The pressure is on for Google to develop a social strategy. With +1 Google is making a smart move by using its current power in search to try to gain traction in social. But Google can and should leverage the combination of +1 and its users’ Google identities. Google is still behind when it comes to the social graph, but with the concept of identity, Google starts from a much stronger position.

Publishers will love +1, but what about people? When Google makes available the “+1″ buttons for publishers, there will be significant incentive for publishers to add the buttons since it will add critical SEO value to the URL. Google may use this data to rank results, but even if it doesn’t, users will be influenced by the number of +1′s displayed in search results when they decide what to click. I believe that unlike the failed “buzz” button, which never got traction with publishers, the +1 button could be very attractive.

Thus, the hurdle for +1 lies not with publishers but with consumers. To be successful, Google needs people to click +1, but that’s a harder task than it may expect. Consider the Facebook “Like” button. People click “Like” not because they want to contribute to an object or company’s ranking, but because they want to show off their association. “Liking” something broadcasts an association with content or products to your feed and therefore your friends. So with no opportunity to show off, Google may get no clicks. But there is a way for Google to help achieve a critical mass of +1 data that doesn’t require a user actually clicking +1.

Here’s how: Social Sign On – an identity play. When a user authenticates with a site by using their Google credentials, giving permission to that site to access their profile information and social graph, that act is a “+1 equivalent action”, and should be treated as such by Google. And Google can build this into the social sign-on process explicitly; I’ve illustrated one option in the graphic to the right.

Identity as the Foothold for Google’s Social Play

Increasingly, sites are enabling users to sign-in with their existing identity on social networks or other providers. Look at the Huffington Post and other publishers like Fox News, CBS and ABC. It’s clear that users prefer to sign-in using an established online identity rather than create a new one on each site they visit. Passwords are dead.
Currently, no identity provider is as popular as Facebook among B2C websites. More than 1M sites enable Facebook for sign-in. The reason Facebook is so popular among websites (as compared with OpenID or other solutions), is that there is real value for the website associated with that Facebook sign-in.

Whenever users sign-in to a site with their Facebook identity, Facebook provides the site with rich user profile data. This type of connection also enables frictionless sharing, which results in more traffic to the site. Yes, Google provides APIs for sign-in, but currently they do not provide enough value — data or otherwise — for websites. As a result, there is insufficient adoption across websites of Google Social Sign-on. With the wide Facebook Connect adoption by websites, people began to use their Facebook identity across the Internet far more often than their Google identity.

So Google needs a killer value proposition for sites to drive adoption of sign-in with Google. To provide one, it needs to continue to leverage its most sacred asset – search. When a user signs-in to a website with Google, over some number of days, Google should give higher weight to results coming from that site for that specific user. It makes sense that if I read articles at cbsnews.com, that site’s results will appear in my news searches above other news sources. Because Search is such a critical source of traffic channel for most websites, sites would implement Google sign-in tomorrow if it meant that their page rank would increase for users who use Google to sign-in into their site.

This could also be the first olive branch from Google Search to websites. For too long SEO has been a black hole for sites that never know when changes in algorithms could adversely affect them. It would be good for Google’s relationship with sites to collaborate with them, giving them a white-hat way to improve search result relevance.

What’s in it for Google? Being one of the leading identity providers gives Google permission-based access to user data that will enrich any service it offers – from search to commerce to social. Google is the leading search engine, but how loyal are its users? Identity can equate to commitment. Having a strong play in identity is Google’s key to building a long-term relationship with its users while increasing the value of Google services to websites Pleasing both parties will put Google well on its way to creating a defensible position in social.

Rooly Eliezerov is co-founder and product strategist at Gigya, a SaaS company providing technologies that make websites social.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

• Infrastructure Q1: IaaS Comes Down to Earth; Big Data Takes Flight
• A Media Tablet Forecast, 2011 – 2015
• Finding the Value in Social Media Data

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A new lineup of basic consumer LCD monitors has been announced by HP, and they look fine. Juuuuust fine. Nothing flashy here, but the specs look solid (except for the cheapest one) and the styling is very “Apple Cinema Display” – but less chromey. That’s a good thing, in my opinion.

Basically you’ve got four models, at 20″, 21.5″, 23″, and 27″. The 2010i is kind of low resolution, and has a slow response time and (relatively) low contrast as well, so we’ll just strike that one from the running.

The 2210m and 2310m (pictured above) are nearly the same, except of course for the slight size difference and a ever-so-slightly slower grey-to-grey time on the 2310m. 1000:1 contrast ratio (and the usual vastly exaggerated 40,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio), 2.5ms response time, 1920×1080 resolution, and a couple integrated 2W speakers. The 2210m costs $220 and the 2310m costs $260.

The 2710m (above; also, that link is kind of janky) has virtually the same specs (and, disappointingly, the same resolution) as its smaller brethren, but costs significantly more at $456 (or at least, that’s what is listed at Amazon (you can get it for $366 though)). With a rather larger pixel pitch, this one won’t give you as crisp an image as the others. My pick for value out of this bunch is the 2210m; it could make an excellent second monitor if you already have a large, high-quality one for your primary.

The projector world is a strange one to me. The market seems to be one part sports enthusiast, one part old-school projectionist, and one part enterprise. Yet we have excellent digital projectors out there for peanuts, to say nothing of the increasingly practical pico projectors. Viewsonic’s latest doesn’t exactly fit into the “peanuts” category at $750, but it’s certainly practical for all the parties mentioned above, and 3D-ready to boot.

The PJD5352 is a bit of a weird creature, though. Under-$1000 models seldom have true HD resolution, and this one is no exception: 1024×768 at 120Hz is just fine for a lot of stuff, but of course it’s not enough for an HD picture, which most 3D movies and broadcasts are going to have. Another puzzling thing is the inputs. With two VGA inputs, S-Video, and composite, it’s pretty clear that HD content was never really even in consideration. To be honest, I’m not really so concerned with losing the HD as with the fact that you’ll have to keep an adapter or something around, since so many devices use HDMI or DVI out now.

The short-throw thing is nice, though. They claim a 50″ picture with 3000:1 contrast ratio only three feet from the screen or wall, which is usually preferable (as long as they control for distortion) to one sitting behind you and projecting over your head. It’s more the kind of projector you’d take out when you need to use it, not one where you’d have a mount that automatically lowers from the ceiling.

It’s available now, in case you’re wondering.

Because in these days a car has become an indispensable thing for us all, the market is invaded by many cool little gadgets for your car, gadgets which are designed for improving the performances of your car or simply for increasing the level of “fun”  inside your car.  In this review we are going to show you some cool little gadgets for your car which we think are interesting and affordable for everyone.

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The first gadget which caught our attention was the All-in-one Driving and Engine Performance Monitor. Just like the name suggests it, this gadget is a device which is capable of reading all important data from the car’s computer, engine performance and continuously logging driving.

With small dimensions (1.8″ x 1″ x 1.32″), this gadget is very practical and easy to install. All you need to do is to locate the OBDII port on your car (it is usually located under the steering wheel or dashboard) and plug it in this port. When you want to download the data you can connect it to your PC via USB.  Even if it looks so small, this chip is capable to record up to 300 hours of driving details. So if you are a tech-hungry geek, you probably need one of this. If you choose to buy it, you can find the Car Chip Pro on the www.thinkgeek.com at a price of $99.



Another ingenious gadget for your car is the AlcoHawk Digital Alcohol Detector. This gadget does a simple job. It is designed to measure the quantity of alcohol from your breath. For a price of $44.99 you can buy this compact alcohol scanner which, measuring only 5 x 1.75 x 0.75 inch, can be attached to your keys like a keychain. Being equipped with a two-digit LED display, an accurate semi-conductor oxide sensor and an electric exhale pressure monitor this gadget is capable of detecting between .00  and .40% BAC. Powered by two AA batteries, this device will give you a result in only 5 seconds, a short response time compared with all similar devices.



The Coffee Cup Power Inverter is another important gadget for a car. Even if it looks exactly like a cup of coffee, this gadget is in fact a power inverter capable of converting your car’s DC power in two 120 volt outlets.  Aside from those two outlets, this adaptor comes equipped with a USB power port. The Coffee Cup Power Inverter provides 120 Volt AC and is capable of inverting 200W continuous / 400 peak. Anyway, you will shortly be capable to charge your cell phone, laptop or other devices which need a standard outlet. The price of this gadget is $29 and you can find it on the same website, www.thinkgeek.com.



The last cool little gadget for your car which we chose is the SafeDriver Wireless Vehicle Monitor. If you are a parent and want to protect your teen from accidents, you can get them one gadget like this and you are assured. The installation is easily. You need to place the gadget in the car and set-up a PIN code. This gadget will record all important information about your teen’s driving time (it will record the highest speed, instances of sudden braking and the distance). So, are you willing to spend $49 for keeping your teen under observation?

If you’re using a DSLR for video (as I’m about to, having just received a T2i to check out), your monitor options are pretty limited in-camera. Obviously you can’t look through the viewfinder, but the live view on the LCD is so small that you can’t really make much out — and the resolution is rubbish, too. SmallHD thinks they have a solution in this camera-mounted tiny HD display, but it too has its limitations.

The display part looks fantastic, to be sure: a 5.6″ diagonal (4×6×1″)at 1280×800 resolution means an excellent ppi of 270, and a ton of high-def inputs mean you’ll be getting a great image. The accessories, like an articulated arm and battery bracket, are still “projected,” so you’ll have to use the default hot shoe mount for the time being, and you’ll have to plug it in as well — that limits its practicality quite a bit.

Still, the DP-SLR is a hell of a nice-looking little doodad. At $900 for the basic and $1200 for the advanced model, however, it’s clearly for the pros out there. You can still try to find this little wireless thing, but it’s probably got a lower resolution than your camera’s LCD.

[via Doobybrain]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you like your hardware ridiculously over-branded, RTC23 has a new line of LCD HDTVs right up your alley. They’ve struck a deal with Marvel Comics to offer an entire line of officially licensed TVs with all of your favorite characters including Iron Man, The Hulk and Captain America. Thor also seems to be an option.

Billed as the “Ultimate Comic Fan’s TV” each set features the super hero branded into the lower corners of the screen’s frame, and an image of the character will appear on screen for 8 seconds every time you turn it on. Yeah, apparently that’s a ‘feature.’ The TVs are available in 22″, 32″, 42″ and 55″ sizes while LED backlit versions are limited to 40″ and 46″. As for pricing, the standard sets start at $338.88 for the 22″ model, while the 55″ model is $1,988.88. And the 40″ LED model is $1,698.88, or $1,988.00 for the 46″.

[ RTC23 Marvel Branded HDTVs ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]