The topic of our poll this week is quite interesting. It is on "Which Google application/feature is the most useful/interesting?" The poll is about the sub-application developed by Google, such as Google earth, Gmail, iGoogle and Google translator. The result is shown using a bar chart (which is link to Picasa) as below.
Link to Picasa - Poll result
Our poll question: Which Google application/feature is the most useful/interesting?
The result of the poll is:
A) Gmail - 44% (4 out of 9 votes)
B) Google translator - 22% (2 out of 9 votes)
C) iGoogle - 11% (1 out of 9 votes)
D) Google earth - 22% (2 out of 9 votes)
Gmail
What does Gmail mean? Gmail is actually a term for "Google web e-mail services". It is a commonly used free web-based e-mail service other than Hotmail, yahoo mail, window live, etc. It was open through invitation only when it was launched in their beta phase and was then released to the public later on. Gmail, which had 176 million users even at the beta phase, is popular due to its capability of storing data in the gigabytes, a function which gives the ability to search for a specific messages and rearrange the related messages automatically into a conversational thread. With an initial 1GB storage for users, Gmail increased the storage capability significantly from 1GB to 2.4GB due to competition from other email servers. Gmail now provides up to 7450MB of free storage and users are able to rent an additional storage at minimal cost.
"According to Google co-founder and president Larry Page, the company was inspired to create Gmail by a user's complaint about problems with existing Web e-mail services, such as the constant need to delete messages to stay within storage limits, and the lack of any searching ability."
Example of Gmail
Google translatorLike other language translating tools, Google corporation provides a powerful statistically-based machine translation service online which translates a text, document or a sentence from one language to another. However, there are some limitations of this tool. Although it helps users to understand the general contents of the translated text, it does not gives an accurate meaning. An obvious example is when it translates a Chinese text into English and vice-versa (which makes the sentences look weird). To avoid this problem, the service limits the number of words/paragraphs entered by users. This is because shorter sentences are less likely to get their meaning lost in translation.
An example of Google translator (inaccurate translation)
iGoogle
Like we mentioned earlier in the post entered by Jimmy, iGoogle is known as a Google personalized home page or "a smarter version of Google". It allows interaction between user and Google with a gadget known as "Google gadgets". Users can create their own web pages that display the Google search engine and themes through Google gadget.
The gadget which is customizable is as below:
- "Framed Photo" – displays a series of photos.
- "GoogleGram" – creation of special daily messages.
- "Daily Me" – displays user's current mood and feelings.
- "Free Form" – allows the user to input text and an image of their choice.
- "YouTube Channel" – displays videos from a YouTube channel.
- "Personal List" – allows the user to create a list of items.
- "Countdown" – countdown timer.
An image on iGoogle personalized skin
Google Earth
Google Earth is a useful and interesting desktop application which allows users to view the Earth in virtual 3D shapes. Users can navigate through the map in different views (perpendicularly down or at an oblique angle, with perspective "bird's eye view"). Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on the Earth to view satellite images, maps, terrains, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. It combines satellite photos and maps with Google search engine which allows user to look for a specific location, address and directions easily compared with a GPS (Global Positioning System) because the directions are virtually 3D, which look just the same as what we see of the real thing. Only 2D images are available to view a larger part of a map, from almost a vertical photography. The most interesting feature of Google Earth is viewing and exploring 3D rendering images of Mars and moon 3D terrains.
Features of Google Earth:
- Flight stimulator - A stimulator which runs with animation, providing a realistic experience.
- Sky mode - Allow users to view through stars, celestial bodies and galaxy.
- Street view - Provides 360-degree panoramic street-level views.
- Ocean view - Allows users to zoom below the surface of the ocean and view the 3D bathymetry beneath the waves.
An image of Google Earth beta version
According to the poll result, 44% of the respondents choose Gmail as their most useful and interesting Google application. I, too agree with their opinions because Gmail, unlike other applications, serves many of our purposes, to explore or for entertainment. With an additional storage of up to 7,250MB, Gmail is useful for handling important messages between one client and another. Hence, users are free from the annoying "full capacity" message in inbox and the need to delete old messages frequently.
We can also make full use of its storage by uploading our pictures, documents and files (ranging from 1MB to 7GB).It serves as our secondary storage, thus saving some hard-disk space on our computers. Gmail also has a function which allows users to search for related messages and re-arrange them automatically into a conversational thread.
To my surprise, 22% of the respondents' votes went to Google translator despite its shortcoming in that it cannot give an accurate translation. Still, the application should be credited for giving users a rough idea of of the sentences translated.
iGoogle has the least vote in this poll. I believe this is because the majority of the interest users do not know what its existence. Although iGoogle can be personalized by the user using Google gadget it is not preferable because it is just an application to ease the user and for visual enhancement purposes only.
Google Earth receives 22% of votes, which is same as Google translator. Google Earth provides virtual 3D shapes with different views. An interesting feature of Google Earth is that it allows users to explore Mars, moon terrain and even ocean 3D bathymetry beneath the waves. I think Google Earth is good for self-exploring and to watch an incident live through the satellite.
We can also make full use of its storage by uploading our pictures, documents and files (ranging from 1MB to 7GB).It serves as our secondary storage, thus saving some hard-disk space on our computers. Gmail also has a function which allows users to search for related messages and re-arrange them automatically into a conversational thread.
To my surprise, 22% of the respondents' votes went to Google translator despite its shortcoming in that it cannot give an accurate translation. Still, the application should be credited for giving users a rough idea of of the sentences translated.
iGoogle has the least vote in this poll. I believe this is because the majority of the interest users do not know what its existence. Although iGoogle can be personalized by the user using Google gadget it is not preferable because it is just an application to ease the user and for visual enhancement purposes only.
Google Earth receives 22% of votes, which is same as Google translator. Google Earth provides virtual 3D shapes with different views. An interesting feature of Google Earth is that it allows users to explore Mars, moon terrain and even ocean 3D bathymetry beneath the waves. I think Google Earth is good for self-exploring and to watch an incident live through the satellite.
Do you think my post has removed most of your doubts or answered most of your questions on Google applications? Is my explanation simple enough and up-to-date?
Source:
Tech Target, [online], 2001
http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci958524,00.html
Memodata Corporation ,[online] , 2009
http://dictionary.sensagent.com/google+translate/en-en/
Marziah Karch, About.com
http://google.about.com/od/i/g/igoogledef.htm
Marziah Karch, About.com, [online], 2010
http://google.about.com/od/googleproducts/g/earthdef.htm
2 comments:
There is a paragragh where the text are in black colour. "According to ..... and the lack of any searching ability." It is quite hard for readers to read because the background is also black.
sorry for the unease of viewing the text there. I guess i probably didn't notice that text which overlap with the background.
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