New Google Maps App for Android

When Google launched the Maps app for iPhone, many said that it looks better than the Android app. The new interface is now available in Google Maps 7.0 for Android. The app requires Android 4.0.3 and will be rolled out gradually in the coming weeks, but you can download it using these links.



The new Google Maps app has a simplified interface that focuses on the map. It has a lot of things in common with the new Google Maps for desktop, including the missing features. For now, there's no support for My Maps (it will be added later), many layers are missing, Labs features are no longer available. Map caching is now a hidden feature: type "OK maps" in the search box and the app will preload the map you're currently viewing. Google Latitude has been discontinued and replaced by a Google+ feature. In my limited testing, the app was pretty slow and laggy, so Google still has some work to do to optimize the app.



On the plus side, you get a Google Maps interface optimized for tablets, incident reports, faster route notifications and some integration with Zagat and Google Offers. "You can now see reports of problems on the road that you can tap to see incident details. While on the road, Google Maps will also alert you if a better route becomes available and reroute you to your destination faster."

There's also a new version of Google Maps for iOS that will be available soon and will add support for iPad.

How To Add Command Prompt Option To Win+X Power User Menu In Windows 8.1

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The Power User Menu (popularly known as Win+X menu) in Windows 8/8.1 is a nifty feature, especially for those who’re missing the Start menu. The Win+X menu lets users quickly access various system tools, and can be revealed by right-clicking on the Start button (In Windows 8, right-click on the Start preview that appears when [...]

Using Asynchronous AdSense Ads with Responsive Design

Google AdSense offers asynchronous ad tags that will improve the loading time of your web pages. Learn how to use asyn AdSense tag with responsive design.

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This story, Using Asynchronous AdSense Ads with Responsive Design, was originally published at Digital Inspiration on 09/07/2013 under Google Adsense, Web Design, Internet.

Which Dead Website Do You Miss The Most? [You Told Us]

The Web is constantly evolving. You can see these changes occurring gradually by charting how your favorite websites alter in look, feel, and even focus over the course of several years. Or you can plug a domain into the Wayback Machine and see the different stages of evolution in an instant. Either way, the Web is constantly evolving.

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9 Ways To Send Video Messages

Voicemails, emails, and texts are out when you can't talk to someone right away and need to leave a message. Welcome to the future, guys. We have video messages now. (Okay, maybe emails and texts have their place, but voicemails don't. Voicemails suck. Don't use voicemails.) Today, I'm going to tell you just how exactly you can create video messages without much effort on your part.

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Give Your Facebook Page A Makeover [Weekly Facebook Tips]

Is this you? You made a Facebook page for your association, made it look alright, set up a few things, got a few fans and then left the page lying around dormant. Sound familiar? Probably. It's just so easy to get distracted with the rest of life. Things like Facebook pages can easily get left to go quite dusty.

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Google Reader Backup Viewer

If you created a full backup for your Google Reader account while it was still possible, you probably need a way browse the data. Fortunately, Mihai Parparita created Zombie Reader, a tool that resurects the Google Reader interface and transforms into a viewer for your data.



"Reader is a canonical single page application: once the initial HTML, JavaScript, CSS, etc. payload is delivered, all other data is loaded via relatively straightforward HTTP calls that return JSON (this made adding basic offline support relatively easy back in 2007). Therefore if I served the archived data in the same JSON format, then I should be able to browse it using Reader's own JavaScript and CSS," says Mihai.



Go to readerisdead.com, download the updated archive and use the instructions from the page. You still need Python 2.7 and some basic command-line skills. For Windows, you could use the instructions from my previous post and replace:



c:\python27\python reader_archive\reader_archive.py --output=download



with



c:\python27\python zombie_reader\zombie_reader.py download

Zombie Reader uses the Google Reader interface and your local data. It's like a Google Reader snapshot that preserved all your subscriptions, all the items you've read or marked as read, all your starred items, your tags and much more. Obviously, many features don't work (search, trends, subscribe), the application doesn't save your state and it doesn't show the latest posts from your subscriptions.



"A side effect is that I now have a self-contained Reader installation that I'll be able to refer to years from now, when my son asks me how I spent my mid-20s," says Mihai. "It also satisfies my own nostalgia kicks, like knowing what my first read item was. In theory I could also use this approach to build a proxy that exposes Reader's API backed by (say) NewsBlur's, and thus keep using the Reader UI to read current feeds. Beyond the technical issues (e.g. impedance mismatches, since NewsBlur doesn't store read or starred state as tags, or has per item tags in general) that seems like an overly backwards-facing option." I'm sure that someone will build the proxy.

10 Surprising Things You Didn’t Know Wolfram Alpha Could Do

I continue to be amazed by Wolfram Alpha and the way it crunches numbers around openly available data. The result – it shows us the world in a far more inter-connected and interesting way. It would seem Wolfram Alpha can do anything. Well, it hasn't given me the secret of happiness yet, but yes, it can do some surprising things. Let's look at ten.

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3 Interesting Shopping Websites Offering Free International Shipping

For international shoppers, shipping is often a major pain: Items can be much cheaper on the Web than in your country, but once you factor in the shipping, so-called “killer” deals start looking much less attractive. That’s the key attraction behind websites that offer free international delivery.

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Gmail Build Info

Desktop apps are not the only ones that have version numbers, build information and various data that belongs in an "about" page. Web apps also have all of these, but usually only developers can see them.



Here's the build info displayed for the mobile Gmail web app in Chrome. It's probably helpful for debugging the app and only available internally.

"Build At: grapebot@grapebot-cbf-9.cbf.corp.google.com:/usr/local/google/grape/grapebot/runner1_1/superpudu-client_Piper/google3

CL: 49089810

Build Label Verbose: superpudu_130708.00_p0"



Apparently, Grapebot is a bot used to build the Gmail app, while Superpudu is the codename for the mobile Gmail app. There's a list of features that are enabled, including HIGH_RESOLUTION, ACCOUNT_SWITCHER, ADS, SETTINGS_REDESIGN and more. Ads in the mobile Gmail?



Here's the build info for the Android-optimized mobile Gmail:

As you can see, the list of features is slightly different. You can find: GLOW_BUTTONS, STICKY_MENUS, ANY_ZOOMER, DOODLES, WEB_ATTACHMENTS and more.



Here's the build info for iOS. Some new features: BIG_LEAP_PROMO, ATTACH_SINGLE_PHOTO, TWO_PANE_UI (for iPad).

{ Thanks, Florian K. }

Great Time Saving Tips For Managing Email in Windows 8

Depending on the volume of messages you need to process, managing emails can be a tedious task. With the Windows 8 Mail app, Microsoft introduced an application that makes this task very convenient. The interface is visually pleasing, simplistic, intuitive, and yet the app is surprisingly comprehensive. For those of you using Windows 8 and looking for an application to manage multiple email accounts, give the native Mail app a try and consider the following tips&tricks to save time wile managing your emails.

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Kickstarter Spotlight: Pocket Spacecraft

You may have dreamed of launching your own spacecraft, but felt it was solidly a dream, not something you’d ever be able to do. Most of us aren't rocket scientists, or scientists of any stripe, so we can’t do much expect look at the stars and wonder. Rockets and satellites cost millions of dollars – far more than most individuals can afford. But is this how space exploration must work? One project on Kickstarter, Pocket Spacecraft, thinks the answer is a definitive “no.”

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Facebook Rolls Out Graph Search To US Profiles [Updates]

After spending months as an exclusive opt-in feature, Facebook's Graph Search feature is rolling out to US-only users on Monday. Graph Search is a tool that allows for users to conduct advanced searches such as "people in Nashville who like football" or "photos of my family in 2002".

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How Do Celebrities Manage Their Social Media Accounts And What Can We Learn From Them

Celebrities are the premium fuel of the social media world, and people like you and me just keep burning it. I’m certainly not saying it’s bad thing, though. It’s just a fact! However, have you ever inspected just exactly how celebrities manage their social media accounts? They are all just a little bit different than your Average Joe’s Twitter account, and it’s for a variety of good reasons, too.

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Easily Find Anything You Want On eBay, Amazon, Etsy, And Craigslist With RSS

Do you ever find yourself wanting a hard-to-find game, comic book or electronic part? Manually searching through Amazon, eBay, or Craigslist can waste a tremendous amount of your time – so why keep acting like a sucker? You can get notifications automatically delivered to you on virtually anything sold on Etsy, Craigslist, Amazon or eBay. This article details how to get RSS feeds for Etsy, Craigslist, Amazon, and eBay.

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Noowit: A Solid Flipboard Alternative That Helps You Create Personalized Magazines

As Google Reader has shut down its RSS reader, there has been a lot of talk about where to go next. Many alternatives have been suggested, and Feedly seems to be one of the most popular options to have benefited from Google's decision. That said, there is another service which recently launched its public beta and might be worth giving a spin. Noowit is not a traditional RSS reader by any means.

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Google Now's TV Card

Google Search for Android has recently added a Google Now card for TVs. You tap "listen now for TV shows" and Google detects the TV show you're watching.



This feature has 3 limitations: it's US-only, you need a smart TV and the phone/tablet needs to be on the same WiFi network as the TV. The first limitation makes sense, but the other two seem unnecessary. After all, Google's app can't communicate with the TV and the TV doesn't broadcast the program you're watching.



Here's Google's explanation: "Your Android device uses the Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) to determine the presence of a TV on the network and related information, such as its model and brand name. This is a standard way for networked devices to locate other devices or services on a home network." So a smart TV is required to only show the TV card when you're watching TV.

"To provide relevant information after you touch Listen for a TV show, TV cards rely on both the WiFi signal and the sound from your TV. You may need to turn up the volume for the cards to work correctly," explains Google. Does this mean that Google records all the TV shows from the US channels?



"Other cards may also appear, telling you more about specific show content as it happens. For example, they may give you more information about celebrities, actors, or other people mentioned in the show."

This is a cool feature, but I don't see why it wasn't added to Google Sound Search. In addition to finding songs, the widget could also find TV shows. Even better, this could be added to Google Voice Search.

How To Find The Cheapest Books Online

I’ve written before about my love for reading, but I also have a side of me that loves bargains and hates spending unnecessary coin. What’s a man to do when he wants to buy and consume as many books as he can while preserving the health of his wallet? Use the Internet, of course! (Legally.)

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Tons Of Awesome iOS Apps Now Free On The App Store [Updates]

iOS users who love playing games and using apps on the go are in for a treat as some of the best apps ever released on the platform are now free for a limited time. This is a rare opportunity for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners to get some really good stuff without spending a dime.

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Is The Best Known Also The Best? 5 Lesser-Known Twitter Clients You Should Try [Android]

So you're looking for a good way to browse Twitter on your Android device. Which app should you go for? You may need to look beyond the list of most popular apps. Google Play hides some real gems, some of which have only been installed on a handful of devices worldwide. Most chances you've never heard of any of the Twitter apps below, but I have no doubt you're going to immensely enjoy at least one of them. Want to be ahead of your time, and get an awesome Twitter app to boot? Dive in!

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Read full article: Is The Best Known Also The Best? 5 Lesser-Known Twitter Clients You Should Try [Android]