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design, flash, gadgets, rss, site management, video

Optimizing News Websites for Google TV

By Maurice Cherry on May 12, 2011 8:14 PM

In late 2010, Google developed their new smart TV platform entitled Google TV. The service is built on the Android operating system, and functions as a set-top box to allow users to watch on-demand video services, such as YouTube, Google Reader, and Google Chrome. This integration allows users to subscribe to your site and have regular updates pushed to their Google TV devices (similar to an RSS feed with an RSS aggregator). Mobile phones and tablet devices are changing the landscape of the web for organizations, and soon you may even ask “how does my site look on TV”? This is especially important since Google TV will soon be able to access the Android Market, according to recent news. Since Google TV lies somewhere between mobile devices and desktops/laptops in terms of functionality and user experience, here are a few helpful guidelines to make sure your site is ready for prime time on Google TV.

Design for the Big Screen

According to the Leichtman Research Group, as of 2010, 61% of US households own at least one HDTV, with 26% owning more than one. These high resolution displays mean that there is an increased distance between the user to the television, which means that elements on websites need to be large enough to be seen across the room at a glance. Larger elements also means increased white space between elements. Lets take a look at the New York Times on Google TV.

New York Times on Google TV

Along with this, websites need to make sure that the most important information is at the top of the page. Web designers call this property “above the fold”, meaning that you include information at the top of a page to prevent users from scrolling vertically to find more information. Since HDTVs will more than likely be widescreen displays (either 720p or 1080p), this means that organizations should rely on either horizontal or grid navigation to make it easier for users to go through your site.

Function over Form

Keep in mind that the processors for most Google TV devices will be somewhere between your mobile phone and your desktop or laptop in terms of processing power. Google has partnered with Intel, Sony, Logitech for current Google TV devices, and new partnerships with Samsung and Vizio ensure that new, faster devices will be coming to the market by the holiday season. Websites designed for Google TV will need to be able to load quickly without a lot of extra animations or Flash videos. Google TV can display Flash content, but it will not be at the same speed as a desktop or laptop, so keep that in mind. Let’s take a look at Al Jazeera on Google TV.

Al Jazeera on Google TV

Make Navigation Big and Simple

One thing the Al Jazeera site illustrates is that you should also look to use access keys for navigation, such as arrow keys or letters on the keyboard. The mouse pointer on Google TV is small and hard to see, so enabling navigation by keyboard to access a menu or a section of the website creates a great user experience. The key is to simplify user navigation as much as possible. Primary actions for the user should be available in one click; don’t hide key features for your site in menus. You should also provide a legend to explain your keyboard-based navigation system. Don’t make your users think too much about how to navigate your website on Google TV, or else they may change the channel.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

The Chrome Browser in Google TV supports the non-standard CSS property called zoom. What does this do, you ask? According to Sitepoint, this property controls the magnification level for the current element. This means that text, videos, and other elements on your page can be enlarged to allow for viewing across large distances or for visually impaired users. Because zoom is a non-standard property, you would probably have to test this on Google TV for troubleshooting purposes.

KQED on Google TV

Overall, these are just a few things developers can do to optimize news websites for Google TV. Other news organizations have already started developing for Google TV, including USA Today, Huffington Post, and KQED. Google has provided a full optimization guide, as well as a number of optimized templates. What news organizations have you seen on Google TV? Share your findings in the comments.

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rss

8 Creative ways to use RSS feeds

By Mark S. Luckie on November 27, 2010 7:13 PM

Create a book

If you have a blog created with WordPress, TypePad, or Blogger, you can use Blog2Print to create a book directly from your blog’s RSS feed. The book can include photos, comments, and be printed in black and white or color.

Create an interactive timeline

You can create an embeddable, interactive timeline in minutes using Dipity‘s RSS feature. To create one, copy the URL of the RSS feed and select RSS as your input source. The resulting timeline can be embedded in any website much like a YouTube video.

Catch up on the tweets you missed

You ever got the feeling that you’re missing important Twitter messages when you’re away from your computer? By adding the RSS feeds for individual Twitter users or lists to your RSS reader you can make sure you never miss a tweet. Just select the orange RSS icon on any Twitter page and add the feed address to your RSS reader of choice.

Catch only the best tweets

Even if you archive your favorite tweets using an RSS reader, you may quickly become inundated with the number of tweets coming in. The Twitter Tim.es has a solution. The online tool aggregates the most shared links among your Twitter friends and presents them as an online newspaper. Using the site’s RSS feature, you can make sure that the most interesting links being tweeted are sent directly to your reader.

Read your RSS feeds in your email

Sometimes a feed reader isn’t the most convenient way to stay on top of your RSS subscriptions. Feed My Inbox allows you to direct your RSS feeds to your email, which is especially convenient for those sites that don’t have an automatic email delivery option. The first five feeds are free.

Create a custom newspaper

The big word in digital news is customization: readers want to be able tailor their reading experience to just the content they are interested in. You can do the same by creating your own FeedJournal. Simply give the site the RSS feeds you want to read and it will output a printable newspaper that you can read either online or off.

Spruce up your reading experience

Some of the most popular RSS readers were built with functionality rather than aesthetics in mind. Helvetireader is an extension/plugin (depending on your browser of choice) that will turn Google Reader into a Helvetica-inspired reading environment.

Listen to your RSS subscriptions

The audiophiles out there will appreciate BlogRadio, a service that will collect your RSS feeds and read them to you in the natural-sounding voice you choose. BlogRadio is available as a downloadable desktop application or as an app on your mobile device.

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The Beginner's Guide to RSS

By admin on November 2, 2009 9:27 AM

Do you want to keep tabs on your favorite blogs or websites but don’t have time to go clicking around the internet to keep up with new content? It’s probably time for you to try RSS.

RSS, short for “Really Simple Syndication,” is a valuable tool for web users, but especially for journalists who use RSS feeds to streamline their online reading and newsgathering process. RSS makes it easy to keep track of many different blogs at once and to be notified of breaking news in your beat.

What is RSS and how does it work?

Most online news sites and blogs have one or several RSS “feeds” that you can subscribe to and be notified of new posts and articles. Reading these RSS feeds requires an RSS reader. There are many different kinds of RSS readers, but the easiest and most intuitive is Google Reader. If you don’t have a Google account, just complete the short registration process by clicking the “Create an account” button. From there you can start adding your favorite news feeds.

Sounds great. How do I do it?

Visit any site or blog that you want to subscribe to and look for an orange RSS icon or use Cmd-F (Mac) or Ctrl-F (PC) to find the word “RSS” on the page. Click on the link and you should be taken to a page that gives you the option of adding the feed to Google. Select this option.

If you can’t find the RSS feed or just want to add your feeds within Google Reader itself, click the “Add a subscription” button located in the top left area of Google Reader and enter the URL/web address of the site you want to add. If the site has an RSS feed, Google Reader will automatically add it to your list.

What if I don’t know which blogs I should add?

If you aren’t sure which blogs you should be following, you can also enter keywords such as “education” or “health” in the same box. Google will recommend blog feeds based on your search terms. After you begin adding blogs, Google Reader will recommend similar blogs that you should be reading. These blogs are found in the “Recommended sources” menu in the left sidebar.

I’ve added feeds to my RSS reader. What now?

RSS works a lot like email. You will get notifications of new posts and articles in what looks like an inbox. Take a look at the Google Reader layout. On the left, you’ll see a list of the blogs and sites you’ve subscribed to. The number next to it indicates the number of “unread” items. The space on the right is the actual blog post or article.

But wait, I only see a headline or a paragraph.

Some sites make excerpts or headlines available in their RSS feeds to encourage you to read the story on their site. To read the rest of an abbreviated article, click on the headline. A new tab or window should pop up with the full article.

Wait, I’m still totally lost.

Click here for a detailed explanation of RSS or check out this video guide to RSS in plain English.

Also on 10,000 Words:

• The 20 Essential RSS Feeds for Multimedia Journalists
• Beyond Twitterfeed: Innovative uses of Twitter in the newsroom
• What is…? A handy guide for the new media novice

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blogging, rss

Quickly translate whole blogs, tweets, RSS feeds

By admin on October 15, 2008 9:14 AM

Not too long ago, five ways to learn a new language and five blogs in languages other than English were presented in the hope that blog lovers would expand their online reading. If you haven’t yet begun learning a new language, there are a few ways to make reading blogs in foreign languages much easier.

Mloovi will translate any RSS feed into any of more than 30 available languages including Croatian, Filipino and Swedish. The results, like Google Translate or Yahoo! Babel Fish, a little spotty and shouldn’t be quoted, but it is a definite help.

On the other hand, if you want readers of your blog to be able to read it in another language, ConveyThis offers a button that will translate your content with one click. The site requires registration, which only take a couple seconds, and a button like the one below are available instantly.

On a smaller scale, Twanslate will translate tweets (or anything under 140 characters) into Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian and Russian. Simply follow @twanslate and follow the instructions to send a direct message and received the translated reply in seconds.

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