Google & Social Network.

Today, I've joined an elite class of web users that have special powers that others don't.

Alright, that's how I see it. But in reality, I know Google Plus is just an overhyped, Facebook-esque service, provided by the brilliant folks at Google. A service, which at the time of post, is still under wraps for most, as it undergoes a limited trial test (*cough* BETA *cough*).

I have to admit. I've been skeptical when I heard that Google was developing a social networking service. Looking back at this company's past history of social networking services (Orkut, Google Buzz, Jaiku, and arguably, Google Wave), we can see that Google has made attempts into this realm before, and with the exception of Orkut, they've had brief moments of success before the hype surrounding them died down, and people went back to Facebook and Twitter like a yo-yo.

Indeed, developing a social network to compete against the dominant players right now (Facebook and Twitter) is no easy task. These companies have been building up their user base, to the extent where they now have enough power to enable them to "tentacle" their way across the internet. Nowadays, it's rare to come across a news site or a blog that doesn't give you the option to share the news story on Facebook or Twitter. Facebook and Twitter have shaped our lives in more ways than one - from procrastinating with Farmville and #Hashtags, to toppling regimes in the Arab Spring; from being able to know what @ProfBrianCox is thinking, to seeing tagged photos of your antics from last night at Arena. My point is: think social network, and the top results in your mind are likely to include Facebook and Twitter (disregarding the regional equivalents for the moment, like RenRen and Orkut). Google has the challenge of shaking away their past non-successes and coming up with a competitive product that will stick in people's minds for the right reasons.

Is Google Plus the right solution to this challenge? Well, let's look at what it has to offer first.

From what I've seen and heard thus far, Google+ is attempting to integrate various Google services together. Think of it as an aggregator for what you do with Google. Your Blogger blog posts, your Picasa uploads, your "+1"s on a news story that you read somewhere (I +1 this, or in Facebook speak, I like this), your Google Chat (remember that, from the days when it was in Gmail?), your YouTube activities, maybe your gaming activities on Angry Bird (think Apple's Game Centre, but on Android + other platforms). At this point, you might say "I can do all that already. It's called Facebook". True, all these features have been available on other services.

But perhaps the most exciting this for me about Google+ is their concept of Circles.

The best way of explaining circles is probably this: Imagine Google+ is a chatroom with all your online contacts together - your relatives, your ex-teachers, your ex-girl/boyfriend, your flatmates, your coursemates, your colleagues, etc. Sometimes, you just want an outlet to say something, but perhaps you only want certain people to see it, and not others, and you don't want to set a specific privacy setting just for that one status update on Facebook or that one Tweet, because it takes umpteen steps to do so. Well, Circles in Google+ is very similar to the idea of lists in Facebook, but made simpler. By default, Google gives you 4 circles to start off with - Friends, Family, Acquaintances, and Following. By putting your contacts into individual circles, you can now post certain things, and choose to share it with a specific circle(s), extended circles, just your contacts, or if you don't mind, the whole world. Because Google emphasises the Circles feature right from the outset when you want to add contacts, you are more likely to sort out your contacts into "circles" then with lists on Facebook. The clean user interface in which Google presents the Circles idea to you could not have been any simpler - you just drag a contact into the appropriate circle. Simple as that. And posting a status update is now easier than sending an email - you compose the status, and you choose who you want to send it to via Circles. And if you made a mistake, the brilliant minds at Google Inc can allow you to make an edit, even after posting. No more embarrassing typos!

One other feature that is of interest to me right now is the "Hangouts" feature on Google+. This concept is not exactly new - video/text chat over a social network, with people who happen to be online. However, recent events at Facebook has made this feature pop out to me. In case you haven't heard, Facebook and Skype have recently deepened their partnership by not only enabling Skype users to search their Facebook contacts, but also (most crucially), allowing Facebook users to have a video chat with each other over Facebook. Imagine that, I see that my friend is (as usual) procrastinating on Facebook, and I start a video chat with him/her. Considering how much time we spend online on social networking sites, this could be a hot feature for Facebook. Could this be a deal-breaker for Facebook? Or is this just Facebook trying to steal some limelight from Google's newest baby by playing catchup?

Putting aside the Facebook factor, I think Google+ is a pretty convincing product. Even though it's still in a limited field test, I think it's a clean, polished product with some compelling features, and assuming the backend stuff can scale to accommodate the masses, it is a brilliant service that's ready for primetime.

The problem is the elephant in the room - Facebook. Think about the number of friends you have on Facebook, the number of photos you have on Facebook (that's photos uploaded, and/or photos tagged of you). With Google+, it's a reboot - you have to spend time rebuilding things again. One of my friends on Google+ was telling me, as much as he loves Google+, he'll probably stick with Facebook for now because, well, that's where everyone and everything is at the moment.

The other issue right now is that I don't see any feature that is unique to Google+, that is a must-have, and not obtainable anywhere else on the web. Its 3 biggest selling point (as sold by Google) - Circles, Hangouts and Sparks (which is a feed of things that you are interested in, and which you can share with friends), are not that much different from Facebook Lists, Facebook Chat, and Facebook Likes/Share Options on articles in your RSS feed, respectively. The only plus side advantage that Google has right now is that the Google solution is simpler and cleaner. Apart from that, it's the same thing, is it not?

Google has certainly put their back into their latest attempt at going against Facebook - they've come up with a polished, convincing competitor to match Facebook. If Mark Zuckerburg hadn't had the few beers it took for him to kickstart the whole Facebook project, I would have definitely loved Google+ in an instant. It will take a lot of time and effort before people will embrace Google+. Nevertheless, I am hoping for Google to stay with this one for the long-haul and not abandon ship after a few months. After all, as economists would say, competition can be good for consumer choice, as it keeps the competing firms (read: Google & Facebook) on their toes. I'm looking forward to seeing how Google will impact the social networking services industry.

List of things to do this summer...

Fitness

1. Try running again

2. Try swimming again

3. Continue cycling

4. Try doing all 3 together (triathlon!)

iOS Development
1. Learn C Programming
2. Learn Objective-C Programming
3. Create an app.

Travel
1. Go to Singapore
2. Travel to the States in late August

Work experience
1. Do some work at my relative's office. (Maybe combine with the app development?)

Music
1. Make a mix.

Society Stuff
1. Read the Guild's guide to Society Finances for PhotoSoc.
2. Read the XpressionFM Presenter Training Guide while I have the time.

13 things. 3 months. Let's see how much of these I actually accomplish.

WWDC 2011 Roundup

1. The main people giving the presentation:

• Steve Jobs (1)
• Scott Forstall (1)

2. We will see iOS 5 ripping adding features that have been on Android/BlackBerry for a while -

• *the pull-down status bar of Android (1), 
• the push messaging of BBM (1) , amongst other things. 
• Also, big on the Twitter integration (1).

3. We will see OS X Lion adding features that have been seen in developer previews -

• Launch Control = Exposé + Spaces + Pages in iOS (1), 
• Instapaper-like feature (1), 
• App Store improvements (1), 
• Find My Mac (1).

4. We will see iCloud and how it interacts with Lion and iOS5 -

• it'll be an online locker for music (1), 
• files (1), 
• and apps (1). 
• Also could be the basis for the BBM-like messaging service and FaceTime (a bit sketchy on this one, so 0 for now)

5. Release dates -

• iOS5: 2 weeks' time (0).  [Fall]
• Lion: 2 months' time, to give Devs a chance to test OS/UI compatibility. (0.5) [close enough - late July would arguably be 2 months.]
• iCloud: 2 weeks' time (0), in time for iOS5 (0.5). [Fall, too]

6. Not happening today -

• new Mac hardware (1)
• FCP (1, hurts me to say it's not happening today, since I've seen the FCP X demoes, and love it).

7. One More Thing...

• iPhone 4s (0): [never happened, did it?]
• release date late August (0). 

Overall score: 15/20. Not too shabby...

Now, more on the keynote itself.

Since the keynote was at WWDC, it's obviously going to be aimed at developers - OS X Lion, iOS5 and iCloud to sync.

On OS X Lion

OS X Lion, as Apple talked about before, borrows features from their sister iOS on the iPad, especially in terms of the UI elements, with Multi-touch, Launchpad, and Full-screen applications. They've also refined the core OS X user experience features, merging Exposé and Spaces into "Mission Control", which can be activated with a multi-touch gesture. With over 70% of Mac sales being in the form of notebooks, and with the new desktop Macs now shipping with a multi-touch mouse (or trackpad, even), Apple seems adamant that multi-touch experience is THE way users should interact with their computer. This seems like a natural progression from what they've done in the mobile space with the iPhone. 

However, it could alienate certain users. For one, you need a multi-touch mouse or trackpad to get the experience of OS X Lion as intended. Furthermore, there's a pretty steep learning curve, as you try to figure out how many fingers are needed to to activate something, and how to move your fingers. I know everyone who's tried using my MacBook Pro baffled and annoyed, because they're unfamiliar with Multitouch on OS X Snow Leopard. Since Lion has MORE gestures, it'll probably be more difficult for them!

Apart from the UI changes, Apple's made some new, nice improvements that you'd think are in computers already, but turns out, they're not. Resume (i.e.: resume the state from last log-off/shut-down), Auto-Save (when working on documents) and Versions (which works with Auto-Save to be a Time Machine for documents), might potentially be time-savers (or even life-savers). Oh, and AirDrop - Why are we still passing files over thumbdrives, even when the computers are connected over the same network?

And the App Store - I'm not going to talk about how this should have been around since the beginning of the Internet. A downloads catalogue, much like Download.com, but tailored to the platform, why didn't this exist in OS X 10.0? Anyway, I want to compliment Apple for leading by example - no longer selling their software product on DVDs, and going exclusively on the App Store.

Other loved features (from the list of 250)

• International Voices
• Search Tokens (i.e.: metadata-based search)
• Recovery Mode Partition - a separate Partition created by OS X Lion, which you can boot into to Restore. Quite important that they've figured this out, or else, how do we reinstall the OS without a OS X DVD?
• Full Screen Chess. Chess. In Full Screen.
• Auto-correct, like on the iPhone.
• Quick Look in Spotlight.
• New PhotoBooth Effect. I don't love it, but I bet to you, your cam-whoring friends will love them.
• Bind Apps to a Space - will definitely help clear the clutter on my desktop. Ever tried looking through a pile of open windows that look almost the same? Your Safari windows, your Mail, your iTunes/Spotify, Word/Excel/PPT,  Twitter, Skype, iCal, etc. Rather than manually assigning apps to a space, why not make the OS do it?

On iOS 5

Features I Love...

• Wireless Sync via WiFi (finally!)
• non-intrusive notifications (though I still wished the pull-down notification panel would give options for Bluetooth/GPS/3G/Mobile Data/WiFi/Airplane Mode settings
• OTA updates (finally!)
• Multi-touch gestures on iPad (have it already, actually)
• Auto-exposure & Auto-focus locking (they didn't explain how you do it, but this feature will be handy for taking proper nice photos in high-contrast situations)
• Edit photos on-screen (basic photo editing in the photos app, at last!)
• Reminders (I know the same could be done in iCal, but this one's location-aware! how cool is that?)
• Tabbed browsing on the iPad - the screen's big enough for it, so why not?
• Quick Photo App Access from Lock Screen - not sure how safe this actually is, but nice feature to have for the quick Kodak moment. Hang on, next to the lock slide? I expect accidental snaps. 

I'm not sure why, maybe it's just me, but iOS updates seem to excite me more than OS X updates in recent times. To be fair, OS X is a matured OS, whereas iOS is still young, and even though I like it, there's definitely a fair share of flaws and room for improvement, especially compared to the jailbroken OS and competing OSes (Android and RIM, specifically).

Speaking of competitors, Apple has evidently been watching around and you can see they're not staying still. iMessage is Apple's BBM, Notification is better than it used to be arguably because Android has a better implementation of it, and Apple's probably the only company to make phones that are reliant on the PC/Mac (e.g.: for activation, updates and files), and that's been fixed with the PC-free features (Over-the-air updates being one that caught my eyes, and worries me somewhat, after seeing how is hasn't worked that well on Android. Will wait and see on this one).

Apple also seem to be responding to their publishing partners, too. Newsstand is a nice idea - grouping all the different magazine apps into one (cuts on the clutter online), and gives Apple a way to make money from subscriptions.

One thing I've noticed is how Apple seems to be rubbing shoulders with the guys at Twitter HQ - Twitter on Ping (oh, wait, nobody uses that) and now, all over iOS. Just one question: What about Facebook? Sure, Twitter's popular, but not amongst people I know! Yes, I admit, I was looking at it from my own point of view, but the truth stands - why is Apple aligning itself with Twitter and only Twitter? 

And on the subject of rubbing shoulders, why did Apple add features that are hurting other developers? Instapaper won't be too happy with Reading Lists, and Whatsapp is probably not too pleased with iMessage. Oh, how many camera apps on the iTunes Store tried adding the "volume button as a camera button" feature? Oh, and iCloud...

On iCloud

It's no secret that Apple's had MobileMe (previously iDisk). And let's face it, MobileMe was not value for money - the things it have, you can get elsewhere. Push Mail/Calendar is now in Yahoo! and Gmail, and mobile storage is free with DropBox. The only reason for MobileMe was Find My iPhone/iPad. Now, though, it's been replaced with iCloud. Apparently, this was the reason why Apple bought that plot of land in North Carolina for a data server farm. Exciting stuff, there.

Apple sees iCloud as a way to level the playing field between devices. In the past, the computer/PC was king - everything syncs with it. Now, Apple hopes the "cloud" will be the brain, and everything else its "subordinates" - essentially, downgrading the status of the PC.

Although details are still a bit confusing at the moment, it seems like iCloud will sync the MobileMe stuff (contacts, calendar, mail, documents and photos), and now, books and backup. 

iCloud looks more Dev-friendly, and now, there's APIs for Developers to use/access iCloud Storage for documents in their apps.

Notice I didn't mention apps and music in the list of things that iCloud will sync, because let's face it, it's essentially letting you re-download apps/music you already have the right to, because you've bought them. Apple's just decided to be nice and not make you pay again. I just hope that when they say "App Syncing", they know not to sync iPhone apps onto my iPad and vice versa.

What's interesting, though, is the iTunes Match Service - the US$24.99/year service which lets iTunes scan the songs you have in your catalogue that wasn't bought on iTunes, and gives you access to them from the iTunes Store/iCloud.

Why I said this was interesting: what about the "MmmBop" track you pirated in 1999? If that's still in your library, with the appropriate metadata, and iTunes scans it, will the service (a) report you to the RIAA? and/or (b) give you legal access to the iTunes copy of the same song, even though the copy you have isn't legit? Is this Apple's proposal to the recording labels of a way to make money from pirates? If yes, will piracy rise again, because people have essentially "paid away" their "sin"?

Also, is this anti-competitive? Because now, you have an incentive to buy music from Apple rather than Amazon, because although Amazon tend to be cheaper, you have to foot the $24.99/year bill if you want to sync with iCloud. And unless you're buying 25 albums a year (disclaimer: very dodgy calculations), it's probably more worth it to buy your songs from Apple if you need iCloud. 

Which you don't. I mean, what's wrong with good old USB? It's probably faster, it doesn't eat up bandwidth, and best of all, it charges your battery, rather than drain it! Honestly, though, is this innovative? Not really. But heck, it's free (for the syncing, plus $24.99 for the iTunes match service), and if it actually works well, I guess it's a nice freebie to make people feel like they're in the digital age.

Let's just hope iCloud's not just all-hype-and-no-function. I genuinely hope it works as advertised. Because look at what a disappointment Apple's past web product has been.

Things I'm looking forward to in iCloud

• iTunes Match (if it works)
• Backup (if it works without eating into my data allowance too much)
• Apps Syncing (Just so I know which apps I've bought)
• iBooks Sync (Thank you, Amazon Whispersync)
• Music Sync (let me have access to songs I own, but forgot to sync, on my iPhone for free! And no need to upload every single track I own. Smart, efficient way to go about the problem of music syncing over the cloud)

WWDC 2011 Predictions

You know the drill - I spout a few things that I predict to happen at WWDC, and I get one point for every thing that comes true. [Each thing is indicated with a "(1)", indicating the points I get for getting it right.]

1. The main people giving the presentation:

• Steve Jobs (1)
• Scott Forstall (1)

2. We will see iOS 5 ripping adding features that have been on Android/BlackBerry for a while -

• the pull-down status bar of Android (1), 
• the push messaging of BBM (1) , amongst other things. 
• Also, big on the Twitter integration (1).

3. We will see OS X Lion adding features that have been seen in developer previews -

• Launch Control = Exposé + Spaces + Pages in iOS (1), 
• Instapaper-like feature (1), 
• App Store improvements (1), 
• Find My Mac (1).

4. We will see iCloud and how it interacts with Lion and iOS5 -

• it'll be an online locker for music (1), 
• files (1), 
• and apps (1). 
• Also could be the basis for the BBM-like messaging service and FaceTime (1).

5. Release dates -

• iOS5: 2 weeks' time (1). 
• Lion: 2 months' time, to give Devs a chance to test OS/UI compatibility. (1)
• iCloud: 2 weeks' time (1), in time for iOS5.

6. Not happening today -

• new Mac hardware (1)
• FCP (1, hurts me to say it's not happening today, since I've seen the FCP X demoes, and love it).

7. One More Thing...

• iPhone 4s (1): 
• release date late August (1). 

So, 20 things. Let's see how right/wrong I am...

P.s.: Yes, I did cheat on the Lion stuff - the blogs have been talking about the things I mentioned - not much I can say, since the dev builds have been out there, and unless they added new features today, I doubt there'll be anything exciting in Lion, apart from the iCloud integration.

Music Chart for the moment

Yes, it's back! And so am I! 


After such a long hiatus, as a result of my Easter holiday plans and the exams (which haven't finished yet, I should point out, at the time of post - my last exam's on Monday, 23 May), I'm finally re-re-reviving my blog. Starting things the way I traditionally kick things off when I can't be bothered to recount recent events in my life - a Music Chart for the moment!


And what good timing, as well - there's so much awesome tracks coming out/being blasted over the airwaves around this time of the year, in the run-up to the summer season of festivals. The dance music genres are traditionally the most hyped-up at this time of the year, thanks to places like Ibiza. But don't just think it's the Swedish House Mafia and David Guetta that are getting in on the action - Lady Gaga's new album is coming out in a matter of days, after the weekly singles releases from Born This Way to Hair. And let's not forget the genre for which I have a soft spot - the alternative music scene. Last year, I was raving on about Owl City, Stornoway and The xx. This year, we've got quite a few brilliant newcomers to the mainstream limelight, from the spooky and eerie Jamie Woon, and the melancholic Ed Sheeran, to people with really long names, like Benjamin Francis Leftwich and James Vincent McMorrow. And it's not just the new, either, that's exciting me. The Wombats, Panic! At The Disco and Metronomy are just a few names with recent releases that have been candy to my ears whilst revising. 


I could go on mentioning the brilliant tracks on my summer playlist right now, but there's just too many that I'm loving right now, and I bet you have your own faves for this season as well. 


So, enough chatter from me, let's get with the charts, shall we?

Music Chart for the Moment
Filed: 21 May 2011

#1: Swedish House Mafia - Save The World [Seriously, I'm so hooked on this track, I think I need rehab.]


#2: The Wombats - Techno Fan


#3: Ed Sheeran - The A Team 


#4: Toddla T - Take It Back


#5: Jamie Woon - Night Air


#6: Alex Metric feat. Steve Angello - Open Your Eyes


#7: Lady Gaga - Edge Of Glory


#8: Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Pictures


#9: James Vincent McMorrow - This Old Dark Machine


#10: Birdy - Skinny Love


BUBBLING UNDER: Owl City - Alligator Sky 


So, what do you think? Yea? Nay? Comments, please!


[P.s.: If you're reading this on Blogger, please use the moderated comments option below - I've removed the tagboard, because there was too much spam.]


Cheers,




Ron