Google on the go: mobile searching made easy

Posted by Carl Sjogreen, Group Product Manager

Ever away from your PC and need to find a restaurant? Or maybe you just need to settle a bet? Well if you have a mobile phone, you're in luck. We're happy to announce today Google's new and more powerful mobile search for Australia. Now, rather than having to specify what type of information you're after, Google takes results from all over the web: images, news, local businesses and more, and puts them all at your fingertips. A search for surfing, for instance, will give you images right along with your normal web pages.


Google's mobile search also helps cut down on keystrokes by remembering your location. Search for "cafes Perth" for instance, and Google makes a note of your location, so all your subsequent searches for weather, restaurants, etc. return results relevant to Perth. No matter where you are in Australia, Google can help you find what you need, now faster and easier than ever before.


To access our new mobile search service, just point your mobile browser to www.google.com.au/m. Be sure to bookmark it!

Also, be sure to check out the rest of Google's great mobile products: Google Maps with My Location (beta), GMail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google News and Picasa, which can be found by clicking on the "more..." link, or going directly to http://www.google.com.au/m/products.

G'day London

Posted by Mike Perrow, Software Engineer

I just got back the Google offices in London. I was visiting London for our second G'Day Google event, meeting engineers in the UK, and telling the world about Google in Australia. (You may recall we held a similar event last year in California).


The event started with a few talks. First up was the current Australian High Commissioner in London, to tell us about how business is booming in Australia (apparently the world's 13th largest economy). Next we had talks about engineering at Google in London and Sydney. Alan Noble, the engineering director for Australia, talked a bit about the products and areas that we work on down here. Finally we heard from Carl Sjogreen, Group Product Manager for Australia/NZ, who told us about the life of a PM, and about what it takes to ship great products.

Afterwards, we had a good amount of time to mingle, eat and drink (of course, being Google, there was awesome free food), and talk amongst ourselves for a while. I had a lot of fun chatting with some Aussie expats and Londoners, and enjoyed the surreal experience of eating Kangaroo and drinking VB on a cold London evening.


I've been at Google Australia for about a year now. I moved out from Switzerland (where I'd been studying) last (Australian) summer and have been loving life in Sydney. It's quite a change from what I've been used to - coming from a colder climate, it's still hard for me to eat outside without feeling like I'm on holiday.

For all those that I met in London, it was great talking to you!

Make tonight a movie night

Posted by Andrew Foster, Partner Solutions

If you've ever had trouble tracking down session times for a movie, Google Australia has heard your call, and is here for you. Today, for all the moviegoers out there, we added a cool new feature to our search called the movie onebox. Now, rather than having to click through individual sites, you can see session times side by side for the cinemas in your area, above your normal search results. Not only that, but you can also get directions, as well as reviews for your movie, all in one place.



If you've got a movie in mind, finding session times is as easy as entering in a movie title, suburb and/or city on our google.com.au homepage. Or if you're not sure what to watch, just type "movies" and a city, and you can browse to see what's playing. Grab some popcorn and give it a try tonight!