Between its big earnings call and rolling out a snazzy New York visitors' center, Google's been pretty busy this week. Here are five bits of news that slipped through the cracks:
Gmail users can now watch YouTube videos right in Gmail Chat.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Watch YouTube videos in Gmail Chat. Having YouTube video links turn into videos in Google Talk is nothing new, but the feature is now a part of Gmail too. Web users who had lusted over the desktop software's feature are now able to do the same right in the browser. Dropping in any YouTube URL will insert the video into your conversation stream, where it can be viewed by both users, although not at the same time. See our old story about Meebo offering the same thing in its chat rooms back in 2007.
Embedded YouTube videos get high-quality love. Previously, if you had embedded a YouTube video somewhere else, your viewers would have missed out on the option to view it in high quality. Google has quietly added the option to flip it into high-quality mode right from the bottom corner menu. This doesn't come along with an option to view the same video in its high-def glory, but it's a start. (via CrunchGear)
Google's transit site gets a makeover. On Friday, Google rolled out a new version of its transit site that makes it easier to see which parts of the U.S. are Google Transit-capable. Each state now has a little sub-list of regions and the respective transit companies that are a part of Google's index. Missing, however, is the transit layer, which lets you see routes in all forms of transportation at once. Google added this to its Maps product earlier this month, and says it will be a part of the transit site soon.
FeedBurner experiences hiccups in service. Earlier this week, RSS management service FeedBurner began to experience problems with its aggregation tools, resulting in the number of reported reader subscriptions fluctuating wildly. FeedBurner co-founder Dick Costolo says that there's nothing to worry about and that the hiccups have been related to FeedBurner moving users over to the newer, updated architecture. Costolo also said that the actual reader subscriptions have remained intact.
The Vatican goes Web 2.0. On Friday, YouTube announced that the Vatican joined up as a content partner. There's now a dedicated content channel with a dozen videos--mostly of the Pope. In an introductory video, Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said the move was the Vatican's way of being a part of the "global arena." The only problem with that statement is that the Vatican has disabled embedding, requiring users to watch all the videos on YouTube's site only.
Google Transit now offers directions for New York. (Click to enlarge.)
(Credit: CNET News)It's too late to use it to get to T-Mobile's launch of the first phone using Google's Android operating system, but Google Maps now offers the ability to navigate using New York City's public transit system.
The online map service now has data from New York's Metropolitan Transit Agency, one of the largest, most complicated, and most widely used transportation systems. It includes data from buses and subways, the Long Island Rail Road, the Long Island Bus, the Metro-North Railroad, and the MTA Bus Company. And it connects to regional systems, including New Jersey Transit's commuter rail, light rail and bus service, the Staten Island Ferry, and the Port Authority's PATH Rail, AirTrain JFK, and AirTrain Newark.
So you can see one reason why more than 75 other public transit agencies made it in Google Transit first.
The service is available through Google Maps. Public-transit options will appear next to driving directions, and public-transit icons for locations such as subway stations will appear on the map, Google said.
Google Transit has been around since late last year, and as early as this February, public transit stops started to pop up on Google Maps, alongside other landmarks and locations, indicating the service was slowly moving into the mainstream. This morning, Google Transit is alive and kicking as a "graduate" of Google Labs. You'll now find a new link on top of your driving directions in Google Maps to toggle the public transit directions, be it bus, train, or boat--assuming you're in one of the 10 U.S. cities (or Japan) with supported transit systems. You'll get a step-by-step guide of where to catch a ride, where it'll drop you off, and when to get there, complete with bus/train/boat numbers, travel time, alternate routes, and fares.
Also neat is the option to turn on the traffic layer to see if your bus is going to hit major gridlock on the way there--helpful if you're relying on above-ground transportation. My absolute favorite feature, however, is the savings comparison. Google Maps will show you how much money you're saving by using public transportation compared to driving in your car. It gets these numbers by computing the mileage by the standard tax-deductible rate per mile, set by the IRS. Unfortunately it doesn't include things like toll bridges (yet), but it's a good way to eyeball if you're better off hopping in the car for a quick jaunt.
The bottom line is that Google Maps probably offers a better interface than your local transit authority. That coupled with driving directions, food recommendations, and the option to save your commonly used routes to use over and over, make it a more compelling solution. Just be careful though, not every transit system in your city could be included in Google's feeds. In the case of San Francisco, Google integrates Bay Area Rapid Transit just fine, however it ignores the inner-city Muni trains and CalTrans long-haul trains, which could lead you to an unfortunate, and expensive, three-hour bus ride.
Related:
Google Maps boosts public transportation data
Save your legs, social life with Walk Score
Figure out which buses to take, and how much money you could save using Google Maps' updated public transit view.
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