Google Wave Looks Amazing.

Google Street View comes to South Africa

From MyBroadBand

Staff Reporter MyBroadband | 01 September, 2009

Google announced today that it has started to collect images in South Africa for Google Maps Street View

Google today announced that it has started to collect imagery in South Africa for the Street View feature in Google Maps. In the coming weeks Google will begin driving around South Africa and taking photographs of locations in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.

The images collected by Google will be processed and stitched, something which according to Google can take several months. This imagery will be made available at a later stage in Street View on Google Maps for South Africa.

The benefits of Google Maps Street View include getting a better understanding of certain locations, helping consumers find businesses and raising awareness of prominent locations in South Africa.

Code Weavers Provide Chrome for Mac OSX

Well we a STILL waiting for a official Chrome release for Mac, the guys at Code Weavers have provided us with a crossover version of the software….but it still isn’t good enough. If you want to try it yourself, it is available here.

Icky Windows interface.

Walfram Alpha, what is it about?

The search engine is based on a different type of coding from that of Google, and has taken the approach of not answering queries, but rather gathers data and visuals from a variety of data and displays it in an attractive ‘all-in-one’ type of page. This could well prove useful as according to CNET reporter Stephen Shankland it could “…unlock a lot of data that students, research assistants, lawyers, marketing managers, financial analysts, and scientists might not have readily available.”

It is indeed an interesting idea, though how much of an influence it will have is yet to be seen.

For more information:

Twoogle: Google meets Twitter rumors

According to rumors, internet gaint Google could be planning a buy out of the ever popular Twitter. Twitter, as many would know is a real time update social network based on what people are doing. This concept, mostly as it incorpotates a search function, might just threaten Google.

Twitter Search does an great job of cataloguing information from its users, and therefore some argue that this ability is a threat to Google.

Although to most, and admittingly to me as well, this does seem rather an ambitious thought, the fact that Twitter is proving to be faster on the rea-time happenings than even Google News could be makes it quite favourable. This was displayed during the US Airway crash near Manhatten as well as the Bombay terror attacks.

A Twoogle could be a real winner for users as Computerworld’s Seth Weintraub points out, Twitter could help create “a better pool of data from which to pool stories and gauge their popularity. It could also help Google’s lagging social networking site, Orkut, by establishing connections between Google users.”

Google Chrome Q&A

It’s fast, has a clean interface, some snazzy features that other web browsers don’t have, and, well, it’s free and it’s from Google…

read more | digg story

New Google Maps

New features have been added to Google Maps for Mobile that will help you not only find the location on your phone but also see it, find out what people are saying about it, and learn how to walk to it! Street View imagery, business reviews and walking directions are available for BlackBerry and many other Java phones. Here’s the video from GoogleBlog.

Google is Top Growing Brand

2008 marks a memorable year for search engine giant Google as that jump into the Interbrand Best Global Brands 2008 Top 10. The report shows that the value of the Google brand has grown 43% since 2007, and is now worth 25.6-billion which makes it the worlds fastest growing brand.

Coca-Cola remained the most valuable global brand with a brand value of 66.7bn, though Google remained the biggest mover by knocking Mercedes-Benz off the top 10. Asides from Google, the other big IT brands were Apple with a 24% move up the ladder into 24th, Amazon.com with a 19% growth and Nintendo with 13%. Another brand rapidly increasing in value is Spanish fashion house Zara, which has expanded operations to 72 countries.

Financial services brands like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Citi slumped and were among the biggest losers of brand value. The big losers included Ford and Gap.

Android Set to Be Unveiled

Written by Phil Muncaster

The first device to run Google’s long-awaited Android mobile phone platform will be officially unveiled on Tuesday.

After countless unconfirmed reports about the launch date for the Android-powered HTC-manufactured device, vnunet.com today received an invite to “get hands-on with the product news” at a press event next week.

“T-Mobile and Google have been working in partnership on an exciting project and are set to make a much anticipated announcement in New York on Tuesday 23rd September [3:30pm BST],” the email invitation reads.

The UK briefings will offer a chance to get “the full details of the announcement and the opportunity to get hands-on with the product news”.

However, availability of the product will initially be restricted to T-Mobile customers in the US, according to general reports.

The device, dubbed the HTC Dream or G1, is set to retail for about $199 and is likely to feature a slide-out keypad and built-in GPS.

Googles Chrome for Mac and Linux Now Possible

Google has been beaten by its own open-source programme to develop for the Mac and Linux OS’s. CrossOver Chromium is ideal for Mac and Linux users who have wanted to see how the browser shapes up, though do be warned – and this is from CrossOver Chromium themselves – that there are problems with the release and that users should still use their other browser(s) as defualts.

Download CrossOver Chromium here.

Browser Wars: A Disturbance in The Force

So Google has released Chrome, its entry in the browser wars (bonus points, Google, for promoting it with a Scott McCloud comic).

I know, I know, it uses the same rendering engine as Safari… but even still, Murphy’s Law of Browsers dictates that weird little quirks and idiosyncrasies will somehow find their way in. And in a world where we have to test web pages against Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Konqueror, old versions of Netscape, various mobile browsers and that web-enabled toaster oven in your client’s office kitchen, well… oy.

That said, am I itching to install it the moment the first suicidally-alpha version is available for the Mac? You betcha.

Written by Rob Cottingham

Sep 7 08

Article here

Google shows advertisers where their ads click

Google has added a new level of detail to the tools advertisers can use to track the performance of their search-ad campaigns, showing them the geographic region of the users who clicked on the ads.

Advertisers pay Google for ads next to search results when users click on them, so obviously advertisements have an interest in knowing details about where those users are located. “By specifically targeting those locations where your ads perform best you can maximize your campaign’s performance,” Google’s Trevor Claiborne said on the Inside AdWords blog Thursday.

The move illustrates one of the aspects of online advertising: detailed analytics let advertisers much more precisely determine the success or failure of advertising as measured by clicks on ads, views to Web sites, and conversions of advertisements into actions such as registering for a site or buying a product.

Separately, Google also said in a separate AdWords post that it’s adjusted performance-monitoring tools so advertisers can distinguish ads viewed through search results and through browsing content.

“Because search and content network statistics can differ greatly, viewing aggregate statistics for a campaign running on both networks may not give you granular insight into your performance,” Google’s Christian Yee said on the blog. “For example, a high number of impressions and a low click-through rate on the search network may be signals that you should optimize, but similar statistics on the content network are unlikely to indicate poor performance.”

Article here

Google Chrome Review For Windows

About:

Google have now come up with their browser, called Chrome. This is an open source browser that is set to add some heat to the ever on-going battle between Opera, Firefox, IE and Netscape. I have got my hands, or at least my computer has, on the new browser to give you my review on how it shapes up to my high expectations.

The look:

– It is modern and fresh compared to other browsers.

– Easy to find your way around.

Vs. Firefox 3:

– Also searches within URL’s.

– Tab browsing.

– Slower.

– Few add-ons as can be expected.

What I loved:

– Imported all previous files/passwords etc. from other browsers.

– Searches headings of URL’s to quickly search for what you want.

– Nice not to have the standard windows toolbars and functions at the top of the window.

– Seems to save pages so going to previously visited pages is very fast.

– The default page when clicking on the new tab button is very handy (shows most viewed pages for quick access).

What I disliked:

– Not as fast as Opera and Firefox from my usage.

– No status bar.

– Found Face Book and YouTube to be very slow to load first time compared to other browsers.

– Although it is nice that it saves pages for browsing in the future (as mentioned above), this makes first time loading of a URL very slow.

Overall:

I am impressed with Googles effort. Though I do not feel that this browser has enough to it to be able to dethrone browsers like IE and Firefox. Features such as the slow first time load time though quick second time load time can be either useful, or a big irritation.

CHROME goes live

Googles new browser is up for download, though only for Windows users.

Download Chrome here.

Full Review coming soon for Windows. Mac will follow when available.

A little competition never hurt anyone

Well today came the news that Google is set to launch is first browser, Chrome. The open-source browser is to be the first of its kind by upping the standards to appeal to Web 2.0 users. With Googles Chrome advert stating they have designed “something based on the needs of today’s web application(s) and today’s users”.

Chrome is to launch tomorrow (3.09.08) for windows and later for Mac and Linux.

Google launches SA Gadgets

Google South Africa has announced the first set of SA-specific gadgets. The gadgets can be used to convert South African Rand to any currency, test usersÕ knowledge of South African slang and proverbs, and daily advice and tips on HIV and tuberculosis.

Google gadgets are mini-applications that make information and content available to iGoogle and other services. The easiest way to access these gadgets is to search for them by clicking on Òadd stuffÓ on your iGoogle home page and search for their terms, such as, ÒSouth African slangÓ.

The first four gadgets were all developed by Quirk eMarketing in conjunction with SANTA, LifeLine Southern Africa, Kwela Books and the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society.

The HIV and TB gadget is designed to provide users with detailed information, health tips, and disease-specific facts.

The South African proverb and slang gadgets lets users check their knowledge of South African slang with a quiz game and increase their knowledge of African cultural expression.

The currency converter is a quick way to convert world currencies into South African rands.

Marion Gamel who heads up marketing in South Africa for Google says “the purpose of creating the first four South African gadgets is to motivate South African users, students and companies to create many more South African-specific gadgets. We know the creativity is out there. We aim for iGoogle to become the obvious, useful, personal, and fun base from which a satisfying Internet experience happens for South African users.”

Alastair Otter, MyBroadband

01 September, 2008 12:58:0