Google Plus goes public

After 90 days of testing, Google's new social network reveals itself  to everyone, since from today morning no recommendation from an already existing member is required. Registration can be achieved by visiting Googles website www.google.com/+

Google has presented Google + on the Google blog also indicating about one hundrend improvements made on it, emphasising on Google Hangouts and the ability to video chat with one or multiple members of the Network (this function is also available on iOS and Android).

Also there is a lot of attention on the search function of Google+, which when used by a person, results may come up not only from the Google+ area but from anywhere on the web as well.

In the Google Blog there are also mentioned future upgrades on Google plus, most of them concerning the mobile version of Google+ where especially Android users will have access to a fully equiped Android App that will keep them in touch with Plus all the time.

Last but not least, Google Huddle, a service that is meant to allow users to exchange text messages via 3G is renamed to Google Messenger.

Overall we expect to see from Google+ a network that guarantees privacy control as well as better connectivity, fusing major elements from other already existing networks into one. So, let us see....

For more info on Google Plus check out this

Motorola - Google deal: Facts and Truth

Google and smartphone vendor Motorola Mobility have entered an agreement where the search giant will acquire the mobile maker for $12.5 billion, formally announcing the beginning of Google’s official entry into the smartphone market as a vendor.

After the undoubted success of Android operating system, Larry Page, CEO of Google has announced that Google insists on updating the specific software and enter more dynamicly in the area of smartphones. For this reason they have deceded to reach an agreement with Motorola Mobility. Motorola has 80 years of innovation in communications, introducing the world’s first portable mobile phone over 30 years ago. The company was one of the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance, and was one of the first smartphone vendors to associate a definitive brand with the Android ecosystem via its Droid smartphones.

Page's exact words on Google blog are the following: 

This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android’s success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences.

The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences. I am confident that these great experiences will create huge value for shareholders. 

Undoubtedly, Google has made a surprise attacking move in the field of competition. But what is the key factor that moved Google in deciding to taking over Motorola Mobility? A single word is enough: 'Patents'

Motorola Mobility possesses a great deal of patents in its portfolio. Such patents will provide support to Google regarding the further development of Android.

According to analyst Mayuresh Masurekar: We believe the key benefit of this acquisition to Google is Motorola Mobility’s large patent portfolio, with 17,000 patents and 7,500 more applications in progress. This portfolio should strengthen Google’s position in any lawsuits related to Android (such as the Oracle lawsuit), and protect the fast growing Android ecosystem. Nortel Network’s portfolio of 6,000 patents was recently sold to a consortium of companies for $4.5B. Assuming no significant difference in the quality/ effectiveness of patents, Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio (3x bigger than Nortel) would have been worth 3x the $4.5B Nortel deal, implying Google paid the market rate for patents and obtained the manufacturing business for next to nothing. (source: zdnet.com)

Google now posseses 19.000 more personel and will have to calculate an extra 157 million dollar income projected for 2011 and originating from Motorola. This move will surely trigger a 'war-like' response sequence for other companies. Do not be surprised if other companies (Microsoft-HTC for example) proceed to such moves as well. The sure thing is that the near future holds a lot of surprises for us.

Goggle Chrome: the fastest web browser

Compuware has just released data regarding measurementsof browsing speed. The data were collected in experiementation with common websites on a broadband Internet connection and involved all the common browsers that exist. In the end of the survey, the results were counted up to 1.86 Billion measurements on more than 200 websites.

The winner of this contest was -well, you guessed correctly- Google Chrome.

Here are the results of this experiement:

The Blue bar indicates the loading time of the page and the green bar shows the perceived render time, meaning basically how much time it took for each browser to load all graphic visible content to appear on the browser. As we can see, Google Chrome 12 comes first in the page load race and second in perceived render time, just after Mozilla Firefox 5. 

As a Google Chrome user myself, I have to say that I am not surprised by this result since in my opinion Google Chrome is the fastest, easiest to use, most user friendly browser than all the other 4. Although Firefox surely comes close to Chrome (half a seconf for load time is not a great deal for a common Internet user), personally prefer and stay with Google's browser.

On the high end, the slowest browser according to this survey is Apple's Safari 5 (not the current version) and Internet Explorer 9 (not the current version as well). According to Compuware, more data from such surveys will be revealed in the future.

Facebook Videochat vs Google Hangouts

As predicted ahead of its time (see here), Facebook has teamed up with Skype for a videochat tool. In this way Facebook offers its 750 million of users a new way to communicate with each other by adding a new weapon to its arsenal. But let us examine the real intentions of Facebook regarding the timing of this implementation.

Facebook administration has input this feature days ago. The question is; why now? this feature has been rumored many times in the past. Well, I think the answer is obvious. 'Google Hangouts'. Google hangouts is the tool in the new social network, Google Plus. Google Plus more or less contains the elements of Facebook, StumbleUpon, some Twitter elements and also posseses videocall function. It is true on the other hand that Facebook has remained stagnant for quite some time. As a result, it is natural for Facebok to feel threatened by Google's new project (Facebooks performance has already started to decline in countries such as France).

But, is this Videocall feature enough to face Google Hangouts?

Well, in my opinion, no. Facebook has added a videocall feature which is very similar to the IM. A single button has been added (just like the picture above) and the videocall begins. This videocall contains simple things: it is a two persons only videocall and the interface is a mixture of Facebook and Skype. On the other hand, with Google Hangouts more people can co-exist in a videocall, more functions are available (such as youtube video projection), stratightforward call option keys (in case you want to mute microphone/speakers etc). In a way, Google Hangouts is (or said to be, since Google+ is on a testing stage yet) a more 'cared-for' interface with more functions, more flexibility and a more attractive-to-user environment.

With the main, basic characteristics of the call being almost the same, Google Plus beats Facebook videochat due to the better environment that it offers. Facebook videocall is not bad if you want to have a conversation with a person, on the contrary it is quite simple and straightforward. But, the thing is that hangouts' layout has been more attractive to the user (or even just to me, personally).

For more info on Google hangouts, check this: GooglePlus : RIP Existing Social Networks??

Google Plus Fake invitation mails

There has been noticed a great deal of fake e-mails regarding invitations to Google Plus, Google's new social network.

These e-mails at the first glance look truthfull but clicking on the link gets you on a pharmaceutical or some 'make 1.000.000.000.000,21$ a day online with only 25 seconds of work on a pc' website (...give me a break....), like any other spam mail.

People should know that Google Plus is not available for everyone because it has been working on a testing stage. Unless Google announces its official 'kick off', all such e-mails you receive are 99,9% fake.

For more info on Google+ check out this: Google+ : RIP Existing Social Networks?

GooglePlus : RIP Existing Social Networks??

Google's answer to the widespread use of Facebook and other Social Networks has arrived. It's name:

Google+ (Google Plus)

Google has just announced the new project called Google plus. From the outside it looks like a social network but the truth is that it differs in a lot of ways from the things that we have seen so far from networks like Facebook or Twiiter.

From the videos that Google has uploaded regarding this new project, we can see that the way that it is different is that it contains the whole idea and features of social networking in a Black line- a task manager for Google plus, just above the main Google screen. Here are some main features for Google plus:

Google Circle: Google Circle is the main tool for communication and interaction on Google+ since it is the main feature where you can see what your friends ( or 'communication circle') are posting. Here is also where you can edit your profile and post updates, photos, news etc. It kind of looks like Facebook but in a more different and new approach and more user-friendly as you can see here:

Google Hangouts: Google on this new project implements the feature of videocall as well. Using Hangouts a user will be able to participate in a video call with up to ten people simultaneously. Also there are actions available such us Youtube Group watch.

Google Sparks: Google Sparks is a network where the user will be able to indicate articles, websites, blogs and every other source of information on the Internet that is in any way useful to him or an other member. How it works: Utilizing Google +1 implemented some time ago by Google, the system will be able to determine which articles are of Interest for the user and which ones are not. To be more accurate, the procedure is this: when the user finds something interesting for him on the Web, he will be able to badge it with +1 and then this will work as a tool for discovering further sites similar to the one that the user marked and always according to the users interests. The whole thing looks a lot like StumbleUpon on the idea of working and to be clearer regarding its use, here is a video from Google explaining in detail.

These are the key functions on which this new network will run. Of course there are other features as well like 'Huddle' and 'Instant upload' that will work as support for these features.

On the whole, Google plus looks like mixing the main elements from variosu social networks in a single platform, in a simple, modern and very user-friendly way.

At the moment Google Plus works on a testing mode provides limited access to its users. So, hang out for further updates in the near future..