Wednesday, June 15, 2011

GOOGLE SEARCH GETS IMPROVEMENTS


One of the biggest and coolest technology companies in the world, became a little cooler yesterday. Google makes a lot of products. With their Android platform to Gmail to Picasa, truly a great line of software products. We can’t forget the Chrome browser and the ever new and unprecedented Chrome OS. Their flagship product is and always will be their search engine. The Google search engine is bar far the best. What search engine is better? Yahoo? The spyware filled Bing? Not a chance, Google is still king of the search engines. 

Some new features were incorporated in Google search, both on the desktop and mobile. They, Google that is, claim that the new features are to knock down the barriers of knowledge. What they mean by barriers, is better search results. The new features include speech recognition, computer vision, translation and other advances. Here are some of the new features, include:

 New Icons at Bottom of Mobile Web Search:

Mobile search has been updated to include a new user interface, which now features large icons at the bottom of the screen for things like restaurants, coffee, bars and "more." When you click on these icons, you'll be taken directly to local info, as determined by your current location. The locations will also be plotted on a map.

 Map of Current Location on Mobile:

Upon performing local searches on mobile, a map of your current location displays showing you where you are in addition to the places around you. As you scroll through the results, the map at the top of the page updates to show you the listing you're viewing.

Query Builder:

A new query builder feature brings a plus sign (+) to search suggestions. This feature lets you build out longer searches piece by piece by adding words and phrases to your query, as Google suggests them. This feature is available on iOS and Android devices.

 Tablet User Interface Redesign:

For tablet computers, Google Search has been updated with a new user interface which has more white space, bigger images and easier to click results.

 Google Goggles with Translate:

Google's visual search offering for mobile called Google Goggles previously let you snap a picture of something to perform a search query. Now, translation capabilities have been added, letting you photograph text in another language and have it translated on the fly.

 Voice Search on Desktop:

A microphone will now appear on the main Google website that lets you click to speak your searches. It's rolling out now in English.

 Image Search on Desktop:

The new image search feature lets you place images in Google's search box to perform a query. The query will pull up links where the photo appears and links to the photo itself. There are four ways to search by image: copy and paste an image URL, upload an image from your computer, drag and drop or use new Chrome and Firefox extensions. This feature will launch globally in the next few days.

 Google Instant for Images:

Google Instant, which automatically updates search results as you type, will roll out to the Google Images vertical in the "coming weeks."

 Google Instant Pages:

A new feature called Instant Pages will speed up page loading times so that pages load in less than a second. This feature is available in the Google Chrome Web browser only and it works by preloading some search results so that, when clicked, the pages are already available.These new features are well, really cool. Let’s see Yahoo or HAHA Bing top this!




 

Windows 7 Phone: Which Is The Right One For You?





In today’s world the smartphone is the in thing. We are such a busy people. We have always got to stay on top of our email and there is no more of a convenient way to communicate than the SMS, or as we refer to it simply as text. I know there are others who enjoy the convenience of these capabilities. Here we have compiled our list of the best Windows 7 smartphones.


For those of you who haven’t tried Windows 7 mobile, there has been quite a much-needed improvement from 6.5.  Microsoft has carefully crafted Windows Mobile 7 with a unique Hub and Tile interface. Unlike Windows Mobile 6.5, the Live Tiles allow you to find out what’s going on, what’s happening next, and what you may have missed without opening an application. For those who’ve never had a smartphone to those who are advanced users of smartphones.

If you are considering a Windows 7 smartphone, you have plenty of options to choose from. Are you a text hound? Do you take a lot of pictures? Do you prefer the keyboard on the phone, one that slides out, maybe you like the touchscreen? We know that you will find something that you will like or even love about these phones.   


The HTC HD7
Why it’s one of the best: The HTC HD7 was one of the world’s first smartphones to use the Windows 7 operating system. This is a T-Mobile phone that has the best mobile multimedia features with the largest screen display available for a Windows 7 smartphone at 4.3 inches. It is powered by none other than the ultra-fast Snapdragon processor at 1GHz. It’s equipped with turn-by-turn GPS navigation, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED, and HD 720p video recording, 16 GB of internal storage, WiFi, Bluetooth and stereo music streaming.   

The HTC HD7 delivers superb performance with the large 4.3 display, which enables the user for great access to email, surfing the web or browsing the web for social media, getting directions with the help of Bing Maps, watching videos, reading or editing documents with Windows Office Mobile 2010, viewing pictures and video. It also features some really great applications with Netflix, Slacker Radio, Xbox Live, Zune and T-Mobile TV. Windows 7 mobile really shines on this phone. An overall a great performing phone, you wouldn’t expect anything less from HTC. Also check out the HTC HD7S from AT&T.

Samsung Focus

Why it’s one of the best: The Samsung Focus from AT&T provides the consumer with one really great phone. With the use of AT&T’s blazing fast 3G network, it enables the 1 GHz Snapdragon processor to show off some of it’s muscle. Along with the Snapdragon processor, it has 8 GB of internal storage that can be expanded with the use of microSD cards to 32 GB. It has a 5 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash and HD 720p video recording, Bluetooth for hands-free enablement, music streaming, FM radio and up to 6.5 hours of talk time.

It is sleeker, thinner, and more stylish than it’s AT&T counterpart, the HTC Surround. It’s not an iPhone, but Microsoft and Samsung have done a great job with this phone.  The Focus really brings out the best of the social media experience.  This phone is really fast and can run multiple applications at once with-out slowing down. 

LG Quantum

This phone is a put together very well. Whether you purchase this phone for work or play, you will be satisfied to say the least. It has the ability to perform for the office with the latest addition of Office, including: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, One Note, and Outlook. The search is provided by none other than Bing. For fun you have the awesomeness of Xbox Live. It has a slide out keyboard (full QWERTY) which makes productivity or play exciting. It also has the capability to stream videos, music, and pictures from the phone to a DLNA-enabled TV, stereo, Windows 7 PC, and other electronic devices.


It like most of the phones which we are featuring is powered by none other than the snapdragon processor at 1 GHz. It has 3G capabilities, GPS with turn-by-turn navigation, as well as real time traffic updates, and re-routing options. It sports a 3.5-inch touchscreen display.  There is a 5 megapixel camera with HD video capture capabilities (720p), a digital media player that supports all of the popular formats. A FM radio, for those of you who need your favorite radio station on the go. It has WiFi, 16 GB of internal storage and text services as well. It is very lightweight at 6.21 ounces.

If you don’t like the touchscreen phones, then this may just be the phone for you. It has all of the luxuries from Windows 7 on a phone. For work and play, the overall performance is truly amazing. It is why this is one of our picks for the best Windows 7 phones.    


HTC Surround

HTC (high tech computer), in my opinion HTC clearly makes a superior phone compared to the rest. I would considered HTC to be right up there with, dare I say Apple. The Surround has a 3.8 touchscreen display that is the first smartphone to include Dolby Mobile and SRS surround sound speakers. With this unique blend of mobile surround you get a truly enjoyable home entertainment sound on your mobile phone. This phone makes your mobile entertainment user experience, more enjoyable with music, videos and games on the go.

The Surround is powered by none other than the Snapdragon processor. It has 16 GB of internal storage, a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and HD 720p video recording. It is equipped with wireless-N WiFi Networking (double the speed of normal). It supports Bluetooth for hands free, an FM radio, streaming capabilities and up to 4 hours of talk time.

In conclusion this Surround is awesome. It offers the very best sound with the integration of Dolby surround sound (for a smartphone). It had to be made just a little bigger and heavier for these capabilities. Is it enough to make the list for one of the best? You decide, we think it does. It fits the windows 7 mobile OS.

The Dell Venue Pro

Can one of the world’s best computer makers compete in the world of smartphones? The Dell Venue Pro is by far one of the biggest, if not the biggest smartphones on the market. It has a huge 4.8 by 2.5 inch display, weighing a hefty 6.8 ounces. In comparison to most, this is big. The display is made with the AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) Gorilla glass, the newest technology.

With the huge display, the user experience for Xbox Live gaming, Zune music and video is to say the least, phenomenal. Powered by the Snapdragon processor at 1 GHz, the Venue is lightning fast. It has a 5 megapixel auto focus camera with digital zoom and HD 720p video streaming capabilities. It has both a touchscreen and a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It is equipped with 8 GB of internal storage that is upgradeable to 32, with 512 MB of ram, Bluetooth, FM radio, WiFi and integrated GPS.

This is an overall great performing smartphone, with enough speed and storage that you can be satisfied with. You couldn’t ask for anything better from Dell. It is truly a step above the Streak. It is by far the superior Windows 7 mobile phone of choice. 
        







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