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Want newer results when you search Google from your smartphone? Want more or fewer pictures in your results page? Google’s recently begun showing Search Options to a number of smartphone users.

Like its desktop counterpart, Search Options lets you restrict search results to recent time frames, tweak how many non-text results crop up, and perform specialty searches, in this case for forum posts and review sites. There aren’t as many options as on a full-sized browser, and the Options menu is similarly tucked away, on the right-hand side in this version.

Still, the reviews search seems useful for browsing what’s gotten good notice around you, when combined with mobile location, at least. Search Options should show up on iPhone, Android, and Palm WebOS phones; Windows Mobile and BlackBerry users might have to wait a bit.

Originally posted 2009-10-12 18:25:08. Republished by Old Post Promoter

The Google Earth app for the Nexus One Android smartphone is now available for download. The app won’t work on every Android phone, but the Droid version is coming soon. Eventually all phones that run Android 2.1 will be able to use the app.

Previously Apple’s iPhone was the only phone with a Google Earth app. The Google LatLong blog post announcing this new version argues that the Nexus One is a better fit for Google Earth’s 3D interface thanks to its 1 GHz processor and 800 x 480-pixel display. Google says this is the “fastest mobile version of Google Earth yet.”

The Nexus One app has some features the iPhone version doesn’t, notably the road overlay. Google Earth is a lot more fun to use when you can actually use clearly defined roads to navigate. One of the most lauded general features of the Nexus One is voice recognition; the Google Earth app takes advantage of that. For example, you can say “Eiffel Tower” and it will take you there.

Regardless of which device you have, you can pick up the app by visiting http://m.google.com/earth.

Tags: android, droid, Google, google earth, iphone, nexus one

Twitter, as a platform, played a big role in the instantaneous spread of information following the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January. Today the microblogging site is officially supporting the exchange of real-time information and offering free SMS tweets for Digicel Haiti customers.

As of now, Digicel Haiti customers won’t incur charges for the SMS tweets they send and receive through Twitter’s 40404 short code. The bottom line is that Haitians can now experience an entirely free, mobile version of Twitter.

In Twitter’s blog post on the matter, Biz Stone writes:

“Kevin Thau and our mobile team have recently arranged free SMS tweets for Digicel Haiti customers. To activate the service, mobile phone users in Haiti can text follow @oxfam to 40404. Accounts are created on the fly and any account can be followed this way.”

Twitter’s move to make SMS tweets free of charge comes more than a month after the earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, but it’s yet another great example of how the web/tech industry is stepping up to help Haiti.

[img credit: Matt Hamm]

Tags: haiti earthquake, SMS, twitter

Filed under: Video, iPhone, iPad

Popular (US-only, grumble) television site Hulu is a name that comes up in just about every conversation about the iPad’s lack of Flash support. Second only to YouTube’s popularity, Hulu streams TV shows from several US networks, allowing for free (albeit ad-supported) access to shows that Apple’s iTunes Store charges $1.99 and up to download. When people bash the iPad and claim “No Flash, no sale,” a lot of them are probably really saying, “No Hulu, no sale.”

All that could be about to change. According to TechCrunch, an “industry insider” has revealed that Hulu is already working on an iPad version of its site which should be ready to launch by the time the iPad is released in March. Whether this will take the form of a dedicated app or a “mobile version” of the site coded in HTML5 rather than Flash remains to be seen. TechCrunch notes that “putting Hulu on the iPad boils down to a business decision, not a technical one.” Unlike YouTube, which had to re-encode a large portion of its videos for iPhone compatibility back in 2007, Hulu’s videos are already encoded in the iPhone/iPad-friendly H.264 video format. The only Flash-encoded portions of Hulu that would have to change for iPad compatibility are the player itself (the “wrapper” for the video with its controls) and the ads.

Nothing official has been announced yet, of course, but Hulu’s CEO has said that “Mobile is a monster – we are very bullish. We will embrace any device,” and “We are very big believers in mobile and we don’t think about (just) one device only.” Considering that YouTube has been available on the iPhone from day one, it seems less a question of if Hulu will be available on the iPhone/iPad, but when. When that happens, a lot of that “no Flash, no sale” bias against the iPad is sure to die off very quickly.

[Via MacRumors]

TUAWHulu coming to the iPad? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nothing is abating the stream of tablet-related rumors as we await a supposed reveal later this month. In yet another round-up of Apple tablet rumors, we look at a “confirmation” of the upcoming tablet by a top France Télécom executive, word of a mobile version of iWork controlled with gestures, case materials that suggest possibly two different models, and the impressions of an “industry source” who claims to have seen the tablet’s OS in person.

In an interview with a reporter Monday morning, the number-two executive at France Télécom, Stéphane Richard, reportedly “confirmed” that Orange customers would be getting access to the rumored device. The reporter asked Richard about the rumored impending release, which he acknowledged. When asked if Orange customers (Orange is owned by France Télécom) would have the benefit of using the device, Richard replied, “Of course!”

Richard’s responses, however, weren’t an explicit confirmation that the device exists or that it will be available to Orange customers. He seems to be merely be speculating that if the device were real, he would expect Orange to offer it to its users. Orange PR confirmed that was the intent to mobile news site MocoNews: “The spokesperson was merely confirming that he is aware of the speculation surrounding a launch and that Orange would be delighted to have such a product were it ever to be available.”

The New York Times also revealed that the tablet is expected to have a large set of control gestures beyond what the iPhone offers. “The tablet should offer any number of unique multitouch experiences—for example, three fingers down and rotate could mean ‘open an application,’” one former Apple engineer told NYT. Furthermore, the tablet is expected to come with a multitouch-enabled version of iWork for productivity on the go. Another former Apple engineer told NYT that a team inside Apple “spent the past couple of years working on a multitouch version of iWork.” That could increase its chances of catching on outside of the consumer space, positioning it for business users, scientists, or even to bolster its appeal to teachers and students in the education market.

An anonymous industry source was quite enamored with the UI. After having reportedly seen the OS for an Apple tablet, the source called it “pretty,” saying that it had “a good bit of new sexy to it.” Comparing it to the iPhone: “It’s a big iPhone, but it’s not just a big iPhone,” the source told Silicon Alley Insider.

A Reuters report suggests that suppliers are already in motion to supply Apple with necessary parts for a tablet device, though production plans may push the ship date to the second quarter of this year. Taiwan-based AVY Precision Technology Inc is said to be making cases for the device. “Production of the cases will begin in February, so everything points to a second-quarter launch right now,” an unnamed source told Reuters.

Of particular interest is that the case will be aluminum. An earlier WSJ report suggested that a tablet may come in two finishes. If we were to speculate further, it may be that the tablet will come in two versions, much like the iPhone versus the iPod touch, with different materials for the back. A WiFi-only device may have an aluminum case, while a 3G-enabled version might have a plastic case to reduce interference with cell radio signals. However, Apple may offer both versions with a hybrid case like that of the original iPhone.

It’s hard to not believe Apple has something big to announce soon. Rumors have reached such a fever pitch that Apple almost runs the risk of disappointing users and investors if it doesn’t announce a tablet on or around a rumored January 27 event.

With all the people out of work at the moment, you’d think there’d be some decent job search apps on smartphones. At least that’s what I expected when I decided to write this article. But even on the iPhone and Android phones, app options for job-searching are pretty lackluster.

They’re all based on job-search websites. Some show links to multiple results, but a few clicks reveal the actual results are no longer in existence — the “Hire-a-Droid” app, for example. Some apps, like “High Paying Jobs”, have smooth-looking interfaces, but don’t get many results. “Jobs Search Droid” and “iJobs” are based on Indeed.com, but both display fewer results than the actual web site.

The Beyond.com app available in the Apple AppStore and the Android Market for free, is perhaps the least innovative choice of all. It’s simply a link to the Beyond.com mobile site. And CareerBuilder Mob, an app for the Android, doesn’t open the browser, but displays exactly what you’d see if you were in the browser on the career mobile website. It’s hardly worth the download.

Other apps, such as “Job Search” by Mobileworld can’t get results in the desired city and instead list results in the surrounding region.

In most cases it seems mobile web sites are easier to navigate and use than any of these currently available apps. So until we see better offerings in the various app stores, I recommend bookmarking the following web sites on your phone for a quick look whenever you’ve got some down time. There are many job search resources out there, but I chose these five because they were easiest to navigate on a phone and deliver the most results.

1. Monster — mobile.monster.com. It’s the best job search website out there, and the mobile version is just as easy to browse.

2. Careerbuilder — mobile.careerbuilder.com. It claims to be the “global leader in human capital solutions.” It’s similar to Monster, but offers a different pool of jobs.

3. Beyond.com — beyond.com/m/. Focuses on “niche career communities.”

4. Indeed.com — indeed.com/m/. Searches multiple job sites and aggregates the results.

5. Craigslist — craigslist.org. The best online classifieds, especially if you want to focus on only a small area and not an entire city. Craigslist doesn’t have a mobile site, but the web site is fast-loading and is just as easy to browse on a mobile phone.

[Image credit: Mochasyncsoftware]

Let’s look back at the week that was in Microsoft news. Here were the top stories:

Mozilla exec: Bing is not popular enough for Firefox: Asa Dotzler, Mozilla’s director of community development, explains why an add-on is required to add Bing as a search option from within Firefox.

Microsoft puts Bing on the App Store: Microsoft has released a mobile version of Bing on the App Store that works on the iPhone and iPod touch. The company is already working on fixing three issues.

You know those times when you’re sifting through an undercooked ROM, dumping .nbh files right and left, asking yourself: “is this even worth it?” Well, the folks at WMExperts can answer with a resounding fist pump after digging up references to T-Mobile US in an HTC HD2 prerelease ROM that was recently leaked their way. At this point we’re looking at a new 2.01 version of the HD2 software in the T-Mobile version, a big jump from the 1.61 seen in previous leaks, which maybe will smooth over some of those performance woes we experienced with the device. WMExperts also claims a March 2010 release date, which seems a while to wait, but somebody told us once about “good things” coming to “waiters” or something like that, so we’re cautiously optimistic.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

T-Mobile bringing HTC HD2 to the States? All .nbh files point to ‘yes’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As promised for a while now, Microsoft has released its free Bing App for the iPhone and iPod touch over at the iTunes App Store (going to m.bing.com will redirect you there as well). Verizon phones already offer a mobile version of Bing for Windows Mobile, Blackberry, BREW, and Sidekick devices, so this release just adds another OS and device to the mix. Microsoft is also reportedly planning to release a Messenger app, too.

The application includes voice search for both map locations as well as old fashioned Web search. Just like the Web version, Bing automatically finds your location and helps you find the nearest restaurants, banks, theaters, and so on, in addition to giving you walking or driving directions. There’s also smooth map panning and zooming (Microsoft uses its Seadragon technology for some of this) with a zoom-out button when you only have one hand free and can’t pinch, image search with endless scrolling results (also works for any search result) that includes image previews you can flick through and click through to the host site, plus other Bing features like movies, news, and flight status.

The mobile version is actually remarkably similar to the Web version: the home screen even shows the Bing image of the day, complete with clickable hotspots to discover related trivia. If you’re wondering, yes, the Safe Search settings can be changed on the mobile version to make sure all your more-questionable search queries work well.

Want to find a good place to eat or shop while you’re visiting a new city? The mobile web has made that super easy, thanks to services like Yelp and Loopt and even social networking games like Foursquare. However, most of those services take an approach that is more akin to a directory of every possible option, rather than a curated list of recommendations from locals or people you trust.

Nextstop is a website that lets people find, discover and share cool places to eat, visit or hang out in cities all over the world, and today the company is launching a fully-optimized iPhone website that will make it easy for you to do just that directly from your phone, using geolocation.

HTML5 In Action

I talked to the founders of Nextstop yesterday, and they said that when developing a mobile version of the site, the biggest goal was to make the experience fast. Although they considered building a separate app specifically for Nextstop, they decided to take advantage of HTML5 and CSS3 features to make the site look and feel more like a native iPhone app, while having the ability to cache more data and keep the experience more consistent.

Watch this video to get a sense of how the site works:

Worldwide Focus

One of the downsides of the bigger location recommendation services is that they have a very U.S.-centric focus. If you’re in Italy or China or Australia, options and recommendations are more limited. To that end, Nextstop has embraced and cultivated a very world-centric approach. Its community has created nearly 1,000 tours of different places around the world — think of it like a travel guide — and the places that are shared and recommended are often local-approved.

Even in my own city — Atlanta — I was impressed that, aside from a few mainstays, most of the recommendations were for excellent restaurants and places often missing from the more tourist-centric lists.

Nextstop is small now, but it’s growing. Meanwhile, its technically impressive web app (it just works with the iPhone right now, but there have been reports that it works on the Droid as well), as well as its commitment to the worldwide community, make this one impressive tool.

Next time you’re looking for something cool to do in a new place — try out Nextstop on your phone.

Tags: geolocation, HTML5, iphone, nextstop