For many Americans, the passing of legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite on Friday brought up fond memories of tuning in to CBS during the 1960s and 1970s to hear “the most trusted man in America” present the Nation’s latest news and current events. Cronkite, who spent 19 years delivering the evening news to households across America, became one of the country’s most well liked and credible sources for information in a pre-Internet era. Through war, political scandal, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and NASA’s landings on the moon, Americans found themselves looking to Cronkite’s daily reports as their primary means of keeping apprised of current events and gathering the most relevant, real-time details as historical events unfolded on their televisions.

Cronkite was known for his objective reporting, and stood out as a leader in breaking news to the public as quickly as possible. When reporting the shots fired at JFK’s motorcade, he began speaking about the story before the cameras could be set up and in 1973, as Cronkite reported on the death of Lyndon B. Johnson, he appeared on screen while simultaneously holding a telephone conversation in order to relay the details of the story as they were told to him by Johnson’s Press Secretary. Evidently, Cronkite recognized the public’s interest in real-time access to important news and developments and provided timely reports whenever possible.

In honoring Cronkite’s career and dedication to providing up-to date information, it seems timely to kick off the countdown to our own launch date with our first official hint of what’s to come in our upcoming release of Leapfish 2.0: real-time search!