Google Friends Newsletter - March 2007
Google Friends Newsletter
Vernal 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
Flight information from Google SMS
With Google SMS, getting real-time flight information is as easy as
texting a message to your friend. Simply text message your flight
number to 466453 ("GOOGLE" on most mobile devices), and you'll receive
a text message right back with the status details of your flight. If
you're looking for more general information, you can text message the
name of an airline, and you'll receive a message with the main phone
number to call. This free service is available for flights departing
or arriving in the U.S.
http://www.google.com/sms
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NEW PRODUCTS & UPDATES
More personalization for your homepage
Make the Google homepage your own with the newest features for the
Google Personalized Homepage. You can change the entire look of the
page by choosing one of six themes. All the themes are dynamic, which
means the look of your homepage will change depending on the season,
time of day and weather conditions of your current location. If you
can't decide which gadgets to add, you can review other users' ratings
or read reviews of gadgets from the directory; name a new tab and let
us select gadgets you might like based on the tab's name; or click a
gadget's drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner and select "You
might also like..." to see our recommendations.
One we do recommend is the new Google Talk gadget, which lets you chat
with friends and family directly from your homepage. And this gadget
lets you view videos and photo albums straight from your chat window
by pasting URLs from YouTube and Picasa Web Albums into your chats.
There's nothing to download or install.
http://www.google.com/ig
http://www.google.com/ig/add?moduleurl=googletalk.xml
Google Notebook is out of beta
Google Notebook has now graduated from Google Labs and is officially
out of beta. Besides launching in 17 new languages, we've added a slew
of improvements to the user interface and new features too. You can
add your own comments to individual notes, view your notebook content
on Google Maps, and export your notebooks to Google Docs &
Spreadsheets. The next time you're planning an event with friends or
researching places to go for a family vacation, organize your findings
with Google Notebook.
http://www.google.com/notebook
Increased storage on Picasa Web Albums
Picasa Web Albums now offers 1GB of free storage, which means you can
upload up to 4,000 standard resolution photos for free. We've also
made it easier for you to share your photos and albums with friends.
Just click the "Link to this..." link next to any Picasa Web photo or
album, and copy the code provided. You can paste the code into an
email, IM or the code for your website for others to see.
http://picasaweb.google.com
Improved security with Google Desktop
We've added a new safety feature to Google Desktop to protect you from
suspicious sites. Now when you visit a site that might be trying to
steal your personal information or install malicious software on your
computer, Google Desktop will show you a warning before you use it.
Google Desktop also now includes a better-looking sidebar and gadgets
to match, and the ability to quickly preview a Google Desktop search
result before actually opening the file or going to the web page.
http://desktop.google.com
Photos on Google Maps
Google Maps users will now find relevant photos about businesses when
they do a local search. These photos will be visible in the business
details information window, and more can be found by clicking the
images. You'll find a range of images in the search results: from
photos of buildings and storefronts to pictures of hotel interiors and
delicious meals to help you decide where to make your next
reservation.
http://maps.google.com
Plus Box results on Google
This month we introduced Plus Box, a new feature of Google that lets
you see additional information on individual search results. When you
see a "+" icon next to a result, click on it and you'll see additional
data intended to help you find what you're looking for more quickly.
Right now, we're showing two types of Plus Box results: stock
information and maps. Expect to see more types going forward.
http://www.google.com
New software from Google Pack
Protect your PC with the newest additions to Google Pack: Symantec's
Norton Security Scan, which detects and removes viruses, and PC Tools'
Spyware Doctor Starter Edition, a top-rated anti-spyware utility. Like
all Google Pack offerings, these applications are free and
automatically updated. We've also made some major updates to the
Google Photos Screensaver: Now you can turn your computer into a
digital photo frame that displays pictures from photo feeds, a great
way to keep current with your friends' and families' latest pictures.
http://pack.google.com
Polls on orkut
Have a tough decision to make? With the latest feature from orkut, you
can get an entire orkut community's input on any question you have.
Simply post a poll to any community you belong to and watch as members
vote and leave comments on your question. Next time you're deciding
between a holiday weekend in Aspen or Hawaii, look to your friends on
orkut.
http://www.orkut.com
Google.com for mobile
Searching from your mobile phone can be tricky, as you're walking and
searching, without a mouse, and scrolling through results on a small
screen with just a couple of inches of real estate. Now when you visit
Google.com on your phone, click the link that takes you to the new
mobile search experience. You'll never be more than a click or two
away from the answer that you're after. You can add modules for the
types of information you're regularly searching for to your homepage
so you don't have to search for updates anymore.
http://www.google.com/mobile
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MISCELLANY
We admit it -- we get wrapped up in our work. Even when we're not
feeling so great, there are deadlines to meet - things that can't move
forward without us - and the fear of getting behind keeps us going
even when we feel lousy. It's easy to see how it happens in this
"always-on" culture, and so it's probably no different for you,
either. Our own Google doctor at our Mountain View, Calif.
headquarters, Dr. Taraneh Razavi, recently reminded us -- and you! --
to stay home when you're sick. As she notes in a recent Google Blog
post, it's not just at Google that this working-while-sick phenomenon
goes on, to the benefit of no one, least of all the lousy-feeling
person and their immediate co-workers. So whether you've got flu-like
symptoms, a bad cough, or a wearying head cold, consider this a
reminder to nurse yourself back to health -- at home. Chances are
you'll heal more quickly and your colleagues will thank you. There
will always be another work deadline. Why not make one for yourself --
to get better?
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/feeling-sick-go-home.html