As the world moves towards a more technological age, consumers are always looking for companies that provide top notch services reachable from their phones. One such company is the multi-giant Google, the leading company behind the most used search engine in the world. Google not only serves the general population but also entrepreneurs that choose to use Google to take their businesses to the next level.\
Read More @ LinkedIn
Like Facebook’s 360-degree video, 360-degree photos will primarily live on the News Feed. They will display as still images until the viewer moves the phone or mouse around to look around the picture. Additionally, the photos will be able to be viewed by strapping on a virtual reality headset like the Samsung Gear VR or Oculus Rift.
Read more via Buzzfeed.
What is a Google data center? Simply stated it’s your computer, on a massive scale. Except they have 10s of thousands of servers and data drives. It’s where Google Search, Maps, Gmail, Drive, Photos and other data lives. Google excels better than most at keeping all this hardware cooled efficiently, and of course security is a huge priority. Because of proprietary networking technology, Google also manages to move tremendous amounts of data effortlessly.
An interesting question is how PlaNet performs so well without being able to use the cues that humans rely on, such as vegetation, architectural style, and so on. But Weyand and co say they know why: “We think PlaNet has an advantage over humans because it has seen many more places than any human can ever visit and has learned subtle cues of different scenes that are even hard for a well-traveled human to distinguish.”
They go further and use the machine to locate images that do not have location cues, such as those taken indoors or of specific items. This is possible when images are part of albums that have all been taken at the same place. The machine simply looks through other images in the album to work out where they were taken and assumes the more specific image was taken in the same place.
Read more @ MIT Technology Review
Google Expeditions Pioneer Program brings more than 100 possible journeys to the classroom. These include exotic locations, like trips to Mars, The Amazon, Borneo National Park, or the bottom of the sea. The also offer career expeditions, to see what it’s like to be a pilot or veterinarian for example. Virtual journeys last about 20 minutes. Far less than an actual trip to Mars, or Borneo, and far more affordable.
Google Expeditions is a program that allows students to experience some wonderful journeys through virtual reality viewers. The journeys are appropriate for 3rd to 8th graders, and teachers can modify the notes and curriculum. Teacher’s kits which are included in the program allow the teacher to control and moderate from a tablet. Also included is some background, and key information for teachers to point out to students.
“The sounds are all authentic and the visuals are real. It’s as close to being there without actually leaving the school,” said Joanne Geremia-Baggio, principal at St. John Catholic Elementary School in Guelph. “There’s just no way we could actually take any of these trips.”
Google for Education helps school acquire tablets, laptops and other technology for the classroom and they assist teachers to link the technology with lessons and resources.
However, you don’t need a virtual reality headset or special program to explore destinations near you in virtual reality right through your web browser. Google Maps Street View brings exterior views of almost every location, and Google Street View | Trusted Business Photographers are adding interiors every day. Here’s an example of a 360 degree panoramic photosphere we recently did on the steps of the ND Capitol Building, or see inside.
Google does not:
If you receive a robocall—a call placed with a recorded voice—for any of the above reasons, it is not from Google. The Federal Trade Commission has established a Robocalls resources website with additional information about robocalls and steps you can take if you receive one.
Unfortunately, not all phone calls from people claiming to be associated with Google are legitimate.
You may receive a phone call from Google to verify your business or confirm business details for Google Maps, or a call from a Google account manager whom you’ve spoken with before.
Today, April 21st 2015 Google released big changes to its search algorithm by giving mobile-friendly websites an increased ranking. This isn’t breaking news as Google announced back in February that this change would be taking affect with more and more users going mobile it only makes sense to give the users a more user friendly mobile experience.
David Pogue of Yahoo Tech (and formerly The New York Times), has 6 tips for mastering Google Maps. In case you didn’t know, Google Maps is the most used app on every smartphone platform. However, the new user interface can be confusing, especially to new users. There’s also a very nice plug for Google Local 360, although not mentioned by name. He says, “Come on, this is amazing! How are we not suing Google for witchcraft!”
Read full story here
Local 360 is happy to announce that we’ve been welcomed as an official partner of Google’s Let’s Put Our Cities on the Map #OnTheMap.
We’re here to help get small businesses online, and manage their information so more customers can find them. When we put small businesses on the map, we help people find, share, and connect with the people and places they love, strengthening our community.
Our services offered through this program are free, and we welcome your community to take advantage of them. If you have a local organization like a chamber of commerce, municipality, neighborhood association, downtown association, etc, we’d be glad to meet with you and share our specialized service and expertise.
Let’s put our cities on the map!
Google invested over half a billion dollars in a virtual reality company called Magic Leap. This recently released video may explain why: