Google Launches Google News Lab, A New Home on the Web for Reporters

Google announced the launch of a new site called Google News Lab, which is designed to be a home on the web for reporter resources.

With this initiative, Google explains that by working directly with journalists it hope to have a lasting effect on future media:

“That’s why we’ve created the News Lab, a new effort at Google to empower innovation at the intersection of technology and media. Our mission is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to help build the future of media.”

• Google hopes to accomplish this lofty goal in three distinct ways:
• Easy access to the tools journalists need
• Providing Google data to journalists everywhere, and
• Launching programs to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in today’s media industry

The tools which Google is referencing were actually rolled out in a series of announcements last week. They include YouTube Newswire, which also includes WITNESS Media Lab and The First Draft Collection, and the update to Google Trends.

All of the above mentioned tools will be linked to from the News Lab, which can be found at http://newslab.withgoogle.com.

Google has also forged new partnerships focused on re-imagining the future of news and information while empowering new voices in media. Currently, this includes partnerships with Matter, a media accelerator in San Francisco, and Hacks/Hackers, a global community group for developers and journalists.

The News Lab is not just US-based, it also includes teams in the UK, France, and Germany to start with. The overarching goal of this initiative is to keep the world more informed by having technologists and journalists work together.

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Google to Provide Instant Information on Over 900 Health Conditions

Google has added support for the health conditions feature of its Knowledge Graph, now providing instant information on over 900 health conditions.

When you Google a health condition, like “Legionnaires’ disease”, Google will give you a snippet of information with the important details.

Google worked with a team of medical doctors in curating this information, the information has also been reviewed by medical doctors at Google and the Mayo Clinic for accuracy.

In addition to more than doubling the amount of health conditions it provides information on, Google has added visual design improvements to these Knowledge Graph panels, as well as the ability to download the information as a PDF.

Google points out it has added information about neglected tropical diseases — a set of infections that affect over 1.5 billion people including 500 million children in poorer regions.

Health conditions in Google’s Knowledge Graph are still only available to english-speakers searchers in the US, but the company says it plans to expand the feature to more languages and regions.

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Apps News YoutubeGoogle Launches a Dedicated Street View App

Street View is the latest Google service to get the dedicated app treatment, launching today on both iOS and Google Play. With Google’s new app you can view 360-degree panoramas, which allow you to get a better look at an outdoor space, or tour the interior of a hotel or restaurant. If you find a location that doesn’t yet have its own panorama view, you can upload your own photos or panoramas right to Google Maps from the Street View app.

An Explore tab allows you to browse galleries of Street View collections and content contributed by others. You can search for and explore any location of your choice and see it from just about every point of view imaginable. If you happen to own a spherical camera, the new Street View app is compatible with models like the Ricoh Theta S and NCTech iris360.

You can use either of these cameras to shoot and upload your own panoramas to the app. Of course, you can also use the camera on your phone if you prefer, which is likely how the majority will end up uploading photos The Street View app is now available to download on both iPhone and Android devices. Editorial Credit: Shutterstock

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