JPEG Alternative

     In today's world we want everything-and fast. This statement could not be any more true for the web especially. But is it fast enough? For most things we use it for, I would say the answer is probably yes. Still, Google is planning to revolutionize still images on the web with a new format called WebP. Research indicates that this new format could cut image file sizes by 40% compared to a JPEG format. This is important information to users since Google estimates that 65% of bytes on the web are from images. The higher compression efficiency measurement came from a sample of one million images that Google took from the web. About 90% were JPEG and 10% were PNG and GIF. If WebP is well received and adopted by users it will allow for faster file transfers and lower network burden.

     Although this sounds like something that could be useful for making the web faster for users in all aspects, it still faces a lot of challenges. JPEG is probably the most used format, probably because it is often the default format therefore people feel comfortable with it. That isn't going to change overnight. Microsoft has also tried to promote an alternate format (JPEG XR), for years in fact, with little progress. JPEG XR format offers greater dynamic range, a wider range of colors and more efficient compression. However it doesn't receive support aside from native- Internet Explorer and Windows. Google acknowledges that launching WebP will take a lot of effort and promotion.

     Google is taking the first steps by talking to browser makers and trying to get vendors to support WebP. Since Google is a dominant browser and has several other successful webpages they have a good chance of making this a successful and real technology whereas other companies have not been able to. Google plans to release WebP software which will let users convert graphics to WebP images and judge the quality for themselves.


This image has been encoded with WebP. Because browsers can't show WebP natively today, this WebP image actually is displayed here as a PNG graphic that captures the WebP version without changes. In its WebP incarnation, the image is 36,154 bytes.
(Credit: Google)

The same image encoded with JPEG. Its file size is 46,768 bytes.
(Credit: Google)

Untagged

      New technology is allowing researchers to track and study animals without having to tag them with identity and radio tags. Normally biologists use plastic cattle tags that are numbered, but these often fall off and are stressful to the animals because they have to be captured and sedated in order to be tagged. Scientists have now learned that animals can be tracked by their identifying features, for example spots and stripes. It is better to use these “fingerprints” to their advantage since they do not change over an animal’s lifetime.  Tags are not only stressful, but they often fall off over time, resulting in the loss of valuable information.

     The Dutch Center for Mathematics and Computing  in Amsterdam has developed an algorithm that can identify leatherback sea turtles from their pink spot, a patch on top of their heads unique to each turtle, and convert it into a biomarker.  A conservation network called Wildecast tested this technology on digital photos of sea turtles and now plans to add this system to its Obis-Seamap database, where biologists can upload photos of sea turtles and where they have been spotted. From the database they can find out if the turtle has already been electronically IDed and get details about its age, where it has been seen before, and where it’s from.  Basically anyone who comes across a sea turtle and has a camera could take a picture and upload it to the database if they wanted to. Once the photos are uploaded and identified researchers can then build a profile for each specimen and track its activities and locations. Other researchers are hoping to continue this process on penguins by the spots on their chests and on sharks by the jagged line patterns on their dorsal fin.  Eventually this technology will be used to track other animals as well.

      Ultimately this is a much easier, safer and more organized way to keep track of animals and gain more consistent research on them.  Now anyone from researchers to photographers to hikers could possibly contribute to specific studies or just expand the database that easily and quickly. 
 

Twitter Re-design

     Within the next few weeks Twitter will reveal its new website which will make viewing information on the site easier in all aspects. Even the co-founder of the website admitted, "...he was surprised that so many people use the service-160 million- given how difficult its website is to navigate". Although the site has been up since 2006 they have not had the resources for the re-design until now, which is unfortunate since apparently the site has many flaws and crashes frequently.

     Some of the main problems are having to go to new pages to learn more about a post or author of a post, following conversations is difficult and photo links within posts bring users to a new site altogether. Now users will be able to manage information between two panels rather than on a timeline of posts. Posts will be in the left pane and in the right there will be more information about the author of the post, photos and videos. This will eliminate having to click back and forth between pages or being redirected to a separate site. Posts will now be continuous so its easier to follow and manage conversations.

     While I don't personally use this site, I know people who do and it seems like these changes will be really effective. Twitter grew at a rate unexpected by its developers and they weren't able to keep up with the changes. However at least they are now working to make the site better for the users and keeping them in mind for the changes they are making.

Google TV

     For most people, TV is a popular form of entertainment. Even if you don't watch a lot of TV, I'm sure there's at least one show you like to watch from time to time, or consistently follow. However like almost every other type of technology, the way we watch TV is about to undergo some changes.
  
      Recently Google announced that within the next few months Google TV will launch in the United States. Although everyone loves the quality and familiarity of television and home entertainment setups, more and more people are using their  cell phones and especially the internet to get their entertainment. Accessing and finding whatever you want, whenever you want is doable via the web, which TV currently lacks. But not for long.

     Google is working to combine the high quality experience of TV with the ease and possibilities of the internet. With Google TV users can get the channels they want along with websites, videos, music and photo sites. The technology is like a cable box that connects to the TV and uses a search option to allow the user to navigate to whatever specific show, website, app, etc. they want by simply typing it in. You can also browse or get help to find what you're searching for. The Google TV home screen is where you can access your favorites to easily view what you like most. Google is working with a variety of companies to further this technology, some of them being: Jinni, Rovi, Sony, Logitech and Intel. The device is set to go on sale this fall through Best Buy.

     I think this sounds like something that could be pretty successful and useful if it can live up to all it is claiming to do. There is obviously a need and want for this type of technology as it would make entertainment viewing a lot easier for users by combining the most popular forms of entertainment into one system in addition to providing all the content we want available at any time on our TV screen. Other services have tried to do similar things and have not had much success, for example Apple TV and Roku. They allow users to stream from the internet but don't provide live TV. Conversely  Tivo and Microsoft provide the TV portion but are very limited when it comes to the web. If Google TV is able to provide all of the content (which is one of the speculated problems among potential users) it would be able to surpass the other providers.

     Google TV is also leading the way for "social TV", which is what other internet companies are working on. With the success of Facebook and Twitter researchers also want to create technology that allows people to share and discuss what they are watching via their TV screen. I'm sure this would interest people since part of the fun of watching TV has always been talking about what you watched on TV and looking to friends or people with similar interests to provide suggestions on others shows you might like. Learn more about Google TV below!

First Post

This week in class we discussed what we liked and disliked about the way the Amazon website behaves. Ultimately everyone decided that there is just too much information being presented to the user at once and on top of that it isn’t organized in the most utilitarian way. It was concluded that the site isn’t set up for the user but set up mainly for the needs of the sellers. So I thought about a similar site that is organized better in some ways.

A shopping site I use pretty often and sell things on is www.etsy.com. The way the main page is constructed is a lot more user friendly. The left hand side has a navigation bar with a category list making it easy for the user to select what they are looking for. Then once a category is selected, for example, accessories, the left side navigation changes to display all the subcategories, for example jewelry, wallets, etc. while leaving out all previous unrelated information. Amazon does this too, however I feel that Etsy does it in a more organized way with less steps taken to actually getting there. I feel like the way Amazon is set up repeats a lot of the same things over and over whereas on Etsy because it is simplified and better organized it’s easier to navigate. 

Just like on Amazon you can create an account, save items you like and get suggestions about other items you may like. However it is once again done in an organized way that isn’t in your face as soon as you sign in. It is there for the user to navigate to if they choose to. It is also easier to keep track of what you actually like this way. By clicking ‘your account’ in the uppermost left corner you are directed to your page and the left side navigation changes to list ‘your purchases’, ‘favorites’ ‘suggested items’, etc. Once you do click any of these options the information is set up more like a list form with small thumbnail pictures in a clean and coherent way that doesn’t overwhelm the user but actually might encourage them to look through. It’s not that there is any less or any more information to be presented on either of these websites, it just shows that less is definitely more when it comes down to making the experience of using the site better for the people who are actually using it.