Google posts

The competition has been getting stronger. Despite continued domination by Apple in the tablet market with their single-size offering, rumors are spreading that they are considering a smaller version of the iPad to compete with the Amazon, Google, and Microsoft amongst others going after the cheaper tablet marketing. This would be a mistake. Instead of taking on the Google Nexus 7 (which started shipping last week), the Amazon Kindle Fire (with a new version expected in the 4th quarter this year), and other offerings with Android and Microsoft software, an “iPad mini” would do more to cannibalize…

Apparently the creators of Google+ don’t appreciate people referring to Google+ as a social network. Even though you create circles involving your friends and associates, there is a What’s New stream similar to Facebook’s News Feed, there are apps and games, and it affects your searches when you’re signed into Google, (much the way Bing results are changed when you are signed into Facebook) Google+ is not a social network. Hmmm. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, I was told it’s a duck. But maybe Google+ is actually a turkducken. You know, that weird Thanksgiving food with…

Most would agree that the technology behind Google Project Glass is pretty impressive and people will definitely buy them, but will they make us look weird when we wear them? There was a time when Bluetooth headsets were new and people said, “You’ll get used to them,” but after years of seeing dozens of people a week wearing them I still think they look like the Borg. Project Glass takes Borgwear to another level. Weigh in here or on Facebook. Despite the technology, will they be really acceptable in a relatively-short period of time or will they always get a double-take and the occasional glare when…

Mark this delivery down as Google winning the internet. Shut up and take my money. In a presentation about Google Project Glass led by Sergey Brin, the tech giant pulled off a demonstration of epic proportions by giving some extreme sports athletes some Google Glasses and having them deliver a pair to the stage in unconventional ways while broadcasting through a Google Hangout for the world to see. First, they started in a blimp and men in wingsuits and parachutes landed on top of the building. The glasses were then delivered via bike to the edge of the building where they repelled down to another…

Did you know that there are 30 mobile platforms that came and went in the last two decades? Starting with the PenPoint OS by GO Corporation in 1991, there have been a ton that have been born and died shortly after. iOS, Android, Windows, Symbian, Blackberry, and Brew are the only ones left and it’s very possible that there will only be 3 within a couple of years. The November, 2011 study called Clash of the Ecosystems is an exhaustive 60-page report on the subject, while Developer Economics 2012 breaks down the new app economy. This infographic from Vision Mobile comes to use via Seattle Nissan and explores…

We’re trying out a new feature on TECHi: today’s top tech talking points. If it works out, we’ll be doing it daily on the site and on Facebook. Are off-Facebook ads a threat to Google? Facebook ads were found on Zynga today. ReadWriteWeb notes that Facebook knows who we are while Google knows what we’re trying to find. Which is more important to advertisers and consumers? Will we soon see Facebook ads that compete with Google Adwords? Weigh in on Facebook. Is half-a-million too much for an abused bus monitor? The bus monitor who was verbally abused by kids on her bus has been the center of over half a million…

Former CEO, Jeremy Stoppelman, has always been in Apple’s guest list as it sends out all its invitations for the major events. Although the chief executive officer of Yelp Inc, the consumer review website, has never been invited at these gatherings, his business has turned out to be a crucial weapon in Apple’s system as the company starts its battle over Google Inc. With other big consumer websites including OpenTable, a restaurant booking service, Rotten Tomatoes, a movie review website, Yelp Inc will be assisting in Apple’s Siri project in the new iOS6. The connection between Apple and Yelp…

It may sound like another example of Google turning evil, but in reality it’s just them being smart. Website searches can be challenging to master. The various plugins and custom solutions do not always get the exact right results for their queries and leave site owners stuck with relying strictly on proper navigation. This can be tedious to both the website owner and the visitors when multiple clicks are necessary to get to the right page. Google Custom Search enables website owners to plug in the power of Google directly into their site. This can be effective for larger sites with tons of content…

For the last few months, I have been asked on and off why I didn’t have a TECHi presence on Google+. There are many reasons: our focus on our Facebook page, our ever-growing Twitter presence, the lack of tools that integrate directly with Google+, and, of course, time (or lack thereof) all played a role. It’s not that we haven’t paid attention to Google+; on the contrary, we’ve been very active on it through our author accounts and through encouraging people to share on the social network. Now, the reasons to get on outweigh the reasons to stay off. Google+ is not only growing, but its importance from…

It seems we have seen the last of Google Places. As of May 30, Goggle+ Local has resulted in the replacement of Google Places.  Approximately 80 million Google Place pages all over the world have been automatically converted into 80 million Google+ Local pages. Google+ Local, which is integrated with free Zagat reviews, offers users the ability to rate their favorite businesses via social media. Replacing the star rating of Google+ with the 30 point Zagat rating is believed to encourage users to participate more often with business owned Google+ pages. With Google Places out of the picture,…