Friday, February 24, 2012

Integration of Google+ with other Google Products

Initially Google+ was launched (or at least perceived) as a Social networking site directly competing against Facebook. Tech gurus instantaneously started comparing the two sites based on features, user base, etc. However, Google has been saying for a while that Google+ isn't just as a social networking site, but a well integrated Google product. Little was known what they meant few months back. Here is the breakdown of what they meant by a well integrated product.
  • Any and all pictures uploaded on Picasa are now available in Google+ for you to share with your circles in one click.
  • Pictures taken from you smart phone are automatically uploaded to your Google+ as a private picture which can be shared at your discretion.
  • You can now view contacts/emails in your Gmail based on your Google+ Circles. You can also add any contact directly from your Gmail to your Google+ Circle
  • You can customize call screening and greetings in your Google Voice account based on your Google+ circles.
  • Ability to chat (gtalk) via Google+, and also specify which Circles can chat with you.
  • You can now sort Google search results based on personal connections (from Google+) or from the entire web.
  • +1's received by the websites are shown on search results.
  • And the list keeps growing
One of the questions which was being constantly raised was, will Google+ be able to compete with Facebook or will it eventually have a slow death just like Orkut. I don't think that question is valid any longer. Google+ is no longer directly competing with Facebook, but at the same time it is growing its user base 10 fold by integrating Google+ with other popular Google services.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Google to start competing with Dropbox

There have been rumors floating for several months that Google is going to launch Cloud Storage service called Google Drive. Google is aiming to directly compete with the famous cloud storage, DropBox. Google already provides cloud storage for music and is called Google Music.

Almost every company is moving towards cloud computing. Apple came out with iCloud for music, backup, etc. Google has also launched laptop running on Chrome OS which basically can be touted as a cloud computing laptop as all the application on Chrome OS are web based.

It is yet to be seen if and how Google Drive will be integrated with other cloud based services Google provides. No details have been revealed by Google regarding this service. I will post more information as it becomes available. I would speculate it will initially launch as a invitation only service just like any other launch.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Mobile Google Docs now available in Offline mode


Google Docs for Android received a major update. It has finally added support for Offline access to files stored in Google Docs. The inability of offline access has been a set back for Google Doc ever since it was introduced.

With this update you can now make any file in your Google Doc available to you offline. Any changes made will be sync'ed up when your connection is restored.

Click here to download the update...

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Apple's Got the Green!

Here is an interesting comparison created by MBAOnline regarding how much cash Apple's got.


Apple's Cash
Created by: MBA Online