Don’t get me wrong before we start here, the ability to chat in a window inside Facebook with Skype’s video capabilities is really neat. If they execute the plan correctly, it will almost certainly keep a lot of people inside the Facebook family where thousands of video-chat seekers may have otherwise run to Google+ for their brand new Hangout video chat program. What we’ve learned today, however, is that the Facebook team has seen what Google+ can do and that they understand that LOTS of people are thinking of Google+ as a real alternative to Facebook and that they wanted to know what Facebook thinks about Google+ as it stands today. They understand and they’ve certainly responded.
The talk today started with Mark Zuckerberg making a case for the idea that Social Networking has taken off, and that, though he did not say it implicitly, Facebook has been at the center of this revolution. His first relatively big announcement was that Facebook now has 750 million users, finishing this thought with a note that they’d held off sharing this statistic because he and the Facebook team don’t feel that the amount of users on the network is the most important number anymore. This, at once, throws a rather important number in Google’s face AND allows Zuckerberg to say that it’s no big deal – so what, who cares? He goes on to say the amount that people share is the real big number.
Zuckerberg goes on to mention a new design for chat, that being a sort of AOL Instant Messanger-esque buddylist along the right of your screen, group chat, and of course Video Calling with Skype. After noting these three points, Zuckerberg says that they’re releasing apps and programs like these one item at a time in small doses on purpose. Zuckerberg notes in what your humble narrator believes wholeheartedly is another jab at Google with their giant undertaking in Google+ form:
“Companies that focus will always do better than ones that try to do a million things” – Mark Zuckerberg
Philip Su is called onto stage and does a short demo of what Video Chat will look like on Facebook. Using this function will require a single-time download (per browser, we imagine) leading you to a one-button connection to whoever you want to video chat with via their profile. He makes a really rather pointed quote happen here that, you guessed it, again has at G+ for the umpteenth time:
“No separate accounts, no separate connections, on a network that already has all your friends on it.” Philip Su, Facebook Software Engineer
Tony Bates, CEO of Skype is called out of the crowd and delivers a set of words not unlike the pre-recorded message you see here:
You’ll notice much excitement over lots of work done leading up to this precise moment in history. Did Skype and Facebook intend on announcing this collaboration before it was ready to launch in earnest?
Then came the whopper, inside the Q and A session, as asked by the lucky first questioner, a writer from Mashable, coming in the form of some sort of filler words in front of the bomb: “and what do you think about Google+”
Zuckerberg plays it cool and answers in a way that promotes moving forward rather than reacting to the Google+ mess we’re all in:
“As far as the Google stuff goes, I’m not going to say a lot. The next 5 years are about building apps. A lot of companies that haven’t been social in the past, not just Google, will be building social apps. In some cases they’ll build on existing infrastructure, in some they’ll build their own. Facebook’s job is to stay focused.” -Mark Zuckerberg
Growth, accessing the userbase that Facebook already has, working with the friends you’ve already got, all of this for the greater good of the one TRUE social network, right? They’ve got their own movie for goodness sakes! The saga will continue to unfold, and RIGHT NOW via our Tabletpalooza contest where you’ll have to connect to BOTH social networks to grab yourself a free Android dual-core monster.
The Google Maps app for Android has been updated today to version 5.7 and introduces several new improvements including better directions, search suggest, and a photo viewer for Places. But the most interesting new feature is Transit Navigation. The feature uses GPS data to determine your routes and to alert you when it’s your stop to get off.
Transit Navigation will be really helpful for those visiting a new metropolitan area where getting around town depends heavily on public transit. Once you’ve started a trip with the Transit Navigation feature, you can actually open up other apps or tuck your phone away and the feature will continue to alert you in the notifications bar and vibrate your phone when you approach your stop.
However, it’s noted that Transit Navigation relies on GPS data, so having a wireless signal is vital to it working properly. Hence, do not attempt using it for a subway ride yet. The feature is also still in beta.
The other improvements introduced with Google Maps version 5.7 include a more efficient interface for getting directions. Now you can access driving and walking navigation directly from the first screen where you enter your destination. Search suggestions have also been improved to now have category icons and to give priority to Places for which you’ve recently received directions. And, a new photo viewer now lets you browse photos associated to a place on its Places page.
The Google Maps 5.7 update for Android is available for download now and requires Android 2.1 and above to work.
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is still several months away, but there’s already buzz now that the next-gen operating system dubbed Windows 8 will be at the core of Microsoft’s CES 2012 keynote. According to company insiders, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will be taking the stage at 6:30PM on Monday January 9, 2012 in The Venetian.
Microsoft has had their keynotes at CES over the last several years to kick off major new announcements. They used the same venue to introduce the original Xbox and Avatar Kinect and they also released the first public beta of Windows 7 back at CES 2009. Hence, its believed that Microsoft will also be releasing a public beta of Windows 8 at CES 2012.
However, the very first Windows 8 beta is rumored for a release in September this year at the BUILD developer conference. This should give Microsoft enough time to have a second beta copy of Windows 8 ready for the public by CES 2012. It’s believed that Ballmer will be at the keynote to demo both the ARM and Intel-based Windows 8 tablets slated for release later in 2012.
The Motorola Droid Bionic has been taking its time to launch. First announced at CES, the smartphone has since been delayed over the last six months to incorporate some new enhancements. It’s been speculated that the enhancements should include both boosted internal specs as well as a new form factor. Today, a leaked Best Buy ad confirms that the Droid Bionic has indeed been redesigned with a new look.
Although no specifics were given on the enhancements, the changes are said to be in response to feedback received at CES and possibly to beef up its specs against then competitor, the Atrix 4G. After being incubated for six months, the Droid Bionic is looking to be a real killer phone with mighty specs and a new look that’s more slick and squared-off.
The Droid Bionic will have a giant 4.5-inch qHD touchscreen now powered by a dual-core processor, the first to also be running on the blazing fast Verizon 4G LTE network. The Best Buy ad’s tag line sure conveys a powerful message: “With the ferocious force of Verizon 4G LTE, the Droid Bionic is an all-powerful, unstoppable machine.” However, no details hint at a more specific release date, although recent FCC documents suggest the device is for sure on its way.
Everyone’s favorite path into the internet, the internet that’s full of TV shows, movies, music, and photos that is, is getting an officially excellent remote. D-Link is stepping up their game with a Boxee Remote Control for PC and Mac, offering all users the innovation and cool control previously unavailable to anyone without a Boxee Box. This device is a two-sided controller with full QWERTY keypad that will allow you to interact with Boxee software seamlessly, allowing you to use your Mac or PC computer to bring all your favorite media to your TV.
Media control! That’s the name of the game. Home theater enthusiasts, as they’re called, aka the folks who take the time to set up a full video and audio network for themselves in their home, will be pleased to find that this new remote allows you to search and share with social networks using the Boxee software on PC or Mac, also allowing you access to every other bit of Boxee features you’d normally expect with your Boxee Box. And it’s no normal remote. With the included nano-sized USB adapter, you’ll be able to use RF signals that will stop the need for pointing directly at the receiver, aka the thing you’ve been doing for years with infrared TV remotes.
You’ve got a keyboard on top, a touchpad, menu and play buttons underneath, and a lovely smooth surface all around. Rock some sweet media in full HDTV 1080p with a remote – and the software will be completely free forever. Well played, D-Link! You’ll be able to pick this remote up for $49.99 now at several online retailers, and the software update making this device work will be out this fall.
On the other hand, you can get the remote on Amazon today for $39.99. Sounds like a win to me. On the other hand, if you’ve already got a Boxee Box, you could just get the iPhone remote app.
In an “Awesome” announcement on the 6th of July, 2011, Mark Zuckerberg announced several new items for their popular social networking site. The first item was Group Chat, the next was a New Design, and the most “Awesome” of the three is Facebook working with Skype for video calling. This move was seen by many chatters in the livestream room at http://www.facebook.com/FacebookLive where the announcement was streamed live. Mark noted that they were excited about announcing one item at a time instead of doing it like “Companies that focus will always do better than ones that try to do a million things.” Sound like anyone you know?
Group Chat
Inside group chat you’ll also find the “New Design” announced today for Facebook, a design that incorporates the ability to adjust for browser size. You’ll be able to see a list of people online at any given time (a feature currently in a smaller window in your bottom bar,) and the entire chat interface will be revamped for ease of use AND so that you’ll be able to have more than one person in a chat window. The Chat Sidebar and the ability to simply add several people into a single chat is what Facebook meant for you to take away from this announcement, it was quite clear.
Video Calling with Skype
There will be a brand new Call button on Facebook rolling out today if not soon for all Facebook users. You’ll be able to Facebook chat to a friend, see if they’d like to have a nice video chat, and connect to them with the Call button. You’ll have to download an applet to your browser to make Video Calling work, and it SHOULD work within 30 seconds.
“No separate accounts, no separate connections, on a network that already has all your friends on it.”
Philip Su, Software Engineer, Facebook.
Tony Bates CEO of Skype came to the stage and noted that they wanted and still want to be ubiquitous as possible. Bates noted that they wanted a long-term collaboration with a big group, and Facebook is it. They’ve got a lot of business sense going on here, he said, and it will grow to pay services in the future.
How this will compare to Google+’s Hangouts is asked by Mashable in the Q and A session. In response to the question “and what do you think about Google+”, Zuckerberg notes that he feels that Google+ social dip is sort of “validation” that the way he and the Facebook team sees the social future is truly the way it’ll be. No worries!
“As far as the Google stuff goes, I’m not going to say a lot. The next 5 years are about building apps. A lot of companies that haven’t been social in the past, not just Google, will be building social apps. In some cases they’ll build on existing infrastructure, in some they’ll build their own. Facebook’s job is to stay focused.” – Zuckerberg
Will all of this affect how Microsoft continues to invest in Skype? At the time the announcements were made, the only feature instantly live was group chat. We’ll see how this all plays out once all these services (including the other ominous gigantic social network of which we’ve been speaking) are fully up and running.
Cooler Master has announced that it will be on hand and MWC 2011 with its line of Power Fort offerings. I have talked a bit about the Choiix Power Fort offerings before; it’s a line of external batteries and power solutions for smartphones and other gadgets.
At MWC 2011, Cooler Master will have some gear on hand at the show that we have not seen before. One of the more interesting items is the Power fort solar iPhone 4 case. The solar case has a small solar panel on the back to charge up the internal battery while you are on the go. Exactly how much power the battery inside the case has is unknown, but those details should be offered at MWC.
Other gear that will be shown at MWC will include the Power Fort 5.5Whs/1500mAh battery that is for any USB device including the iPhone. The Power Fort 2700mAh battery will also be shown off along with a boxy 1500mAh battery. A brand new product will also be unveiled at MWC called the Power Fort Go Music.
Amazon is reportedly preparing to bundlestreaming movie content with its Prime subscription service, in an attempt to better take on Netflix in the US. According to the FT‘s sources, the web retailer has been readying the streaming system for some time now; rather than pushing individual rentals, as the current Amazon Video On Demand system offers, it will follow a subscription-based pattern with unlimited access to movies and TV shows.
Amazon Prime currently offers unlimited fast shipping on purchases, for a flat fee of $79 per year. It is currently available in the US, UK, Germany, France and Japan; Amazon recently purchased European rental and streaming company LoveFilm in a $200m deal that will see the retailer gain an instant catalog of licensed titles to distribute.
Whether or not that acquisition heralds the start of an Amazon Prime streaming bundle in Europe as well remains to be seen.
Egypt is reportedly back online, after the government pulled the plug last week in an attempt to undermine protests in the country. According to multiple reports on Twitter, connectivity has been restored including 3G mobile networks and BlackBerry services.
In the meantime we’ve seen services spring up to offer alternative routes for digital information to propagate, including speak2tweet led by Google, Twitter and SayNow, allowing for Twitter updates to be dictated by voicemail messages. It’s unclear to what extent the period offline will have affected the Egyptian economy.
Google is broadening support for its Hotpot recommendations system, adding 38 new languages – including French, German and Chinese – and adding search results for the crowd-sourced review system to Google.com. The news is important since Google plans to tie Hotpot in with its Android NFC drive; Hotpot window stickers – currently seeing a trial roll-out – already work with the NFC reader on the Nexus S.
Video demo after the cut
It will take some time for that to build up any sort of momentum, but Google isn’t letting the content side of Hotpot sit until manufacturers wake up to NFC. Hotpot results – which can be left at google.com/hotpot or via the Android widget or iPhone app – will now show up for restaurant, store and other search queries on the Google homepage.
