Tag Archives: News

Ben Parr
noviembre 6, 2009

LinkedIn Is Getting a Redesign [Pics]

Business social network LinkedIn, fresh off its milestone of 50+ million users, is now getting a makeover, and it definitely changes the way you use the social media website.

In a detailed blog post, the company announced that it has begun a limited test of its new design. It features a newer, longer top-level navigation bar, the removal of the dreaded left-hand navigation bar, and a cleaner overall look.

Screenshots

The best way to describe the new layout though is to place the old design and the new one side-by-side. First, here is the homepage as it currently exists:


Now, here is the new design for the homepage, courtesy of LinkedIn:


You’ll notice immediately that the emphasis is on the top navigation, that the main content has been pushed to the left hand side of the screen, and that each of the top menu items have a deeper web of subcategories under them (just look at the options under “Groups” as an example).

One more comparison. This is a profile page currently:


And here is the new one:


You’ll notice that content has been moved up the page (this is very important – it requires less scrolling and thus less chance of people bouncing off of the page) and a far stronger focus on the profile and its content.

The key to this entire design it seems is the removal of the left hand navigation bar, which we are fans of. It distracted users away from the important information on the page. While the design is still being tested and iterated upon, more and more users should be seeing this layout relatively soon.

Let us know what you think of it in the comments.

Reviews: LinkedIn

Tags: linkedin, trending

Rundes
noviembre 6, 2009

Google Release some of their internal JavaScript goodies

jquery-tips

Google is now providing to the public some of the tools it has been using internally to optimize the JavaScript code for Gmail, Google Docs and Google Maps. This is great news for all web developers I believe and it will be interesting to see if Googles new goodies will be a challenge against existing Javascript Frameworks like jQuery etc.?

Google is a major consumer of Javascript Javascript in its advanced web applications, and therefore the Internet giant has developed several tools that the developers have used to optimize the JavaScript code in for example Gmail, Google Docs and Google Maps.

Google writes on their blog that the company have decided to to allow other Web developers to access their Javascript tools and that they so far have released three of them as open source.

Closure Compiler

A tool that can analyze and optimize JavaScript code, making it more compact and runs faster.

Closure Library

A library of Javascript functions that according to google is a broad, well-tested, modular, and cross-browser JavaScript library. You can pull just what you need from a large set of reusable UI widgets and controls, and from lower-level utilities for DOM manipulation, server communication, animation, data structures, unit testing, rich-text editing, and more.

Closure Templates

Aprecompiled and optimized components. According to Google, Closure templates are small components that can be put together to form a page.

Google own words on the release: Closure Compiler, Closure Library, Closure Templates, and Closure Inspector all started as 20% projects and hundreds of Googlers have contributed thousands of patches. Today, each Closure Tool has grown to be a key part of the JavaScript infrastructure behind web apps at Google.  That’s why we’re particularly excited (and humbled) to open source them to encourage and support web development outside Google. We want to hear what you think, but more importantly, we want to see what you make. So have at it and have fun!

Honestly I’m as exited as they are and really look forward to investigate this. The big question is – what will Closure Library do to great libraries like jQuery? It is too early to even guess about but if Google did a good job as I certainly expect it will be interesting to monitor how it’s popularity will grow.

Post tags: ,

Rundes
octubre 23, 2009

Apple Fires Back at Windows 7 in New Ads

get-a-macApple’s “I’m a PC” and “I’m a Mac” dynamic ad duo are at it again in three new “Get a Mac” commercials that take direct aim at today’s Windows 7 launch.

In “Broken Promises,” PC Guy flashes back to Windows editions over the years (with fashion or lack thereof to match), each promising not to have “any of the problems my last operating system had.” The ad ends with the line “this time it’s gonna be different. Trust me.” Ouch, Apple!

Check out the aforementioned ad embedded below, and the other two ads over at Apple. The latter pair both feature Windows users eagerly getting ready to make the switch — not to Windows 7, but to a Mac.

What do you think, are the ads effective, or has Apple gone too far with this one?


[Thanks, Erictric]

Tags: ads, apple, mac, MARKETING, Windows 7

Rundes
octubre 12, 2009

Google Docs Adds Shared FoldersMashable!

shared-foldersA couple of small tweaks add some nice user workflow improvements to Google Docs today.

First, collaboration just got more convenient with the ability to create shared folders. Next up, you now have the ability to upload multiple files at the same time. This could be a real time-saver when you have a group of documents to send to the cloud.

Shared folders have been the most requested Google Docs feature for some time. Happily, they work just like they should, letting you set the same level of permissions to your collaborators for all documents in the folder (including edit and view-only access levels). If you have a group of files you need to share with the same group of people, a shared folder can simplify giving everyone access.

upload-files-gdocs

Multiple file uploads is also an easy process. From the upload page, simply use “shift” or “CTRL” to select multiple files in the upload dialogue box, and when ready click “start upload.” Progress bars have been added so you can get immediate visual feedback on how the process is going.

Both of these features will be rolling out Monday, and should be completely available to everyone by the end of the day. Let us know what you think of the new changes — will they make it easier for your group to use Google Docs for collaboration?

Reviews: Google Docs

Tags: cloud computing, cloud storage, Google, google docs, office suites

Rundes
octubre 2, 2009

Twitter Labs Coming Soon?Mashable!

Most Gmail users are familiar with Google Labs, a nifty set of experimental features which aren’t quite ready to be rolled out to all users, but are good enough for a select subset of users who like to try out new things.

According to Cnet’s Natali DelConte, Twitter is planning a similar feature for the near future. At the FOWA conference in London, Twitter’s user experience and front end engineering lead Britt Selvitelle said that it’s coming “soon”. The idea behind it seems to be a bit different from Google Labs; while Google is using it to test their own ideas, Twitter will let developers create add-ons for the site.

While tech-savvy users can already browse through the hundreds of available third party Twitter apps, various add-ons, plugins and scripts to try out something new, Twitter Labs could help the rest of the user base, who don’t have time to do that much digging.

Tags: Google, labs, twitter

Rundes
octubre 1, 2009

Want a Google Wave Invite? There’s a Website for ThatMashable!

gwave-invites-betterStill hunting for a Google Wave invite? You’re not alone — and in fact, there’s a whole community springing up just to meet your needs.

Google Wave Invites is a free “marketplace” for distributing Wave invites, much like have sprung up in the past for Gmail and other popular invite-only beta web apps. If you need an invite, simply sign up with your name and email address and cross your fingers.

[UPDATE]: The site is apparently being pounded with lots of traffic now, by a raging stampede of Google Wave invite seekers. If you can’t connect at the moment, try again later!

If you have invites to give out, you sign up with the site and get a list of those still in need of access. Once you’ve distributed your invites to people, they are marked in the database as having been invited and dropped from future “needs invite” lists.

It’s a simple and effective tool for distributing a scarce resource, and is friendlier and easier (not to mention cheaper!) than resorting to scouring eBay as has happened in the past for other high-profile beta invites as well.

Have you gotten your Wave invite yet?

More Google Wave Resources from Mashable

- Google Wave: A Complete Guide

- Testing Google Wave: This Thing is Tidal

- The Top 6 Game-Changing Features of Google Wave

- Google Wave Extensions: An Inside Look

- Could Google Wave Redefine Email and Web Communication?

- Twave: Google Wave + Twitter

Reviews: Gmail, Google Wave

Tags: beta, Google, Google Wave, invites

Rundes
octubre 1, 2009

LinkedIn Launches Profile Organizer, Enters Salesforce Territory

The business social network LinkedIn is not just a way to connect with your business contacts. For a lot of recruiters, salespeople, and other professionals, it’s a great business database for finding potential leads and new employees. Organizing the people and information you find though … well, you’re better off with a customer relationship management (CRM) tool like Salesforce.

LinkedIn took another step into Salesforce’s turf though with its launch of Profile Organizer, a new CRM-like tool that allows you to save profiles, organize contacts into folders, and add your personal notes on each.

The interface is very simple overall. On any profiles you visit, a new option to add people to your organizer will appear. Clicking it will add them to a new area of your contacts section where you can see these profiles, sort them into folders, add your own thoughts about them, and categorize them.

The tool makes perfect sense, especially for LinkedIn’s heavy users. Perhaps that’s why this feature’s reserved for the social network’s premium users. However, the company is offering 30 day free trials of Profile Organizer so that you can play around with the tool yourself.

Profile Manager probably doesn’t pose a major threat to Salesforce, as it has loyal customers, a vast database, and far more advanced features. LinkedIn seems more suited for recruiters, while Salesforce is more adept at leads. Still, this is won’t be LinkedIn’s last step into the CRM realm. Expect more CRM-like features from LinkedIn in the near future.


Reviews: LinkedIn

Tags: linkedin