To Guys
Guys, we are not an open book to the ladies. In fact, much of our way of life confuses them about as much as theirs confuses us. And if you’ve ever wanted to make an impression, what better way than to hand over a complete guide to us? And let’s face it, guys, if you’ve read Dave Barry’s book, you know it’s not only funny, but it’s also disturbingly accurate. Everything from a description to our responses to the appearance of other guys in a public restroom to our relative confusion over the concept of relationships in general, Barry provides all the details you could ever want to know. And what better way to say “I love and trust you” than to hand over a primer to our most universal secrets? There’s only one way better that I can think of, and that way is…
1. 3D Chocolate Printer
A 3D printer is an impressive enough gadget by itself. It takes plastic, or resin, or even powdered metal and creates three dimensional representations of objects. With a 3D printer, you can actually create most anything you want, as long as you have the necessary instructions for it. And now, there’s currently research going on–this one might take a while to get to you–into 3D printers that use chocolate. And with that, you’ll be able to custom make anything out of chocolate. Anything. The possibilities stretch out before you, as anything you can think to make a chocolate replica of could be done with something like this.
And so, there you have it; seven great possibilities, both now and in the future, for great gifts for Valentine’s Day. Special thanks to our friends out at ThinkGeek, who dropped us a line on special Valentine’s Day gifts for the geek in your life. And for those who think this list may be a bit skewed, fear not: I consulted actual females in the list’s construction, who found it for the most part worthwhile, but acknowledged that the actual mileage on these gifts will vary.
And of course, for every one I managed to include, there are several others that I missed. So help out your fellow gadget buffs down in the comments section; what hits have you had as far as Valentine’s Day gift giving goes? What gifts have fallen short of the mark? No matter what your experience has been, head on down to the comments section and tell us what you think!
all pics copyright their owners.
Apple has added two video ads to their video page, showing how Siri, the voice-assisted search service can come handy during situations in day-to-day life. The ads show off Siri’s voice recognition and intelligent assistant technology.
Titled Road Trip and Rock God, the ads show the user interaction with Siri and thus subliminally project the features of the service, without even mentioning its name.
In the Road Trip ad, a man decides to travel from Boston to Santa Cruz with his partner, and both of them consult Siri throughout the trip.
The ad shows the travelers using both question and non-question voice commands to get responses from Siri. The very trip starts itself by asking Siri to find the way to SantaCruz.
The travelers use Siri’s service for a bunch of purposes like spotting a restaurant and finding gas station when they ran out of fuel. In fact, Siri turns out to be almost like a third passenger with whom others keep talking every now and then.
The Rock God is again another way Apple found to show how handy Siri is for anyone, regardless of the profession. In Rock God, a youngster consults Siri for a range of purposes like finding a guitar, texting friends to organize a garage band performance. To make it the punch line, the boy in the end of the commercial demands Siri to call him Rock God.
Well, both ads have already caught the eyes and hearts of the users. They are considered good in taste, since Apple did not join the mudslinging, in the backdrop of the nasty attack by Samsung through negative ads.
The ads are brilliant enough not to mention the name of the service or to clearly inform that the service is available with iPhone 4S only. Well, hit the play buttons below to watch the ads.