5 Things You Did Not Know about Google

Information today has become as available as the internet, literally; but where would the world be without the revolutionary invention that made this happen? Nobody (except maybe Google) knows.

And since Google makes it its business to know all about everybody, have you ever wondered how much you know about the world’s most popular search engine? (If you haven’t, now is probably a good time to start).

Marissa Mayer, the vice president of local, maps, and localization at Google, has been on Google’s team from the second year after the search engine launched. Being on the team for so long has let her see Google’s growth first-hand, and in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, she listed out five things you probably didn’t know about the search engine.

Here are the five so-far-unknown insider anecdotes about Google:

1. Why so much of Google’s homepage is white:

Google's dependence on white space on its homepage was one that arose purely out of necessity, and not because it wanted to be minimalist in design. According to Mayer, Sergey Brin, Google co-founder explained “We don’t have a webmaster and I don’t do HTML.”

2. How Google's AdSense happened:

 

Mayer, in the interview, said she almost killed the idea of targeting ads based on users’ e-mails, because she (at first) thought the idea was “creepy”. However, a colleague working an all-nighter overlooked her dismissal of the idea, and thus started ads-in-e-mail.

Today, Google’s AdSense is a multi-billion dollar business.

3. How much would it take to occupy some white space?

 

 

 

According to Google’s calculation, an ad on its home page would cost at least $10 million, if not more, apparently.

If only the space were for sale! (But then again, the only white space humankind knows on the internet would be cluttered with stuff we see everywhere else).

4. Why did the Google homepage have a copyright symbol on it?

 

Talking about the white space on Google—the page had the copyright symbol installed after initial test users did nothing but stare at the home page, “waiting for the rest of it to load,” Mayer said. It’s not necessary, but the symbol served as a sign that the minimal page had finished loading and was ready for a search entry.

5. And about acquiring things...

Mayer once had an extreme fascination for Motorola’s circa-1996 StarTAC mobile phone; she even bought used models of the phone on e-Bay to try and build up a collection.
But any resemblance to the incident, whether from fiction or real-life (read “Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility") is like when you happen to hoard a product and then come to a point years later where you buy the company that makes said product— it’spurely coincidental.

Watch out Google: Facebook is Building a Search Engine

Facebook could be building a search engine to change the scenario in social search, according to Mashable, since social networks lack the ability to let users receive relevant results (say, for example, returning a particular restaurant when you searched for it-- instead of showing people who worked at the restaurant, different types of food and everything other than that one query).

According to the report, the search engine in question would be fuelled by your friends’ likes, your location and the like. Basically, the engine would be powered by the concept of the social search—a concept so powerful it could challenge even Google at its own game.

What makes this move even more compelling is the fact that Facebook has (according to Bloomberg’s Businessweek) deployed a dozen search engineers along with Lars Ramussen, a former Google engineer to improve the search experience on the social network.

Where is Facebook in the search engine scenario?

As of now, Facebook is nowhere in the search scenario, and AOL, Ask, and Amazon deal with much more queries than the social network. But if Google believes in the combined power of social media and search, as noted in a report by Business Insider, (which is what led to the birth of Google+), Facebook could be backed with a pretty powerful product.

However, “Search Plus Your World” returned tepid results for Google, and Facebook would be wise, (as would be expected) to not go down that lane, noted Pascal Emmanuel Gobry, an analyst at Business Insider. “They'd be smarter to do an AOL-type deal where they outsource search to Microsoft for a fee,” he said, in a discussion about Facebook’s plans.

So is Facebook doing anything related to search?

Facebook is apparently aiming to try and improve its internal search, and Businessweek’s two sources,(who didn’t want to be named because of the company’s quiet period ahead of its IPO), said that the purpose behind this move is to help users sift through the huge volume of content that members create on the site better.

So although all of this is focused on improving the internal search engine on Facebook, most people (on a number of tech news sites, such as Techmeme) are speculating if this move could prove to be one that opposes Google itself. A Facebook spokesperson said “We don’t comment on rumors and speculation around products,” but if the social network will be moving into search, it could prove to be quite a competitor to Google, which is moving more and more into the realm of social media rather than just concentrating on search.

But what do you think? Would the world of search be better with a more social competitor to Google?  Would you use Google lesser if Facebook came up with a comprehensive search engine? Sound off in the comments section.

BlackBerry cuts prices steeply

BlackBerry phones on display at a shop in Ahmedabad

Canada-based Research In Motion (RIM) on Wednesday announced a steep cut in the prices of its BlackBerry smartphones, a move that will further intensify competition in the hi-end mobile handset market.

RIM has reduced prices of its four popular phones — three in the Curve series and one Torch model — that accounts for its 60 per cent of its total sales.

Across models

The price of entry-level model, Curve 8520, has been reduced from Rs.10,990 to Rs.8,999, the new price of Curve 9360 is Rs.18,990 (old price Rs.20,990) and that of Curve 9380 Rs.16,990 (old price Rs.19,990). Similarly, the price of Torch 9860 has been reduced from Rs.29,990 to Rs.21,990.

Stating that the price cut would help the mobile handset-maker tap a wider base of the large Indian market, RIM India Managing Director Sunil Dutt said: “RIM as a brand has moved from just an enterprise device to as a more consumer device. Be it our services or the product, we have seen a strong uptake by the youth and therefore, to get the devices into more hands, we are cutting the prices.”

Industry estimates say the smartphone market in India stood at 1.1-crore handset in 2001, registering a growth of an impressive 87 per cent over 2010. Nokia was the leader in the smartphones segment, with 38 per cent share in 2011, followed by Samsung with 28 per cent share and RIM with a 15 per cent share.

HCL Info launches new tablet PC

Gautam Advani, Executive Vice-President and Head, Mobility, HCL Infosystems, actor Nargis Fakhri and Anand Ekambaram, Senior Vice-President, during the launch of U1 tablet and HCL MyEdu Tab, in New Delhi, on Monday. Photo: S. Subramanium

Further intensifying the price war in the fast-growing tablet PC market, HCL Infosystems on Monday introduced U1 tablet, priced at Rs.7,999, that comes loaded with 17 applications covering jobs, games, social networking and music besides goodies worth Rs.3,000.

The company also launched ‘MyEdu Tab' focussing on the education sector. The ‘MyEdu Tab K12' (kindergarten to class XII) version, priced at Rs.11,499, is an innovative educational tablet packaged with curriculum-mapped digital content and educational applications, while ‘MyEdu Tab — Higher Education' version comes with a price tag of Rs.9,999 and is an edutainment platform that brings together world-class rich multimedia content on technical and professional skills, assessments and applications.

“Our feature-rich tablets are designed keeping in mind the specific needs of Indian consumers. It has capacitive screen and 1Ghz processor with high performance and low power CPU. The tablet comes with a front camera and 512 MB RAM, with an internal memory of 4GB expandable to 32GB and a long-lasting battery. It also has a full USB, mini USB and a micro SD card slot,” HCL Infosystems Executive Vice-President and Head (Mobility) Gautam Advani told journalists here.

The tablet market in India is expected to grow to over 20-lakh units by 2013 from 3.5-lakh units in 2011. HCL now enjoys 15 per cent market share in the tablet PC business. The company also plans to export its tablet PCs to Africa, Gulf nations and other developing nations.

Talking about ‘MyEdu Tab', HCL Infosystems Senior Vice-President and Head HCL Learning Anand Ekambaram said: “It will change the way we learn, definitely make learning an interesting proposition and will make the student more engaged even as the cloud ecosystem will enable a learner to imbibe knowledge at his/her own pace. Our tablet will rope in parents by enabling them to take a more active interest in their wards learning process.”

Referring to the government's focus on providing tablet PCs to students, Mr. Advani said HCL Infosystems was also keen on providing tablets to students but would not compromise on its quality to match any price point. Pointing out that the Centre's Aakash has helped in pushing sales of tablets, Mr. Advani said: “We would love to participate in the government tender…if it comes to prices which are not feasible, we will exit graciously.”

Best Smartphone Accessories

Smartphone accessories are as necessary as Smartphones. These accessories provide an enhanced experience of having a smartphone. Here are the best mobile accessories which add utility-value for your smartphone.

1. Bluetooth Headset

The Plantronics M100 has a sleek, unique design with dual color and glossy matte finish in inside surface. The M100 goes well with both executive and casual attires. The device just weights 9 grams and is comfortable for long time wearing. It has an interesting feature called ‘voice alert’ which alerts the users when the device is switched on, pared, connected and even gives voice alert if the battery level is low. The M100 can be paired with two or more devices at the same time, making it easier to use single headset with multiple devices. It comes with a mini USB for charging, three buttons: one for call functionality and rest for volume control. This Bluetooth device has a price tag of Rs.4199.

2. Bluetooth Earphone

Bluetooth headset are becoming more and more stylish these days. Jabra, mobile accessory maker has come up with a new Bluetooth device in the form of a pendent for Rs.3800. This device wirelessly auto pairs with your smartphone or music player. It delivers music via standard headphone with virtual surround sound and full power bass. It has a technology called AM3D which also enables to attend calls. It has keys to skip music tracks, reject calls, activate 'mute', redial last number etc.

3. SmartWatch

Wearing your Smartphone at your wrist sounds interesting isn't it. Many companies, including Sony have launched this smart watch which runs on Android operating system. This smart watch can be connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth to access calls, SMS, music and it also supports apps like Facebook, Twitter, music player and even weather apps.

4. Portable Power Charger

The iBall Portable Power Charger is a multi-purpose charger which comes with 8 different charging ports like micro USB, mini USB, Nokia 2 mm, MP3 Player, iPhone, iPod, Ericsson port and Samsung charging ports.

The device features huge 5000 mAh battery capacity, built in Auto power saving, retractable USB cable and has an easy to carry portable design. This multi-purpose charger is affordable too costing only Rs.2499.

5. Portable Speaker

The Genius SP-i175 mini portable speaker can be linked with other portable speakers for more sound. The SP-i175 uses a big 40mm speaker driver for middle frequency sound balance and solid bass. SP-i175 has a built-in 300mAH battery.

Battery backup is for almost 8 working hours. No power adapter is necessary; SP-i175 can be used with any smartphone, iPad, iPod, iPhone, notebook, MP3/MP4 player or CD player that has a standard 3.5mm audio input. Also, SP-i175 has a 3.5mm to 2.5mm converter for a music device with a 2.5mm input. A convenient volume knob on SP-i175 adjusts the volume easily. SP-i175 comes in 3 vibrant colors: black, white and green for just Rs.850.