Search engine giant Google has announced that the company is planning to equip Street View users with the ability to edit the service, in order to make it more accurate and tailored according to their needs.

According to a post on the Google Lat Long blog, Street View service will come with an ‘Edit Marker’ feature, which is designed to allow users to edit or change a business marker on Street View if it is placed on the wrong spot or is not exact.

Jie Shao, a Google Street View Software Engineer, explaining the new feature, wrote on the blog that “Let’s say you know that your favorite pizzeria is near the corner but the marker for it appears further down the block. You could use our map editing feature (the “move marker” edit) to move it to the right place.”

The company also said in the blog post that, when a wrong marker is located by the users. in order to edit a marker on Street View, they need to click the marker and select ‘more’ from the info pop-up that appears on the screen.

In the ‘more’ drop down menu, users need to select the ‘move marker’ link, after which, two animated markers will appear, one on the map and the other on the Street View image. Users just need to drag the Street View marker to the right spot and click on ’save’.

Originally published on ITProPortal.com

Google’s recently heralded translation tool for the Android-powered smartphones has been growing by leaps and bounds since it was launched in January, and is set to add spoken forms of several new languages in the near future.

The tool, dubbed “Google Translate”, has the capability to translate text to and from around 50 different languages, including Slovenian, Swahili, Icelandic, to mention a few, more than any of its competitors and has been downloaded 250,000 times since its January release.

But it still is in its infancy stage when it comes to spoken words, as it can only recognise English, Japanese, and Mandarin languages although the support for German and several other languages is to be added soon.

Interestingly, The New York Times carried out a comparison of Google Translate, Microsoft’s Bing Translator, and Babel Fish.

Though none of the services were found to be perfect or anywhere near to human translation capabilities in translations of various languages, Google translate was the most accurate among all.

The search giant has reportedly been pouring intense efforts to bolster up the translation capability by making use of new technologies, such as image to text translation, which helps users to get info about anything by simply uploading the image of the entity with the translation software, the NYT added.

Originally published on ITProPortal.com

According to a report on the Wall Street Journal, search engine giant Google is testing a new TV search service in partnership with Dish Network, which will be capable of allowing users to search for TV programs and online videos right from their internet enabled TV sets.

Users will be able to search for their favorite TV programs thanks to the soon-to-be-launched internet friendly set top boxes which will have Google software installed in them.

The TV search technology will also allow Dish TV users to create their own video playlists with the help of a keyboard.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that people familiar with the matter had revealed that the new Google TV search service has been in testing phase for the past one year and is being used by some Google employees and their families.

It seems that Google is planning to bring online advertising based on keywords and searches to TV users and expand its already massive online presence.

Interestingly, the Dish set top boxes will come with Google’s Android operating system, allowing the platform to grow beyond the smartphone and mobile phone markets.

According to a study conducted back in 2008, almost half the people purchasing television sets had showed enthusiasm at the prospect of internet enabled TV sets.

Originally published on ITProPortal.com

The first ever third-party application for Google’s new social networking tool, Buzz, has been released on Apple’s popular iTunes App Store and goes by the name of Buzzie; it is designed to offer iPhone and Gmail users a chance to keep up with their Buzz account on the go.

Interestingly, the application allows non-Gmail members to view the Google Buzz conversations happening in their area without having to log into the service. This feature is very helpful to users who want to ‘test the waters’ before signing up for the service.

Buzzie replicates the exact functionality offered by Google Buzz by allowing users to log-in and start following and taking part in conversations happening all over their Gmail network.

The application also uses the GPS functionality offered by iPhone for displaying the Buzz user’s location, which an be categorised as private or public along with the Buzz profile and conversations.

Buzzie is somewhat similar to third party Twitter applications and allows users to view their own Buzz conversations in chronological order from their homepage.

Interestingly, the smartphone application comes with a better user interface and functionality compared to its web counterpart, which was severely criticised for its rather lax privacy settings.

Originally published on ITProPortal.com

Google Inc. announced Monday, the launch of Public Data Explorer, a new experimental application offered via Google Labs that could help everyone, from students to policy makers, in preparing informative charts using public data.

This new application could prove to be instrumental in helping people to prepare charts regarding public data, such as fertility rates, demographics, crime rates, and the likes, along with graphs demonstrating recent trends.

The search engine giant also released an interactive catalogue of the most commonly used search terms that can be used in a wide range of public data, on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of unidentified search info.

Of the most popular search terms, comparisons between schools and unemployment rated the highest, followed by demographics, sales tax, and wages.

The catalogue actually provides searchers with some handy public data that can be converted into interactive charts as well as graphs over a span of time.

Along with its former partners, such as the World Bank, US Census Bureau, and US Bureau of Labour Statistics, the search engine bellwether has also added the US Centre of Disease Control, the California Department of Education, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Eurostat, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to its list of public data providers.

Originally published on ITProPortal.com

John Herlihy, Google’s VP of Global Ad Operations, has claimed that desktop PCs would become “irrelevant” in three years down the line, as reported by Silicon Republic.

Addressing the Digital Landscapes Conference in Dublin, Herlihy predicted a bleak future for desktop PCs, as smartphones, notebooks, along with other gadgets are evidently gaining grounds over them.

In his keynote speech, Herlihy said: “In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant. In Japan, most research is done today on smart phones, not PCs”.

His dour comments about the future of desktop PCs echoed a speech made by Google’s chief executive Eric Schmidt, who asserted that Google is working on mobile, not desktop, search domains, and even urged developers to create applications for the same.

In his speech at the recently held Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Schmidt indicated that global sales of smartphones and other high-end handheld devices have been soaring at a rapid pace would soon surpass sales of traditional PCs in the coming years.

However, this prediction seems to be a distant dream, as a recent UN report claimed that around two-third population across the globe use mobile phones, and the handset revolution is still in its nascent stage.

Furthermore, if these bulkier desktops are at all disappearing, the space so created would apparently be more suitable for lighter, smarter, mobile laptops.

Originally published on ITProPortal.com

Popular online video sharing service YouTube, has made available a nifty auto-caption feature to all its users, which will enable them to watch their favorite YouTube videos in the language of their choice, but for now, the service only offers auto-caption for videos in English.

YouTube, which was acquired by search engine giant Google in 2006, has emerged as the most popular video sharing service on the world wide web and has over a billion page views every day.

According to a statement released by the company, YouTube’s auto-caption feature is based on the text-to-speech algorithms that runs on Google Voice, which automatically generates captions for the video being played.

Google claims that the auto-caption feature will be able to support 50 languages that will broaden the already massive user base enjoyed by the company.

Interestingly, the addition of the feature, which went into beta testing in November last year, will allow people with hearing impairments to enjoy YouTube’s large selection of videos and also allow people to watch videos in crowded places.

However, the feature is not entirely accurate and users have reported a few minor glitches with the way the feature displays the text although we suspect that Google will come up with a crowdsourcing functionality that, like Google Translate, allows users to correct the errors themselves.

Originally published on ITProPortal.com

The results of the Google Street View Awards have been announced and it seems that Britain has voted the Shambles in York as the country’s most picturesque street.

The street, now a major tourist attraction, is one of the oldest streets in Britain and has been a part of York since medieval times.

Search engine Google had recently launched a Britain-wide poll in which people could vote for the best streets in the UK. The categories included ‘Best Foodie Street’, ‘Best Fashion Street’ and ‘Most Picturesque Street’.

The poll, which was taken by almost 11,000 people, resulted in Stockbridge High Street, Hampshire emerging as the best foodie street in Britain with Milsom Street in Bath being voted as the best fashion street.

According to Google, the short-listed streets for each category were compiled by an expert panel of judges including chefs, travel writers and fashion designers.

Commenting on the results of the street view poll, a shop owner on Shambles street, told the BBC that “There is a real feeling of community amongst shop owners and I think we all feel privileged to work in such a beautiful place. The shops here are all strikingly different and unique.”

Originally published on ITProPortal.com

Search engine giant Google has invited UK residents for a Google Street View poll, in which the general public will be asked to vote for Britain’s best street in three categories: Best Foodie Street, Best Fashion Street and Britain’s Most Picturesque Street.

According to a post on the Google Official blog, Britain’s Best Foodie Street should be the one which offers a ‘unique’ blend of cultural and regional items available in different prices. The street should comprise of elegant restaurants, cafe and food stalls.

On the other hand, Google describes Britain’s best fashion street as ‘an eclectic mix of boutique and high street, designer and high street for all clothing tastes and ages. The winning street should satisfy both bargain-hunters and label-lovers.’

Britain’s most picturesque street, according to Google, should be ‘uniquely British’ and good to look at. The street can be vibrant in color, architecturally well-designed, diverse and full of character.

The Telegraph has reported that according to the on-going voting trend, New College Lane in Oxford, Main Street, Tobermory in Mull and Royal Crescent in Bath are the top contenders for the title of Britain’s most picturesque street.

Originally published on ITProPortal.com

In an attempt to compete with Microsoft in the online file editing services market, search engine Google has purchased DocVerse, which allows Microsoft Office files to be edited online.

DocVerse, which was founded in 2007 by former Microsoft employees Shan Sinha and Alex DeNeui, was purchased by Google in a bid to strengthen its footing in online editing and collaboration tool market.

Google will integrate DocVerse technology with its Google Docs service, which allows users to work on Microsoft files.

Commenting on the $25 million acquisition, Jonathan Rochelle, group product manager for Google Apps, said in a statement that “With DocVerse, we may experience some of the benefits of working from the Internet using traditional applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.”

However, software giant Microsoft was not far behind in acknowledging the take over, said that the fact that Google was trying acquire solutions that helped users work on Microsoft Office files, proved that the public wanted to use Microsoft Office for creating documents and slides and again reinforces the global acceptance enjoyed by Microsoft’s flagship software.

DocVerse, which raised around $1.5 million in venture capital, apart from offering software that allowed users to edit Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files online, also allowed them to post comments on the document online and let other users see their comments.

Originally published on ITProPortal.com