Tech Week in Review 1-13-2012

Google Launches Search Plus Your World

Google has basically thrown down the gauntlet by (finally?) integrating their Google+ social networking site more closely with their popular search engine. Your general web search results will now be augmented by your social interactions on Google+, making it easier to find content more personal to you. The three features that make up the Search, plus Your World initiative are:

1. Personal Results, which enable you to find information just for you, such as Google+ photos and posts—both your own and those shared specifically with you, that only you will be able to see on your results page;
2. Profiles in Search, both in autocomplete and results, which enable you to immediately find people you’re close to or might be interested in following; and,
3. People and Pages, which help you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable you to follow them with just a few clicks. Because behind most every query is a community.

Of course, this latest move by Google has caused quite a stir. Many say that Google is manipulating their monopoly on search as if Bing isn’t gaining market share. It seems like only yesterday that Google was teased for being all over the place with its various products. Now, when they try to put the pieces together, the vision seems to scare a lot of people. This move is just like others Google has made, though. They get out there and they grab as many eyeballs as they can because eyeballs are really their core market.

While many are talking about potential anti-trust violations, I have to agree with Eric Eldon of TechCrunch. Google is probably well aware of their position and maybe even interested in seeing where such an investigation would lead. More specifically, it could force Facebook to give them access to that walled garden.

via Google

Facebook Lets You Listen with Friends

If you are one of those people who see your friends sharing what they’re listening to and have an urge to listen right along with them, you’re in luck. With their integration of Spotify, Facebook now allows you to listen along with your friends.

Today, with music services on Facebook, there’s a new way to listen with friends. This feature lets you listen along with any of your friends who are currently listening to music. You can also listen together in a group while one of your friends plays DJ.

You can basically through an entire listening party with multiple participants, much like Turntable.fm. Speaking of turntable.fm, they’re “down for maintenance” at the time of this writing to “fix some load issues.” I’m wondering if Facebook will eventually put the site out of business or if Turntable.fm will gain popularity because of the Facebook publicity, which is exactly what happened for Foursquare when Facebook launched check-ins.

via Facebook

MySpace Still Alive and Beasting the Upstarts

Most people believe MySpace is dead and have turned their attention to Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and others. According to recent numbers from ComScore, it’s probably not wise to sleep on MySpace. If we compare MySpace to Google+, we find it getting about 10k more unique visitors who hang around for twice the time they do on Google+. What are these MySpace visitors doing? Probably listening to music, polishing up their fading glitter graphics, who knows?

via GigaOm  

AT&T Announces HTML5 API for Web Apps and Mobile

AT&T has announced a set of API’s that would allow developers to create carrier agnostic HTML5 web apps for smartphones and tablets. Native apps are where it’s at right now, but I’ve always thought advanced web apps could be where it’s going to be and AT&T seems to think the same. HTML5 could allow developers to code once and have their app work on any device that supports HTML5. There will also be an app store of sorts:

A storefront for web apps called the “App Center” will be available later this year (developers can sign up for a beta here). In short, this new platform is conceived from the ground up with HTML5 developers in mind and targets most cellular networks, not just AT&T’s…

via 9to5mac

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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