Google Mobile App.

Google in this modern day is a great tool to every Internet surfer, it provides quick, easy and new ways to acquire information with a few click of the mouse and a few words to search. In this particular blog I decided to talk a little bit about the mobile version of Google available on all smart phones. In the article "Building trust is the key to promoting your organisation online" by Katy Cowan, she talks about a few steps an online organizations can follow to build a better product which I think Google app has put most of these steps to great use. For instance Cowan expresses how important it is that the organization/too has maintains certain qualities like Getting the design right, providing easy navigation, having fast page loading times, getting social, limiting advertising, providing security and so on. These steps mentioned does not only improve your product but it also makes it more user friendly which is an important thing in today's technology. The first thing the Google mobile app team did was making the app very simple to use. Take a look at the picture to the bottom right and you see how simple the page is. Simple to navigate, search and browse, nothing complication but yet a great mobile tool. Then it has features like the Apps (which opens to a verity of apps for the user). It always has apps like Reader, Blogger, News which can be a great curating tool for the user to separate the junk from the news as discussed in "Social Media Curation Tool" - by Teresa Gorman. The voice (which allows the user to search the web by speaking instead of typing), and then my favorite of them all the Goggles (bottom left). This feature allows the user to take a picture of an item they would like to search, the item is scanned for key words/signs and then the app uses those key words to search for the what the user needs. The app has no advertising so users are more likely to use it than an app with pop ups and advertising. It gives the user a settings option at the top so they can filter what information is brought to them when searching. All in all I think this is a great mobile app for anyone who's on the go and would like to keep their information at their finger tips, and keep in touch with the world and their social networks as well.

Pinterest Mobil App

Pinterest has quickly become on of the most popular (and distracting) websites on the internet. One can find anything from recipes to clothing to home improvement ideas on numerous "boards" and save them for themselves for further reference. But what if you could plan tonight's dinner without your computer, say while browsing the isles in the grocery store? Or plan your home renovations while on the treadmill at the gym? What if you could plan an inexpensive trip to a dream location while on the subway? Well, now you can. With Pinterest's mobile app, any smartphone user can now enjoy constant distraction from reality with their fantasy world they've created on Pinterest. 

As discussed in class, Pinterest allows the user to filter information based on the users likes and interests. Once the user has found some information on a topic he or she likes, they can then save it to a specific "board" where they can then continuously add information (pictures, tutorials, videos, etc.) about that the topic. Having this app on a cellphone allows the user to do all this wherever and whenever he or she chooses. Wherever there's cell-coverage a person can "pin"and search for anything they want and continuously build their boards. 

Pinterest, while having a variety of different categories for just about any interest, is primarily used by women... and one of the most popular topics is "Wedding Planning". A future bride can browse for anything from wedding invites to decorations to money saving tips, and having the mobile app makes it easier for a bride to show others her ideas and constantly be browsing for new ideas. Future brides are not the only people who can benefit from having all their pins constantly at their fingertips; moms can find quick and easy dinner recipes for their families while waiting for the kids to get out of soccer practice, or a designer can find  inspiration while sitting in the waiting room. Being an avid user of Pinterest mobile, I constantly take advantage of having yet another distraction at my fingertips. I am a HUGE fan of Pinterest Mobile, and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes to keep track of their hobbies in an organized way or for anyone who already uses Pinterest to take it to the next level. 

Ning.com

Ning is a social media website platform - it gives users the ability to create communities with social interactive features such as event planning, groups, forums (message boards), live chat and video streams. These communities engage these features based off of user-generated content as well as integrated content from other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

I choose this website instead of an application because it integrates various applications to maximize community engagement passed on the features made available by a groups creator. To give a brief history, years ago Ning was a leader in free community building websites. It was utilized by various users, with thousands of groups from various interests such as education advocacy to sports fan clubs. Eventually, the handling large groups with heavy interaction became an economically issue and Ning choose to revamp the platform strategy and now only allows users to create groups at a premium fee. The shift from free to paid social media platform hosting meant a change in the types of groups going to be created, as well as the remaining groups tone, delivery and message being shared with users. Although there is still some variation in the types of communities on Ning, most of the communities that are created come with an already built-in [or established] audience unlike the former free communities that used Ning's features to create an audience.

As a platform of new ways to engage in computer-mediated communication, Ning's core features such as multiple device and application integration, video chatting, message boards and private messaging allows it to create communities on a medium such as the Internet that has large network of users from different environment (socially and technologically speaking) coming together based off of the communicative image Ning allows groups to create.

Kik

Kik is a Web 2.0 application for smart phones that is similar to how iMessage and BlackBerry’s messenger function. Users can share text, photos, sketches and voice messages through Kik. One of the key features of this application is that users can see when their messages are sent, delivered and when their messages are read. Kik sends messages via a phone’s data plan or Wi-Fi. This is ideal for those who pay for each text message and cannot afford to text often but enjoy its advantages. This method of communication also enables some of the fastest message transmission available. Messages are sent almost instantly, whereas those in low cell-service areas may experience issues with speed. Users of Kik use a username rather than a phone number, due to the fact that the app uses Wi-Fi, therefore users can control their level of privacy. If you do not want to give someone your number because of the subsequent information they could find from it, simply give them your username (which could simply be your name or some sort of screen name if you would like even more privacy and anonymity). In addition to one-to-one chat option, there is also a group chat feature, to communicate with many people at once. Unlike most other free applications, Kik is ad free, which in today’s context is very rare and desirable as ads tend to interfere with out usage of such applications. 

Kik does not require users to be using the application at the same time. However users do receive a notification once they receive a message, which allows them to be aware of when someone is trying to communicate with them. The persistence of the transcript is very long. Messages remain is your history until you choose to delete them. In order to find another user of Kik they must give you their username. This makes it a very private application, as no one can message you without your acceptance. The use of a username and a profile picture makes your Kik account somewhat similar to a profile on a social networking site, such as Facebook or Twitter. Expression of identity now comes into play when choosing a username and a photo, which become an extension of your identity. This application satisfies a need for social interaction. Although there are now many ways to communicate one of our new desires is to communicate as quickly as possible, which is Kik’s aim. 

Sources: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kik-messenger/id357218860?mt=8  

                 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kik_Messenger

MetroTwit

MetroTwit is a new desktop application that integrates Twitter, but in a more filtered and organized way. MetroTwit is specifically for the Windows user and it allows you to organize and filter your Twitter the way you want to. You can choose to view a number of columns including your timeline, replies, @mentions, direct messages, and more. One interesting aspect is that you can choose to just view tweets about a certain terms, hashtags, or even just view the tweets from a specific person. This application also allows you to set up taskbar notifications and you will be notified whenever someone follows you or tweets at you. It of course allows you to tweet and retweet right from the main screen and it has a very simple and easy to navigate layout.

While the site allows you to customize your MetroTwit and give it a theme, people on the other end will not be able to see that. A way that it does affect your image is that it is still connected to your Twitter profile. Pew talks about someone’s digital footprint online in his article, “Part 3: Searching, Following and Friending: How users monitor other people’s digital footprints online.” What you search for and what you tweet about can say a lot about your image. This goes hand in hand with Gormans article about filtering and curating. One of the main things this application offers is that it allows you to filter and only see what you want through hash tags and key words. This helps to get rid of the rest of the stuff that does not appeal to you. This can contribute to your image because if you tweet more frequently about school or your careers then your footprint online will be more academic or professional as a result of the refining capabilities of this application.

Cowan and Ferenstein talk a great deal about trust building in their articles. MetroTwit has done a number of things suggested in her article to draw people to the application. The site has set up its own timeline of users who are tweeting about MetroTwit and these testimonials give credibility to the application. This tactic also provides a sense of community within the MetroTwit world. All these people are tweeting about something that you could in turn become a part of. Another thing that gives a sense of community for MetroTwit is that it is exclusive to Windows users. People who prefer Windows over Apple are considered to be a community within themselves. Finally, the site is getting exposure. You can go to metrotwit.com or you can find them on twitter.

 

Works Cited:

MetroTwit - the Windows Twitter client you'll love to use. (n.d.). MetroTwit - the Windows Twittet client you'll love to use. Retrieved October 29, 2012, from http://metrotwit.com

SkyGrid

SkyGrid is an application that is featured on the android, iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.  It is a simple, yet powerful way to stay up to date on your news. SkyGrid lets you create a personalized newspaper based on the news topics and publication you choose. It offers all of your favorite categories to browse all on one application. These categories consist of, entertainment, health, politics, business, science and tech, sports, and more. Once you scroll through which category you like then picking it. You can pick a topic and a news feed of recent news in that topic will display.   SkyGird is the new beginning to a new change. You can actually save your money and get this free app to give you what you need &  want. Why continue to spend money if SkyGrid can answer your question, simple and fast.  SkyGrid builds products that help connect people with the things they care about most, whether it’s making closer connections with music artists, or staying up to date on trending news. Community Building is key to making fans happy with what they are ought to get. SkyGrid will give you what want! It’s all about connecting people to what they wish for and it shows its commitment by giving it. You can trust this app especially it being the #1 highest use app. It’s just simple, powerful, yet easy to use.

Phones have become apart of identity. Mobile Technology is the new era and with that being said, SkyGrid is going to get you where you need to be.  Being up to date each day with the New York Times or any other post, an app will do the job much easier. If you need to trust a news app and you don't even know any, SkyGrid is what you need! You building a bond with your app is what makes you successful and your app successful. As it was mentioned in the Campbell and Park article, mobile communication plays a central role in mass communication and that social change in our society result in the rapid increase for the use of these mobile technologies.  If society decides to keep up then everyone will be up to date with the new inventions given at hand.  For this app and what it has become, ratings have been impressive especially with fours and fives. SkyGrid, grateful in giving what the people want!

In all with its new touch up, SkyGrid had launched SkyGrid Groups. Groups is a first-of-its-kind Social Messaging platform, connecting the conversations people are having all over the web (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube), and others in one place. Conversations can be with your favorite music artist, brands or public figures that you certainly care for.  Your favorite music artist can create a group, and share items from across the web to their selected audience.  SkyGrid Groups connects to your social network, and lets you see how your Facebook friends, and Twitter followers connect to the Groups you're interested in too. SkyGrid does a great job of community building and you should give it a chance by testing it! Why not trust this app, it does give you the news you want.

“The SkyGrid platform provides web-scale infrastructure to help people connect with what they are passionate about.”

Pulse

    Pulse is a new application that is featured on the iPad, iPod, iPhone, Droid, and Kindle. It offers all of your favorite categories to browse all on one application. For instance, blogs, magazines, newspapers, social networks, and many more are all featured within the application. Pulse lets you choose a category. These categories consists of, business, technology, design, science, news, politics, music, entertainment, gaming, fun & humor, food, art, photography, auto, travel, and sports. There is so many categories to choose from that you will always find something that will interest you. After choosing a category such as entertainment, a newsfeed of recent news in the entertainment industry will display. Since we have learned that mobile technologies are the new era, Pulse is a great way to stay in touch with what is going on in society. Referring to the article by Campbell and Park, social changes in our society result in the rapid increase for the use of these mobil technologies. User reviews are a great way to see if an application is actually decent or not. From the user reviews I have found about pulse every single one has been over three stars. Pulse is a great application to stay in tuned to the many events that occur in our every day life.

Twitter

Sweets of Tweets

I am a new twitter user, I recently made an account and was miserable during the whole set-up process. I am a creature of habit and when challenged I often give up sobbing like a baby, as you will find out I don't like change when it comes to electronics. After a few miserable attempts to come up with a catchy slogan for my twitter name and scrounge up some interesting posts I must say I do like the concept of twitter. In comparison to facebook I believe twitter is much more interesting, it caters to the specific interests of the user.

For example, I love the great outdoors and nature... in fact my first few twitter posts were pictures of sunsets and scenery from the Adirondacks. (When I eventually learned that you have to push the little quill-pen picture on the top right of the home page, they really should give some instructions to those of us who are twitter-illiterate.)

Furthermore, the first "followers" I enlisted o Twitter were rock climbing gear companies and National Parks, maybe twitter isn't so bad after all? I can see all of my own interestes complied into one website, talk about efficiency.

It leaves the idiotic media at the wayside and allows me to fine-tune what I truly want to be reading about. Twitter has nothing on Facebook.

No more will I have to worry about creepy messages from strangers, twitter doesn't even have a message function, everything is just out there in the open. Overall twitter was much easier to learn to navigate than any other social networking site I have used in the past, I'm relieved.

Blurb

Have you ever wanted to share a story with your friends and family but couldn't give them the full effect? Blurb is a new social media that allows users to upload pictures, videos, texts, and voice animation to create a story about your timeline. These posts connect with your Instagram, Facebook,and Twitter accounts and any other social media used that you've posted to!  This is a simple way to collect and organize your life by allowing others to view it in a sequence that which tells a great story!  Your friends and family and instantly visualize, read, watch, and hear exactly what you are talking about and what you are up to!  With your creativity and social media expertise, the settings and editing functions allow for an easy use and a fun way to put your own flare to your life events!  Users can also exchange stories with others so you can keep connected and up to date. But don't worry, if you have to come back to Blurb later, all of your information will be saved and you can edit, delete, or re-sequence the photos and videos! While 'Blurb' lovers can use this media for private and close personal use, a more publicly used profile can use hashtags that allow their story to be viewed by many others.  Just like Twitter and Facebook, users can receive "likes" as well as comments but this new media expands what a user and view and one can really learn about your entire story from sight to sound. It is a more interactive and visually stimulating use of social media and creates new outlets for personal expression. Get to 'blurbbing!'

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media website that allows you to post something on multiple websites at once. For example, if you want to post the same thing on Facebook and Twitter, you just type it in on Hootsuite and it will send it to them. This is very useful for private companies that need to do their social media promotions quickly and efficiently. It is very easy to use and much less time consuming

Google Smart Glasses

In a time where new technologies are always coming out and companies are rivaling each other to give you the latest and greatest product yet, Google is introducing gadgets that we used to only dream of. Recently Google released their prototype to the next big thing. They are called Google Smart Glasses. Rivaling Apple and Microsoft, Google decided to introduce something never seen before.

The Smart Glasses are a light weight design that can fit over any pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses. that are connected to the internet, with a mic and camera installed. As well as the capability to play music. What Google is doing is basically taking all of the features from a phone or tablet and combining them with head gear. This idea is cool because it would make multi tasking far easier with your hands being free of a cell phone or tablet. The Glass project can do about 80% of what smart phones can do; which includes emailing, texting, turn by turn navigation, take pictures and more. This is just one of the many new ideas Google is introducing to establish themselves as a technology powerhouse. They have also mentioned a new prototype called "Google Smart Gloves" which would really change the way we use devices.

One thing people need to realize about the the Google Glass project is that once it is launched into the US consumer market it will change social etiquette, perhaps for the worse. With the new device people can instantaneously snap a photo of somebody else and post it to the internet or not even pay attention to a conversation because they are tinkering with the device, leading most conversations to an abrupt halt. This could further change how people are socially.

Skype

Skype is a very useful application that is available for your phone and computer. It features video calling, phone calling, file sharing, and instant messaging. Skype’s free video calling allows you to communicate with others users. With a premium subscription, group calling is included for up to ten people. In addition, you can video chat internationally for free. There is also a screen sharing feature where users can share material in each others screen without sending files. The calling features allow you to make phone calls to mobile devices or landlines from your computer for a very low rate. International calls are also incredibly cheap, making Skype an ideal business tool. Any call between Skype users is free, even internationally. Text messages can also be sent via Skype for a small fee. One of my personal favorite features is file sharing. Skype allows you to send documents, videos, and photos of any size for free.

This application is a great communication tool. It can be used to make conference calls for business and with its vast range, is perfect for travel. The fact that it can be used to reach mobile devices from a home computer or laptop also makes it convenient to contact people on the go. If you need to send a file quickly and to just about anywhere, Skype will get it done. I enjoy using Skype to video chat with family and friends while I am away at school. Whether for professional or recreational purposes, Skype will facilitate your needs. 

Source:

www.skype.com

Instagram

Instagram is an application on smartphones for users to capture pictures and share them with your followers. This application allows you to filter the picture to make it look nicer or different. This application allows users to experience what others are experiencing through photos. The app is free to all users with smartphones. Through this app, you can share the photos you post on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. The application allows the user to make their page of photos private or public. It is a good way to share everyday life with friend and family. Recently, Facebook bought out the company for about $300 million and now owns it. A lot of celebrities have accounts, allowing fans to keep up with their everyday lives. Since April, there have been over 300 million users. Instagram is one of my favorite apps to use.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe has lots of cool programs in which most are needed to read, open and even watch flash videos on our computers these days. There are programs like dream waver, adobe reader, flash player, media player, adobe acrobat, fireworks and Photoshop just to name a few. But in this blog I will focus my attention mainly on the newly out adobe Photoshop CS6. In simple terms adobe Photoshop is an image editing tool. You can create, enhance, and edit images to make them look more stunning and creative. But in a more detailed explanation, adobe Photoshop is a world on its own; those who study and use the program on a regular basis know how incredible the program can be when you have a full understanding to its tools.

It not only intensifies and brings out the best in an image; you can recreate your own places, countries, and even worlds while sitting behind a computer. In fact most of the movies that are shot in green rooms use some of its feature to recreate an entire background or scenery that are so real to that it’s difficult for someone to identify and pick between what was an actually background and what was computer generated. In fact, every image we see in a magazine today has gone through many editing with Photoshop before the final image was printed. It has awesome features where you can take an object from a different picture and perfectly place it in another to make it seem as though the pictures were together. You can get rid of anything that you don’t want in a picture, change the color of an outfit or a background in a picture, manipulate the number of people in it and also eliminate if need be it. All these are just the basics to the program; in fact there is so much to the program that entire animated movies with voice overs can be created with it.

 One can also use Photoshop to create visual aids to communicate besides just movies. Even a picture or still image can carry a message which can be understood by anyone who see's the image and anyone with access to a computer. In the article "New communication behaviors in a Web 2.0 world — Changes, challenges and opportunities in the era of the Information Revolution" they talk about something interesting that I think Photoshop is developing new was to satisfy for users of web 2.0. It says "Providers of Web 2.0-based services will need to develop new advertising models based on users’ behaviors and willingness to buy..." On adobes website it talks about how they listen to what the user says they need and then incorporate that into the new programs to make them better, faster and smarter. I would love to talk more and get into details but I’ll be exceeding the limit to blog but on this blog you’ll see a movie scene from “Prometheus” re-created by the talented Alexander Koshelkov. I hope you find some time to look into this awesome program if you haven’t already; it is truly incredible.  

Turn It In

When I was in high school, Turnitin was used in the same way Blackboard is used to deliver assignments at a specified time and to check for plagiarism of said assignments. In hindsight, the original premise of Turnitin acted as an educational cloud that created a plagiarism database off of the voluntary submission of students and educators - in others, what existed as the former Turnitin.com's extensive "plagiarism checking database" was the written work of thousands of students spanning many different topics. It was an intelligent and skillful business plan, but what existed as "cloud" content has changed in the past few years, and with that the premise of Turnitin.com's [for free] plagiarism database had come to an end. The new Turnitin.com is a portal for the company's new plagiarism products that do what the original website did, but for a price and a new "Terms of Use Agreement" that make educators, students, and users in general aware that the written work submitted become property of the parent company, iParadigms.

What does this mean for computer-mediated technology? For students and educators, a tool like Turnitin.com's many product offerings, is a unique way to collect, rate, review assignments, as well as to provide formative tools to complete work in a many different languages. The new Turnitin.com has been divided amongst new products such as WriteCheck, which is the retail version of the former website. iThenticate for publishers and researchers, which is a more sophisticated and user-generated "cloud" content, because the work that is tested for plagiarism is published writing available in libraries, articles, and journals. And TurnitinAdmissions.com which is utilized by admission councils in higher education to check for plagiarism amongst essays, statements and application responses. From the initial creation off the imaginative minds of students' work, and educators looking for a centralized [but free] hub to organize assignments arose the original Turnitin.com, but with legal issues stemming from students uploading their own same work [but maybe for different reasons] and/or copyright legalities of "cloud" databasing emerged a new network of Turnitin.com plagiarism applications.

FlipBoard

I chose to write about the great App called Flipboard. The smartphone app pulls in updates from your social media accounts, and presents it all in a slick package of stories that you navigate with a quick flick of the thumb.

Flipboard is the world’s first social magazine, a single place to see everything you care about. Inspired by the beauty and ease of print media, Flipboard is designed so you can easily flip through news from around the world or stories from right at home, helping people find the one thing that can inform, entertain or even inspire them every day. This App allows you to hand pick which types of stories you would like to browse. You can pick stories from sports, to local news, and just news about Facebook. It gives you a wide variety of options to choose from. Within the articles you do pick all content includes full articles, videos, photo slideshows and blogs. It is a quick and easy way to get  news and it gives you the tools to pick what you want to hear. Overall, it is a great social media App that provides you with fast and easy information right at the hand of your computer, Ipad, or Iphone.