Thursday, December 20, 2012

Software : Google's search results let you take a tour inside restaurants

Software : Google's search results let you take a tour inside restaurants

Google's search results let you take a tour inside restaurants

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Google's search results let you take a tour inside restaurants

Thinking of trying that new Italian around the corner? Well you might be able to have a look inside without leaving the house, thanks to Google's Business Photos feature.

The feature was launched back in September as part of Google Maps, but Google has only just brought it to search results. So search for said Italian, and the option to have a look inside will show up alongside it on the results page.

It's not just a quick peek either. It's a full 360-degree panorama, so you can get a real feel for a place before you decide to pay it a visit.

Just click "see inside" next to the business on the search page, and you'll be taken inside for a tour.

Indoor Street View

The snaps are uploaded by Google's "trusted photographers" rather than the business owners themselves. You can wander around them just like in Google Street View, meaning it's the closest you can get to being in the shop without leaving the house.

Businesses can upload their own snaps instead of using those from Google's approved photographers, but users won't be able to walk around them.

Google has included business in the US, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Canada.

Via CNET

Twitter tweaks its troops as new blood takes over in time for 2013

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Twitter tweaks its troops as new blood takes over in time for 2013

Ali Rowghani has been appointed chief operating office of Twitter, in a shake-up of the microblogging service's executive team.

Rowghani joined the company in 2010 as chief financial officer, after leaving the same role at Pixar animation studios.

Mike Gupta has taken over from Rowghani as CFO. Gupta was previously treasurer at Zynga, and before that he worked at Yahoo.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo confirmed the news in a tweet. "Congratulations to @rowghani on his new role as COO and to @mgupta on his new role as CFO," he wrote.

Following the departure

The shake-up comes in the wake of a high profile departure. Othman Laraki, former VP of Growth, announced yesterday he was leaving the company. Possibly not by coincidence, on the same day Twitter announced it had 200 million monthly active users. So it's possible Laraki thought: "My work here is done."

Twitter also announced yesterday that you can now download your whole archive of tweets in just a couple of clicks. And we found it's a pretty neat service.

Instagram recently deactivated its Twitter integration. But considering how the photo-sharing service recently changed its terms of service, annoying users worldwide, maybe Twitter will be better off without it. It already has its own photo filters, after all.

Via AllThingsD

National Geographic suspends new Instagram posts over new terms

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National Geographic suspends new Instagram posts over new terms

The backlash against Instagram's new terms of service has continued, despite the company's claim that it isn't planning to sell photos posted on the site.

National Geographic, the magazine famous for its top-notch snaps, said on Tuesday that it was suspending all posts to the Facebook-owned service beyond the current 714 uploads.

In a post on its Instagram feed, the publication said it was 'very concerned' by the new terms threatened to delete its NatGeo account completely, unless the policy is changed.

"@NatGeo is suspending new posts to Instagram. We are very concerned with the direction of the proposed new terms of service and if they remain as presented we may close our account," the post read.

Open to interpretation

Following the public outing of its controversial new privacy policy and terms of service documents on Monday, Instagram has been taking an almighty hiding from all comers.

The new terms requested that Instagram be given the rights to harvest users' photographs and likeness in advertisements without any reparations to the person who posted them.

It stated: "To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata) and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."

On Tuesday, co-founder Kevin Systrom, claimed that the document had been misinterpreted and that it would soon be republished with different wording to make things clearer.

He wrote: "It was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation. This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing.

"To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear."

Reversed or reworded?

In the case of National Geographic, which has almost 650,000 followers, it is unclear whether the publication wants the new policy to be reversed or whether it simply wants the language to be altered.

It will be interesting to see if more high profile users of the service follow suit and the effect this has on how the policy reappears to the world.
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