Other than Google Glass, the standout launch at Google’s I/O conference has been a major update of Maps, with much of the new functionality drawing on Google’s increasing social intelligence.

The overhauled user experience eliminates the white space on the Maps page, putting more information onto the maps themselves. It brings in ratings and reviews and makes Google Earth available in the browser. It also displays thumbnails of user photos of common landmarks beneath the map, when available.

Google draws the local ratings and social context for Maps from Google+.

When Bernhard Seefeld demonstrated the new maps during the conference keynote presentation, he didn’t mention Google+, but the so-called “social spine” of Google’s services powers many of its new features.

“They were definitely adding social context in quite a few places, but they weren’t making a big deal about it, which means it’s

Certain brands are now sharing discounts and deals with the people in their circles on Google+, Google announced today.  The deals can be redeemed online with a code or in-store using the Google Offers mobile app.

The first companies to test out the offer feature are +ZAGAT , +Hello Kitty , +Art.com ,+NOOK , and +Adafruit Industries, all of which have posted percentage discounts and free-gift-with-purchase deals on their pages.

Here’s a quick run-down of what happens when you click on a deal:

Clicking on the offer will automatically send an email to your associated Gmail account, although this address will not be shared with the merchant.

In-store deals will require you to download the Google Offers app for Android and iOS, which can be found on Google Play or on the iTunes

Happy Friday, SocialTimes readers! Google has been all up in our faces this week with the new Google glasses, which have replaced the pager belt clip as the fashion statement of The Future. They look pretty cool (charcoal, right?), but before we get too carried away with our wardrobe planning, let’s take a look at some of this week’s viral videos. If you squint, you can see other ways the internet is creeping into our daily lives: into our bedrooms, our bathrooms, and even classic works of literature.

A Facebook Update In Real Life, by ExtremelyDecentFilms

Published on May 11, 2013
3,603,137 views, 39,598 likes, 1,035 dislikes

Friends of friends show up in your bedroom unannounced and advertisements line your living room walls in a dystopian world where Facebook can change the privacy settings in your home without telling you. Sound familiar?

“Burnout Challenge – HiitLean #11,” by charliejames1975

Published on

The Great Catsby is an internet phenomenon that started with a symphony of cat-shopped covers of Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece and emerged as naturally as cats and musicals often do – with lots of singing. The final cat-daptation deserves some serious accolades. Cats, music, and great literature – how can you go wrong?

 

Photoshop is the queen of memes, but internet artists really impressed me with some original renderings…

 

until the Trailer Cats provided us with a tease hinting at what could be. This was naturally followed by more variations and manipulations of the current musical

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Google Glass Gets Social With Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and Other Apps (SocialTimes)
Soon you’ll be able to look your friends in the eye (sort of) when you log into your favorite social network with Google Glass. Google announced at the I/O conference in San Francisco that the futuristic eyewear, dubbed Glassware, will come with applications for Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Evernote, as well as publications like CNN and Elle. The New York Times/Bits Blog They join Path and The New York Times as the only apps so far available on Glass. The glasses also offer Google services like search and maps, connect to users’ cellphones for text messaging, take photos and record video. AllFacebook The Facebook app will allow Google Glass owners to

Lead industrial designer Isabelle Olsson has been working on Glass since the prototype was a phone attached to a scuba mask, she told an audience of developers at Google’s I/O conference today.

She modeled a slightly more advanced prototype for the audience.

Olsson said after walking initially into a room full of “people wearing these crazy things on their faces,” she defined her task in terms of three goals: lightness, simplicity and scalability.

“We removed everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary,” she said. Educated in Sweden, Olsson acknowledges Scandinavian minimalism as a design influence.

Weight is a crucial factor for the wearable computer, because if it wasn’t light people wouldn’t wear it for more than 10 minutes at a time, she said. It was also important to have the weight balanced symmetrically. The result is a product that weighs less on the user’s nose

The Congressional Privacy Caucus has asked Google for more information on the privacy policies it will include with its newest interface, Glass.

The bipartisan committee, led by Joe Barton (R-Tex.), presented Google with a series of questions related to how the privacy of non-users will be protected with Glass. Glass has the potential, though it’s not currently active, to take photographs when the user winks, for example. As image recognition technology becomes more sophisticated, those captured in images may be linked to online profiles or other sources of information about them.

Yesterday, in its roll-out of automatic image-enhancing technology, Google said that it could tell which photos in an uploaded set included family members, suggesting that it can identify people who appear in a photograph.

Glass doesn’t include any new features per se, but because its users wear the eyeglass-shaped interface constantly,

Pinterest is making the solitary act of sticking images on a virtual inspiration board a little more social with the release of a new feature for sending images to friends.

Now if you see something on Pinterest that you know that one of your friends will like, you can tap the “send” button to share it.

You can send the pins to other Pinterest users, Facebook friends, or email contacts with a personal note. They’ll be able to see them in their Pinterest notifications or in their email inboxes, the company said. If they reply or like the pins, you’ll get a notification as well.

Previously, you could only send a pin to someone via email. The new feature works for both mobile and desktop versions of Pinterest and will gradually roll out to all users starting today.

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]]> Thu, 16 May 2013 11:39:00 GMT http://www.theinternetvision.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=141040:New%20Pinterest%20Feature:%20Send%20Pins%20to%20Friends&catid=10:social-media-news&Itemid=39 http://www.theinternetvision.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=141029:Google%20Glass%20Gets%20Social%20With%20Tumblr,%20Twitter,%20Facebook%20and%20Other%20Apps&catid=10:social-media-news&Itemid=39 SocialTimes >> 

Soon you’ll be able to look your friends in the eye (sort of) when you log into your favorite social network with Google Glass.

Google has just announced at the I/O conference in San Francisco that the futuristic eyewear will come with applications for Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Evernote as well as publications like CNN and Elle.

The first social network to appear on Glass was Path; the first news organization was The New York Times. The company is fittingly referring to the apps as “Glassware.”

Twitter has already announced the feature on its blog. Already on the microblogging site, Glass testers are tweeting photos that have automatically been marked with the hashtag, #throughglass.

Elle is promising a curated selection of photos, videos, and read-aloud excerpts from the ELLEDispatch blog, as well as fashion LookBooks and horoscopes that readers can organize into reading lists and wish

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