This week at Google I/O, Google announced it's beefing up Google+ Hangouts by introducing a one-on-one chat feature, access to chat history, and a standalone app. But how about adding some real red meat, like say, SMS integration?
Never fear, hardcore messaging carnivores -- it's on the way.
So says Dori Storbeck, community manager for Google+ Hangouts & Chat, responding to a question on her Google+ page:… Read more
The Bahraini government started the process of revising its penal code last month to allow officials to jail anyone who insults King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to Amnesty International.
It appears that the government is now taking action.
Six people were sentenced to one year in prison on Wednesday for allegedly insulting the King on Twitter, according to Al Jazeera.
The criminal court ruled that these people were "misusing the right of free expression" and their tweets were "undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain's society towards the king on Twitter."
Bahrain, which … Read more
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo gave a rundown on life, goals, and business at the social network during an interview Wednesday at the National Venture Capital Association's VentureScape, according to the Mercury News.
Addressing whether Twitter will go public (no), who he admires (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos), and what annoys him (Silicon Valley snarkiness), Costolo riffed on what it's like steering the helm of one the world's top social networks.
"One of the things I'm always challenging people inside the company is, you have to take more risks," Costolo said, according to the Mercury News. &… Read more
Nearly two years after the launch of Google+, Google's social strategy looks like less of a joke and more of a calculated maneuver to make its social network the underlying fabric that weaves together relationships spread across desktop and mobile, Android and iOS.
Wednesday, at its annual Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco, the search company announced 41 new features for its Google+ social network, including a Pinterest-like look, auto-generated related hashtags, "Awesome" photo options, and a streamlined messaging experience.
More important than all the cosmetic changes to the stream or the flashy photo enhancements … Read more
Cell phones seem to be causing the police increasing unease.
It's quite easy for ordinary people to film officers in the line of duty, and sometimes that duty can seem to be excessively dutiful.
This seems to be the view of Maria Melendez, who says she used her phone to film a case of what appeared to be fatal police brutality, only to have it confiscated without a warrant. Worse, reports are now emerging that some of the footage may have been deleted by the police.
As The New York Times reports, Melendez was leaving the Kern Medical Center … Read more
Ticketfly, a ticketing and marketing service, has launched an initiative aimed at giving venues and event promoters the ability to direct targeted rewards at their most loyal customers.
The impetus behind the Fanbase initiative, announced Wednesday, is that while 7 percent of ticket buyers generate 30 percent of the revenue brought in at the gate of events utilizing Ticketfly tickets, there has previously been no way to adequately identify, reward, and motivate those people.
While other ticketing and marketing services have rolled out other loyalty programs, San Francisco-based Ticketfly said its new program is the industry's most sophisticated effort … Read more
Pheed, a social-networking service designed to meet all the multimedia needs of today's mobile user, has launched its application for Android.
The Android release trails Pheed's official debut back in November on Apple's iOS platform.
Since then, the Los Angeles-based bootstrapped startup has racked up "a few million users," around 20 percent of whom are teens ages 15 to 17. And more than 42 percent of app users are between the ages of 17 and 22, which means Pheed is already immensely popular with high schoolers and college kids and may be one of the … Read more
Facebook became a public company nearly a year ago, and the firestorm surrounding the letdown that it became didn't really end for months.
A new report from the online jobs and careers community Glassdoor examines how Facebook employees feel about their work environment, both before and after the beleaguered initial public offering event.
Based on overall sentiments toward the company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, as well as some other improvements (higher salaries, etc.), it would appear that all of those worries were just overreactions.
As of April 30, Zuckerberg had an approval rating of 98 percent, while 95 percent … Read more
"You people are all s***. Yelp s***, Reddits s***. Every s***. Come to here, I will f***ing show you all."
On reading these words in isolation, you might imagine they were written by someone whose senses had departed for chillier climes. Or perhaps merely by an exposed politician, contemplating a loss of fame and privileges.
But, no. These words actually adorn the Facebook page of Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The name is something of a mouthful, but the sentiments expressed by its management (yes, these words are from the management) … Read more
Pinterest released a handful of updates to its iOS and Android applications to give its members on mobile more of the features they find on the digital scrapbook service's Web site.
The Pinterest for Android and iOS apps were updated Tuesday with push notifications, mentions, and a better search experience. People using the iOS app can also now pin from an external website inside the app.
Mentions mean that app users can tag other people in their updates and enjoy better pin-related conversations. Notifications for new comments or mentions give people a reason to keep coming back to the … Read more
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