Google celebrates 15th Birthday with Piñata Doodle game and new Hummingbird Search Algorithm

google 15 birthday doodle pinata search hummingbirdHappy Birthday Google! Why didn’t I get a B-Day reminder on G+?

The present to open is an entirely new Search algorithm dubbed “Hummingbird”. This is a complete departure from their previous search updates. Instead of focusing on keywords and meta-data, the things SEO gurus always push, Hummingbird is Google’s first attempt at semantic search. Good SEO will still matter, but good content will matter more.

It’s an ambitious undertaking as computers aren’t always great at judging what we mean by what we say, but ranking content by what its made up of, instead of its keywords, should mean that organic search terms should provide more meaningful results. Users should get better hits now simply by asking the questions they would ask other people. Real live humans don’t like having to parse terms. Now typing “Where can I find the best pie in San Francisco?” should get us closer to eating good pie than before where keywords would’ve been pulled out of that query.  Hopefully in execution it should start to resemble the way IBM’s Watson is able to make meaningful responses to conversationally asked questions.

Get the full scoop at Inside Search, or hit up Google.com to try it out, and while you’re there play the Piñata Doodle Game! BIRTHDAY!

New York State converts “Rest Areas” into “Texting Zones” – #ItCanWait

bbabf52b-0b5a-40ae-b99f-1bac04c00162_9898528395_03f2fc134a_oIt’s nothing more than a change of branding, but it helps get the word out.

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that the state will be placing some 300 signs on highways and roads directing motorists to “Texting Zones”. These 91 zones around the state are already established Rest Areas, where drivers have pulled over for years now. For those who might not have considered the possibility, any place you can pull over and stretch your legs, would also make for a good spot to use your smartphone.

Even though New York has laws on the books against texting while driving, the state saw a 365 percent increase in citations this year over the same period of time in 2012. Making something illegal isn’t always enough to get someone to change their behavior. We have to make a behavior socially unacceptable, and New York’s Texting Zones should help raise a little awareness.

People don’t seem to be impressed by the statistics regarding distracted driving, and we here in LA see some despicable behavior during our commutes, so the more we can do to curb this behavior the better.

(via Elizabeth Harris on FB, via Yahoo)

Amazon heats up the Tablet Market with Kindle Fire HDX

Kindle Fire HDX Family (Photo: Business Wire)Tablets are hot right now. Google just ramped up the 7″ market with the New Nexus 7, offering up one of the most powerful small form factor slates at a market disrupting price. The only game in town right now for that kind of price competition is Amazon, and they’re not sitting idly by.

Dropping the bomb quietly tonight, Amazon took the wraps off their refreshed Kindle Fires. The new HDX line of 7″ and 8.9″ tablets now feature higher resolution screens and faster processors. Featuring a completely redesigned chassis built out of magnesium and a molded glass-nylon alloy, the new tablets have shed a significant amount of weight. The new 8.9″ Kindle weighs in at only 13.2 ounces.

On board now are Qualcomm 800 series CPUs, basically the peak of mobile processing at the moment, and backed up by 2GB of RAM. Storage options now include 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The 7″ tablet is sporting a 1080p screen while the 8.9″ moves up to a 2560×1600 resolution display. To my knowledge, that’s the smallest screen yet to feature that high a resolution, handily topping the iPad’s Retina screen for pixel density.

feature-accessory._V355642688_Amazon is claiming 12 hours of run time, and there are 4G LTE versions for AT&T and Verizon. Pricing is super competitive. The 7″ Fire HDX starts at $229 and the 8.9″ starts at $379. The older Kindle Fire will remain as a low cost option starting at $139 for the 7″ and $269 for the 8.9″.

Also on tap is a new “Origami” case which looks pretty spiffy.

Pretty exciting stuff for the Kindle ecosystem.

Full press release (and a few more pics) after the jump, or you could just head directly to Amazon and push the button on a pre-order.

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PSA: Surface 2 Pre-Orders are now GO!

LB_8705Announced yesterday, Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 are refreshed versions of Microsoft’s Tablet and Slate PC experience. Surface Pro 2 crams a full version of Redmond’s newest OS into a device little bigger than an iPad. With improved battery life, faster graphics processing, and new accessories, this could be the premier mobile Windows experience.

Now pre-orders are open for business, and you can lock in your place in line for a Surface Pro or Surface 2. If you’re shopping a new tablet or laptop, you might be able to knock out two birds with one stone. The new Surface docking station might help you knock out that third “desktop” bird too. These tablet hybrids should ship in late October. I’m wearing shades the future is so bright.

Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 Pre-Order page.

DuoLingo promotes free language training with new Youtube video

duolingo online free language education somegadgetguy promo videoOpen sourcing education with services like the Khan Academy might just be our future, providing free access to high quality materials, easily accessible via any data connection (more pressure to keep the web Net Neutral, but I digress).

Now online language educators DuoLingo are looking to increase their visibility by releasing this online promo. DuoLingo offers completely free courses for folks looking to learn Spanish, German, Italian, French, and Portuguese. Having just signed up myself, it looks like a well structured way to learn another language, and the price is certianly right.

You can find more info at DuoLingo.com.

Valve announces SteamOS – Linux-based, gaming-focused operating system for our living room

steamos gaming screenshotYup we know XBox, Playstation, and Nintendo. Between those three, you’d think the console market is all locked up. Steam hopes that assumption is wrong, and they’ll be launching a new Linux based operating system built entirely around the Steam gaming service.

SteamOS aims to pair a Linux kernel around a “Big Screen” gaming experience, and it’ll be launched soon as a stand alone piece of software for living room computing hardware. The idea isn’t without merit. Traditional computers running Windows for example need to use some of their hardware power to run the OS. Now that overhead is gone as all the computer will have to do is keep Steam running. With optimization, We could see performance gains in similar hardware simply by removing the traditional OS relationship.

SteamOS also looks to be focused on in home streaming. While hundreds of game titles will be available at launch, it’ll take a while before the entire Steam library will be ported over. Playing local music and video files over your home network is a given, but SteamOS will also allow you to play games on your PC over a local network connection on your TV. We’re also seeing user profiles, keeping adult game libraries separate from kids collections for example, and the recently announced Friends and Family game sharing will come built in.

Steam is a remarkably popular service. Currently 50 million people currently have accounts in over 180 countries. Leveraging just a small percentage of this user base could make SteamOS a serious player in the console market.

No word yet on supported SteamOS hardware, but manufacturers of shiny plastic discs probably aren’t looking forward to this console launch…

More details at SteamOS

Linkin Park’s Joe Hahn takes us for a tour of Microsoft’s Surface Remix Project

joe hahn linkin park microsoft surface pro 2 touch cover remix project xbox musicShown off during the MS keynote unveiling Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 was a new touch cover for the little slates. Instead of sporting a keyboard, it offers a series of custom built controls for remixing music through XBox Music. Hopefully this will be the beginning of custom built hardware for a variety of different creative solutions.

Joe Hahn from Linkin Park takes us for a quick spin around the Surface Remix Project.

Breaking: BlackBerry to be acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings for $4.7 billion – UPDATED!

Not a lot of news on this one yet, and I’m building it off of a tweet here, so I’ll update when we have more info.

Looks like BB is going to be acquired:

Pretty much all we know right now.

blackberry os 10 handsets z10 q10 smartphones***UPDATE!***

It’s official. Blackberry is going private.

Prem Watsa, Chairman and CEO of Fairfax, said:

“We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees. We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world.”

Fairfax Financials has 6 weeks to conduct due diligence. Stock holders would receive $9 per share in cash (stock currently trading at 8 points).

Official Blackberry press release after the jump.

Continue reading “Breaking: BlackBerry to be acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings for $4.7 billion – UPDATED!”