The New Google Maps Finally Comes Out Of Beta

Back in May 2013, Google unveiled a new and improved beta version of Google Maps. It was nice and shiny, and had many new features. Now finally the doors are being swung wide open, and everyone will be able to get the new Google Maps on their desktops in “the coming weeks”. So apart from the spruced up user interface, what else can you expect to see in the new Google Maps? One often talked about feature is where you can type in what you are looking for, and the map will show you where in your neighbourhood, you can...

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The New Google Maps Replaces the Classic Interface

Last year, Google released a completely new Google Maps interface for desktop, but made it opt-in. Since then, the Google Maps team fixed bugs, improved performance and added some of the missing features (Pegman, My Location, short URLs, multi-point directions). The next step is obvious: the new Google Maps will become the default version.



"Over the coming weeks, the new Google Maps will make its way onto desktops around the world. Many of you have been previewing it since its debut last May, and thanks to your helpful feedback we're ready to make the new Maps even more widely available," informs Google.



The new Google Maps promised to bring an immersive experience, a personalized map that shows what's relevant and helps you make smarter decisions using recommendations from your Google+ circles. It's a simplified interface that's closer to the mobile UI. Google removed some of the features from the classic interface and focused on the basics: a map you're encouraged to explore, unified directions that show the best options, instant search, permalinks, panoramic images, Google Earth and Street View without plugins.

Classic Google Maps is still available: you can switch by clicking the "?" icon at the bottom of the page and selecting "Return to classic Google Maps". You'll see this message: "You have switched back to classic Google Maps for this session. Remember this choice for next time?". Click "Yes" to always go to the old interface when visiting Google Maps.

YouTube Has a New Interface

After many months of experiments, YouTube's new interface is finally available to everyone. The layout is center aligned, the header is sticky, the guide sidebar is now a "hamburger"-style menu that includes your playlists, subscriptions and more.



"YouTube now has a center-aligned look, fitting neatly on any screen size, and feeling similar to the mobile apps you're spending almost half your YouTube time with. You can quickly flip between what's recommended and popular in 'What to Watch' like Postmodern Jukebox's Timber, and the latest from your subscribed channels like iamOTHER in 'My Subscriptions,' with both options now front and center. Click the guide icon to the right of the YouTube logo at any time to see your playlists, subscriptions and more."

10 Surprisingly Simple Time Hacks For Reading More Every Day

It will take you exactly 7 minutes to go through this. If you are on this page, you have that time to do some reading. If you are going to skip and skim through, you don’t. But it’s still better than not reading at all. Welcome to the age of toting an overload of information while running uphill against the clock. It does feel like that every day – there is just too much to read, and so little time. Even children are struggling with it; they have distractions of their own, while we adults have ours to bear. Their...

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