Software : Google Search to add personal touch by tapping into your Gmail, Calendar |
| Google Search to add personal touch by tapping into your Gmail, Calendar Posted:  As much as our smartphones have become miniature personal assistants, there's still the matter of having to dig through our calendars to find out appointment times, or scan through our emails for those pesky package tracking numbers. Ever have to dig through emails to figure out your flight info? We've been there, too. With all the buzz around the Moto X and its "always listening" capabilities, it makes sense Google is bringing some of that functionality to Google Search. Over the next week, Google will start offering personal results in Search based on information culled from your accounts in Google+, Gmail and Google Calendar. Now, no matter what kind of device your using (desktop, smartphone or tablet), you can sync your account to provide specific results based on your everyday life. Say or type in a question like, "What's my flight status?" or "When will my package arrive?" and your answers will populate in Search. Tailor madeGoogle Now already offers similar features for Android users, but now Google is opening up these kind of results to U.S., English-speaking users, no matter what their platform. There's no word yet on international availability. As long as you're using the Chrome browser or Google Search itself and you've synced your account, you can get the most recent results just by asking. Search will respond to questions about flight plans, reservations (restaurant and hotel), purchasing orders, photo and plans listed in your calendar to start. Google promised more possible query options were coming later, but these basic questions should more than suffice until a deeper set of searches comes along. The company also promised this type of personalization would be secure, and only available to you as long as you were signed in to Google. Opt outOf course, you can also choose to opt out of giving Google access to the details of your daily life with just a few clicks.
You can opt out temporarily by clicking the little globe under your name on the search results page, but you'll have to do this every time you search for something new. The best option for more private people would be to go into your search settings (found in the gear icon beneath your name), and scroll down to Private Results section. There, you'll see a box for Google to not use private results when searching, which you can click to disable the option entirely. Privacy has become a major concern for many consumers of late, and even though Google's new Search abilities could come in handy, that's an awful lot of info to trust to a third party. |
| Trending TV shows look set to invade Twitter timelines Posted:  Twitter may be preparing to introduce a new feature that would see currently-trending television shows appear prominently within the timelines of users. According to reports, the 'Trending TV' experiment is currently being tested on a small percentage of iOS app users who are seeing a show-specific box at the top of their timelines when they refresh their feeds. In screenshots sent to TechCrunch, it looks as if the box links to a page dedicated to that show. It features the show's official twitter account and a live stream of related tweets from others. For example, if users were to see a Breaking Bad Trending TV box, they'd be able to click through to the @BreakingBad_AMC account and join the conversation with other viewers as the show is aired. The BuzzIn its essence, the proposition seems quite similar to second-screen apps like GetGlue and Zeebox that already use Twitter data to generate virtual chat rooms where viewers discuss ongoing shows. "Once you refresh, the trending box shows up," Twitter user ASG, who apparently is part of the test, told TechCrunch. "However, when you start scrolling the box flows down with your timeline. Over time, or when an insane number of tweets come out about the show, the box goes back to the top." The initiative would surely be a winning combination for potential advertisers that are seeking to cash in on the social media buzz surrounding popular programming. Not only would it give these firms the chance to alert viewers who may not be aware the show is being aired, hence the potential for improved ratings, but also gives official network accounts more visibility. Of the many prospective features Twitter lab tests on small samples of users, this is one that's probably more likely than not to see the light of day. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from TechRadar: All latest Applications news feeds To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment