Missed Out on Google Glass? You May Get a Another Chance
A recent report has highlighted that Google is wiping the slate clean in regards to its Google Glass project and is starting again with the development of this controversial invention.
Sales of the controversial smart spectacles were halted in January and development of the prototype was also believed to have been stopped.
However, this all appears to have changed as the glass development has been re-invigorated and is now being driven by former Apple gadget designer Tony Fadell, who has
Google Glass With Frame
– Image sourced from Wikipedia
“reset” the project.
The report in the New York Times stated that the version will be developed internally and only released when finished.
Must Have Gadget?
From the initial reveal in 2011, Google Glass was considered to be the gadget to own from everyone ranging from techies to chief executives. It was the must-have toy that was going to set the gold standard for a new class of wearable computers.
Under Performer
Google Glass made a huge impact during 2012 when Google demonstrated some of its capabilities to the audience at its developers’ conference using skydivers and stunt cyclists.
Problems lay ahead though and many of the people who worked on the device were unhappy with the amount of exposure generated by its early reveal because it resulted in the final developments of the device taking place in public.
Will Things Be Different?
Now Glass is being overseen by Mr Fadell, who helped to bring Apple’s iPod and other gadgets to market.
Mr Fadell became a Google employee last year when the search giant bought his home automation company Nest.
Development on Glass was now reportedly all going to happen in-house with nothing released until it was ready.
Technology news site Ars Technica speculated that Mr Fadell’s “rebooting” of the project might take a long time because of the poor performance of the earlier versions.
“There is very little that Glass does well, so with a reboot, there isn’t much to currently work from,” it said.
Could Twitter Soon Be Taking On New Importance For SEO?
After more than 3 years, Twitter is turning the tweet pipeline to Google back on.
Bloomberg Business reported recently that Twitter had reached a deal with the search giant to provide access to Twitter’s firehose data stream. This 
will result in Google receiving the ability to index tweets immediately after they are posted.
Google’s new agreement with Twitter to return tweets to its search results hasn’t taken effect just yet but many industry insiders are claiming that everything is in place for a launch in the first half of 2015.
Why Did Google Stop Indexing Tweets
Even after 4 years there is still some mystery regarding this but at the time, this is what Google had to say:
“Since October of 2009, we have had an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results through a special feed, and that agreement expired on July 2 2011.”
“While we will not have access to this special feed from Twitter, information on Twitter that’s publicly available to our crawlers will still be searchable and discoverable on Google.”
For more on this, please visit – http://searchengineland.com/as-deal-with-twitter-expires-google-realtime-search-goes-offline-84175
How Much Impact Did This Make?
Since 2011, Google has had Twitter links in its results, but it has largely been around linking to accounts rather than individual tweets because it would obtain them through crawling rather than Twitter’s data firehose. The tweets should mean a higher frequency and also more specific and real-time results.
Why The Change?
The reason for Twitter’s return to the Google fold is a fairly straight forward one. Twitter is becoming increasingly focused on driving more traffic 
towards its content with the goal of being able to monetise this content. The ability to do this has now taken on an extremely specific form for the company: showing tweets to people who are not already Twitter users.
Twitter estimates that there are some 600 million people who already land on Twitter pages as “logged-out” (that is, unregistered) users, compared to the 288 million registered monthly active users it has today.
The Google search deal will essentially be used for “onboarding,” Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said. If a “logged out” (that is, unregistered or not logged in) user sees a tweet in a Google search and then clicks on it, that person will be delivered to a special “logged out” page, which will likely not only give him/her an option to sign up, but also deliver an ad or two (or three) — “topics and events that we plan on delivering on the front page of Twitter,” in Costolo’s words.
For more on this story, please visit – http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/05/twitter-confirms-new-google-firehose-deal-to-distribute-traffic-to-logged-out-users/
Is Your Website Mobile Friendly? Find Out Why It Needs To Be
Did you know that as many as 80% of all internet users now own a smart phone?* Did you know that smart mobile phones now offer the second most popular method of searching the internet?*
Whilst having a website optimised for display on a mobile phone may have been considered to be an added bonus for many businesses throughout the UK, a change in policy by Google in regards to how they display search results when viewed through a mobile device could leave you lagging behind your competitors if your website is not mobile optimised.
What Has Changed?
Previously, Google has added websites to its search results, regardless of how mobile friendly they are. However, from the 21st April this is all set to change.
Google is quoted with the following:
“Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimised for their devices.”
For more on this please visit the following link – http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.html
What Does Mobile Optimised Actually Mean?
The mobile optimisation of a website means that your standard ‘desktop’ website will be converted into a specific user-friendly format which can easily
be read on any smart mobile device.
This conversion will ensure that all of the hard work is done for the user, ensuring they get the best possible experience when visiting your website.
The need for ‘zooming’ in order to read the content will be eliminated and the navigation will become far easier, therefore minimising the risk of hitting the wrong link.
Does This Mean That I Need An ‘App’ Developing?
Fortunately the answer to this is no. Web users tend to have distinctly different habits when it comes to mobile internet browsing and user apps on a phone. Whereas apps are often the preferred choice when it comes to social networking and online gaming, mobile browsers are still the clear number one choice when it comes to conducting online searches, browsing, shopping and entertainment.
The good news is that creating a mobile optimised site is significantly cheaper than producing an app, as well as being easier to manage, and offering effortless syncing between your website and your mobile optimised site.
Introducing Responsive Web Designs
Because of the significant increase in the use of tablets and smart phones to view the internet, the need to design websites which display to their 
optimum abilities has never been greater and this is an aspect of web design in which we possess great experience.
To achieve the best possible results, creating a responsive web design will ensure that your website is optimised for display on all platforms.
These designs ensure that as well as your normal ‘desktop’ version, in an addition you will receive a ‘mobile’ version as well and this is where the term ‘responsive’ comes in.
Due to the way in which the designs are created the browser will be able to identify the type of device being used to view the website and will display the correct version accordingly.
The Good News Is…
Even if your website is not currently ‘mobile optimised’, we possess the skills needed to ensure that this is not the case for long!
Contact Us
If you would like more information regarding the creation of a mobile friendly version of your website, please contact us on Tel. No. 01883 372488 or via e-mail info@footprint.co.uk at we will be happy to run through your options.
*Source – http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/
