Hasta La Gadget!

Twitter had been hinting at a big search update today, and that’s just what it delivered. Instead of the (quite frankly clunky) search results page, a search box at top now provides autocompleting search results that split into keywords and people. The system is smart enough to check for spelling gaffes and related searches, and results can drill down just to followed users rather than the entire social network. Autocompleting has been a mainstay of the Android and iOS apps for some time, but we’re glad to hear that web users can now track down their favorite recently graduated teen pop stars faster than ever.

Twitter brings search autocomplete to the web, helps find Biebs tweets in record time originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 15:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It seems that the folks over at Twitter are prepping up something for its millions of active users. In a tweet today, engineering manager Pankaj Gupta, who currently leads the personalization and recommender systems group over at Twitter, hinted that the “search and discovery on Twitter is set to change forever after tomorrow.” We’re not really sure what he meant but it’s obvious that he was pointing to the search and discovery functionality of the popular microblogging platform.

Meanwhile, Business Insider previously said that Twitter could be pursuing the same direction that the popular aggregation app Flipboard is taking. “When Flipboard CEO Mike McCue resigned from Twitter’s board yesterday, it gave the rest of us a pretty clear idea about where Twitter wants to take its product. McCue stepped down because Flipboard and Twitter are becoming more alike – more competitive,” the publication said. In March this year, Twitter celebrated its 6th-year anniversary and the social networking/ microblogging giant revealed that it now has over 140 million active users, with over 340 million Tweets a day – more than 1 billion every 3 days.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Twitter used to locate lost dog that took a train ride to Dublin, Twitter for Windows Phone offers notification support,

In a move to boost its membership in Asia, Facebook has reportedly invested in a new underwater cable project that will reportedly stretch up to 10,000 kilometers or 6,214 miles. The said project, called Asia Pacific Gateway (APG), hopes to improve the Internet speeds for the majority of the people in the continent by using fiber-optic cable to send and receive data to North America faster. The new cable system will reportedly run directly from Malaysia to South Korea and Japan, with other links to other countries as well.

“Our investment in this cable will help support our growth in South Asia, making it possible for us to provide a better user experience for a greater number of Facebook users in countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore,” a Facebook spokesman said. However, the spokesman declined to divulge the exact amount of money that the social networking giant has invested in the project. “India and the Philippines are both really heavy users of Facebook, and connectivity is patchy in and out of the countries,” one analyst told BBC.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Facebook Want button pictured, Facebook says bug is responsible for e-mail address snafu,

If you thought Google Street View was only good enough for finding out what a place looks like from the comfort of your own home, think again. It looks like Google’s panoramic imaging service can also be used to convict people of their crimes.

A biker was cycling through the neighborhood when he was chased by the man’s dog and fell and hit his forehead. He decided to bring the case to court and sued the owner of the dog, a man named Lee. However, Lee denied owning the dog and causing injury through negligence. The biker then resorted to using a Google Street View image of the neighborhood, which showed the dog in Lee’s yard, making Lee the owner of the dog.

The judge accepted the Street View image as evidence and fined Lee 59,000 Taiwan dollars ($2,000). I wonder if the fine would have been different if he admitted to owning the dog in the first place…a pretty interesting way to make use of Google Street View don’t you think?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google sued over Street View photo, Catlin Seaview Survey brings Google Street View underwater,

In a move to commemorate America’s independence today, Google is launching a special doodle. The latest Google doodle, as you can see above, celebrates the Fourth of July with the words “This Land Was Made For You And Me”. And to spice up the tribute, you can also hear Woody Guthrie’s classic folk song “This Land Is Your Land” serenading in the background.

But it appears that Google is also campaigning for a different kind of freedom – an open and free Internet that is. Below the doodle, you will find the “Celebrate freedom: Support a free and open Internet” caption that has a hyperlink leading to a video campaigning for Internet freedom. The same video is posted by Google via its official blog.

And the message is pretty clear, political, and powerful. “The Internet is a powerful platform that makes it easier for people to speak, to assemble, and to be heard. This is true no matter where freedom is taking root. Today we’re sharing a video we made to celebrate our freedom and the tools that support it. Please take a moment to watch it, share it with your friends, and add your voice,” Google said. You can check out the video here.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Now ported to Android 4.0 with AOSP support, Google Video content moving to YouTube,