Google talks social enterprise focus for 2012

By Molly McHugh December 27, 2011

Google can be a difficult thing to define. The company has its hands in numerous markets–mobile, operating systems, social, search–but above all, Google is an ad company; make no mistake about that. When it comes to its many, many products, it has a tendency to dip its toes in nearly every digital industry imaginable, a move that has been criticized.

When Facebook debuted its Skype integration, CEO Mark Zuckerberg notably pointed out that Facebook wanted to be the best at social and let other companies be the best at products that correspond nicely with its product. Google has taken a noticeably different route, an in-home approach if you will. And part of the consequence (or benefit, depending on your perspective) of this is that there’s a lot of ground to cover.

But some recent comments from the Google team suggest that the company will be exercising a little focus—at least for 2012. VP of Google Enterprise Amit Singh says cloud, mobile, and social will dominate 2012 and the team will invest in “fast, lightweight applications that [make] it easier to work with others from anywhere. Those are the areas driving our investments for 2012.”

This means social-meets-corporate solutions platforms have been put on notice. WebEx, Yammer, and even the likes of the venerable Salesforce are likely listening with bended ear. Google Apps have continued to pick up steam in the enterprise industry and their integration with new social elements is supposed to help tip considering business over the edge. Of course, Google+ has had a notoriously stifled membership rate. But this year, the way this platform works (and the amount of attention the company invests in this area) with Google Apps could change things.

Here are some of the concrete product upgrades we can expect to see in 2012.

Faster, more seamless access to Apps via the cloud.
It will be easier to build your own Web apps.
Google Apps access and abilities will improve for mobile.
Google+ will be undergoing tons of improvements and integration with Web apps. This will be a major focus, turning the site into a more attractive platform for the enterprise.

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Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…

Computing

Google Drive update emphasizes social: Adds chat and profile photos

Google Drive, the company's cloud service, was updated today with a bunch of new features that aim to make collaborative work a lot easier. Having absorbed what used to be Google Docs, Drive isn't just a cloud service for storing files – you can create documents, presentations, worksheets, and even drawings from within the service and then share them with other people. Previously, you could only see the names of the other people viewing the same file on Drive, but you'll be able to see their Google account profile pictures once you get this update.
That feature can be mighty useful if you're sharing something among workmates. However, if you're fond of clicking on random Google document links from various websites, we suggest making sure you're logged out. Alternatively, you could make good use of your browser's incognito tab, or you could always use a different browser for that purpose. If you're logged into your account while viewing a file, other users will be able to see your details when they hover over your photo and would be able to instantly add you to their Google+ Circles from within Drive.
In the event that you do choose to view a document anonymously, you get random cute animal avatars to make up for the lack of a profile picture. Anonymous user or not, the new Drive makes it easier for collaborators to talk from within the app – just click on the new Chat button on the top of the file, then use the chat box that pops up to send all the current viewers a message.

Google will roll out the newest Drive update for its PC and mobile apps within the next couple of days, so expect to get these features soon if you haven't yet.

Computing

Rabbit group video chat launches for Mac in closed beta, challenges Google Hangouts

You're at a party and you're talking to your group of friends when you catch a snippet of another conversation that sounds relevant to your interests, so you eavesdrop for a couple of minutes before joining the conversation. Meanwhile, in another corner of the room, a group of friends are huddled together watching a cute cat video on YouTube. Now imagine that everyone at the party is in a different room, in front of their MacBooks. This is the idea behind Rabbit, a new group video chat service that launched for Mac OS X in closed beta today.
It's sort of like a Google+ Hangouts, where multiple people can video chat together, but Rabbit takes the experience one step further by allowing an unlimited number of people to video conference together at one time. If the thought of talking to a large group of people all at once terrifies you, fear not. The application allows you to chat with a small group of people within that larger group – just like you would at an in-person party. It even lets you "hover" over another conversation to listen in before speaking up.
Rabbit also aims to take screen sharing beyond stuffy webinar PowerPoint Presentations and make it fun again. During any video chat, users can share part of their screen or the whole screen, allowing for group streaming media viewings, so you can watch The Walking Dead and talk about it at the same time with fellow fans.
Without a doubt, Rabbit is a very ambitious application that wants to change the way we chat. Instead of planning an 8 p.m. Skype call, Rabbit is designed to be always on in the background, much like an instant messaging client. Users receive a notification when friends sign on or sign off and when they want to initiate a video chat with you.
Rabbit's got a long road of it, especially with the 600-pound Google Hangouts in the corner, but the creators are working to make adoption as easy as possible by letting users sign in with their Facebook account and giving beta testers an unlimited number of invites to share with their friends.
Speaking of Rabbit's beta testing, it's closed right now, but you can request an invite from the site www.letsrabbit.com. Once you get invited, invite your friends and start chatting. It's designed for Mac OS X 10.7 and higher, so you'll want to make sure you're running Lion or Mountain Lion.
While you're waiting for your beta test invite, check out the video Rabbit released below.

Computing

Google+ is ‘really about’ the cloud, not social networking

google-plus-reall-about-slideshow-vincent-wong

We've all been blathering away for the last two weeks about how Google+ stacks up as a social network, specifically about how much better or worse it is compared to Facebook or even Twitter. This, however, entirely beside the point — at least according to self-titled "first time tech founder" Vincent Wong, who put together a slideshow (using the awesome Google+ photo viewer) to lay out his theory for what G+ "is really about."
According to Wong, Google+ isn't about "social network" at all — or, at least, not what we currently think of as social networking. Instead, says Wong, Plus is about moving users to an entirely cloud-based computing model.
Most of the discussions about Google+ have centered around the navigation bar, which appears at the top of any Google-owned website, and allows users to share posts and perform other functions without having to be on the actual Plus website. This is one of the best features of Plus. But that's only half of what the navigation bar includes.
The other side lists a variety of the web apps Google offers, like Gmail, Calendar, Documents, etc. And it is this part, says Wong, that reveals the true purpose of Google+. By Wong's analysis, Google+ is about enabling users to collaborate and share using the full spectrum of tools Google offers, from documents to Chrome apps.
So rather than compete against Facebook or Twitter, Google+ is about pushing the envelope further, and creating an entirely different functionality that nobody else is doing. And because of the potential to make software and documents social, Wong says that the the companies that should be afraid of Plus are not "social networks," but Microsoft and Apple.
Check out Wong's full slideshow here, and let us know what you think of his theory in the comments.