Google Gesture Search Lets Android Users Draw Searches

Google has a new way for Android users (2.0 and up) to search on their mobile devices. The company has introduced a new Google Labs application that lets users search for apps, bookmarks, music tracks, etc. by drawing alphabet gestures on their touch screen.

"Say you want to call your friend Anne," explains Google Research Scientist Yang Li. "Just open Gesture Search and draw letter 'A', and Gesture Search returns a list of items that have words starting with 'A'. If your handwriting isn't all that neat, that's okay. If the 'A' you draw looks a bit like an 'H', as seen in the bottom left corner of the screenshot, 'H' results will be brought up as well. If needed, you can also erase a query by crossing it horizontally: left to right erases the entire query, and right to left removes the last letter or space in the query. Now you can either scroll down the list to find Anne or write more letters to refine the search."

The Gesture Search application even goes so far as to "improve search quality" by learning from past searches. So theoretically, searches you do repeatedly with this feature will get easier the more you use it.

The app is available in the Android Market. It's important to remember it's a "Labs" launch, because that means it is subject to bugs and imperfections. It also means, however, that Google is open to feedback on the product, and the company is asking for that here.

Yahoo Hires New SVP Of Partnerships

Without getting into whether they're right or wrong, it's safe to state that some of Yahoo's critics might say the company needs all the help it can get.  Those same critics might be interested to hear, then, that Yahoo has hired someone whose primary job will be to connect Yahoo with other organizations.

Raymond Stern joins Yahoo as its new senior vice president of North America partnerships and business development.  His professional background is fairly impressive, as he's spent time at big, powerful entities like the Boston Consulting Group (as a partner) and Intuit (as the SVP of strategy and CMO).

Stern's also operated at the other end of the size continuum, serving as the president and CEO of a small company called Presto Services.

And what's more, Stern attended a couple of first-rate schools - both Stanford and Harvard.

So Yahoo's corporate friend-making efforts appear to be in good hands.  And it should be interesting to see if there are any significant breakthroughs in the near future as a result of Stern's arrival.

Anyway, a hat tip goes to Kara Swisher.

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Yahoo Launches Comedy Clip Show

Yahoo has launched a new original online series sponsored by ConAgra Foods, called "What's So Funny?"

"What's So Funny?" features daily three-minute clips with hosts Mike Bachmann and Shira Lazar, which recap the funniest moments from the previous night's prime time lineup.

Viewers can vote on the funniest moments of the week, helping to decide the content for a weekend episode recapping the week's most humorous moments. Each episode will include a 30 to 60-second ad that features a ConAgra Foods brand.

"Yahoo! continues to expand its portfolio of branded entertainment programming, allowing brands to connect with our audience in unique and meaningful ways," said Erika Nardini, vice president brand packaging, Yahoo!

"With 'What's So Funny?,' Yahoo! and the brands of ConAgra Foods will bring together the best ingredients for a daily laugh."

The sponsoring brand also will be featured on the "What's So Funny?" homepage, which will be linked from Yahoo TV. MediaCom, ConAgra's media agency, helped create and develop the program in partnership with Yahoo.

 

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Tweeting Habits Parsed By Time, Day

A new report has shed some light on the habits of Twitter users.  The good people of Pingdom tracked the number of tweets sent over the course of three weeks, and today, released their statistics regarding what days and times folks most like to send messages in under 140 characters.

Some broader facts may be in order first, though.  A Royal Pingdom blog post stated, "[T]he average number of tweets per day was over 27.3 million.  The average number of tweets per hour was 1,138,772."

Also, "The highest number of tweets per hour we measured was 1,841,289," and "the lowest number of tweets measured during the period was 566,854 per hour . . ."

Now, as for the specifics.  In one sense, there's no surprise on the time front; people don't tweet as much during traditional sleeping hours.  Otherwise, Pingdom recorded steady activity throughout the day.  Which could signal good things for Twitter, since individuals aren't just playing around with it when they're already stuck in front of a computer.

Interestingly, users don't exactly abandon it on weekends, either (although the number of tweets does decline a little).  And at the rate things are going, the Royal Pingdom blog post noted that it shouldn't be long before Twitter is processing one billion tweets per month.

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