Breaking through the noise

Reshared post from Google Drive:

Wed, 22 May 2013 15:12:37 -0400

Google Drive on Android gets the beautiful redesign before iOSShared by +Jason Salas

Today the Drive app for Android is getting several improvements to make creating and accessing your stuff on-the-go easier. Head over to our blog for what’s new: http://goo.gl/hvb3d

Be sure to get the app on Google Play now: http://goo.gl/TvyOl

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Reshared post from Robert Scoble:

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:42:43 -0400

Incredible idea and startup! Hope it spreads quickly.

Original Post from Robert Scoble:

The Uberization of everything continues with MyTime

If you haven’t used Uber yet in a big city to get a ride somewhere you are missing out. It shows you where the rides are, and is simply a better way to get a ride around town (and it has been copied by a ton of competitors).

But here’s MyTime. What does this do? Brings that same transparent mobile access that Uber has to appointments.

Ethan Anderson won Techcrunch’s big award a few years back when he ran Red Beacon and sold that to Home Depot. So, he’s worth watching in this space.

+++++++

An easier way to book appointments is finally here. Book whatever you need, when you want, where you want.

MyTime has built a place for you to come whenever you want to find open appointments for services you need. You can check off everything on your to-do list, from Haircuts to Oil Changes, all in one place. We also give you access to third-party ratings and reviews right on our site, and offer exclusive discounts on selected appointment times. Now booking an appointment and getting services you need is as easy spinning up a virtual server on the Rackspace Cloud !

Every business on MyTime is a high quality establishment that has been vetted by their team. They stand behind every purchase you make on MyTime. If you’re not happy, they’ll comp it.

Let us be your one-stop destination to purchase and book the things you need done in your life. Why call when you can click? Start doing things on Your Time.

MyTime is now available in the Los Angeles market and will be launching in other cities soon.

http://bit.ly/17V8a29

Scoble talks to MyTime CEO, Ethan Anderson and examines the easier way to book appointments.

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Reshared post from Google:

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:42:41 -0400

Lots of incredible content streaming from I/O!

Original Post from Google:

At 5:30pm today, Women Techmakers and +GDL are presenting a special “super sized” session featuring insights from seven women leaders in tech, including +Megan Smith and +Susan Wojcicki. Tune in live:

Megan Smith (VP, Google[x]) will emcee a series of TED talk style segments from Susan Wojcicki (SVP, Ads & Commerce), Anna Patterson (VP, Knowledge), Johanna Wright (VP, Search and Assist, Android), Kathy Kleiman (Founder of the ENIAC Programmers Project), Jean Wang (Hardware Lead, Glass), and Diane Greene (Board of Directors, Google). They’ll share their insights, learnings, and “ah ha!” moments from being technical leaders inside innovative co…

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Google+ has been Google-Now-a-fied. Very playful interface.

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:42:40 -0400

Google+ has been Google-Now-a-fied. Very playful interface.

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Live in infamy: The New Inquiry‘s Hazma Shaban warns what we say on Facebook will impact our future lives...

Sat, 11 May 2013 07:42:40 -0400

Live in infamy: The New Inquiry‘s Hazma Shaban warns what we say on Facebook will impact our future lives.Another +Om Malik recommendation for the weekend. Contrary to the language and ethos of popular social networking sites, our identities are not fixed and singular. Our “authentic selves” or “essential attributes” cannot be articulated on a single profile like a Pokémon card. Thinkers have long disputed the idea of a static identity, since such a notion would ignore how we associate in different contexts, the way our speech changes depending on our speaking partner, how varied environments shape our growth, and all the ways in which we experiment and imagine, pretend and explore.http://bit.ly/ZPyKSv

image via. Everyone may be famous for 15 minutes, but online those minutes can last a lifetime. A friend’s lens captures a tipsy top-shot revealing too much flesh. Or the camera catches the vacant stare of a bro’s pickled pupils, and the picture taker might mockingly pronounce, “I’ll save this …

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Larry Hunter in 1985 predicts issues with Privacy and living more public lives because of the ubiquity...

Sat, 11 May 2013 07:42:39 -0400

Larry Hunter in 1985 predicts issues with Privacy and living more public lives because of the ubiquity of computing.“The ubiquity and power of the computer blur the distinction between public and private information. Our revolution will not be in gathering data — don’t look for TV cameras in your bedroom — but in analyzing information that is already willingly shared.”Thanks to +Om Malik and GigaOM Reads

Predictions for Privacy in the Age of Facebook (from 1985!)

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Reshared post from Bill Gross:

Sat, 04 May 2013 19:27:40 -0400

Original Post from Bill Gross:

I think that Google is working on two of the most exciting, disruptive products this century so far, with the Google self-driving car and Google Glass. I have followed the car’s progress, but the power of it really struck me in full force when I saw the image and video below.

I learned this weekend at an XPrize event that Google’s self-driving car gathers 750 megabytes of sensor data per SECOND! That is just mind-boggling to me. Here is a picture of what the car &q…

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Reshared post from The Next Web:

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:42:30 -0400

+Expect Labs receives additional investment from Samsung, Intel, Telefonica for their anticipatory technology

Original Post from The Next Web:

Computers learn what we’re looking for even before we search for it…
…The future?

Expect Labs’ Anticipatory Computing Engine has the incredible potential to learn what we’re looking for even before we search for it, and several major industry players, including Samsung …

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Top 5 Most Common, not most devastating, SEO Mistakes According to Matt Cutts Matt said these are not...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:57:42 -0400

Top 5 Most Common, not most devastating, SEO Mistakes According to Matt CuttsMatt said these are not the most devastating mistakes, but rather, the most common mistakes.(1) Not having a website or having a website that is not crawlable is the biggest mistake he sees.(2) Not including the right words on the page. The example Matt gave is: don’t just write, “Mt. Everest Height” but write, “How high is Mt. Everest?” because that is how people search.(3) Don’t think about link building, think about compelling content and marketing.(4) Don’t forget to think about the title and description of your most important pages.(5) Not using webmaster resources and learning about how Google works and what SEO is about.

In a recently published Webmaster video, Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, listed off the top five SEO mistakes webmasters make. Matt said these are not the most devastating mistakes, but rath…

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Reshared post from Google:

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:42:35 -0400

Now you can enjoy Google Now on iOS!

Original Post from Google:

Google Now is now available on iPhone and iPad as part of the updated Google Search app. Google Now is about giving you just the right information at just the right time—the day’s weather as you get dressed in the morning, news updates on a story you’ve been following, a reminder to leave your house to make it to a date on time and more—no digging required. Get the app here: http://goo.gl/D9e1A

Google Now for iPhone and iPad

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Reshared post from Robert Scoble:

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:24:56 -0400

+Robert Scoble has loved his experience with Google Glass so far and the experience keeps getting better and better with each additional app, adding value over and above his smartphone.

Original Post from Robert Scoble:

Why Google Glass isn’t a Segway

+Mike Butcher, of Techcrunch, just wrote on a comment over on Facebook that Google Glass is the next Segway. He was skeptical from the moment I let him try mine. Just never even gave it a second thought. He’s not alone, I’ve seen dozens of people repeat this refrain on Twitter and here on Google+.

But this isn’t a Segway. Here’s why not:

1. Segway is, even today, years after launch, $3,000 to buy.
2. Segway never got me excited. I can’t use one in my life.
3. Segway has no utility for most of us, who need to commute and carry kids and pick up groceries, etc.
4. Segway just doesn’t integrate in a car-based society well.
5. Segway just doesn’t provide enough additional value over a $200 bicycle to make it worth it (I just was in the Netherlands where EVERYONE rides to work on low-cost bikes).
6. The reason many of us use bikes is to get exercise. Switching to a Segway has a real lifestyle cost here.
7. UPDATE: Paul Graham says that using a Segway has a “fashion” cost: http://bit.ly/17rAjLu

So, let’s see if Google Glass measures up.

1. I believe Glass will be $200 to $300 to start and will quickly come down in price after that. Even if it starts at $500, it will quickly come down to $200 over the first three years.
2. Google Glass has me excited and I already own one and will never take it off the rest of my life.
3. Google Glass has instant functionality for 95% of those 400 people who tried it on. It takes a new kind of picture, helps you live your life, and lets you focus on the world around you even while watching your emails and notifications.
4. Google Glass is safer to use when driving than your existing smartphone or even your car’s navigation system. It can be used at work. At play. At home. In the mall. Even while watching a movie (if the babysitter is trying to get ahold of you it’s a lot better to see that in Glass than on a Smartphone screen because it’s less distracting to other people).
5. Google Glass brought me INSTANT value over my smartphone. Yesterday it showed the gate and time of my flight. Even while dragging two suitcases through Amsterdam’s airport.
6. Google Glass is the first tech product that actually is usable while getting exercise. Either at the gym, while walking around, or while using my bike.
7. +Tau-Mu Yi pointed this one out: the Segway stays the same after you buy it. Google Glass gets better and better as more apps come out. Already in the past two days I’ve gotten three new apps.
8. UPDATE: as to #7 above, there IS a social cost to wearing Google Glass at the moment. Some people think you are a dork. Others might get angry. But unlike the Segway, I can usually turn these people into fans when I show them the utility and when they consider that they will eventually be lower cost than a smartphone.

The two just can’t be compared and even the launch was very different.

Segway was hyped up by rich people only. This week I let school teachers and taxi drivers turn mine on. With Google Glass it’s the average person that’s hyping them up to me. My taxi driver said “this is crazy, I want one.” Segway NEVER had that reaction.

I asked five separate audiences about them after showing them off this week. Thousands of people. Nearly every hand went up when I asked if you would buy one if it was $200. That simply NEVER happened with Segway.

Mike Butcher is wrong about this product. See you in 2015 to see just how wrong.

The video below was made by +Nicolas Charbonnier who has been wearing wearable computers for far longer than I have (he’s the one that +Sergey Brin came up to at CES a few years back and started asking questions about what he used them for).

Robert Scoble shows Google Glass

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24.04.2013 01:15

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:14:25 -0400

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Reshared post from Alex Danilo:

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:12:44 -0400

Get Your Kids Coding!Venture Beat interviews the founder of Tynker, Krishna Vedati:http://bit.ly/Z09Fs4 science originates from mathematics. If they’re learning math, they should also learn logic, and this is one way to learn logic. … We wanted to really focus on creating algorithmic thinking, to make a playground on which programming in a byproduct.”

Original Post from Alex Danilo:

Have kids? Then they should be coding:
http://bit.ly/11CowYj

kidscoding.JPG

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Reshared post from Robert Scoble:

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:42:35 -0400

Initial pictures and reactions to Project Glass pictures

Original Post from Robert Scoble:

My first Google Glass photos and videos

As a photographer I’m already in love with Google Glass. It lets you capture images without even touching. All you need to do is turn on the glass by looking upward. Then, when it comes on you say “OK Glass, take a picture.” (or “record a video”) Then it takes a picture within a second. Painless and because they are always ready to go I find I’m capturing moments and images that I just wouldn’t before.

You can also take photos by pushing a button on the top of the glass. Hold down and it’ll record a video. Because these are always ready and on, that’s a great way to get a quick snap of something happening.

Another cool thing? No one poses for photos anymore! This is magic and transformative for a photographer.

Look at how my son treats me while I was videoing him. Far more natural than I would have gotten if I had pulled out a smartphone and started recording him. If I did that he’d want to see his image on the screen.

He also would want to pose for the camera.

This is a REALLY BIG DEAL for photography and videography.

April 17, 2013

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Reshared post from Robert Scoble:

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 06:57:35 -0400

Original Post from Robert Scoble:

First public Google Glass unveiling

+Dan McLaughlin was the first, here’s his video report.

I get mine tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Giddy like a school girl.

Of course this is going on my “Glassholes” Flipboard Magazine at http://flip.it/ZoHRp

Glass Unboxing

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Gartner announced PC sales suffered their biggest drop in sales since tracking began in 1994, but desktop...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 22:14:34 -0400

Gartner announced PC sales suffered their biggest drop in sales since tracking began in 1994, but desktop search activity hits an all-time high.I guess we’ve all got desktops that are fast enough and instead are buying up tablets, smart phones and soon, wearables. The productivity on a pc is still very difficult to match on a tablet and smart phone. Gartner article: http://cnet.co/ZmQILB

Google dropped a few percentage points while Bing and Yahoo each gained a couple … but the bigger statistic from comScore’s monthly U.S. search rankings for March is that desktop search activity reach…

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Reshared post from Robert Scoble:

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:57:40 -0400

Great insights into state of mobile in China by +Robert Scoble

Original Post from Robert Scoble:

What I learned about mobile in China

In China I met several entrepreneurs and others at the Bluetooth World conference there. China has a very different mobile culture, so thought I’d share what I learned here:

1. Facebook and Twitter and many other sites don’t work. Neither do their mobile apps. Yes, you can use a VPN or a proxy server, but most sites are very slow compared to when I use those sites in the US. (The government blocks those sites. Most of the entrepreneurs I talked with said the government does that to protect local businesses and their own pocketbooks).

2. Almost every high-end user had an iPhone. Others had Android. I never saw Windows Phone or Blackberry’s being used. Android is coming on strong, everyone admits.

3. Every iPhone was jailbroken. Why? Because using the Apple App Store is painful at best and totally unusable at worst. Why? The speed of downloading apps from Apple is horrid. So, everyone makes their phone have a Chinese app store so they can download apps fast. That means Apple will see lower revenue per device than it does in the states, where it can sell movies, music, and apps directly.

4. Every service has a Chinese copy. In the shot I took below there is a YouTube copy. Actually several copies.

5. The Chinese hate the firewall too, but they say it just means you gotta be “entrepreneurial” to get around it. Either by using Chinese copies of services you like, or by using VPNs.

6. There isn’t LTE in Shanghai yet. That I thought was totally shocking, given how modern and wealthy the city is. My phones, back in San Francisco, are dramatically faster on videos and things like Waze. Everyone says that LTE finally got approval from the government and should be showing up by the end of the year.

7. There is a strong mobile culture. It felt a lot like San Francisco, with lots of apps for local food, transit, etc. Plus, the people i met with knew exactly how the local apps compared with things like Yelp or OpenTable.

8. Many apps have “offline” features. Baidu maps, for instance, aren’t as accurate as Google’s maps, but they work offline, which matters because of lack of LTE and also pricing plans that charge you per megabyte downloaded.

9. There are lots of low-cost Android phones and systems coming out. Think about how Facebook’s new Home App takes over app launching and you are close to how these new Chinese phones take over your notifications and app screens. They also strip out all Google stuff and add in their own apps and search.

10. Everyone knows how to get their phones customized. You can pay people to root your phones for a few dollars and load you up with the apps you want. This lets people who buy very low-end phones get similar experiences you’ll get on more expensive phones.

For those of you who have visited China, or who live there (Google+ was the only social network I could use directly — the others I used through Flipboard just fine) what other things have you noticed about how Chinese use mobile phones vs. how people in US and Europe use them?

chinese_iphone.JPG

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Reshared post from Danny Sullivan:

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:23:03 -0400

Twitter music app in the works

Original Post from Danny Sullivan:

Twitter acquires a music discovery service plus apparently has a music app in the works.

The music discovery service We Are Hunted has announced that it’s joining Twitter. The news hit almost at the same moment that American Idol host Ryan Seacrest tweeted about “playing with @twitter’s n…

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LinkedIn amps up content, acquires newsreader Pulse.

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:12:26 -0400

LinkedIn amps up content, acquires newsreader Pulse.

LinkedIn is continuing its effort to add content, and today it’s doing that by buying a startup that aggregates news from a variety of sources. Read this article by Paul Sloan on CNET News.

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Venture Capital Firms Line up to fund developers with compelling proposals for Project Glass ideas So...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:42:20 -0400

Venture Capital Firms Line up to fund developers with compelling proposals for Project Glass ideasSo it is that two of Silicon Valley’s best-known venture capital firms – Kleiner Perkins and Andreessen Horowitz – have got together with Google Ventures to offer money to developers working on ideas for Google Glass. According to Kleiner partner John Doerr, this “goes well beyond the the world of websites, documents and mobile apps”.

Venture capital lines up behind Google Glass

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