Foursquare has refined its search capabilities to make it easier for users to look for particular venues. The location-based social network unveiled what it's calling "super-specific searches" for iOS and Android on Wednesday.
"With today's update ... Foursquare helps you find exactly what you want, whatever that may be," it announced in a blog post.
Users can filter their searches based on the following criteria:
"I've checked in before," "I haven't checked in," "my friends have
checked in," "offering specials," "open now" and "I've saved." Users
also have the option to choose the amount of money they want to spend,
with dollar signs reflecting certain price ranges.
Foursquare lists five examples, below, of very specific searches that users can now input.
A cheap sushi place that’s nearby and open now, but that I haven’t been to yet.
A bar downtown that’s new to me, but that my friends have been to. Oh, and that has margaritas.
A Moroccan restaurant that has tagines on the menu, but isn’t going to empty my bank account.
One of the museums in Paris that my friend Matt went to last year, that’s also near my hotel.
A burrito place I’ve been meaning to try (it’s on my to-do list) in San Francisco, that’s in The Mission and open right now.
For those who want to keep it simple, Foursquare also allows users to
select "best nearby" to see the app's recommendations, or to search for
"specials" for good deals.
Android users can download the latest update in the Google Play store, while iOS users can head over to the App Store.
The bar was set high for the annual Google I/O Developer's Conference
in San Francisco following a whole series of product announcements and
surprises in 2012, and although no one jumped out of a plane wearing
Google Glass this year, we were treated to some cool new products.
The keynote was packed with announcements of enhancements to Google
services. For example, Google Maps now shows clouds hovering over the
world in real time and displays how Earth looks in the Milky Way as the
sun sets. Google+ has 41 new features. The company announced impressive
stats about the popularity of its applications, and there was even a
rare Q&A session with Google
CEO Larry Page. However, we didn't see a new Android tablet launch, an
operating system update or more details surrounding Google Glass.
Here's a look at highlights of Wednesday's keynote.
Google+ Redesign and Photo Features
Google+ added 41 — yes, really — new features to its social network
to make it smarter and more intuitive, with the inclusion of bigger
pictures and related hashtags. The image-focused design looks a lot like
Pinterest and Facebook.
The update includes a multi-column layout for pictures and related
hashtags. If you're following a sports team, Google+ will tag it for you
by adding, for example, #SFGiants. It also rolled out a new way to
improve photos. Auto Awesome — yes, it's actually called that — uses a
set of photos in your library to create an animated GIF.
Meanwhile, Auto Backup automatically backs up mobile pictures as soon
as they are taken, and Auto Enhance acts like a filter to correct color
and saturation of pictures.
Hangouts App
A new stand-alone Hangouts app was announced
for web, Android and iOS, and it's available starting on Wednesday. Vic
Gundotra, senior VP of engineering, told attendees it will focus on
conversations, rather than contacts. Contacts will be ranked by Google
according to how often you talk to or chat with those contacts.
Users will be able to use text, photos and video within the app, and
it will all be stored so you can go back and retrieve that content any
time. There is also an option to delete what is shared with others
during a Hangout.
Google Maps
After a string of rumors that the company was readying a new Google
Maps design, it announced a spectacular new look for the platform. In
fact, Google said it rebuilt Maps from "the ground up."
The new Google Maps has Google Earth and Street View baked into it.
With stunning Google imagery, as well as user-generated photos that can
be uploaded and submitted to Google Maps, the platform has never looked
better.
Now, you can create a tailored map for each search and click you
make, and it incorporates Zagat badges and restaurant reviews. Offers
from retailers such as Starbucks can also be integrated directly into
the site, and it makes smart recommendations specifically for you. The
more you use it, the better it gauges your interests.
Overall, Google Maps also aims to be a GPS device killer. You can
re-route directions based on traffic conditions seen on the Map and view
side by side how long each route takes to select the quickest and
shortest one.
Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4
An unlocked "Google edition" of the Samsung Galaxy S 4
smartphone made an appearance during the keynote. The model will be
available on AT&T and T-Mobile and tout LTE support, 16 GB of RAM —
which is expandable with an SD card — and its bootloader unlocked. This
will allow it to receive system updates "promptly with every Android
platform update."
The device will be available starting June 26 on Google Play for $649.
New Gaming APIs
New tools have been introduced to help developers make their Android
games more social. The suite is a part of updates to the Google Play
Developer Console, which developers use to organize their apps released
onto Android.
Some perks include the ability to add leaderboards and achievements
games within Google Play, giving players the ability to compete against
friends through high scores.
Another new API lets gamers play the same game across multiple
devices, allowing the game to move from a smartphone to a tablet and so
on.
Check out this awesome Google Racer app which creates a track across devices.
More Location-Based Services
Android location services also got a refresh with three new APIs.
First, the Fuse Location Provider can acquire locations faster and more
accurately — all using less battery power than before.
Another API relies on geofencing by embracing what Google is calling
"virtual fences" around geographical areas. It will allow developers to
add up to 100 geofences for each app.
The third is an activity recognition feature that lets users track
their physical activities. It senses whether a user is walking, riding a
bicycle or driving, thanks to accelerometer data and other classifiers.
Android and Chrome Stats
Google announced there have been a total of 900 million Android activations,
which is a huge increase from 400 million activations it said it had
last year at Google I/O. Although this is impressive — the operating
system launched only four and a half years ago — Apple is reportedly
close to 50 billion app downloads for iOS.
Google is also proud of its browser Chrome, and it should be: it now has 750 million active users.
This is up about 300 million users from the same time last year.
Chrome, which launched in beta in 2008, became the most popular browser
used worldwide last year, beating Internet Explorer for the top spot.
Chrome Voice Commands
Google is also adding voice commands to Chrome. By saying "Okay,
Google" and then asking a question — such as "show me things to do in
Santa Cruz" — the Google results page will speak back to you. It comes
from its knowledge graph and knows Santa Cruz is a place. It then pulls
related things to the city. Users can also make more narrow voice
requests, such as "show me pictures of the Santa Cruz boardwalk."
Users can also ask how far away a point is to their location and where to eat nearby.
A Spotify Killer?
On the heels of rumors of launching a Spotify competitor, the company announced the Google Play Music All Access,
which "blends your music collection with ours" across multiple devices.
Despite its clunky name, the streaming platform is strategically priced
at $9.99 — the same as Spotify's monthly subscription service. For
those who sign up by June 1, Music All Access Plus will go for $7.99. It
comes with a 30-day free trial and is now available in the U.S. It will
eventually roll out to more countries soon.
Google hasn't said which record labels have signed on; it's been
rumored that deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music
Entertainment are in the works.
Google Cloud Improvements
Google Cloud Messaging just got a big revamp during the big Google
I/O conference held in San Francisco on Wednesday, and it's now a whole
lot faster.
Last year, Google Cloud Messaging — which lets you push data from
servers to apps — was announced, and now 60% of the top 100 apps in the
Google Play store use it. The company is expanding this service by
supporting connections between a persistent connection from servers to
many devices.
This means you can upstream messages to send data in both directions,
from servers to apps and then from apps to servers. It also is
launching a new API that syncs notifications across devices.
"All of the new features are rolling out progressively, and all you have to do up is sign up starting today," Google said.
Google Play for Education
A new program called "Google Play for Education" was discussed during
the event and is designed for making devices and software affordable
for educators. Teachers can now buy apps and push then to a classroom of
tablets at once, which then can be charged to a school account.
Last year, over a thousand schools in the U.S. are using Chromebooks and more than 2,000 new schools this year.
"Chromebooks have gone mainstream in education — not just in US, but around the world," a Google spokesperson told attendees.
Larry Page Speaks
In an unusual move, Page fielded questions from attendees after the
keynote presentation and delivered a passionate speech about the
importance of technology and programming's "image problem" and took
questions from the audience.
Page, who is battling a medical condition
related to his vocal cords, spoke softly as he discussed how his father
influenced his love for tech: "My dad was really interested in
technology. He drove me and my family all across the country to go to a
robotics company. Then we got there, he thought it was so important his
son would go to the conference."
He also discussed the industry's competitive nature and the company's role in the upcoming Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson film The Internship to help shatter consumer opinion that computer programmers and scientists are "nerdy curmudgeons."
"When I read about us in the press, it's always us vs. some other
company or some stupid thing," Page said. "I just don't find that
interesting. ... [The] most important things are not a zero-sum game.
There's a lot of opportunity out there."
Thumbnail via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, and images via Google and Mashable
YouTube is set to launch a paid subscription model for its specialist video channels as early as this week, according to a report.
The move, which has been in development for months, aims to help
channels finance a wider range of content such as television shows and
films, and will serve as another source of revenue, according to the Financial Times.
The service will include up to 50 YouTube channels, and subscriptions
to each channel will start as low a $1.99 per month, the newspaper
reported Sunday, citing anonymous sources.
In response to the report, a YouTube spokesperson told Mashable,
"We have nothing to announce at this time, but we're looking into
creating a subscription platform that could bring even more great
content to YouTube for our users to enjoy and provide our creators with
another vehicle to generate revenue from their content, beyond the
rental and ad-supported models we offer."
Rumors that YouTube will monetize its premium content have circulated for some time. In January, AdAge reported that the site asked a small group of channels to apply to be among those paid.
At the time, a YouTube representative told Mashable,
"We have long maintained that different content requires different
types of payment models ... The important thing is that, regardless of
the model, our creators succeed on the platform. There are a lot of our
content creators that think they would benefit from subscriptions, so
we’re looking at that."
