Did you hear? Google’s launching a new, upgraded version of its search engine soon. And just as important, the search giant released the developer’s preview of it today. Google promises that the new search tool (codename “Caffeine”) will improve the speed, accuracy, size, and comprehensiveness of Google search.
While the developer version is a pre-beta release, it’s completely usable. Thus, I’ve decided to put the new Google search through the wringer. I took the developer version for a spin and compared it to not only the current version of Google Search, but to Bing as well.
The categories I tested the new search engine on are as follows: speed, accuracy, temporal relevancy, and index size. Here’s how I define those:
Speed: How fast can the new search engine load results?
Accuracy: Which set of results is more accurate to the search term?
Temporal Relevancy: Is one version of search better at capturing breaking news?
Index Size: Is it really more comprehensive than the last version of Google?
When Google first introduced its real-time search features last December, it focused on bringing relevance to the freshest information on the web. Its goal was to provide real-time content from a comprehensive set of sources, integrated right into your usual search results. Today they’re making their most significant enhancements to date, giving real-time information its own home and more powerful tools to help you find what you need. Now you can access Google Realtime Search at its own address, www.google.com/realtime (the page is rolling out now and should be available soon. Use this link if you want to try out the new features right away).
On the new homepage you’ll find some great tools to help you refine and understand your results. First, you can use geographic refinements to find updates and news near you, or in a region you specify. So if you’re traveling to Shimla this summer, you can check out tweets from Shimla to get ideas for activities happening right where you are.
Commenting is one of the most integral parts of blogging: it’s what makes blogging a conversation, not a monologue. That’s why we are pleased to announce two cool new improvements to Blogger’s comments system: much better spam filtering and the ability to view all comments on your blog in one place.
Introducing Comment Spam Filtering
A blog is an open communications system, inviting conversations from all web users. Unfortunately, spammers have been finding their way into these conversations. To fight spam, some of you enabled moderation of all comments or required word verification or login. While somewhat effective, these checks limit real-time conversations around your blog.
To address this, we’ve integrated Google’s spam filtering technologies into the Blogger comment system. Some of you will notice the new “Comments” tab. (Note: We are gradually rolling this out to all users, so some of you may not see the new Comments tab yet.) In the Comments tab, there is a Spam sub-tab that shows all the comments that are likely spam.
You’ve spilled coffee on your keyboard. The a, e, i, o, u, and r keys have stopped working. Now try to search Google for the nearest computerrepair shop. The pain of typing on this broken keyboard is similar to what many people searching in non-English languages feel when trying to type today. Typing searches on keyboards not designed for your languages can be frustrating, even impossible.
Our user research has shown that many people are more comfortable formulating search queries in their own language but have difficulty typing these queries into Google. (Try typing नमस्ते on a keyboard with English letters.) To overcome the difficulty they face in typing in their local language scripts, some people have resorted to copying and pasting from other sites and from online translation tools. But there’s an easier way — a virtual, or “on-screen” keyboard, lets you type directly in your local language script in an easy and consistent manner, no matter where you are or what computer you’re using.
Virtual keyboards let people type directly in their local language script and don't require any additional software.
Have you spent too much time waiting for large files to crawl between a computer and an external hard drive? Don't fret -- USB 3.0 has arrived. Not only can it move data faster and provide more power, but it's compatible with USB 2.0 devices.
The key to blending old and new is NEC's μPD720200 controller chip. It has the circuitry for USB 2.0 and 3.0 transfers inside and can use either, depending on what's plugged in. Right now, it's the only game in town, but look for other companies, including Symwave, Fujitsu and Via, to introduce their own USB 3.0 chips in the coming months.
The first round of USB 3.0 cards and devices works with Windows Vista and Windows 7; Apple hasn't decided whether to support the new standard. The basic software for USB 3.0 has been in the Linux kernel since last fall, and the needed drivers are slowly coming out.
12:06 AM
warlock3
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