The Digital Dish

Scribd launches iPaper 2 – Scribd, the popular document sharing service, has just launched the latest version of iPaper, the site’s online document viewer. Scribd, who has recently made moves into the Ebook market, originally debuted iPaper in February 2008, but brings the newer version out as a bigger improvement.

Google Maps tells you where you are – In the situation of not knowing where you are, Google Maps wants you to know it is there for you. Google has just released an option on its Maps to show you your current location automatically. While this feature has existed in Google Maps for Mobile for quite some time, the desktop version pinpoints your current location to within about 100 feet of from where you are clicking if you are using Chrome, Firefox 3.5, or a browser that has Google Gears installed.

Mobile banking the next big thing? – With the rise of mobile apps and 3G networks for smartphones, the idea of mobile banking is being fueled and quickly gaining popularity. In a recent study among smartphone users, 44% reported to banking via browser and 40.6% through apps. For users with phones running on 3G networks, 53.1% did so through a browser, while 48.1% through apps. As the use of smartphones continues to grow, analysts heighten expectations of an explosion of users taking advantage of mobile applications to perform their personal banking.

Flickr follow-up project unveiled, Tiny Speck – The latest project from the ex-Yahoo husband-wife team of Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake is being called Tiny Speck. Butterfield and Fake, who started Flickr, and later developed the just-launched Hunch, have announced that their newest company is also hiring. While word is still awaited on what exactly Tiny Speck will do, some say that it will be a new social gaming endeavor.

New York Times considers charging access fee – The New York Times Company (NYT) sent a survey to Times print subscribers asking them if they would pay a $5 monthly fee to access NYTimes.com. In the survey, Times Co. also asked whether subscribers would be willing to pay a discounted fee of $2.50 a month for Web access. Stay tuned for whether this per month access fee will be put in to action.