On May 10th, Google officially released an updated version of Google Desktop while also introducing several new products. According to the developer, these new products are designed to enhance the quality of information collected from the web.
The new products include Google Notebook, Google Trends, and Google Co-op. The search engine has been upgraded to Google Desktop version 4.
Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience at Google, stated that Google Desktop 4 allows users to utilize interactive “mini” applications directly from the application’s Sidebar without the need to download or open them from a web browser.
During the product launch, Mayer demonstrated this feature by dragging the icon of a music file and dropping it onto the icon of a music player application in the Sidebar, which then automatically launched the application.
Google Desktop 4 is also integrated with other Google products, allowing users to use the Sidebar to easily view detailed information about a friend’s birthday through Orkut or check details about a scheduled event in Google Calendar. Desktop 4 also automatically syncs with other computers to capture any changes.
Google Desktop 4 can also be configured to automatically generate a customized homepage. “The application identifies me as someone who enjoys watching videos, loves to travel, and frequently uses eBay, so the customized page will reflect that information,” Mayer said.
Google Notebook is designed to allow users to annotate a link on the search results page and store information about that search result in a virtual notebook that appears in a pop-up window.
Users can also collect text and images from websites and save them in Google Notebook, open a full-screen Notebook window, drag-and-drop to organize items in the Notebook, and remember others’ email addresses. Google Notebook requires users to install an additional plug-in and have a Google account.
Google Trends charts the number of searches conducted on Google’s search engine. “If you are in the advertising industry and want to understand trends across different geographical territories, Google Trends will provide you with a wealth of useful information,” said Jonathan Rosenberg, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Google.
Google Co-op will be launched next week as a social search service aimed at experts in naming or tagging websites—information that Google typically collects during its searches. For example, experts can submit a specific website from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to Google and request to tag that website with the label “malaria.” Thus, whenever a user searches with the term “malaria,” that website will appear in Google’s search results.
Hoàng Dũng
