1. Get more into what you love on YouTube with our new look
From your favorite sports highlights and dance competitions to make-up tutorials, science experiments and great movies, there’s a ton of great stuff on YouTube—over 3 billion views worth per day by last count. More and more, behind every great video is a great Channel, and with our announcement last month that more of them are coming to YouTube, we want to make it easier for you to find and keep tabs of what you want to watch.
From your favorite sports highlights and dance competitions to make-up tutorials, science experiments and great movies, there’s a ton of great stuff on YouTube—over 3 billion views worth per day by last count. More and more, behind every great video is a great Channel, and with our announcement last month that more of them are coming to YouTube, we want to make it easier for you to find and keep tabs of what you want to watch.
So, today we're introducing a new homepage, Channel design and a fresh coat of digital paint. Here are three ways these updates will improve your life on YouTube:
1. A new homepage
The YouTube homepage is your gateway to a vast entertainment universe. To help you get more into YouTube, we’re making it easier to find and follow great Channels when you arrive. On the left side of the homepage you can create your own, personal, customizable YouTube Channel line-up. Sign in, or create a YouTube account. Then you can browse recommended Channels; customize your homepage’s feed; even link your YouTube account to Google+ and Facebook to see what your friends are sharing. The new homepage feed we launchedearlier this year is now front and center on the homepage. You can switch between feeds by clicking on different Channels on the left.
For step by step instructions on using the new YouTube homepage, you can go to our help center.
2. Simpler, customizable Channels
Given the homepage’s new focus on helping you find and organize your favorite Channels, we would be remiss if we didn’t update the look and feel of the Channels themselves. Today we're launching an improved Channel design focused on what matters most: helping users find great videos. As different uploaders have different goals, we've created new Channel templates to meet your needs whether you produce one video a week or have thousands of videos for a fan to browse. Some partners have even uploaded videos talking about the features, orgiving tips on how they’re taking advantage of the new design. To learn how to opt-in to and test this new Channel design, check out our help center.
3. A new overall design
To bring the new homepage and Channels designs together we’ve also applied a fresh coat of digital paint across the whole site. In July, we unveiled an experimental design called Cosmic Panda. We’ve used your feedback to improve our overall design, and today, we’re presenting a cleaner and simpler YouTube, with a consistent gray background, bigger video thumbnails and a more streamlined watch page.
Ready to get started? Your new YouTube is already shipped and waiting for you at YouTube.com, and like every new toy, we included an instruction manual (and video) to help.
Our recent Channels expansion, our grants and educational programs, and this new design are all focused on helping you discover a broader range of entertainment on YouTube. We’re always innovating and testing new stuff out to make the experience the best it can be for you. We rely on your feedback to figure out when we've gotten it right and when it needs further tweaks. So let us know what you think.
2. The next stage in our redesign
Six months ago we started rolling out a new look and feel for Search, News, Maps, Translate, Gmail and a bunch of other products. Our goal was to create a beautifully simple and intuitive user experience across Google.
We’re now ready for the next stage of our redesign—a new Google bar that will enable you to navigate quickly between our services, as well as share the right stuff with the right people easily on Google+.
Instead of the horizontal black bar at the top of the page, you’ll now find links to your services in a new drop-down Google menu nested under the Google logo. We’ll show you a list of links and you can access additional services by hovering over the “More” link at the bottom of the list. Click on what you want, and you’re off.
To find out more about the new Google bar, take a look at this video or read our Help Center article.
Making navigation and sharing super simple for people is a key part of our efforts to transform the overall Google experience, which is why we’re very excited about this redesign. Enjoy!
3. A new frontier for Google Maps: mapping the indoors
“Where am I?” and “What’s around me?” are two questions that cartographers, and Google Maps, strive to answer. With Google Maps’ “My Location” feature, which shows your location as a blue dot, you can see where you are on the map to avoid walking the wrong direction on city streets, or to get your bearings if you’re hiking an unfamiliar trail. Google Maps also displays additional details, such as places, landmarks and geographical features, to give you context about what’s nearby. And now, Google Maps for Android enables you to figure out where you are and see where you might want to go when you’re indoors.
When you’re inside an airport, shopping mall or retail store, a common way to figure out where you are is to look for a freestanding map directory or ask an employee for help. Starting today, with the release of Google Maps 6.0 for Android, that directory is brought to the palm of your hands, helping you determine where you are, what floor you're on, and where to go indoors.
Detailed floor plans automatically appear when you’re viewing the map and zoomed in on a building where indoor map data is available. The familiar “blue dot” icon indicates your location within several meters, and when you move up or down a level in a building with multiple floors, the interface will automatically update to display which floor you’re on. All this is achieved by using an approach similar to that of ‘My Location’ for outdoor spaces, but fine tuned for indoors.
We’ve initially partnered with some of the largest retailers, airports and transit stations in the U.S. and Japan, including:
Mall of America, IKEA, The Home Depot, select Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, Daimaru, Takashimaya and Mitsukoshi locations and more. Watch an IKEA demo here.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Narita International (NRT), among others.
JR and Tokyu CorporationFor a detailed list of participating locations, please visit our help center. And this is just the start--we’ll continually add new indoor maps to public buildings across the world. If you’re a business owner interested in getting your location’s floor plan included in Google Maps, visit maps.google.com/floorplans.
We’re thrilled Google Maps continues to provide you with new and helpful perspectives—whether you’re rushing through the airport or finding your way around a mall. To visit our website and learn more about indoor Google Maps and other features, start here.
Sydneysider Marcus Schappi demonstrates how he's hacked iPhone's Siri to control other devices with voice commands.
1. A new homepage
The YouTube homepage is your gateway to a vast entertainment universe. To help you get more into YouTube, we’re making it easier to find and follow great Channels when you arrive. On the left side of the homepage you can create your own, personal, customizable YouTube Channel line-up. Sign in, or create a YouTube account. Then you can browse recommended Channels; customize your homepage’s feed; even link your YouTube account to Google+ and Facebook to see what your friends are sharing. The new homepage feed we launchedearlier this year is now front and center on the homepage. You can switch between feeds by clicking on different Channels on the left.
For step by step instructions on using the new YouTube homepage, you can go to our help center.
2. Simpler, customizable Channels
Given the homepage’s new focus on helping you find and organize your favorite Channels, we would be remiss if we didn’t update the look and feel of the Channels themselves. Today we're launching an improved Channel design focused on what matters most: helping users find great videos. As different uploaders have different goals, we've created new Channel templates to meet your needs whether you produce one video a week or have thousands of videos for a fan to browse. Some partners have even uploaded videos talking about the features, orgiving tips on how they’re taking advantage of the new design. To learn how to opt-in to and test this new Channel design, check out our help center.
3. A new overall design
To bring the new homepage and Channels designs together we’ve also applied a fresh coat of digital paint across the whole site. In July, we unveiled an experimental design called Cosmic Panda. We’ve used your feedback to improve our overall design, and today, we’re presenting a cleaner and simpler YouTube, with a consistent gray background, bigger video thumbnails and a more streamlined watch page.
Ready to get started? Your new YouTube is already shipped and waiting for you at YouTube.com, and like every new toy, we included an instruction manual (and video) to help.
Our recent Channels expansion, our grants and educational programs, and this new design are all focused on helping you discover a broader range of entertainment on YouTube. We’re always innovating and testing new stuff out to make the experience the best it can be for you. We rely on your feedback to figure out when we've gotten it right and when it needs further tweaks. So let us know what you think.
2. The next stage in our redesign
Six months ago we started rolling out a new look and feel for Search, News, Maps, Translate, Gmail and a bunch of other products. Our goal was to create a beautifully simple and intuitive user experience across Google.
We’re now ready for the next stage of our redesign—a new Google bar that will enable you to navigate quickly between our services, as well as share the right stuff with the right people easily on Google+.
Instead of the horizontal black bar at the top of the page, you’ll now find links to your services in a new drop-down Google menu nested under the Google logo. We’ll show you a list of links and you can access additional services by hovering over the “More” link at the bottom of the list. Click on what you want, and you’re off.
To find out more about the new Google bar, take a look at this video or read our Help Center article.
Making navigation and sharing super simple for people is a key part of our efforts to transform the overall Google experience, which is why we’re very excited about this redesign. Enjoy!
3. A new frontier for Google Maps: mapping the indoors
“Where am I?” and “What’s around me?” are two questions that cartographers, and Google Maps, strive to answer. With Google Maps’ “My Location” feature, which shows your location as a blue dot, you can see where you are on the map to avoid walking the wrong direction on city streets, or to get your bearings if you’re hiking an unfamiliar trail. Google Maps also displays additional details, such as places, landmarks and geographical features, to give you context about what’s nearby. And now, Google Maps for Android enables you to figure out where you are and see where you might want to go when you’re indoors.
When you’re inside an airport, shopping mall or retail store, a common way to figure out where you are is to look for a freestanding map directory or ask an employee for help. Starting today, with the release of Google Maps 6.0 for Android, that directory is brought to the palm of your hands, helping you determine where you are, what floor you're on, and where to go indoors.
Detailed floor plans automatically appear when you’re viewing the map and zoomed in on a building where indoor map data is available. The familiar “blue dot” icon indicates your location within several meters, and when you move up or down a level in a building with multiple floors, the interface will automatically update to display which floor you’re on. All this is achieved by using an approach similar to that of ‘My Location’ for outdoor spaces, but fine tuned for indoors.
Mall of America in Minneapolis before and after, with a floor selector
San Francisco International Airport before and after, with 3D tilt
We’ve initially partnered with some of the largest retailers, airports and transit stations in the U.S. and Japan, including:
Mall of America, IKEA, The Home Depot, select Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, Daimaru, Takashimaya and Mitsukoshi locations and more. Watch an IKEA demo here.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Narita International (NRT), among others.
JR and Tokyu CorporationFor a detailed list of participating locations, please visit our help center. And this is just the start--we’ll continually add new indoor maps to public buildings across the world. If you’re a business owner interested in getting your location’s floor plan included in Google Maps, visit maps.google.com/floorplans.
We’re thrilled Google Maps continues to provide you with new and helpful perspectives—whether you’re rushing through the airport or finding your way around a mall. To visit our website and learn more about indoor Google Maps and other features, start here.
4. What Linux n00bs Need to Know
It's a sad fact of life that none of us are born experts in much of anything, and certainly not in Linux. Noobs are how we must all begin our adventures in the world of FOSS, in other words, much as we may try hard to pretend otherwise. Remember those days? Well the folks over at TuxRadar certainly do, and not long ago they launched an interesting little discussion about it for the "ultimate newbie guide" they're planning to put together.
5. Aussie hacks Siri to automate home
It's a sad fact of life that none of us are born experts in much of anything, and certainly not in Linux. Noobs are how we must all begin our adventures in the world of FOSS, in other words, much as we may try hard to pretend otherwise. Remember those days? Well the folks over at TuxRadar certainly do, and not long ago they launched an interesting little discussion about it for the "ultimate newbie guide" they're planning to put together.
5. Aussie hacks Siri to automate home
This post was originally published on theage.com.au
Sydneysider Marcus Schappi demonstrates how he's hacked iPhone's Siri to control other devices with voice commands.
An Australian man has become one of the first to hack the iPhone 4S voice recognition app Siri but his motives were not sinister – he wants to use the smartphone as a home automation tool.
Sydney man Marcus Schappi, 28, spent just over $120 on a gadget set-up which enabled him to hack Siri and use voice commands to turn on a lamp and open web pages.
He next wants to see whether he can ask Siri to close the chicken hutch on his property and unlock his front door using simple voice commands.
Hacking Siri to do strange things ... Marcus Schappi. Photo: Supplied
He joins another Sydney developer and founder of Remember the Milk - a task manager app for the iPhone, iPad and Android platforms - in hacking Siri.
Mr Schappi says his hack could allow users to do simple tasks such as turn their air conditioning on or off, control their home entertainment or alarm system and unlock their front door or car.
But the hack may not last long, with Mr Schappi predicting Apple would want to close the hole he exploited.
"Anything with a remote control is instantly up for grabs," he said.
"When Apple shipped the iPhone 4S, only a subset of Siri functionality was made available to Australian consumers," he said. "[This hack] could provide an opportunity for developers to fill the gap."
Mr Schappi is the director of Little Bird Company, which sells electronics such as the devices required to make the hack work. He plans to sell a "plug and play" box that will ship early next year and allow anyone to hack their iPhone 4S Siri app.
Mr Schappi is a developer working on apps for the likes of Qantas, Caltex, Foxtel, Austar, NSW Rural Fire Service and NSW Industry and Investment. "I've just switched over fulltime to what was the hobby business I founded whilst at university (Little Bird Electronics)," he said.
To understand how the hack works one must know a bit about how Siri operates. It sends "voice packets" to Apple's servers. The tech giant's computer servers then provide voice recognition on these packets and returns a string of text.
In the case of the hack, it uses a "DNS forwarder" called dnsmasq to intercept commands sent from the iPhone 4S to Apple's computer servers and forwards them to some scripts running on a computer called SiriProxy, according to Mr Schappi. The proxy then converts the text into a command and does the task required using inexpensive electronics.
Best of all, it doesn't require jailbreaking the iPhone, which Apple condemns.
"Today anyone with some electronics and programming knowhow can make this work," Mr Schappi said.
The only caveat, though, is that the hack only works on a home computer network.
Mr Schappi described the set-up as "relatively inexpensive". It uses what is known as an Arduino board with an Ethernet port ($69.95), at least two Arduino compatible relay modules or electronic switches ($13.50 each) and one wireless mains remote ($24.95), bringing the total to $121.90.
He predicted Apple would want to shut down the hack but it couldn't do so "without breaking compatibility with existing handsets running iOS 5", the iPhone operating system.
"They could push out a patch that breaks things, but this would be a bad customer experience," he said.
"If Apple could secure Siri it would allow Apple an enormous amount of leverage.
"Siri is seen by some as a way for Apple to side step Google dominance in search (and mobile search)."
Further potential uses of the hack:
• With an RFID board and Arduino you could ask Siri where your keys are.
• With a temperature sensor you can ask what the temperature and humidity is.
• With RFID/distance sensors you could ask Siri if the toilet is occupied at work.
• With a GPS module you could strap it to your pet and be able to ask Siri where the pet is.
• With a Roomba (robotic vacuum cleaner) and a Roo Stick you could ask Siri to clean the house.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/aussie-hacks-siri-to-automate-home-20111202-1o9zj.html#ixzz1fM0WQiK7
6. Office on iPad and Mac: Late's Just Barely Better Than Never
There's a new rumor circulating this week: Microsoft is working on a version of its Office business suite for the iPad, along with a Mac OS X Lion version, according to The Daily, citing unnamed sources. The Lion version will be available via the Mac App Store. About freaking time! I'm not exactly a fan of Microsoft Office apps -- Word, PowerPoint, Excel -- because I tend to find them bloated and over-featured for my personal and work needs. The same goes for Apple's iWork as well, though it is a little less cluttered than its Redmond-based counterparts.
7. Best Video Editing Tool? [Video]
Whether you're making professional-looking video for the web (like we showed you how in this week's episode of Lifehacker), just uploading a few screencasts to share with friends, or carefully editing home video for the holidays, you probably have a video editing tool you prefer that gets the job done. This week we want to know which app you open when you need to edit video you've created. More »
Sydney man Marcus Schappi, 28, spent just over $120 on a gadget set-up which enabled him to hack Siri and use voice commands to turn on a lamp and open web pages.
He next wants to see whether he can ask Siri to close the chicken hutch on his property and unlock his front door using simple voice commands.
He joins another Sydney developer and founder of Remember the Milk - a task manager app for the iPhone, iPad and Android platforms - in hacking Siri.
Mr Schappi says his hack could allow users to do simple tasks such as turn their air conditioning on or off, control their home entertainment or alarm system and unlock their front door or car.
But the hack may not last long, with Mr Schappi predicting Apple would want to close the hole he exploited.
Hacked ... Siri responds to turning off lights. Photo: Supplied
"Anything with a remote control is instantly up for grabs," he said.
"When Apple shipped the iPhone 4S, only a subset of Siri functionality was made available to Australian consumers," he said. "[This hack] could provide an opportunity for developers to fill the gap."
Mr Schappi is the director of Little Bird Company, which sells electronics such as the devices required to make the hack work. He plans to sell a "plug and play" box that will ship early next year and allow anyone to hack their iPhone 4S Siri app.
Mr Schappi is a developer working on apps for the likes of Qantas, Caltex, Foxtel, Austar, NSW Rural Fire Service and NSW Industry and Investment. "I've just switched over fulltime to what was the hobby business I founded whilst at university (Little Bird Electronics)," he said.
To understand how the hack works one must know a bit about how Siri operates. It sends "voice packets" to Apple's servers. The tech giant's computer servers then provide voice recognition on these packets and returns a string of text.
In the case of the hack, it uses a "DNS forwarder" called dnsmasq to intercept commands sent from the iPhone 4S to Apple's computer servers and forwards them to some scripts running on a computer called SiriProxy, according to Mr Schappi. The proxy then converts the text into a command and does the task required using inexpensive electronics.
Best of all, it doesn't require jailbreaking the iPhone, which Apple condemns.
"Today anyone with some electronics and programming knowhow can make this work," Mr Schappi said.
The only caveat, though, is that the hack only works on a home computer network.
Mr Schappi described the set-up as "relatively inexpensive". It uses what is known as an Arduino board with an Ethernet port ($69.95), at least two Arduino compatible relay modules or electronic switches ($13.50 each) and one wireless mains remote ($24.95), bringing the total to $121.90.
He predicted Apple would want to shut down the hack but it couldn't do so "without breaking compatibility with existing handsets running iOS 5", the iPhone operating system.
"They could push out a patch that breaks things, but this would be a bad customer experience," he said.
"If Apple could secure Siri it would allow Apple an enormous amount of leverage.
"Siri is seen by some as a way for Apple to side step Google dominance in search (and mobile search)."
Further potential uses of the hack:
• With an RFID board and Arduino you could ask Siri where your keys are.
• With a temperature sensor you can ask what the temperature and humidity is.
• With RFID/distance sensors you could ask Siri if the toilet is occupied at work.
• With a GPS module you could strap it to your pet and be able to ask Siri where the pet is.
• With a Roomba (robotic vacuum cleaner) and a Roo Stick you could ask Siri to clean the house.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/aussie-hacks-siri-to-automate-home-20111202-1o9zj.html#ixzz1fM0WQiK7
6. Office on iPad and Mac: Late's Just Barely Better Than Never
There's a new rumor circulating this week: Microsoft is working on a version of its Office business suite for the iPad, along with a Mac OS X Lion version, according to The Daily, citing unnamed sources. The Lion version will be available via the Mac App Store. About freaking time! I'm not exactly a fan of Microsoft Office apps -- Word, PowerPoint, Excel -- because I tend to find them bloated and over-featured for my personal and work needs. The same goes for Apple's iWork as well, though it is a little less cluttered than its Redmond-based counterparts.
7. Best Video Editing Tool? [Video]
Whether you're making professional-looking video for the web (like we showed you how in this week's episode of Lifehacker), just uploading a few screencasts to share with friends, or carefully editing home video for the holidays, you probably have a video editing tool you prefer that gets the job done. This week we want to know which app you open when you need to edit video you've created. More »
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