Everything You Need to Know About Google's Big Announcements

The bar was set high for the annual Google I/O Developer's Conference in San Francisco following a whole series of product announcements and surprises in 2012, and although no one jumped out of a plane wearing Google Glass this year, we were treated to some cool new products.

The keynote was packed with announcements of enhancements to Google services. For example, Google Maps now shows clouds hovering over the world in real time and displays how Earth looks in the Milky Way as the sun sets. Google+ has 41 new features. The company announced impressive stats about the popularity of its applications, and there was even a rare Q&A session with Google CEO Larry Page. However, we didn't see a new Android tablet launch, an operating system update or more details surrounding Google Glass.

Here's a look at highlights of Wednesday's keynote.

Google+ Redesign and Photo Features

Google+ added 41 — yes, really — new features to its social network to make it smarter and more intuitive, with the inclusion of bigger pictures and related hashtags. The image-focused design looks a lot like Pinterest and Facebook.

The update includes a multi-column layout for pictures and related hashtags. If you're following a sports team, Google+ will tag it for you by adding, for example, #SFGiants. It also rolled out a new way to improve photos. Auto Awesome — yes, it's actually called that — uses a set of photos in your library to create an animated GIF.

Meanwhile, Auto Backup automatically backs up mobile pictures as soon as they are taken, and Auto Enhance acts like a filter to correct color and saturation of pictures.

Hangouts App

A new stand-alone Hangouts app was announced for web, Android and iOS, and it's available starting on Wednesday. Vic Gundotra, senior VP of engineering, told attendees it will focus on conversations, rather than contacts. Contacts will be ranked by Google according to how often you talk to or chat with those contacts.

Users will be able to use text, photos and video within the app, and it will all be stored so you can go back and retrieve that content any time. There is also an option to delete what is shared with others during a Hangout.

Google Maps

After a string of rumors that the company was readying a new Google Maps design, it announced a spectacular new look for the platform. In fact, Google said it rebuilt Maps from "the ground up."

The new Google Maps has Google Earth and Street View baked into it. With stunning Google imagery, as well as user-generated photos that can be uploaded and submitted to Google Maps, the platform has never looked better.

Now, you can create a tailored map for each search and click you make, and it incorporates Zagat badges and restaurant reviews. Offers from retailers such as Starbucks can also be integrated directly into the site, and it makes smart recommendations specifically for you. The more you use it, the better it gauges your interests.

Overall, Google Maps also aims to be a GPS device killer. You can re-route directions based on traffic conditions seen on the Map and view side by side how long each route takes to select the quickest and shortest one.

Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4

An unlocked "Google edition" of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 smartphone made an appearance during the keynote. The model will be available on AT&T and T-Mobile and tout LTE support, 16 GB of RAM — which is expandable with an SD card — and its bootloader unlocked. This will allow it to receive system updates "promptly with every Android platform update."
The device will be available starting June 26 on Google Play for $649.

New Gaming APIs

New tools have been introduced to help developers make their Android games more social. The suite is a part of updates to the Google Play Developer Console, which developers use to organize their apps released onto Android.

Some perks include the ability to add leaderboards and achievements games within Google Play, giving players the ability to compete against friends through high scores.

Another new API lets gamers play the same game across multiple devices, allowing the game to move from a smartphone to a tablet and so on.

Check out this awesome Google Racer app which creates a track across devices.

More Location-Based Services

Android location services also got a refresh with three new APIs. First, the Fuse Location Provider can acquire locations faster and more accurately — all using less battery power than before.
Another API relies on geofencing by embracing what Google is calling "virtual fences" around geographical areas. It will allow developers to add up to 100 geofences for each app.
The third is an activity recognition feature that lets users track their physical activities. It senses whether a user is walking, riding a bicycle or driving, thanks to accelerometer data and other classifiers.

Android and Chrome Stats

Google announced there have been a total of 900 million Android activations, which is a huge increase from 400 million activations it said it had last year at Google I/O. Although this is impressive — the operating system launched only four and a half years ago — Apple is reportedly close to 50 billion app downloads for iOS.

Google is also proud of its browser Chrome, and it should be: it now has 750 million active users. This is up about 300 million users from the same time last year. Chrome, which launched in beta in 2008, became the most popular browser used worldwide last year, beating Internet Explorer for the top spot.

Chrome Voice Commands

Google is also adding voice commands to Chrome. By saying "Okay, Google" and then asking a question — such as "show me things to do in Santa Cruz" — the Google results page will speak back to you. It comes from its knowledge graph and knows Santa Cruz is a place. It then pulls related things to the city. Users can also make more narrow voice requests, such as "show me pictures of the Santa Cruz boardwalk."
Users can also ask how far away a point is to their location and where to eat nearby.

A Spotify Killer?

On the heels of rumors of launching a Spotify competitor, the company announced the Google Play Music All Access, which "blends your music collection with ours" across multiple devices. Despite its clunky name, the streaming platform is strategically priced at $9.99 — the same as Spotify's monthly subscription service. For those who sign up by June 1, Music All Access Plus will go for $7.99. It comes with a 30-day free trial and is now available in the U.S. It will eventually roll out to more countries soon.

Google hasn't said which record labels have signed on; it's been rumored that deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment are in the works.

Google Cloud Improvements

Google Cloud Messaging just got a big revamp during the big Google I/O conference held in San Francisco on Wednesday, and it's now a whole lot faster.
Last year, Google Cloud Messaging — which lets you push data from servers to apps — was announced, and now 60% of the top 100 apps in the Google Play store use it. The company is expanding this service by supporting connections between a persistent connection from servers to many devices.

This means you can upstream messages to send data in both directions, from servers to apps and then from apps to servers. It also is launching a new API that syncs notifications across devices.
"All of the new features are rolling out progressively, and all you have to do up is sign up starting today," Google said.

Google Play for Education

A new program called "Google Play for Education" was discussed during the event and is designed for making devices and software affordable for educators. Teachers can now buy apps and push then to a classroom of tablets at once, which then can be charged to a school account.
Last year, over a thousand schools in the U.S. are using Chromebooks and more than 2,000 new schools this year.
"Chromebooks have gone mainstream in education — not just in US, but around the world," a Google spokesperson told attendees.

Larry Page Speaks

In an unusual move, Page fielded questions from attendees after the keynote presentation and delivered a passionate speech about the importance of technology and programming's "image problem" and took questions from the audience.

Page, who is battling a medical condition related to his vocal cords, spoke softly as he discussed how his father influenced his love for tech: "My dad was really interested in technology. He drove me and my family all across the country to go to a robotics company. Then we got there, he thought it was so important his son would go to the conference."

He also discussed the industry's competitive nature and the company's role in the upcoming Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson film The Internship to help shatter consumer opinion that computer programmers and scientists are "nerdy curmudgeons."

"When I read about us in the press, it's always us vs. some other company or some stupid thing," Page said. "I just don't find that interesting. ... [The] most important things are not a zero-sum game. There's a lot of opportunity out there."

Thumbnail via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, and images via Google and Mashable

YouTube Launching Paid Subscriptions to Some Video Channels: Report

YouTube is set to launch a paid subscription model for its specialist video channels as early as this week, according to a report.

The move, which has been in development for months, aims to help channels finance a wider range of content such as television shows and films, and will serve as another source of revenue, according to the Financial Times.

The service will include up to 50 YouTube channels, and subscriptions to each channel will start as low a $1.99 per month, the newspaper reported Sunday, citing anonymous sources.

In response to the report, a YouTube spokesperson told Mashable, "We have nothing to announce at this time, but we're looking into creating a subscription platform that could bring even more great content to YouTube for our users to enjoy and provide our creators with another vehicle to generate revenue from their content, beyond the rental and ad-supported models we offer."

Rumors that YouTube will monetize its premium content have circulated for some time. In January, AdAge reported that the site asked a small group of channels to apply to be among those paid.

At the time, a YouTube representative told Mashable, "We have long maintained that different content requires different types of payment models ... The important thing is that, regardless of the model, our creators succeed on the platform. There are a lot of our content creators that think they would benefit from subscriptions, so we’re looking at that."

Other signs suggest that YouTube is likely working on à la carte and pay-per-view options for its video channels. Code found in a February app update mentioned subscribing and unsubscribing from paid YouTube channels.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Rego - d4u.hu

Use Social Media To Drive Massive Traffic To Your Website

Social Media is now taking control of the internet world. Nearly anybody that has some type of computer or smartphone has some kind of social media profile. No matter if it is Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, Skype or Instagram or any of the other innumerable social media sites, billions of individuals use most of them and they are mostly all 100 % free.

How Do You Take Advantage Of These Social Media Websites For Your Business venture?
Just sit back and think of just how much you are putting in on marketing and advertising for new buyers or investors. Now all that investing for advertising and marketing was the best successful way of getting your business name on the market and producing leads to exchange sales. Now, it's a complete new picture. The web is a part of hundreds of millions of daily lifestyles and now you can get through to them all around the world without leaving your own home. Social Media, if used correctly is much more affordable and could be free in most circumstances for establishing relationships with potential partners or consumers. The perk to this is that it is equally as powerful as paid advertising if used the right way. With social media you can create a worldwide following like you have never seen before!
After Today, You Should Understand Ways to Utilize This Social Media To Your Benefit.

Listed here Are 5 Of The Best Social Media sites To Make use of For Your Business venture:

1. Facebook.
Having 1.06 BILLION regular monthly members on Facebook, this must be among your major social network tools to employ for your business promotion. Members can easily generate groups, pages, personal profiles, and may actually browse for individuals according to their profession. Presently are infinite options using Facebook which could require a complete book in order to describe completely. To get ideal payoffs when it comes to your business, you are going to most likely must develop a following to begin with on a relatively personalised degree along with your business venture, as opposed to just simply positioning an advertisement on there instructing individuals to explore your business as well as pay for regardless of what it is you are actually marketing. You should moderately reveal exactly how awesome your service or product is and also have a webpage committed to your work which many people can easily like and also track day-to-day to generate a ton of involvement, to convert in to future clients. Never simply just make use of Facebook in order to get consumers either regarding your business. Try to keep an open mind with all types of opportunities and you could also discover your future worker of the year or even dependable company companion on there. Be sure and make use of images, video clips, along with almost anything else that could possibly grab interest much more than only words.

2. YouTube.
Including about 1 BILLION people and also 4 billion views a day, YouTube must be high on your checklist of social media internet sites to benefit from with respect to your business. YouTube is actually particularly pertaining to video clips. The entire idea regarding YouTube is simply to possess one of the most highly utilized resource on the planet when it comes to online videos of every style for the general public to see. Regardless if it is "how to" clips, corporation persuasion web videos, or perhaps maybe even merely recreation web videos, they are certainly entirely on there. Virtually just about anything you could wonder about will certainly be on YouTube due to various individuals make use of it daily. A bit of helpful strategies can be to create a few fair quality online videos concerning your market that might intrigue your target niche and place all of them on there. Before long should you possess an ideal, your domain WILL CERTAINLY become discovered and become sought-after with using web videos with YouTube. Create a channel within there for your business venture video clips and curious users that view your business venture will likely subscribe with you and also check out each of your video clips. Thus produce excellent online videos which individuals will likely desire to view throughout and make every one of them count simply because that might be the big difference when it comes to a load of possible sales.

3. Twitter.
Offering 500 million overall members, Twitter is really simply one more type of social network which must be checked out with regard to your business venture. Supposing that you actually desire to generate a fan base, this is definitely the internet-site to utilize. Twitter is simply about whom you follow as well as whom is following you. The more supporters you acquire, the more prominent you are with Twitter. The more famous you are regarding Twitter, the extra visibility you can obtain when it comes to your business venture on the web with everyone. You may more or less employ it like a kind of progress report with regards to precisely how famous your business organization is becoming plus whenever you publish anything on Twitter, all your fans will likely see it. How awesome is that? When it is really a very impressive post, your fans could also retweet it in order for their supporters to check out, gaining you a lot more visibility to web traffic! Most prominent individuals and establishments may possess upwards of millions of fans. Perhaps even a fragment of that may be all you require to boost sales regarding your business because of admirers becoming future purchasers.

4. Google+.
Having 343 million involved members, Google+ should be explored for your business venture publicity efforts with social media. Google+, to a great deal of individuals, isn't really the favored social media website for individual factors, but much more for business. Google+ possesses a bit of many things on it. A awesome aspect of it is you possess several circles that you could form. You may create an acquaintance circle, a fan base circle, and a loved ones circle. You may considerably sort the circles of individuals in your daily life through Google+ and also have hangouts along with competitions alongside several additional features. You could utilize your following circle similar to twitter and attempt to create a fan base for your market so you could get a lot of them become buyers of the things your company features. It is equally beneficial to own a Google+ profile due to the fact that it will link to YouTube as well as be extremely beneficial to your Search Engine Optimization within the Google online search engine. As a matter of fact, it is ticket to getting your unique or company photograph alongside your posts in the Google search engine results, and that strengthens the chance of a person clicking on it by 100-150 %! Google+ is simply just a really effective well-rounded social media resource to get web publicity.

5. LinkedIn.
Having around 200 million members, LinkedIn is definitely a social media site which must be taken very seriously, notably with its tie-ins to business. LinkedIn is a far more professional social media website that is primarily for businessmen as well as business women. You could seek individuals within a specific occupation and also connect to all of them in order to possibly establish a working collaboration that might be good for the two of you. You are going to even discover several possible prospects on LinkedIn by limiting results to who could be a bit more probable to take advantage of what the company provides. You can also conduct paid promotions and job promotions that appear considerably professional and also are modified to your preference. You can personalize them to a particular level to get additional interest too. How ever sizable your budget plan is concerning the paid LinkedIn advertisements, will decide just how you design it and the level of publicity the advertisement will get based upon just how much as well as when you prefer the advertisement to be presented. The promotions even go to a specific kind of individuals depending on the narrowing of the niche with provided variables such as age or line of work. Thanks to tons of market possibilities and possible leads you could receive from LinkedIn, it is the fitting location to promote your business organization and ought to be a must-have social media source.

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