Google Opens App Engine to Everyone

Google said Wednesday that it would open access to its widely desired, and previously limited-release, App Engine service to all.

During a keynote presentation at Google I/O, the very large developer conference held this week by the Internet giant Google (google.com), the company's technical lead Kevin Gibbs announced plans to make the widely-coveted access to the service available to developers everywhere.

"We're announcing," Gibbs reportedly told the assembled crowd, "that Google App Engine is now open to anyone who wants to sign up."

App Engine is a platform for developing applications to be hosted on Google's infrastructure. The service will compete with the likes of Amazon Web Services, which similarly provides a platform for building and hosting web applications.

The service, launched in April, had until now been accessible only to the 10,000 developers who were first to sign up for the service when the testing phase began, and the 65,000 more developers subsequently added to the increasingly long short-list of registered users.

According to a Wednesday post on the Google App Engine blog, the service will now be available to the additional 80,000 users sitting on the waiting list, along with anyone else that signs up.

The trial version of the platform had included 500 MB of storage, and the capacity for about 5 million page views a month. The blog entry also describes a formula for pricing additional capacity, which will be for sale on top of that amount, which will remain the specifications for free entry-level accounts.

Google estimates users will pay between 10 and 12 cents per CPU core hour, between 15 and 18 cents per GB-month of storage, between 11 and 13 cents per GB of outgoing bandwidth and between 9 and 11 cents per incoming GB.

Gibbs, in his presentation Wednesday, estimated that according to the pricing, an additional 5 million page views would cost approximately $40.

According to the blog post, Google also released two new App Engine APIs. The Image Manipulation API will enable developers to apply effects like resizing, flipping and rotating to pictures using the same infrastructure used in the Picasa Web Albums. The Memcache API is a caching layer designed to speed page rendering by reducing datastore queries.

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Searching The Web For News Video

Recent data from comScore Video Metrix shows that consumers viewed 11.5 billion online videos in March of 2008, a whopping 64% gain versus March of 2007. This means that 73.7% of the US Internet population is now watching video online. While videos of pandas sneezing on YouTube make up millions of these monthly video views, consumers are also increasingly turning to the Internet to watch news video. But how are consumers finding the wealth of news video content available on the Web? And are search engines playing a major role? DoubleClick Performics, in partnership with ROI Research, recently conducted the Searching for Video News Study to gain some insight into how consumers are using search to find news, as well as if they're getting what they're looking for.

The most popular video news sources

DoubleClick Performics asked the 500 participants in the survey what Web sites they use when searching for video news. The survey showed CNN.com as the most popular destination to find news video, with 57% of respondents indicating that they go directly to CNN.com to get their video news. CNN.com has a very intuitive and effective video news search function directly on top of their homepage. The site is likely the most popular destination to find news videos not only because CNN is a trusted news source, but because CNN.com gives the best news video search experience. If a searcher goes to CNN.com and uses the video specific search on the homepage for the query "Olympic video news", he'll get 350+ news video results from CNN.

A higher percentage of consumers searching for news video used CNN.com than Google.com, which came in second at 53%. After that, MSNBC.com (41%) ranked above Yahoo.com (40%), MSN.com (31%), and FOXnews.com (25%). This indicates that consumers are about as likely to go directly to a trusted source (CNN.com, MSNBC.com) for video news content as they are to use Google.com or Yahoo.com to find the content. This may be due to the fact that on Google.com and Yahoo.com, searchers will generally only see video results from YouTube and not from the news stations. CNN and other trusted news sources do adapt their content for sites like YouTube, but it seems as if news video consumers would rather go directly to the news site to watch this content. YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo! Video, and MSN Video came in towards the bottom of Web sites used for news video search, at 22%, 14%, 13%, and 11% respectively.

18% of respondents indicated that they used Google News to search for news video, which was the top news aggregator for video news search. Google News includes embedded video results from AP. However, even when searching Google News specifically for news video, consumers generally only see a few embedded AP video results, probably not enough to quell the appetite of a hungry news video consumer.

Opportunity for news video on the engines

Despite the fact that the major search engines lack the video news breadth and depth of sites like CNN.com, the survey does indicate that there's still major demand for news video content on the engines. This is even true in light of the fact that only one-third of respondents indicated that they always/almost always find a relevant news video for their specific video news search when using a traditional engine (Google.com, Yahoo.com, and MSN.com). In addition, only one-third always/almost always find the most up-to-date news video.

DoubleClick Performics' study shows that when it comes to searching for news video, consumers are looking for some combination of trusted/up-to-date news from the source, user experience, and the convenience of a major search engine. In other words, even though the news video search experience on the engines is less than perfect, consumers have so much trust in the engines that they will continue to use them to search for news video. News video consumers would like to utilize their favorite search engine to find a variety of relevant video news content from the strong news brands they trust (CNN, MSNBC, and FOX). This suggests that in addition to creating an intuitive video search interface like that of CNN.com, publishers also have an opportunity to optimize video assets for the text-based engines, thus maximizing their chance of being indexed.

Survey methodology

DoubleClick Performics and ROI Research's Searching for Video News Study was conducted among 500 consumers from a panel of over 2.8 million households and includes respondents who currently watch video news on the Web. The survey was in field from 5/12/08 to 5/14/08. At 95% confidence interval, a sample size of 500 has a sampling error of ± 4.4%. For full results of DoubleClick Performics' Searching for Video News Study, please contact Eric Papczun at epapczun@doubleclick.com.

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Google Climbs To The Top Of Everest With Special Logo

Today, if you visit Google, you may notice a special logo commemorating the anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest. As most of you know, Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth. Today, 55 years earlier, on May 29, 1953 at 11:30 a.m. local time, Edmund Hillary from New Zealander and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay from Nepal reached the summit of Everest.

Source: http://searchengineland.com/080529-082831.php

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Yahoo Opens Up BrowserPlus Web Software

After being in stealth mode for a year now, Yahoo suddenly offered the public a chance to take a “sneak peak” at its new software, Yahoo!BrowserPlus. From what we can gather, BrowserPlus is being touted as a tool for “extending the web” via a simple-to-execute web applications development processes.

If released for public use and abuse, BrowserPlus would give users the ability to update and add new services on the fly without the need to restart or reload a browser page. BrowserPlus benefits both users and web application developers. Since it doesn’t require web browse reloading, users can easily add new web services without the need to run installers. While developers can check for and activate new services with a single function call, which is of course subject to user approval. BrowserPlus will handle software distribution and updates for users.

For the BrowserPlus sampler, Yahoo has made available some demo applications to demonstrate how BrowserPlus works. This sampler includes a web in-page Flickr photo uploader, browser based IRC (chat) Client, and developer tool for exploring Web Services output.

If you will check out BrowserPlus, you’ll notice its similarities with other online image management tool, where it allows you to upload photos directly from your PC.

Like we said, BrowserPlus is currently in “sneak peek” beta mode, so wouldn’t find something interesting enough about it. But we’re guessing that in time, once BrowserPlus gets officially announced, then we would find out whether it offers something better into the crowd.

Source: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/yahoo-preps-up-browser-plus-web-software/6988/

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Why your Business needs a Process Automation and CRM system?

The success story of IT is non-stoppable. It has changed the business vistas and is adding more to it.

The business is harnessing the best of IT and is getting benefitted also. The innovations in technology have paved many advents for handling the business processes. IT in short, has automated the business processes and provided the people to look on the business rather than working in the business.

There are many business professionals who complain that after giving more than 100% to their business they are not getting return accordingly. This information clearly reflects the lack of right approach. They are working hard in the business rather than looking on the ways that can add pinnacles to their business if followed properly. This concept of looking for the ways that can help you to automate your business is called Business Process Automation or BPA. This is an automated approach to regulate the costs attached to various business processes. BPA is an integrated approach to make the company IT regulated.

Why one needs Business Process Automation is the question that strikes the mind of many people? By implementing the business approach you can leverage the following benefits:

1. It reduces manual approach and makes the company more IT dependant and automated.
2. It reduces cost by cutting on the labor requirements.
3. It leads to higher productivity thereby increasing the productivity of the company and reducing the cycle times involved.
4. It limits the users to be in regulations and adhere to the company’s strategies strictly.
5. It gives the complete overview of present company status and compares it with the past reviews also.

The above listed features can really help your company to carve a success roadmap. To further automate your business and give it an upper hand on the other companies you can also take care of other technologies including CRM, ERP and many others. CRM is the Customer Relationship Management.

CRM actually is a technology that can gel well with your existing company system rather than a tool that only dictates the business process. It actually works as a propeller and catalyst to make your business move ahead successfully. Its implementations give IT professionals to look at other options and give them a chance to retain customers lifelong and increase the business opportunities.

The opportunities are many more and can you keep at one step ahead in the competition. The business automation and CRM can prove the base pillars to carve a roadmap for your business success.

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IDS Logic Introduces Business Associate Program

IDS Logic Pvt. Ltd, leaders in providing all sorts of IT solutions to global clients is an ambitious company lead by young and energetic industry icons and experts. It provides web based solutions including a bouquet of services like web hosting, web designing, website development, offshore software development, Internet marketing services and Internet based consultancy services. The company operates from its state-of-the-art offshore development center located in Noida (National Capital Region, New Delhi), India with its sales and support teams in UK and USA.

IDS Logic has launched business associate program for entrepreneurs and business units.

Starting a normal business is not an easy task as a lot of money and planning goes into it. Even if one has the capital to invest, there is no surety if the business will last and be a success with such tough competition. IDS Logic’s business associate program provides the opportunity to these business units make their business a success by becoming a business associate with them.

IDS Logic is giving entrepreneurs and business units an opportunity to reap benefits by a mutually beneficial business association. As a business associates, the associates would have to promote products and services of IDS Logic viz web solutions, e-commerce products, web hosting, and internet marketing services, etc. on behalf of the company and in return they can earn handsome margins and incentives along with an association with a strong brand.

During the launch of this program, Ratnesh Dubey, Director Business Development said

“IDS Logic has always perceived business as a medium for creating wealth among the society by creating ample opportunities for those who are willing and capable to go a long way with a little support. This is indeed a very great opportunity for business units and entrepreneurs to grow with us and earn profit”.

The business associates will also be provided with top-notch training on products and sales support from IDS Logic and will also get all the back support for all marketing actions with brochures, internet marketing as well as commercials.

Through this Business Associate program, the associates can be sure that they will get the right support from the company which will help them in growing their business and taking it to new heights.

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An Effective Search Engine Optimization Can Change The Fate Of Your Website

Search engines are basically browsers that present your website to a user when a specific keyword or key phrase is typed in. But how do you get your website on the list of this search engines? Getting your website on the search engine basically means to optimize your web site with the help of targeting certain keywords that a person or user will search more often. Search engine optimization does the job of getting your website a better ranking or positioning in the search engines as well as attracting more traffic towards your web site with the right information.

Search engine optimization or SEO is something that every person building a website is looking towards. The main purpose for making a web is to impart the correct knowledge to its users on the products the company is offering. There are certain rules and tips that should be kept in mind while optimizing your site for it to go on the search engine. Every search engine has its own guidelines on the basis of which it approves or rejects a web site which they have to adhere to. They rate and rank a web site on the basis of quality, technicality and layout of the content. The main purpose of optimization should be to present what your company is offering in reality to the users rather than misleading the people by showing something else on the search engine and showing something that is irrelevant to them. And misleading is also known as cloaking which can be harmful to the customer as well as the web owner as the owner’s website can be blacklisted from the search engines, to avoid any such inconvenience, hiring a SEO specialist to do the work is a wise decision as they have a fair idea about what all should be done as well as avoid so that the web page or pages does not get rejected.

While optimizing your site, see that the significant sections are highlighted to the customer which will benefit him immensely. If a web site has a lot of links which can make it look confusing to the user then these links can be linked to different web pages so that the viewer gets a fairer amount of knowledge. If you have hired an expert to do SEO services, he or she will see that your web site has information that will bring the proper public to your web site and who will be satisfied with the information they have been provided with.

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