Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Safe ducks! Donald and Daisy speak up for cybersafety
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Please be careful when you are trying to impress Daisy Duck. Not everybody is who they seem to be. If you give away your password, then you can end up with someone stealing your rich uncle's fortune!
Does this sound strange? Well, it makes perfect sense if you read a recent
special edition
of the Donald Duck magazine in Norway focused on online safety. We recently teamed up with industry associations and public and private partners to produce the magazine. More than 300,000 copies were distributed to Norwegian kindergartens.
Kids growing up in this digital age use the Internet for pretty much everything; entertainment, communication, education and when they get that far; new technologies will play an important role in their work. Never has a generation needed digital guidance as the one growing up now. And we were thinking: who would be a better digital guide for kids than Donald Duck?
In the book, Donald gets himself into trouble. He is guarding his uncle’s fortune with the help of a gigantic robot but trying as always to charm Daisy Duck - this time on the Internet. An unsuspecting Donald is lured into downloading a virus and giving away his password to Magica de Spell on “Duckbook”. No surprise: she takes control of the robot and the fortune.
However, all ends well, Donald even gets a prize for his digital skills and hopefully Donald and the tips and tricks in the magazine helps kids to safely enjoy the benefits of the Internet.
Posted by Martin Ruby, Public Policy, Copenhagen
Celebrating the 50th country on Street View
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Whether you're planning a summer vacation to visit
the Colosseum
or exploring potential neighborhoods for your next move, Street View gives you instant access to the places you want to see -- even before you leave the house. We launched Street View
in 2007 in five U.S. cities
to give you what we called a “feet on the ground” experience and have since been growing the program to make it more comprehensive, accurate and useful for everyone.
Today, we’ve reached 50 countries with the launch of Street View in Hungary and Lesotho and are significantly expanding our coverage in Poland and Romania, among other locations around the world. This is also the
largest single update
of Street View imagery we’ve ever pushed, including new and updated imagery for nearly 350,000 miles of roads across 14 countries.
Now you can take a virtual stroll through the historic center of Budapest, right along the Danube (the river that carves the city in two). See the
Hungarian Parliament building
or the famous
Chain bridge
.
View Larger Map
Budapest, Lánchíd (Chain bridge)
Other Hungarian treasures to be discovered include the
Széchenyi thermal bath
, the largest medicinal bath in Europe, as well as the wonders of
Buda castle
.
Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South Africa, is the only independent state that sits entirely 1,000m or more above sea level. Explore some of the mountainous imagery captured by our Street View cars, including
the winding roads
and
lakes
.
View Larger Map
Leribe District, Lesotho
Other sights include the
Lesotho Evangelical Church
, which is one of Africa's oldest Protestant churches, founded in 1833 by missionaries from Paris, and the
traditional architecture
in Nkesi, Maseru.
We’re also refreshing and expanding existing Street View coverage in France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore and Thailand. And, we’ve added new special collections of a host of picturesque spots—using our
Street View Trike
technology -- that include Portugal’s
Pena National Palace
, or the
Sha Tin Che Kung Temple
in Hong Kong or the
Kilkenny Castle in Irelan
d.
View Larger Map
Kilkenny Castle, Ireland
From the first handful of
U.S. cities
, to the now thousands of cities and villages worldwide, we’ve spent the past six years updating Google Maps for you. From
Antarctica
to
Australia
, from
South Korea
to
South Africa
, from the
snow-capped peaks of Everest
to the
Great Barrier Reef
, you can navigate more than 5 million miles of the world, without ever leaving home. So spin the globe and take a walk through any one of the 50 countries now on Street View.
Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Program Manager, Google Street View
Following the lead of nature's engineers
Monday, April 22, 2013
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
It’s no surprise that Google appreciates engineers. And this Earth Day, we’re looking at some of our favorite engineers from nature to see how they can teach us to treat the environment better. We’ve created a
website
where we can see the beauty and ingenuity of the natural world through photos from National Geographic. We also want to provide easy ways to be greener in our own lives, so this site shows us how we can all be like those organisms by taking simple actions to care for the environment.
For instance, until recently I’d never heard of a
remora
. Turns out that these fish latch on to other ocean creatures such as whales and turtles to catch rides. In a way, these fish are using their own form of mass transit. To be like the remora and travel with a lighter footprint, we can plan trips using rapid
transit
. Or we can be inspired by
bears
—the true experts on “sleep mode”—to
save energy
in our own lives by
adjusting
our home thermostat and using energy efficient appliances.
Our doodle today also acknowledges the interconnections of the natural world. You can interact with elements of the environment to affect the seasons, weather and wildlife.
As another way to move from awareness to action, we’re hosting a Google+ Hangout On Air
series
focused on pressing environmental issues. We’ll kick it off today at 12pm ET with a Hangout on Air connecting NASA (live from Greenland), National Geographic explorers from around the world, and Underwater Earth (live from the Great Barrier reef). Throughout the week, we’ll hold daily Hangouts on Air covering topics such as clean water and animal conservation.
This Earth Day and every day, let’s take a moment to marvel at the wonder of nature and do our part to protect the natural ecosystem we all depend on. A salute to
nature’s engineers
!
Posted by Erin Reilly, Google Green team
Happy birthday Campus London. You’ve grown up so fast.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Just over 12 months ago,
Campus London
opened its doors to the young, upcoming London tech startup community. I’d like to think we always knew it would succeed, but I don’t think any of us expected the level of engagement and enthusiasm we’ve seen in year one.
In just 365 days of operation, Campus now has more than 10,000 members, permanently houses more than 100 young companies and has hosted more than 850 events, attracting more than 60,000 guests through the door. From individual entrepreneurs looking to explore their back-of-a-napkin idea to global venture fund managers, there’s something for everyone in the London tech scene at Campus, and the vibe is electric.
We asked Campus members to provide their feedback and outlook on year one, and their
response
has been overwhelmingly positive. Campus-based companies are growing and creating jobs. One in four are already looking to find bigger office spaces to house their growing teams. We’ve also seen that the success of the London technology startup community as a whole has mirrored that of Campus.
Campus members are younger than the average Tech City entrepreneur, and with initiatives like Women@Campus, increasingly more female entrepreneurs are signing up. Campus is also truly international, with 22 nationalities working, interacting and attending the many mentoring sessions and classes we and our Google volunteers run every day.
Looking ahead to the next year and beyond, we’re offering even more: more globally-acclaimed speakers, a new Campus EDU education programme offering mentorship from Googlers, inspirational talks from thought leaders like Guy Kawasaki, Eric Schmidt and Jimmy Wales, and a curriculum of classes to develop the skills young startups need to build successful businesses.
Google started as a two-person startup in a garage in California. We’re looking to provide the best possible garage to our 10,000 members every day. And so far, all indicators show that Campus is one of the most exciting places in the world for technological innovation.
Posted by Eze Vidra, Head of Campus
Harnessing the Internet to boost Africa's economy
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Over the last few years Internet penetration has continued to grow in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the access gap remains significant in most countries, policy makers and the public now know that it’s not just a question of getting more Africans online, but also about the economic benefits that the Internet can bring. For example, last year
a study in South Africa
showed that the Internet economy contributes up to $7.1 billion/R59-billion (or 2 percent) to South Africa’s gross domestic product.
A new report by
Dalberg Global Development Advisors
, supported by Google Africa, is one of the first studies to examine the Internet’s impact on, and potential contribution to, social and economic development in several Sub-Saharan Africa countries. It reveals how Internet-enabled services are affecting the public and private sectors in agriculture, health, finance, education, governance, energy & transport, and SME growth. The report also analyses the pre-conditions for impact, looking at both business and ICT infrastructure as well as factors that influence how and why users get online. The findings are based on a survey of 1,300 organizations in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal.
One of the key findings of the report is that Small and Medium Enterprises are surprisingly optimistic about the Internet’s potential. More than 80 percent of SME owners expected that the Internet will help them grow their business.
In addition, the report identifies big opportunities for cost savings as businesses shift to enterprise systems powered by the Internet. For example, in Kenya the
National Health Insurance Fund
reduced its administrative costs from 60% to 32% by automating its claims processing, accessing real-time data and tracking payment processes. In agriculture, access to online information is creating price transparency, improving supply chain management and providing climate and growth data which ultimately reduces costs and increases farmer incomes.
Manobi’s
time to market service estimates that it has increased gum producer incomes by 40-50% by creating price transparency across local and international markets. Another interesting development is the growing linkage between mobile money and commerce, with services like
Pesapal
, MTN mMoney and
Pagatech
creating the infrastructure to generate Internet-based commerce. Meanwhile in healthcare, organizations are leveraging the Internet to reduce training costs for nurses.
The primary challenge for policymakers is to align policy across three dimensions - ICT policy, sector policy and general policies for doing business - in order to create the right environment to capture the Internet’s potential. Some governments in the countries featured have succeeded in creating the right market conditions. However, policymakers need to ensure ongoing investment in both core infrastructure and the conditions that drive Internet usage, including access, awareness, and attractivenes. These are needed to foster thriving ecosystems that drive both economic and social gains. Without such investments, policy makers risk missing out on the full benefits of the Internet.
We hope that this report will help governments and policymakers across the region better understand how they can take advantage of the Internet to drive their economies, to remain competitive and to benefit their citizens. You can learn more at
http://www.impactoftheinternet.com
.
Posted by Ory Okolloh, Policy and Government Relations Manager, Google Africa
Van Gogh's Starry Night tops Art Project rankings
Monday, April 15, 2013
Today is
World Art Day
and it's around two years since we
launched
Google Art Project. In honour of this and all our partners, large and small, traditional and modern, let’s take a quick look at how people are interacting with art online.
The Internet brings paintings to life and it seems that
The Starry Night
by van Gogh is the one that visitors to Art Project admire the most. In the past six months, this was the most viewed painting in
gigapixel
—an extremely high resolution painting which allows viewers to zoom in to brushstroke level. While nothing beats seeing a painting in real life, the ability to examine a work of art in this level of detail seems to be encouraging viewers to linger. One minute is the average time spent looking at any given painting on the Art Project website, compared to under 20 seconds (according to several studies) in a museum.
The Starry Night is also the most frequently included painting in
user galleries
, where individuals create and share their own virtual art collections. We have 40,000 works of art on the platform but some remain perennial favourites. The other most popular inclusions in user galleries (in order) are:
Botticelli:
The Birth of Venus
Rembrandt:
Self Portrait Drawing at a Window
van Gogh:
The Bedroom
Manet:
In the Conservatory
Bruegel (the Elder):
The Harvesters
van Gogh:
Sunflowers
Holbein (the Younger):
The Ambassadors
van Gogh:
Field with Flowers near Arles
Böcklin:
The Isle of the Dead
Starry Night on Art Project
Viewings of user galleries were in fact higher than any individual artist or painting. To date, 360,000 galleries have been created, 14,000 of which are public on the web. To mark World Art Day, we asked some of our
partners
to curate user galleries of their own. Take a look through the selections of eight museum directors
here
.
Given the list above, it’s clear the classics remain popular with viewers, but there is increasing interest in modern art as well, with
Dali
and
Klimt
featuring among the most searched for artists. The Internet has also allowed users to explore multiple genres in a single destination. More than 30 different mediums co-exist on Art Project with oil on canvas next to over 5,000 objects including
silk textiles
,
sculptures
and
furniture
. There can't be many places where you can find
Brazilian street art
alongside
Botticelli
.
Many partners who have contributed an art collection have also opted to put their museums on Street View. On average, visitors spend around two minutes exploring the interior of the buildings and viewing the paintings on display. The most-visited Street View destination on Art Project is
The White House
. As the majority of us will never get the opportunity to go inside, the Internet allows a rare glimpse into a global institution that also houses an extensive art
collection
.
With over 200 partners from 43 countries, we continue our quest to open up access to art to millions of professionals, students, beginners and amateur enthusiasts. At 1pm ET today, we’ll be holding the latest in our
Art Talks
series on our
G+ page
, which aims to put art lovers in touch with art experts online. Sign up
here
to hangout with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to chat about multimedia in the arts from the comfort of your armchair on World Art Day.
Posted by Amit Sood, Google Cultural Institute
Music to your ears! Five more countries get Google Play Music
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Today music lovers in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal can join their European neighbours in the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, and buy their favourite songs and albums on
Google Play
, our digital entertainment destination for Android devices and the web.
Music first launched on Google Play in Europe in November 2012, and the fast rollout to more countries today is due to the multi-territorial licensing process, as
recommended by the European Commission
last year. We have 14 multi-territorial licenses for composition rights covering Europe and representing the vast majority of the world’s music, and have recently welcomed the members of AKM/AUME in Austria, SABAM in Belgium, SPA in Portugal, and IMRO in Ireland into our growing list of author’s society partners.
Google Play makes it easy for you to buy your favourite songs and albums, and instantly add them to your music library. You can add up to 20,000 songs from your existing music collection to Google Play instantly, and listen to your music from any computer or Android phone or tablet, even when you’re offline.
To coincide with Google Play Music’s launch in these five new countries, we’re also launching artist hub – a platform for independent artists to sell their music directly to fans. In the artist hub, self-published artists can create a profile, upload their music files, suggest a retail price, and sell their music on Google Play.
According to a Nielsen/Billboard’s recent
Music Industry Report
, overall music purchases are at a record high, driven by digital sales. Sales of digital albums were up 14 per cent in 2012, while sales of digital tracks grew by five per cent last year, meaning overall music sales were up more than three per cent compared to 2011.
As people’s love affair with great music continues, so too will our commitment to bringing Google Play to more countries around the world.
Posted by Sami Valkonen, head of international music partnerships, Google Play
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