Esc to the Rescue

Google's search engine is already fast, but what if you could save more time?

Let's say that you've typed a query and pressed Enter, but the results aren't great. How to quickly delete your query and type something else? Press Esc and start typing the new query. Another option is to click on the small "x" icon from the search box.


If you want to add some new keywords to your query, there's no need to scroll to the top of the page and find the search box. Just type the words you want to add. Google is smart enough to insert a space since this key is used for scrolling.

This only works if Google Instant is enabled, just like the other Google search shortcuts and Google Instant shortcuts.

New Google Maps Navigation Controls

After more than three months of testing, the new Google Maps navigation controls have replaced the classic tabs. By default, Google shows a small preview of the satellite imagery and a link to the traffic layer, but you'll get more options if you mouse over "satellite" or "traffic".


Google lists the layers that are available (terrain, webcams, the confusingly named Buzz, videos, Wikipedia, bicycling, real estate, transit, 45 degree imagery, labels), including a list of previous searches and driving directions.



"When we launched Google Maps, we had one layer -- the map. Since then, we've added more than ten different ways to explore the world around you, including photos, transit and traffic information, as well as satellite and terrain views. We've now updated the design so that you can more easily see and switch between the various viewing options that are available," explains Google.

I find the new interface more confusing, but I admit that it will better accommodate the new layers that will be released. Until now, if you wanted to switch to the satellite mode, you clicked the "satellite" button and that was it. Now Google shows a lot more options when you mouse over the button and you might even forget what you wanted to do.

Gmail Labs Search

There are so many Labs features in Gmail that's difficult to find one of them. There's always Ctrl+F to the rescue, but you shouldn't have to use a browser feature for this.

To solve this problem, Gmail added a search box that performs some simple text matching and it's not another Labs feature, so anyone can use it. Start typing docs, chat, labels and you'll see a list of Labs experiments that match your keywords.


My favorite feature is that you can now link to a Gmail Labs experiment by adding /keywords to the URL: http://mail.google.com/mail/#settings/labs/apps search.

{ via Gmail Blog }

Google Chrome and the Beginning of Time

A recent Chromium build updated the message used for the "clear browsing data" section. The most impressive option lets you "obliterate the following items from the beginning of time". It's less boring than "clear browsing data from this period: everything", but users may need to use a dictionary and to get a sense of humor.


In other news, the tabbed settings page is now the default option in Chromium and this feature will probably be enabled in Chrome 10. The new settings page comes with a search box that lets you quickly find an option (this feature would be much more useful in Firefox, Opera or Internet Explorer) and a default page zoom option.

New YouTube Homepage

Last month, YouTube tested a new homepage with many useful features. The new homepage is now available to everyone. The list of new features hasn't changed, even though some of them have been slightly tweaked:

* Combined list - Merges your subscriptions, friend activity, and recommendations into one easier-to-scan list
* Don't miss a video - If a channel uploads 4 videos in a day, you'll see all 4 - instead of just the latest video
* Delete anything - Hover over any video you don't want to watch and click 'x'
* Or just grey it out - Videos you've already watched will be greyed out - so even without deleting, you'll know where you left off
* Help me re-find stuff I just watched - Your homepage will include your recent likes and favorites so you can easily get back to them
* Easy inbox - Links to your inbox (personal messages & comments) are front and center
* Load much more - Watch older videos - all without leaving the homepage

If you don't like the combined view, click on "subscription uploads" at the top of the page to only see the latest videos from your favorite channels. Unfortunately, the homepage is no longer customizable, so you can't hide the sections you don't use.

Google Project Hosting Adds File Editing

Google's service for hosting open-source projects added a new feature that lets you edit your files from a browser. It might seem like a minor addition, but it could be the first step towards a full-fledged online IDE.



"Perhaps you were browsing the code online from your Cr-48, or perhaps you just didn't have Subversion or Mercurial handy. Today the Google Project Hosting team is announcing a new feature for you: the ability to edit your source code files directly in the browser, in our online editor powered by CodeMirror. Just look for the 'edit file' link on files in the online source browser: As you edit, you can preview the diff of your changes so you know exactly what you are committing," explains Google.

The nice thing is that you can edit a file even if you're not a member of a project. After making the changes, submit the new version of the file as a patch, along with a description. If your patch is approved, your changes improve an open-source project.

{ Thanks, Aaron. }

The Good News About Android's Version Distribution

When you develop a product and use liberal licensing terms, there's always the risk that someone else will use your code to create a poor product. Maybe it will include a lot of unnecessary features, it will be slow and have a lot of bugs or it will never use the latest version of your software.

Android's goal was to be a common baseline that enables innovation in the mobile space. Convincing other companies to use Android wasn't easy and that's one of the biggest Google accomplishments. Not many people believed in Android's success three years ago and its adoption rate is still surprising.

Convincing companies to update their Android-based firmware faster is much easier. If users only buy Android phones that have the latest version of the operating system and constantly request phone manufacturers and carriers to update the software, then they'll work harder to improve their products.

Google has recently released some information about the current distribution of the Android versions and the good news is that 87.4% of the Android phones use Android 2.x, up from about 55% in July. 51.8% of the phones use Froyo, a version released 7 months ago. In only one month (August 2010), Froyo's share grew from 5.5% to more than 28%, after Motorola and HTC updated phones like Droid, Droid Incredible, Evo 4G, and Desire.


ZDNet says that "almost 13% of Android users are still running versions of the mobile OS that are several generations old and these users will never see Android 2.1", but this percentage is constantly decreasing. Even if they're using Android 1.6, that's still a much better operating system than the one from a feature phone and it still lets them use many apps from the Android Market. A slower update rate is a small price to pay for creating an ecosystem of heterogeneous devices that run the same operating system which is not perfect, but it's "good enough".

{ image licensed as Creative Commons Attribution by Google }