Scheduled Release track features update 1/31/12

The following features are now available to domains following the Scheduled Release track:

Sites:
- Groups Discussion Forums can be inserted via the ‘insert’ menu.
- Drawings gadget: Drawings can be inserted as a gadget via the ‘insert’ menu when editing a page.

The following features are intended for release to these domains on Feb 7:

Calendar: The new look for Calendar becomes the permanent interface and users will have no ability to opt out or revert to the old interface. Resources for users here.

Sites: New interface when uploading images and attachments

Release track:
Scheduled*

Editions included:
Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, Government and Education

For more information:
http://support.google.com/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=153306
http://support.google.com/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1351806

*Scheduled Release track: Domains with ‘Scheduled Release’ option enabled in the administrator control panel. Learn more

New look available for Gmail and Calendar! Find out more at whatsnew.googleapps.com/new-look

whatsnew.googleapps.com
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Wow, what a great comp! Christian Ney smashes all Llano records to oblivion!

HWBOT.ORG’s competition called GIGABYTE X'MAS & New Year Contest just finished with Christian Ney from Switzerland absolutely smashing all scores in style.

 

Hardware used:

• GIGABYTE GA-A75-UD4H
• AMD A8-3870K 'Llano' CPU
• Geil Eva Corsa RAM
• Both RAM & CPU Cooled with LN2

Records achieved:

• World Record Llano Reference Frequency at 200MHz
• World Record Llano Memory Frequency at 1752.8MHz & 2nd highest overall global RAM frequency achieved! WOW!!!
• World Record Llano CPU Frequency at 6067.71MHz (also well done to Tsunamijuan and _mat_ for reaching past 6GHz :)

Overclockers are super-nerds and what better way to express happiness than to load up some old school MC Hammer in your submission posts, love it. Christian Ney says… U Can’t Touch This

Hammer time

Sin0822 gives us his take on the G1.Assassin 2 motherboard

Respected power user Sin0822 has once again turned his attention to our new X79 platform with a review of our GIGABYTE G1.Assassin 2 board. As you’d expect from a Sin0822 review, it’s very detailed and covers just every aspect of the board including details on pretty much every chip we used. There’s also advice on how to achieve a good overclock, as well as some proof that Sin can handle himself in the 3D gaming realm and is well placed as a reviewer of high-end gaming offering. Here’s a sample of what he has to say:

“The G1 Assassin 2 is a 3rd generation G1 Killer. It’s a gaming board, but the best of the best gaming boards. Sure other boards might have some overclocking features like buttons, voltage read points, and cool sub-zero temp meters but what gamer is ever going to use those while gaming? I am not saying that this board doesn’t overclock, it in fact does overclock great, but it is more geared towards gamers and thus you only pay for gaming features.

"Shouldn't a gaming board be reviewed by someone who actually games?", some have asked. Many might not know this, but I do in fact play some computer games, and I can show off a bit below. In the end this board is now in my 24/7 rig displacing the Sniper 2 into my second rig, and I really don’t game with anything other than a G1 series board. There is a reason to this, because I have my 24/7 computer on 24/7, it doesn’t sleep, it miss a beat either, it just runs. I feed it electricity, and yet I depend on it to do everything. I must say though that nice audio allows me to hear around corners, as I can hear footsteps and that is one of the biggest advantages to a G1 board. Of course a top-notch sound card can do the same, but I never bought a sound card after my Audigy2 ZS.”

You can catch the full review on several of the sites and forums Sin frequents: XtremeSystems, Overclock.net, Overclockers.com, Overclockers.com.au, Tweaktown.com

More on the G1.Assassin 2 can be found here.

2012 global award winners RISE to the top

Our business at Google is rooted in STEM and CS, so we’re passionate about supporting organizations that are expanding access to these fields, especially for students who might not have the opportunity otherwise. The annual Google Roots in Science and Engineering (RISE) program supports organizations running innovative STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and CS (computer science) enrichment programs for K-12 and university students around the world.

This year, the Google in Education group received a record number of inspiring applications for RISE. We expanded the awards to include Sub-Saharan Africa, and in total, we’re awarding more than $340,000 in funding to 13 U.S., eight European and five African organizations.

Our recipients are diverse, ranging from girls robotics teams building high-tech machinery in Nairobi to after-school programs that have students configuring cluster computers in Salt Lake City. Below are just a few of the outstanding organizations receiving RISE awards this year for their efforts in advancing CS and STEM education:

United States

• Santa Clara Valley Society of Women Engineers, San Jose, California. GetSET is a program created for underrepresented ethnic minority girls in the San Francisco Bay Area to expose them to engineering while building self confidence through leadership workshops, tours of technology companies and participation in team-building exercises.
• Saturday Academy, Portland, Oregon. Saturday Academy serves 2nd-12th grade students from Oregon and SW Washington with high quality and creative learning opportunities taught by STEM experts, including hands-on, real world activities that create meaningful connections between academic content and practical application.

Europe

• Frauennetzwerk Informatik at Universität Passau, Passau, Germany. University students from Passau act as ambassadors for computer science, engineering and math by reaching out to juniors and seniors at their former high schools and running workshops on topics like robotics and mobile app development. Ambassadors go on to serve as mentors to the students throughout their high school and college careers.
• The Centre for Academic Achievement, Dublin, Ireland. This center runs free after school educational classes in a university setting for bright primary school students from disadvantaged areas. Each term, students from 32 local primary schools have the opportunity to study science, math and engineering subjects and are encouraged to pursue college degrees in the future.

Sub Saharan Africa

• Savana Signatures, Tamale, Ghana. Savana Signatures educates youth and women, building their capacity to access information for the benefit of Ghana’s social and economic development.
• Fundi Bots, Kampala, Uganda. Fundi Bots is a technology outreach program for students in high school and university that uses robotics to introduce young children to the endless possibilities of technology in both their day-to-day lives and potential careers.

Organizations interested in applying for 2013 funding can sign up for more information here. We look forward to hearing about all the great work being done in CS and STEM education.

Posted by Roxana Shirkhoda, K-12 Education Outreach

OCAHOLIC award GIGABYTE X79-UD3 the full five stars

Marc Büchel at OCaholic.ch has awarded the GIGABYTE X79-UD3 motherboard a five star rating, with plenty of praise for the overall performance, good looks and reams of overclocking potential found within:

“Recommendation - The Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 is an excellent allrounder. We can recommend this motherboard to gamers, overclockers as well as enthusiasts. The UD3 really does a great job in every PC. On top of all that this board only costs CHF 236.- (est. EUR 197).

Rating - We give the Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 gets very good five out of five stars.”

Check out the full and detailed review at ocaholic here.

More info on the GIGABYTE X79-UD3 can be found on our site here.

Tiny Escape By Dumadu Games Pvt Ltd

The fear of escaping will fill your gameplay with Tiny Escape. Tiny Escape is an amazing adventurous game, with loads of features and is extremely addictive.Play Tiny Escape with amazingly designed gameplay, you need to hop and escape from dangerous enemies. Acquire power-ups and bonuses as your thread your way ahead. FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tiny-escape/id488489920?mt=8
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.8/10

Rope'n'Fly 2 By Robert Szeleney

Use your ropes to swing an destructible ragdoll from on skyscraper to the others. You have full control over your ropes, touch on a tower to throw your rope there, touch once again to release it and use your acceleration to fly through the sky. Touch again once you come too near to the ground before your break into smithereens.FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Awesomeness rating-7.8/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ropenfly-2/id330976703?mt=8

iKungFu Master By Triniti Interactive Limited

your BELOVED is being HELD for RANSOM and ONLY YOU can SAVE HER.JOURNEY to the UNDERWORLD and FIGHT through SEAS of MINDLESS THUGS. NOW is the MOMENT OF RECKONING… a LIFE-AND-DEATH BATTLE awaits…IT'S TIME to GET EVEN…(itunes description)FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Awesomeness rating-7.8/10
http://itunes.apple.com/app/ikungfu-master/id342920027?mt=8

Push-Cars: Everyday Jam By RaLight Solutions

"Push-Cars: Everyday Jam" is a new challenge with the cars and the cities of the original "Push-Cars", the game which has made more than 1.5 millions of players get addicted to a new brand of logic puzzle gameplay. Now the good and eco friendly cars must leave the cities again while the bad and polluting ones keep on crashing. But there are tons of new surprises awaiting. FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Awesomeness rating-7.6/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/push-cars-everyday-jam/id483603149?mt=8

Derby Days By Com2uS Inc.

Nurture your horses to be the best of the best and compete with neigh-boring horses. Breed your horse with your friends’ and customize them any way you want! Spruce up your ranch to provide ideal environment for your horse… With a stream pool and a corner track, there is no better place to call home for your horses. Watch them race in local derbies and compete for trophies in the championship! Go for gold!FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME.
Compatibility-iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1.2 or later
Awesomeness rating-7.5/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/derby-days/id455913421?mt=8

iMob 2 By Addmired, Inc

iMob is a social MMO RPG.Create your family and attack others.ONLINE MULTIPLAYER ONLY.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Awesomeness rating-7.8/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imob-2/id490367305?mt=8

Fishing Stars By Chengdu Moqikaka Technology Co., Ltd

Fishing Stars is a kind of new Fishing game, players can cast a net when he clicks the screen,and can capture dozens of different fishes or even the combative shark BOSS. In addition to ordinary fishing nets, there are many interesting and challenging props such as bombs and mines .There's a spectacular array of fish in the mysterious undersea, eg. inkjet cuttlefish, piranha which can tear the fishing nets, and ancient plesiosaur. And the fishermen also have weapon systems which can be upgraded., bigger fishing nets, stronger bombs, wider mines,if you make good use of them, you will be the most shining star of fishing!!!!!FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Awesomeness rating-7.6/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fishing-stars/id465911106?mt=8

Sweet Shop By Breaktime Studios

Create a Sweet Shop in a world of wonders!You've been picked by a brilliant (and slightly insane) Candy Confectioner to run his shop. It may be small, but it is world famous as the best place to find sweet treats, clever contraptions and delicious delectables.NO INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED.
Compatibility-iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.8/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/sweet-shop/id487787421?mt=8

Letris 2: Word puzzle game By Ivanovich Games

Letris 2 is one of the most played word games in the AppStore where you must build words in order to keep the screen clean and tidy as long as possible. A simple concept that will catch you with frenetic gameplay while trying to defeat the next level and beat your own score.NOTE:ADVANCED MODE MUST BE PURCHASED.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.9/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/letris-2-word-puzzle-game/id478540241?mt=8

Order Up!! To Go By Chillingo Ltd

Time to release the chef inside you…Order Up!! To Go is a delicious blend of frantic kitchen cooking and restaurant empire building. Chop, roll, slice, and dice your way to culinary stardom. Optimized specially for iOS, featuring perfect controls and comic kitchen action, this is one time management game that will keep you busy for hours.(itunes description)
Compatibility-iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.7/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/order-up!!-to-go/id472934148?mt=8

A Solar System Journey By John Rouda

A Journey through our Solar System. This includes all of the planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.A few comments and facts about each planet and close up image of the planet is also included. There is also an animated orbit for the planets.
Compatibility-iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.8/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/a-solar-system-journey/id444804070?mt=8

Stop Those Fish By Eye Interactive, Inc.

Why should you Stop Those Fish?A league of hyper-intelligent fish is plotting our destruction from their secret lair at the bottom of the sea. You are the leader of a small band of bears fighting for the survival of all land dwellers. In this epic battle that pits bear against fish, do you have what it takes to drown the fish uprising before it’s too late?
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.Requires iOS 3.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.6/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/stop-those-fish/id479481004?mt=8

Draw Pad Pro : Amazing Notepads and Sketchbooks! By Fishington Studios

Draw Pad Pro is designed as a beautiful and innovative way to create and manage all your notes, sketches, scribbles, and more. The app takes advantage of new iOS 5 technology to offer an experience unseen in other note-taking or drawing apps.
Compatibility- iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-8.0/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/draw-pad-pro-amazing-notepads/id483071025?mt=8

Fashion Story: Valentine's Day By TeamLava

Love is in the air in Fashion Story™, the stylish game in TeamLava's hit virtual world "Story" series! Celebrate Valentine's Day with new fashions and decorations that are perfect for the occasion. Stock your racks with heart nighties and love perfumes, be the first to own a Kissing Swan fountain, and progress through "The Proposal" and "Single Ladies", two new goals that award exclusive Valentine's Day items!ONLINE MULTIPLAYER GAME.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.Requires iOS 3.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.8/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/fashion-story-valentines-day/id494160663?mt=8

Assassin's Creed Rearmed By Ubisoft

Rearm your blade: Assassin’s Creed innovative multiplayer is now mobile! Exclusively designed for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Fuel your gaming needs with this innovative Assassin’s Creed experience...Download ACMR for free to experience the first and only Assassin’s Creed Multiplayer driven by an in-game economy and expand your multiplayer experience by purchasing additional items, characters, abilities and more.ONLINE MULTIPLAYER ONLY.
Compatibility-iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (2nd generation), iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.7/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/assassins-creed-rearmed/id473629046?mt=8

Digifit® By iTMP Technology, INc.

Digifit is free to download and use to track your workouts - runs, rides, Spin and other cardio exercises*. It maps your outdoor runs and rides, gives you time, distance, speed and more. Digifit also records your weight and blood pressure for a true sense of overall health. NOTE:THE SENSOR MUST BE PURCHASED.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.7/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/digifit/id314841648?mt=8

HopStop for iPad By HopStop.com

Get detailed public transit, walking, taxi, and biking directions in dozens of cities throughout the US, Canada and Europe...now on your iPad!
Compatibility-iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.9/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/hopstop-for-ipad/id495230948?mt=8

Seal Force By Nordisk Film Games Publishing

Seal Force is a combo-filled game of underwater action where you must clear the seas of krill infected by Krillian’s neon-colored virus, Plato. With three seal commandoes to control simultaneously, you will have to use each of their special abilities to clear the screen of krill. Match the color of each seal to the color of your enemies for maximum efficiency and rack up shells for upgrades, weapons and more in the Seal HQ shop!
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.Requires iOS 3.2 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.6/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/seal-force/id481266994?mt=8

IMDb Movies & TV By IMDb

Find showtimes, watch trailers, browse photos, track your must-see list and rate your favorite movies and TV shows! IMDb is the world’s largest collection of movie, TV and celebrity info. We aim to list every detail about every movie and TV show ever made, including who was in it, who made it, the plot, user ratings, trailers, photos, reviews, quotes, goofs, trivia and much more.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.Requires iOS 4.2 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.8/10
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/imdb-movies-tv/id342792525?mt=8

GIGABYTE X'MAS & New Year Contest is going off, Christian Ney just took some new platform records!

HWBOT is running a pretty crazy overclocking comp this month. We just noticed Christian Ney from Switzerland storming into the comp with some scary overclocks. He took out the CPU frequency and memory records on the platform.

1513.6 MHz RAM Frequency

6067.71 MHz CPU Frequency

Love the LN2 cooled RAM there, nice one!

Keep an eye on the competition, 3 days to go…

Resources to support a new and open world for learning

Googlers are the types who never really leave the classroom. Guest speakers come to campus to give talks on subjects ranging from fiction to physics. Diverse groups of people work together to understand and solve big problems while groups of Googlers engage in passionate debate in our cafeterias. Given this environment, it’s no surprise how highly we value our external work in education. We have a growing number of successful education programs from primary school through to university, as well as a suite of free and open tools that reach families and classrooms around the world.

Recently, we decided to gather our resources and lessons learned into one place for educators everywhere. “Google in Education: A New and Open World for Learning” highlights how people are using Google resources to enhance teaching and learning. This booklet isn’t your typical annual report; it’s a living document for educators to use year-round. We’ve also revamped our website, google.com/edu, to be a one-stop shop for teachers, students, parents and organizations to explore all of our offerings. We’ve launched a Google+ page, where everyone can stay updated on our educational tools, products and programs, and join the conversation.

To develop all of these new materials, we went straight to the source, relying on dozens of educators to provide stories and feedback. We hope these resources will inspire and enable teachers, while affirming our commitment to increasing access to an excellent education for all.

Thanks to educators, students and supporters everywhere for helping to extend our spirit of lifelong learning into classrooms around the globe.

For more information about Google in Education, visit www.google.com/edu/about, and to stay updated on the world of education at Google and connect with fellow educators, follow us on Google+.

Posted by Jordan Lloyd Bookey, Head of Global K-12 Education Outreach

Google Earth 6.2: It’s a beautiful world

We're taking bird's eye view to a whole new level with the latest version of Google Earth, released today. With Google Earth 6.2, we’re bringing you the most beautiful Google Earth yet, with more seamless imagery and a new search interface. Additionally, we’ve introduced a feature that enables you to share an image from within Google Earth, so you can now simply and easily share your virtual adventures with family and friends on Google+.

A seamless globe


The Google Earth globe is made from a mosaic of satellite and aerial photographs taken on different dates and under different lighting and weather conditions. Because of this variance, views of the Earth from high altitude can sometimes appear patchy.

Today, we’re introducing a new way of rendering imagery that smoothes out this quilt of images. The end result is a beautiful new Earth-viewing experience that preserves the unique textures of the world’s most defining geographic landscapes—without the quilt effect. This change is being made on both mobile and desktop versions of Google Earth. While this change will appear on all versions of Google Earth, the 6.2 release provides the best viewing experience for this new data.

Grand Canyon before and after

Sri Lanka before and after

Share your explorations with Google+
Google Earth is a great way to virtually explore the globe, whether revisiting old haunts or checking out a future vacation spot. With the Google Earth 6.2 update, we’ve added the option to share a screenshot of your current view in Google Earth through Google+. If you’ve already upgraded to Google+, you can share images of the places you’ve virtually traveled to with your Circles, such as family, friends or your local hiking club. To try this new feature, simply sign in to your Google Account in the upper right hand corner of Google Earth and click “Share.” Images of mountains, oceans, deserts, 3D cities, your favorite pizza shop on Street View—you can now experience all these amazing places around the world with people on Google+.


Search improvements
We’ve also made some updates to the search feature in Google Earth. Aside from streamlining the visual design of the search panel, we’ve enabled the same Autocomplete feature that’s available on Google Maps. We’ve also introduced search layers, which will show all the relevant search results (not just the top ten), so now, when looking for gelato in Milano, you can see all the tasty possibilities. Finally, we’ve added biking, transit and walking directions, so if you’re itching for a change of scenery or looking for a new route for your regular commute, you can now use Google Earth to generate and visualize all your options.

Biking directions in Google Earth

Download Google Earth 6.2 and start exploring and sharing today!

Posted by Peter Birch, Product Manager, Google Earth

(Cross-posted on the Lat Long blog)

Scheduled Release track features update 1/24/12

The following features are now available to domains following the Scheduled Release track:

Gmail: Search autocomplete available in all supported languages in Gmail

The following features are intended for release to these domains on Jan 31:
Sites:
- Groups Discussion Forums can be inserted via the ‘insert’ menu.
- Drawings gadget: Drawings can be inserted as a gadget via the ‘insert’ menu when editing a page.

Release track:
Scheduled*

Editions included:
Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, Government and Education

For more information:
http://support.google.com/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=153306

*Scheduled Release track: Domains with ‘Scheduled Release’ option enabled in the administrator control panel. Learn more

New look available for Gmail and Calendar! Find out more at whatsnew.googleapps.com/new-look

whatsnew.googleapps.com
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

New version of Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook® now available

Version 3.0 of the Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook® plugin is now available with the following improvements:

Outlook Tasks now synchronize with Google Apps

You can use Outlook Tasks to track and manage to-do lists in your Google Apps account. The following information in Outlook Tasks synchronizes with your Gmail Task gadget, and is available from other devices where you access your Google Apps account:
- Tasks, including due dates and reminders
- Task state (whether a task has been marked as completed)
- Top-level task folders sync as separate tasks lists in the Gmail Task gadget

Editions included:
Google Apps for Business, Government and Education

Languages included:
All 26 languages supported by the plugin

How to access what's new:
Getting the latest release

For more information:
Release notes
Help Center
Using Outlook Tasks with Google Apps Sync

New look available for Gmail and Calendar! Find out more at whatsnew.googleapps.com/new-look

whatsnew.googleapps.com
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

GIGABYTE's new GA-X79-UD3 a sensible mobo choice says Atomic Magazine

Tech geeks over at Atomic Magazine in Australia had a look at the GIGABYTE X79-UD3 board, with latest bios installed of course, and found it a great value board. 

Some times you just want a plain and simple motherboard, with a minimum of bells and whistles... the new GA-X79-UD3 is just that, and a little bit more. Read more HERE

Updating our privacy policies and terms of service

In just over a month we will make some changes to our privacy policies and Google Terms of Service. This stuff matters, so we wanted to explain what’s changing, why and what these changes mean for users.

First, our privacy policies. Despite trimming our policies in 2010, we still have more than 70 (yes, you read right … 70) privacy documents covering all of our different products. This approach is somewhat complicated. It’s also at odds with our efforts to integrate our different products more closely so that we can create a beautifully simple, intuitive user experience across Google.

So we’re rolling out a new main privacy policy that covers the majority of our products and explains what information we collect, and how we use it, in a much more readable way. While we’ve had to keep a handful of separate privacy notices for legal and other reasons, we’re consolidating more than 60 into our main Privacy Policy.

Regulators globally have been calling for shorter, simpler privacy policies—and having one policy covering many different products is now fairly standard across the web.

These changes will take effect on March 1, and we’re starting to notify users today, including via email and a notice on our homepage.



What does this mean in practice? The main change is for users with Google Accounts. Our new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you’re signed in, we may combine information you've provided from one service with information from other services. In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.

Our recently launched personal search feature is a good example of the cool things Google can do when we combine information across products. Our search box now gives you great answers not just from the web, but your personal stuff too. So if I search for restaurants in Munich, I might see Google+ posts or photos that people have shared with me, or that are in my albums. Today we can also do things like make it easy for you to read a memo from Google Docs right in your Gmail, or add someone from your Gmail contacts to a meeting in Google Calendar.

But there’s so much more that Google can do to help you by sharing more of your information with … well, you. We can make search better—figuring out what you really mean when you type in Apple, Jaguar or Pink. We can provide more relevant ads too. For example, it’s January, but maybe you’re not a gym person, so fitness ads aren’t that useful to you. We can provide reminders that you’re going to be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and an understanding of what the traffic is like that day. Or ensure that our spelling suggestions, even for your friends’ names, are accurate because you’ve typed them before. People still have to do way too much heavy lifting, and we want to do a better job of helping them out.

Second, the Google Terms of Service—terms you agree to when you use our products. As with our privacy policies, we’ve rewritten them so they’re easier to read. We’ve also cut down the total number, so many of our products are now covered by our new main Google Terms of Service. Visit the Google Terms of Service page to find the revised terms.

Finally, what we’re not changing. We remain committed to data liberation, so if you want to take your information elsewhere you can. We don’t sell your personal information, nor do we share it externally without your permission except in very limited circumstances like a valid court order. We try hard to be transparent about the information we collect, and to give you meaningful choices about how it is used—for example our Ads Preferences Manager enables you to edit the interest categories we advertise against or turn off certain Google ads altogether. And we continue to design privacy controls, like Google+’s circles, into our products from the ground up.

We believe this new, simpler policy will make it easier for people to understand our privacy practices as well as enable Google to improve the services we offer. Whether you’re a new Google user or an old hand, please do take the time to read our new privacy policy and terms, learn more about the changes we’re making and understand the controls we offer.

Posted by Alma Whitten, Director of Privacy, Product and Engineering

Your Interview with President Obama

If you could hang out with President Obama, what would you ask him? Would your question be about jobs or unemployment? The threat of nuclear weapons? Immigration reform? Whatever your question is, submit it on YouTube for the opportunity to ask the President directly in a special interview over a Google+ Hangout from the White House.

On Monday, January 30, a few days after delivering his State of the Union address to the nation, President Obama will answer a selection of top-voted questions you’ve submitted in a live-streamed interview. Starting today through January 28, you can visit the White House YouTube channel to submit your video and text questions and vote on your favorites. Your YouTube questions will drive the interview, and several participants with top-voted questions will be selected to join the President in the Google+ Hangout to take part in the conversation live.



So take out your camera, check your hair and go to youtube.com/whitehouse to submit your question now. Need ideas? Visit youtube.com/whitehouse on Tuesday night at 9:00pm ET to watch the President’s State of the Union address live. The address will be followed by the Republican response on Speaker Boehner’s YouTube channel.

Video questions are preferred (though we also accept text) and should be about 20 seconds long. In the video description, be sure to tell us a little bit about yourself, like where you’re from.

Your Interview with President Obama will be streamed live at 5:30pm ET on on January 30 on youtube.com/whitehouse. You have until midnight ET on January 28 to submit your question and make your voice heard on the issues that matter to you.

Posted by Ramya Raghavan, YouTube News and Politics Manager

(Cross-posted from the YouTube blog)

VR-Zone takes a look at GIGABYTE X79-UD5 board!

Chris took the GIGABYTE X79-UD5 for a spin over at VR Zone and had nothing but praises for it understandably. It’s a ripper board.

The Gigabyte X79-UD5 is a good solid board. It is much improved using later BIOSes and getting better all the time, particularly on the memory side. It has a quality feature list, its efficiency is fine, it’s stable and it looks great.

Read more: http://vr-zone.com/articles/gigabyte-x79-ud5-review/14133.html#ixzz1kGAibyaY

AMD Llano world records falling on GIGABYTE platform!

HWBOT is running a GIGABYTE X'MAS & New Year Contest at the moment.

World records for AMD Llano platform i falling left right and centre. US overclocker Tsunamijuan just posted a 5900MHz score in frequency stage. WOW! Good job!

GIGABYTE proud to be the major sponsor of HWBOT from the start!

HWBOT is reaching its 2.5 year anniversary as a semi-professional overclocking website as mentioned in their recent HWBOT Vision 2012 announcement.

GIGABYTE understood the importance and value overclockers bring to improve the quality and performance of its products and wanted to help give something back to the community by supporting HWBOT among other initiates. GIGABYTE understood what HWBOT was all about and did not hesitate to help sponsor the site from the start.

HWBOT for those of you that don’t know is the world’s best known overclocking website that brings together the worldwide overclocking community through overclocking competitions and general gathering of benchmark results.

Three cheers for you guys, keep up the good work. GIGABYTE looks forward to working with you in 2012!

Jagriti Yatra: a journey of entrepreneurship through India

As part of our ongoing commitment to entrepreneurship around the world, we recently took part in a worthy experiment crisscrossing India. Jagriti Yatra is an annual train journey that takes more than 400 of India's highly motivated youth (ages 20-26) on an 15-day trip to introduce them to India’s challenges, and to the individuals and institutions that are developing unique solutions to those challenges. The goal is to inspire these young people to develop and lead social and economic entrepreneurship in their own communities. Each year, around 50 experienced professionals also join the Yatra to serve as mentors, and this year, I—along with four other Googlers—went along for the ride.

This year’s “yatris” (participants) came from all four corners of the country—rich states and poor states, urban, semi-urban and rural. A large portion came from low-income rural families, and many of them (especially the women) had fought great odds to get a good education. Now, they wanted to give back to their communities.

The trip, which began in Mumbai on December 25 and returned on January 8, covered 8,500 kilometers and made 12 stops in a route that circumnavigated the entire country. Our days began at 5:30am and ended at 11:30pm, and the majority of time was spent pounding the pavement, from villages in Orissa and Uttar Pradesh to the suburbs of Madurai and Patna.

These visits brought us face-to-face with India’s major challenges. Confronted with the stark reality of youth abandoning their farming traditions, vast open-air garbage dumps in town centers, girls dropping out of school after eighth grade and unemployed undergraduates scrounging money to bribe their way into government jobs, the yatris were even more motivated to become agents of change in their country. The Yatra has led to a diverse range of startups, both planned and pre-existing—for example, I spoke with participants taking up organic farming in their villages, and to others who were inspired to establish career mentoring programs in their communities.

As first-time sponsors of this year's Yatra (which focused specifically on issues in healthcare, agribusiness, water and energy) we provided not only financial support, but also WiFi for the train journey and an SMS channel for Jagriti Yatra followers to get updates on the Yatra over SMS. We also helped set up the organization with a YouTube channel and a Google+ page so they could chronicle and share their journey with the wider world.

Throughout, the energy of the group was incredible; everyone was infused with the feeling that all things are possible if you persist. Jagriti Yatra has become the event for college students and would-be young entrepreneurs to participate in (this year, the organization received 3,200 applications for less than 500 spots). It was great to see so many young people focused on making a positive impact on society through entrepreneurship.



For more personal stories from the journey, visit the Jagriti Yatra Google+ page. To register for next year’s journey, visit Jagriti Yatra’s registration page.

Posted by Adhi Kesarla, Principal, New Business Development

Renewing old resolutions for the new year

As we head into 2012, we’ve been sticking to some old resolutions—the need to focus on building amazing products that millions of people love to use every day. That means taking a hard look at products that replicate other features, haven’t achieved the promise we had hoped for or can’t be properly integrated into the overall Google experience.

Here’s an update on some products that will be merged, open-sourced, or phased out in the coming months:

• Google Message Continuity (GMC): In December 2010 we launched an email disaster recovery product for enterprise customers that use Google's cloud to back up emails originally sent or received in an on-premise, Microsoft Exchange system. In the time since we launched, we've seen hundreds of businesses sign up for it. By comparison, in that same time, we've seen millions of businesses move entirely to the cloud with Google Apps, benefitting from disaster recovery capabilities built directly into Apps. Going forward we've decided to focus our efforts on Google Apps and end support for GMC. Current GMC customers will be able to use GMC for the duration of their contract and are encouraged to consider using Google Apps as their primary messaging and collaboration platform.
• Google Sky Map: This app was created by half a dozen Googlers at the Pittsburgh office in their 20 percent time to show off the amazing capabilities of the sensors in the first-generation Android phones and offer a window into the sky. Since we launched the tool in 2009, we have managed to share our passion with more than 20 million Android users. We will be open-sourcing Sky Map and are collaborating with Carnegie Mellon University in a partnership that will see further development of Sky Map as a series of student projects.
• Needlebase: We are retiring this data management platform, which we acquired from ITA Software, on June 1, 2012. The technology is being evaluated for integration into Google's other data-related initiatives.
  
• Picnik: We acquired this online photo editor in 2010. We’re retiring the service on April 19, 2012 so the Picnik team can continue creating photo-editing magic across Google products. You can download a zip file of your creations through Picnik Takeout or copy them to Google+. As of now, the premium service is free to everyone. Premium members will receive a full refund in the coming weeks.
• Social Graph API: This API makes information about the public connections between people on the web available for developers. The API isn’t experiencing the kind of adoption we’d like, and is being deprecated as of today. It will be fully retired on April 20, 2012.
• Urchin: In 2005 we acquired Urchin, whose online web analytics product became the foundation for Google Analytics, helping businesses of all sizes measure their websites and online marketing. We’re fully committed to building an industry-leading online analytics product, so we’re saying goodbye to the client-hosted version, known as Urchin Software. New Urchin Software licenses will no longer be available after March 2012.

Resolutions can be hard, and changing products that people love is hard too. But we’re excited to focus on creating a beautifully simple, intuitive user experience across Google—an experience that will change the lives of millions of people.

Posted by Dave Girouard, VP of Product Management

Spider Swiper by Mentos By The Martin Agency

They may look like your average spiders, but these have super strength and can’t wait to take you down. Think you can beat them? Inspired by the famous Mentos Rainbow Spider commercial, this game allows you to exact revenge on these ferocious arachnids. It’s your thumbs against their eight legs in a fight to the finish!
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.5/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spider-swiper-by-mentos/id494017300?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2

Hogworld: Gnarts Adventure By Snow Castle

Hogworld is an interactive story about the adventures of a shy little hogbunny named Gnart. He has to get to the dentist by sundown, but to get there he must pass through some pretty scary places. On his way, Gnart will confront his fears and make strange new friends. The story gives the readers a true interactive experience. Beautiful artwork enhanced by 3D effects and animations combine with music, sound effects and voice makes this a unique application. You may want to follow the engaging story and then go back to explore the environments, which are full of beautiful landscapes and amazing surprises. Or you can pause the narrative to explore more at a later time.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Awesomeness rating-8.1/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hogworld-gnarts-adventure/id484534007?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2

Order Up!! To Go By Chillingo Ltd

Time to release the chef inside you…Order Up!! To Go is a delicious blend of frantic kitchen cooking and restaurant empire building. Chop, roll, slice, and dice your way to culinary stardom. Optimized specially for iOS, featuring perfect controls and comic kitchen action, this is one time management game that will keep you busy for hours.
Compatibility-iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-8.0/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/order-up!!-to-go/id472934148?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2

LEGO® App4+ By The LEGO Group

For kids age 4-7 or just a playful spirit. Build your own truck (helicopter blades or legs for wheels optional), bring your cargo to its right destination, and collect coins to earn more parts!
Use your imagination and building skills with the LEGO® Large Brick Box (6166) app on iPad, iPhone & iTouch.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later
Awesomeness rating-7.5/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lego-app4/id491075156?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2

Paramount100 By Paramount Digital Entertainment

The year 2012 marks Paramount Pictures’ 100th Anniversary and this 100 Years of Movie Magic app is an exploration of the studio’s incredibly rich and storied history. From Paramount’s modest beginning in 1912 with Queen Elizabeth to Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the app provides a fresh and innovative opportunity to experience your favorite films by flipping through never-before-seen photos, watching memorable film clips, and listening to timeless music scores. This unique keepsake also includes an overview of Paramount’s story, a Studio Tour and a specially designed Scene it? game – all of which you can share with your friends and family on email, Twitter, and Facebook.
Compatibility-iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.9/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paramount100/id488890759?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2

Engadget Distro By AOL Inc.

Engadget Distro brings the best articles from the Engadget site to your tablet in a rich, magazine-like format. Each week a new edition is hand-crafted by the Engadget team featuring the best reviews and features curated from the website along with a weekly editorial to bring you up to speed on any news you might have missed. Once downloaded, we encourage you to take Distro offline, kick back in a comfy chair, and dive in to all the great stuff you might not have had time to enjoy during the week. Immerse yourself in the world of gadget news.
Compatibility-iPad.Requires iOS 4.2 or later.
Awesomeness rating-8.0/10
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/engadget-distro/id459434195?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2

Rocknor's Donut Factory By Duff Research

Rocknor's Donut Factory features innovative game play that both fans of puzzle games and critics alike have applauded for its focus on fun, addictive, puzzle-solving, free of distractions and penalties. Take an inventive combination of Robots, Donuts, and Hover technology, mix in a few tricky orders, and you've got a recipe for fun! Rocknor's Donut Factory is a crafty combination of clever puzzles that will test your creativity to solve them all!FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.7/10
http://itunes.apple.com/app/rocknors-donut-factory/id341187790?affId=1762518&mt=8

How do others see you? By VIA 21 Media Alternativa SL

Your opinion about yourself does not always match other people's. Maybe we consider ourselves as open-minded and friendly, but other people think we are shy and boring. Did you know that what we show to the rest may be completely the opposite of what we think of ourselves? Are you curious to find out? Don't wait anymore and find out how others see you. You'll be surprised!FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Awesomeness rating-7.7./10
http://itunes.apple.com/app/how-do-others-see-you/id492089999?affId=1762518&mt=8

Demolish By AMC WORKSHOP LIMITED

Use realistic physics to throw blocks off the stage, gaining at least 100 points for the next advance level, by shooting balls at them. There are many types of blocks, there are 3 different balls and there are more than 50 levels for you to finish.FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.1 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.6/10
http://itunes.apple.com/app/demolish/id395515263?affId=1762518&mt=8

Zombie Takeover By Pocket Gems, Inc.

Lead an army of zombie fighters to defend against those pesky humans! Join forces with vampires and werewolves and take back your hometown for good!ONLINE MULTIPLAYER ONLY.
Compatibility-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Awesomeness rating-7.5/10
http://itunes.apple.com/app/zombie-takeover/id481461224?affId=1762518&mt=8