OpenSocial continues to grow: Welcome, Yahoo!

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Dan Peterson, Product Manager</span><br /><br />Last November, <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/opensocial-makes-web-better.html" id="acjj" title="OpenSocial was kicked off">OpenSocial was created</a> to help build infrastructure for the social web. OpenSocial provides a common mechanism for developers to easily hook into many different social networks and extend their functionality. Sites including MySpace and orkut have begun to provide OpenSocial applications to their users, and hi5 will be rolling out next week.<br /><br />Today we're pleased that <a href="http://ycorpblog.com/2008/03/25/announcing-the-opensocial-foundation/">Yahoo! has announced its support for OpenSocial</a>. We're looking forward to having Yahoo! users join the hundreds of millions of people who will soon enjoy OpenSocial applications. This addition means even more distribution for developers, encourages participation by even more websites, and, most importantly, results in more features for users all across the web.<br /><br />In addition, Yahoo!, MySpace, and Google are joining with the broader community to create a non-profit foundation to foster the continued open development of OpenSocial. To that end, we've also launched <a href="http://www.opensocial.org/">OpenSocial.org</a>, designed to become the main documentation hub and primary source of information about OpenSocial. To learn more, and to get involved, please review the <a href="http://sites.google.com/a/opensocial.org/opensocial/OpenSocial-Foundation-Proposal">foundation proposal</a>.<br /><br />With that, welcome, Yahoo! We look forward to growing the social web together.

OpenSocial continues to grow: Welcome, Yahoo!

Posted by Dan Peterson, Product Manager Last November, OpenSocial was created to help build infrastructure for the social web. OpenSocial p...

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The end of the FCC 700 MHz auction

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, and Joseph Faber, Corporate Counsel</span><br /><br />This afternoon the Federal Communications Commission <a href="http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-280968A1.pdf" id="x4ot" title="announced">announced</a> the <a href="http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-595A2.pdf" id="pk1d" title="results">results</a> of its 700 MHz spectrum auction. While the Commission's anti-collusion rules prevent us from saying much at this point, one thing is clear: although Google didn't pick up any spectrum licenses, the auction produced a major victory for American consumers.<br /><br />We congratulate the winners and look forward to a more open wireless world. As a result of the auction, consumers whose devices use the C-block of spectrum soon will be able to use any wireless device they wish, and download to their devices any applications and content they wish. Consumers soon should begin enjoying new, Internet-like freedom to get the most out of their mobile phones and other wireless devices.<br /><br />We'll have more to say about the auction in the near future. Stay tuned.

The end of the FCC 700 MHz auction

Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, and Joseph Faber, Corporate Counsel This afternoon the Federal Communications...

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New Google AJAX Language API - Tools for translation and language detection

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Brandon Badger, Product Manager</span><br /><br />The main goal of our AJAX APIs team is to provide developers with the tools needed to create the next generation of great web applications. Our 20% goal is world peace. What better way to help further both objectives than to launch a Language API? :) <br /><br />The API helps developers automatically translate content in their applications. Users on these sites will have an easier time communicating across lingual boundaries.<br /><br />The Language API provides both translation and language detection. Here's an example of the translation tool in action:<br /><br /><iframe width='500' height='170' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' src='http://www.google.com/uds/samples/language/translate.html' style='border: 1px solid #cccccc'></iframe><br /><br />You can play around with the language detection capabilities via this example widget:<br /><br /><iframe width='500' height='170' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' src='http://www.google.com/uds/samples/language/detect.html' style='border: 1px solid #cccccc'></iframe><br /><br />For more information on how to use the Language API in your code, please refer to the documentation <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxlanguage/">here</a>.

New Google AJAX Language API - Tools for translation and language detection

Posted by Brandon Badger, Product Manager The main goal of our AJAX APIs team is to provide developers with the tools needed to create the n...

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Gadget maker goes global

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Sheridan Kates, Associate Product Manager, iGoogle</span><br /><br />Last year we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/youve-got-gadget-mail.html" id="ex_5" title="introduced a feature">introduced a feature</a> on <a href="http://www.google.com/ig?source=igbp" id="s:q1" title="iGoogle">iGoogle</a> so you can create a personalized gadget with just a few clicks — no programming skills necessary. We've loved hearing all the stories from people who are enjoying this feature, such as <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/share-love-with-igoogle.html" id="kwod" title="one couple">one couple</a> who live thousands of miles apart and use the GoogleGram gadget to send daily love notes. We've also heard from a lot of people who use the Framed Photo gadget to share the latest family snaps with relatives in far-off countries.<br /><br />Here's my photo gadget from my travels in Europe and the Middle East last year:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUPqN4FEJsdXBHTMtep13MfB7C5oypgJd_vLHmL5kVXk8xzEByIeGsqm0ZLAPe9o77fihKxKeG8k2xk_JHVgNBbRkeDkyzXrrtca0f8RH_wFR6YseTnEKWoxsLEJ8SNyuSTJ-AbgvBB5d/s1600-h/Picture+10.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179570577605749794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUPqN4FEJsdXBHTMtep13MfB7C5oypgJd_vLHmL5kVXk8xzEByIeGsqm0ZLAPe9o77fihKxKeG8k2xk_JHVgNBbRkeDkyzXrrtca0f8RH_wFR6YseTnEKWoxsLEJ8SNyuSTJ-AbgvBB5d/s320/Picture+10.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />Well, today you can do this in all <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/get-your-igoogle-in-42-languages.html" id="eso2" title="40+ languages for which we support iGoogle">42 languages for which we support iGoogle</a>. We're looking forward to seeing even more stories like these roll in from across the globe.<br /><br />We hope you enjoy building and sharing your own gadgets, wherever in the world you might be.

Gadget maker goes global

Posted by Sheridan Kates, Associate Product Manager, iGoogle Last year we introduced a feature on iGoogle so you can create a personalized...

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An appreciation of Arthur C. Clarke

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist, and Bill Coughran, Senior VP, Engineering</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"<i>Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.</i>" </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws" id="n:2z" title="(Clarke's Three Laws)">(Clarke's Third Law)</a></span><br /><br />How do you summarize a man like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke" id="z0vx" title="Arthur C. Clarke">Arthur C. Clarke</a>? The 90-year-old futurist and science fiction writer, who <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.03/clarke.html" id="gh5." title="described himself as a "serial processor"">described himself as a "serial processor"</a>, died yesterday in Sri Lanka, his long-time home. Among the authors of the Golden Age of the genre in the 1950s, Clarke is a giant whose creative ideas have found purchase in the real world -- most notably the notion of a <a href="http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/" id="x9hu" title="synchronous communication satellite">synchronous communication satellite</a>, which he envisioned in 1945, but which did not become a reality for 20 more years.<br /><br />Clarke's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_Range" id="f8sr" style="font-style: italic;" title="The Deep Range">The Deep Range</a> (1957) painted a world economy that harvested the bounty of the sea and incorporated humans adapted to that environment. In his earlier works, there is a strong scientific element that lends credibility to the worlds he envisioned. His more recent work has added more deeply philosophical themes. Clarke is probably best known for his book and co-authorship with Stanley Kubrick of the screenplay for the epochal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_%28film%29" id="a8v6" title="2001: A Space Odyssey"><i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i></a> and the sequels to that cultural milestone -- but his two most compelling contributions may be the ability to envision worlds and societies based on premises other than our own, and his dramatic and effective advocacy of science and technology.<br /><br />He has not squandered celebrity, but used his iconic status to draw public attention to things of <a href="http://www.clarkefoundation.org/about/accfmission.php" id="hq-z">global importance</a>. We owe him gratitude not only for his remarkable talent for cerebral entertainment, but also his exceptional ability to make us think. Especially noteworthy now is this 9-minute video, which he prepared on his 90th birthday last December -- as usual, rich with forward-thinking ideas.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3qLdeEjdbWE&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3qLdeEjdbWE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /></div><br />Not a few Googlers are who they are today because his work has been a source of inspiration and aspiration. We take a tiny bit of pride in the fact that Google is a "sufficiently advanced technology" that will make it easy for millions of people to find him.<br /><br />Perhaps the most fitting summary of his life, paraphrasing the famous Vulcan greeting, is that he lived long and prospered! May his views continue to inspire for eons.

An appreciation of Arthur C. Clarke

Posted by Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist, and Bill Coughran, Senior VP, Engineering " Any sufficiently advanced technology is ind...

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Opening Google Docs to users and developers via Gadgets and Visualization API

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Jonathan Rochelle & Nir Bar-Lev, Product Managers</span><br /><br />Whenever we're asked "how do people use Google spreadsheets?", we always struggle with where to start. It's not that we can't think of examples, it's just that the examples are all so different, so unique. Sure, there are definitely favorite themes -- sports, finance and, yes, <a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=psOu1MxOSLMOrN6GBsmAUGA" id="ocpt" title="knitting">knitting</a> -- but then the examples become so particular to the people and groups who are using them: The <a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pD0NlEE-rv7zcUYxvGlpHOA" id="b2tt" title="beer taster's">beer taster's results</a>. The nursery school class schedule. The <a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=poRB3Tn-uVkEIuh4pU-OpAg&gid=4" id="d2b7" title="biker's riding log">biker's riding log</a>. The family reunion plan. The ski-trip sign-up form. Endless examples, all of which, to spreadsheet junkies like us, are interesting.<br /><br />But while we've always wanted to give people more options to view and use their information in Google Docs, we knew that trying to build all of these one at a time would simply serve too few people, given all the different ways people use and share spreadsheets.<br /><br />So today we're starting a new path to better enable developers to customize and build on top of Google Docs with two new tools we are releasing today: Gadgets-in-Docs and the <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/visualization" id="w:te" title="Visualization API">Visualization API</a>.<br /><br />Instead of delivering just one or two new types of reports, or a new visual map mashup (can you ever get enough of those?), we decided to deliver a platform on which anyone, not just Google, could build the next best thing. We even invited a few developers to try this with us, and they join us in this launch by featuring just a few of their creations, like Panorama's pivot table, or Viewpath's Gantt Chart, or InfoSoft's Funnel Charts -- all great tools for the student and enterprise user alike. We also built a few early gadgets ourselves which you might find useful.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ycfndZNCbjN2zJkYPhpV1Zb8sUPEN9i0bq3ZiYsyvaDm6jrB9E0Kr3VUMR4k3hBxtt447G5WG5MePGmuXTvYikcbPsC4qLxAPY3rcFDtuTg6asLvCPCHyF65xRddgMmmO4PHx9oU2-xK/s1600-h/Gadgets_spreadsheets.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179471964771836274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ycfndZNCbjN2zJkYPhpV1Zb8sUPEN9i0bq3ZiYsyvaDm6jrB9E0Kr3VUMR4k3hBxtt447G5WG5MePGmuXTvYikcbPsC4qLxAPY3rcFDtuTg6asLvCPCHyF65xRddgMmmO4PHx9oU2-xK/s320/Gadgets_spreadsheets.gif" style="cursor: pointer;" /></a><br /></div><br />We borrowed the Gadgets-in-Docs concept from the iGoogle team, so it's only fitting that you can also publish your spreadsheet gadgets to iGoogle, where you can see your data-based-Gadget right next to all that other stuff that's important to you (even if it is just a picture of your dog).<br /><br />To try it out, go into <a href="http://docs.google.com/" id="fc31" title="Google Docs">Google Docs</a> and open up a spreadsheet. Click on the chart icon, and click 'Gadget...'. Pick your gadget, customize it to fit your data, and then publish it out to iGoogle or to any webpage.<br /><br />If you're a developer and want to reach millions of people with your latest creation, check out the <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/visualization/">Google Visualization API</a>, courtesy of our visualization team engineers. The Visualization API provides a platform that can be used to create, share and reuse visualizations written by the developer community. It provides a common way (an API) to access structured data sources, the first being Google spreadsheets.

Opening Google Docs to users and developers via Gadgets and Visualization API

Posted by Jonathan Rochelle & Nir Bar-Lev, Product Managers Whenever we're asked "how do people use Google spreadsheets?",...

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Add your business to Local Search in India

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Ravi Yadavilli, Geo Content Operations Manager, and Alok Goel, Product Manager</span><br /><br />- Do you own a restaurant in Delhi and wish more people knew about your delicacies?<br />- Are you an insurance agent seeking new clientele?<br />- Would you like more tourists for your travel agency in Goa?<br />- Are you a custom apparel merchandiser in Bangalore seeking to expand your customer base?<br /><br />Every day several lakhs of people search the Internet seeking firms like yours. It will help you to be listed in <a href="http://local.google.co.in/" id="v8il" title="Google local search">Google local search</a>. It's really simple to add your business, and it's free. Call us at 1-800-419-4444 (in India only, for your Indian-based business), SMS "register" to 09900800000<span>,</span> or just <a href="http://www.google.co.in/local/add">add your listing</a>.<br /><br />Spending a few minutes on this can make all the difference to your business - why not do it now?

Add your business to Local Search in India

Posted by Ravi Yadavilli, Geo Content Operations Manager, and Alok Goel, Product Manager - Do you own a restaurant in Delhi and wish more pe...

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