Google has announced their own URL Shortener. The web address is goo.gl.

Goo.gl is a service that takes long URLs and squeezes them into fewer characters to make a link that is easier to share, tweet, or email to friends. The core goals of this service are:

• Stability – ensuring that the service has very good uptime
• Security – protecting users from malware and phishing pages
• Speed – fast resolution of short URLs

Google URL Shortener is currently available for Google products and not for broader consumer use.

Google has unveiled its implementation of real time search, which will be going live soon.

As written about on Google’s blog, the company claims its doing this as it does its best to bring consumers the latest, real time news, in an easy-to-read way. Now, whenever you search for a topic, you’ll be able to see live updates from sites like FriendFeed and Twitter, enabling you to see what others have to say about what you’re interested in (of course, you’ll get updates from news sites, also). This feature is also handy for discovering important news that you didn’t already know about.

Another important feature is that you can choose to filter the real time results. You can opt for only getting updates from microblogging sites, such as Twitter, or full-blown news sites instead. Additionally, Google noted, “Latest results and the new search options are also designed for iPhone and Android devices when you need them on the go, be it a quick glance at changing information like ski conditions or opening night chatter about a new movie — right when you’re in line to buy tickets.”

This feature should be going live in a couple days

Apple has announced that they will be holding a one day shopping event on Friday, November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving known as “Black Friday”, which is historically one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Several consumers have reported receiving emails from Apple announcing the sale.

Come back to the Apple Online Store this Friday for a special one-day-only shopping event.

Over the past several years, Apple has participated with one-day specials at both their retail Apple stores as well as the online Apple Store.