Schmidt: Google+ Not Favored, Happy To Talk Twitter & Facebook Integration
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt says Google+ content is not being favored over Twitter and Facebook by Google’s search engine. Rather, those companies can be treated the same if they grant Google the right permissions to access their content.
I spoke with Schmidt today about the developing war-of-words between Twitter and Google, which broke out after the launch of Google’s new ”Search Plus Your World” format for its search results.
http://marketingland.com/schmidt-google-not-favored-happy-to-talk-twitter-facebook-integration-3151
Breaking: Sponsored Stories begin to appear in News Feed
Facebook is now showing Sponsored Stories in users’ News Feeds, a Facebook spokesperson tells us. These paid units include a subtle indication that the post is “Featured.” However, to respect the user experience, the social network is putting more controls on the the type of messages advertisers can display here than it did when it previously included ads in News Feed in 2007.
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2012/01/10/breaking-sponsored-stories-begin-to-appear-in-news-feed/
Google’s Schmidt Not Convinced Android is Fragmented
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Tuesday took issue with the idea that the Android mobile operating system is fragmented, arguing that there is instead a “differentiation” between devices.
“Differentiation is positive, fragmentation is negative,” Schmidt said during an appearance here at the Consumer Electronics Show. “Differentiation means that you have a choice and the people who are making the phones, they’re going to compete on their view of innovation, and they’re going to try and convince you that theirs is better than somebody else.”
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2398743,00.asp
Hope To See The Next iPad At CES? You Might, Without Knowing It
Yesterday, one day ahead of the 2012 CES, I saw what’s supposedly the next-generation iPad. I’d show you a picture, but there’s honestly nothing to be seen. Think iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S: this device so resembles the iPad 2 that differences are only obvious when they’re placed next to each other. From the back, you could walk past this new iPad on display and have no idea that anything had changed.
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/backstage/comments/hope-to-see-the-next-ipad-at-ces-you-might-without-knowing-it/
Social Entertainment Network GetGlue Raises $12 Million In New Financing
Social entertainment network GetGlue has just raised a significant round of $12 million in new financing, led by new investor Rho Ventures. The company’s existing investors, TimeWarner, RRE Ventures and Union Square Ventures, also participated in this round. The company had previously raised $6 million in November 2010.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/11/social-entertainment-network-getglue-raises-12-million-in-new-financing/
Start-Up Speed
It’s been a few years since Google was a small company – but at the beginning of 2011, we saw that in order to support the growth of our business, Google would need to become even bigger, so we set out to have the biggest hiring year in company history. At the same time, we saw that in order to achieve our ambitious goals, we needed to take steps to ship products and make decisions faster. In short, we needed to grow and speed up at the same time, but to do these things concurrently, we needed to make a few changes to how Google operates. It’s still a work in progress, but we’ve already identified some crucial lessons as we work to make our large enterprise as nimble and responsive as that holy grail of business speed: The start-up.
http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/quarterly/speed/start-up-speed-kristen-gil.html
Digital Desert Hub – Can The Downtown Project Create Silicon Strip In Vegas?
While thousands of people swarmed all over CES, I went off-beat and headed north to downtown Las Vegas. This is the old part of the city where once gamblers at slot machines listened to Sinatra wafting through the Casino doors rather than Beyonce. This area of faded glory is now the scene of the Downtown Project, an initiative by Zapos CEO Tony Hsieh to transform the area from an unloved poor relation to the famous Vegas “Strip” of huge casinos and hotels down the road, into a hive of tech startup activity. Silicon Strip, if you will.
http://eu.techcrunch.com/2012/01/11/digital-desert-hub-can-the-downtown-project-create-silicon-strip-in-vegas/
