Google brings out Flight Search

Google introduced a web-based tool that lets you find and book flights.Google provided what it called an “early look” at the service on Tuesday with flights to and from a handful of cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and Minneapolis. Participating airlines include Delta, JetBlue, Continental and American.

Flight Search is a more user friendly version of a service Google launched in May. It offered flight info when you typed “flights from [a city] to [another city]” in the Google search window.Google made its first formal foray into that segment last July with the $700 million purchase of ITA, developer of the airfare search and pricing system QPX that is used by major airlines.

A video below explains the service further:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC2bUYVkjrY&feature=player_embedded

Google Plans to End Google Maps Loophole

Google says it's working to keep the virtual lights on for businesses that are being incorrectly labeled as "closed" on Google Maps. The issue was raised in a New York Times article that profiled a handful of businesses that had been temporarily labeled closed on Google Maps, apparently due to what Google product manager Ethan Russell calls "malicious or incorrect labeling."

"About two weeks ago, news in the blogosphere made us aware that abuse -- such as ‘place closed’ spam labels -- was occurring. And since then, we've been working on improvements to the system," Russell wrote on the company’s Lat Long Blog.The problem appears to be that it's pretty easy to report that a place is closed on Google Maps. Anyone can do it with just a few clicks, and according to the Times, it only takes a few reports of a place being closed to change its status on Google Maps.

I decided to put the Times’ theory to the test by reporting a coffee shop near my home as “closed.” The shop, “The Bean,” closed its doors this year, but the store and its second location, which closed long ago, were both listed as open for business as places on Google Maps.By simply clicking on "Report a Problem" and reporting the store as closed, the deed was done. Almost instantly a "Reported to be closed" label began appearing under the Bean's name. I closed both of the now-defunct Beans and saw the same result -- instant virtual closure.

It should be noted that the label is followed by the words "Not True?" which links to a dialog to send more feedback to Google and contest the closed label, but it could be a while before Google actually reads it. When I reported both Beans to be closed, I checked the option to be notified when Google reviews my closure report. It's been about an hour and there's nothing but radio and e-mail silence from Mountain View, Calif.

Google Provides offline Access to Gmail in Chrome

Chrome browser users will be able to access Gmail when they're not connected to the Internet starting Wednesday and will gain similar offline capabilities for Docs and Calendar in the coming week, the company announced on Wednesday. Users will need to install individual offline-access applications from the Chrome Web Store to add these capabilities to their browser. The Gmail application is called Gmail Offline and is based on the Gmail application for tablets, which works both with and without Internet access. Docs and Calendar will each have its own offline-access application on the Chrome Web Store.

The offline capabilities will become available both for individuals who use Gmail, Docs and Calendar, as well as for organizations who use them as part of the Google Apps collaboration and communication suite in workplaces and educational institutions. Once installed, these offline applications will create an icon in the Chrome browser interface for launching them when users aren't online. The Gmail application will have its own user interface separate from the Gmail web interface, while the Docs and Calendar applications will trigger their web application's interface and work in the background.

In all three cases, users will get access to a subset of the web applications' features. For example, in Docs it will be possible to view documents and spreadsheets, but not yet edit those documents. In Calendar, users will be able to view events and RSVP to appointments. Previously, Google provided offline access to these applications via its Gears browser plug-in, but the company stopped developing it last year. It has been possible to use Gmail and Calendar offline through Gears in Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.6, but not Docs.

Google vs Apple: Who's the leader of tech industry?

In the news, people are well aware of the iOS vs Android war. Both operating systems and the companies behind them wage open battle in their quests for mobile domination. Otherwise, there are no arenas where the two tech giants go head to head… at least openly.

Behind the scenes, a more heated battle than the public one wages every day. It’s not the technology that drives these companies but rather the people behind their technologies. As a result, getting the best people available is always at the top of the priority list.

Apple, Google, and other Silicon Valley giants have been actively recruiting the best people in the technology world. They do what it takes to attract and often “steal” the brightest minds and most imaginative innovators. Who’s winning the battle?

Often, the best way to see is to look at acquisitions. There is almost always an element of talent-buying behind every purchase. Coming up with the systems and programming behind technologies is easy. Getting the people who had the original concept and fleshed it out to a working product is a bigger motivator.

In short, it’s a land grab.This infographic by GPlus breaks down the current war tallies as we know them publicly. Behind the scenes, the war is probably much bloodier than this.

 

Google planning to shut down Slide social apps

Apparently the age of “superpoking” social network friends and throwing sheep at them is coming to a close.Google plans to shut down the social applications developed by Slide, a company it acquired a year ago for $182 million. Slide products include SuperPoke and photo management and decorating tools like Slideshow and FunPix.Slide’s applications like Slideshow were very popular on MySpace during its heyday, and found success on other social networking sites, including Facebook, where the sheep-throwing feature of SuperPoke caught on, entertaining and annoying many.

But usage of Slide applications has apparently been declining and disappointing, according to a message Slide posted on its blog on Thursday.“We created products with the goal of providing a fun way for people to connect, communicate and share. While we are incredibly grateful to our users and for all of the wonderful feedback over the years, many of these products are no longer as active or haven’t caught on as we originally hoped,” the post reads.

Google Search Engine is override By Yahoo ,Bing

A Google search might not be your best bet if you want to find what you’re looking for online, new data suggests. Even though 66 percent of all searches in July were conducted using Google’s search engine, more than 80 percent of searches conducted on both Yahoo and Bing were successful, compared to only 68 percent of Google searches. Experian Hitwise, the online competitive intelligence company that released the figures last Thursday, defines a successful search as one that results in a person actually clicking through to a Web site.

The report comes just weeks after a debate between tech experts about whether or not Microsoft should sell Bing. Columnists at The New York Times wrote that Bing has become a “distraction for the software giant” considering Bing and sites it powers such as Yahoo only control about 27 percent of the U.S. market. 
 Computerworld volleyed back that 27 percent of the market is still “a tremendous revenue opportunity” and that ”if Microsoft abandons Bing, it might as well just about abandon its entire online presence, because aside from Hotmail, Bing is its only substantial Internet service.” The Experian Hitwise report says that July was the third straight month that Bing-powered searches increased. They accounted for 28 percent of the online searches conducted in July.

If you like this post kindly share it with your friends.