Tag Archives: google

07.20.12
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Google being crafty to push Google Plus

You have to give the folks over at Google credit. They might have been slow out of the blocks launching their social media site Google+, but they’re doing everything they can to make sure it takes off now – and not everyone is pleased about it.

On Thursday Google CEO Larry Page laid out his company’s earnings picture, and at the same time bragged that Google+ has more than 90 million registered users. That’s more than twice the 40 million users Google reported in October.

“We’re very excited about the growth we’ve had, and we’ve certainly seen a tremendous number of people added every day,” Page said during the presentation.

It took Facebook almost four years to reach the 90 million user mark, but at the same time Facebook now boasts over 800 regular users. So Google Plus has a long way to go to catch up – which is where the creative tactics come in. Continue reading →

05.10.12
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Google+ ‘Circles’ its killer new feature?

Google+ CirclesAside from a cleaner interface with no games and ads, the differences between Facebook and Google+ are not all that significant. Except for Google’s ‘circles’.

Google+ is set up so that when you add ‘friends’ you also assign them to one or more ‘circles’. That means you can categorize people into friends, family, colleagues, people you don’t know but still want to follow and so on. Continue reading →

05.11.11
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Will Usage Based Billing kill Google’s Chrome OS in Canada?

As Google hosts it’s I/O conference this week, I can’t help but watch from Canada and wonder what the future of the Chrome OS will be here.

Google appears to be loading the new operating system with innovative new features and functionality that could make it a very useful tool for many Canadians. But it is a true ‘cloud’ OS, meaning that virtually everything you do on your computer goes through the Internet. So the big question for Canadians is, how will we be able to take advantage of these features when our Internet service providers (ISP) seem intent on limiting the amount of bandwidth we can use (or gouging us on our bills if we use too much)? Continue reading →

12.02.10
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Apple, net neutrality, now Starbucks. Is the internet at risk of becoming a vast wilderness where all anyone can see is the view from the highway?

Starbucks' inadvertantly wades into the net neutrality debate.I have to confess, I’ve sometimes lumped the net neutrality folks in with the tinfoil hat crowd. At first I wasn’t convinced net neutrality was really that big of a deal, and even if it was, I generally give corporations more credit than most who comment on these issues online.

But now I’m not so sure.

With Starbuck’s announcement earlier this week of a proprietary digital network available in their stores, I’m thinking it might be time to fire up my own tinfoil hat.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Starbuck’s network is a great offering for its customers, but it further fragments an internet that is becoming more and more limiting.

Continue reading →

07.04.09
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Is app convergence the next major tech trend?

I stumbled across two, unrelated services that seem to be harbingers of one of the biggest tech trends in the next few years.

Digsby - social media and communications convergence

Digsby - social media and communications convergence

The first is an app called Digsby that is a handy little tool that looks a lot like a standard instant messenger (IM) interface. What makes it unique is the fact that it integrates MSN Messenger, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo and others. I’ve seen that much before, but this great little tool also monitors social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. It even allows you to monitor Gmail, Hotmail and other email accounts – including standard pop3 or imap accounts.

I’ve got accounts set up on most of these services, so people can pretty much reach me any way they want, now. Surprisingly, despite all this, my best efforts, and my abrasive personality, I still have people who want to call me. For that, I’ve got a home phone, a business phone, a personal cell phone and a work cell.
Continue reading →