A new tool launched today could give Firefox users more options when searching for key items, boosting the likelihood of them finding what they're looking for.

The free Wolfram Alpha Google add-on for Firefox allows users to view search results from both Google and new computational knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha side-by-side.

An icon at the bottom right of the screen allows easy toggling between on and off, and buttons labeled 'Original' and 'Wolfram|Alpha' near the top-right of the search page allow users to switch between a Google-only or combined view. Users can also open Wolfram Alpha results in a new tab if they wish.

However, Wolfram Alpha does not compare favourably with Google, at least in the speed stakes. Its results load an average of five to six full seconds slower than Google when viewed side-by-side, which can be frustrating for the user.

It is also came up blank when asked the fairly straightforward question, "what is the tallest building in London".

The tool is more useful at answering mathematical questions however, and users could find it serves as a useful tool when used in combination with Google, with this add-on, rather than to replace it.

Posted by Phil Muncaster on June 26, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to various sources Google is readying a new look for its News service, offering a visual look at the headlines.

Screenshots surfacing on the web show an alternative display on the Google News pages displaying the news much like it does images, for example screenshots show thumbnail versions of the news pages in question rather than a list of links and short description.

A search for 'Flipper' on the Google Labs pages returns no results, however screenshots of the service, as well as hints as to what it hopes to achieve, have appeared on the internet suggesting that a beta release cannot be far behind.

The name Flipper can be traced back to the idea that the user is able to 'flip' through news, a method of selecting search options that far exceeds the capabilities of currently available filters. Sadly it has nothing to do with dolphins.

As a plus this means that you will be able to search for tuna-based products in an entirely guilt-free manner.

Posted by Phil Muncaster on June 19, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Plantronics has a long history of making good quality headsets primarily for office users, so it was with some pleasure that I was looking forward to the latest addition to the stable, the .Audio 995 wireless headset.

The package includes a plug-and-play wireless USB connector that operates at 2.4GHz - in other words it's not Bluetooth - so while this provides better range and reception, those hoping to avoid using another USB port will need to look elsewhere.

The headset is quite bulky, compared to some other wired headsets out there, but the 995 is quite light and does have a comfortable padded headband and swivel-mounted ear cushions covering 40mm speakers, so I had no discomfort wearing them for several hours at a time.

The microphone boom is adjustable, both telescoping a little as well as bendable, and it folds up nicely out of the way when not in use. As an added bonus the mike automatically mutes when stowed, so you don't have to worry about manually muting and un-muting during a call or if you use speech recognition software. I tried it out with Skype and Dragon Naturally Speaking and found the microphone works very well in both video calls and for dictation.

The speakers are good, but not an audiophile's dream, in particular heavy bass feels a little washed out, but the range is quite impressive and should be fine for the majority of users. Most importantly, voices are crisp and clear so using the 995 for VoIP calls works very nicely.

I was also impressed with the reception on the 995 headset. Plantronics reckons the headphones have a range of 40 feet from the transceiver, but this seems to require that the intervening space is unobstructed as I found the signal started getting a bit erratic after about 30 feet, although that was with walls in the way. Judging by my experience, unless you're hoping to be able to wander around your entire house or office with these on, you should be fine.

Streaming music constantly I got a little over six hours of life from a single charge, slightly less than the seven hours touted by Plantronics, but still more than enough to ensure that you don't have to lose the wireless benefits by constantly having to charge them. Another nice feature is that the headset charges over mini-USB rather than some proprietary connector.

The 995 also includes some handy media controls on the side of the headset making it easy to control the volume as well as pause, play and skip music tracks, but it takes a little bit of practice to remember which button does what by feel alone. I found this feature works in Windows Media Player, iTunes and WinAmp. According to Plantronics it should work for most media players, although some will require the application to be selected rather than just running in the background.

Possibly my biggest gripe with the headset is that unplugging the USB connector doesn't automatically restore sound to the speakers, meaning you have to manually enter the speaker settings and reset them every time you want to switch back and forth between speakers and headphones.

At a retail price of around £80, the Plantronics .audio 995 wireless headset is not exactly cheap, but if you find yourself constantly tangling yourself up in your headset or like to pace about while dictating to your PC or listening to music (and don't want to disturb those around you) I reckon the 995 is a worthwhile investment.

Posted by Ian Williams on June 12, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Generally people search to find the right answers or to deepen their knowledge on a subject. Not on Google Squared.

People using the new search tool should be prepared to be misinformed. Google should be prepared for a few complaints.

Google Squared was launched on Thursday with the product's manager, Alex Komoroske, admitting the technology "is by no means perfect", which some testing the tool would say is an understatement. So far the technology looks like it will cause users more trouble than its worth.

Google Squared is designed to allow users to research a subject without visiting many different web sites. Search results are delivered in a table, which users can then compare side by side.

However, so far the tool has pronounced both Prince William and Prince Charles dead.

A search for 'UK national papers' lists the Guardian as a tabloid while the Times maintains its status as a broadsheet. The Express is apparently a mix of student books, audio tapes and CDs. The Metro is a movie.

A search for 'Social Network' lists the MySpace owner as Facebook Will Win for Now while Facebook is owned by mario. Luckily Google knows that it owns YouTube and the tool correctly lists Flickr as Yahoo's.

A search for Good Camera Phones prices the Motorola Razr V3 at a bargain price of $3.45.

Posted by Rosalie Marshall on June 5, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (5)

The Symbian Foundation has revealed it now has the Symbian OS running in a test symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) configuration on an evaluation handset.

In a post on the Symbian Foundation blog, executive director Lee Williams wrote that "a team at ST-Ericsson, and ARM have the operating system now running on a highly capable SMP configuration."

The test platform is apparently a reference smart phone built around a ST-Ericsson U8500 chip, one of the first silicon implementations of ARM's Cortex-A9 MPCore, a multi-core version of the ARM architecture found in almost all today's smartphones.

Williams said that multi-core handsets can accommodate features such as high-definition video and hardware accelerated 3D Graphics supporting OpenGL.

Symbian said it intended to support the Cortex-A9 MPCore architecture when it was announced in 2007, but that multiple core processing is only likely to be used when required, to preserve battery life on handsets.

Posted by Daniel Robinson on June 4, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft's latest search innovation has been switched on in the UK today and I've been having a play around with Bing to see if it does what is promised.

When it finally unveiled Bing last week - code-named Kumo - Microsoft described the online application as a "decision engine", rather than search engine, which has been developed to help users "make faster, more informed decisions". The search tool will initially focus on four key vertical areas, according to Microsoft: shopping online, travel arrangements, medical information and a local business search.

I tested each of these four areas, all set to only look at pages from the UK.

I ran a search for 'flights to crete' to test the travel component and found the results were very similar to those returned by Google. I liked the information boxes that popped up alongside the Bing results to give extra detail on each of the sites being linked to.

However, Google scored an extra point in the sponsored links section, where its top three results were Thomas Cook, EasyJet and Flydeals, all sites I'm familiar with. Bing's top three sponsored links were for Flydeals, Directline Holidays and an aggregator site called iReviewed, which includes links to lots of other travel web sites, surely a service Bing is supposed to be offering anyway? EasyJet doesn't appear anywhere on the first page of results, even though it's one of the most competitive airlines for direct flights between London and Crete.

To test the medical information section, I ran a search for 'root canal' as it's an area close to my heart at present as unfortunately I have to go for dental treatment soon.

Again I found the Bing pop-up information boxes really helpful, giving a much better idea of what the site will contain rather than having to click through to each search result. But Google had a better mix of results overall.

Bing's results were a series of standard web site links, with Cosmetic Dentistry Guide as the top result, and the top sponsored link was a dental and healthcare insurance provider. On Google, the top result was the British Dental Health Foundation, while the top sponsored link was for an emergency dentist, again just edging Microsoft on the relevance and usefulness of the results. And the fourth result on the Google front page was for root canal images, with four pictures helpfully displaying exactly what treatment involves, not for the squeamish like me but a useful feature of search results.

Carrying on the dental theme, I ran a search for 'dentist e11' to test out the local business search feature. In this category, Google beat Microsoft hands down. Clicking the link at the top of the Bing search results for 'top local listings for dentist near E11' took me through to a separate page full of links to dentists located in either the E1 or EC2M areas of London, miles away from me. The main page of search results included links to dentists in other areas of East London, and a site for salaried dentists, while the sponsored links had also got mixed up with the number of '1's in my postcode and were instead focused on the E111 European health insurance programme.

Google fared much better, listing several dentists all within walking distance of my house right at the top of the page, along with their phone numbers and a map showing their location.

Microsoft was also shown up by Google in its online shopping provisions. I ran a search across both search engines for 'Netbooks'. Although I thought Bing, which is powered by the Ciao shopping comparison tool Microsoft acquired last year, returned a better mix of results with netbooks from a wider range of vendors on display on the first page, the presentation was a real letdown.

The top section of the page contained a lot of white space and a bare-looking list of sponsored links, with many of the results missing either pictures or any pricing information, instead providing an 'Offers by Ebay' link. In terms of price comparison functionality, the Asus EEE PC 901 had the biggest number of retailers selling the same product. According to the results front page, the netbook was available at nine online stores with prices ranging from an incredibly cheap £39.13 through to a more realistic-sounding £335.12.

However, when I clicked on the 'Compare prices' button, it turned out several of the results were duplicated and there were only six different retailers in the list. Meanwhile, the bargain £39.13 price tag was actually for a laptop battery and the most expensive product was only £272.99 not £335.12 as listed on the front page.

Google returned a smaller selection of netbooks and vendors on its first page of results, but it kept the sponsored links to the right-hand side of the results. Presentation was much cleaner, and Google included pricing details and an image for each result.

So while Microsoft has made a big song and dance of the fact that Bing isn't just any old search engine and has moved to distance itself from Google et al, the decision to brand Bing as a 'decision engine' seems to have backfired on the firm. My early tests instead serve to highlight how Google has moved on from being a provider of links to a provider of relevant, location-based, contextual information, and how Bing appears to sit much more comfortably under the traditional definition of a search engine. I'm sure Microsoft would be quick to point out this is only a beta version, but it faces a steep climb to reach Google's level, let alone surpass its rival.

Posted by Madeline Bennett on June 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (8)