Archive

Google released Google Maps 3.3 for Android today, which lets users find nearby businesses, try new experimental "Labs" projects, and report problems with map data from their phone. Users can check to see what businesses are nearby at anytime, by simply long-pressing on the map, tapping the bubble, and going to the option that says "What's Nearby?". Users will get a menu that shows a business, and it can be clicked on to see more nearby places. The feature can also be accessed from the "My Location" menu or from address search results.

As Google's search engine competitors often bring up, searchers want more than just "ten blue links" these days. Of course it has been quite a while now since search results from any of the big three were only ten blue links for most searches. We are well into the era of blended search.

Online music video service Vevo, has reached a content agreement with EMI Music on the eve before its Tuesday launch. EMI joins Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment in what is being called the "Hulu for music videos." So far Vevo has not reached a licensing agreement with Warner Music Group.

Amazon is making some enhancements to its Kindle electronic reader, aimed at improving the reading experience for people who are blind, visually impaired, or dyslexic. "Kindle is for anyone who loves to read—in fact, we’ve heard from thousands of vision-impaired customers and customers with learning disabilities over the past two years who have been helped tremendously by Kindle," said Amazon Kindle Vice President Ian Freed, Vice President.

Online holiday spending has reached $15.3 billion, a 4 percent increase over the previous year, according to the latest report from comScore. The most recent week saw three individual days surpass $800 million in spending, led by Cyber Monday with $887 million in spending, matching the heaviest online spending day on record. The following Tuesday nearly matched the Cyber Monday total with $886 million in spending, while Thursday, December 3 reached $808 million in spending.

In a recent article, we discussed ways the local search landscape is changing. Add another one to the list, because now Google is sending brick and mortar businesses decals to put on their windows, with barcodes that people can scan with their phones to bring up business listings on Google.

At this point, Twitter may not gain much from the backing of any more "celebrity" members; we've already seen lots of politicians, media personalities, and Hollywood types join up.  Just the same, it seems noteworthy that Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, apparently established an account last night.

Facebook has formed a Safety Advisory Board with five safety organizations from North America and Europe in an effort to better protect its 350 million global users. The five organizations on the board are Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, WiredSafety, Childnet International and The Family Online Safety Institute.