Posted 10/10/08 at 06:09:49 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Google has made a subtle addition to Youtube. Now users have the option of hearing an audio preview of their comment before posting it. The audio preview feature, apparently, has nary a practical purpose to serve, but the possibility of some people puffing up with vanity after hearing their insightful comments can not be ruled out. The origins of the useless feature can be traced back to a XKCD cartoon by Randall Munroe. Hopefully the audio preview feature will stir the conscience of spammers and make them reach for the backspace key.

Read More

Comments 

2

TAGS 

Google, youtube, audio preview, xkcd

Posted 10/09/08 at 03:15:05 PM by Alex Castle

It’s hard not to like Google Earth. It’s free, it’s fun, and now it’s about to get sharper than ever. The GeoEye-1, a commercial imaging satellite sponsored by Google and considered to be the world’s most accurate snapped its first photo on Wednesday, Wired reports.

The satellite takes photos at a maximum resolution of 41 centimeters, high enough—in other words—to spot your dog from space. Unfortunately for Google, the government places restrictions on the max resolution of commercial satellites, meaning that Google will only be allowed to use images with a resolution of 50 centimeters or worse.

And speaking of the government, although Google is the primary corporate sponsor of the GeoEye, the satellite’s number one customer is the US government’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Eager to avoid an unflattering label, Mark Brender, VP of communications and marketing at GeoEye, says “This is the opposite of a spy satellite. Spies don’t put info on the internet and sell imagery.”

So now Google’s armed with its own not-a-spy satellite. Are you concerned about your privacy, or just psyched for a higher-res Google Earth? Let us know after the break.
 

Read More

Comments 

7

TAGS 

Software, Google, Maps, satellite, google earth, geoeye

Posted 10/08/08 at 06:20:43 PM by Andy Salisbury

Yahoo has single-handedly disproved Moore’s law, by finally updating their online calendar after 10 long, tech rich years. Tonight they will be rolling out a new drag-and-drop Ajax based calendar in a closed beta to Yahoo Mail users in the U.S., UK, India, Taiwan and Brazil (sign ups can be found here).

The upgraded calendar doesn’t do much that Google’s isn’t already capable of, but it does play nice with iCal and CalDAV and has a slew of new features, including; layering (viewing multiple calendars in different colors or subscribing to someone else’s calendar), zooming in when adding an appointment, integration with Flickr, setting email  or SMS reminders, and a to-do list.

With this addition to their juggernaut of offerings, Yahoo should increase their market share in online calendars, despite already being the leader. Of their 285 million Yahoo Mail users, 8.1 million use the calendar compared to the 5 million that use Google’s.

Read More

Comments 

1

TAGS 

Software, Google, Yahoo, beta, calendar

Posted 10/08/08 at 06:15:21 PM by Alex Castle

 It’s no secret that YouTube has yet to turn a profit.  Despite steadily growing advertising revenue, the massive bandwidth costs required to stream a bazillion videos a day has kept the video giant out of the black.  However, the company has announced an ambitious plan to monetize all those page-views by embedding their watch pages with “click-to-buy” links to retailers offering products related to the video.

YouTube is starting small, with iTunes and Amazon links on videos posted by certain record labels and trailers from Electronic Arts, but it plans to “slowly but surely expand the program to additional content and product partners.”  They also plan to allow their advertising partners the opportunity to attach retail links to copyright-infringing videos posted by users, as long as they allow the video to remain on the site.

The program will initially only effect viewers in the United States, but if you live elsewhere and feel like you’re not seeing enough advertising in your daily life, don’t worry; YouTube plans to expand to other markets soon.

Read More

Comments 

0

TAGS 

itunes, Google, youtube, Electronic Arts, e-commerce

Posted 10/08/08 at 11:47:56 AM by Paul Lilly

The writing has been on the wall since back in 2007, and now it's official - Google's AdSense for Games is ready to be rolled out. The in-game ads will focus on browser-based Adobe Flash games, giving web-based game developers and publishers the ability to integrate video ads, image ads, or text ads in a variety of placements, including in between level changes.

Today's launch will see Adsense for Games introduced in about two dozen games from publishers Konami, Playfish, Zynga, Demand Media, Mochi Media, and more. To be eligible, Google requires publishers have a minimum of 500,000 game plays with 80 percent of traffic originating from the U.S. or U.K. The application also stipulates that the content must be family safe and targeted at users age 13 and up.

How receptive online gamers will be to the new ads remains to be seen, but an earlier report on the topic suggests there probably won't be any angry mobs à la Spore/Amazon. In a survey of 400 gamers, Macrovision found that 83 percent would have no problem watching a 30-second ad in exchange for free game play, although they probably weren't thinking about Flash based games.

Thoughts on Adsense for Games? Hit the jump and let us know!

Read More

Comments 

1

TAGS 

games, Software, Google, ads, Videogames, adsense

Posted 10/07/08 at 04:25:30 PM by Andy Salisbury

Yesterday Google unveiled YouTube’s brand new theater view and dimming function, both dead ringers for the prospect of HD video. With the new theater view, users will be able to watch videos in a widened, dimmed format that will make whatever video they’re watching the main focus of the screen, much like Hulu’s “lower lights” feature.

Theater view provides a nice break from YouTube’s plethora of ads and “what you should watch” next suggestion boxes, all without making the video fit the screen and turn what was a watchable video into a pixilated mass.

The theater view provided by YouTube currently fills the extra space on the sides of the video with red curtains. Given the HD prospect of the theater view, there’s a good chance that this will be used to make room for 16:9 videos. And if that’s not enough for you, last week YouTube’s upload limit was changed to 1GB, convinced?

Now, we just need Tay Zonday to make a HD version of Chocolate Rain, and this will really catch on. 

Read More

Comments 

0

TAGS 

Google, youtube, Hulu, Theater View, HD Video

Posted 10/07/08 at 01:30:55 PM by Paul Lilly

Google wants to make sure you never again send an email that you later wish you could take back. Problem is, once that angry letter or drunken confession flies out of your outbox, the damage has been done and it's only a matter of time before the recipient reads it. If only there could have been someone by your side to force you to solve math problems before allowing you to send that email! Wait, what?

Now there will be, and it's called Mail Googles. Once enabled, Mail Goggles will subject you to a handful of math equations that must be answered before that email can be whisked away for good.

"When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email," writes Jon Perlow, a Gmail engineer. "And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?"

Hit the jump to post your thoughts on this one, but first, what's 86-32?

Read More

Comments 

12

TAGS 

Software, Gmail, Google, email, mail goggles, wtf

Posted 10/06/08 at 10:41:15 AM by Paul Lilly

Can anyone challenge Google's dominance in the search arena? Right now the answer is 'no,' but don't tell that the Ask.com. The search site that started out as a verb (as opposed to Google, whose overwhelming popularity in pop culture forced it to be officially recognized in the English language) has gone back to the drawing board, much like Wile E. Coyote did time and again in vain attempts to catch up to the Road Runner.

Starting today, Ask.com will roll out a completely revamped version of its search engine, which is the first time it has been rebuilt since Jim Safka took over Jim Lanzone's position as chief executive in January (Safka previously held the same position at Match.com).

Ask.com's makeover includes search results from "structured" sources of data. For example look up Cops and you'll find not only the typical bevy of URLs, but also TV listings for when the next episode will air. Search results also come faster than they did before.

But is a faster, smarter search engine enough to propel Ask.com out of its position as the fourth most popular search?

Read More

Comments 

0

TAGS 

Software, Google, search, ask.com