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Google Top Charts show world's searches for whiskey, more

Google's top dog for last month was, once again, the pitbull. Having taken the title for most-searched breed away from the bulldog in January, the pit has stayed in the top spot for the past four months, but the German Shepherd is looking to make a move after overtaking the Siberian Husky to advance to the No. 4 position.

At least, this is what I was able to learn from my first five minutes using the just-launched Top Charts feature of Google Trends. An expansion of Google's annual Zeitgeist report of most-searched topics, Top Charts has monthly search data and rankings for dozens of categories from actors (Selena Gomez took No. 1 for April) to businesspeople (Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are both gaining on Oprah) and even whiskeys (Jack Daniel's dominates).… Read more

How to enable the new Hangouts in Gmail

Google released Hangouts last week as a standalone app for iOS, Android, and the desktop via a Chrome extension. In addition to the apps, you can also use Hangouts from within Gmail, just like the old Google Talk.

To enable Hangouts in Gmail, click on your profile photo from the Google Talk chat list, then select Try the new Hangouts. Hangouts will immediately replace Talk, then walk you through a very brief introduction to Hangouts.

Keep in mind that it may not have rolled out to you yet, so if you don't have the Hangouts option in your Gmail … Read more

Google's conversational search arrives with new Chrome

Google is enabling a more naturally spoken question-and-answer interface to its search service for people with a new version of Chrome.

Google demonstrated conversational search at Google I/O a week ago, a style of search designed to be more like natural human speech than the technically constructed search queries that people often use today to retrieve information from a search engine.

It's all part of the gradual arrival of Google's vision to build a Star Trek-style search engine, in which the computer grasps what people want and answers them. Eventually, expect Google to let people initiate a … Read more

Vint Cerf weighs in on Google Glass

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- One of the fathers of the Internet, Vint Cerf has got Glass and he isn't taking it off.

Cerf was attending the Future in Review conference here, where he stood out from the crowd in his signature three-piece suit and Google Glass. He said that he has been a regular Glass wearer for the last two weeks.

"Glass doesn't interfere with my normal vision, and I found it conveniently available," he said. "It's an extension of the mobile phone and less overt -- you don't have to pull out … Read more

Google+ rolls out a redesign for mobile Web similar to desktop

After unveiling an extensive revamp for the Google+ news stream on desktop, Google is now updating what users see when accessing the social network with their cell phones.

The Web giant announced Tuesday that it's working on "improving the look and feel of Google+ on the mobile Web."

The redesign includes making posts now appear as "cards" in the stream, which is supposed to make them easier to read and share. The social network also changed the way Profiles and Pages look to include cover photos and larger tap targets.

This mobile Web redesign mimics … Read more

Review: Chrome 27 is smarter and (5 percent) faster

Chrome is the lightweight flagship browser that originated from an open source project by Google called Chromium and Chromium OS. It is now one of the more widely used browsers thanks to a vast ecosystem of extensions and add-ons, a robust Javascript engine, and a rapid-release development cycle that keeps it on the competitive end of the curve.

Installation

Chrome's installation process is both straight-forward and self-sustaining. After downloading the installer, Chrome's installation process will launch with the standard practices of confirming system directories and a few click throughs. Google will also ask for your permission to anonymously … Read more

Analyst: Google Fiber probably won't go national

Here's some buzzkill news to get your day started (at least for those of us on the West Coast).

Market intelligence firm IHS iSuppli has published a new report suggesting it is unlikely that Google will deploy Fiber on a nationwide level.

The natural first reaction might be annoyance with this, but when you think about the cost, scope and scalability of such an endeavor, these analysts are likely right -- at least for the near-term future.

Certainly, Google Fiber has been on a roll lately. Following up its initial deployment in Kansas City, Google then spread the Gigabit … Read more

Chrome gets a touch faster

Already known for its speed, Google just boosted Chrome's Web site rendering speed by another 5 percent.

The latest stable release of the browser, Chrome 27 (download for Windows, Mac, or Linux), received the small improvement by managing its resources better. To boil down the jargon, the browser's internal resource scheduler now favors more critical resources over preloaded sites.

Chrome engineer James Simonsen wrote in the company's blog announcing the update Tuesday that, across the hundreds of millions of people using Chrome, the amount of time saved equals around 510 years-per-week. But what we're really talking … Read more

How to send money via Gmail

For years PayPal has cornered the market on sending money to friends, family members, and businesses. Last week during the chaos of Google I/O announcements, Google took a first step toward giving PayPal a run for its money by making it possible to send money via Gmail. The feature is set to roll out to all users over the coming weeks, but if you know someone who currently has it, that person can send you money (a penny works) and after you've claimed the funds the new feature will be enabled on your account as well.

The service, … Read more