The doodles on Google homepage have impressed zillions across the globe. These doodles commemorating Galileo s invention of the telescope or marking world Environment Day  appear on special days to honour scientific and artistic achievements, historic or seasonal events and other local occasions. Their eye -catching designs often teach you something new about the day, event or occasion. Now it s your turn to contribute to this creative, catchy, artistic patch.

Doodle 4 Google, is Google s first ever doodling competition  in India and it gives school students the chance to create a doodle for the Google India homepage . This will be seen by millions of Google users .The theme of the competition is “My India “, and students are asked to give a pictorial depiction of what India means to them. Doodles will be judged on artistic merit , creativity and the communication of the theme . The winning doodle will be displayed on www.google.co.in, on children s Day, November 14,  2009. The winner will also win a laptop  for himself/herself, and a technology grant of 1,00,000 for his/her school.

Here are the details:

• The  Doodle  4 Google -My India competition is open to all students between classes  1 and 10 , studying  in any school  in India.
• Students can register online at www.google.co.in/doodle4google,where they will also find all the information needed to take part in the contest.
• Entries will be judged in categories of 1 st to 3 rd standards ; 4th to  6th  standards; and 7th -10th standards.
• In mid -october , the doodles of 45 finalists will be short -listed on the Doodle  4 Google website . Finalists will be  invited to  an awards ceremony  in early November , Where the winner will be announced.

Google has announced today that it has acquired On2 Technologies, although it has been stated that it is subject to the approval of share holders of On2 and other processes that are required.

If you are wondering how Google’s interests converge with what On2 does, then you should know that On2 is a video compression, encoding and embedded technologies company.

On2′s technology and products are used for entertainment, education and communication amongst others. With its innovative technology On2 has managed to reduce the cost of creating and delivering high quality video over IP networks.

Today On2′s proprietary technology of video compression is installed over 2 billion desk tops world wide.

On2 Video combines high compression with computational efficiency for faster encoding, easier playback, smaller files, faster download times, reduced streaming delays and lower bandwidth costs without compromising visual quality.

On2 Encoding tools make creating and publishing video fast, easy and cost effective.

On2 Flix^TM video encoders are renowned for their performance and compatibility, accepting the broadest range of video formats to output web-ready Flash and JavaFX video, as well as 3GPP-compliant mobile video and H.264 video for Apple^� iPhone^TM & iPod^�.

On2 Encoding products are available as enterprise SDKs and desktop applications for live and pre-recorded content.

Customers using On2 Encoding solutions include Amazon, Disney, Microsoft and Netflix.

Readers will remember that the video format in HTML 5 was left undefined because Google, Apple Mozilla and others could not arrive at an acceptable solution for video formatting. It appears now that by acquiring On2 it is Google’s way of announcing that Google has arrived at a decision for implementing video concerned issues in HTML 5. Also note that On2 technology is used by Adobe Flash which in turn is used by YouTube.

Link

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Google Image Search can be used in several ways.

1. If you want to know if a person is a man or a woman and the name does not help, do a search for the image with the name.

2. If you don’t understand the meaning of a word, the pics may help you.

3. A better search for Flicker would be Google search which uses information from other sites that link to Flicker photos, so you may find Google search better.

4. Find what’s interesting about a site, by looking at the pictures included. For example: wired.com

5. Find new wallpaper for your desktop by restricting your search to large images where you can automate this using an application in Google search.

6. You can find random personal pics by using standard file names from digital cameras.

7. When you type the name of a painter and you can take an art class with out much ado.

8. By installing a Grease monkey script you can view the original version of the image directly by clicking on the thumbnail options.

9. Find the color of a word through Word Color, which is a windows program that uses Google Image Search to determine the color of a word or string of words. Word Color, retrieves the top 9 images and loops through all pixels, calculating the average hue, which is later converted to a color.

10. If you also want to grab search results, GoogleGrab is a tool that downloads images from Google Image Search which even supports batch search.

Wallpaper Search

1. Firstly, go to Google Image Search and click on Advanced Image Search.

2. Enter your related query in the first input box, for example: flower.

3. Select Photo Content from the list of content types that are made available.

4. Click on Use my desktop size to find images that are appropriate for your desktop.

5. Perform the search.

6. If you have a favorite color, click on All colors and pick any one of the 12 options according to your preferences.

Find Images with a Specific Size

Google Image Search has an undocumented parameter that lets you specify the exact dimension of the results that could be useful if you need to find wallpapers for your computer, logos and illustrations for a school project or any other images that have standard sizes.

imagesize:WIDTHxHEIGHT [640x480 pixel]

Link

http://www.googleguide.com/images/imageGoogleFounders.jpg

The recent trend of mobile emails is fast catching up with several smart phones that offer them on their devices. As a matter of fact, most users use mobile e-mail unlimitedly and several posts are also written via the mobile phone. Google has always been involved in the advent of such convenient and useful technology by making life easier for all mobile phone users which is also a step in the right direction.

The mobile phones have tiny screens and lots of text can be difficult to sort or scroll through easily. I blog and links get shared with me often via e-mail with a message to go along with them. Many times they are press releases so the URL’s can be quite long and I have to scroll quite a long way to get to the actual meat of the e-mail, an issue which Google is attempting to solve this by creating “Smart Links”.

The Smart links take links that are in there long form which is what Google terms as raw links and turns them into named links. These named links will show basically the title of the page so that you update all the information you need without scrolling all the junk. This app saves precious time and upgrades your email and mobile phone usage considerably.

Note: The only disadvantage is that Smart Links only works for a few Google services.

The only services supporting Google Smart Links which is very limited are Youtube, Google Maps addresses and directional queries and Google Sites web pages. I am perplexed why Google can’t pull the title of a web page to make a link a Smart Link and I am sure support for all domains will come soon.

With the release of “Smart Links” several users have questioned Google’s motive behind the feature and are suggesting this is their first step into the URL shortening business. The only thing that Google is doing is pulling the title of a web page and optimizing if for mobile phones with a direct link to the page.

I must conclude that this a great feature and while support for Google “Smart Links” is limited, it is indeed a step in the right direction.

News of Android 2.0 is trickling in. It appears that the name selected for Android 2.0 is “Donut”. It is expected to have performance upgrades and several features. Here are some of the features of which some are confirmed and one or two could be on the wish list.

• Coming from Google the main feature you can expect is the search function. You can search for just about any thing under the sun from your mobile. That is for sure.
• The Android 2.0 is expected to have a voice engine which will convert text to speech.
• Gesture commands. It is expected that gestures given by writing with the hand to the phone will be converted in to commands for displaying information.
• You may be able to install applications on an SD card.
• CDMA support may be incorporated because both Verizon and Sprint need the support if your mobile has to run on them.

Some times rivalries have to be kept aside where interests converge. Every one knows that Microsoft has a stake in Face Book and Google is working on Android.

Android phones are expected to give stiff competition to the iphones with several launches of new phones this year. So, it is logical and a matter of time that Face Book apps have to appear on the Android phones in what is the equivalent of the App Store called the Android Market.

The interesting news is that Google is taking the initiative for the Face Book app on Android Phones by delegating the work to its own engineers who will work with Face Book.

By the time the app for Android phones is developed by Google the iPhone apps of Face Book may feature video uploading and events etc.,

The current app being developed by Google for Android may not feature all those but is essentially bare bones Face Book. It may not contain the in box but features like updates and streaming will be available.

The Face Book app for Android may be out as early as the beginning of next month.

Google chrome browser is now one of those largely used browsers and the 4th largest browser to be used till now. But it has many problems with some content which requires new flash players up to date, say it video or some flash game or anything.

Actually this problem may be due to the fact that google is trying to take on ADOBE now by getting some flash alternative to serve with videos of youtube. Though google is ready to launch in youtube, many other sites are very well established with flash as the main server-end software for converting mpeg or any other raw codecs to a light version that can be broadcasted even through those low bandwidths.

Since it is heavily asked questions on many of the websites and forums online, i want to explain you how to install a latest version of flash player on to your Google Chrome Browser.!! -

At First, Download the latest version of flash player for windows xpi file.

Rename this downloaded xpi file to .zip as it can directly interact with your web browser and changes itself with the extension.
(For your convience, i have attached a working version of the file here to download. Note: This download site may not work properly for NON. US citizens)

Now, extract the downloaded file to a new folder where You will find a couple of files namely NPSWF32.dll flashplayer.xpt and make a copy of them, as we are going to use them.

Now, go to the following folder as seen below.
C /Documentts and setings/Local Settings/,Application Data/Google/Chrome/Appliccation/Plugins/

Now copy paste the above mentioned two files into the plugins folder you just opened.

Now we are done with the installation. You can also check if your installation is done correctly by going to the any of those websites that are designed in flash or watch some videos on youtube etc.

Just when the dust raised by Google with its announcement of Google Chrome OS, was about to settle, actually it was not allowed to settle, things were taken to Microsoft’s court yard with lightning speed and people expected a befitting reply and Microsoft obliged, only that much, postponing the real stuff for Monday. But surmises were quick to be made, past projects dug up and at the amphitheatre where nerds and geeks jostle, the weapon that Microsoft was going to unleash on Monday to counter the Google blow is getting tantalizingly revealing.

But before we get a peek at the hidden dagger, tell me if I am wrong. Did Google say the Chrome OS is also for Desk tops and PCs? Not that my brain could pick up or the sparks weren’t strong enough for this old fused brain.

I do not want to spoil the party. But sage counsels have put 2 and 2 together and have been quick to reveal that Microsoft is going to announce its cloud ready MS Office. But are mere earthlings ready for the Office in the cloud?

If Microsoft hoists its Office in the cloud does Google have to come out with an OS for desktops? People will access the Office equivalent through the Net Books. Is that the scenario we are heading towards? Can Microsoft and Google manage the memory requirements and have the capacities for such an exodus?

We first have to wait for the sparring to begin so that we can chatter and silently clicketty clatter.

One thing is for sure. At the cost of repetition, these are exciting times for us who savor the nuances of technology.

Is Google a reluctant competitor to Microsoft in the field of Operating system?

It is true it has carved out a domain for itself that was unchartered in the beginning. The competition breathing hard could only huff and puff, loose steam and the essence of what they were supposed to do.

That left me to wonder why doesn’t Google do the obvious ? Enter the OS space that is dominated by Microsoft ?

Yesterday was the answer but a meandering, reluctant and progressive answer – an announcement that Google is developing Chrome OS for net books.

Google is already involved with Android. Recent developments in Technology and the implementation of those standards calls for new thinking and new design. Some of these are already being implemented in Android. Then there is new space being created with the popularity and evolution of net books. This calls for a modern OS and Google’s answer to the challenge is the Chrome OS.

Look at the technologies that have to be incorporate. There is Bluetooth, 802.11 g standard that is backwardly compatible with earlier standards that brings links all appliances that are Wi Fi enabled at home on a single platform. Then there is the web that is connected to your mobiles and net books and all issues that go with it like video streaming, built in web cams, HDTVs , Digital Cameras, storage issues and transfer issues.

I am sure the new Chrome OS intends to integrate all these issues under one umbrella . The evolution of HTML 5 and the open sourced Linux no doubt would no doubt have given Google an indication that time is ripe and it should not be a lost opportunity.

Then there is the emerging cloud computing that call for an entirely different treatment and gives the word OS a new meaning.

Well these are exciting times and exciting opportunities for Google too.

Google already had an impressive Real Estate Search Tool and now Google has come out with enhancements to the Search Tool which it has released.

One does not have to use the term Real Estate as a search option. It is already provided. All one has to do is enter the city and “homes for sale” in the search option and one is provided with exhaustive information in a detailed box and ten markers of the most relevant results in Google maps . Apart from these markers small circles are drawn on the map to indicate all other relevant results. Each marker and each circle can be clicked to obtain more detailed information about the property.

Real Estate searches can now be conducted specific to a neighborhood and if a specific location has not been satisfying the map can be panned and searches can be carried out in the neighborhood or see at one glance all the properties close to a BART stop.

Google also admits to have incorporated the address of the property rather than the details of the number of rooms the property has after receiving feed back from people.

Google has also incorporated Australia and New Zealand and has made the provisions for listing of properties easier for inclusion.

Credits

http://google-latlong.blogspot.com

http://maps.google.com/help/maps/realestate/data_provider_faq.html