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thechromesource Daily: Links for 7/29/10

Posted on 29. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments

Internet Explorer 9 is sure starting to look a lot like Chrome browser.

An analysis by Business Insider on whether Google is still a growth company.

Does Google’s investment in Recorded Future actually have U.S. national security implications?

How many hundreds of million dollars is Google willing to spend battling Facebook?

Google is allowing designers to have more control over typography customizations.

Hey Google: Please Don’t Create Another Facebook

Posted on 28. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 6 Comments

While it’s clear that they don’t want to talk about it, the powers that be over at Google are scheming on ways to create a social networking rival to Facebook. All I have to say is please do something different. I mean, for starters, Facebook has undergone so many changes since I first started using it that I barely recognize it.

I’m not sure anymore what the difference between a being a fan or joining a page on Facebook really means, and I also don’t like those creeped-out ads that take my birthdate and somehow try to spin it into a reason why I would want to click on those side links.

Facebook Credits? Come on, what a terrible name for a virtual currency. I would have preferred FaceBucks to that. At least it would start some amazing conversations.

I mean, how is Facebook even making any money? I’ve never given them a single dollar. Sure, I know some people love to buy virtual goods, but can you really make a multibillion dollar company out of virtual shovels in FarmVille and brass knuckles for punching virtual faces in Mafia Wars?

Google: just create something that is different than Facebook, and you’ll succeed. Especially since we know that the UI won’t look like MySpace, it will probably work.

In related news, Facebook officially is the only social networking option available, so you might as well add me as a friend since there’s no alternative.

Surprise – Google Recently Surpasses Yahoo in Time Visited

Posted on 13. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments

Silicon Alley Insider’s recent chart showing the amount of time spent on major sites displays a strong push for both Google and Facebook, while the previous (shocking) champ Yahoo is experiencing a steady overall drop.

Yahoo and AOL are in steep decline, while Microsoft is simply staying afloat, most likely bolstered by spending hundreds of millions on marketing their Bing search engine. Apple, which is rumored to be preparing for a more cloud-based approach, isn’t even on this list.

Facebook has really pulled up close with Google, but co-founder Sergey Brin recently said the company is unfazed by Facebook’s growth.

“The indications that we have show that when Internet users become Facebook users they actually do significantly more searches on Google,” Brin told Reuters in Sun Valley, Idaho last week.

But Google isn’t resting on their laurels in regards to competing with Facebook. That would explain this recent release of a huge 216 slide presentation by Google UX researcher Paul Adams on the problems and opportunities of social networking.

Chrome OS Boss Leaves for Facebook

Posted on 28. Jun, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 3 Comments

Chrome OS Engineering Director Matthew Papakipos has announced today on his Twitter account that he is leaving for Facebook.

“Now that Chrome OS & WebGL are in good shape, it’s time for something new. I’m going to work @ Facebook! Love the product and team. Woot!”

At least it’s nice to hear that Chrome OS is in good shape. One of the most memorable things that Papakipos did other than take the reigns of Chrome OS during its infancy was submit to a wide-ranging and lengthy interview with Ars Technica regarding the conceptual vision of Chrome OS. It’s really worth a read if you have not yet checked it out.

Papakipos had previously worked on HTML5 projects for Google. It seems as if this would be a big loss with Chrome OS looming in the fourth quarter for a launch, but Google has a stable of engineers on the project if you have ever taken a gander over to the Chromium.org site. Here’s hoping a replacement is named pretty soon.

Nevertheless, there is clearly something going on between Google and Facebook. It’s rumored that Google is planning to launch its own Facebook-like application, while Facebook could foray into real time or social search. It will be fun to watch these two companies try some things that their rival specializes in, and we’ll see how this battle shakes out.