Spin Valley Post

When Google Buzz launched three weeks ago, the product wasn’t ready. There were basic privacy issues that still needed to be hammered out (and were quickly addressed by Google), but beyond that Google Buzz simply did not work smoothly enough to force feed it to 175 million Gmail users without any warning. (MG covered some of the usability issues last week).

So why was Google Buzz pushed out the door too soon? I have three interrelated theories:

1. Google still wants to buy Twitter, and putting Buzz into Gmail might be enough of a threat to bring Twitter back to the table.  Buzz did not launch in some Google Labs backwater.  It is placed front and center in Gmail.  Buzz is Google’s strongest effort yet to enter the stream.  If Buzz can gain traction it would certainly help Google’s negotiating position with Twitter.
2. Independent of any pressure it may place on Twitter, Google needs to have its own realtime micro-messaging communications system.  The micro-message bus is just a more efficient way to communicate than email for many types of messages so it makes sense to add it as a layer to Gmail: broadcast your public messages via Buzz, and keep private ones on email or chat, all from the same place.
3. The other reason Google needed to establish its own social stream pronto is that links passed through social sharing are beginning to rival search as a primary driver of traffic for many sites.  Part of Google’s prowess stems from the fact that it is the largest referrer of traffic to many other Websites. It doesn’t want to lose that status to social sharing streams such as Facebook or Twitter.  Already, Buzz is helping to boost sharing through Google Reader.  While Google doesn’t benefit directly from that traffic (yet), simply knowing what links people are sharing and clicking on is valuable data which can help it improve its search results.

Google needed to get into this game as fast as it could, even if there were bumps along the way.  The question now is whether Buzz can keep building.

Photo credit: Flickr/ Chelseagirl

Google Street View has made a few headlines at RWW lately – once for getting itself into hot water in Europe and once, notably, for bringing Street View’s photo-tour features into retail outlets.

Now, we’ve learned that Street View will also begin to feature user-submitted photographs. According to a recent Google Lat Long blog post, “We began integrating user photos into Street View last year. User photos allow you to view locations from entirely new perspectives, whether through the eyes of a talented photographer with a knack for capturing architectural detail, or simply taken from locations we couldn’t get to… We’re making it easier to navigate through these images in a way that should feel similar to how you’re used to exploring within Street View.”

Users can submit pictures from Picasa, Panoramio and Flickr that show different views, times of day or pedestrian-only areas.

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Users can submit pictures from Picasa, Panoramio and Flickr that show different views, times of day or pedestrian-only areas. Here’s an example of what the interface looks like; the square in the top right corner indicates there are user-submitted images for that area.

And here is the photo navigation interface. Users can also navigate through photos using new click-and-drag controls to see images from nearby areas, or different angles or crops of the same area.

Some have speculated that Google has chosen to highlight and integrate this feature because of competition with Bing. The Next Web recently called Microsoft’s Photosynth, a similar product launched in 2008 and integrated into Bing Maps, “the killer app of the Bing suite” that differentiates Bing from Google in a positive way.

“The feature,” wrote Jacob Friedman , “displays collections of photos stitched together into a panorama[...] The results, to put it bluntly, can be spectacular.”

While Google’s offering may not have the 3D-esque quality of Photosynth, allowing for more creative images and photos from a larger geographical area to be shared in Street View is a smart move for the company. Let us know what you think in the comments.

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We’ve recently come across an app that literally brings its users “talking pictures.”

Essentially, Fotobabble attaches an audio caption to any image you can upload. It’s a cute, fun way to share and narrate photos with friends, and could even be useful for certain kinds of online businesses – for example, photographers who wanted to explain more information about a particular shot or online retailers who wanted to give potential customers details about a product. Can Fotobabble accomplish these tasks better with audio than conventional text-based captions do now? Read on and tell us what you think.

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Here’s our example. It took just a few seconds to create.

Currently, users can choose to share their creations across a wide variety of social networks or email; however, autosharing is not built in. The app is available as a web app for PC/Mac/etc. and as an iPhone app.

We do wish that Fotobabble would let users audio-caption pics from Facebook, Flickr photo streams or elsewhere on the Web. Ensuring ownership would be easy enough, as well, through Flickr’s API or Facebook Connect.While we’re on that subject, account creation should be possible through Facebook Connect or Twitter OAuth. Ideally, we’d also want to be able to create slide shows and sets or groups of pics.

What do you think: Can you see yourself using Fotobabble? If so, how would you use it? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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Last year, Foursquare was called the break-out mobile app of the conference by more than one tech journalist.

This year, a new contender has appeared – Austin’s native Gowalla. And Brightkite is still hanging on to the LBS community, if only by a thread of loyal users – but they still offer more features than some of their better-known competitors.

Which do you use now? And when your attention is at a premium during one of the year’s most popular geek conferences, which app or apps will you use to collect badges, connect with friends, and find out where the party really is?

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Gowalla’s main weakness might be that they haven’t yet developed an Android or Blackberry application. WordPress Bible author Aaron Brazell noted that while many see the iPhone as the “Jesus phone,” that doesn’t change the fact that “any company who has a business model built around… iPhone is nucking futs.”

While many of us use the mobile version of the site and patiently wait for a native app for non-iPhone devices, Foursquare’s been our go-to check-in service for quite some time. And their response to us on Twitter suggests they may see themselves as a comfortable incumbent at this point.

Both of the services we’ve mentioned also have special, built-in incentives for users at SXSW. Gowalla in particular has announced an interesting promotion. For their flagship “Tiki Room” event, the app will “be scattering hundreds of Tiki Room Digital VIP Passes around downtown Austin. The only way to get yours is to check in with Gowalla at other Austin venues and SXSW events.”

Last year, Foursquare also had special badges for SXSW, such as “Panel Nerd”, “Karaoke RV” and “Porky” (for BBQ lovers, in particular). They even made a custom badge for attendees of Digg’s party and Diggnation live show.

And while Brightkite may not have the game mechanics and rewards of other apps, it does give us the ability to upload photos in addition to text when checking into various locations – a tool we’ve found very handy when screening new venues for ambience.

So, which app or apps will you be using during SXSW? Vote in the poll, and let us know the “why” of your choice in the comments.

What Mobile Apps Will You Use for SXSW?poll

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This week’s ReadWriteStart Weekly Wrapup is chock-full of stories this week, so lets not waste any time recapping the top posts of the last week of February. We’ve got tips for keeping out the trolls, some advice for naming your startup, best methods for weeding out programming applicants, and an example of how Google Buzz can be used by startups to engage users. Also, our Never Mind the Valley series is back in full swing this week with profiles of Washington D.C. and Chicago.

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Keeping Out the Trolls: Relevancy in User-Generated Content

In the summer of 2008, J.R. Johnson sold Virtual Tourist to Expedia for $85 million dollars. While Johnson seems like the type of laid back Los Angeles entrepreneur that would take some vacation time, his quest for relevancy had him launching a new community the following March. Lunch.com is Johnson’s attempt to cut through the noise that has proliferated since he first started in the user-generated-review space in 1999.

What’s In A Name? For Startups, It’s Crucial

If you’ve been following our Weekend Reading series on Fridays for the last few weeks, you’ve noticed that we’ve been discussing the importance of personal branding for entrepreneurs. But branding is not only an important facet for individuals; for startups, branding is an essential step toward building a successful business. Mint founder Aaron Patzer, who speaks Tuesday at the Future of Web Apps Conference in Miami, Florida, recently discussed with CNET’s Caroline McCarthy how he believes Mint’s branding helped it become a breakout success.

Hiring Programmers: Screening Out Liars and Duds

Every entrepreneur will tell you that recruiting the right candidate is important. While startups are constantly trying to find programmers that mesh well with their culture, team and work-style, one article suggests that companies still struggle finding candidates that know how to program at all. Jeff Atwood published a post this morning entitled, The Non-Programming Programmer with a stunning look at how many interviewees misrepresent their abilities.

Startups: Don’t Don’t Be Be Redundant Redundant On On Buzz Buzz

Tuesday night, ReadWriteWeb announced that we would be taking a new approach to how we use social media to communicate with our readers. Instead of blasting out automated content on Google Buzz as we do with our Twitter and Facebook accounts, we will be using Buzz to interact on a new level by discussing anything and everything in Buzz’s forum-esque threads. I described it last night in a Buzz comment as “a better version of forums meets a less frantic chat room,” and many positive comments seem to be welcoming this new form of engagement. This also got me thinking about how startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs can take advantage of Buzz.

Never Mind the Valley: Here’s Washington DC

The words “fat cats in Washington” have been uttered in every corner of the nation from Texas to the Bay, yet DC’s tech scene is anything but sluggish. Companies like AOL, Nextel, MCI and Uunet found early success in the region and since then, a slew of young entrepreneurs have emerged to follow suit. Some of the companies include LivingSocial, Clearspring, CareerBuilder, OPower and iPhone app development service PointAbout. ReadWriteWeb caught up with some of the industry’s movers and shakers to find out what the DC scene has to offer for entrepreneur

Never Mind the Valley: Here’s Chicago

Holding down the proverbial fort for the mid-west, Chicago, the Windy City, is the third largest city in the U.S. and the most populous city that doesn’t sit on an ocean coast. The city, which does, however, rest on the shore of Lake Michigan, is home to a unique culture of nearly 3 million people and countless numbers of Fortune 500 companies condensed into its 234 square miles of city. Though the city is often passed over for Silicon Valley and New York in terms of startup cultures, Chicago has a expanding repertoire of companies, entrepreneurs, investors and organizations helping put the city on the startup map.

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