Official Google Australia Blog: juni 2017

Hop aboard! Real time information for public transport in New South Wales is now available on Google Maps

donderdag 29 juni 2017

Since 2005, we’ve collaborated with transit authorities around the world to make a comprehensive resource for millions of riders to find out which bus, train, tram or ferry can take them to their next destination.
Starting today, commuters in New South Wales will be able to get real time bus, train and ferry information in Google Maps. Google has teamed up with Transport New South Wales to add real-time information about routes and schedules across the region on Google Maps – for the first time in Australia. Whether you are taking the train from Kings Cross to Killara, or boarding the ferries Fishburn or Friendship, you now have all the information you need to plan and adjust your journey at a glance, in one place.
If you're planning a trip between, say Bondi Junction and Circular Quay, you can simply type the two locations into Google Maps to get the latest information about which bus, train or ferry to catch. In addition to bus routes, you’ll be able to see when the next bus is arriving at your stop and an estimation of how long your trip is going to take. If your bus is delayed, Google Transit will automatically update the times in line with the new conditions. Routes that have real-time information available are marked in Google Maps in green.
Know when your bus or train actually arrives with real time information in Google Maps

Google Transit is a feature of Google Maps designed to help you plan your public transport trips quickly and easily. Just search for where you want go and Google Maps will show you how to get there using public transport from your current location. Google Transit is available on Google Maps for Android and iPhone as well as the Web. If you’re using the latest version of Google Maps, you can also compare public transport options to work out when you need to leave to arrive at your destination on time.
Residents of New South Wales who would like to find out when the next bus, train or ferry is arriving or directions to somewhere using public transport using Google Maps should follow these three simple steps:

Open Google Maps apps on your Android device or iPhone

Enter your destination and click the "get directions" icon. If it’s not already selected, tap the "transit" icon (the little tram) to view times, bus/train numbers, routes and more

You can change the destination by selecting a different end point at the top of the screen

Google Maps globally provides over one billion km worth of transit results every day and has schedules for more than three million public transit stops worldwide. Google Transit is now available for hundreds of cities across dozens of countries, with new partners joining all the time.

The butcher, the baker and the website maker... regional businesses gain new skills at the Digital Garage

woensdag 28 juni 2017

Digital GarageBusiness AustraliaWollongongWagga WaggaWest Wyalong

Minister McCormack with West Wyalong business owner

Carry Them Close

Google’s Duncan McGrath and Richard Flanagan with Wagga Wagga business owners Jill Tucker and Matt Beaver

Erilan

Local businesses at The Digital Garage in West Wyalong

Illawarra Business ChamberInnovation Campus

Google's Richard Flanagan, Stephen Jones MP, Senator Katy Gallagher and Sharon Bird MP

Jamberoo Action ParkDeloitteThe Digital GarageTamworthThe Digital Garage
Posted by Richard Flanagan, Head of Business Marketing, Google Australia

GCP expands to Australia with new Sydney region - open now

woensdag 21 juni 2017

Google Cloud Platformrecently launched Singapore

Sydney GCP region

Google CloudMumbaiIndigo cableWhat customers are saying "The regional expansion of Google Cloud Platform to Australia will help enable PwC's rapidly growing need to experiment and innovate and will further extend our work with Google Cloud. It not only provides a reliable and resilient platform that can support our firm's core technology needs, it also makes available to us, GCP's market leading technologies and capabilities to support the unprecedented demand of our diverse and evolving business."

"Monash University has one of the most ambitious digital transformation agendas in tertiary education. We're executing our strategy at pace and needed a platform which would give us the scale, flexibility and functionality to respond rapidly to our development and processing needs. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and in particular App Engine have been a great combination for us and we're very excited at the results we're getting. Having Google Cloud Platform hosted now in Australia is a big bonus."

"Modern geophysical technologies place a huge demand on supercomputing resources. Woodside utilises Google Cloud as an on-demand solution for our large computing requirements. This has allowed us to push technological boundaries and dramatically reduce turnaround time."

Next Steps Shine SolutionsServian3WKSAxalonOnigroupPwCDeloitteGlintechFrondeDialogMegaportSydney region pageshout
Posted by Dave Stiver, Product Manager, Google Cloud Platform

Four steps we’re taking today to fight online terror

maandag 19 juni 2017

Editor’s Note: This post appeared as an op-ed in the Financial Times earlier today.Posted by Kent Walker, General Counsel, Google

Google Flights has landed down under

dinsdag 13 juni 2017

Pack your bags! Whether you’re traveling from Wollongong to WA, or Tullamarine to Townsville, Google Flights will give you travel inspiration and surface the best available flight options. Starting today, you can search on Google for flights to a destination by searching for things like “Flights to Cairns” or “Flights to New Zealand”. Or, you can go directly to google.com.au/flights to quickly and easily compare and book flights in $AUD — from your mobile device, tablet or desktop.

Still daydreaming about your next trip? Try using Explore to get ideas on where to go based on popular destinations. If you want to get away for a holiday next month just choose “July” and a trip duration like “2 weeks” to see the dates with the lowest prices to visit each place.

Once you select your departure and return dates, you’ll be presented with a list of ‘Best flights’; which represents the best tradeoff of convenience and price. Before you select a specific flight, you may see a notification bar with tips on how to find the best price for this route. Tips can include things like recommendations for alternate airports, suggest the cheapest dates to fly, or tell you about an expected price jump based on historic prices for that route.

If you’re not ready to book yet, you can choose to track a flight and receive email notifications when prices are expected to change or when the price actually does increase or decrease significantly.

Whether you’re ticking off your bucket list or taking a quick business trip, our goal is to help you find the best flight with confidence so you can plan, book and take off in a couple of clicks.
Happy travels!
Posted by Nabil Naghdy, Product Manager, Google Flights

Experience the songlines of Uluru with Google Maps Street View and Story Spheres

donderdag 8 juni 2017

In the heart of Australia’s red centre lies the UNESCO World Heritage site, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. It is deeply sacred to the Anangu people, who have lived there for more than 30,000 years. It’s also home to a wide range of species, 21 mammals, 73 reptiles, 178 birds—and Australia’s most iconic natural landmark, Uluru.
Starting today, people across the world will be able to visit Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park on Street View, walk on the desert sand and enjoy the vibrant hues of the rock—from ochre to rust to wild plum and charcoal.

Talinguru Nyakunytjaku on Street View
Standing 348 m (1,142 ft) high, and with a total circumference of 9.4 km (5.8 mi), the immense scale, colours and contours of Uluru stir a sense of reverence. While visually and geologically extraordinary, the physical features of Uluru hold a deeper meaning for its traditional owners. For Anangu, the land carries sacred songlines—creation stories about the journeys, battles and adventures of their ancestral beings.

Traditional Owner of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Reggie Uluru
All aspects of Anangu life are governed by Tjukurpa,the knowledge which guides relationships, values and behaviour. At the core of Tjukurpa law is a deep respect for the land. Anangu believe that if they look after the land, it will look after them. These teachings are passed down from generation to generation through stories, songs and inma (ceremony).
‘’Sometimes visitors come here and they see a beautiful place, but they don't understand the Tjukurpa, the culture and the law and the knowledge and the history that this place holds…. It’s the living keeper of our culture, ” says Sammy Wilson, Anangu traditional owner of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. “We want to teach those visitors about the Anangu understanding of this place.”

Traditional owner, Sammy WIlson, sharing Tjukurpa stories with Miranda Schooneveldt, Parks Australia
Over the past two years, we collaborated with Anangu Traditional Owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Parks Australia and the Northern Territory Government to capture the park for Street View according to Tjukurpa law. The Street View journey ventures to the vista of Talinguru Nyakunytjaku, the winding trail of the Kuniya Walk, the cool respite of Kapi Mutitjulu (waterhole) and ancient art at Kulpi Mutitjulu (Family Cave). It invites you to zoom in on the curves, crevices and textures of Uluru—and gaze up at its glowing gradient of colour.

Lindsey Dixon, of Northern Territory Tourism, captured the Street View content at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in accordance with Tjukurpa law

Since 2007, Google has mapped imagery of unique locations across 83 countries, including heritage monuments, touristic sites, museums, national parks and transit locations across the globe. In the case of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Tjukurpa warranted a more nuanced approach. For Anangu, there is no distinction between the physical and metaphysical, or the animate and inanimate. People, earth, plants and animals are inextricably connected. This means that Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park could never be truly represented or understood (virtually or otherwise) without the presence and voices of its people.
We knew we had to bring these cultural and spiritual dimensions to the Street View experience. So we used the Story Spheres platform to add immersive audio stories and songs of Anangu traditional owners to the 360° Street View imagery. The result is an interactive, audio-visual guided tour, narrated by Sammy Wilson and with song and music by Traditional Owner and Anangu Elder, Reggie Uluru.

The Kuniya Walk on Story Spheres
Because Tjukurpa teachings are traditionally handed down through an ancient oral tradition, Anangu stories, songs and ceremonies are largely unrecorded. The generosity of traditional owners has made a rare and revered piece of culture available to, and archived for, the world.

Traditional owner, Sammy WIlson, sharing Tjukurpa stories with Miranda Schooneveldt, Parks Australia
Together with our partners, we’re privileged to help celebrate and preserve Anangu culture through technology. We hope this model will lead to stronger partnerships with indigenous communities across Australia—to share more sacred sites and instill greater value and respect for the land.
Get a behind-the-scenes view of the Google Maps Street View and Story Spheres project in our video:

Posted by Jason Pellegrino, Managing Director, Google Australia & New Zealand

The power of video to help #ShareSomeGood

donderdag 1 juni 2017

Share Some Good

The talented artists who participated in Share Some Good at the premiere of their stories.

these 15 Australian stories

BEND

Ocean 12

Don't Play the Hate Game

Dear Future Me

L-FRESH the Lion and Mirrah: 90-Second Rap Up

Raqib The Ethical Compass

Islamophobia Story

Navigating the Net

Hijab and Curls

United Nations of Australia

We hope you will be as impressed as we were by the diversity of perspectives and the creativity behind each of these stories. YouTube Creators for Change From combating hate speech, to countering xenophobia and extremism, to simply making the case for greater tolerance and empathy toward others, these creators are helping generate positive social change with their global fan bases.

YouTube Creators for Change fellow L-FRESH the Lion and ambassador Natalie Tran

Natalie TranL-FRESH the LionLove FrankieFoundation for Young AustraliansAustralian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS)Vice Posted by Samantha Yorke, Public Policy and Government Relations Counsel, Google Australia and New Zealand, who recently watched Dear Future Me by emerging YouTube creator Oliver Levi-Malouf.

Australia Blog

Hop aboard! Real time information for public transport in New South Wales is now available on Google Maps

The butcher, the baker and the website maker... regional businesses gain new skills at the Digital Garage

GCP expands to Australia with new Sydney region - open now

Four steps we’re taking today to fight online terror

Google Flights has landed down under

Experience the songlines of Uluru with Google Maps Street View and Story Spheres

The power of video to help #ShareSomeGood

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