Google products you (probably) never knew existed

I don't know about you, but it feels like Google launches a new product every time I turn my laptop on.  

And these tend to fit into two distinct categories:

1. Incredibly useful

2. Incredibly bizarre

Fortunately, most of these products are free so we're really not in a position to complain!

After some lengthy research, I was surprised by how many tools Google has either developed or acquired over the years.

So much so, that I thought it was a good idea to compile a list of the secrets of the Google product empire. 

Here they are...in no particular order...

10 Google tools you (probably) never knew existed

1. Google Takeout - No, this is not Google's food delivery service (although that'd be handy), this is a tool which allows you to download an archive of your data from things like your +1's, Google+ Circles, contacts and Picasa Web albums.

2. Google Mars - While you're probably familiar with Google Earth, Google Mars is a little less well known. However, what it lacks in notoriety it makes up for in in geeky coolness. It gives you the ability to check out spacecraft landing locations, crater depth and even comes with an infrared option.

3. Google Health - This is one of the (many) products Google has launched which didn't quite capture the imagination of the public as anticipated. It was designed to be a portal for all of your health and wellness information. This service officially closes down on 1 January 2013.

4. Google SketchUp - Now, this definitely falls into the 'incredibly useful' category of Google products. Google SketchUp allows you to crate anything in 3D from coffee pots to skyscrapers. Check out thecommunity gallery for added inspiration.

5. Google Correlate - If you've been watching the new TV show starring Kiefer Sutherland calledTouch you'll appreciate this one as it allows you to find patterns within data samples. Oooh yeah, go get your geek on!

6. Google Sites - It's surprising Google haven't done more with this in light of the self-publishing explosion of the last few years. If / when you do need a spot online to share content with a specific group, this is a decent option.

7. Google HotPot - With SO MANY food review and recommendation services in existence, this seems like an odd one to add to the Google bucket list. And although it sits pretty seamlessly on top of Google Places. But I don't know anyone who uses it, do you?

8. What Do You Love? (from Google) - You may have heard about this one when it was launched a little while back but if you haven't, it is worth putting on your 'to-do' list. On the back of the 'interest graph' explosion, this aggregates content relating to specified topics from across the Google product network.

9. YouTube Feather - A slight cheat here as we're looking at a sub-product from the Google-owned YouTube product. However, it is very new and still being trialed and this means you may not have come across it yet. In short, YouTube Feather is a 'light' version of YouTube that aims to take the strain away from your browser and internet connection.

10. Panoramio - A photo sharing community that invites people to share their pictures of the world mashed up over the Google maps tool.

So, how many of those did you know about?

If you knew about all ten you either work for Google or perhaps Wikipedia!

By: Itface On 20:40

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11 online Social secrets / tricks

1. Automatically syndicate your Twitter favourites to your Facebook wall

I'm a big fan of Twitter favourites and like sharing them as much as possible. A great way to do this is by adding the RSS Graffiti app  to your Facebook page but you need to tweak the feed configuration to read like this: http://twitter.com/favorites/username.rss

2. Spy on / compare subscriber numbers on other people's blogs

This is dead easy. Go to FeedCompare  and add in the feed details you want to look at. Magic.

3. View a transcript of a Twitter chat before it is 'officially' published

Head over to wthashtag.com  and type the your tag into the search bar. When the results pop up you'll see a set of tabs in the right hand corner. Click on the 'view transcript' option and voila, you're good to go.

4. Check out the stats associated with ANY bit.ly link

All you need to do here add a '+' after the URL and the stats will be on display i.e. http://bit.ly/cPrTrl+ 

5. Organise and tag your Twitter favorites with Favorious

After you've set up an account and your favorites have been ported over, use the edit / add tags function to give them some semblance of order i.e. http://favorious.com/people/adamvincenzini/favorites/tags/tools 

6. Convert your blog posts into a printable format with Joilprint

This is handy. Head over to Joliprint.com  and add in any URL you'd like to print out in a print-friendly format. Better still, add the widget to your blog so people can print in a nice format directly from the page they're on.

7. Use the Google AdWords keyword tool  with a twist

Just say you want to write a blog post about blogging but can't figure out which specific angle to go for. Well, type blogging and who, what, where, when and how into the tool and click search and some great idea triggers will be set out in front of you.

8. Email ideas direct to an Evernote folder when on the move

Evernote has a million uses, but one of my favourites is to send ideas to my Evernote account when I'm out and about. For example, I might be on the tube and have an idea for a blog post, I'll email the idea to the email account associated with my Evernote folder. Just go into settings and track down the email address associated with your account. Simples.

9. Pre-save searches in a Google Chrome folder

I regular refer to pre-saved searches by keyword in my Google Chrome folders. For example, head over to twazzup.com, enter your search i.e. "Chicago Bulls" and save it using your favorites button - next time you go the that folder the latest search results will be waiting for you.

10. Bring Twitter to every web page you visit

Tweetbeat Firsthand  is a cool Google Chrome extension which integrates Twitter into any web page. For example, you might be on Google News and BP is mentioned in a story. This extension will add a Twitter icon next to BP in the text which allows you to click on it and bring up the latest tweets associated with that account.

11. Turn Netvibes into an all-in-one intelligence dashboard

Most people know about Netvibes  but not until recently did I realise you can set up intelligence dashboards by topic / interest on each tab.

This means you can have Twitter searches, RSS feeds, important sources etc all on the one, easy to view landing tab. So awesome!

By: Itface On 20:25

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