Daily Dispatch: Google rolls out new look for search and mobile; Ellen gets in hot water with Apple

Combing through hundreds of blog posts and news articles daily, Dirk Klingner, our technology-trend watcher, sifts through the noise to bring you the tech news most important to consumers. If you have a tip on a story you want to share, leave a comment below.

A spring metamorphosis — Google's new look (Official Google Blog)

...We've added contextually relevant, left-hand navigation to the page. This new side panel highlights the most relevant search tools and refinements for your query. Over the past three years, we've launched Universal Search, the Search Options panel and Google Squared, and it's those three technologies that power the left-hand panel.

Google's new look for mobile (Google Mobile Blog)

...When you go to Google.com in the US on your iPhone or Android-powered device, and enter a search, you can now tap on the button to the left of the search box on the results page to see a new search options menu. Then, selecting any item in the menu will refine your search. For example, if you are looking for recent results for "Mother's day gift", simply tap the "Past week" option.

What's Wrong with Online Shopping (Time)

...Many of the problems seem to arise because the retail and online divisions of major stores are run by entirely different groups, or at least they were until recently—and these groups sometimes seem more like competitors rather than players working on the same team. The consumer sees the same store brand name, and understandably assumes the entities are identical, but they're not—and the results are heaps of confusion and frustration.

Clamcase will turn your iPad into a netbook (TiPb)

...The concept is simple, the "case" holds your iPad like a screen and is hinged to a Bluetooth keyboard. There's no Bluetooth trackpad functionality for the iPad, however, but that means you get extra space to rest your hands between screen swipes and pinches.

iScrub app keeps tabs on hand washing (Futurity)

...The availability of the free iScrub Lite 1.5 app on May 5 at the iTunes store coincides with the World Health Organization's (WHO) "5 Moments for Hand Hygiene" campaign. The campaign, which is part of the WHO's "Save Lives: Clean Your Hands" annual initiative, spells out the standard opportunities for health care workers to practice hand hygiene.

Translate That French Menu With Your Android Phone And Google Goggles (TechCrunch)

...With the translation feature of Goggles, you can point your phone at a word or phrase and draw a box around specific words that you don't understand. After pressing the shutter button, Goggles will give you the option of translating the text to the available languages.

Lighter side: Ellen's iPhone Commercial Update! (ellen)