Thursday, March 15, 2012

Interactivity - New Possibilities with Google Technology

In our ongoing 'Interactivity - New Possibilities'  series of posts, we reviewed the key recent technologies from Amazon and Apple that impact the world of interactivity. Here are the top 3 recent Google  technologies I am excited about: 

1. Instant Search, Social Search: New Innovations
Most of us have experienced the convenience of Google's instant search - we're almost used to it. Social search makes the search experience richer for those people who have a social network on Google+ (more about that later). It shows you search results - text, photos and more -  from your network. It enables you to find people and pages you may be interested in following.

2. Google+ : Social Network
When it first came out, many people described Google+ as a cross between Facebook and Twitter. The social network has gained traction. It is the bedrock of Google's social search strategy. 

3. Android - Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich : Incremental Innovation
Nearly 700,000 Android  OSs are activated every day on tablets and smart phones. With this momentum, Google has worked at improving features of its Android OS over time. Multitasking, voice input, resizable widgets are some examples. There is a thriving Android Market for applications.

When we look at these three technologies, here is what we find. As search is a key strength of Google, it is natural to expect innovation in that area from Google, and it is good to see greater interactivity in search, also the way in which it leverages Google+. In the operating systems space, Chrome OS did not go far, but Android with its growing user base seems promising for developers who want to build interactive applications.