As invites are sent out for an event on the 20th of June that’ll have Facebook’s next “new product” unveiled, it seems only too good a coincidence that this morning more than one reference to RSS feeds in the social network were found. While it’s possible already to pull feeds in to Facebook with some 3rd party Facebook apps, it would seem only natural that the big blue social network’s next move would be to bring it all in officially.
The Google+ app was updated for Android users a short while back and as of today, it looks like that same update has arrived for iOS users. The update is already available and those looking to update will be grabbing version 4.4.0. Perhaps more important though, this is the update that brings the new Photos experience with features to include Auto Enhance.
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Google recently unified its various chat services into one last week with the announcement of Hangouts at Google I/O. This will allow you chat with friends like a normal IM client, but it also integrates Google's video chatting capabilities. However, if you use Google Voice religiously, you might have noticed that outbound calls from the desktop have been disabled, but Google says that this will come back in the near future.
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Google+ stepped up as the hub of Google's "context ecosystem" at I/O last week, with 41 new features now being joined by an updated Android app to take advantage of them. Google+ for Android 4.0 arguably makes its biggest advances in how photos are handled, tapping into the new auto-highlight and auto-enhance functionality which can automatically edit photos as well as pick out which are the most interesting from your uploads.
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Because Google’s most popular operating system – and the most popular operating system on the planet, mind you – is Android, it only makes sense that much of the company’s yearly developers conference would be centered in this multi-device environment. What we expected for this year’s Google I/O was an upgrade to a new version of the mobile OS and a new device (or two) to run it on. Instead what we got was a major upgrade to Google’s social networking connections and services working in and around Android – a turning point, perhaps, for the company in a single three-day series of events.
If you’re still laughing at Google+, and at Google Glass, then it might be time to stop; Google has just shown that they’re its next route to digitally understanding everything about you, and it slipped that through in the guise of a simple photo gallery tool. Highlights is one of the few dozen new features Google+ gained as of I/O this past week, sifting through your auto-uploads and flagging up the best of them. Ostensibly it’s a bit of a gimmick, but make no mistake: Highlights is at the core of how Google will address the Brave New World of Wearables and the torrent of data that world will involve. And by the end of it, Google is going to know you and your experiences even better than you know them yourself.
Google Offers integration has arrived in Google+. The initial support will be limited to a handful of participating businesses, however that number is likely to grow with time. For now those looking to get in on the offers should pay attention to the +GoogleOffers page. Google has said the integration will allow users to discover, share and save offers and that appears to be exactly what is available.
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We went into Google I/O hoping for hardware and gadgetry; instead, we got three and a half hours of software and services – gaming, messaging, Larry Page wistfully envisaging a geeky utopia. You can perhaps excuse us for getting carried away in our expectations. I/O 2012 was a huge spectacle, with lashings of shiny new hardware only overshadowed by skydiving Glass daredevils and Sergey Brin looking moody on a rooftop. In contrast, 2013′s event brought things a whole lot closer back to the developer-centric gathering that the show had originally been established as. Glass was conspicuous by its on-stage absence, and the new Nexus tablets that had been rumored were also no-shows; the emphasis was firmly on how the components of Google’s software portfolio were being refined as the mobile and desktop battles waged on.
Google+ Hangouts got a major face-lift yesterday when Google announced that all of their chat services would be merged together into one app. Essentially, users can now message each other over various platforms, as well as video chat. Furthermore, you can send someone a message without even them being signed in, hinting to the possibility that Hangouts could be an SMS replacement.
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Just minutes after Google+ Hangouts cross-platform and cross-device chat system was revealed as completely without extra charge for video chat, AT&T’s limits have appeared. Though the announcement during the one Google I/O 2013 keynote, this chat system was shown as Google’s one single chat system – and a replacement for Google Talk. In a situation that’s strikingly similar to what Apple’s FaceTime system faced back when it was first introduced for video chat on the iPhone, so too does AT&T keep the reigns tied tight.
Google unleashed a slew of new features and updates to Google+ today during the company's Google I/O opening keynote, and some of the new features included Google+ Photos. Google's aim for photos is to take the time out of editing, organizing, and sharing all of them. It can be a pretty laborious task, but Google wants to make it easier on its users.
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This week at Google I/O 2013, a new application has been introduced to take on cross-device and cross-platform communication: Hangouts. This system expands on what’s existed inside Google+ with a Hangout, turning chat both text and video to come with a user wherever they go. This system allows for saving of conversations, photos, video, and media of all types, sharing made as smooth as it has been inside Google+, now here on the web, in Android, and in iOS all at once.
