Tech Week in Review 9-23-2011

Netflix Splits In Two. Qwikster is Born.

Netflix, like many other successful companies, has almost accidentally gained huge success in their secondary line of business: streaming. Primarily a DVD-by-mail service, Netflix recently made headlines when they jacked up prices on unsuspecting customers. Now, Netflix is making another major move by spinning off the DVD-by-mail business entirely. The new service will be called Qwikster. In an effort to do a little damage control, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings explains the company’s somewhat arrogant attitude towards customers regarding the recent changes.

So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are becoming two quite different businesses, with very different cost structures, different benefits that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently. It’s hard for me to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary and best: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”.

We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.

Google Wallet Launches with Sprint

We’ve known about Google Wallet for a while, but it officially launched this week in cooperation with Sprint. This is the technology that will not only allow you to pay for things by waving or tapping your phone, but it also incorporates your existing credit cards. While many may be wary of using such a system, I’d totally jump on it if I had a supported device. The NFC technology is only available in a few devices like the Sprint Nexus S 4G, which will soon get an over-the-air update to support Google Wallet.

Google Wallet enables you to pay with your Citi MasterCard credit card and the Google Prepaid Card, which can be funded with any of your existing plastic credit cards. As a thanks to early adopters, we’re adding a $10 free bonus to the Google Prepaid Card if you set it up in Google Wallet before the end of the year.

via Google

Facebook Makes More Timeline Changes

Just when you thought Facebook was done making sweeping changes, with Subscriptions and Friend Lists launching last week, it appears they are far from done. Now, Facebook aims to bring you the top stories from your feed anytime you visit. Top Stories now show up at the…uhm…top of your feed in an enhanced view with larger images. The realtime ticker allows you to get a quick glimpse of what’s going on with your friends. You can even use it to participate in conversations and view updates without losing your place in the main feed.

via Facebook

Google+ Hangouts Go Mobile

No use in reading about an invite-only social network, so I’ll start this off by saying Google+ is no longer invite-only. Anyone can now join the 90-day old service. No more invites required. The Google+ team has made over 90 improvements to the service in this time. These latest updates take Hangouts to a whole different level and put them on the same playing field as services like Skype, Justin.tv, and Ustream. You can now view and participate in Hangouts from your mobile device…as long as it’s running Android 2.3 and has a front-facing camera. This feature should be available on iOS soon. Another major update in Hangouts is the ability to broadcast live. Only select users can access the feature now, but soon we should all be able to create a hangout and broadcast it to anyone.

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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