Skip to Content

Free TUAW iPhone app -- try it now!
AOL Tech

pdf-viewer posts

Filed under: Google, Search

Google begins using PDF viewer for search results

Google PDF search results
There's nothing as annoying as accidentally clicking on a PDF link in a list of search results and waiting a few minutes for your Adobe PDF browser plugin to load before you can view the page, go back, or do anything else with your browser. OK, there are probably plenty of things that are more annoying, but it's still kind of bad sometimes.

For ages, Google has helped users get around this by offering the option of clicking a "view as HTML" link next to PDF links in search results. But the truth is that some PDF documents lose formatting, imagery, and other elements when you convert them to HTML. Now Google is starting to roll out the ability to use the same PDF viewer that's available for Gmail and Google Docs with search results.

The simple "view" option isn't available for all PDF links yet. In fact, I had to try at least half a dozen search queries before I found one that didn't give me the "view as HTML" option. So it's likely that Google is converting and caching files rather than converting them on the fly. But the new PDF viewer option is definitely a time saver and a welcome addition to Google search.

[via Google Operating System]

Filed under: Windows, E-mail, Google

Gmail gets the Google Docs PDF viewer

Google PDF Viewer
Google has long offered Gmail users the ability to open PDF attachments as HTML files without downloading the file and firing up Adobe Acrobat, Foxit or any other PDF viewer. But you lose a lot in the translation when you convert a PDF file to HTML.

Now Google has begun allowing users to open PDF files using the Google Docs PDF viewer. That means you can view PDFs sent to your email inbox without downloading them and without losing the formating, graphics, or other elements that make PDFs do darn fun to look at.

[via Google Operating System]

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Livescribe Store
Microsoft Security Essentials
Chromium Pre-Alpha on CrunchBang Linux
Safari 4 Beta
10 Firefox themes that don't suck
IE8 RC1
Download Squad at the Crunchies After-Party
Download Squad at the Crunchies
WordPress 2.7
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Windows 7 Hands On
Comodo Internet Security
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

More Tech Coverage

AOL Radio