Tag Archives: search engines
Android users in Europe will get to pick their default search provider
Following an antitrust ruling by the European Union, Google is explaining its plans to offer a choice of search providers to Android users. From next year, a new choice screen will be displayed on all Android devices shipped in Europe. This will, eve...
Google adds DuckDuckGo as a search engine option in Chrome
Hidden in the most recent version of Chrome is the ability to change its default search engine to a more privacy-friendly option. With the release of Chrome 73, Google has quietly introduced DuckDuckGo as a preferred search option in more than 60 mar...
Kiss and Search: The Evolution of Search Engines to Ones That Can Flirt in 2029?
The World Wide Web is a larger domain than you can imagine. It’s a wealth of information, right at your fingertips - that is, if you know where to look. It didn’t take too long for people to realize that the quantity of data out there was so large as to be unmanageable without some method of working through it in an organized fashion. Thus, search engines came to be.
Aside from a few tweaks here and there, search engines remained as they were, with a couple of exceptions (remember MC Hammer and WireDoo? It eventually went bust after less than a year online, so it looks like something can touch this – if you get what I mean.)
Eventually, specialized ones began cropping up, such as search engines that helped people find jobs that matched their qualifications. Others include shopping-centric tech tools, like NextTruck, which uses strict but inclusive search functions for finding the right car for your budget, and directory search tools that can help you find old classmates and long-lost acquaintances.
But the evolution of search engines doesn’t end there. Researcher Ray Kurzweil spoke at New York’s Exponential Finance conference recently where he claims that people will be having a deeper relationship with search engines by 2029. It sounds like something straight from a movie - and it is, as that’s basically the plot behind Her which was headlined by Joaquin Phoenix.
While future search engines might not have Scarlett Johansson’s sultry voice, it might have her bubbly personality and intelligence. Considering the fact that most people spend most of their time on their computers, it’s not hard to imagine a relationship developing eventually. If you’ve watcher Her, then you know how the story goes (or will probably go.)
Kurzeil explains: “Computers will be at human levels, such that you can have an emotional relationship with them, 15 years from now.” His comments came after a chatbox, masquerading as Eugene Goostman, passed the Turing Test, which was developed to test where a machine exhibits human intelligence or not.
What do you think?
[via Debrief]
Google Knowledge Graph explains related content, finds the six degrees with less Bacon
We had a bit of a laugh with Google's Kevin Bacon calculator. Not everyone needs to tie their searches to the star of Footloose, though, which is partly why Google is pushing out an update to its Knowledge Graph that explains how searches turn up related items. The effort is starting with actors, celebrities and their links to any movies and TV shows they've starred in. Looking for Orson Welles and mousing over Rita Hayworth's portrait reminds us that the two luminaries were married for years, for example. We won't know when the more intelligent searches will expand, but at least we won't be quite so confused if the animated Transformers movie appears next to Citizen Kane.
Filed under: Internet
Google Knowledge Graph explains related content, finds the six degrees with less Bacon originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Oct 2012 01:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Inside Search | Email this | Comments Google offers historical exhibitions, wields its search powers to tell untold stories (video)
Google has been taking advantage of its sheer domination of search to act as a custodian for human culture, whether it's famous artwork or wonders of the world. The most direct example of this archival impulse may have arrived today through the launch of historical exhibitions at the (virtual-only) Google Cultural Institute. Starting with 42 exhibitions, the project delves into major historical events with both a guided, mixed-media tour as well as the kind of free-form exploration you'd expect from Google, such as hunting down a specific person, place or time range. The focus helps Google tell both textbook-level history as well as private stories. Though small at present, the collection is taking further submissions that could lead to a much broader internet resource for learning -- an expansion that we can't help but embrace.
Filed under: Internet, Alt, Google
Google offers historical exhibitions, wields its search powers to tell untold stories (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 01:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkGoogle Official Blog | Google Cultural Institute | Email this | Comments Apple’s app search engine goes dark, Chomp joins Ping in obsolescence
Ping wasn't the only Apple service to go offline at the tail end of September. Chomp, an app search engine purchased by Cook and Co. earlier this year, also closed up shop. In the spring, the service discontinued support for Android apps, and now its entire website and iOS application have been shuttered. Folks who still have the app installed are greeted with the bad news upon launching it: "Chomp has been discontinued as of September 30. Thanks for being a loyal user." If you're mourning the loss, we hear Yahoo would be delighted to make your acquaintance.
Filed under: Software
Apple's app search engine goes dark, Chomp joins Ping in obsolescence originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkCNET | AllThingsD | Email this | Comments Yahoo starts selling half of its Alibaba stake as promised, sends $3.65 billion to giddy shareholders
Anyone who's been holding on to Yahoo shares through thick and thin is about to reap the rewards of that patience. As the company promised, it's starting to sell back half its stake in Alibaba, closing the first stage of the deal with the equivalent of $7.6 billion in pure revenue. The struggling search and content firm 'only' pockets a net $4.3 billion after taxes and other overhead costs, but it won't even see that much in its bank account: it's purposefully sending $3.65 billion of that money to shareholders, both to inspire new confidence and (unofficially) to head off activist investors like Dan Loeb that might otherwise want a coup d'état. If share owners plan on using the second stage of the sale to fund a vacation to Maui, though, they'll need to wait. Yahoo's deal prevents it from selling half of its remaining 23 percent stake unless Alibaba files for an initial public offering, and there's no guarantee that investors will see another dime of the proceeds.
Filed under: Internet
Yahoo starts selling half of its Alibaba stake as promised, sends $3.65 billion to giddy shareholders originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |The Huffington Post | Email this | Comments EU competition head gives Google a ‘matter of weeks’ to offer an antitrust fix
The European Union has been taking a leisurely pace investigating Google over possible antitrust abuses, but it's now accelerating to a full-on sprint. European Commission competition head Joaquin Almunia has given Google just a "matter of weeks" to propose how it would patch things up and soften fears that it was unfairly pushing its own web services over others. If Google makes the Commission happy, Almunia says, the whole investigation might wrap up and avoid fines. Google hasn't responded yet, but we wouldn't guarantee that it makes a deal: its execs have usually argued that there's nothing keeping users from going to another search site, and the company has been eager to emphasize that competition still exists. That said, Google only has to see what happened to Microsoft to know how expensive an EU antitrust fight can be.
EU competition head gives Google a 'matter of weeks' to offer an antitrust fix originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 09:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkReuters | European Commission | Email this | Comments Bing gets big remake with Snapshot, social sidebar, dig at Google (video)
Microsoft's determination to ratchet up the search engine wars just got clearer with a major rethink of Bing that includes a few potshots at Google. While the search results themselves are still prominent, there's now a Snapshot area in the middle that aggregates the common tasks linked to your search, such as booking a hotel room. Bing hasn't avoided the siren's call of putting social networking into search results, putting in both search hits as well as the option of asking friends, but has tucked the results into a social sidebar at the far right. Not surprisingly, Microsoft has already declared it a far better alternative to Google+ in-line results, which it sees "cluttering your results with social updates." You'll currently have to use a desktop web browser to see all the new Bingness, although Microsoft is promising a mobile-friendly update within weeks.
Continue reading Bing gets big remake with Snapshot, social sidebar, dig at Google (video)
Bing gets big remake with Snapshot, social sidebar, dig at Google (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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