About Google plus

Everything You Need to Know About Google Plus and Photos

2011-07-13T07:50:00.001+05:30

The simple exterior of Google Plus' photo section is deceptive

It has been said that the biggest feature of Google Plus is that it’s not Facebook. However, there’s another feature that may be of interest to all you Gadget Lab photo nerds out there: the photo integration. It turns out that G+ is a pretty sweet way to manage and view your shared photos.If you have ever tried to share your pictures on Facebook, then you’ll know the pain. And if you have tried to track down other people’s photos, it’s even worse. I use a third party app for this to see photos of my nephews because Facebook drives me crazy. Google Plus makes both sharing and viewing a whole lot easier.

Getting the Photos in

Browser

You can add photos to your posts, just like you can with Twitter, but this article is about using and sharing galleries of your own snaps. To begin, click on the Photos tab in the group of icons at the top of every page. You’re brought to your main photo page, and shown the latest snaps from anyone in your circles. Click on any of these and you’ll be taken to the album view for that person.

The upload screen, with caption and rotate options

To upload your photos you currently have a few choices. The quickest way to start is to use the browser. Click the big red “upload new photos” button, currently top right, and you gat a big rectangle into which you can drag the photos, one or more at a time.

These upload with a progress meter on each image. Once done, mouse over the thumbnails to add captions, rotate or delete the pictures. Pick a new gallery name, or add to an existing album, and you’re done. Next up, you can add an album description, and pick which of your circles you want to share with.

Here's where you add a description and decide who to share the album with

This step is key to what makes photo-sharing great in Google Plus. By choosing particular circles of friends, you can target snaps to the right people. Thus, all my bike polo photos go only to my Polo circle, to avoid boring everybody else with them. Family photos can go to family only, and a picture of my nephew playing bike polo can go to both. It’s quick, and once you have your circles set up, extremely powerful.

And if people in these circles aren’t yet signed up with Google Plus, no problem. You can choose to have G+ send them an e-mail instead, and they can come look at the pictures without signing up. This means your Google Plus network contains anyone in the world with an e-mail address. Take that, Facebook.

Worried that you shared a photo of you drunkenly dancing a striptease on a table in your local bar with the wrong group? No problem. Click the little white “View profile as…” button and choose who you’d like to be. You can view your stream as it is seen by “anyone on the web”, or enter an e-mail address (of your boss, say) and check what they can see. It’s neat, and makes you a lot more confident in sharing things.

Cellphone app

Currently, the only G+ app available is for Android, with iOS “coming soon.” Using the app, you can choose to have photos uploaded automatically to Google Plus. These are stored privately until you decide to share them.

IOS users currently have a few choices. Thanks to Google Plus’ photos ties to Picasa, you can use any app that has Picasa export to get your photos up into your albums. Some, like the excellent Photosync, will push the pictures to a selected folder (I use Picasa’s Drop Box folder, which is private). Others, likeWeb Albums, let you browse, upload and manage all of your Picasa albums. You can even rename your photos, and browse and edit comments. These changes then sync both ways immediately, and you can also see any of the albums your friends are sharing on Google Plus by adding their e-mail address. It’s actually a pretty great app, and might even replace the photos app for me. It looks like this, and you can grab it for $3:

This screenshot of Web Albums was taken on the iPad, uploaded to Picasa and viewed in Google Plus. Confused?

This shows us that Google Plus photos are already tied deeply into Picasa, which brings us to…

Picasa

Picasa, which the rumors say will soon be renamed “Google Photos,” is both a photo-sharing site and desktop software. This brings us to a third way to get your pictures into Google Plus. First, download and install Picasa, if you haven’t already (it’s free).

It could do with a re-design, but Picasa for Mac gets the job done

Once it has done importing your photos, sign in to your Google account. Then just create a new album, click on the “Sharing” drop-down and choose “Enable Sync.” You’re done. Any photos in this folder will now be automatically uploaded to Google Plus, and vice versa. In theory at least. While some of my publicly shared folders sync back to the computer, my private Drop Box doesn’t.

Editing

If you want to do some heavy editing, you can head over to the Picasa site and take care of things there using the Picnik web app. Any changes made here, from cropping to Lomo-fying to anything else are immediately propagated back to your Google Plus albums.

If you want to make some quick tweaks or just get some extra info, you can do that from inside Google Plus. Just click on a photo to take you into the blacked-out lightbox view and click one of the buttons at the bottom. Add tag lets you tag a face, and this ties into your G+ contacts. Actions, though, is where the meat is.

You can view all your EXIF data from within Google Plus

Here you can rotate the image, delete comments, but more interestingly you can edit and get “Photo details.” The latter will bring up a histogram along with any EXIF metadata (shutter speed, camera model, date taken etc.) Tap the left and right arrows (or scroll with the mouse) to flip between the info pages of all photos in the current album. You can also view the EXIF data for other people’s photos.

Simple editing is done here. If you want to get fancy, head over to the Picasa Web site to edit the same photos

Editing lets you choose from six presets, like Instagram. Or rather, five presets and Google’s trademark “I’m feeling lucky”, which picks a random filter from the five. You can also come back later and undo any effects you have applied, reverting to the original. The effects are limited, but I have a feeling we’ll get the full Picnik suite before too long, and they’re just fine for quick fixes.

One thing to note is that there’s no slideshow yet, although you can use you arrow keys to quickly flip between images (way faster than Flickr). Neither is there any easy way to move photos between albums. As you can only publish whole albums and not individual photos, this is an annoying limitation, although I’m sure it will be fixed soon enough.

Viewing

As mentioned above, you can view the photos of anyone on Google Plus just by clicking on their photos tab. You can choose not to show the photos tab at all, and also choose whether GPS data is shown, and which circles can add tags to your pictures (tags let you say who appears in the photo, remember).

All of this is invisible when you view photos, though. You see what you are authorized to see, and can quickly browse and flip through albums of images and add comments. Oddly, you currently can’t +1 a photo you like, but you can see a number in the corner of thumbnails, indicating how many comments the photo has.

Browsing is fast if your browser window is small. Go full screen and the pictures are scaled to fit, slowing things down while the images load. Photos all have their own URL and can be saved or just dragged to your desktop. It has the slick feel of Flickr, but without all the heavy crap and forced button-clicks to download a photo. In fact, you might want to pull your images out of Flickr and put them into Picasa. It’s not easy, but our sister site Ars Technica explains how to do it here.

The future

Google Plus’ photo sharing is surprisingly robust for such a new product, likely thanks to Picasa running under the hood. Even now it is already my favorite way to share pictures, and it’s pretty likely that the feature-set will grow as soon as Picasa is fully integrated. One thing’s for sure, though. Google Plus makes Facebook look like a complex, bloated piece of junk.

New Threat From Facebook to Google: Facebook Video Chat

2011-07-11T11:49:00.000+05:30

Facebook introduced video calling, cluster chat and a brand new style on Wednesday throughout the social network's much-heralded "awesome" announcement.

Wearing his signature gray t-shirt and blue jeans, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the options at a press conference in Palo Alto, Calif.

Facebook Video Calling was developed with Skype, the world's largest web phone company.

Users with a netcam on their laptop can have to be compelled to install a special plug-in before they'll create calls using Facebook from within their web browser.

Callers are ready to see and listen to the recipient, and vice-versa.

With the cluster chat feature, users will speak with many different Facebook friends at identical time using solely text.

"We suppose this can be getting to be one thing that is very valuable," Zuckerberg said. "A heap of individuals have asked for it."

In Canada, the new options can solely be rolled out to atiny low proportion of users initially, aFacebook spokesperson told CTV.ca.

Group video calling isn't nevertheless supported and it absolutely was not clear how the feature would be accessible to mobile users. Zuckerberg said the new tools "are largely net options."

The design changes are aimed to create it easier for users to visualize a listing of friends they'll chat with, whereas taking advantage of widescreen laptop displays.

Wednesday's announcement from Facebook comes virtually every week when Google launched its latest social network, Google+.

Google+ is accessible on an invite-only basis, however the corporate is keen to induce a grip within the social networking sector.

The new service has been received with largely positive reviews, earning praise for its Circles and Hangouts options.

Circles lets users simply drag-and-drop contacts into groupings with customizable security and privacy settings.

Hangouts, meanwhile, lets users chat and collaborate in realtime using webcams. Users may additionally collectively watch videos on YouTube.

Hitler Loves of Google Plus

2011-07-11T11:47:00.002+05:30

[Yahoo way] Export your facebook friends to google plus

2011-07-11T11:19:00.000+05:30

Get *your* data contact out of Facebook, whether they want you to or not. You gave them your friends and allowed them to store that data, and you have right to take it back out! Facebook doesn't own my friends.

This it`s what a very downloaded extension from google web store promise to do.

And it did, but for a limited time. Facebook now closed the application.

There is another way to export your facebook friends to google plus, using yahoo mail.

1 : Go to https://login.yahoo.com

2 : Click the : "Create new Account"

3 : Create your account.

4 : Click on “Contacts” button then click on “Import Contacts” button.

5. When you will see something like this :

Share with Yahoo!

Do you want to share your contacts with Yahoo!

Click

6. Now goto https://plus.google.com/u/0/circles/find and click on Yahoo!

Google+ Recommends That Businesses Hold Back For Now, Says Current Offering is Consumer-Focused

2011-07-10T00:57:00.002+05:30

So, Johnson & Johnson — you’re a male, right? If you’ve tried looping your business into Google+, you may have noticed that it’s not exactly setup for that right now. In case you didn’t, however, Goog’s own Christian Oestlien has a bit of intel he’d like you to know. For now, Google+ remains a consumer-oriented affair, but he did say that there’s a team of engineers toiling away on “an amazing Google+ experience for businesses.” As for features? Mum’s the word, really, but we aretold that it’ll “far exceed the consumer profile in terms of its usefulness to businesses.” The company’s asking for patience while the finishing touches are made, and Google’s going to be testing the waters with a few marketing partners over the next few months. As for when your own LLC can take advantage? “Later this year.”

Google+ Themes For Gmail Users

2011-07-10T00:56:00.000+05:30

Over the years GOOGLE has helped us in a way or the other, every time it is highly dedicated to its users and is constantly on the verge of helping its users. One such web application of GOOGLE is its mail client THE GMAIL. Gmail has always decreased the barrier between its user and it has always acted as an interface between the users. Gmail interface update helps us to strip out unnecessary clutter and make Gmail a beautiful and powerful modem of conversation ,so in order to make gmail more convincing and beautiful GMAIL has launched two latest themes .

[Preview Theme]

[Preview (Dense) Theme]
When you look around these latest themes u may see a lot of similar things but if you give a closer look you will find some updated themes that embody the same design principles but are better suited to working in a dark environment, if you use a different color palette, or include the illustrations that you like around your inbox then you might find it more attractive also a question may arise regarding the difference in the two themes well both are exactly the same. The only difference is that Preview dense has the text lines closer together while Preview has them nicely spaced out hope u would find it interesting.

7 Google Plus Data Points That Could Change SEO

2011-07-10T00:54:00.000+05:30

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Google, as a company, is one of the most powerful PR machines in the world. In recent times Google has started discussing openly the lack of importance of Pagerank, which has been the main driving factor behind ranking in Google since its inception around 2001.

7 Google Plus Data Points That Could Change SEO

They are also openly talking about the diminishing role links are playing in the algorithm. Granted, I am not sure that is entirely the case (partially true?), but there is something in there between the lines that is worth diving into. A lot of times you can read between the lines with what Google announces to the general public and figure out what they might actually act on.

As most folks already know Google launched its own social network recently called Google Plus (Google+) Probably a smart move for Google. Why, you might ask, outside of the obvious assertion that people will be spending more time on Google properties vs. Facebook and Twitter?

Well, Google+ is going to be a treasure trove of data for Google and its advertisers. The data that they will be exposed to will certainly be game changing from an SEO standpoint.

Google recently filed a patent that shows how some of the new modifications to the SERP (search engine results page) might look with the addition of new data sets. It doesn’t take much creative thought to see how Google might utilize status updates that are heavily +1ed, commented on or shared.

Google has proven recently that altering its SERPs is not something they are afraid to do.

Lets take a look at the different aspects of Google+ that could easily turn into valuable algorithmic data.

Google + Circles

Basically Circles can be seen as a vote for people, like links are a vote for websites. This will allow Google to better understand the influencers within its network.

Google +1 Button

The more obvious metric, this can be used to glean insights on authoritative status updates, images, webpages, etc. Although, personally, I think its a noisy variable that could easily be manipulated and has many user experience (UX) discrepancies.

Google + Sparks

If there is anything Google wants you to do, it wants you to build out Sparks on your profile. Sparks are simply a creative name for your Interests. This will give Google another layer of targeting. If Google can understand your interests then they can interpret the weight of your voting abilities on given subject matters.

Google + Profile Data

The profile page consists of many opportunities for Google to better understand you. Individuals have the opportunity to unveil their occupation, employment history, education, places lived, birthday and gender. You can even add links you’re associated with. This better ties down your associations that can be interpreted by an equation.

Google + Hangouts

Hangouts are simply group voice chats. There are other companies in the group video industry, and some of them even transcribe the conversations. I have not looked into it fully but Google could possibly “listen in” and interpret your video chats and derive data based off of those conversations.

Localization Data

Google+ has heavy integration straight out of the box with Mobile. On top of that, the GPS location setting is prominent and is a key focus. That sort of data allows them to better target users based on their geographic location. Advertisers will certainly like that option.

Localization data also helps determine relevance, on a user level and on a per status update level, for geographic queries. Photos

Want to create a real life bond in a social network according to a robot crawling through data? Stand next to another Google+ user in a photo that is automatically associated with facial recognition. This is a very easy way for Google to better understand who your real life connections are.

Other Social Networks Google is Looking To Associate With Your Account

Quora
Facebook
Yahoo (accesses your contact list)
Flickr
LinkedIn
Twitter
Yelp
Hotmail (accesses your contact list)
Plaxo

Google + is Anti-Spam

One form of spam that can really poison a dataset typically comes from folks who create thousands of social network accounts and rotate votes around. With the advent of Google+ its possible to track things that will be difficult to game, namely because of time it would take to look ‘natural.’ Your comment history, sharing activity, and other network interactions adds a huge layer of anti-spam mechanisms to weed out and devalue social accounts with.

So how do all these factors play together?

Granted, no one really knows, but one can infer that with more data on you,the Author, Google can better tweak their algorithm to a point of supreme relevancy.

Google hasn’t had a true relevancy breakthrough for a long time now. This could be their big ticket they have been looking for since Facebook applied the pressure several years ago. Even at best if 5% of the United States population uses Google+ then it is a win for them, in my opinion.

How do you get Google Plus invites?

2011-07-10T00:51:00.000+05:30

As we all know, Google Plus is in beta mode. This implies that it is not open for the public yet, and any access has to be through personal invites.

So the question arises, where do you go to get invites? A lot of people have been trying to find answers to this all important question. So here are some real answers:

1. Ask your friends

You must have some friends – everyone has some. Ask them if they are, or plan to be, on Google Plus. You don’t have to ask them via Facebook or email. Just call em up! Ask them to paste your email address into the “who to share” box and share some item with them. They will automatically get added.

2. Check out Youtube

A lot of people on Youtube – and we mean a lot – are trying to provide invites to Google Plus. Do a search on Youtube and you’re bound to find people offering to add you to their circle of friends.

3. Ask a Journalist

Journalists and press teams usually get invited to ultra-beta offerings before other people do. If you know a journalist or media person, now may be the time to suck up to them in the hope of you getting an invite.

4. Beg Mark Zuckerberg

The owner of Facebook is actually a well known personality on rival Google Plus system. Ask Mark – who knows – maybe he might be feeling ultra-generous today.

5. Fill in Google’s own form

Yes, Google actually has a form for requesting information on the Google Plus project. You just might get an invite, who knows? Just fill in the form.

6. If all else fails

If all else fails, just put your name and email address in the comments below. Maybe we can invite you!

Can Google compete in social?

2011-07-06T03:03:00.001+05:30

Google has a pretty large task in creating a successful social network. This isn't the first time the company has tried to do this either, but early buzz about Google+ has been fairly positive, though there is certainly some negative out there too.

Does Google + have the staying power to make an impact in the social media world or will it go the way of Google Wave?

Google has its work cut out for it competing with the monster that is Facebook in the social networking space, even though Google says it's not really a Facebook competitor. Right.

Google has plenty of obstacles to overcome if this is going to be a huge success. Here are some of them.

1. Most people don't want to leave Facebook.

Sure there are plenty of people out there looking for a good alternative to Facebook. Some of them have found it with Twitter. Some want something better. That said, it is highly doubtful that the majority of Facebook users are looking for something else. They like Facebook just fine, and aren't looking for a reason to leave.

Sure, it's possible to use both, but as long as people still have the majority of their friends on Facebook, and not so many on Google+ this is going to be a hard nut to crack. Not an impossible nut, but a hard one.

2. People are already gravitating more toward Twitter.

Speaking of Twitter, it is growing pretty well. It's also about to be integrated into the hugely popular iOS. Many of the users will also be using Facebook. Google+ is simply another thing to add to the list, and could be deemed an added burden.

3. Google's previous attempts at social

Google doesn't have the best track record or reputation when it comes to social. Some of this is simply perception, because YouTube is social and it's obviously a huge success, but it was acquired by Google - not created by Google, and one could argue that it's not the social aspect of YouTube that is its main driving force, but the simple fact that it has tons and tons of stuff to watch.

4. Google's reputation for privacy

When Google launched Google Buzz, it was a huge privacy fiasco, and one that is still in the news. Google greatly damaged its reputation in the area of privacy with this. It's not hard to find commentary throughout the web indicating growing distrust of the company in general, whether justified or not. Reputation can go a long way.

5. People largely still think about Google as search

One of Google's biggest challenges is its existing success. Google has become synonymous with search. Google is a verb, that means to search for something on Google. People don't think to go to Google to share things necessarily. They think to go to Google to search.

Yes, Google has many products that do many different things outside of the realm of search, but first and foremost to most people, Google is still search, and Facebook is friends. That's another hard nut to crack.

6. The Like Button

Speaking of Facebook being friends, that "like" button that is everywhere on the Internet, has been quite powerful, and is the premier way that people share content now, I believe. Google has the +1 Button. Not so much. At this point (disregarding the Buzz button for a moment, which doesn't have much to do with Google+ at the moment), publishers are asking people to either "like" this and share with your friends, or "+1" this so that other people that you may or may not know may be able to find it in search results for some query that may or may not be searched for. Which one is going to get clicked more?

7. The Retweet button

See numbers 2 and 6.

8. Bing

Back to number 5 for a moment. Google is synonymous with search, but it is still the key ingredient to keeping people using Google+. Meanwhile, Bing is just going to continue to gain market share. The more people using Bing as their default search engine, means the less people using Google, which will likely mean less using Google+.

Realistically, Bing currently doesn't come close to Google in market share at this point. Whether it ever will remains to be seen, but so far it's been growing fairly steadily, and now Google faces FTC scrutiny over its competitive practices. When Microsoft was in a similar situation, it greatly set the company back in innovation for years, many people say. Depending on the outcome of that, it's hard to say what Google's future will hold.

9. Yahoo

Yahoo still makes up another significant segment of search market share, and maybe even more importantly, It still has a very strong presence in other key areas like email,finance, news, etc.

Part of the Google+ strategy is that it extends across Google products. Some of these products compete directly with some of Yahoo's strong points. Let's not forget that Yahoo is also in the connected TV space, where Google is still trying to gain more significant market share.

10. Complexity

The sheer complexity of Google+ may also work against it, particularly when you pair it with number one. You're trying to get people to use your service instead of Facebook's, while trying to sell an overly-complicated concept (mainly with Circles. .).

In the end, it might not really be as complex as it seems, but again, perception goes a long way. If it even seems complicated at a glance, and all of your friends are already doing just fine on Facebook, how big is the incentive?

To be clear, I'm not saying any of these things mean that Google+ won't succeed. It's entirely possible that it could become a huge hit. It wouldn't even have to dethrone Facebook to be a big hit. I think we can consider Twitter a hit, and it doesn't even come close to Facebook in terms of users.

Suffice it to say, Google has its work cut out for it.

If Google can put these obstacles behind them, what's to stop Google + from overtaking Facebook as the social media platform of choice?

Google+ With Facebook Theme

2011-07-05T14:57:00.003+05:30

The social network war is on fire, as google has come up with its gaint social network, Google Plus. It is still in testing phase (people can only join through invitation, get one here), and in return of this, Mr. Mark Zuckerberg has announced a big surprise for the facebook users in this week, Can you guess it? The early response of G+ has been good, and the result is coming out to be positive by the users. Well, i think G+ will leave behind Facebook soon, rest the time will tell.

G+ also offer a interface look like facebook, it is a good reason for the users who like facebook but want to switch to G+ for better social experience. You can your G+ looks to facebook by the use of this awesome widget: Google + : Facebook, Stylish Extension or with this CSS Code

I am sure you gonna love it :)

Import Facebook Contacts To Google+ via Yahoo

2011-07-05T12:03:00.003+05:30

Most of people must be waiting for the chance to use Google+ as a new social network, but finding all your friends from facebook and add them you Google+ would be a hectic. Though there is not a direct way to import your facebook contact to Google+, and i dont think so facebook will provide this feature :P, but still you can manage to import facebook contact to Google+, It can be done with the help of facebook connect, its a little lengthy process, but it actually works.

To start this process, log in to your yahoo account, link your facebook account in yahoo through facebook connect, then goto contact and import all your facebook friends, If you find it difficult, Check this simple guide for this step.

When done importing, log into your Google+ account and from Find and Invite page you can import all your yahoo contacts including facebook contact... its not a direct method, but doing this much is worthy at least :)

Facebook Inspired from Google+ Circle

2011-07-05T12:03:00.000+05:30

Few months back, it was being said that Google Orkut is coping stuff from Facebook, now guess what? its time for facebook to get inspired (or say to copy) from the Google+ Circle. The Facebook engineers worked on the circle hack, though it doesn't have advanced design and features like Google+.

Making friend list on Facebook is little messy, i thing most of people doesn't have noticed this feature on Facebook. If you want to make a list, first go to 'friends page', than 'edit friends', 'create list' and something more.... its crucial to get that same thing like Google+ on Facebook.

Well on Google+ this all mess can be done on a single page just with little drag and drop, i know you people are champ in that.

Beware of Fake Google+ Invites

2011-07-05T12:02:00.000+05:30

Its hardly a week google+ released, and a group of hackers had targeted it for a scam, If you receive any email invitation from an unknown person to join Google+, beware it can be this scam. The emails look very much similar to the invites sent by google, if you click on the link in the message(which we don't recommend), it will redirect you to a penis enlargement products website.

Scam for such a big release is very common, as some time back at the launch of Google Music, same kind of phishing was seen, You should always be careful if you receive any mail from a third party or any unknown person.

The Social War - Facebook vs Google+

2011-07-05T12:00:00.000+05:30

In today's world of WWW, where social network has become a big thing, people are so addicted to social networking sites, and where Facebook is ruling above all, but now what? Google+ has been launched, Google+ is the biggest competitor of Facebook, though currently Google+ is in its test phaze, but it has enough potential to hit the web and become the king of all social networks, and it would be a big blow to Facebook.

Google+ is a well advanced version of Facebook, which people would obviously like to use, Google had called it as a "Real Life Sharing" network, as it is in its testing phaze, most of people are just waiting to have a first look of Google+. Even its testing phaze has fired enough alarm in the Facebook factory, resulting Mr. Mark Zuckerberg announced a surprise for Facebook users in this week.

This social war is going to be on fire as soon Google+ is open for all.

Will all people migrate to Google+ to enjoy advanced features leaving Facebook dead or Facebook will rule in future also, please share your views in comments.

'Mark Zuckerberg' Profile Appears On Google+

2011-07-04T00:34:00.000+05:30

A mysterious profile has appeared on Google's new social network, and it may belong to none other than Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg's profile photo (if this is indeed him) is a grainy, somber-faced closeup. He looks none too pleased about this new service, which many are calling Facebook’s most serious rival thus far.
So far, over 14,000 people have added this "Mark Zuckerberg" profile to their Google+ Circles, a feature that lets you separate your contacts into groups.
The supposed Zuckerberg profile has only 38 people in its circles. One of these friends bears the name "Dustin Moskovitz." Could this be the same Moskovitz who attended Harvard with Zuckerberg and helped found Facebook?
As with the Moskovitz page, Zuckerberg's "About" page is practically empty. His location is listed as Palo Alto, CA, and his introduction reads, "I make things."
PCMag reports that other, less genuine-looking Zuckerberg profiles may also be found on Google+. Until Google+ comes up with a Twitter-like method of verifying accounts, there's no real way to tell which are legitimate, if any.
Take a look at what appears to be Mark Zuckerberg's Google+ profile. Do you think it's real? Weigh in via our Quick Poll (below).
LOOK:

Google+ (Google Plus) for Android Hands-on

2011-07-03T23:50:00.000+05:30

So Google+ has arrived on Android, but what exactly is it? You've probably heard that it's not Facebook, but it's like Facebook, so what's the difference? Google's attempt at social networking reaches for the sweet spot between oversharing in Facebook and undersharing in Twitter through one key concept – Circles. Unlike Facebook, everything in Google+ is organized around this circular concept, forcing you out of the paradox of having 500+ “friends” you barely know. In Google Plus you classify friends, acquaintances and co-workers until everyone gets the place they deserve.

But to get into that magical space you have to... be invited, of course. Google+ is yet another invite-only beta service by the search giant. After the initial excitement of conquering the new lands of the web, you realize that a trip to the Android Market will prove beneficial as that's where the free Android application for the new social network resides.

It greets you with five icons – Stream, Huddle, Photos, Profile and Circles. You already know about the Circles, while the Stream presents you with a unified view of all the updates from all of your circles. Next on the list is Photos, accumulating a lot of pictures. Actually, every single picture you take on your cell phone can be instantly uploaded to the web. You shouldn't worry about privacy, though, as it's stored safely in a private album, so if you want to share it with the world, you just change the picture to public availability... et voila. There's one downside to this otherwise excellent idea – all images are downsized to save you some traffic. In Google Plus you only get to see 720 x 540 pixels worth of an image.

The profile icon takes you straight to your profile where you can edit all of your personal information. We should add, that just like Facebook, Google Plus is helping you to discover what you're interested in through the Sparks feature and with it you can add even more information about yourself.

You might have noticed that we missed Huddle and for a reason. The feature isexclusive to the mobile application and allows you to easily create group chats with all people in a circle or just handpicked individuals. Now, while that's truly an outstanding feature (just think how much easier it makes organizing a get-together), Huddle puzzled us with being available only in the Android Google+ app. You can't continue your conversation on a desktop, nor through the mobile website, and it's not integrated with Google Chat.

That rounds up the functionality of the Android app, but you won't know all about it, unless we say what Google+ and the application miss. First of all, the new social network has this creepy yet cool Hangout feature, which is basically a group video chat. Perfect opportunity to use that front facing camera on your cell phone? Think again, as it's not supported in the mobile application, and we'd love to see the engineers at Google add this in next versions of the app.

The app also doesn't support multiple accounts (that's supposed to be fixed in Version 1.0.2, which wasn't available at the time of writing this), but even more importantly – there is no private messaging. At least in the way we are used, you can still send IMs or emails to people in your circles, but the lack of dedicated private messaging was a disappointment for us.

To conclude, we have to admit that Google Plus for Android does one thing brilliantly – push notifications. You'll be thrilled with joy seeing how seamlessly Google has implemented push notifications appearing in your dropdown. Those of you used to the Facebook mobile app will find many similarities, while notifications seem to be even better implemented in the new social network. We're sure that Google and Vic Gundotra, the main person behind G+, will put a lot of efforts into this, but even though it's still in its early phases, the network's mobile application look more like a hit than a miss.

Highlights:

+ Excellent push notifications

+ Privacy taken care of elegantly through circles

+ Instant Uploads of pictures puts images in the cloud instantly

+ Huddle exclusive to the mobile app

- The current version does not support multiple accounts (Version 1.0.2 should fix this.)

- No private messages as a dedicated feature.

- G+ is not allowed for people under 18.

Download Google+ for Android (Market link)

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WHAT IS GOOGLE PLUS?

2011-07-03T23:21:00.002+05:30

It is a social networking service in beta phase, in which users can join by invitation only
Social circles allow selective interaction; the number is unlimited
Web conferencing option for up to 10 participants
Instant upload of photos, pictures on Google+
‘Huddle’ turns different chats into a group chat
Google Plus would soon release mobile applications for Android and iPhones

Google targets Facebook with new social service

2011-07-03T23:14:00.002+05:30

San Francisco: Google Inc, frustrated by a string of failed attempts to crack social networking, is taking another stab at fending off Facebook and other hot social sites with a new service called Google Plus.Google designed the service, unveiled on Tuesday, to tie together all of its online properties, laying the foundation for a full-fledged social network. It is the company's biggest foray into

Google Plus Demo

2011-07-03T08:56:00.001+05:30

Google just threw down the digital gauntlet, right in front of Facebook's feet, with the announcement of a new social sharing site called Google+.
The site is invite-only at the moment (cue hundreds of "Can anyone spare me a Plus invite?"requests on Twitter), so for those who can't get inside, the basic premise is this: Plus lets you create groups of people called "Circles", and you can share stuff among those groups in a more focused way than you might using Facebook.
So while you might share the news that you've got engaged with everyone in all your Circles, the other news - about how your engagement party ended up with three hospitalized casualties, your car painted bright pink, and your purchase of 20 square miles of prime Los Angeles real estate for just $20 and a can of Coke - might just be shared with your BFFs. Or maybe the subset of your BFFs who were invited to the party.

There are also "Hangouts", in which Google appears to have invented the chatroom. You can create one, or join one created by a friend, at any time. Participants are connected viavideo chat and can, you know, hang out. Another feature, Huddle, is much the same but for text chat between groups of people. Sorry, Circles.
There's also instant photo sharing and a feature called Sparks, which offers something new: auto-generated content feeds based on your chosen topics. It's like blogging never happened. You tell sparks what you're interested in, and it scoots around the web finding stuff it thinks you'll find interesting.
Google's created a Google Maps-style demo you can play with to get to know Plus a little better.
So will Plus out-Facebook Facebook? Will people care enough to sign up, assign buddies to Circles, join Hangouts, and browse Sparks? Or will they all be too busy on Facebook to notice?

Google+ Invite Mechanism – Shut Down Due To Insane Public Demand

2011-07-03T08:51:00.001+05:30

The new social network by Google, Google+, made a beta launch last Wednesday evening. The launch was said to have been so successful that Google needed to shut down the invite program.

Google Plus An Invite Only Platform

Google’s new social network is an exclusive site that not many have access to yet. Since it is made and designed by Google, people expect for it to be nothing short of spectacular. But the sad part is, not everyone can actually use Google+. Google has made it a point to limit the amount of people who have access to join Google+; just like an exclusive party, you’ll need to have an invite first before obtaining access to get in.

Google Plus Beta Launch Has Shocking Results

Last Wednesday night, Google allowed current users of Google+ to invite whomever they wish. This is where all the mayhem began. Upon broadcasting this over the Internet, many people started coming to the site in hoards. A few hours later, Google shut off the invite program due to the onslaught. Vic Gundotra, social media head of Google, was the one who shut down the invite mechanism. He said, via his plus profile, that the demand for people trying to get in Google+ was insane. He also said that the Google social media team would need to do this kind of invite program again, but more carefully than of the beta launch.

Fans Of Google Plus Search For Loopholes

Just like any other site, there will be usually some loopholes. This is also what people are expecting from Google+. There are many websites posting different ways to get into the site; some are successful and some aren’t. One way to get into Google+ is a procedure wherein an existing Google+ user will share a photo, link, message and etc. to a non-Google+ user by entering the email address. The non-Google+ user will receive a notification and can get in Google+ by clicking the link below the said notification. There is also a waiting list that Google has established for people who want to get in Google+. For people who don’t want to get in using loopholes, this could be the one for you. Don’t expect to get in right away, there may be thousands or maybe millions already listed before you.

In this article, readers learned that the invite program of Google+ was shut off just hours after it was introduced to people. According to reports, it was because of the large amounts of people coming to the site. After the said event happened, people are still trying to get in Google+ via loopholes; and these loopholes can be found in different website postings online.

Google Plus Preparing To Take Off

2011-07-03T08:49:00.001+05:30

Google Plus Soon To Launch

Bradley Horowitz, a Vice President of Product Management said in a statement to the New York Times, “In real life, we have walls and windows and I can speak to you knowing who’s in the room, but in the online world, you get a ‘Share’ box and you share with the whole world.” The privacy challenges that users face on social media platforms like Facebook seem like they are about to be answered with a real solution in Google Plus. Both media and potential Google Plus users are clamoring for more information. This morning, Google Plus was among the top discussions on Twitter. For a time, it was the top discussion. Google has a Twitter account devoted solely to Google Plus.

Google’s new social network, Google Plus, is about to launch. The open date has not yet been made official, but the search engine giant claims it can provide answers for social media users’ security concerns. The name of the new product is Google+ or Google Plus. Search enthusiasts may be both tickled and aggravated to notice that, in the Google Adwords keyword tool, one cannot search on symbols as a part of one search term like “Google+” yet one can search for something like “$5 gifts.” As is par for the course, Google is keeping certain things under wraps. Instead, if one searches for Google Plus, there will be results. That interesting bit aside, Google Plus stands to capture a large share of the social media market if it is able to do what it claims to do, and that is to allow users to compartmentalize their online presences the same way they do in real life.

Google Plus Is Not Facebook

Mashable.com more succinctly describes Google Plus’s capabilities here: “The search giant’s new social project will be omnipresent on every Google product, thanks to a complete redesign of the Google navigation bar. The familiar gray bar at the top of every Google page will turn black, and come with several new options for accessing your Google+ profile, viewing notifications and instantly sharing content at any time. The notification system is similar to how Facebook handles notifications, complete with a red number that increases with each additional notice.” This is reminiscent of Facebook’s user interface, but here is where the likeness ends. The differences are found in the details. One feature is called Circles: users can have circles for professional life, personal life, and for every area in-between. They’ll be able to share videos, pictures, etc. inside of another feature called Sparks. And with a feature called Hangouts, users can share their locations and meet with people face to face. Google says Hangouts is the “next best thing” to teleportation. Business owners may also find that they have a robust and secure social and professional solution. Many hope Google Plus is able to live up to Google’s confident claims.

In today’s article, the reader learned that Google has created a social media platform that claims to be intuitive to how people actually live. Readers also learned that Facebook users complain of security issues and being unable to compartmentalize portions of their social media experience. Google Plus has the potential to handle those concerns and offer a more customizable and secure environment for both social users and for business users. Finally the reader learned that while Google Plus is not yet completely open, the release date is close enough that they are building significant buzz about the impending launch.

Google Plus Circles Feature Could Change The Way We Network

2011-07-03T08:48:00.001+05:30

Google Plus Circles Feature Is Appealing To Users

Google Plus may very well find that its Circle’s feature is the most interesting part of the entire platform. Google Plus will be the new social media platform that attempts to fill in the gaps that other social media platforms have either left out or have not created very well. Those who participate actively in social media have long complained that they need a way to segment their family relationships from their business relationships, and they also want to segment both of those relationships from close platonic relationships and romantic relationships. With frequent media spotlights on employees who have made errors in judgment that have cost them their jobs, people may have become more apt to not connect to others on Facebook. Google Plus and the Circles feature may just be the solution that social media users have been wanting.

Google Plus Facilitates All Types Of Relationships With The Circles Feature

What seems to be very attractive to potential new users of the Google Plus platform is that the Circles feature does not penalize individuals for reaching out to strangers, yet it still protects users from spam-like introductions. The same way that people in real life can choose when and how to interact, the Circles feature of Google Plus allows for the same kind of normal, compartmentalized interactions. A separate feature that is of great interest is Hangout, where strangers can safely meet and plan interactions both virtually and offline. It is assumed that a natural progression from Hangouts could be the Circles Feature. Hangouts can also be used with existing friends to create face to face video chats or to plan live meetings if users happen to be “hanging out” someplace where others might want to join them, like a bookstore or coffee shop. By promoting real, social activity, the applications seem endless.

Google Plus Demo Includes the Circles Feature

For those who are interested in Google Plus, there is a demo of the new platform that includes a brief demo of the Circles feature. There are other demos as well. What is not clear is exactly how all of the sharing takes place in the closed-environment groups that users can pre-determine. Will only the people in a user’s hypothetical “Family Circle” be allowed permissions in a user-defined Spark? What if a user wants to only tell their “Bookstore Circle” that there is a Huddle at their local bookstore? The demo does not show clearly how that will happen, but all bets are for Google Plus. Most believe that Google, the search engine giant and creator of the platform has it all figured out and that the Circles feature – which seems to be the core of the entire Google Plus experience at the moment – will easily interact with all the other features.

In this article, the reader learned that the part of Google Plus that is generating a frenzy of media and user attention is the Circles feature. Potential users hope that the relationship segmenting will be an intuitive part of the platform. Readers have also learned that, while there is a lot of buzz about Google Plus, there are not many definitive or official answers yet. Google is testing Google Plus with a limited number of early users who are helping to create a better experience through good feedback.

Google+ – Google Plus Made More Popular By Lack Of Hype

2011-07-03T08:43:00.000+05:30

Google Plus Soon To Launch

Google Plus is in the middle of what Google is calling a “limited Field Trial.” They’re currently testing out the reception of their latest social-networking gambit on a select group of people. However, the testing period is due to end soon, leaving us all wondering if the company that is semi-famous for attempts at social networking has finally gotten it right.

Google Generates Hype By Producing None

It’s possible that one of the most interesting parts of Google Plus so far is the amount of hype surrounding it, strictly because it has flown so low under the radar. At the end of last year, when news of Google’s “Emerald Sea” was leaked, not much information was given then, either. Is this Google’s way of building suspense, or do they really enjoy delivering surprises?

Google Refuses To Give Up Information

In December of 2010, information concerning the main features of Google Plus was leaked to the public. First came “Sparks,” or “Loops,” and then came the mini-release of the +1 button at the start of June. The concept of “Hangouts” was dropped in December too, but Google refused to make a big deal out of any progress they’d made, or even bring any attention to it at all. Only once did they actually take an active position in all the buzz: when rumors started over “Circles,” Chris Messina stepped in to deter the public from thinking Google was developing a social network. And yet, months later, here we are.

Is Google Plus Being Deliberately Kept Under Wraps?

No one knows just why Google has strayed so far from publicizing its own creations. Critics (yes, they are already out there) think it would have made sense to at least do a little marketing, especially as according to reports, 25% of yearly bonuses for Google employees depend on the success of this project. But others have referred to two thing. The first is that sometimes, the most suspenseful things for us are what we never see. The second is that it’s hard to be disappointed by something you weren’t all that excited for.

In this article, readers learned about the lack of hype surrounding new social network, Google Plus. There has been a lack of information about this service until recently, leading many to wonder just what the purpose was in Google keeping people in the dark. However, Google is just about ready to unveil their latest creation; we’ll soon see if the lack of information served a purpose or not.

Google+: What the Critics Are Saying About the New Social Network

2011-07-02T10:56:00.001+05:30

Whether Google says so or not, Google+ is a direct shot at Facebook, a social networking project that attempts, from the ground up, to let users control who sees what. But building a new social network in the Facebook era isn't easy--even for Google--so it's not surprising that experts and critics are at once excited and skeptical.

If you have no idea what Google+ is, check out PCWorld's hands-on impressions and list of notable features. Otherwise, here's a rundown of what people are saying so far about Google+:

Feeling the Love

Mark Sullivan, PCWorldHere at PCWorld, Megan Geuss and Mark Sullivan were impressed with the service. "Google wants "Google+" to rival its number one arch nemesis--Facebook, and by the looks of things the search giant may have a fighting chance," they wrote, but wondered whether Google can succeed at pulling people away from Facebook.

The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones came to a similar conclusion:

"As for me, I've enjoyed the couple of hours I've spent on this new network--but I'm not convinced I will be spending a lot more time there until I can be sure of finding the same stream of news, gossip, fun and trivia that I now experience on Facebook and Twitter," he wrote.

TechCrunch's MG Siegler likes Google+ enough to keep using it:

"Overall, I'm impressed by Google+ after day one," he wrote. "Of course, like many, I also had fairly low expectations of anything Google tried to do in the social sphere after Wave and Buzz. Still, I used Google+ for hours and kept coming back. And I have a desire to come back tomorrow. That's never a bad thing."

MG Siegler, TechCrunchSiegler noted that many aspects of Google+ still need work. The Circles concept, in which users drop their contacts into big categories like "Friends" and "Family," makes sense, but it's not always clear who sees what, especially when random people start commenting on something you've shared with a friend, he said.

Over at GigaOM, Om Malik doesn't see a threat to Facebook in Google+, but says it could be a danger to other messaging and communication services. The "Hangout" video chat feature in Google+, which supports up to 10 users, he said, could be devastating to Skype. "I personally think Skype Video can easily be brought to its knees by Google Plus' Hangout," he wrote. "And even if Google+ fails, Google could easily make Hangout part of the Google office offering."

Not Feeling the Love

For starters, Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land doesn't like the name:

Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land"Google+? Google+! I can't even question or exclaim about the bad name without it looking bad in writing," he writes. "Seriously, I'm cursing whoever made the final decision to go with Google+ as a name. Wasn't the Google +1 sharing service bad enough?"

Meanwhile, user interface designer UXBoy noticed how similar to Facebook the Google+ interface looks. He placed them side-by-side, so you can judge for yourself.

Dave Winer of Scripting News isn't pulling punches. In a blog post titled "Google Yawn," he dismisses Google+ as the product of a "huge scared angry corporation," "designed to meet the needs of the corporation that created it."

"The thing that makes Facebook great is that it incubated in the market with real users," Winer wrote. "It was made by real users. It was formed by actual use. One day at a time, one feature at a time, in public, every home run visible, and every mis-step."

Andrew Nusca, ZDNetOver at ZDNet, Andrew Nusca warns against the whole idea of reading social network reviews in the first place (ahem), noting that these same experts praised Google Buzz as a game-changer and a practical tool--shortly before the status update service faded into obscurity.

"So when it comes out, give it a shot. Decide for yourself. Then ask yourself why you'd need to read a review about a social networking service in the first place," he writes.

Google +1 = Social Overload

2011-07-02T10:04:00.001+05:30

I'm not sure how to say this, but I'm starting to think I might be antisocial.

It's not because I've spoken to more smartphones than humans today, mind you -- no, that's just part of an average Thursday. My newfound sentiment stems from the fact that I'm completely unmoved by Google's new social search effort, Google +1. If anything, I'm actually mildly annoyed by it.

Google +1 officially entered the world on Wednesday and is being rolled out to users as we speak. The service is kind of like Facebook's "Like" button, only instead of broadcasting your approval on some sort of wall, Google +1 puts your recommendation right into your friends' search results. Google's +1 button will soon appear next to everything in Google-based searches and -- like the hoard of social approval buttons before it -- will eventually show up on sites all over the Web as well.

If that blasted +1 button had a "Dislike" widget, I'd be clicking that thing like there was no tomorrow.

Google +1: A Two-Part Problem

My problem with Google's +1 program is really two-fold: First, my virtual life is already overflowing with a surplus of social services. I get recommendations from friends and colleagues on Facebook. I get links all day on Twitter. My inbox oozes with references and referrals. The last thing I need is one more place to find endorsements and share suggestions.

That aside, Google +1 invades what I view as a sacred neutral ground. When I perform a Web search, I don't want to see what my old college roommate thinks of the results. I don't want to know if 20 random people approve of this link or that one. I want a clean, clutter-free page showing me the most relevant results based on aggregated global measurements -- you know, that whole "algorithm" thing. To me, all the social stuff in search amounts to a bunch of added noise I simply don't need.

The +1 movement reminds me a bit of Google Social Search, a project that expanded earlier this year to put shared links smack in the middle of search pages. In a way, +1 is also somewhat reminiscent ofGoogle Buzz, which briefly breached my Gmail inbox this time last year. As I wrote back then:

"The last thing I need is yet another social networking site to keep up with when I should be working. And the last place I need it is on a website that serves as one of my main productivity tools."

That pretty much sums up my beef with Google +1, too. I can certainly see the benefit of the programfrom Google's perspective. And hey, some users might love the added social layer. But for those of us who value the clean and pristine approach Google itself ushered into search, it'd sure be nice to have a +1 "off" switch option