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Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Instant Previews

November 10, 2010 at 12:54 AM

You don't need to use your mouse to enable Google's visual previews for search results. Just press the right arrow key to show a small screenshot for the currently selected search result. You can navigate using the up/down arrow keys to highlight a different result and use the left arrow key to hide the previews.

Google Instant Previews can't be disabled from the settings page and, despite having a similar name, it's not related to Google Instant. Even if you disable Google Instant, you'll still see the magnifying glasses next to the search results.

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Google Promotes Data Portability by Adding Restrictions to the Contacts API

November 9, 2010 at 11:53 PM

Google found a strange way to show to the world that Facebook is a walled garden that traps your data: by blocking Facebook's access to the Google Contacts API. A Google spokesperson said that "users often aren't aware that once they have imported their contacts into sites like Facebook they are effectively trapped. We hope that reciprocity will be an important step towards creating a world of true data liberation—and that this move will encourage other websites to allow users to automate the export of their contacts as well."

Facebook users can still export their Gmail contacts and manually upload the file to Facebook, but Google Contacts API made this much easier. Facebook even found a direct URL that lets you export your contacts, so you don't have to visit Gmail.

Google may have good intentions, but that's a terrible way to treat users. After all, it's their data and it should be their choice to use services like Facebook.

To show that Facebook is not the only target, Google Contacts API includes some new terms of use: "Google supports data portability. By accessing Content through the Contacts Data API or Portable Contacts API for use in your service or application, you are agreeing to enable your users to export their contacts data to other services or applications of their choice in a way that's substantially as fast and easy as exporting such data from Google Contacts, subject to applicable laws."

That's like trying to make the web faster by asking developers that use the Google Analytics tracking code to make their sites as fast as Google Analytics.

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Upload HD Videos to Picasa Web Albums

November 9, 2010 at 11:22 PM

One of the benefits of switching to YouTube's player in Picasa Web Albums was the support for higher quality videos. Now you can even upload HD videos to Picasa Web Albums.

"We're happy to now support uploading high-definition (HD) videos, up to 720p, from Picasa to Picasa Web Albums. Whereas before you could upload, store, and share videos shot in 240 or 360p, now you can do the same for your 480p and 720p (HD) videos too."

Here's an example of HD video uploaded to Picasa Web Albums. It's less than 3 minutes long and it uses almost half of the free storage quota.

Unfortunately, Picasa Web's new feature would be much more useful if you could upload videos from your browser. Right now, you can only upload videos from Picasa.

While YouTube lets you upload videos up to 2 GB, Picasa Web's free storage quota for all your photos and videos is 1 GB. Of course, YouTube lets you upload videos without installing an additional software.

Another issue is that Picasa Web Albums doesn't offer per-file permissions, so you can't share a video without sharing the entire album.

These are just some of the reasons why YouTube is a much better service for sharing videos than Picasa Web Albums.

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Google Instant Previews

November 9, 2010 at 5:04 PM

One of the most popular features available in web search add-ons is showing thumbnails next to search results. Google added this feature last year, but you need to click on "page previews" in the sidebar to enable it.

Google found some clever to make thumbnails more useful and more discoverable. To enable the new instant previews, click on the magnifying glass or on the snippet to see a visual preview of a search result. Google shows a large screenshot of the page and highlights the text that's included in the snippet so you can quickly find it when you visit the page. After enabling previews, you no longer have to click on the magnifying glass: Google shows the screenshots when you mouse over a search result.

Google says that visual previews are actually useful. "In our testing, we've found that people who use Instant Previews are about 5% more likely to be satisfied with the results they click. The previews provide new ways to evaluate search results, making you more likely to find what you're looking for on the pages you visit."

I'm not so sure that a screenshot can help you pick the most relevant search results, but it can be useful if you're looking for pages that include many pictures or videos, long articles or detailed guides.

Google Instant Previews will be rolled out in the coming days, but you can try it using this URL.

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Undocumented Gmail Shortcuts for Composing Messages

November 6, 2010 at 11:41 AM

Gmail's keyboard shortcut for composing new messages is "c", but there are two undocumented shortcuts that let you compose a message, while also adding the CC (carbon copy) and the BCC (blind carbon copy) fields:

* b - compose new message and add both CC and BCC
* d - compose new message and add CC

To use these shortcuts, you first need to enable keyboard shortcuts in Gmail's settings page. Gmail is the only Google service that doesn't enable keyboard shortcuts by default.

{ Thanks, Cougar Abogado. }

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Gmail Tests Call Recording

November 5, 2010 at 11:29 PM

Andrew Banchich spotted a new Gmail feature that lets you record calls. I don't see the call record button in my account, so it's probably an experimental feature that's not yet widely available.

It's similar to the call recording feature from Google Voice. "In order to record your call, simply press 4. You can do it when you first accept a call, or any time after it's started. To stop the recording, press 4 again or hang up. Your recordings are saved online and you can access them just like you do with voicemail." Instead of pressing 4, you click the record button.

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New Gmail Themes

November 5, 2010 at 10:57 PM

There are many Gmail themes to choose from, but few of them are actually usable. Gmail added 5 new themes: Basic Black, Basic White, Tree Tops, Marker and Android.

Even if you're not an Android fan or you don't have an Android phone, you should really try the Android theme. It's simple, stylish and you can still read your messages.

If you're looking for a minimalist theme, Basic White is a good alternative to Minimalist, an already existing theme. It looks a little bit unfinished, but Google says it's the Gmail interface stripped "to the bare bones".