Google has released a new version of Google+ for Android, with v2.6 following the recently updated iPhone version with a slick new UI and better integration with Hangout video chat. The new Android app now allows Google+ users to start a new Hangout while on the move, with a new navigation “ribbon” getting a dedicated “Hangout” button. Tap that, add some friends, and their phones automatically ring to notify them you’ve made a video chat request.
Google products will be a thing of the past if Microsoft's Bing has anything to say about it - or at least that's what it appears like the software giant is attempting to make a reality with their newest update. In this update as you might well already know, Bing as a search engine will soon be transforming into a social network searching engine in addition to having the abilities it already totes. What's not included, it seems, are results from Google's many services, including what Google's search engine yields first and foremost: the Google+ social network and results from it.
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It’s a strange world: Microsoft has, in the space of a day, been accused of being up to its old tricks in closed-off anti competitiveness, and praised for its openness and flexibility. On the one hand, Mozilla and Google are up in arms about their browsers not having the same flexibility as Internet Explorer does in Windows RT, the version of the upcoming OS Microsoft expects to see on iPad-rivalling tablets and ultraportables. On the other, the Bing refresh is seeing favorable comparisons between it and Google’s contentious Search plus Your World refresh earlier this year.
Microsoft has launched a new version of its Bing search engine, giving it a Windows 8-style UI refresh and integrating social networks so that searchers can factor in the opinions of their friends. ”Research tells us that 90% of people consult with a friend or expert before making a decision” Microsoft said of the Bing changes. “The challenge has been to figure out how to integrate the information you care about with the people who can be most helpful to you in getting stuff done.” Full details after the cut.
Google has a problem, and it’s all about commitment and addiction. The release of Google+ for iPhone v2.0 today has already got Android lovers up in arms, furious at what they see as favoritism for the rival platform. Google should, they argue, prioritize Android users – after all, they’re the ones who have already supported the search giant by buying an Android device in the first place. But social networks online – just as is so often the case with their real-world counterparts – can be tricky and treacherous things. The blunt truth is that Google needs to convince Apple users more than it does those of Android.
Google has released a new version of Google+ for iOS, the iPhone app for its Facebook-rivaling social network, with an ambitious interface redesign that promises to “embrace” the mobile experience. Google+ for iOS v2.0.0.5888 delivers another step “toward a simpler, more beautiful Google” the search giant claims, with crisper fonts, a more user-friendly homescreen design, better transitions and photos and multimedia that look eye-poppingly good.
If you live in Google's world of email and social networking, a couple of your most-used websites just got a lot closer. Today Google introduced new Google+ features into the web client for Gmail, allowing users of both services to update comments and status messages as soon as they're posted. While Google+ previously allowed you to respond to comments via email, now Gmail will show updates in real time, allowing users to comment, share and +1 items immediately.
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Google has opened up its Hangouts On Air video streaming system on Google+ to all of the social network's users, having trialled the live broadcast system with select celebrities and news organizations. Set to roll out gradually to the entire user-base over "the next few weeks" - so as to avoid bringing the system to its knees - the service basically turns Google+ into a personal TV channel, with support for unlimited viewers.
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Google is constantly working behind the scenes to improve its services, and today it seems fate has smiled on Google News. Google has posted to its blog detailing the latest changes to Google News, which includes real time news updates, Google+ comments on news items, and a boost in the default size of images. The changes have already taken place for some, and for everyone else in the US they’ll be rolling out over the next few weeks.
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Google's social network is still working on gaining ground and differentiating itself in the marketplace. But perhaps it may have just found the thing that could really bring in droves of new fans - it will offer live streaming coverage of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida later this year. Yes, so if you wanted to be sure that you don't miss a million endless speeches about conservatism in America, Google+ will be the place to go.
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Google rolled out a refreshed user interface for Google+ on Wednesday, and predictably opinion seems to be split on the change. While we personally think it looks better, one thing that irks us (among other widescreen monitor users) is the large amount of wasted white space. Luckily, there’s a Chrome and Firefox extension that will remove the unnecessary void and tighten things up.
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Though of course .com and other Top Level Domains will continue to exist for a very long time, Google has noted today that they've applied for several TLDs ahead of ICANN's April 20 deadline for purchasing such rights. Google's domain name choices will likely be revealed once they've got them locked down with ICANN, until then we can only guess at such obvious hits as .GOOGLE, .YOUTUBE, and .GPLUS. Would you like your Google+ domain to be ChrisBurns.GPLUS?
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