Summary: Nicholas is back with John plus Allen Firstenberg joins us this week to give his insight into: Google tropical storm Isaac crisis map, new G+ Circle features, Google now saving account search preferences, more G+ custom URL news and Google Play gift cards now available. 1. Google Activates Tropical Storm Crisis Map As usual for natural disasters, Google turned on their crisis map for tropical storm Isaac. The map features data from weather organizations as well as information originating from Google services like YouTube. 1. New G+ Circle Features New Circle controls allow you to be alerted whenever members of a certain Circle post. You can now also mute a particular user so you will no longer receive notifications when they share a post. 2. Nikon Announces Android-Powered Camera The Nikon Coolpix S800c is the world’s first “smart camera.” The front looks like a camera but the back appears like a normal 3.5in smartphone. The camera can connect to WiFi but is not able to make calls. Nikon says it will be available for $350 in September. 3. Google Search Saves Your Account Preferences Users can now save Google Search preferences like prefered language or SafeSearch settings just by signing into Search from any browser. Previously, this type of feature was available from Google but data was linked to each individual browser and would need reset for each new browser. 4. More Users Can Now Claim Custom G+ URLs We told you last week about Google finally rolling out custom URLs for certain G+ profiles. Today, they’re making the feature available to “thousands more” verified accounts and brand pages. Google is currently choosing URLs for users. 5. Google Play gift cards now available Ever wanted to give Google Play store credits to a friend or family member? Now you can! Google Play gift cards can be purchased online or at some electronics stores in the U.S.
