1. The hangout feature is the clear differentiator – multi user video conferencing, ability to share media, and VERY COOL is the ability to watch media clips together as a group! It also switches ‘attention’ depending on what’s happening in the conversation, that’s awesome too.
2. Circles is a great way of organizing and separating feeds; unlike Facebook’s fire-hose in your face approach. Also the group management user interface and experience is far better than anything Facebook offers.
3. A new profile feature that will probably replace Google’s current profile (I am not sure about this though)
4. The +1 I figure will eventually end up deep inside Google’s ecosystem and will be included in the page-rank algorithm; it ties very well to their core business of search, a million individuals working with the +1 button might give Google the edge in providing human context to search.
5. Sparks – the content search mechanism is unlike anything I’ve seen; enter an interest into the box and Google fetches web elements that might be related to the interest. You can create an interest list in this way, adding stuff you like as you go along.
6. Huddle – this was something I was looking for; finally a group messaging system that works across Android, iPhone, and SMS.
7. User interface and user experience are unlike any other Google service I’ve used so far – quite simple and intuitive; it is evident Google has spent significant time and money working this out for Plus.

Some questions that came to my mind were:

1. What about integration with twitter, google reader and other web services?
2. What about the data, will there be an API in the near future?
3. How will this evolve, considering Google’s products seem to be in a continuous beta?

Does it compare to Facebook? I’d say yes, will the masses leave Facebook and embrace +(Plus)? That’s hard question to answer at this point, time will tell. Have you tried it? Will this make a better tool for learning than Facebook is? Leave comments please.

The post Google Plus: Initial Impressions first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

The post Flash to HTML5 – Swiffy From Google first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Google calls it ‘What Do You Love?’. It’s a strange and quirky way to look at search results. Stranger still there is no mention of this on Google’s blog.  I love Lego, so that’s what I typed into the search box. The results aggregated across a host of google services, and included pictures, video, and a lots more.

Try it out, it’s cool!

The post Google’s What Do You Love? first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

2. 3-D Tabletop Display – We’ve often visualized glass-free 3D device after watching the 3D movie – Avatar. The interaction concept is great.

3. Open Data, Linked Data & The Semantic Web – An interesting read on semantic web.

4. How To Convert The Toughest SME – Cathy Moore talks about building rapport with SMEs. A very crucial step in developing quality learning content is getting the SME on board. Great tips in this post on how.

5. Why America Needs To Start Educating Its Workforce Again – A nice TechCrunch post that gives some insights in to workforce-development practices of 24 leading companies in India. It also links up to the report on which the post was based which is detailed and gives some serious food for thought. Download the report here.

The post eLearning: Interesting Weekly Finds #18 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

2. A Collection of Social Media Infographics – Helpful to use infographics in presentations, reports, articles, etc. A cool resource, these graphics also give great ideas on how data can be represented visually.

3. Tashkeel – This tool adds missing diacritics to Arabic text. Diacritics describe how arabic text is pronounced and are usually omitted in writing. Adding diacritics is an important pre-step to several text processing applications.

4. Sport Technology – This is about teaching sports! Interesting to see universities get involved in creating technology that goes beyond conventional learning tools.
“Students gain experience in designing realistic and practical embedded and mobile systems, as well as other applications that can enhance the training, coaching, playing, broadcasting, safety and viewing of various sports.”

5. Text 2.0 – An application featuring eye tracking, follows your progress and also indicates where you were when you return. Translates and explains words on the fly, reads words if you don’t know how to pronounce and much more.

The post eLearning: Interesting Weekly Finds #17 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

2. A mobile moodle for iPhone. – It’s finally ready and the launch imminent, Moodle provides a iPhone app to access moodle resources. Open source, the code will be released shortly. Keep an eye out for this one.

3. OpenGL 4.0 – Technology standards keep changing and OpenGL is one that’s been around ‘forever’. The latest version is OpenGL 4.0 and its just been announced at GDC. The battle for graphics on the mobile platform is just beginning and OpenGL has made a head start, Microsoft’s DirectX vying for such too.

4. Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world – Interesting TED talk by Jane McGonigal about harnessing gamer power to solve real-world problems. Lots of interesting insights about games and gamers.

5. Data, data everywhere – The Economist magazine has a special report on the information overload. Worth a read as the explosion of data and managing and filtering it has enormous implications for learning and human performance.

The post eLearning: Interesting Weekly Finds #16 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

To put it more plainly, the Android NDK r3 gives developers more options to take advantage of an Android device’s powers, especially in the graphics department.

2. Socialight – With their new Socialight Community Platform, anyone can create networks which are accessible via the web, a WAP site or an iPhone app.

3. Unified Media Server – is basically an interactive Flash® media server – but adds H.264 support for other devices. Let’s users deliver content from one encode simultaneously to multiple clients on the desktop, mobile and the set-top box.

4. Build Native Apps for Desktop, Mobile & iPad – Titanium allows developers to build mobile and desktop applications using standard web technologies like HTML, JavaScript and CSS. The new version of Titanium now supports both iPhone and Android with RIM Blackberry and Apple iPad support just around the corner.

5. BigBlueButton – An Opensource web conferencing tool

6. Enhanced Editions – Tailor-make ebooks for the iphone the way nature intended. Easy-to-use features, and hours of multimedia extras, but crafted with the editorial insight that only publishers can bring to a book.

7. Amplify – is a service for engaging in conversation around web pages, paragraphs, images, videos or original ideas that make people think. A clean interface and integration with twitter and facebook add value. Worth some trial usage.

The post eLearning: Interesting Weekly Finds #15 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

2. Real Time Language Translation Over Phone – A cool demo of technology that might eventually truly end the language barrier. The aim is to achieve reasonable cross-language communication in the absence of any means of communication. Tremendous applications in learning and development, it’ll be interesting to keep an eye on developments in this space.

3.  Ribbon Hero – Ribbon Hero is a game for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel 2007 and 2010, designed to help you boost your Office skills and knowledge. Play games (aka “challenges”), score points, and compete with your friends while improving your productivity with Office. As a concept test, this add-in is not supported, but is an opportunity for you to try out an idea we are working on and let us know what you think. A nice way to encourage learning.

4. Socialcast – Socialcast is offering a collaboration tool plug-in for MS-Outlook. Unlike Basecamp and other tools, it works right inside Outlook and works on top of Socialcast EASE – Enterprise Activity Stream Engine offered by Socialcast.

5. Bloomfire – A cool service that’ll launch middle of the month. Let’s anyone create a course, let’s anyone take it. It allows for a large number of informal, social-learning opportunities can be dedicated to any subject. Check out the videos on the site explaining their service idea, should be interesting to use when it launches.

The post eLearning: Interesting Weekly Finds #14 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

connected or non-connected applications for mobile devices and deploy them on any mobile platforms they want. ELIPS Studio 3 is based on native compilation. It will automatically generate, optimize and package your Flex applications as native code for industry-leading platforms, including iPhone, Android, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.

2. Open Classroom Servers
The OpenClassroom Server (OCS) places the teacher in control of an easily managed local Web 2.0 environment. The OCS lets the teacher and students carry out research, communication, collaboration, publication, and other network-based functions through an intuitive interface and provides classroom-level management and control. The OCS can be connected to a network that is also connected to the Internet, which allows students to search the OCS and the Internet simultaneously.

3. SublimeVideo [HTML5 Video Player]
It’s an HTML5 video player that will allow you to easily embed videos in any page, blog or site using the latest modern web standards. Browsers makers are still working on fully supporting the HTML5 video specification, so at the moment SublimeVideo is still in experimental state and only works on a limited number of browsers. But the long term goal is to make it work on all modern browsers. SublimeVideo will be soon released for free (at least for non-commercial use). Its key features are Full-window mode, Full-screen mode, HTML5 video [no flash plugin required].

4. WordPress for Android and Blackberry
WordPress for Android and Blackberry is an Open Source app that empowers you to write new posts, edit content, and manage comments with built-in notifications. Download it now if you use either platform and get blogging in no time.

5. Symbian OS now fully open source
The Symbian Foundation has offered up the full Symbian Smartphone platform to open source. The Symbian 3 platform, including applications, middleware, and the kernel itself, will be offered under terms of the Eclipse Public License and other open source licenses. “You can download it, you can modify it,” said Larry Berkin, head of global alliances for the foundation. Previously, the kernel was made available via open source. End-users will see, ideally, differentiated devices, converged devices that are based on Symbian that range from smartphones [to converged devices],” such as cameras or a phone that is a gaming device.

The post eLearning: Interesting Weekly Finds #10 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Facebook, news, and Twitter to both Windows Mobile and Symbian devices with plans to offer an Android version of their software sometime in the future.

2.    Color Picker
Color Picker by Korean designer Jin-sun Park is a concept pen that can scan colors from anything around and instantly use the color for drawing. After placing the pen against an object, the user just presses the scan button. The color is being detected by the color sensor and the RGB cartridge of the pen mixes the required inks to create the target color.

3.    When You Have Just One Computer for the Whole Classroom
To help schools get the most out of their limited computing budgets, Microsoft has developed a new software platform called MultiPoint that allows multiple students in a classroom to interact with a single computer simultaneously using their own mouse. As part of the MultiPoint platform, Microsoft recently released a free software add-in for PowerPoint – Mouse Mischief – that would let teachers create interactive presentations with True/False or Multiple Choice questions. When you play these slides on a computer screen (or a projector), the entire classroom can answer the questions using just their own mice.

4.    Nokia’s Design and User Experience Library
In recognition of the importance that good design and user experience plays in creating successful products and services, Forum Nokia has renewed and extended it support available for those looking to improve the quality of their mobile applications. Central to this effort has been the launch of a new User Experience program and resources for designers.

Most useful of all is the launch of the Design and User Experience Library. It contains essential basic principles and key information needed when creating services for mobile devices.

5.    Firefox for Mobile – Fennec
Mozilla has been steadily creeping towards it goal of releasing the first Firefox browser for mobile phones. On Friday, Firefox 1.0 for Nokia’s Maemo–previously code-named Fennec–arrived.
Firefox for the Maemo 5 platform has a few interesting conceits that set it apart from other mobile browsers, like Opera Mobile and Opera Mini.

The post eLearning: Interesting Weekly Finds #9 first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.