Google Glass Update XE 10

Google released their update for Glass a little more than a week ago and following the trend of other updates, named it XE10. This update is not as large as XE9, but does bring with it some interesting new features.

Firstly, it has the ability to inform you of mass transit features near your location. Things like where to change trains and how far is the next bus stop are now added in Glass. In addition to this, Glass users can now tap links in Google Glass. This has been a big problem for many glass users for a while now, so it seems that Google are indeed working on customer feedback.

There's also the addition of Avatars in messages and comments, which is pretty useful. Further to these updates, coders have also found files related to double blink detection in the Gaze folder. This could mean the use of double blinking as a selection mechanism in future Google Glass updates. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how that one pans out.

Google Glass Update XE 9 has arrived

The Google Glass update for September has arrived. Officially named XE9, Glass now comes with updated features including new Google Now cards. These include Nearby Photo Spot which alerts you to a popular photo spot. There are also Transit cards which identifies mass transit opportunities and Reminder cards.

In addition to the above, there is a feature called Sound Search. Basically, this program will listen to a clip of a music track of your choosing and then try to identify the name of the song as well as the artist. This sounds like a real time waster to me but no doubt will be quite enjoyable.

A new feature called vignettes has also been debuted. This allows you to post a screenshot of your Glass display above a photo. Google apps account support and news results in search are also noteworth additions.

All the Glass explorers out there will certainly be happy with the XE 9 update for September. It is clear that Google is putting serious effort behind their updates for Glass so it seems that, at least for now, Google Glass is on pace to make its retail debut in the future.

Next Google Pagerank Update

Many people are wondering when the next Google pagerank update will be. While we can't say for sure the exact date, we can say that it usually occurs within a timeframe of 3 months apart. Therefore, since the first pagerank update of 2013 was on February 4th, the second update should have been in May. Unfortunately for those of us who were eagerly anticipating this, it still has not yet arrived.
As of today, June 19th, it is now expected that the pagerank will be updated by July 15th. I'm certainly keeping my fingers crossed that this date will prove to be true. Now, it must be noted that pagerank in and of itself is not a determining factor for Serp positioning or for any traffic to your website at all. Many bloggers tend to get carried away with achieving a high pagerank only to be very disappointed when the expected flood of traffic does not arrive. In fact, I've seen PR2/3 websites outrank PR6/7 websites for competing keyword terms!
Hence, for great Serp positioning it is far more important to have great content and backlinks from authority sites in your niche. Social media backlinks are also proving to be worth your while, as it not only shows Google that your website has social signals but you can get a great deal of traffic from these sites as well.
So, in summation, it would be nice to have the pagerank update by mid July, but if this does not occur one should not be too disturbed. As a blogger in the post Panda and Penguin period, content is really and truly king.

Top 5 SEO Points for Webmasters

Confused when it comes to search engine optimization? If you are a webmaster and in to SEO(you really should be), then you know the insane volume of information there is out there about search engine optimization. The discussion as regards to linkbuilding alone can make you feel like you're in college again. Therefore, it is advisable to narrow your area of focus as it relates to SEO and concentrate on the most important core points. The question then arises, what are these core points? Check out the video below with Google's Matt Cutts explaining some of the more important areas to focus on when it comes to SEO. Obviously, he is speaking with reference to Google but the points mentioned are important for any search engine. Bing users have no need to worry though, as I will be discussing Bing on this site in a later post. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Google Glass Demos

Image Courtesy Ars Electronica

The $1500 explorer edition of Google Glass is out and already users have uploaded videos taken using the device. Google Glass is a head mounted display (HMD) device that can basically be viewed as a wearable computer. It is capable of taking pictures and video. Additionally, it works with many Google apps including Google Now, Google + among others. Google has also released the API so that apps can be developed for Glass.
It is Google's hope that this project will become a major success in the future, but only time will tell. For now, check out the Google Glass videos below and don't forget to post a comment with your thoughts on Glass.

 

Courtesy Dan McLaughlin

 

 Courtesy Laura Ockel