Tag Archives: Google Web

Review: CloudMagic's personalized Web search service grows up

CloudMagic is growing up. This super-speedy search service debuted a few years ago and over time has evolved to offer some very useful features, including Facebook and Twitter search. Now, though, CloudMagic is making some of its biggest changes yet, including the ability to integrate your personal search results with Google’s global Web results. And the company is no longer offering unlimited searches for free, a move that may alienate some users. However, 50 free searches a month will suffice for many; the unlimited searches of the Pro subscription costs $5 a month.

CloudMagic’s core search tools work the same as always: you sign up for an account, and link the services you’d like it to search. It supports a huge range of services, including AOL, Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Gmail, Google Apps, Google Talk, GMX, Hotmail, iCloud, Mail.com, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Microsoft Office 365, MSN, Outlook.com, SkyDrive, Twitter, Windows Live, and Yahoo.

Once access has been granted, CloudMagic then begins indexing your accounts, which can take some time if your accounts are sizable. It took several hours to index a Gmail account containing thousands of messages, but only a few minutes to index a newer Twitter account. You can begin searching right away, but waiting until the indexing process is complete will deliver more accurate results.

CloudMagic displays your own personal results in an unobtrusive box that appears alongside Google’s Web results.

The service is still available as it has been in the past, as a browser extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, an add-on for Internet Explorer, and a mobile app for the iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.  The browser extensions and add-ons appear as simple search box on any relevant Web pages; if you surf to a page that doesn’t support CloudMagic, you don’t see the box. You can move the search box around the page if it’s in your way, and you can minimize it to a corner, too.

You enter your keywords in the search box, and CloudMagic goes to work, instantly (and I do mean instantly) displaying results as you type. The results appear in a column that appears below the CloudMagic search box as soon as you begin typing. Results are organized by source; if you enter a search string while on your Gmail page, you’ll see results from there, but you also can scroll down to see results from your other accounts, like Facebook and Twitter. In CloudMagic’s latest iteration, the results are as accurate as speedy as they have always been.

What’s new about CloudMagic is how you can access its search results. It  is no longer limited to displaying results in its own search box. CloudMagic now lets you see your personal CloudMagic results when conducting Google searches. This feature, which is available using Chrome, Firefox, and Safari with the browser extension installed (except Internet Explorer) works whenever you enter a search query in Google. CloudMagic displays …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Google announces $1299 touchscreen Chromebook Pixel

Would you pay $1299 for a laptop that only runs Web apps but has a high-quality, trouchscreen display? Google sure hopes so. On Thursday the company announced the Chromebook Pixel, a pricey slab of hardware that runs Google’s Web-centric Chrome OS, but defies conventional Chromebook wisdom.

This compact laptop features a 12.85-inch, 2560-by-1700 touchscreen display, a 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor, an Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics chipset, 4GB of memory, and 32GB of solid-state storage—all in a 3.35-pound package that’s about 0.64 inches thick.

The Pixel also comes clad in anodized aluminum and has a back-lit keyboard and 720p webcam. All in all, it looks to be a premium piece of hardware that bears very little resemblance to Chromebook devices, which emphasize low, low pricing and bargain-basement components.

Take the new Pixel’s display. Its screen resolution equates to roughly 239 pixels per inch, which is slightly greater than the 227 pixels per inch on the 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display. The Pixel also comes with 1TB of free cloud storage via Google Drive for three years.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld