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Google Acquires Jetpac

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On August 25, 2014

In Tech Buzz

August 25, 2014

Search engine giant Google has acquired social travel app maker ‘Jetpac’, as was disclosed on the latter’s website, on 18th August, 2014. The announcement read, “We’re joining Google! We look forward to working on exciting projects with our colleagues at Google.” Jetpac also added that they will remove their applications from Apple’s App Store by September 15, 2014.

Jetpac was established back in the year 2011 and during its initial stages it allowed people to explore the travel pictures taken by their Facebook friends to decide whether they want to visit that place or not. For instance if you wanted to search for an Irish pub in the area you would just have to search with the most specific terms and Jetpac would sort through millions of pictures posted on social networking sites to deliver you the most relevant results. Of late however, the company has created a unique tool that is able to spot smiles (face expressions) in the pictures. This helps you to determine people’s happiness rate at a particular location. Jetpac has also developed immediate recognition of a local object as seen through a phone camera which is quite similar to the Google Goggles technology.

It is not yet clear what’s in Google’s mind with the acquisition and whether or not will it integrate the artificial intelligence technology of the app with its own map and image search services, however there are some services of Jetpac that go well with Google’s primacies. Firstly, it works on an automatic technology to extract information from different publicly accessible photos on Instagram. Jetpac also worked on a technology called ‘neural network’, to analyze the photos, which is a system of programs that can be automated to examine the photographs for different elements like facial hair, makeup or accessories to outline the atmosphere of a bar or restaurant. Jetpac also sneaks through Facebook photos and uses an algorithm to find out the place where your friends enjoyed the most during their vacations. Secondly, as many as 6000 city guide results of Jetpac are intended to provide personalized geographic details and this kind of technology blends well with the services like Google+, Google Maps and Google Now.

The skilled team at Jetpac has years of experience in deep learning, an area in which Google has spent a lot of time. The procurement would surely provide the tech giant with a lot of talented employees and creative ideas to improve expertise in image-recognition. Also, now you can expect a better merger of the real world into web search results.

 

Google Pigeon Update

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On August 18, 2014

In SEO Marketing

August 18, 2014

Google has recently released a new update to its algorithm which mainly targets local businesses on Google Maps & Google Search listings. Although Google has not specified the exact name of the changed algorithm, it has been unofficially called as ‘Pigeon Update.’

Silent Points About Google Pigeon Update:

  • While the Pigeon Update works in the backend and affects how local businesses are listed on Google Maps and Google Search listings, there would be no effect on the front end display or arrangement of listings.
  • The update is intended to simply refine the search results and show more relevant results for local search queries higher in search results.
  • The update will make extensive use of the Google’s organic search ranking signals and search features like knowledge graph, spelling correction and synonyms. The new update will also improve Google Local Listing’s location and distance based ranking parameters.
  • Currently, the new algorithm only affects the US English based search results. There is no information on when the new update will affect business listings in other locations and languages.
  • It is unlikely that Google rankings of E-commerce stores without physical locations would be affected.

How to Benefit from the Update?

Although Google has not revealed the details about how its algorithm work but based on the information present, you can actually plan and benefit from Google Pigeon update. Here are few important tips:

  • Check Your Listings: Optimize your Google Plus business page. Your listing should have clear information about your business establishment along with its proper address, phone numbers, fax numbers etc.
  • Customer Reviews: Ask your customers to give feedback or reviews about your products or services on your business’s Google Plus business page.
  • Get Listed In All Major Local Business Directories: If you are not already listed on major local business directories, it is important to get your business listed in top local business portals like Yelp, YellowPages, CitySearch etc.
  • Local Citations: If possible, local citations should be generated through usage of local media portals, classifieds and business directories.
  • Maintain An Active Website: It is important to maintain an active website that is regularly updated and have various local/ social elements in it.

For more information on Tips to Optimize Your Business for search engines, call us at – (855) 375-9654

Sony RX 100 Mark 3 Review

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On August 12, 2014

In Tech Buzz

August 12, 2014
Sony has once again dazzled the world of digital photography, by unveiling third generation of its RX-100 compact camera – RX 100 Mark III.The success of the original RX 100 camera was primarily because of its “easy to fit in pocket” camera body and SLR like functionality. But the third generation RX-100 Mark III camera just set the bar higher, by introducing Electronic ViewFinder (EVF), improved lens, extended sensitivity range and dozens of enhancements that have made this camera just incredible. At a price of $800, enthusiasts who are willing to pay more for a faster lens wouldn’t be disappointed with its superior image and video quality.

What’s In
One of the major highlights of RX 100 Mark III is that Sony has managed to fit an electronic viewfinder in the full metal body of RX100 III even though it is only 2.5mm thicker & 9g heavier than its predecessors. When not in use, the EVF tucks away neatly and pops up by pushing a little button on the side. Its OLED display is bright & colorful, with a decent 1440k-dot resolution. The EVF is 0.38 inches in size, while most cameras use 0.2 inches EVF. To take selfies, the 3 inches LCD can be flipped to 180 degrees, which makes it easy to take pictures at awkward angles. Another major change in the camera is in the lens. Mark III features a Carl Zeiss VarioSonnar T* optic f1.8-2.8, 24-70mm zoom lens that lets it capture the picture perfectly. This addition also allows clicking photos in murkier conditions, low light and less than ideal conditions when zoomed all the way in. For people who use DSLR’s, this camera comes as a pleasant surprise as it produces excellent background defocus, displays areas of high contrast as well as a zebra display to indicate areas likely to burn out.

What’s not
RX-100 III does not include touch functionality which may be a disappointment for some, though dedicated controls and dials have been added to enhance the experience. It does not feature flash hot shoe/ accessory shoe which has been circumvented with the addition of EVF.

Performance
The camera is equipped with Sony’s latest Bionz X processing engine, that has enabled sensitivity in the range up to ISO 25,600, with enhanced features like lock-on tracking, auto focus and adjustable autofocus area size. It helps produce clean images with improved noise reduction. Its 20.2 million pixel count and Exmor CMOS sensor have remained unchanged that produce outstanding results. The camera focuses very quickly and it takes a second or two to turn on.

While some might complain about its flip-up LCD screen, its improved lens and capabilities do make up for it. Even with addition of features like EVF, the camera is small enough to be carried around in pocket. The camera offers necessary buttons, dedicated mode dial, video record button, a scroll wheel and integrated Wi-Fi mode. Wi-Fi feature helps transmit images to devices like smartphones and laptops. To use Wi-Fi, you need to download Sony PlayMemories App for android or iOS that lets you remotely trigger the camera or send photos to smartphones for sharing.  With up to 320 shots per charge, the battery life of RX-100 III is quite impressive for a camera this compact.

Conclusion
RX100 III is an appealing camera and is one of the best in its class. Its excellent image quality and performance combined with its optical zoom lens make it the best compact camera in the market. This camera allows for amazing picture experience with high aperture lens and a big sensor, and wouldn’t disappoint those looking to buy it. It might be an expensive buy but the extended features and functionality it has will most likely beat other cameras in the same class.

Facebook’s Revenue & User Base Increases in Q2

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On July 31, 2014

In Tech Buzz

July 31, 2014

Facebook, the popular social networking platform, has just announced an over $2.91Billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2014. Facebook has shown an impressive performance and its sky rocketing growth is showing no signs of slowing down. Facebook’s second quarter has shown successful growth, after a momentary dip in its first quarter, and its revenue is at an astronomical gain of 61% over the same period last year. Facebook has also beaten Wall Street’s estimates of $2.81 Billion in revenue and a huge increase in the amount of user data has been observed which Facebook can store and analyze. Facebook’s user base has continued to grow, with monthly active users having risen to 1.32 Billion out of which 1.07 Billion are mobile users. The number of daily active users currently is 829 million while 654 million users are daily using Facebook on mobile.

The company’s emphasis on mobile presence has been gaining momentum in the recent years and mobile advertizing sales have accounted for 62% of its revenue. Facebook has been cashing on the fact that it has good advertizing solutions and a huge customer base. With the addition of video advertizing and improvement in quality of promotions targeted for phones and tablets, Facebook has managed to increase profits due to the increasing number of mobile users. The average price per ad has increased by 123% which goes to show the massive user base of Facebook. Due to huge traffic to the website, the advertizers get higher returns on their investment which enables them to pay more money for future advertizements and thus increase Facebook’s revenue.

Facebook is growing its share in the global mobile advertizing market, which is expected to be up by almost 85% this year. To get a greater slicing of the advertizing budgets, the company also plans to take on TV by buying a video technology company. Facebook Audience Network was also launched to profit from advertizements on other companies’ apps by using the Facebook user data to improve their targeting. Facebook has allowed advertizers to use their user data and the company is in the process of acquiring LiveRail, a startup, to serve video ads on third parties publisher’s sites. Facebook’s mobile and video networks allow for a greater generation of revenue and Facebook can probably extend its third party ad network, much like the Google and Yahoo.

Google Buys Songza

By

On July 20, 2014

In Tech Buzz

July 21, 2014

Google has officially announced its acquisition of the music streaming service, Songza, for an estimated $39 million to take on giant players like Pandora Media Inc, Spotify and Apple, and to compete in the world of digital music streaming.

Streaming music business is heating up after Apple reportedly bought Beats for $3 billion that creates expert-curated playlists. It was touted that Apple would be soon the fastest growing segment in online streaming market and now, Google’s buyout of Songza, can be a major concern for Apple Inc. and further heighten the rivalry between them. The online streaming business is going to face a stiff competition where iTunes, iHeart Radio and Spotify are already competing for market leadership. Pandora’s dominance over streaming services is likely to take a major beating with this merger as well.

Songza, a 4 year old music intelligence firm, uses contextual curation to build playlists and recommendations to give the right music at the right time to the user and adapts to a user’s musical preferences. The app generates playlists to match the user’s mood at particular times of day and with activities like waking up, working out, commuting, entertaining or unwinding. Such clever data mining is invaluable for Google.

Google’s interest in Songza intensified after it embraced the fact that it had failed to adapt to the streaming business and similar services started gaining pace with other companies. Songza’s playlist creation services are free along with advertizing, which will provide Google with a free music service and the fact that it doesn’t have to invest in creating such a technology altogether will give it an edge. Songza’s 5.5 million user base isn’t that impressive as compared to Pandora that has around 76 million active users, but as of now Google wants to focus more on the product’s features. Owing to its brand appeal, Songza is expected to get enormous potential audience in the meantime.

Songza’s representatives are delighted with this merger and are confident about its future. Songza’s employees will join Google and work from their base in NY. For the time being Songza is likely to remain an independent app and no immediate changes will be made while the company’s technology will be incorporated into Google Play Music, YouTube and other products. However, a few changes like speedy and smarter searching to enhance user experience will be made.

This move by Google is strategic and aims to hold the reins of streaming music business. With high aspirations from Songza, Google hopes to re-invent the music business again.

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