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Here’s a nice surprise from Google’s Maps team: Just like Gmail, Google Maps now also has the Labs feature (it’s the little green vial in the top right menu), which introduces experimental new features for you to try out.
Right now, you can try out nine new features (all disabled by default):
Drag ‘n’ Zoom – lets you zoom in on a specific part of the map by drawing a box.
Aerial Imagery – gives you rotatable, high-resolution overhead imagery, but it’s only available in certain areas. Google plans to add more over time, though.
Back to Beta – OK, this one is a little weird. It lets you have a beta tag on Maps (just like Gmail). Only for hardcore Google users.
Where in the World Game – test your geography knowledge by guessing the names of countries from satellite imagery. I lost days playing a similar game on Facebook, and I forgot everything I’ve learned. Sigh.
Rotatable Maps – north facing up is just one way to look at a map. Now you can rotate it any way you like.
What’s Around Here? – adds a second search button that searches for “*”, returning the top results in the current view. I’ve actually been waiting for this for a long time; it makes searching for certain POIs within some area a lot easier.
LatLng Tooltip – see the exact latitude and longitude next to your cursor.
LatLng Marker – drop a marker anywhere on the map, showing the latitude and longitude of that location.
Smart Zoom – stops you from zooming into an area if imagery is not available.
Reviews: Facebook, Gmail, Google
Tags: Google Maps, labs, trending
GMAIL USERS: We hope you’ll join the discussion over on Mashable’s Google Buzz account.
Google might have a made a major misstep in assuming that the people we communicate with the most in Gmail are the same people we want to automatically share the Google Buzz experience with, but new information confirms that Buzz is not being removed from Gmail.
The blogosphere is abuzz over a Search Engine Land report that Google might unlink the two products. In contacting Google, however, we received the following statement:
“No, we’re not planning to remove Buzz from Gmail. Among some of the features we’re considering is building a standalone Buzz experience in addition to the one in Gmail, but I can’t confirm anything right now.”
Since the launch of Google Buzz there has been a growing backlash against the autofollowing formula of the social networking service and the assumptions it makes about our relationships. As the complaints crescendo, Google has shown that they’re not afraid to take quick action with alterations to the product.
Last night Google made it easier to hide your followers/following list and block users, though Search Engine Land’s report indicated they may go much further:
“Google says it may end the marriage between Buzz and Gmail … [Google executive] Horowitz said Google is considering separating Buzz from Gmail, so that people can participate independently from email. The company might also allow people on Buzz to claim new names and redirect anyone seeking them at their old profiles to the new locations. Horowitz says Google also continues to look at ensuring search is a good way for people to locate the “right” people, as well.”
That information, however, clearly contradicts what Google just told us.
If you’re looking to better understand why there’s so much upheaval about Buzz working inside of Gmail, consider reading Harriet Jacob’s colorfully worded account of her experience with Google Buzz. Here’s a snippet from that post:
“I use my private Gmail account to email my boyfriend and my mother.
There’s a BIG drop-off between them and my other “most frequent” contacts.
You know who my third most frequent contact is?
My abusive ex-husband.
Which is why it’s SO EXCITING, Google, that you AUTOMATICALLY allowed all my most frequent contacts access to my Reader, including all the comments I’ve made on Reader items, usually shared with my boyfriend, who I had NO REASON to hide my current location or workplace from, and never did.
My other most frequent contacts? Other friends of Flint’s.”
Reviews: Gmail, Google, Google Buzz
Tags: Google, google buzz, privacy
Sports fans, rejoice: If you’re on the move, you can still easily find out what’s happening at this year’s Winter Olympics. Yahoo launched a mobile site for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, with up-to-the-minute live results, upcoming events schedule, medal counts, expert commentary and more.
You can also do an athlete search to see in-depth profiles of athletes competing at the games, and find detailed info about the 15 sports included in the games. The site is available in English for 13 countries, including the U.S., Canada, the Philippines, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
To check out the site, point your mobile browsers to m.yahoo.com/olympics Also, check out a preview in the video below.
Reviews: Australia
Tags: Mobile 2.0, winter olympics, Yahoo
href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://mashable.com/2010/02/05/dec-comscore-video-data/&service=bit.ly">Online video viewing is more ubiquitous than ever. According to
href="http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/2/U.S._Online_Video_Market_Continues_Ascent_as_Americans_Watch_33_Billion_Videos_in_December?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+comscore+(comScore+Networks)" target="_blank">comScore, in the month of December 178 million people watched 33.2 billion videos, with the average viewer watching 187 videos per month in the U.S.
The astronomical numbers for December mean that viewers tuned into two billion more videos than in
href="http://mashable.com/2010/01/05/comscore-videos-november/">November, and that, as expected, a majority — nearly 40% — of those videos were
href="http://mashable.com/social-media/youtube">YouTube videos, with Hulu still coming in a very distant second place and accounting for 3% of video views.
What’s most interesting to us is that while these video-viewing numbers are giant, we’re not seeing too much fluctuation as to where online denizens are consuming this video content. Month-to-month Google’s YouTube maintains its commanding lead, while everyone else battles it out for a marginal piece of the video pie.
The month-to-month data clearly points to the fact that watching videos online is a trend that will continue to gain momentum, meaning that we can expect to see a few billion more videos added to next month’s total. The video sites we turn to for content, however, aren’t likely to change, so we can expect YouTube, Hulu and all the rest to continue to grow at the approximately the same rate.
[img credit:
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamjackson/" target="_blank">adamjackson1984]
Reviews:
href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/337063-Hulu" target="_blank">Hulu,
href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/336658-YouTube" target="_blank">YouTube
Tags:
href="http://mashable.com/tag/comscore/">ComScore,
href="http://mashable.com/tag/hulu/">hulu,
href="http://mashable.com/tag/online-video/">ONLINE VIDEO,
href="http://mashable.com/tag/video/">video,
href="http://mashable.com/tag/youtube/">youtube
src=”http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://mashable.com/2010/02/05/dec-comscore-video-data/” alt=”" [...]
The Internet has made the list of nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, going up against a Chinese dissident and a Russian human rights activist, among others.
The nomination was made after a petition by the Italian version of Wired Magazine, which cited the Internet’s contributions to “dialogue, debate and consensus through communication.” Signatories include Iranian activist Shirin Ebadi, and organizers say the nomination will make for a legitimate entry.
Legitimate or not, it’s unlikely that the Nobel Committee would choose such an unlikely winner this year: As the AP reports, last year’s pick of Barack Obama proved controversial given his short time in office. This year’s choice is likely to be a conservative one.
What do you think? Has the Internet improved the world through better communication?
Tags: internet, nobel prize
Macmillan printed books and e-books began to return to Amazon last night following a dispute over Amazon’s $9.99 e-book pricing scheme. Under the agreement, publishers can now raise prices to up to $14.99.
Macmillan, which was later joined by fellow publisher Hachette, requested the price increases over fears that Amazon would undercut its hardcover sales.
Amazon reacted by pulling all Macmillan books, but later conceded to the publisher’s demands. Under the agreed agency model, Amazon will receive 30% commission on sales.
Will you pay up to $14.99 for e-books? Let us know in the comments.
[via The NYTimes]
Tags: amazon, e-book, hachette, Macmillan, money
Google keeps adding new features to Google Maps and Google Earth. The latest: As of today you can type in a restaurant or other place you like in Google Maps and receive recommendations of nearby places you might like just as much or more.
Sure, it’s not quite as radical as something like the rumored store interior pics in Google Street View, but it’s always good to see more robust location services. Yelp offers something vaguely similar with a “people who viewed this also viewed” box, but Google’s algorithm is probably more sophisticated.
Google has beaten location-focused services like Foursquare to the punch with this. That’s too bad, because we imagine Foursquare could in theory use your check-in history to provide much better suggestions just like Netflix suggests films based on which movies you’ve already rented or streamed and how you’ve rated them. It’s not surprising that Google did it first, though; Google has a lot more experience using algorithms to determine what you’re looking for than Yelp or Foursquare do.
Google wasn’t very clear about how its algorithm works in its blog post on the subject. You’ll just have to try it for yourself to see if the results are helpful to you, but your mileage may vary.
We viewed the place page for the Indie Cafe sushi and Asian fusion restaurant on the far north side of Chicago and received a bunch of — you guessed it — sushi and Asian fusion restaurant suggestions in adjacent neighborhoods. But when we looked up Big City Swing dance studio in the same city, the results were a bit less precise. Some were great, like the Lincoln Tap Room and Tango Chicago. Others made a lot less sense, like a barber shop and other unrelated venues in a distant suburb almost an hour’s drive away.
Try it out and let us know what you think: How does it work? Do you think it’s helpful enough that you’ll be using it regularly?
Reviews: Foursquare, Google, Yelp
Tags: foursquare, Google, google earth, Google Maps, location services, yelp
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