Google Friends Newsletter - September 2008
Autumnal greetings to all of our Google friends. We hope you enjoy
this month's update on our products and services.
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POWER TIP
Google Moderator
Google Moderator is a new way to facilitate question-and-answer
sessions during talks, presentations and events that involve large
groups of people. Anyone can submit a question and then people can
vote on the questions that they'd like answered.
http://moderator.appspot.com
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NEW PRODUCTS & UPDATES
Project 10^100
As part of our 10th birthday celebration, we launched Project 10100
(that's "ten to the hundredth"), a call for ideas that could help as
many people as possible, and a program to bring the best of those
ideas to life. We're committing $10 million to implement these
projects, and while money may offer a jump-start, it really comes down
to the great ideas that we know are out there. We're accepting
submissions until October 20, 2008, and then we'll open up voting in
January.
http://www.project10tothe100.com
Updates to Picasa, Picasa Web Albums
There's a new version available of our photo editing software. Picasa
3.0 makes it even easier to share photos with friends and family,
thanks to a new web sync feature that automatically keeps your web
albums up-to-date with the photos on your PC. Picasa 3 also includes
intuitive new editing tools, like a powerful retouching brush, text
tool, movie maker and revamped photo collages. We've also updated
Picasa Web Albums with "name tags" to help you automatically organize
and share your photos by who's in each picture.
http://www.google.com/picasa
Google Chrome
This month we released a new open-source web browser. Google Chrome is
fast, secure and lets you access your favorite Google services, such
as Gmail, Google Maps and Google Docs, more easily than ever. There
are some unique features too, like a single box for web addresses and
searches, a simplified download manager and an interface to maximize
your browsing experience. (Windows-only at present.)
http://www.google.com/chrome
Google Maps for mobile with Street View
If you use Google Maps for mobile on your BlackBerry or Java-enabled
phone, you can now access Street View while on the go. The new release
incorporates Street View into business listings and directions --
you'll be able to see a specific location before you get there. Other
new features include business reviews and walking directions.
http://www.google.com/gmm
Transit on Google Maps for New York
New York City has about a third of the country's public transportation
volume, and now Google Maps includes public transit information for
the entire metro region, making this the biggest Transit launch for
Google Maps to date. You can find Transit coverage for more than 70
cities and countries; we'll keep you posted as we add more to the
mix.
http://www.google.com/transit
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MISCELLANY
September marked the first 10 years of Google, so we took a moment to
reflect on the enormous impact the Internet has had on people's lives
since our company's founding. The power of the Internet has changed
the way we find, manage and share information -- and we believe it
will only continue to change the way we live. While we don't have a
crystal ball to see exactly what the future holds, we asked a number
of our in-house experts to share their thoughts on how this phenomenal
technology will evolve in the next 10 years. You can read their
responses in a special blog series. We hope you're inspired by their
ideas.
http://www.google.com/tenthbirthday/ten-years-out.html
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