Innovative Search Options: BitLy Takes a Step

It has become pretty common lately to shorten long links and make them simpler to share with others. I wouldn’t even exaggerate to state that the majority of us are quite accustomed to using services, like BitLy for the described so to say “shortening” purpose.

This is how it was in the past. The thing is that from now on, BitLy isn’t only specialized in one specific niche, but is likely to expand its fame to a considerable extent, having introduced its search engine for trendy links in social media. Someone would, perhaps, say that this sector is totally occupied by Google for good, but they might happen to be wrong.

The reason is that what RealTine by BitLy offers is not really the search engine we’re more acquainted with: it enables users to define a number of search parameters, which help specify and acquire the most relative results. Similarly to what 4shared.com, for instance, offers to define to find the needed file, the new service provides the options to narrow the results to particular social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr), geographical location, language and sphere in addition to the entered keyword. 

Being now available in its closed beta version only, RealTime is accessible to BitLy registered users, and you need to have your sign-up application approved. Fortunately, the approval usually takes little time (at least mine was checked within a few minutes), so you don’t have to wait to start surfing for the trendy links. At the same time, be prepared to find out that the received results aren’t always satisfactory either in the quantity of links or their actual relativity.

For what it takes, BitLy has always had something innovative from the moment the service entered the market, and the creation of RealTime works as the perfect proof of such statement. Who cares that it won’t, obviously, become the next Google for trendy links, if it still provides us with something highly significant: the choice of which app or service to opt for.

Facebook Ads: Targeting Digs into Mobile Apps

It became clear quite a while ago that one of the weakest aspects in the profitability of Facebook was related to the monetization of mobile audience, that is, getting more revenue from users, who access FB on their smartphones and tablets. Therefore, as soon as the owners of the service were done with the IPO fuss, they got down to business.

As for now, it’s already possible to browse the first steps in the company’s new mobile ad strategy: FB has integrated specific mobile app targeting options, which enable track, which apps are installed on their gadgets and thus display only related ads in the mobile version of the site.

Such app targeting innovations are, undoubtedly, essential for Facebook and can increase the company’s profits to a considerable extent. The definition of what mobile applications people are using, will, actually, enable to figure out what users wish to have, what they are willing to pay and give them the ad they will respond to. Not bad, ha? 

Certainly, the introduced differentiated mobile app ads appear to be much better, than just the usage of provided basic users’ info, like personal interests or place of birth, for instance. Moreover, it hides so much potential that can, in fact, make Facebook owners much wealthier, than they hope. Yet, is it just?

With the time on, our personal data becomes more and more accessible to versatile services, leaving no space for what we used to know as “private”. It sometimes seems that we are always watched or tracked by someone, who can use the information, which isn’t supposed to become public, when it’s necessary.

Obviously, the reasons why Facebook mobile ads dive more into our lives through newly-added targeting options are related to money, but there should surely be predefined the line of privacy, which the companies should be forbidden to go beyond.

I often miss the times, when the information you provide only included the chosen name, e-mail address and password, like it is still required at 4shared, nothing more, so that I can keep what I like, who I know and apps I use to myself. 

Stay cool)

Andy

Design Gets into Limelight at Gojee

Naturally, the changes in the IT world are mostly continuous and totally inevitable. Some of these are relatively minor and mostly concern the shift of audience’s life interests (the shift of popularity between music and photo applications, for instance), whereas others are much more important, including the priority level of services’ design and functionality.

Essentially speaking, it’s been for long now that the functionality of a device or a service has been taken as the prior notion. Even though Apple has brought back the image-focused gadgets with their iPhones and iPads, no one would dare say those are inferior in functionality in any way.

As for the apps and services, the functionality remains at the top, leaving the design peculiarities behind. It would be basically enough to create a high-quality logo, select the colourscheme and the fonts, other that that, it’s vital to care about the features, in the first place.

At the same time, there can be distinguished a few exceptions of a rule, as a number of services have opted for making the service’s design its most efficient part. Among these, one of the recipe-sharing sites Gojee can be easily called the embodiment of great design solutions and exquisite style.

The overall delighted impression about Gojee is, perhaps, influenced by the initial purpose of its creation – sharing of recipes. In this respect, the full-screen background picture of dishes and drinks is what every visitor craves for, whereas the fast sliding bar enables to check the available variety of cooking instructions. At the same time, what Gojee lacks is, obviously, the powerful functional basis, as there’s neither a convenient search option nor the mere division of recipes into categories, for example.

For what it takes, the notion of balance appears to be the most valuable thing in the IT industry anyway. No matter if it is a gadget, an app or a service, it has good chances to become globally popular, as the grandees, e.g. Facebook, Google or 4shared, in case both the functional and the design aspects are taken care of.

Stay cool)

Andy

ThisLife: Do We Really Need More Photo-Sharing Options?

The reasons why we desperately need photo-hosting and sharing services can’t ever be disputed, that’s for sure. It’s not even about our natural desire to boast about our photographer talents all around the Web among people we know and those, who aren’t that lucky yet. Just picture the day when you’re phone suddenly deletes all photos or videos, which you’ve taken on it. It’s scary, isn’t it? Well, this is what photo-sharing services are about – to make your life simpler and calmer, at least as far as the safety of your digital masterpieces is concerned.

Logically, there have been introduced a lot of photo-hosting and sharing resources, like Tumblr or Flickr, not to mention Instagram (now owned by FB), which already have millions of users and devoted fans all over the world. Yet strangely, the new players on the market are continuously introduced to the public even now, though the current selection is more, than sufficient.

One of the mentioned services, for instance, is known to be called ThisLife and is specifically aimed at sharing photos and videos among the family members. In this respect, whereas it’s totally understandable, why the authors have launched it (to take the barely occupied market niche and earn some money), it’s still pretty hard to grasp, why ThisLife would attract the attention of millions.

It’d be, certainly, inappropriate to say that the service is 100% useless, as it features well-designed photo-album layout and the overall UI is rather convenient in usage. Yet, is it special? That’s the question. Likewise as its ancestors, ThisLife enables group sharing of photos, different view modes and the opportunity to upload versatile family videos as well. At the same time, the storage space for loads of supposedly funny stuff is limited, so you will have to pay to share more, than 1000 photos (that is use more than 5GB of space).

Moreover, there can also be a sort of hidden disadvantage both in ThisLife and the similar small or mid-sized photo-sharing services – data security. Even if you can believe in the fact that your password is never uncovered (as it happened with Dropbox users), who can guarantee that your photos won’t disappear, when the service becomes clearly unprofitable and is shut down?

Of course, we all decide for ourselves, which photo-hosting to use, and which not to. As for me, I belong to people, who prefer keeping all files at one hand, not remember numerous passwords. For those, like me, separate photo-sharing sites aren’t needed, especially if they use 4shared or any other file storage for saving and sharing data. 

Stay cool)

Andy

Ubokia & Its Reverse Sales – Possible Advantages

It’s been a tradition both in real-time and online retail industries to use the well-known working scheme in the business: a potential buyer checks the diversity of supply and selects the desirable goods. As for now, either because of the changed consumers’ preferences, or the growing competition on the market, there have already been presented fresh services with the so to say “reversed focus”.

Aiming to satisfy customers’ tastes and wishes to the fullest, an array of brand-new online retail services are offering their clients to post info about the goods they need and let the sellers contact them themselves. In this respect, one of the major rivals is recognized to be Ubokia, offering to simplify the search for a desirable product.

The essence of Ubokia is crystal clear: as a user, you get an opportunity to inform the sellers of what you wish to purchase by posting your WANTS, yet this is far not the only option to select from. It’s also possible to browse what other people’s wish to buy, or even sell something.

Moreover, the essential advantages of Ubokia lie in users’ ability to define versatile details, like the group of goods or the needed location, while browsing others’ WANTS, which makes the purchasing process even simpler.

For what it takes, Ubokia is seemingly a beneficial service for people, who are willing to purchase online, but aren’t willing to surf for the best offer for a long time. At the same time, it’s rather questionable, whether the site will become a global passion, as many of us don’t have enough time to wait, until the sellers send their offers.

As for the general outlook at the ideas, which Ubokia uses, these are, undoubtedly, advantageous both for buyers and sellers. No wonder that the similar ones have already been implemented in a large number of services, like social media sites, for instance. In particular, Facebook usually sends friend or article suggestions, whereas Twitter allows users to browse through trending topics at the site. Likewise, 4shared file storage enables you to check the top searches in various categories, so that you can find what you need easier.

Thus, all we can say now is: good luck, Ubokia, and thanks for your broad vision.

Stay cool)

Andy

United Online Buys SchoolFeed – Social Networks Prove Alive

Ok, if to be completely honest, I consider myself as one of the skeptics, who can’t wait for the moment of social networking sites’ decay. Yet, the current deals on the IT market somehow prove the pessimistic forecasts wrong.

It has already become clear that the populatity of SM monsters, like Facebook, for instance, won’t deteriorate at least in the nearest five years. Both the company’s purchases of Instagram & Glancee and the development of segmented FB apps for photos, videos, and so on, have sustained its top-position in the eyes of potential partners and users.

Moreover, it has recently become crystal clear that smaller social networks, which are likely to focus on specific audience, have also got their more or less prosperous future. In particular, the popular service SchoolFeed, offering users to browse through numerous uploaded yearbooks and find former school friends,  has been just bought by a large IT enterprise United Online (the parent company of Classmates and other services).

Why this deal is rather significant in terms of the social media perspectives is that United Online has apparently got plans for uniting the mentioned SchoolFeed with their own service Classmates to create one powerful social network out of two. Its functionality will certainly expand from simple browsing through versatile yearbooks or school alumni and will, perhaps, enable to back up the found friends’ photos somewhere else in the cloud, not just within users’ profiles.

Of course, it’s hard to predict, whether such function will really be implemented, but if it is, my personal preferences would go to 4shared. First of all, I’ve already got my account there and, secondly, because the amount of provided space and a wide range of disposible features are totally striking.

Well, we’ll see.

Stay cool)

Andy

Will HR Industry Get Smarter with Smarterer?

Since hiring the best personnel is recognized to be one of the most important factors, if you wish to succeed in your business, no matter what industry you’re working in, various HR-focused services have also become highly popular on the market.

Most of these, like Jobvite, which simplifies the hiring process using referrals, social networks and even e-mails to invite a desirable talented candidate to a job interview, are oriented on finding the very best employees for the company, so that one would invest all his/her talent, creativity and efforts to make the enterprise prosper.

Other services, on the contrary, help acknowledge all possible pros and cons of the company that is going to offer you a job, or has already done that. Considering your future employer’s intentions to use all your creativity and efforts, as it’s been mentioned above, it would be great to find out, what you will gain instead (e.g. social bonuses, vacation, flexible working schedule or else). The most famous one among these is, undoubtedly, GlassDoor that helps you find out all about the “real company face”.

Moreover, there has recently been introduced one more HR-focused service, which would be potentially advantageous both to employers and employees, as far as its authors are sure of, - Smarterer.

For what is worth, Smarterer is really unique to a considerable extent, much because it uses a somewhat different approach, moving away from resumes, social media profiles and referrals to the professional skill tests as one of the most essential aspects in hiring a person.

One the one hand, such an innovative vision might be useful for HR managers, who are constantly looking for the fastest and the simplest ways to hunt the best of the best. Nonetheless, there are also quite a lot of drawbacks in Smarterer service. To start with, the skill quizzes presuppose timing for each question, so if you need do some thinking over the right answer, your chances to fail are rather high. Besides, the quizzes contain a limited number of questions, so even if you don’t know the answers to all of them, it can’t really prove the fact that you’re not a pro in the subject. Likewise, you can always guess them, so the quiz doesn’t fully show any of your skills.

Anyhow, it would be wrong to say that Smarterer is totally useless. You can check your skills at least just for yourself. At least, I’ve even saved several of screens with my results at my account at 4shared already to boast about how good I am, perhaps, in future. Fortunately, there’s still much space from 15 free 15GB left.

Stay cool)

Andy