Happy Leap Day! It will be another four years before we see this bizarre extension of February again, so be sure to live it to the fullest, especially if you happen to be one of those poor saps whose birthday happens to fall on that fateful square on the calendar. So what kind of tech news happens on a mid-week Leap Day? As it turns out, plenty — so read on and get all of the news for Wednesday, February 29, 2012.
Cue the Tumbleweeds: Google+ A “Virtual Ghost Town”
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that fledgling social network Google+ may very well be a “virtual ghost town,” despite having 90 million registered users since launching in June. According to new data from research firm comScore Inc., users are signing up — but rarely return for another visit. “Visitors using personal computers spent an average of about three minutes a month on Google+ between September and January, versus six to seven hours on Facebook each month over the same period,” the report reveals, noting that mobile usage is not factored into comScore’s data. So what’s the problem? “Nobody wants another social network right now,” explains Altimeter Group analyst Brian Solis. “Google hasn’t communicated what the value of Google+ is” for users already spending much of their time on Facebook. Yeah, it’s rough out there for any company whose name doesn’t start with an F and end with “book.”
Report: MOG Streaming Music Service May (or May Not) Be Up for Sale
Seems like the arrival of Spotify on American shores is creating some pressure for at least one of the companies who helped introduce Yanks to subscription music streaming. On Tuesday, Cnet reported that MOG is up for sale, apparently failing to gain traction against Rhapsody, Rdio and Spotify. But almost just as quickly, Reuters published a report contradicting Cnet’s claims, with MOG CEO David Hyman disputing the notion the company was for sale. “We’re not actively trying to sell this business, said Hyman. “The Facebook integration has been fantastic for us but as we’re not yet profitable we’re always engaged in conversations with our shareholders about all possible options.” Hyman founded MOG in 2005 with $33 million raised from two venture capital firms, but only half of the company’s business comes from music subscriptions — the rest trickles in from the MOG Music Network, which “places advertisements on more than 1,700 music sites.” According to Hyman, the company is actively hiring engineers, marketing and sales staff, which doesn’t exactly sound like a sinking ship quite yet.
SmugMug Releases Free Camera Awesome App
Still in search of the ultimate iOS camera app? Photo sharing website SmugMug Inc. thinks they may have just the thing for you in the form of a new iPhone app called Camera Awesome. (Hey, if the word “awesome” is right there in the title, who are we to judge?) The 17.6MB app promises to “awesome-ize” your photos, which the company describes as the ability “to trick your friends into thinking you’re a famous photographer.” Lofty goal there, but judging from the customer reviews, Camera Awesome may be well on its way to achieving just that. While the awesomely touted app is awesomely free, SmugMug also offers a variety of presets available for in-app purchase from renowned photographer Kevin Kubota, along with one-tap (and even zero-tap!) sharing to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Picasa, Photobucket, Flickr and yes, SmugMug. Awesome!
Windows 8 Consumer Preview Now Available for Download
All that clicking you might have heard today comes from eager Windows fans downloading Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 Consumer Preview. According to The Verge, the public download was posted this morning on the heels of Microsoft’s keynote address at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which promises more than 100,000 changes since last year’s Windows 8 Developer Preview. The good news is that anyone can join in the fun, with Microsoft offering both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Consumer Preview for download as ISO files in English, Chinese, French, German and Japanese. You’ll want to make sure to have a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of free hard drive space and a DirectX 9-compatible graphics card before diving into those multi-gigabyte downloads, but given that the specs are the same as the current Windows 7, that should cover most everyone.
Apple Store App Updated to Version 2.1, Still No iPad Native Version
The way we see it, Apple must figure that iPad owners are content to use Mobile Safari for ordering from the company’s online store… otherwise, why is there still no iPad native version of the Apple Store app? Be that the case, Apple today pushed out a new version 2.1 of the Apple Store app, which brings a few bits of awesomeness (oops, sorry, a bit of leftover awesomeness from the Camera Awesome news above!) for all but iPad owners. The app now requires iOS 4.3.3 or later, but allows users to choose iPhone plans from all three U.S. carriers: ATT, Verizon and Sprint. Your shopping experience promises to be “even more convenient” with new account management and billing options, and Apple fans in the Netherlands will be happy to discover the Apple Store app is finally available there at long last. As usual, the free 7.9MB app can be downloaded from the App Store.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
Article source: http://www.maclife.com/article/news/wednesday_recap_google_ghost_town_camera_awesome_windows_8_preview
