GOOGLE UPDATES: Google Maps ‘Real Estate’ search updates

Until now, if you want to view real estate listings on Google Maps, your finest bet was to select "Real Estate..." from the "More" menu at the top of the map. Now, merely searching for "real estate" will return – real estate search results! You can also try "homes for sale" or "homes for rent". Otherwise while you’re at it, check out "apartments for sale" or "homes for rent". Also required integrated real estate listings with Place Pages.

At present clicking "more info" link next to a listing takes you to a faster, easier-to-read page that gives you all of the information we have about a listing: inspection times, photos, videos, details, a Street View preview as well as nearby public transit information if available, allowing you to rapidly find the listing you want and click through to the sources of the listing, announced Google.

GOOGLE UPDATES: Google launches Swirl for easy image search

Google has launched a new tool called 'Swirl', which will help out users to find images in an easier way. The tool automatically groups identical images into categories presented on results pages. "Whatever Image Swirl does is - it automatically organizes image search results into groups and sub-groups. It is not just the face, the color, the visual features of the images; we look inside the image and ask over how they relate to each other on a pixel level," said Aparna Chennapragada, the Google Product Manager, to AFP.

Image Swirl expands on technologies developed for similar images as well as Picasa Face Recognition to discern how images must be grouped together and build hierarchies out of these groups. Each and every thumbnail on the initial results page represents an algorithmically-determined representative group of images with related appearance and meaning. These are not just the most relevant images – they’re the most relevant groups of images.

Image Swirl at present works for more than 200,000 queries and we plan to include more queries in the future. Available queries will auto-complete as you begin to type in the search box, like Google Suggest.

"As humans, we can easily tell which images must be grouped together by looking at them. The actual question is can we train computer algorithms to identify common features in images and then categorize them. It is not perfect. We may possibly have mistakes, but we hope to improve this system as we move forward," added Google Software Engineer Yushi Jing, who has been working on Image Swirl's underlying technology.

People may dabble with Image Swirl at Google Labs, and feedback will be used to develop the tool with the ultimate objective being to one day incorporate it in the California Internet giant's public search engine. "We’re committed to how we look at and understand visual information and organize it for our users," added Chennapragada. "This is the holy grail of computer vision."

Google launched image search in 2001 and later on added a 'similar images' feature to hone-in picture hunts.

GOOGLE UPDATES: Google Earth for iPhone gets Updated

Over a year after it was first released, Google Earth for the iPhone has gone through a significant version upgrade and has seen the most recent version graduate to the 2.0 scale.

The new version of Google Earth brings in support for new languages and lets you view custom maps by means of the "My Maps" interface. Custom Maps are nothing howevomeone would desire to show them where the have been and what route they took whilst said, on a Trekking trip.er personalized maps created by users and which are shared amongst users. This is useful if s

The new version of Google Earth for the iPhone also offers enhanced performance as well as icon selection. When a user touches an icon, a small glow appears below the finger to let you know which icon you have picked. Google added that Google Earth for the iPhone has been one of amongst the most popular free applications available on the Apple App Store. There is no word of an Android based Google Earth application in sight which has seen an increased demand - since the arrival of devices like the HTC Hero and of late, the Motorola Droid.

GOOGLE UPDATES: Google Updates API for SideWiki with RSS Capabilities

Back in September, Google launched Sidewiki. When you are using the Google Toolbar, you can access Sidewiki for any web page (that is been annotated with the tool). You will see comments and notes about the site, as chosen and ranked by Google.

Now, Google is updating the API for Sidewiki. With the update, you can currently view new entries created for a Sidewiki page through RSS.

If you are attracted in developing with the Google Sidewiki API, take a look at the documentation below.

The Google Sidewiki Data API permits client applications to view Google Sidewiki content in the form of Google Data API feeds. Your client application may use the Google Sidewiki Data API to request a list of Sidewiki entries as well as query for Sidewiki entries that match particular criteria.

Here are a few of the things you can do with the Google Sidewiki Data API:
• Obtain a list of Sidewiki entries written for a specific web page.
• Obtain a list of Sidewiki entries written by a specific author.
• Embed a custom gadget on your web page to show Sidewiki entries written about the page.

GOOGLE UPDATES: Google Updates AdWords Editor

A latest version of Google's AdWords Editor has been released.

The version 7.6.1's new features include, Ad scheduling and advanced location targeting, Add/Update Multiple Campaigns, Account tree editing, Account tree editing, Account tree editing, Promoted Video ads and Export spreadsheet with images (ZIP).

The updated features include Keyword expansion, Campaign and ad group pickers and Import CSV error export.

There is also new bidding terminology includes Max. CPC Search (previously Max. CPC), Max. CPC Automatic Placements (previously Max. Content CPC), Max. CPC Managed Placements (previously Placement Max. CPC).

There is no change to Max CPA as well as Max CPM terminology.

GOOGLE UPDATES: Google Adds 'Lock' Feature to SafeSearch

Google added one more security layer to its search functionality Wednesday, allowing users to lock-in SafeSearch on their accounts as a result questionable material will not pop up.

SafeSearch has been around for awhile, however users can now lock their setting to a "strict" setting that can’t be turned off or changed unless you type in a password. In the meantime, searches that are done using SafeSearch will include an icon of four colored balls in the top, right-hand corner of the results page, thus users know that SafeSearch is on.

"Even from across the room, the colored balls grant parents and teachers a clear visual cue that SafeSearch is still locked. And if you don't see them, it is quick and easy to verify and relock SafeSearch," Google alleged in a blog post.

To lock in SafeSearch, go to Settings on your Google account also looks for "safe search filtering." Click "lock safe search" and then login for a second time. The settings apply to all Google domains, in spite of of which country-specific Google service you are using. However if you have multiple profiles across Google, all these accounts must be locked independently.

In other search news, Google also announced Wednesday that those 17 World Development Indicators from the World Bank are now obtainable in Google search.

"Clicking on the result will take you to an interactive chart where you can compare the United States with other regions around the world," Google added in a separate blog post. "We have also added a new feature to enable you to embed these charts in your own web site or blog by clicking on the 'Link' button in the upper right hand corner of the chart page."

GOOGLE UPDATES: Google Go, An Open-Source Programming Language

Google's conquered search, online document collaboration, e-mail, telephony, and why not programming? The tech giant has announced its own open source and object oriented programming language, called Go.

"Go combines the development speed of working in a dynamic language similar to Python with the performance and safety of a compiled language similar to C or C++," according to a Google blog post.

If you don't know what that means, don't be bothered about it.

"Typical builds," the blog continues, "feel instantaneous; even huge binaries compile in just a few seconds. Moreover the compiled code runs close to the speed of C."

Go supports multiprocessing, in addition to true closures and reflection.

The Go Web site explains the rationale behind creating Go, repeatedly citing the change of the computer landscape that takes place over the past decade or so. There have been very few, if a few, major systems languages spring up, there are now more powerful PCs, lots of of which use multi-core processors, and there is an increased dependency management in software that is not reflected in the "header files" of C-based languages.

There is also the growing desire for dynamically typed languages (like Python and JavaScript) as an alternative of type systems such as Java and C++, and the poor support for concepts such as garbage collection as well as parallel computation.

Google added that Go takes full advantage of modern, multi-core hardware and simplifies dependency analysis and avoid the overhead present in C-style languages, such as files and libraries. Go's type system in addition has no hierarchy, which saves the programmer from having to define relationships between types, and Go is completely garbage-collected and naturally supports concurrent execution also communication.

If you are interested in getting started with Go, or you now want to learn more about its inner workings, Golang.org is loaded with tutorials, manuals, FAQs, along with other documentation for easy assimilation. There is even a section devoted to C++ programmers who desire to learn Go. Also available are code samples, such as the traditional beginning to all studies, "Hello, world!”

05 package main
07 import fmt "fmt" // Package implementing formatted I/O.br> 09 func main() { 10 fmt.Printf("Hello, world; or Καλημέρα κόσμε; or こんにちは 世界\n"); 11 }

Of course, it's way too early to forecast the impact of Go on programmers or programming. However we have a feeling that in this way, as in so many others, quite a few people will fall behind Google and look at this as a handy way of writing programs for modern hardware. If it won't spell the end of a variety of programming languages in common use, it will unquestionably represent at least the start of a major C change.