During primetime television alone, there are between 88 and 100 million Americans engaged on Facebook – roughly a Super Bowl-sized audience every single night. The recent “Red Wedding” episode of Game of Thrones, received over 1.5 million mentions on Facebook, representing a significant portion of the 5.2 million people who watched the show. And this year’s Oscars buzz reached an all-time high on Facebook with over 66.5 million interactions, including likes, comments, and posts.

Now you can:

• Search for a specific hashtag from your search bar. For example, #NBAFinals.
• Click on hashtags that originate on other services, such as Instagram.
• Compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results.

Facebook said it will make the clickable hashtags available to users in the coming weeks, beginning on Wednesday. Though hashtags haven’t worked on Facebook until now, many people were using them anyway, having grown accustomed to them on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Facebook Now Supports Hashtags appeared first on Takes On Tech.

The changes center on the addition of tabs to the inbox that are meant to help organize different types of emails into categories, such as updates, deals, messages from friends, and so on. Users can choose which of the five tabs they see in their inbox, and the order in which the tabs appear. Messages can be moved between tabs and certain senders can be prioritized to always be visible in the primary tab.

The new mobile apps, which will become available gradually over the next few weeks, default to the primary tab view, but make it easy to view and interact with emails in the other tabs. According to Google, users can switch off the tabs and stick with a classic view of Gmail if they so wish.

The post Gmail Updates the Inbox with Tabs for Organizing Emails appeared first on Takes On Tech.

A casualty of the new system is Flickr Pro, which  has been excised, as Yahoo wished “everyone to have professional quality photo  space and sharing.” An additional terabyte of storage can be purchased by  users,  called “doubler.” Double storage sells for $500 per year, and is  ad-free.

Flickr is compatible with OS X, Windows XP SP3 and above, iOS,  and Android 4.1 and above. The free version is ad-supported, with an ad-free  version available for an additional $50 per year.

The new release brings comes with revamped Android app, similar to the iOS application launched  in  December. CEO Mayer boasts that the new app “maintains your photos’ original  quality, so every image you take, edit, share, or view on your phone or tablet  looks spectacular.”

The new Flickr is now live.

The post Yahoo Launches New Flickr – 1TB of Free Storage, New Android App appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Symantec announced the availability of Norton Zone, a secure file sharing service that allows users  to easily and safely access, sync and share photos, videos and documents.

The  new cloud file-sharing service leverages Norton’s security expertise to keep  data safe. Norton Zone provides 5 free GB of storage and users in the US can  now  purchase additional storage if they need it. Symantec never claims  ownership over any data that is uploaded to the service, and all files uploaded  to Norton Zone are encrypted.

Norton anti-malware scanning technology  automatically checks content for viruses and other threats before it is shared.

Key Features

• Access files from any device, anywhere (supports iOS, Android and Windows RT)
• Automatically scan for viruses before you share a file
• Control who can access your shared files
• Automatically sync files across devices

Norton expects to announce additional updates to the service later this year  with “new feature modules and enhancements.”

The post Symantec Debuts Norton Zone Secure Cloud Storage appeared first on Takes On Tech.

“The updated app makes it simple for users to put files in Cloud Drive and to access them from any of their computers, ensuring that they always have access to the latest version of their files from home and on the road,” Amazon said in a statement.

Users of the service are awarded with 5GB of storage for free. Upgrades are available through 1TB for $500 per year, undercutting offerings from closest competitor Dropbox.

The post Amazon’s Cloud Drive Now Has File Synchronization – Insures Same File Version Across Mac OS X, Windows, Android appeared first on Takes On Tech.

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The offeris being marketed with a video featuring Aubrey Plaza of Parks & Recreation, explaining to students how they could use the combination of Office 365 and Skydrive to collaborate together remotely.

The post Microsoft Announces Access to Office365 to College Students appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Office 365 Small Business Premium offers the user 5 ProPlus licenses that they can use to install Office on their PC or Mac. It also gives you access to the web-based versions of Office products. It includes business-grade email, shared calendars, website tools and HD video-conferencing capabilities. Office 365 Small Business Premium costs $150 per user, per year, which equals roughly $12.50 per user, per month.

Office 365 Midsize Business offers the same benefits of Small Business Premium, however it also offers enterprise-quality communication services and collaborates with Exchange Online, Lync Online, and Sharepoint Online. It is user-friendly, and it includes Active Directory integration alongside a web-based administartion console and “business-hours” phone support. It makes managing your huge office a much easier task. The cost is $180 per user, per year, which is about $15 per user, per month.

Office 365 ProPlus, offers 5 licenses to install the Office software on PCs or Macs, and it also allows you to access the Microsoft Office 2013 via the web. You can access your Office 365 from any device, with all of your documents and settings stored in the cloud. It, however, lacks the business-specific capabilities the other packages offer. It’s user-friendly, giving you the tools necessary to update your apps and control various features. Office 365 ProPlus is offered at $144 per user and is meant for businesses who don’t find the other two packages appealing.

Microsoft is also keeping its original business offerings for businesses that don’t need the whole package. So for businesses that are satisfied by just using the Office web-based apps, or businesses that only need access to enterprise-grade email, those lower price options will still be available.

The post Microsoft Announces New Office 365 Plans for Businesses appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Zuckerberg suggests the company has worked to maintain privacy, including results only from publicly posted content or items shared privately with the searcher. Results are ranked by closest contacts, while also including content posted by mutual friends or other branches in the social network.

“People, photos, places and interests” form the foundation of the search tool, Zuckerberg says. Examples of potential queries include “music my friends like; restaurants in Chicago;” or “photos of my friends in 2009.”

A “refine this search” button enables users to narrow down the results, focusing on specific locations, types of content, or results visited by specific friends. As another example, someone can look for “friends of friends who are single men in San Francisco” to start a dating search, and at “who are from India” to further refine the search.

Users must sign up to participate in the beta program.

The post Facebook Launches ‘Graph Search’ Beta appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Flickr users who accept the Pro offer will be able to view their entire photo library instead of the last 200 images; can upload unlimited numbers of photos; can download originally-uploaded high-resolution photos, and also upload and play unlimited HD videos to the service. The upgrade requires users to click a banner on the website or within the mobile app, and does not require any form of payment or an automatic renewal before the trial run ends on March 22. Accounts will automatically revert back to their original status, though users can opt to pay $7 per quarter or a flat $25 per year to continue their Pro membership if they wish.

The timing of the offer appears to capitalize on the recent user uprising on Instagram, caused by a change to its terms of service. Originally, Instagram changed the user agreement to make clearer that it could potentially sell users’ images stored on the site with no compensation offered to the user, a language change more than a policy change — but one that has since been reverted back to the previous phrasing.

What many Instagram users may not understand, however, is that the ability of Instagram to use photos without compensation in advertising is still there, as it has always been. The company, which is searching for a sustainable business model, has clarified that although the agreement allows them to “sub-license” photos without payment or notification, it does not plan to do so, and will more thoroughly change the language in that section to reflect this at some future date.

Other services, such as Facebook, also have given themselves the right to use uploaded content as they wish without payment, such as in ads to promote the service. Flickr, by contrast, has taken a different approach: the company facilitates an optional “Creative Commons” license for user photos to aid in non-commercial sharing without copyright issues, and also features a program run in conjunction with Getty Images, allowing users to make photos available for consideration to purchase. If selected, the users receive payment for images sold through the stock photography company.

The post Merry Flickr – Flickr Offering Free Three Months Pro Account Trial – Usage Includes Unlimited Uploads appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Elsewhere, Google has added more detailed mapping data to 45 cities in Russia, including Vladivostok, Donetsk, and Sochi. The last is particularly significant, since the city will play host to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Previously Google supplied only the most basic coverage of the cities, such as major auto routes.

The post Gmail Now Allows Attachment up to 10GB Via Google Drive – Better Mapping for 45 Cities in Russia appeared first on Takes On Tech.

After selecting Enable Input Tools under Language in Settings, a new icon for Input Tools appears on the right hand side. The new menu lets users turn on and off any input tool they use, as well as set up new virtual keyboards when required. A Chrome extension, a Windows desktop client and an Android app are also able to be used, allowing the system to be used in other areas.

The addition of Input Tools means Gmail can now support typing in 75 languages, higher than the five initially supported when Indic Transliteration was introduced to Gmail in 2009.

The post Gmail Now Supports Typing in 75 Languages with Virtual Keyboards appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Gmail’s older video chat feature was based on peer-to-peer technology. Hangouts runs on Google’s network, allowing for higher quality and reliability. The new Hangouts feature will also allow users — if they’re on Google+ — to chat with up to nine people at once, whereas with the older implementation only one-to-one video chats were possible.

The new feature will be rolling out starting today, and the rollout will gradually continue over the next few weeks.

The post Hangouts Come to Gmail appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Sara McKinley, a Google+ product manager, described the changes yesterday as tweaks made following user feedback. The share box involves a set of standard sharing options, and will not be visible when others visit a profile page.

The option to display five scrapbook photos at the top of the profile has been changed to a single large cover photo. An upgrade button brings up a menu to choose from either a Google-supplied list of images, or a custom graphic. Images are automatically resized for the cover photo area, and can be adjusted into a correct position by dragging and dropping. Old cover images will be added to a new “Cover Photos” album, uncropped.

Some may consider the move to add cover photos copying the style of profile page currently used by Facebook as part of its Timeline design.

The post Google Does Some Minor Updates to Google+ Profile Pages appeared first on Takes On Tech.

The increased use of WebGL techniques will also give users an increased sense of height and make the transition between overhead and street-level views (where available) smoother. WebGL is also used to more seamlessly blend different photos of a place, and to “bend” photos to create more perspective and movement.

The MapsGL version has the added advantage of not requiring any client-side plug-ins to work, meaning that even older machines (with suitable graphics cards) can experience the complex graphic effects reasonably smoothly. WebGL is enabled in recent versions of Chrome and Firefox, and can be turned on in Safari 5.1 and later through the normally-hidden “develop” menu, which can be enabled in Safari’s advanced preferences. Those users who have installed Google Earth and it’s browser plug-in will see the same enhancements automatically via the plug-in.

The company has set up a number of “photo tours” of famous landmarks (such as the Coliseum in Rome) that users can experience once they have turned on the WebGL ability of their browser. Once detected, Google Maps will use MapsGL as the default, though users can go back to non-GL enhanced views if they desire.

The post Google MapsGL Now Has Enhanced 3D Buildings appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Uploads are now much faster, although this isn’t necessarily directly connected to the HTML5 code. Americans should see about 20 to 30 percent faster uploads, while Canada and other countries can see as much as a 60 percent boost. Reflecting larger sensor sizes on DSLRs, Pro accounts can now upload images as big as 50MB each; free users can upload 30MB files.

More updates were coming, Flickr said.

Yahoo’s photo sharing site has been conducting a sweeping overhaul of its services in the wake of major corporate restructuring. It has faced stiffer competition not just from conspicuous web rivals, such as 500px, but also social networks with a strong or primary focus on mobile photo uploading, like Google+ and Instagram.

The post Flickr Updates Uploader with HTML5, Faster Photo Transfers appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Core Points

• Drive gives new users 5 GB free for each user account. Upgrades are 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month. When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.
• Docs storage does not count against your Google Drive quota
• Desktop apps for Windows and OS X are available today. Android is there too but iOS won’t be here for a few more weeks.
• Drive will allow 30+ file types to open natively in the browser, including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and HD video.

It Has Search with OCR

Search everything. Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. It also uses image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your New York Citytrip into Drive, you can later search for [New York City] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and is expected to get better over time.

It worth taking for a spin but needs some work, especially on the stability of the Mac client, and iOS support before it can take on SugarSync or Drop Box

The post Google Launches Google Drive – For Now Not a SugarSync or Drop Box Killer appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Previously, folder sharing could only be done with other Dropbox users, with individual files accessible to non-users when shared through the public folder. The changes on the recently redesigned website, mobile apps, and soon on the desktop application allow for linking folders and files to anyone from anywhere in the Dropbox. Shared files can be previewed in the browser and then saved by the recipient to their computer or own Dropbox account.

This all takes place ahead of the expected Google Drive launch rumored for later this week, possibly as soon as Tuesday.

The post Dropbox Adds Links to Make Sharing Easier appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Typical traffic lets users see conditions based on a particular day of the week and time to avoid rush hour or other exceptional factors by taking alternate routes.

The new data should be accessible both on the web and on any device that supports the traffic layer. Coverage is worldwide and doesn’t require any intervention, although Google hasn’t said if or when live traffic might be available for more areas.

The post Google Maps Now Covers More Traffic Conditions appeared first on Takes On Tech.

The new maximum resolution size is 2048×2048 pixels, and users who wish to upload photos at this higher resolution need to click on the High Res box when creating an album. At the same time, the sRGB color profile of photos has been improved in order to improve colors while not affecting load speeds in a negative way.

The post Facebook Ups Photo Resolution by a Factor of Four appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Users can access the new content on the right hand side of venue pages and in Explore results. Many restaurants also include pricing icons that represent average costs.

Menus have been added to Foursquare’s desktop site and the web-based interface for mobile devices.

The post Foursquare Adds Restaurant Menus to Desktop and Mobile Site appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Notifications have been given their own important makeover. They now include previews of shared posts, +1 votes, and the profile photos of those who added you to circles.

The photo layout is now significantly improved, with better navigation, easier to read comments, and a new interface for tagging people in a given shot. Corporate Google+ pages can now at last have multiple designated admins, as many as 50, and let them keep track of activity from their own Google+ profiles through notifications. Metrics let companies see the total number of +1 and circle additions to gauge the success of the page.

The post Google Plus Tweaks Stream, Notifications, Photos appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Other contributions include SongKick for tracking and buying tickets for concerts from artists as well as apps from Billboard, Pitchfork, The Guardian, and other publications or services.

An App Finder, similar to an app store, lets users browse the selection of titles. Spotify is taking an Apple-like approach that requires approval, although the apps will be free for now.

Apps are currently limited to the desktop. Spotify is hoping to bring the app system to mobile or other non-computing devices. It’s not clear if Apple’s policies would clash with the new platform on iOS. Apple typically forbids internal app stores that don’t use iTunes, but having a completely free system based on web code may skirt the concerns.

The platform should be available now on Macs and Windows PCs.

The post Spotify Launches App Platform Based on HTML 5 with Support From Last.fm appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Trend Micro​ offers mobile apps to access the SafeSync service for Android, iPhone and iPad, and desktop or notebook users can access the service via web browser. Users can selectively sync folders on different computers or devices in order to avoid taking up too much space on any one device.

Users can right-click any folder to turn it into a SafeSync folder. The iPhone app works with iOS 3.1.3 or higher, and the Android app requires Android 2.1 or later. The service is available in the US immediately, and pricing starts at $40 per year, which includes 20GB. Existing users will be transitioned over to the new version. The price for 50GB for $90 per year, and 100GB is available for a yearly fee of $150. Multi-year agreements provide a small discount.

The post Trend Micro​ Launches SafeSync Cloud Service appeared first on Takes On Tech.

To preview a planned trip, users just need to click on the new 3D button that appears, where available, next to the suggested directions. Hit play, and the map switches to Earth view and automatically starts ‘flying’ along the recommended route.

The fly-over can be paused at any time by clicking anywhere in the 3D view or on the pause button in the lower left of the map. While the flight is paused, users can explore the surrounding area in 3D by clicking and dragging the map. When ready to resume the flight, users click on the play button in the lower left of the 3D view.

2D mode can be re-selected at any time by clicking on a “2D” button in the left of panel.

The post Helicopter View Comes to Google Maps appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Other than the look and under-the-hood design, users also get new auto-complete choices and personalized suggestions for adding new stations. Listener profiles have been changed, and a new music feed shows all friend activity. Stations can be shared easier thanks either to the share button or their own web link.

A shuffle button now exists for discovering new stations and boosting variety. There is also more access to artist information, find lyrics, and read biographies, as well as an expanded album art size.

The new site is rolling out gradually, and the process will be completed this week. Its HTML5 support should let it work on iPads, Android 3 tablets, and other devices that can handle HTML5 audio.

The post Pandora’s New HTML5 Site Removes 40-Hour Listening Cap appeared first on Takes On Tech.

“Juggling due dates and amounts owed, and jumping from websites to paper statements, is tedious and confusing. Busy people have better ways to spend their time and money, such as saving toward a goal,” said Aaron Forth, vice president and general manager of the Intuit Inc.’s Personal Finance Group.

How it Works
When logging into Mint.com, users will see regular bills automatically identified and added to the new Bill Reminders feature, based on prior bank statements and monthly spending patterns. From there, users can:

• See all bills in one place: Eliminate the need to log into multiple sites to track upcoming due dates.
• Get bill due date alerts: Receive email or text message reminders to avoid missed payments, late or overdraft fees.
• View a timeline of bills: See upcoming and past bills on the homepage.
• Add any type of bill: Add any bills that are not automatically included, assign the bill a name, input an amount and choose a due date.

We spoke to Mee-Sun Yuk , a product manager at Mint.com, before the launch of the new feature who told us the new feature was tested for several weeks by a group of users from including some their most active members of their support forums.  We pointed out one of things we would like to see happen in which the feature would have red bar replace a green bar when you have missed a payment. This is something which will be addressed in the future update.  We here at at ToT think that would be a great addition to an already great product.  Over the last 18 months Mint has really stepped up its game in features and UI and we look forward to seeing what they will do next.

Future of Mobile Clients

Some of you have asked about BlackBerry and Windows 7 clients app for Mint and for now the next app on the horizon is one for the iPad.

The post Mint.com Launches New Bill Reminder Feature appeared first on Takes On Tech.

RAW is an uncompressed way of saving images with a one-to-one correspondence between the pixels captured by a camera’s image sensors and what is saved to the file. RAW also provides finer control and more image information than other formats such as JPEG, where the image is processed before it reaches the camera’s storage.

To work with RAW files, Windows users must first download and install the Microsoft Camera Codec Pack. The user can then import the images. Photo Gallery always creates a JPEG copy of the file, and the finished work can be saved either as a JPEG or JPEG-XR file. JPEG-XR, Microsft’s self-developed standard, can reportedly save the compressed file with the same quality as the original.

The post Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 Now Supports RAW Format appeared first on Takes On Tech.

Users can choose from two different options, each geared for a different screen size. In a blog post, Google Experience Designer Jason Cornwell notes that the new interface will eventually expand dynamically for various sizes and preferences. The focus on scaling capabilities suggests the utilities are being redesigned with touch-based input in mind.

“This is part of a Google-wide effort to bring you an experience that’s more focused, elastic, and effortless across all of our products,” Cromwell writes.

The same general appearance has also been brought to the Calendar, which offers a streamlined and simplified interface. The create button is now highlighted in red, with entries prominently displayed on a pale grid.

To access the new designs, users can click on the gears icon in Calendar and choose ‘Try the new look,’ or wait for the automatic transition over the next few days. The Gmail launch is said to be further off, as the company must work out issues with Labs features, but users can choose ‘Preview’ or ‘Preview (Dense)’ in the themes menu to take an early look.

“You can also expect some updated themes that embody the same design principles but are better suited to working in a dark environment, use a different color palette, or include the illustrations that we know many of you love to see around your inbox,” Cromwell adds. “Look out for these and other new features over the next few months.”

The post Google Redoes Gmail, Calendar UIs to Match Google+ appeared first on Takes On Tech.

The bar is expected to eventually leave Google pages either through browser extensions as well as websites. Mobile versions may also come, Google says. To help spur sharing, members can create or follow Sparks, or threads of common interests. Google’s earlier +1 button will come back into play with Google+ now hosting all +1 votes in a given profile.

Video chat is a core component and revolves around Hangouts. The approach lets friends notify each other they’re willing to chat from nearly any area and will automatically notify others in a Circle if a conversation starts up between Circle members. Chats are much more ambitions than with Google’s usual services and can handle as many as 10 people with media sharing and an intelligent focus that switches the attention to whoever’s speaking.

Mobile devices are already a strong focus. Only Android users for now get an Instant Upload feature that can automatically share photos and videos to a given Circle, but both Android, iPhone, and text messaging users will have group messaging for Circles through a platform known as Huddle.

The service is currently in a small trial but is expected to grow in the near future.

For Google, the new service is its most direct attempt to keep Facebook from gaining what it sees as too much control of social networking and sharing on the web.

The post Google+ – Google’s New Social Networking Service appeared first on Takes On Tech.