Google launched Google+ Pages to allow companies and brands to connect with their customers. Danny Sullivan (SearchEngineLand) wrote a thorough overview. You can create a new Google+ page here.
This is the introductory video from Google:
Many people were excited about this announcement, but there were some critics. Some common complaints were:
It’s too easy to claim a brand that isn’t yours (ITWorld)
It’s not designed for large companies who have multiple people managing the account (Robert Scoble)
This was a heavy week for new product launches and major revisions of existing products.
After months of private beta, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz launched Asana, a collaboration tool.
Milk (Kevin Rose’s new company) launched their new iPhone app called OINK. This app allows you to rate anything: a hamburger in a local restaurant, a TV show, your favorite tea, a salad, etc.
Massive Health, a mobile health startup that had been in stealth mode for several months, launched an app called The Eatery. Someone on Twitter described it as “Hot or Not for your Mac ‘N Cheese“. You post photos of your food and people rate the food on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the healthiest. The Eatery keeps track of your food scores and gives you a rating of how you’ve been eating this week.
Ex-Engadet editor Joshua Topolsky launched a new gadget site from called The Verge.
Yahoo launched a couple of iPad apps: Livestand (Flipboard competitor) and IntoNow (video discovery).
Jawbone started selling the Up - a $99 wristband that tracks your fitness and your sleeping habits. Up includes an iPhone app that tracks your eating habits by encouraging you to take photos of your food and asking you how you felt a couple of hours after eating.
And finally, Google made a couple of Gmail announcements. First, they rolled out a new, cleaned up version of Gmail. Overall, the new design was pretty well received, although some people complained that the spacing of messages was too wide. If you prefer the spacing from the old design, you can change it using the Display Density setting.
The other Gmail announcement was a mess. On November 2nd, Google announced their rumored Gmail app for iPhone. Within minutes of the announcement, people were complaining about an error message that shows up when you log in. There were also complaints that the app itself was underwhelming. Google ended up pulling the app from the App Store and almost a week later, the app still isn’t available, causing some people to wonder:
How long does it take to fix a Push Notification bug? /cc @gmail
It was another dismal week for Netflix. The stock dropped 35% after announcing that they lost 800,000 subscribers and projecting that fourth-quarter earnings would be below expectations. Henry Blodget (Business Insider) says: Sorry, but this Netflix collapse is overdone.
Apple reported their 4th quarter earnings. For the first time in a long time, they fell short of analysts’ estimates because they didn’t release a new iPhone in June. But Apple predicts a blow-out 4th quarter and MG Siegler says you’re an idiot if you were one of the many people who sold Apple stock.
The annual Bridge School Benefit Concert (Neil Young, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, Eddie Vedder, Mumford & Sons, Beck, and others) Oct. 22-23 at Shoreline Ampitheater in Mountain View
It’s almost pointless to do a roundup for this week because there really was just one story – the death of Steve Jobs. There have been hundreds of pieces written in the past few days reflecting on the life of Steve Jobs and the impact that he had on so many of us. Here’s a small fraction of the remembrances & reactions to the passing of a great man whose impact will be felt for many, many years.
It feels like a month ago, but it was just earlier this week that Apple announced the iPhone 4S earlier this week. I posted a roundup of links from that event. The 4S will be on sale in stores at 8 am on October 14th and you can pre-order it now.
The Yankees and Phillies are eliminated from the MLB playoffs. Remaining teams: Rangers, Tigers, Cardinals, Brewers. Incredibly, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard tears his achilles tendon when he makes the last out of the game.
The Raiders get an emotional win over the Houston Texans.
The 49ers are for real. They destroy Tampa Bay 48-3. Three TD passes for Alex Smith. The Niners haven’t scored this many points in a game since December, 2003.
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