Google expands Gmail Search Field trial to include Calendar results

Google has expanded its Gmail Search Field Trial by adding Calendar results. Now users can find their schedule by simply typing "What is on my calendar today" into the search bar.

“With all that you juggle every day, its easy to lose track of appointments, plans, and reminders. With today's expansion of our Gmail Search Field Trial (http://goo.gl/dQGNs), we've added Calendar results to your Gmail and Drive results,” says Google in an post.

“You can learn your entire schedule for the day by searching for [what is on my calendar today]. Or if you'd want to know when you're meeting up with your friend Bryan for lunch, type [when am i meeting bryan]. A search is a search, and with the field trial you can securely see results that are important to you, no matter where the answer may be.”

To recall, Google's field trial is available only after you opt in. The trial brings information from Gmail, reciepts, reservations and even Google Drive documents onto the search engine results page.

Last year, Google added Gmail messages into the search results with an objective to make the search “truly universal”. "Sometimes the best answer to your question isn't available on the public web — it may be contained somewhere else, such as in your email. We think you shouldn't have to be your own mini-search engine to find the most useful information — it should just work,” Google then said in a blog post.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Google-expands-Gmail-Search-Field-trial-to_13668.html

Technology Information

Technology Information about,

• Computers, Laptops & PCs
  
  
• Mobiles & PDAs
  
  
• Digital Cameras
  
  
• Storage Devices
  
  
• Parts & Peripherals
  
  
• Gaming
  
  
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• Apps
  
  
• Ultrabooks

Apple TV now officially available in India for Rs. 7,900

Apple has officially launched the Apple TV in India for Rs. 7,900, almost a year after it was originally launched in the U.S. Apple has updated its India website accordingly and you can find the Apple TV listed under the iPod section of the site.

The Apple TV, for the uninitiated, is a media streamer that lets you stream and share content from your Apple devices and from iTunes to your HDTV. The device needs to be connected to your HDTV through HDMI, while it can pull content from other Apple devices over a wireless or a wired network. Apart from content you already own, you can also use the Apple TV to purchase content from the Indian iTunes store and view it on your TV.

Apple TV also provides access to a limited section of streaming content outside of the iTunes store but since most of the content is around Baseball and international finance, it's not really something that will become really popular. Apart from music and videos, you can also use the Apple TV to view photos from your iPhone or iPad or those hosted on iCloud, mirror content (like games) from your iPhone/iPod or iPad to your TV using AirPlay and watch videos from sites like YouTube and Vimeo.

While talking to ThinkDigit, an Apple India representative stated that the company was looking at partnering with Indian content providers to stream content using Apple TV, similar to the way American users can access video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu Plus on their TVs through the device. However, there were no specific details available right now.

There are already a bunch of HD media players available in the Indian market such as the WD Live HD, Asus O! Play Mini and the Amkette Flash TV HD. These media players let you stream content from external hard drives to your TV. However, the media player segment is yet to breakthrough in terms of mass adoption. It will be interesting to see whether Apple, with its new found interest in India, will be able to drive up sales of the Apple TV.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/TVs/Apple-TV-now-officially-available-in-India_13534.html

Pinterest updates Android app, improves group boards

The popular photo sharing based social networking service Pinterest, which allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies and more has updated its Android app in order to improve group boards. This update on Android will upgrade the Pinterest app to the version 1.3.2 which adds better support for group boards.

Regular Pinterest users will surely appreciate the changes made to the app, as they improve the overall experience of the app and also add some functionality which was lacking previously. The newer features enabled by this update gives users the option to access or ignore group board invitations. It also includes a list of board contributors so that users can see who they’re pinning (or adding) their content with.

Strangely enough, on previous versions of the app, the option to leave group boards was not available, but the new update has seen to this and thus enables users to quit groups which they don’t need anymore. The group board invites now can be easily accepted or declined on the app itself thus making the app much more usable.

It must be noted that this update was only announced for Android users currently. Although, Pinterest was updated on the iPhone and the iPad a few days back, but as of now there is no news about when the iOS app will have the update which improves group board features. Pinterest also started redesigning their website last week in order to make it more dynamic and faster. Check out this update on the Google Play store here.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Apps/Pinterest-updates-Android-app-improves-group-boards_13426.html

Top News: Portable Media Players

Latest News on Portable Media Players:

• Samsung intros massive Galaxy Player 5.8 PMP, with 5.8-inch display and ICS
  
• Apple to update iPod touch later this year
  
• Acer launches the C110 and K330 mobile projectors
  
• Zebronics launches ZebMate Cinema 3.0+ touchscreen PMP, at Rs. 2,900
  
• Computex 2011: Android TV is here � First Look [Video]

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Portable-Media-Players-ca-33.php

Yahoo enters into a deal with Google for contextual online ads

Yahoo has entered into a global advertising deal with the search giant Google which will result in Google ads appearing on Yahoo websites. Yahoo announced this deal on Wednesday, February 6. 

 

The deal seems to be a win-win situation for both the companies as Yahoo gets relevant ads on its website and Google gets a larger platform to display its ads.

The deal comes seven months after Marissa Mayer took the chair as CEO of Yahoo. Marissa Mayer was formerly one of Google’s top executives.

Yahoo’s official blog post on the deal reads, “Today, we’re excited to announce that we recently signed a global, non-exclusive agreement with Google to display ads on various Yahoo! properties and certain co-branded sites using Google’s AdSense for Content and Google’s AdMob services.

By adding Google to our list of world-class contextual ads partners, we’ll be able to expand our network, which means we can serve users with ads that are even more meaningful.

For our users, there won’t be a noticeable difference in how or where ads appear. More options simply mean greater flexibility. We look forward to working with all of our contextual ads partners to ensure we’re delivering the right ad to the right user at the right time.”

The advertising will be on a more contextual basis, something that we have come to see in Google ads as well as on the social networking website, Facebook. If you are searching for shoes, or clothes or a new TV set, the ads that will appear will be relevant to what you are looking for instead of something irrelevant like property or hair care. This relevance makes it easier and more likely for a user browsing the Internet to click on the ad.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Yahoo-enters-into-a-deal-with-Google_13374.html

Top News

Top Technology News

• Google wins landmark AdWords case in Australia
  
• Microsoft Surface Pro almost gets it right
  
• Apple wins design patents for slide-to-unlock, original iPhone
  
• Zynga paints 2013 as its 'year of mobilization'
  
• Pinterest shooting for $2.5 billion valuation, report says

Source: http://news.cnet.com/

Benchmarks, details appear for six unannounced Samsung devices

GLBenchmark has revealed information about six unannounced Samsung devices. These devices are yet to be unveiled by Samsung.

First, we have the Samsung GT-I9150 / GT-I9152 – Galaxy Fonblet 5.8. As per the benchmark scores, The Galaxy Fonblet has a Broadcom BCM28155 CPU clocked at 1.2GHz, a VideoCore IV GPU, and a qHD (960x540 pixel) display. The device runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

Next up, we have a successor to the Samsung Galaxy Pocket, the Samsung GT-S5310 / GT-S5312 Galaxy Pocket 2. According to the benchmark the device has a Broadcom CPU clocked at 850MHz along with a VideoCore IV GPU. The display has a VGA (320×240 pixel) resolution and runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean straight out of the box. Considering the specifications, the Galaxy Pocket 2 seems to be a low-end Samsung device. The first generation Samsung Galaxy Pocket too was an entry-level budget Android device. You can read our review of the first generation Pocket here.

Another low-end Samsung Galaxy device was listed – the Samsung GT-S5282 Galaxy Star. The Star has a Spreadtrum CPU, Mali-300 GPU, and a display with a VGA (320×240pixle resolution). It runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

A device called the Samsung GT-S6310 / GT-S6312 – the Galaxy Young – was also listed. As per the benchmark, the Galaxy Young boasts of a 1GHz Qualcomm 7×27 CPU along with Adreno 200 GPU. It has an HVGA (480×320 pixel) display. It too runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. According to SAM Mobile, ‘Samsung initially started to test the device with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich but the company decided to launch the device with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean on-board.’

The benchmark also revealed the Samsung Galaxy Frame (GT-S6810 / GT-S6810P). It too boasts of a Broadcom 1GHz CPU, VideoCore IV GPU, a HVGA (480×320 pixel) display and runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean straight out the box. Two variants of the device will be available. One that boasts of NFC and the other that doesn’t. It is still unclear what other differences will be present between the two devices.

Last but not least, the benchmark also revealed the GT-B9150. Called the TBD, the GT-B9150 boasts of a dual-core Exynos 5250 CPU clocked at 1.7GHz along with a quad-core Mali-T604 GPU. The device also features a full HD (1920×1080 resolution) display. It runs on Android 4.1 Jelly bean straight out of the box.

That the devices have appeared on GLbenchmark means that they are nearly finished and should be unveiled to the world soon. It’s no coincidence that MWC, the world’s largest mobile phone show, will take place towards the end of the month in Barcelona. We can expect these devices to be unveiled then.

Another interesting observation is that a large number of these new devices run on the Broadcom chipset. We have seen the Broadcom SoC on another Samsung device that was launched recently, the Samsung Galaxy Grand. The Grand has been announced in India, but still needs to hit store shelves. You can check out our first impressions of the device here.

Those interested can take a look at the benchmark scores of the devices below.

• Samsung GT-I9152
• Samsung GT-S5282
• Samsung GT-S6312
• Samsung GT-S6810P
• Samsung GT-S5312
• Samsung GT-B9150

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Benchmarks-details-appear-for-six-unannounced-Samsung_13320.html

New Apple patent lets iTunes users become ATMs

A new patent application by Apple, filed in 2011 and published yesterday, introduces a service that could let iTunes users take cash from other users. The service is referred to as an “ad-hoc cash-dispensing network” by Apple in the patent and was spotted by New Scientist.

The patent document explains how the service works: an iTunes user can log into an app and input the amount of cash he wants, and the app will use his location to see if there are other users around who have the cash. Once a user with cash is located and the cash is handed over, the amount is debited from the credit card of the person who requested the cash (since the credit card will be associated with his iTunes account) and credited to the card of the person giving out the cash.

An iTunes user will be incentivised to make himself available to give out cash since along with getting back the amount he gave out in cash, the user will also earn an extra amount as a service charge. Apple will also earn 10% of the transaction value, in every transaction.

The patent document further explains that users involved in this service will be rated by other users, and users with low ratings will be weeded out.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/New-Apple-patent-lets-iTunes-users-become_13311.html