Google Announcing New Products at I/O Conference

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Tom Sullivan

The biggest Internet news of the week is coming from Google, which just yesterday kicked off its 6^th annual Google I/O developer conference.

The conference, which over 6,000 developers are attending at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, is still going on right now and will conclude tomorrow. But there has been quite a lot of buzz about what Google has already announced.

Here’s a rundown of the biggest announcements from the Google I/O developer conference so far:

Google Play Music All Access: This is a new, unlimited streaming music/Internet radio subscription service. It offers access to millions of tracks, playlists and suggestions based on music you already own and like, and let you customize a streaming radio station based on specific songs or artists (a la Pandora). You can stream music on Web or Android phones and tablets. The service will cost $9.99 a month, but if you sign up for a free 30-day trial before June 30^th, you’ll pay only $7.99 a month. CNET has a review of the new All Access service. Or visit Google Play Music.

Google Play social gaming: Google is launching a new platform that will allow game developers to build in more social gaming aspects as well as take advantage of Google’s cloud storage capabilities, so you could play and pause a game on Android devices, iOS decices, PCs or Macs. See the Wall Street Journal for a review.

Google Maps: The popular map and direction service has been totally rebuilt. The next generation of Google Maps offers a more full-screen, less cluttered view with a search box built into the map itself. You’ll get a lot more options with your map searches: more local points of interest, more business information, street view and satellite imagery options, photo tours, and more. You’ll likewise get more options for directions: car, public transportation, walking, biking, flying. The new maps is available for the Web, on Android devices, or iPhone. Google has a preview of the new Maps and links to downloads here.

Google Search: Google previewed its work on conversational search. When it launches, you’ll be able to say “OK, Google, will it be raining this weekend in Central Park?” and get your answer spoken back to you. You can then ask follow-up questions. Google also announced improvements to its Knowledge Graph, to answer factual questions more precisely and fully. And Google Now updates offer reminders based on time and your current location. See Google’s Inside Search blog for more details.

Google Hangouts: Google launched a new Hangouts chat, video chat and unified messaging app that works across platforms. You can use it to text, send photos, or have a group video conference; SMS integration is reportedly coming soon (but not for iOS). The new Hangouts replaces Google Talk and G+ Messenger. It’s now available on Android, iOS, Chrome and Gmail. Read a review of Hangouts on Techcrunch.

Google+: The social network site has been redesigned to work better across platforms (Web and mobile devices). Google+ Photos also features a number of important updates: Auto Backup, Auto Highlight, Auto Enhance, and the more-awesomely named Auto Awesome. Google has an overview of G+ changes here.

That’s not all. Watch for more updates on Google’s Official Blog.

You can also keep up-to-the-minute on Google announcements and even watch live streaming video of the ongoing developers conference here.

Twitter Music, Twitter Comedy

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Tom Sullivan

Twitter, the big social network known for its little, 140-character post limit, is really branching out these days.

No, it’s not giving you more characters, but it is expanding its scope: into both music and comedy.

Last Thursday saw the launch of Twitter #music, which was officially announced on TV’s Good Morning America.

According to the company’s official blog post announcement, Twitter #music is “a new service that will change the way people find music, based on Twitter.”

The new music service, currently available as on the web at music.twitter.com or as an iOS app for iPhone and iPad (sorry Android users), uses tweets and other engagement metrics to promote the most popular music tracks and emerging artists. It also showcases the music-related Twitter activity of artists and makes it simple to check out artist profiles or tweet songs.

Twitter pulls the tracks from iTunes, Spotify and Rdio. Everybody can listen to song previews; Spotify and Rdio subscribers can sync their accounts to get access to full tracks.

So, why would you want to listen to music on Twitter versus all the other options you have?

Well, you might not. But the unique experience Twitter #music can offer is that it can recommend songs and artists based on your Twitter follower data (artists you follow directly, as well as the artists followed by the people you follow) in the Suggested tab. It can also play music that’s tweeted out by people you follow who use the #NowPlaying hashtag; you can access that music in the #NowPlaying tab.

Check it out and let us know what you think of Twitter #music.

If last week was about Twitter getting its groove on, next week looks like lots of laughs.

Cable TV channel Comedy Central is hosting a five-day comedy festival that will feature both young comics like Amy Schumer and legends like Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, as well as directors Paul Feig and Judd Apatow. And the festival, called #ComedyFest, will take place almost entirely on Twitter.

Jokes will be tweeted with the festival’s #ComedyFest hashtag and clips of comedy routines and panel discussions will be shared on Twitter using the Vine video platform.

#ComedyFest kicks off next Monday, April 29. You can see the full festival line-up on Comedy Central’s Tumblr page.

Be sure to follow @ComedyCentral on Twitter for festival updates.

Let us know what your favorite tweeted jokes are in the comment section below.

And speaking of Twitter, if you’re not already a follower, we encourage you to follow @EarthLink and @EarthLinkBiz on Twitter. Thanks!

Facebook Home – the Not-Quite Facebook Phone

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Tom Sullivan

For months now, the Facebook rumors and speculation have been flying:

“Facebook is thinking about launching a phone.”
“Facebook is going to launch a phone.”
“What will the Facebook phone look like?”
“Will the Facebook phone be a Google killer or an Apple killer?”
“When will Facebook finally unveil its phone?”

Well, the when question has been answered. But what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled last Thursday wasn’t exactly the long-rumored and now-expected Facebook Phone. But neither was it just another Facebook mobile phone app. It’s really something in the middle. Something called Facebook Home.

Facebook Home is a kind of super-app that takes over your Android phone’s home and lock screens and fills them with live updates from your Facebook account with a feature called Cover Feed.

With Facebook Home, you’ll not only be able to see your Facebook news feed, including full-screen photos, but you’ll also be able to Like things, comment on posts, or initiate Facebook Messenger Chats. New messages, by the way, will pop up a round icon showing your friend’s face. It’s a new feature called “Chat Heads” that will allow you to chat even while using other phone features.

As Facebook describes it, Home is “the family of apps that puts your friends at the heart of your phone.” Visit the official Facebook Home page for their overview and highlights. There’s also a brief FAQ that covers the basics of using Facebook Home.

But what about some more objective opinions?

Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg wrote that he “found Facebook Home easy to use, elegantly designed and addictive,” noting that it prompted him to interact with Facebook more than ever. For big Facebook fans, he added, this could be “a big win.”

The New York Times’ David Pogue had a more mixed response, mostly noting the tradeoffs Home users will have to make (loss of easy access to other apps) and some “confusing” aspects of the user interface. In summary, he wrote “everything in Home is attractive, smooth and quick. At the same time, there’s something vaguely incoherent about the whole operation.”

On Mashable, Lance Ulanoff writes that he found the scrolling Cover Feed “undeniably compelling” and that Facebook Home may “suck you back in” if you’ve been drifting away from Facebook. He said in just 36 hours, it prompted him to spend “more time on Facebook than I have in the past three months.” But, he reminds us that the Cover Feed is expected to get ads at some point in the near future, a feature that “may annoy some people.”

Facebook Home is scheduled to be available tomorrow, April 12, as a free download from the Google Play store on these four Android phones:

Samsung Galaxy S III
Samsung Galaxy Note
HTC One X
HTC One X+

Other Android phones will follow. No iPhone, however. Apple’s iOS doesn’t allow the same kind of Home screen takeover that Google’s Android OS does.

And speaking of phones, there is one new phone that’s being called, informally at leaset, the Facebook Phone. It’s the HTC First — as in the first phone to have Facebook Home preinstalled, which Facebook claims is “the best Home experience possible.”

Reviews of the HTC First and its Facebook Home integration were mixed. TechCrunch called the new phone “an impressive first try” and did a nice round-up of other HTC First and Facebook Home reviews.

Online Education: In the News, In Our Future

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Tom Sullivan

The November issue of our eLink newsletter featured a very popular In Focus section on Free Online Learning. If you didn’t get that issue in your inbox, feel free to check it out now online.

In the past week, online education was once again in the news. This time, there was a bit of a controversy around it.

A recent survey of professors who have taught MOOCs (massive open online courses) by The Chronicle of Higher Education was positive in many ways. It found, for example, that 86% of teachers thought that online education would ultimately reduce the cost of attaining a college degree, and 45% said that they thought the reduction would be “significant.”

And 79% of professors agreed that, overall, MOOCs are worth all the hype they are receiving.

But one finding seemed to be played up in reports about the survey: 72% of professors who teach online courses don’t think their students should get official college credit.

There seems to be a lively and legitimate discussion of how and when to issue course credit for online education courses. California’s plan to use MOOCs to help students who are shut out of high-demand, on-campus classes, for example, is still being debated.

Now matter how the details work out, it seems clear that there’s going to be a growing place for online education: to teach our children basic skills. To reach out to people in remote or impoverished areas. To further adult education opportunities. And, yes, to provide a free or less expensive alternative to traditional college degrees.

As an Internet service provider, we’re always happy to see the value of the Internet access we provide extended in new and meaningful ways.

Let us know if you’ve had any experience with online education.