Photo: niallkennedy / Flickr

Facebook, Google and Apple (in that order) have made it to Glassdoor’s list of top 10 places to work. The findings were published in the review company’s fourth annual Employee’s Choice Awards.

The list contains the top 50 places to work based on information gathered from over 250,000 employees. Things like salary, benefits, work-life balance, opportunities to advance and opinions about the way the CEO runs the company were taken under consideration.

Facebook’s fun

Coming in at third place, Facebook ranked 4.3 out of a maximum score of 5. Facebook employees admitted to having a heavy workload but added that the work was very rewarding. Rather than being micro-managed, Facebook employees are given plenty of responsibility, ‘unreal’ perks and a fun atmosphere to work in. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, scored an approval rating of 98 per cent from his employees.

Google’s great perks

Google, in fifth place, scored 4.0 overall. One reviewer sent a ‘day in the life’ overview of working at Google to Glassdoor. Highlights included a free shuttle to work, free breakfast, a workout with a personal trainer, a massage, free dinner and a free shuttle ride home. Based on 74 reviews, CEO Larry Page earned an approval rating of 92 per cent. Considering all these perks, it’s no surprise Google employees were happy to give their employer and Larry Page such a high rating.

Apple

Apple placed at the bottom of the list, at number 10. Employees commented on being able to ‘work on the products that people have real emotional commitment to’, working in an environment that’s fun and the great pay and benefits the company offers. Negatives included little room for career advancement and repetitive tasks. Tim Cook, CEO, earned an approval rating of 96 per cent, the highest of the three tech companies that made the list.

Photo: LeWEB11 / Flickr

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt recently spoke at the LeWeb conference. During his talk he made various claims, including saying that Android is leading the iPhone (debatable), and that Google TV would be on the majority of televisions that ship in 2012 (say what)?

On the iPhone

Speaking on how developers at times prioritised iOS App development over Android, he insisted that volume would ultimately win application developers. Schmidt said: ‘Ultimately, application vendors are driven by volume, and volume is favored by the open approach Google is taking. There are so many manufacturers working to deliver Android phones globally,’ he claimed. He later added that ‘Whether you like Android or not, you will support that platform, and maybe you’ll even deliver it first.’

How much truth there is to that statement is questionable, and, perhaps absolute volume is not the only motivator for developers.

On Google TV

While Eric Schmidt’s claim about Android developers inevitably flocking to the platform is debatable, his statement about Google TV’s prospect in 2012 may be downright ludicrous. The Verge reports him as saying that ‘By the summer of 2012, the majority of the televisions you see in stores will have Google TV embedded.’

Given how Logitech crashed, burned, and abandoned Google TV after losing one  hundred million dollars on the platform, as well as the rise of competing platforms, it’s very difficult to see what is spurring on this mass adoption.

What’s next for Google?

Nevertheless, there’s no denying Android is big business for Google, and the search giant is clearly determined to correct its false start with Google TV. The economics of the television business is very different from that of the smartphone business, though, so it will take some doing, even for a company as accomplished as Google.

Photo: Motorola Mobility

With the demand for renewable energy solutions growing and the prices for these energy options falling, many tech companies over the next few years are expected to make a slow transition to these more sustainable energy models. Motorola Mobility last week pledged to start using wind power as an energy solution for their business, with aims to attain 25 per cent of all its power from wind sources.

The company revealed this goal during an interview with Fox News. Bill Olsen, Motorola Mobility director for sustainability and stewardship, told the network [via BGR] that: ‘It is Motorola Mobility’s intent through our participation in the WindMade initiative to encourage greater use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar around the globe.’

Beyond just making claims

This is not as straightforward as a stated desire to use that much energy. Through the WindMade initiative, there is an onus on Motorola Mobility to prove that it actually uses that much wind-powered energy.

Bragi Fjalldal of Windmade explained that: ‘Any company that uses at least 25% of wind energy can adopt the “WindMade” label, a company that recognizes companies that focus on using wind as a renewable energy source.’ He continued, saying: ‘What’s unique about WindMade is it’s the first time that you have a truly global standard that is accepted across the landscape for how corporations should procure clean energy.’

Google connection makes sense

What’s interesting about adopting wind as a renewable energy source is that Google, who are in the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility, have also made numerous investments in wind power energy solutions.

Nevertheless, Motorola Mobility’s is being proactive, and this is beneficial for the industry as a whole. Technology companies have often come under criticism for not doing enough in terms of sustainable production and small initiatives like this are symbolic.

Photo: 我是魚夫 / Flickr

Google TV was to be the biggest revolution in how we consumed television since the introduction of PVR, arguably, but the service was met with little fanfare and even fewer sales. Logitech, who placed a big bet on the service, was particularly badly burnt as product returns outweighed product sales. Reports indicate that the losses totalled $100 million (£62.5m). Ouch.

Not quite the best thing since sliced bread

Speaking at the company’s investor day, Logitech CEO Guerrino De Luca called the Logitech Revue Google TV set top box play ‘a mistake of implementation of a gigantic nature.’ He said that [via The Verge]: ‘To make the long story short, we thought we had invented [sliced] bread and we just made them. [We made a commitment to] just build a lot because we expected everybody to line up for Christmas and buy these boxes [at] $300 [...] that was a big mistake.’

TV is not beta

Logitech CEO Guerrino De Luca went so far as to say that Google’s TV software was merely ‘beta’ and that his company was hugely mistaken in thinking this would revolutionise television. Though Logitech said that the commercial bust that was the Revue did not mean the company would not support the search giant’s future TV initiatives, De Luca told investors that the Logitech Revue is probably the last of any Google TV-related initiative we’ll see from the company.

Back to the drawing board

The failings of the Logitech Revue Google TV set top box speaks as much to how difficult it is to innovate in the television industry, than it does to the search giant dropping the ball. And though Sony and Apple are all reportedly working on their own innovative TV solutions, they’re strutting straight into an innovation-unfriendly industry.

Photo: Google

Microsoft says Google, one of the company’s fiercest rivals, has lost its way. The company claims that the search giant’s product initiatives have become a veritable graveyard, with the cancelling of several Google products being a sign that there is a lack of vision and product roadmap, which makes the company dangerous for business customers.

Fighting

Tom Rizzo, who is a Senior Director at Microsoft, wrote a blog post entitled Google Graveyard Spooks Customers, pointing out the many products the search giant has cancelled in recent years and what it may mean. Undoubtedly adding more zing to the Microsoft Google stand-off, he does not hold back.

‘In cancelling this group of social media-like services, it is clear that Google is not in tune with the market needs and does not have a product roadmap and clear vision for productivity for their business customers,’ writes Rizzo. ‘The Microsoft Office team does. Our vision demonstrates a clear focus on what business customers are looking for, such as intuitive interfaces across a wide range of devices.’

Shooting arrows in the dark

Rizzo, who really has a go at the search giant in the post, continues, writing: ‘Google releases experimental products and tracks adoption to determine whether to continue providing them. Its products are like spaghetti, Google throws them up against the wall to see if they stick.’

In analysing the merit of Microsoft Senior Director Tom Rizzo’s accusation, we have to consider whether it is at all true, and whether Microsoft is genuinely doing better. Google has been axing many products of late, but that does not necessarily make it a bad thing. The company has publically stated that they will throw more support behind fewer products in the future, in the hopes of hitting more home runs.

What of Microsoft, though? The Redmond-based company is not necessarily the paragon of innovation. Yes, Kinect is nice, as is Windows Phone 7, but what follows that? Moreover, how much recent success has the company had outside of the venerable Office and Windows businesses? The post no doubt adds spice to the Microsoft Google standoff, but its merit beyond that is somewhat questionable.

Photo: rinconmac / Flickr

Google made a big gaffe. The company yesterday released a native Gmail app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that was pulled from the store soon after because it was underwhelming at best, or so buggy it didn’t even start up at worst.

What’s the problem?

In short the native Gmail iOS app had absolutely nothing over the web app when viewed from that platform, other than being presented in app format. It was reportedly slow, too. What’s more many users couldn’t even get the app to fire up, being greeted with an error message that read ‘no valid apps environment entitlement string found for application.’ What that means doesn’t matter, so much as it simply not working matters.

Google’s reputation damaged

The worst part of it all for Google is that the news of the app being below par or, at worst, not even launching, has spread like wildfire on technology sites, with many of tech’s most prominent voices publically lamenting the application. In a comment on a TechCrunch story, regarding the native Gmail iOS app, Robert Scoble wrote: ‘The error isn’t why I am totally disappointed. It has no features over the web version.’

He continued, saying: ‘If you are going to release an app at least make it more functional than the web version. Why waste everyone’s time? Where are filters?  Where’s a new look? Where’s the speed (it’s pretty slow)? Where’s the automatic loading of email? Why do I need to ask to see “more” email? The bar is high for a company like Google. They did NOT meet it.’

Faith lost

Tech writer turned venture capitalist MG Siegler, who broke the story that a native Gmail iOS app was on the way had some egg to wipe off of his face, too. In the follow up post, Siegler writes: ‘My sources are very good. Unfortunately, they apparently do not have very good taste.’

He concludes his piece saying he has lost faith in Google’s ability to deliver. If he and other writers is a reflection of how Google’s users feel, than this is not good at all.

Photo: Aray Chen / Flickr

During a typically informative AllThingsD conference – this time AsiaD – Google’s vice president of product management, Bradley Horowitz, revealed that the company was throwing more resources at fewer products. This was in the hopes of striking bigger home runs, and echoed what other Google executives have said in recent months about the company’s strategy. The big question, of course, is what this will do to Google culture.

Employees aren’t fussed

Bradley Horowitz succinctly summarised this new strategy, saying [via Engadget]: ‘We would rather do fewer things well – we’re now on a path to remedying prior sins of omissions. I think it’s a tradeoff [with losing some of the freewheeling autonomy].’ Google’s infamous 20 per cent time is not going away entirely, but the kinds of projects that will have significant resources dedicated to them are decreasing dramatically. In many ways, this seems a divergence from what made Google the amazing, revered company it was throughout its dramatic growth spurt in the late nineties and early noughties.
Employees are on board

Horowitz says that this shift in focus will not alter Google culture, and employees have bought-in, too. ‘I still think there’s a tremendous part of Google culture that’ll never change, but what’s exciting is that the company is rallying around this, and [the employees] see the benefits of alignment,’ he says.

He continues, explaining that: ‘We’ve won the hearts of employees, and there’s tremendous momentum on what we’re doing. My experience is that Larry is a consummate product leader – it’s thrilling, it feels like the company is coordinated in a way that I’ve never seen. I don’t know that it’s just Larry, but I couldn’t be more impressed with him as CEO.’

That sounds like an unintentional swipe at Eric Schmidt, but that’s the cynical viewpoint. Given that Google is now an established titan of technology, and not the startup it was allowed to masquerade as for many years, does that change your perception of the company, or, rather, have you noticed your perception of the search giant changing over the years? Or, alternatively, is Google culture just morphing into what it has to be, given the company’s size?

Photo: BGR

Google has finally taken the covers off its Ice Cream Sandwich mobile OS, as well as the long rumoured Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone, too. The software and handset are scheduled for a November release, too, so it shouldn’t be too long until the world gets their hands on it.

Highlights of the new OS

Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich is a complete revamp on both Android Gingerbread and Honeycomb, borrowing elements of the best of both OSes, but looking completely unique in the process. Plenty of changes have been made, from the ability to add apps to the list and merely swipe them away to remove them, tweaks to what can be done on the home screen, gestures replacing buttons, and even a new ‘People’ application, which acts as an aggregator for contacts on your phone as well as their respective social feeds.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to aesthetic changes, with several system level ‘behind the scenes’ changes having been made, too. Ice Cream Sandwich’s keyboard has also had several important changes made, with better error checking, an improved spellchecker with better alternate word suggestions, and system-wide copy/paste improvements, too.

To the phone

As is customary with every major Android release, a flagship Android handset – usually Nexus branded – is launched to show off the new mobile OS, as well as creating a standard for other Android phones to be developed against.

Enter the Samsung Galaxy Nexus – one of the most feature-rich phones on the market today. The handset has an enormous 4.65-inch Super AMOLED curved glass display, with a screen resolution of 1280×720 – something Android 4.0 is designed to handle as a standard. It’s gorgeous, with a teardrop design that starts out exceptionally thin at the top and ends off relatively thick at the bottom of the phone. Connectivity options include HSPA and LTE. And, powering all of that is a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage. NFC and a 5-megapixel camera round out the laundry list of impressive features.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus will debut with Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich in November.

Photo: laihiu / Flickr

Google yesterday unveiled the Google Nexus Prime, as well as giving a firm release date for Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, which we’ll see for the first time on 22 November. Joshua Topolsky of This Is My Next caught up with Google’s Matias Duarte, who revealed that the company was putting a greater focus on design with the release of Android 4.0, as well as speaking to the philosophy underpinning the search giant’s mobile OS platform.

Honeycomb was a stopgap

Duarte, an industry renowned interface designer who is most noted for creating the gorgeous webOS user interface, certainly knows a thing or two about creating beautifully yet extremely functional interfaces. In perhaps the most interesting thread during his discussion with Topolsky, he admits that Honeycomb was a ‘crash landing’, just to bridge the smartphone and tablet gap, while the team properly figured out what was next. ‘On Honeycomb we cheated, we cut the corner of all that smaller device support. That’s the sole reason we haven’t open sourced it,’ Duarte says.

Speaking on his role, specifically, he says: ‘Coming in and being put in charge of the design and UX for this enormously successful platform that now has years of legacy behind it. It’s completely unlike getting behind the steering wheel of a zippy, agile little car. It’s more like driving an aircraft carrier.’

Android represents breaking free

The interview, which is definitely worth reading in its entirety, covers many aspects of what Google thinks Android’s place in the world is, as well as, perhaps, Duarte’s outsized confidence. For me, what was most telling was his position on how Android would serve to ‘break’ what we’ve become programmed to accept with computers.

Duarte explains that: ‘Android is the new machine. It represents that new type of potential for computer/human interaction. Mobile is exciting because it breaks us out of this stodgy stuff that we’ve been looking at for two decades.’ If Matias Duarte is correct, and Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich represents a true start for the platform, that sole intent should terrify Microsoft, a company that has built an entire empire off this supposed ‘stodgy stuff’.

Photo: Bruce Clay, Inc / Flickr

Sean Parker, the Napster founder, Facebook investor, and ‘man who was played by Justin Timberlake in The Social Network’ says that it is unlikely Google+ will topple Facebook. While his financial interest in Facebook makes it prudent he thinks that, his reasoning makes sense, too. Parker argues that two important things have to happen if Google’s social network is to topple the industry leader: relentless innovation on Google’s part, and slacking on the part of Facebook that will result in its site deteriorating.

The requirements

During an onstage interview at the Web 2.0 Summit held in San Francisco on Monday, Parker said: ‘Facebook would have to screw up royally and Google would have to do something really smart.’ Why so? Facebook just has too big of a lead at this stage. Parker said: ‘It is tough to compete with network effects,’ a reality few know better than Google, who have an unassailable lead in search.

Facebook’s challenges

How would Facebook capitulate, then? When asked what the social network’s biggest challenges are, Parker explains that: ‘I don’t think privacy is Facebook’s biggest problem.’ He continued, saying: ‘The biggest problem is the glut of information that power users are overwhelmed with. Maybe the threat to Facebook is the power users have gone to Twitter or Google+.’

And again, what Sean Parker says rings true. There’s a certain threshold in Facebook where having too many friends, with too many status updates, friend requests and notifications becomes more admin than utility, let alone fun. Luckily for Facebook, with its 750 million plus users, I suspect the percentage of users who have that problem tends to the very low end (certainly less than 1 per cent, if not less than 0.1 per cent), so its user base will not be too adversely effected by it all.

Nobody is unbeatable

Still, though, while the chance of Google+ toppling Facebook in the near future seems very slim, I can think of fewer companies with the financial resources and engineering talent that Google have who could genuinely give the social network a run for its money. Nobody wins forever, after all.