What's different in Google+ compared to Facebook?

Ok, so there's a lot of discussions that this can trigger, and it has been so, in the online world. Is Google's launch of Google+ too late to catch up with Facebook? Is Google concerned with the rise and rise of Facebook? (well, yeah - duh?). Is it facebook's turn to be concerned now?

Oh, well. We think that there's enough of all those debates and views being discussed, and that's probably adding to the 'unanticipated capacity' that Google+ experienced a day or so after it's launch. So, we thought, let's not add another to the lot, but let's get under the hood, and find out what's the difference in Google+ going to be vis-a-vis Facebook.

Thanks to NixonMcInnes, here's a quick look at what Google+ is all about. Well, there's nothing about facebook in there, for it's unlikely that you'll not be in the 500+ million who already know how facebook is!)

Google Plus briefing notes

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(PS: Hmm, it appears, Google+ apparently seems to share - or is it called leverage? - a few things that were in Google Buzz. Most likely that's not pure coincidence. But hey, does it matter - it's Google, after all!)

The Rise of the Mobile (Mobile Trends)

Mobiles are the rage today. With an increasing penetration and the continuing popularity of Apple's iPhone and Google's Android, the mobile revolution is clearly under way.

Here are two great presentations that take us through what the mobile trends unfold in the years to come ( or at least in the near future)
1. Mobile Trends - June 2011

2. 2010 Mobile Trends, Mobile Development Strategy, Mobile User Experience - Realcommerce consulting

Building Scalable Web Applications: The Non-relational Way!

A trend that's emerging since 2009 (see graph) shows that there's been an increasing interest in a new (type of database?) architecture to cater to the "super applications" of the web era of today. Examples cited include the likes of Facebook (500+ million users), Google (Petabytes of data), Amazon (millions of items, reviews, comments), and others.

The question that's been doing the rounds therefore is, how does one design for such scalable, resilient, highly available and efficient applications. Well, one of the factors is being/has been addressed with the advent of cloud computing architectures, and it's no surprise, that Amazon, Google and Facebook have played a pioneering role in that.

But, that apart, research that has been going on has shown that a relational datastore may not be the best option for everyone, and thus, was born the concept of NoSQL, meaning 'Not Only SQL'. Or, in other words, 'not only relational'. NoSQL is an area that gaining increasing attention, especially when dealing with distributed systems architecture, and as the presentation (below) explains, for good measure.

To be relational, or not to be relational? That's NOT the question!

It may not be the end of the RDBMS, but there's definitely one more way to architect the web applications of this age. (See the earlier post: 'Understanding NoSQL Databases' for a more detailed look into NoSQL)

Amazon.com: The Hidden Empire

Amazon.com is the largest e-retailer on the planet, and while books is probably the first things that comes to mind, they are into an amazing number of things.

Jeff Bezos has laid out the vison and has left no stone unturned to turn this into reality.

The presentation below is a superb compilation of what's behind this leading brand today, and how this mammoth enterprise is driving its strategy towards innovation and customer satisfaction.

Amazon.com: the Hidden Empire

(Thanks to faberNovel for sharing this)

Web-Oriented Architecture (WOA)

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) has been under discussion for more than a few years now. Likewise, we have seen the advent of Web 2.0 and the evolution of social computing in the blink of an eye. And, now there's the whole cloud paradigm that's the talk of every technical conversation, whether in the real or digital world. The following wonderful presentation takes us through how SOA and the new Web (Web 2.0) are intersecting to form, what is being referred to as the Web-Oriented Architecture.

Web-Oriented Architecture (WOA)