Google Search Plus Your World Hits the Net

Sooner or later, this was coming. This week, sooner arrived and Google officially announced the launch of social search, dubbed Google Search Plus Your World.  Of course, this experience is entirely motivated by providing users a real incentive to use Google+, as this new social search only works when you’re logged into your Google+ account. And being that your ‘personal’ and ‘social’ search results come from your history and activity on Google+, you really have to build up a presence there in order for it to be effective.  A lot has been said around what this means for the future of search, and many organizations such as Twitter, have even publicly spoken out against a move that they perceive to be an unfair monopoly of search. Others have simply stated that they just don’t like it.  Either way, there’s no question that Search Plus Your World will be an instigator for the way content is discovered on the web. But, it’s change that has been bubbling just below the surface for some time now, and Google is just the first one to initiate it. How it evolves from here, and who’s the one to truly get it right, still remains to be seen.

MySpace….TV?

The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) happened in Vegas last week, which is always a big draw for companies to debut their latest tech and gadgetry. SocialTV was the hot topic this year, with the fledgling GetGlue seeming to lead the pack. But it was MySpace that made the biggest splash, if only because few saw their involvement coming.  Justin Timberlake himself stopped in to make the announcement, telling the crowd  “This is the evolution of one of our greatest inventions, the television.” Exactly how MySapceTV will work is still a big foggy, but the general idea seems to be that it will allow you to watch live TV while chatting with friends on your laptop, tablet or even the TV itself. In addition, the MySpace companion app will help the user to discover potential videos, share them with friends and play them through your TV.  Considering MySpace still has a large, existing network, the potential for early adoption is huge. 

Data Transmission Through Soundwaves

The concept of receiving content on a mobile device, automatically and without pressing any buttons, is both intriguing and terrifying. Well, Sonic Notify is set to make that happen, causing brands everywhere to start panting in anticipation at the endless opportunities for mobile advertising.  They’ve built a unique content delivery platform that is able to deliver data, such as apps and video, in the form of a soundless audio signal that sends out a code from a speaker to any device with a microphone. A companion app then interprets the individual code to deliver the correct content. Everything is based on proximity; once a device gets close enough to the signal, it can receive the data. The next time you’re watching TV and you wonder where the lead character got that funky shirt, know that you’re not far away from having the information delivered straight to the palm of your hand. Then think about how quickly constant mobile advertising would grow old.