As soon as Google Maps Street View was rolled out in Lithuania earlier this year, tax authorities were ready. Sitting in the comfort of their own offices, inspectors used the free Internet program for a virtual cruise around the streets of some of the Baltic country’s big cities, uncovering dozens…
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Google staff apparently had a lot of time on their hands recently as the search engine launched not just one April Fools‘ joke — you did remember today was April 1, right? — but sprung more than half a dozen on unwary searchers.
From treasure maps and bringing fiber to the pole to shutting down YouTube and SCHMICK — an extreme home makeover on Google Maps’ Street View — the search engine king launched a bevy of belly laughs.
Being led around by the nose
One jape in particular I caught the scent of was a new beta option called Nose that offered the potential to bring scratch-n-sniff technology to the Internet. It promised that by typing in keywords like “lemon” or “new car smell” you’d get taken to a special page where you could get a whiff of citrus or your car’s interior when you first bought it, though some aromas like “wet dog” might have you turning your nose up at the option. As Google put it, “smelling is believing.”
Leveraging a database of more than 15 million “scentibytes,” the search engine declared the search for smell was now as easy as clicking your mouse. Just like its Street View cars, Google’s Street Sense mobile aroma indexing vehicles inhaled and cataloged millions of atmospheric miles.
The notion smelled good to me. Unfortunately, it was an April Fools‘ joke. It really stinks that despite decades of research, smell-o-vision isn’t yet a reality.
Others jokes among the plethora of pranks Google pulled include adding emoticons to photos, Google Analytics reporting 41visits (4/1, or April 1) to websites from the International Space Station, Gmail Blue, and the Levity Algorithm.
Use the comments section below to let your fellow Fools know which Google jokes had you going on this most Foolish day of the year.
The article Google Has a “Nose” for Good April Fools’ Pranks originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Rich Duprey owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Google. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Search giant Google has agreed to pay $7 million in order to settle claims related to its Google Maps Street View service.
The lawsuit involved 38 different states as well as the District of Columbia and centered on Google collecting data from Wi-Fi networks with its Street View cars between 2008 and 2010. According to a press release today from the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, Google said it was unaware of the data collection, but acknowledged that some information was gathered.
The company has removed the equipment and software from its Street View cars in order to address the privacy concerns, and said it would not collect any more data without consumer notice and consent, the AG said. Google intends to destroy the information that it collected, and said the data was not used for any commercial purpose.
According to the Massachusetts attorney general, the improperly gathered information may have included URLs of requested Web pages, partial or complete email communications, and confidential or private information being transmitted to or from the network user while the Street View cars were driving down streets.
As part of the agreement, Google will also conduct — for at least a decade — a training program for employees about privacy and confidentiality alongside an advertising campaign intended to increase public awareness of privacy issues.
The states involved were: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, and the District of Columbia.
The article Google Agrees to Pay $7 Million to Settle Street View Wi-Fi Case originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Google. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Happy Valentine’s Day, eShoppers! To celebrate, grab some virtual dollars and have a look at the latest additions to the 3DS and Wii U eShop. As always, each Thursday we’ll be bringing you a list of what’s available (retail and original software, DLC, demos and more), complete with prices and descriptions (care of Nintendo’s official site). For more information, jump over to your 3DS or Wii U!
•Wii Street U (Free)
“With Wii Street U, powered by Google, you can step into Google Street View with an immersive experience that will make you feel like you’re actually there! View a 360 degree Google Maps Street View of locations all over the world using the Wii U GamePad controller’s motion controls. Jumping to a location is easy – just use the GamePad touch screen to type in an address or location and start exploring, or instantly travel to over 70 fascinating, hand-picked locations around the globe.”
If you were hoping to check out your house using Google Maps on the Wii U GamePad, you’re going to have to wait a little longer. According to Engadget, Nintendo has pushed back both Google Maps Street View and TiVo functionality until after January. Nintendo also faced setbacks in getting its living room consolidation service, TVii, to launch on time.
But while Nintendo did open up TVii in December, TiVo support was delayed until January 2013. Obviously, the month is about over, and you’re not using that DVR with a GamePad quite yet. Nintendo is now planning for an “early 2013” release date for TiVo functionality; sort of vague.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Tech