Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Google Friends Newsletter - September 2008

Google Friends Newsletter - September 2008

Autumnal greetings to all of our Google friends. We hope you enjoy
this month's update on our products and services.

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POWER TIP

Google Moderator

Google Moderator is a new way to facilitate question-and-answer
sessions during talks, presentations and events that involve large
groups of people. Anyone can submit a question and then people can
vote on the questions that they'd like answered.
http://moderator.appspot.com

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NEW PRODUCTS & UPDATES

Project 10^100

As part of our 10th birthday celebration, we launched Project 10100
(that's "ten to the hundredth"), a call for ideas that could help as
many people as possible, and a program to bring the best of those
ideas to life. We're committing $10 million to implement these
projects, and while money may offer a jump-start, it really comes down
to the great ideas that we know are out there. We're accepting
submissions until October 20, 2008, and then we'll open up voting in
January.
http://www.project10tothe100.com

Updates to Picasa, Picasa Web Albums

There's a new version available of our photo editing software. Picasa
3.0 makes it even easier to share photos with friends and family,
thanks to a new web sync feature that automatically keeps your web
albums up-to-date with the photos on your PC. Picasa 3 also includes
intuitive new editing tools, like a powerful retouching brush, text
tool, movie maker and revamped photo collages. We've also updated
Picasa Web Albums with "name tags" to help you automatically organize
and share your photos by who's in each picture.
http://www.google.com/picasa

Google Chrome

This month we released a new open-source web browser. Google Chrome is
fast, secure and lets you access your favorite Google services, such
as Gmail, Google Maps and Google Docs, more easily than ever. There
are some unique features too, like a single box for web addresses and
searches, a simplified download manager and an interface to maximize
your browsing experience. (Windows-only at present.)
http://www.google.com/chrome

Google Maps for mobile with Street View

If you use Google Maps for mobile on your BlackBerry or Java-enabled
phone, you can now access Street View while on the go. The new release
incorporates Street View into business listings and directions --
you'll be able to see a specific location before you get there. Other
new features include business reviews and walking directions.
http://www.google.com/gmm

Transit on Google Maps for New York

New York City has about a third of the country's public transportation
volume, and now Google Maps includes public transit information for
the entire metro region, making this the biggest Transit launch for
Google Maps to date. You can find Transit coverage for more than 70
cities and countries; we'll keep you posted as we add more to the
mix.
http://www.google.com/transit

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MISCELLANY

September marked the first 10 years of Google, so we took a moment to
reflect on the enormous impact the Internet has had on people's lives
since our company's founding. The power of the Internet has changed
the way we find, manage and share information -- and we believe it
will only continue to change the way we live. While we don't have a
crystal ball to see exactly what the future holds, we asked a number
of our in-house experts to share their thoughts on how this phenomenal
technology will evolve in the next 10 years. You can read their
responses in a special blog series. We hope you're inspired by their
ideas.
http://www.google.com/tenthbirthday/ten-years-out.html


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The Google Blog offers frequent updates and insights about our technology and products, and the company at large.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com

--------------------------------------------------
Share Google Friends with a friend through Google Groups (includes subscribe/unsubscribe information).
http://groups.google.com/group/google-friends

--------------------------------------------------
Google Friends archive:
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Google Friends archive prior to May 2005:
http://www.google.com/googlefriends/archive.html

To unsubscribe from the Google Friends Newsletter, send an empty message to:
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Google, Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
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Monday, September 1, 2008

Google Friends Newsletter - August 2008

Google Friends Newsletter - August 2008

Late summer greetings to our Google friends. We hope you enjoy this
month's update on our products and services.

-----------
POWER TIP

New personalized search features

This month we rolled out a new web search feature that gives you more
clarity concerning how we use data to improve your search experience.
Whenever we customize your search based on geographic location,
another recent search you performed, or items from Web History, a
message will appear in the top-right corner of the search results
page, with a link to a page with more details about how and why we
personalized your search.
http://www.google.com

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NEW PRODUCTS & UPDATES

Power Readers in Politics

If you're curious about which news sites and blogs John McCain or
Barack Obama follow, now using Google Reader you can read the same
material the candidates read. For the upcoming U.S. presidential
election, we've launched Power Readers in Politics, a feed of shared
articles for the presidential campaigns and leading political pundits.
You can see which headlines are catching the attention of newsmakers
and read their comments.
http://www.google.com/powerreaders

2008 Summer Games on Google

For this year's Summer Games in Beijing, we launched a global effort
to bring some of the most important moments in sports history to more
people than ever. If you missed any of the action, you can still track
the results with Google News and explore the Olympic venues using
Google Maps.
http://www.google.com/landing/summergames2008/

Updates to Google Maps

Google Maps has a fresh new look: besides sporting a single search
box, the clean, straightforward design lets you more easily view full-
screen maps. We've also improved the way to print directions, added
the ability to print Street View images, and included an "Avoid tolls"
option for driving directions.
http://maps.google.com

Google Translate for iPhone

There's a new interface for Google Translate on the Apple iPhone,
covering 23 language pairs for users around the world. If you have an
iPhone, you can get to the new interface by visiting Google.com and
choosing "Translate" from the "More" tab, or by visiting the Google
Translate site directly.
http://translate.google.com

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MISCELLANY

The 2008 U.S. political conventions -- two weeks of party business
that began with the Democrats in Denver on August 25 and continue with
the Republicans in Minneapolis on September 1 -- mark the beginning of
the general election season. This year is particularly exciting in
part because of the groundbreaking role technology is playing in
connecting candidates and voters. To help you stay informed and
engaged, we're launching a one-stop shop for political information on
our conventions site. You can view the latest news, videos, photos and
blog posts. Use Elections Video Search to see what the candidates are
saying about the issues that concern you, and interact with a wide
variety of political mashups in the Google Maps Elections Gallery. If
you're a teacher, use our Election Toolkit for Teachers to inform your
students about the political process. And as election day grows
closer, we're working on ways for you to find local voter registration
sites or polling places on demand. As the momentum continues over the
next few months, bookmark the page and check back regularly.
http://www.google.com/2008election

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The Google Blog offers frequent updates and insights about our technology and products, and the company at large.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com

--------------------------------------------------
Share Google Friends with a friend through Google Groups (includes subscribe/unsubscribe information).
http://groups.google.com/group/google-friends

--------------------------------------------------
Google Friends archive:
http://groups.google.com/group/google-friends/topics

Google Friends archive prior to May 2005:
http://www.google.com/googlefriends/archive.html

To unsubscribe from the Google Friends Newsletter, send an empty message to:
google-friends-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

Google, Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
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