Friday 27 July 2012

Google Search gets 34-button virtual scientific calculator


Google.com has added a new 34-button virtual calculator with scientific functions to its search bar. By adding this scientific calculator, Google further extends the capabilities of its search bar beyond web pages, conversions, and more. This tool simplifies the use of the search engine to be used as a handy calculator. Moreover, this tool can be used across browsers on web and mobile. To access the calculator, one has to simply type ‘calculator’ in the search box and it pops up instantly. It will appear even if you type your mathematical query in the search box. For instance, if you type "3*8-5" in the search box, the answer is displayed directly in the scientific calculator, which appears once you hit on the ‘Enter’ button.

Now, this isn’t the first time that Google has introduced a calculator. Google already has a graphical calculator in tow. The graphical calculator that was launched about more than a year ago is also accessible directly from the Search box. This scientific calculator comes with an array of scientific functions which includes the sin, cos, tan, and log functions, exponential calculation, and square roots.

Google often tweaks its products for the better and sometimes for worse (read, new Gmail look that was forced upon everyone). At the Google I/O event this year, the company said they have redesigned search from the ground up in the Jelly Bean OS, with a new user interface and faster, more natural Voice Search. They also went on to state that one can type their query or simply ask Google a question. Google can speak back, delivering a precise answer, powered by the Knowledge Graph, if it knows one, in addition to a list of search results.

Recently, Google search for Android tablets and the iPad was spruced up with a weather widget, which allows users to take a quick look at the weather before they step out. Users have to just type weather in the Google search on their tablet to view the new weather widget and it shows the weather conditions at their location. The widget also displays information about the weather in any other city in the world. Users have to simply type the name of the city or the ZIP code and 'weather' next to it. Google wrote in a blog post on Google+, "When you type [weather] into Google on your +tablet, you'll see the current weather and you can scroll through the hourly and ten-day forecast. You can also toggle the Precipitation and Wind buttons to check out the percent chance of precipitation and wind direction/ speed, respectively". The Search giant also released the Google Now feature recently that aims to bring users information, as and when they need it, like informing them about the weather.

No comments:

Post a Comment