Tag / google

by Kush Sharma

Learn to use YouTube like never before

Youtube_logo

YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, is the single most popular video collection on the internet with over a hundred hour of video being uploaded every minute. It was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal. But despite its international popularity most users are unaware of its full potential. This is where your rest of the day is spent after Facebook and twitter. Here are bunch of must know shortcuts, features on YouTube to help you get the most out your video experience.

 

Mind boggling addictiveness of YouTubeTV: Google Leanback 

(www.youtube.com/tv)

Introduced under the popular title Leanback, it’s simple – TV on the internet featuring not only premium content from studios and networks but also homemade content from across the globe. You can watch YouTube on your TV without searching. It really feels like you are channel surfing — and it’s fast. The feature uses your profile and viewership data to create an endless stream of content tailored to your tastes.

leanback-youtubetv

It is created keeping in mind user comfort and visual aid. The elegant and user friendly design can be accessed on the internet TV’s tablets and other mobile devices to provide seamless access to YouTube content. YouTubeTV allows you to “leanback” and access content recommended for you or browse through various categories such as Comedy, Politics or simply try the Trends. The feature is best viewed on larger screens with a valid YouTube profile. The intention is to position YouTubeTV as a reasonable alternative to normal television viewing.

 

Discover Music 

(www.youtube.com/disco)

youtube-disco

It is really hard to find good music with this overflowing internet storage that’s why for those of us who love using YouTube as a music source, Disco offers a neat way to make automatic playlists for our favorite bands, artists and performers. Just enter the name, click “Disco!” and YouTube will take you to a top 100 playlist of songs. They will crank up your mood while you do rest of your computer stuff.

 

Learn how to search!

Yeah, you have read it right. I am going to teach you how to search. I know most of you are doing this on internet even before learning how to ride a bicycle. YouTube is big, really big. With over six billion hours of content streaming every month, it’s hard to sometimes find what you want. Using YouTube’s search engine can only get you so far and it helps to know a few tricks that can make the process more effective.

  • Add the “allintitle:” tag before entering any search term. So if you’re looking for the Google Nexus videos, simply input “allintitle: Google Nexus”.
  • If you want to exclude specific terms from the results use the excluding tag. E.g. if you want to get all Nexus videos without Samsung in the title input “allintitle: Nexus -Samsung”.
  • If you’re looking for specific channel then all you need to add the word “channel” next to the keyword. E.g. “Nexus channel” for all Nexus related channels.
  • To find new or recently released videos add the words “today”, “this week”, “this month” after the keyword.
  • For pulling up videos in high definition add “HD” to your keyword.
  • You can also directly search for playlists. E.g. “Coldplay playlist”.
  • Full length videos by adding “long”.
  • And if you wish you can combine variations of these tags to search term. E.g. “Coldplay, long, HD, this week”.

 

Keyboard Shortcuts

If you are one of those guys, like me, who are lazy enough to even extend your hand to reach mouse than give these keyboard shortcuts a try. YouTube also has built in keyboard shortcuts that can not only save time but make it easier to work with videos. Most people know that the “spacebar” on their keyboard can be used to play/pause videos. Other intuitive buttons are:

  • Left/Right arrow button to rewind and fast-forward 5 seconds at a time
  • Up/Down to increase and decrease volume
  • The Home/End button to jump to the start and end of the video, respectively.
  • The number buttons of the keyboard take you to the 10 percent point of the video i.e. pushing 5 takes you to the 50 percent point and 8 takes to the 80 percent point.

 

Quick tip: One third party app to watch videos with friends simultaneously in synched, try “Sync-Video” (www.sync-video.com).
by Kush Sharma

Google Chromecast review

chromecast

This is an interesting little device that should be high on your gadget gifts list as it effectively connects your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop PC to an HDMI enabled HDTV – without connecting wires, too. The Chromecast seamlessly lets you beam content from your handheld smart device onto your big-screen TV – watch YouTube videos, Netflix, Google Music, Google TV and Movies. When you’re doing this, your phone or tablet becomes the TV remote. Its beta screen mirroring feature – which lets you beam your Chrome browser session to a large screen – is still restrictive, but it’s only a matter of time before Google keeps adding more apps to the Chromecast party.

Design

The whole thing is a little under 3 inches long, and it’ll stick out about 2.5 inches when plugged into an HDMI port. There’s a short HDMI extension cable in the box to provide extra clearance if you can’t fit the Chromecast against the back of your TV, but you might need something longer depending on your setup, as the extension really just makes everything stick out more.

Chromecast is so small it could easily be mistaken for an oversized USB thumb drive with a little more heft to it. That contrasts with Apple TV and the “buddy boxes” that run Google TV. These devices that are filled with more audio and video ports than users know what to do with: component, S/PDIF, Ethernet, multiple HDMI connections, you name it.

Chromecast doesn’t have an HDMI port, it just fits right into one.

Setup

The setup can be remarkably easy if you follow Google’s directions and download the setup app on your computer or mobile device. On the back there’s an LED, a button, and a Micro USB port, which is how the Chromecast gets power. Yes, power — Google actually recommends that you use the included external power adapter to plug the Chromecast into the wall. Once you’ve got the Chromecast plugged in and powered, the next step is getting it on your Wi-Fi network.

The Chromecast is basically a small Android computer that can connect to the internet and play video files. When you hit the Cast button in a supported app, the Chromecast directly connects to the internet and streams the video itself — it’s not streaming from your device.

Since there’s no single, definitive place to control the Chromecast, it’s easy to find yourself watching a video without any immediate way to pause, rewind, or mute — you have to remember where the video came from and open that app. It’s not a big problem, but it’s added complexity. Google really needs to add basic playback controls like play, pause, and mute to the Chromecast setup app. Google also desperately needs to add in some basic password controls; right now anyone walking by can grab control of your Chromecast and send video to it. That makes it super easy to use, but also opens up a world of elaborate trolling.

You can set up multiple Chromecasts on the same Wi-Fi network, and the setup app even lets you rename them, so you can label each HDTV and room. By default they’re called “ChromecastXXXX” (with different four-digit numbers to identify them), but you can easily change them to “Living Room” and “Bedroom.”

Digging

There’s a “cast” button that is uniformly built into the top right of all of the compatible mobile apps: YouTube, Netflix, Google Play Music, and Google Play Movies & TV. The same goes for the Chrome browser extension on computers, but not Chrome on mobile devices, which have been left out of the media extending picture.

Pressing “cast” causes the Chromecast to start pulling an app’s video and audio to the TV on its own. This conveniently frees up your computer, phone, and tablet to fine-tune the streaming content’s timeline, audio settings, or make other selections within the app.

Chromecast can act as a second screen in a couple of cases, letting you browse the internet or do something else on the computer while a tab with your Gmail, Twitter feed or a video is running in a “casted” background on the big screen.

But don’t make a mistake thinking that this can be a dedicated second screen option for work; it’s just an extra screen to watch.

The Chromecast tab extension is also limited to Chrome at the moment and may never work outside of the Google-owned browser. That means FireFox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera users are out of luck if they had hoped to “cast” using their favorite browser. If Google opens up the Chromecast API, that could change in the future instead of forcing everyone to use Chrome for this one reason.

ready-to-cast

Downside

The Chromecast’s biggest limitation, of course, is content. Right now, the system only supports video from YouTube, Netflix, and Google Play Music & Movies on mobile. Having only rarely used Google Play’s VOD service and owning a variety of other devices with which to watch YouTube and Netflix, the novelty of the Chromecast’s app streaming functionality wore off quick. But Google promises more apps are on the way, and given the company’s clout, I’m inclined to believe them.

Though generally painless, there are scenarios when the Chromecast can be challenging to configure. For instance, if your TV is somewhat far or a few rooms away from your router, the Chromecast can struggle to maintain a connection.

Wrap-up

I can say that it has easily become my favorite way to watch Netflix and YouTube, which makes up a big part of my TV viewing these days. But Netflix and YouTube are clearly just the beginning for Chromecast. Hulu, Vimeo, HBO Go and others have already pledged their support, and a small army of independent developers has started to hack away and bring their own apps and games to the device. All of this means that Chromecast will get substantially better over the coming months.

Bad Stuff :

  • Not enough apps yet, Windows Phone not supported
  • Mirroring limited to browser tab
  • Weak Wi-Fi range
  • Chrome is the only supported browser

Good Stuff:

  • Streams Android to a big TV
  • Works with iOS, Macs and PCs
  • Easy to setup and transport
  • Cheapest media adapter
  • Supports multiple Chromecasts on the same network.
by Kush Sharma

Some new features for Google Maps

google-maps

Google recently unveiled a huge makeover to its Google Maps. Currently available in beta mode, it lets you discover changes in its interface and improved accessibilities. However, the search results in this version remain more or less the same as in the earlier version. You’ll find some changes in the form of search inputs and queries. Unlike the older version of Google Maps, it has a bunch of new and improved functionalities such as advanced filters for search queries.

Search on the Google Maps

Let’s say you’re looking for coffee shops near Delhi’s Qutub Minar, you can use the term “near” in your search query. Therefore, the most appropriate search query would be “coffee near Qutub Minar”. In the results you’ll be shown all the coffee shops located around this area. You can do the same for other similar search queries.

Instantly share URLs

Whenever you want to share the URL of a particular map, all you have to do is click a button called “link” on the older version of Google Maps. The new Google Maps will allow you to always have a permalink of any place you search for. Whenever you search for any location, you’ll find its URL present inside the address bar, ready to be retrieved and shared instantly with you others.

Mobile:

Get offline Google Maps

If there are particular locations on Google Maps that you’re fond of, you don’t need to be online and connected to access them each time. You can simply make them appear offline for later use. While you’re online, go to the Google Maps application on your phone and open the map. In the search box, you’ll find search suggestions for recently accessed places. Select “Make this map area available offline” and you are done. You can also use menu button and select this option, a square box will pop up and highlight the area of map you want to download.

Note: This feature is currently available only on Android Devices.

Access Street View

Similar to Google Maps on desktop, there’s no longer an option on mobile devices to access Street View as soon as search results show up. If you want Street View of a particular location on Google Maps, simply press and hold on the map to drop a pin. This will render an info sheet, which lets you access the Street View option.

by Kush Sharma

Android: Easiest way to type in Hindi with Google

Google-hindi-input-title

Google-hindi-input-title

Have you ever wanted to send a text message to someone in Hindi but was unable because your cell phone didn’t comes with a Hindi layout keyboard, and suppose even if it comes with it then it will surely consume a lot of time and effort to write a single paragraph.

Google recently introduced his new app Google Hindi Input which let users to type in Hinglish(Hindi in English alphabets) and it will convert it to Hindi for you. If you have an Android smartphone or tablet, Google Hindi Input is the quickest and easiest way to compose emails, send messages and post on social networks using Devanagari script. There are alternatives also available on Google Play enabling typing in Hindi and other Indian Languages : PaniniKeypad and Lipikaar are two such apps. But we will focus on Google Hindi Input first.

Google Hindi Input has two methods for writing Hindi text. In transliteration mode, you simply type a Hindi word in English (like namaste), and the app will automatically convert the word to Devanagari script (नमस्ते). And you can get suggested words in Hindi language when you type some letters only. This will save your time and no need to type full Hindi words. Switching between English to Translator to Full Devnagari Keyboard is super smooth and just a button away.

device-2013-04-22-103148 device-2013-04-22-103632device-2013-04-22-103824

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hitting the globe button switches to a full Devanagari script keyboard, with Hindi consonants ordered alphabetically on two pages. In this mode, you can long press at any time to select various forms of a consonant.

How to enable keyboard Input method?

Open Settings -> Language & Input, under “KEYBOARD & INPUT METHODS” section, check Google Hindi Input, then click Default and select “Hindi transliteration/Google Hindi Input” in the “Choose input method” dialog.

Don’t forget that it will not going to support if your android device does not have Hindi fonts installed. If so then you have to install it first but most of the Indian manufactured devices are pre-installed with it.

Bad Sides:

  • No voice or handwriting input: The keyboard gives no option to help the user input text using voice or handwriting.
  • No Gesture Support: There are plenty of android keyboards now who have started gestures a major thing to emphasize on and let user feel comfortable but Google Hindi input still needs to work on it.

 

Real time prediction while typing with devnagiri keyboard

Real time prediction while typing with devanagiri keyboard

Over all, Google Hindi Input offers an excellent option to those who would wish to use Hindi text while communicating through their Android devices. It’s simple and intuitive and makes typing in Hindi very easy.

Play Store Link : Google Hindi Input

by Kush Sharma

The Google Quiz: Are you a Google expert ?

The Google

Do you know everything about the company and its services? Or are you still new to the topic, and you only used their search engine for a couple of times so far? Well, you can put your knowledge to the test in this quiz which will answer the question:

How much do you know about Google? Get a pencil and cross the single right answer for every question, and calculate your score afterwards.

  1. Google Inc. was founded in …
    • 1996
    • 1998
    • 2000
  2. Google Inc. was founded by …
    • Sergey Page and Larry Brin
    • Eric Schmidt and Larry Page
    • Larry Page and Sergey Brin
  3. Which search operator does Google enable by default?
    • The AND operator
    • The OR operator
    • The NOT operator
  4. Google once used Yahoo’s search result to feed its engine.True?
    • Yes, from 1998-200
    • No, it was the other way round – Yahoo used Google once.
    • No, Google and Yahoo never had any search relationship.
  5. Google Analytics is a service to …
    • Check if your web pages validate
    • Check how many people visit your web pages
    • Check your Google PageRank
  6.   In 2006, Eric Schmidt is Google’s …
    • Vice President Engineering
    • Eric left the company in 2004 to pursue his hobbies
    • Chief Executive Officer
  7.  What was the name of the search engine the Google founders developed before Google?
    • PageRanker
    • BackRub
    • Gogol
  8.  What is the algorithm behind Google’s PageRank?
    • The more pages link to you (and the higher their PageRank), the higher your page’s PageRank
    • You get 1 PageRank point for every web page you own
    • The algorithm behind PageRank is kept secret, similar to the Coca – Cola formula
  9.  Why do some sites get “banned” from the Google index?
    • They tried methods to get their pages ranked better which Google considers spam
    • They have content which is illegal in this state/ country
    • Both are true.
  10.  At which university did the Google founders meet?
    • Oxford University
    • MIT
    • Stanford University
  11.  What is the “Googleplex”?
    • It’s where Google employees work
    • It’s a solar system which shares only the name with Google.com
    • It’s the server farm Google built up to deliver search results to you
  12.   Around how many hits do you get for the word “Hello” (in 2006)?
    • 420,000 pages
    • 420,000,000 pages
    • 42,000,000,000 pages
  13.  If you want to find a place to grab a pizza, you go to …
    • Google Food
    • Google Places
    • Google Local
  14. At the Association of National Advertisers annual conference in October 2005, who said Google will take 300 years to fulfill its mission to index the world’s data?
    • Eric Schmidt
    • Larry Page
    • Marissa Mayer
  15. What colors do the letters of the Google logo have, from left to right?
    • Red – Blue – Green – Yellow – Green
    • Blue – Red – Yellow – Blue – Green – Red
    • Blue – Yellow – Purple – Yellow – Red – Blue

How well did you do?

Calculate your points by adding 10 points for each question you answered like the following:

1 – b, 2 – c, 3 – a, 4 – b, 5 – b, 6 – c, 7 – b, 8 – a, 9 – c, 10 – c, 11 – a, 12 – b, 13 – c, 14 – a, 15 – b.

0–50 points: Though you have a mild interest in Google, you’re new to the topic. Maybe you prefer other search engines, or you’re not using the web for a lot of tasks. You have yet to learn how to become a power searcher, but you’re on your way. 60–110 points: You already understand more than just the basics of how Google works. Using your search power, you can locate almost anything you want. You are likely making good use of Gmail, Google News, and other Google services. 120–150 points: Consider yourself a Google guru. In fact, with your knowledge you could write a book like this. Chances are you are reading a lot of news

by Kush Sharma

DIY : Create Self-Destruct Messages with Google Docs in Mission Impossible Style

TopSecret-message

It’s a clever technology, as well as a manifestation of an interesting argument that some legal and internet scholars have begun to make: All information should have an expiration date.  This means, once they read the message they will no longer be able to read it again after the timer has reached zero. This ensures your message is read by no one but the reader and all evidence of the message is erased.

You can send passwords and other private information as self-destructing messages in Google Docs that will vanish after being read.Would you like to send a confidential note to a friend that self-destructs after it has been read so that no one else (including your friend) can ever see that secret note again?

There are web apps – like OneShar.es and Burn Note – that offer an easy solution. They essentially create a temporary web page/link that auto-expires after it has been viewed once.

Alternatively, you can even use Google Docs to send self-destructing messages to anyone through Google Apps Script.

Creating Messages in Google Docs

This message will self-destruct in ten seconds. It takes a minute to convert a Google Docs sheet into a self-destructing one. Just follow this :

  • Open your Google Docs account and create new spreadsheet.

self-destruct-google-docs

  •  Input your data that you will be sharing with your friend. Then go to Tools > Script Manager, a new tab will be popped.

self-destruct-google-docs-script-manager

  • Select Blank Project in the title menu. An editor will be available in your browser, copy-paste Script to this editor from below this page and save it.

self-destruct-google-docs-script

  • Don’t forget to change value of time variable according to your need (seconds to wait before cleanup). Hit Save icon.
  • Now close Script editor window, Open again script manager by going to Tools or hit Reload if it is already opened. You will find your script listed there.
  • Lastly, Click on Share button available in top-right corner of the screen. Change Access from CAN VIEW to CAN EDIT. Then Share it.

self-destruct-google-docs-sharingMake sure the permission is set to “Can Edit” in the sharing window.

Your friend opens the sheet, reads the message and after 10 seconds, the entire sheet on his screen will clear itself. If you wish to send another self-destructing message, create a copy of the original sheet and repeat the steps.

How does it work?

The trick is simple. We have an onOpen trigger attached to the Google sheet that becomes active as soon as the sheet is opened. This trigger waits for 10 seconds (Utilities.sleep) and then runs the clear() command to empty all the cells of the sheet.

Here’s the Google Apps Script code that actually makes your “secret message” vanish.

function onOpen() {

var time = 10; /* Wait Time (in seconds) */

var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet(); ss.toast(“This message will disappear after ” + time + ” seconds. So read fast !!!”);

Utilities.sleep(time*1000); ss.toast(“We are now sending this private note to the shredder. Bye :)”);

ss.getActiveSheet() .getRange(1, 1, ss.getLastRow(), ss.getLastColumn()).clear(); }

by Kush Sharma

How to : Use Google Drive to Sync User Data in more than one PC

Google Drive is a great service no doubt, but simply installing the application, and synchronizing your files is just the first step. (The option for downloading and installing is available on the homepage of your online Google Drive at the bottom of the sidebar)

You can move your user data folders (Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos and Downloads) by right-clicking the folder and changing the destination path under ‘Location’ tab in the Properties menu.

  • Windows 7 users need to go to the Explorer panel to the left, Expend the collapsible Library folder, and right-click the “My Documents” or similar folder to get the properties menu.
  • Click on “Include a Folder”, Browse to Google Drive Sync Folder. Select “Set Save location”.

document-properties

  • Change the location of one of these folders to your Google drive folder to synchronize it between computers. Do this on each computer you use and you’ll have the same files in your Documents, Downloads, and all other folders on all your computers.

Note: If the amount of data you have exceeds the storage capacity of Google Drive (that is, if the data if more than 5 GB), then the above method will fail to completely transfer all the files. Once the storage limit of Google Drive is reached, you will unable to add any more folders/files to it, and in this case, to your user data folders as well.

by Kush

Have You Ever Heard Google Beatboxing?

When you have questions, who do you ask for? Google. When you need directions, who do you call for help? Google Maps. When you want to hear a nice beatbox, who do you listen to? Google Translate. Huh? Well, you read that right! Google is not just an awesome dictionary, map, and translator, but also a great Beatboxer!

1. Go to Google Translate and copy paste the texts below in the translate field.

pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk bschk pv bschk bschk pv kkkkkkkkkk bschk bschk bschk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk bschk pv bschk bschk pv kkkkkkkkkk bschk bschk bschk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk bschk pv bschk bschk pv kkkkkkkkkk bschk bschk bschk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk bschk pv bschk bschk pv kkkkkkkkkk bschk bschk bschk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk bschk pv bschk bschk pv kkkkkkkkkk bschk bschk bschk

google-beatbox

2. Set the “to” language to German and press listen. You’ll notice that the listen button has now been changed to Beatbox when you hover over it.

 

3. Enjoy Google Translate beatboxing for you!