Tech Week in Review 7-1-2011

HBO Go Gives Viewers a Reason to Not Cut the Cable

I would really love to cut the cable , but there are still a few reasons why I and many others can’t go through with it. It boils down to quality of programming. Netflix, Hulu, and others give you a way to watch a bunch of shows, but are they the shows you want to see? I don’t know about you, but we added HBO to our plan for the express purpose of watching True Blood this season. When the season ended last year, so did HBO in my home. Now, with HBO Go, HBO makes a compelling argument for many viewers as to why they should keep the cable on.

The app had 1 million downloads in its first week and was approaching its 3 millionth download this week. The app, available for Android and iOS, gives you on demand access to HBO programming from the palm of your hand as long as you are subscribed to HBO with your provider. There is also a web interface for the service. It’s pretty awesome and gives HBO a way to get users hooked on classics like The Wire and The Sopranos, in addition to the new crop of shows like Game of Thrones and True Blood. They even offered a double premier of True Blood this season, allowing you to watch the season premier and the second episode immediately, via HBO Go. Have you used HBO Go, yet?

via cnet

Google Introduces Google+ Project

I’m a big fan of Google products, but even the biggest skeptic must admit that Google may have actually gotten social right this time. I’ve been using Google+ over the past week or so and enjoy it a lot. Even at the private beta stage, the site works pretty smooth and the design is clean and efficient. Basically, Google+ is a bit like Facebook and FriendFeed had a baby…and it’s a really cute baby.

Of course, every techy out there is trying their hardest to compare Google+ to Facebook, but that’s not the whole story. Google is all about making money through ads. This means they need eye balls on their properties for as long as possible. They don’t need people to actually switch from Facebook to Google+ to make that happen. Why? Because even the most rabid Facebook fan probably uses Google products and Google+ is integrated into all of them. That bar that appears across the top of sites like Gmail and Google Calendar? Google+ lurks inside of it. Your alerts show up on each and every Google property and clicking that alert button opens a miniature version of the Google+ experience. This is probably the killer feature of Google+ from a business standpoint.

While some say Google+ will only appeal to geeks in the end, I’m not sure I agree given this integration across Google properties. It also has the ability to email posts to those who aren’t even on the site, which give it a viral quality. We must also keep in mind that this isn’t just about social networking. Google+ has location and check-in integration (hello, Foursquare!), group chat, Picasa integration, and group video chat (Oh. Hi, Skype!).

This is barely scratching the surface, so check out Google’s official announcement for all the details. Invites are closed at the time of this writing so keep your eyes to the tweets if you want in. Are you on Google+? What do you think?

via Google

Gmail and Others Get a Makeover

Speaking of Google properties, Gmail and Google Calendar got a new look this week. The goal is to provide a more modern look and make the sites consistent across all of your screens. I’m torn on the new design as part of me likes it, but part of me is just a bit confused. I like the fact that this new design is clean and neat with minimal distractions, but it also seems like it’s a bit too understated. It’s obvious once you see the layout that it’s optimized for touch screen devices as well, featuring big buttons and more padding around elements. You can check it out now in Gmail by Choosing the Preview or Preview (Dense) themes.

via Google

About the Author
Rahsheen has been a certified geek since before it was the thing to do. He started programming and tinkering in the 4th grade. Now, Rahsheen mostly writes on various sites about technology trends in social media and mobile. . He is also a musician, singer, rapper, writer, and producer. @rahsheen - +Rahsheen Porter - coachrah.com
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