New Details Surface About Digg's Google Reader Replacement
The entire social web went bonkers a couple months ago when Google announced it would shut down its very popular and beloved Google Reader for RSS feeds this July 1st. Shortly after Google made the dreary announcement, Digg announced that it would build a replacement, and today, we found out some of the details we can expect for when it goes live.
According to Digg CEO Andre McLaughlin, the new reader will be called "Digg Reader," and will only require one simple download to use. The company is working toward building a reader that has a very clean look, is simple to use and works extremely fast. If Digg can really deliver on all the high points Google Reader had to offer and then some, I think we'll definitely have a winner.
The new Digg Reader is expected to launch at the end of June, before Google Reader is gone. When it does go live, current Google Readers should be able to seamlessly transfer their feeds directly to Digg and then carry on the way they did with Reader.
Photo © Digg
Mailbox App Gets Optimized for iPad, Android Version to Come Soon
Remember that really popular new Mailbox app that was quickly snapped up by Dropbox a couple months ago? It's slowly expanding to more platforms other than iPhone, and iPad is the latest device to get it.
The trendy email app has been praised for its clean look and fancy swipe functionality for easy organization. Long swipes or short swipes to the left or the right will allow you to put any email in a list, in your archive, in the trash or in a section to read later.
I've been using Mailbox for less than a day with two of my Gmail accounts, and I gotta say, it's pretty good. Love that swiping action.
But even now with the added iPad optimization, Mailbox is still quite pretty limited. You can only use Gmail email accounts with it, so any other email address you need to work with can't be added to Mailbox just yet. A lot of us are hoping this changes eventually.
The company did at least say that an Android version of Mailbox is currently in the works. No launch date has been announced, but it's certainly on its way.
Photo © Orchestra, Inc.
Latest Version of Google Chrome Brings Awesome New Conversational Search Feature
If you head on over to Google.com using latest version of Chrome right now, you'll be able to take advantage of a really cool new search feature.
You should see a little microphone icon at the end of the search bar. If you click it, a box should pop up to enable Conversational Search, allowing you to literally have a real conversation with Google about whatever you're searching for.
To use it, you first need to have a working microphone connected to your computer so that you can speak to Google. Once you've got that all set up, you can start asking Google questions. Google will talk back to you, and you should be able to continue asking questions related to the original question in a very human-like conversational style.
For example, if you want to find out information about a certain celebrity or high profile individual, you can ask Google one question about that person and then continue the conversation by asking related questions using pronouns, like "how old is he," "who is his wife," or anything else you need to find out. Search Engine Land has a great demonstration right here.
Download Chrome 27 and give it a try.
Photo: Screenshot of Google.com
Rumor Has It Vimeo and Flickr Will Be Built into iOS 7
Apple is looking to integrate popular more popular social apps into its latest iOS versions, and according to a report by 9to5Mac, both Vimeo and Flickr integration are expected for the upcoming iOS 7 announcement.
Just like with Facebook and Twitter on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, users should be able to sign in to Vimeo and Flickr through the iOS Settings application. From there, anyone who has signed in should be able to share photos on Flickr from the iOS share menu. Likewise, Vimeo integration will offer users a new easy-to-share video option other than YouTube.
Apple plans to unveil the new iOS 7 version at WWDC in San Francisco scheduled for June 10 to 14. Whether the rumors are true or not, we only have to wait a couple more weeks to find out.
Photo © Getty Images
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Announces Tumblr Acquisition with a GIF
Well folks, it's official. Tumblr will be acquired by Yahoo for $1.1 billion.
CEO Marissa Mayer announced the deal through a simple but creative Tumblr blog post, using the iconic Keep Calm meme as an animated GIF to sort of address the fact that a lot of people might be worried about changes. "We won't screw it up," she writes.
Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp also made a post on the Tumblr Staff blog about the acquisition, and even though it was a short one, he made sure to emphasize how the Tumblr we all know and love isn't going anywhere.
We're not turning purple," Karp writes. "Our headquarters isn't moving. Our team isn't changing. Our roadmap isn't changing. And our mission - to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve - certainly isn't changing."
Comforting words for now, but you never know with a big acquisition like this. I think most of us can expect Tumblr to remain mostly the same -- maybe with a few more pesky ads floating around in the near future as the microblogging sites finally starts to up its monetization plan with the help of Yahoo.
Photo from Yahoo.Tumblr.com
Yahoo Reportedly Wants to Buy Tumblr for $1 Billion
Looks like Yahoo wants a serious piece of what Tumblr's got goin' on. According to a report from All Things D, the young and hip blogging service could be purchased by Yahoo for as much as $1 billion.
Yahoo has had its fair share of problems to deal with over the past few years, and maintaining its "cool" factor has been a big one. The struggling search engine and web portal site hasn't quite been able to cracke the code when it comes to the youth demographic, so Tumblr's loyal 18 to 24 year-old userbase looks like an attractive buy at the moment.
Tumblr, however, has had its own set up problems to deal with. The blogging service gets a big chunk of its traffic from the hoards of stolen, copyright-violated content and porn that its users continue to post. And even though advertisements were launched on its mobile apps just last month, a solid revenue generation strategy that actually works has yet to be developed.
But who knows, maybe Yahoo's much more established advertising team could give Tumblr the push it really needs to make more money, all the while strengthening Yahoo's ability to target and hold on to a larger chunk of the youth demographic. If the acquisition rumors live up to the hype and a $1-billion deal is eventually reached, it would be comparable to the Facebook-Tumblr acquisition that was made last year.
Most seasoned Internet users can easily recognize that Tumblr is basically the complete opposite of what Yahoo is right now, but Yahoo apparently really, really wants it, and the company is ready to step up its startup buying game to get just what it wants.
We'll be keeping an eye out on this one. Stay tuned, friends.
UPDATE: The Yahoo board is expected to meet this Sunday to decide whether or not the company should go forward with the offer, All Things D reports. If approved, Yahoo will make an all-cash offer of $1.1 billion to acquire Tumblr.
Photo © Getty Images
Google Announces a Bunch of Cool New Stuff at I/O
Google's sixth annual I/O Developer Conference was held today, and now that the three hour-long event is finally over, it's pretty safe to say that there's a lot to take in from what was announced.
To help bring you up to speed, here's a short list of some of the biggest key developments we can expect to see today and in the upcoming weeks or months from Google. If you'd like to know more about each announcement, I've provided a few links that should give you more detailed information.
Google's new music streaming service, Google Play Music All Acces, goes live today.
- Launching today in the U.S. to compete with streaming services like Spotify, Rdio and Pandora, users will be able to enjoy a comparable music streaming experience on the web and on Android for $9.99 per month.
- Click here for more about Google Play Music All Access.
Google+ is getting a huge makeover.
- Google's very own social network is getting a whopping 41 new features today, including a fresher design to highlight visual content, Hangout features, photo-editing tools and more.
- A brand new multi-column layout will go live today, and the news stream will eventually get a Pinterest-like facelift that will be sure to please photo lovers across the social network.
- You also now get 15 GB of full-size storage for photos, along with a great new Auto Awesome feature for automatic photo combining feature and to create GIFs.
- Click here for more about Google+ photos.
The new "Hangouts" cross-platform messaging system offers better opportunities for communication.
- Available to download for iOS, Android and Chrome, the new Hangouts app goes live today to let users messages each other across its mobile apps, Gmail and Google+.
- Click here for more about the new Hangouts app.
Google Maps will get a massive overhaul on the web and on mobile, with emphasis on personalized location discovery.
- Similarly as predicted, Google Maps is swapping out its left sidebar for features that are instead built directly into the full screen map.
- Google Earth, Street View and project imagery will be integrated with Google Maps for better accessibility.
- A brand new iOS and Android app will be coming, along with an iPad app later this summer.
- The new Google Maps will use Google Now sources to suggest venues you've been to already, related places and even places that your Google+ friends have visited.
- Click here for more about the new Google Maps.
And there you have it. Those are the big new changes that most of us regular Internet users can expect to see.
There were a few other things that were also announced, like a customized version of the new Samsung Galaxy S4 and new developer services on Google Play. And soon, you'll be able to send money through Gmail.
You can check out The Next Web's roundup, Lifehacker Australia's roundup or T3's roundup to get the full scoop on some of the other announcements in addition to the big ones that were summarized above.
Photo © Getty Images
Do a Google Image Search for 'Atari Breakout' if You've Got Some Time to Kill
Google's latest Easter Egg is here, and it's a fun one. Or at least, it's a heck of a lot less obnoxious than that crazy YouTube Harlem Shake Easter Egg we saw a couple months ago.
To commemorate the 37th anniversary of Atari's Breakout arcade video game, Google has hidden a new mini game in its image search, just waiting to be played by someone like you. It can only be triggered when you search "Atari Breakout" in Google Images. Go ahead and give it a try.
Seasoned gamers: prepare yourselves, because it's time to get straight down to business and pwn some serious rainbow-tinted images blocks. Amirite?
Photo: Screenshot of Google Image Search
Study Suggests Pinterest Causes Women to Feel Stressed
It's bad enough we feel stressed from all the baby photos, wedding stuff and career advancements our friends share with us on Facebook. Now, a new survey is suggesting that stress from spending time on social pinboard site Pinterest could be just as bad.
Insight Express/NBC News for TodayMoms.com surveyed 7,000 women about their experiences on Pinterest. The study found that "measuring up to all the cool crafts they see on Pinterest causes stress for 42 percent of moms."
See the rest of the survey results here, or read CNET's take on how Pinterest affects women's stress levels.
Personally, I can relate. I have a friend who is planning her wedding, and she's already told me on more than one occasion that all the wedding ideas she finds on Pinterest are too perfect, too unattainable and simply too stressful to look at.
How 'bout that? It's pretty unfortunate that so many women feel so discouraged by a social platform with content that's considered too good to be true, but hey, I guess these are times we now live in. Everything on the Internet affects us in the strangest ways.
Maybe Pinterest should think about rebranding itself as Perfecterest?
Photo © Adrian Green / Getty Images
Popular Hyperbole and a Half Web Comic Blog Gets a Long-awaited Update
It was back in October of 2011 when Allie Brosh, creator of the wacky and whimsical Hyperbole and a Half web comic blog, made a blog post about suffering from depression.
Since 2009, she has managed to capture the hearts of people from all corners of the Internet by telling her stories, pumping it up with her signature MS Paint drawings and always adding a good, strong does of humor to all her images.
This week, she returned after more than a year-long hiatus with part two of her adventures in depression. The web was buzzing with news that she had finally returned, and a wave of news blog posts filtered our social feeds about her latest blog post.
Have you checked it out yet? Even if you've never technically suffered from depression, Allie has a strange way of creating works of art that are relatable to almost anyone. Each post she makes only gets better.
You can expect her new book, Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened, to be out later this fall.
Photo © Allie Brosh / HyperboleAndAHalf.Blogspot.com