Sprucing up its famously plain Web site, Google Inc is offering a new option that plants its Internet search box in panoramic settings that change with the time of day and the outside weather.
The colorful graphics, which were set to be introduced yesterday, represent the latest bit of pizzazz to be served up on Google's home page as the California-based company caters to the digerati who want to customize everything from their cellphones to their computers.
While most of Google's users remain satisfied seeing little more than the company logo and the search box that has anchored its home page for nearly a decade, millions of others have created log-ins that enable them to select from a variety of features that appear with each visit. These additional bells and whistles -- introduced nearly two years ago -- include stock quotes, local weather and news headlines.
PHOTO: AP
The search engone's new package of decorations, also known as "skins," are designed to make the home page feel even more homey, said Marissa Mayer, the company's vice president of search products and user experience.
"Google has become the doorway to the Internet for a lot of people, so we want to make [the site] feel more like an online living room," Mayer said. "We feel we are personalizing things in a very tasteful and useable way."
Rival Yahoo Inc already has been experimenting with a broader selection of decorative themes as part of an upgrade of its "MyYahoo" service.
"This is a much bigger step for Google because they have always prided themselves on their plain white pages," said Dan Cohen, who worked on the personalization efforts at both Google and Yahoo before recently becoming chief executive of Pageflakes Ltd, a startup that customizes Web pages.
The use of more graphics illustrates Google's evolution from a once-pure Internet search engine into an all-purpose Web site that offers e-mail, news, photo sharing, instant messaging, shopping and mapping services.
The diversification over the past five years has led some to worry that the company might be overextending itself, but the expansion hasn't hurt so far. As its lead in the lucrative Internet search market continued to widen, Google more than doubled its profit to US$3.1 billion last year.
Google wanted to jazz up its site without making things too busy or commercial, Mayer said.
Reflecting its cautious approach, Google's first set of decorations consist of just six themes revolving mostly around landscapes.
The settings include a Japanese tea garden, a beach, a city skyline and a bus stop. Google plans to introduce a few more themes each month and eventually may accept outside submissions, Mayer said.
Google has programmed its decorations to reflect what is happening in the outside world. Users are asked to enter their ZIP code so the digital drawings change from day to night and fluctuate with the weather.
The designs also will contain hidden surprises known as "Easter eggs" that will open up with an opportune click at the right time of the day, Mayer said.
She would not reveal any of the surprises, but indicated they will delight high-tech geeks with a sense of humor.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
RSS