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Google Plus updates with huge cover photos and visual changes to profiles

March 7th, 2013 3 Comments

Google Plus updates with huge cover photos and visual changes to profiles

Google Plus got a an update yesterday which now allows you to set a massive cover photo on your profile. The size is so huge that when you visit a profile, it occupies almost 90% of the screen space. These cover photos can be up to 2120px by 1192px in size and display in 16×9 when fully expanded. Animated gif images can also be used as cover photos adding to the fun and allowing you to be more creative.

Hovering over someone’s name brings up this stylish hovercard which presents quite a bit of info about the person or page. Scrolling below the humungous cover photo on a profile, the tabs have been re-designed with a Holo-esque design which is mostly used in Android apps. “Holo” is a design theme the Android team introduced in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It looks like it is being applied to other Google products as well.

The “About” tab has gone through some changes and has separate cards for each category like work and education. This seems a little reminiscent of the current “About” section in Facebook. But Google Plus has made it much more lively with subtle highlights in colour.

Clicking on edit under any of these cards brings up this beautiful and elegant pop-up. You can click on the circles at the top to cycle through the various categories and section available and fill up the relevant info. You can also choose with which circles which of your info is being shared or set it to public if you wish.

In case you have written local reviews for any places, these will show up under the new “Review” tab. Please note that this tab will not be visible if you have not written any reviews.

Overall, the redesign seems to be very slick and the use of various colour hues for different tabs and sections give it a more vibrant feel. The massive cover photos might be irksome to a few users, but the excellent community of photographers on Google Plus will find it quite useful to show case their work more easily. One of them has even shared an album of his works for users to use as their cover photos. This update has arrived right on the eve of Facebook’s big announcement which many claim to be related to a new “News Feed”. Ultimately users will decide which of these two are more striking as well as productive.

What are your impressions of the new visual changes on Google Plus? Share your views with us here.

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Indian Women are now safeguarding themselves with Smartphones

March 4th, 2013 2 Comments

Indian Women are now safeguarding themselves with Smartphones

Indian women now have a few tools to strike back against creeps and other harassers thanks to the advent of Internet and smartphones. While only a small percentage of women might have access to these tools, it is nonetheless a precedent for more such safeguards to come.

A new site called Safecity.in collects reports of incidents of harassment from all over the country and plots them on an online map alerting others as well. You only need to fill a simple form about the location and what kind of harassment you faced and it will be uploaded to the site. You can also fill in the information anonymously if you wish. These reports will create “hotspots” of unsafe areas on the map. According to the site, this information can be made use of in the following ways :

By individuals to check potential safe and unsafe areas.

By the law enforcement agencies to increase security measures in unsafe areas.

By local businesses in the hotspots to be more aware and help change the situation.

You can sign up for alerts of the area you are concerned about. The site can also be used to scout out any new area if you plan to head over there so that you can prepare yourself accordingly. You can get alerts by signing up here. The site has also released a mobile app called SafeTrac for Android and other Java supported phones which can be downloaded from here.

Fightback is another such mobile app which is available for a variety of smartphones. FightBack uses GPS, SMS, location maps, GPRS ,email and your Facebook account to inform your loved ones in case you are in danger. You can download it from here.

The Stipator app lets a commuter be tracked while traveling, posting their whereabouts periodically on popular social networks. The posts are secured and are visible to only those whom the commuter has provided permissions to view. You can login using your Facebook account here.

The Mumbai police has also released an Android app called ICE (In Case of Emergency) which can send an SOS message with one touch, provide helpful tips on personal and cyber safety and find the nearest hospitals based on your position using your GPS among other features.

While all these apps have their limitations, they would no doubt provide a modicum of safety to women when in trouble. Especially since the use of smartphones are on the rise and the prices have become quite cheap too. In the end, safety has no price. Do let us know of any other useful apps or sites you may have come across.

You can connect with us here – TECHDIVINE CREATIVE SERVICES on Facebook — Twitter— LinkedIn — YourSMQ on LinkedIn — Google Plus —- Slideshare — Android App.

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