Google is taking the “last step” in its shutdown of its Google Buzz product. Starting July 17, the company announced in an email that all posts will be saved to Google Drive.

Back in February 2010, Google launched Buzz, perhaps a precursor to Google+, and was a service that the company hoped would bring you the news and keep the chatter to a minimum. As TNW reported back then:

Google Buzz is a new way to share and discover  inside of Gmail. It is akin to a whole new environment inside of Gmail, a “new world” in Google’s words. Buzz has  a feature called auto-following (sound familiar?), to let you find a new social graph without all of the work behind actually looking for those people. Buzz will follow all of the people that you already email with, building on your current Gmail contact list.

More than a year later, Google Buzz was shuttered and company Vice President of Product Bradley Horowitz said at the time that the lessons that Google learned from the products short existence would be used in other services like Google+.

On Friday, Google said that it in about two months time, the service will begin storing two types of files in Google Drive — none of which will count against a user’s storage limit. The first set of files are private and contain a snapshot of the public and private Buzz posts that a user authored.

The second set of files will be a user’s public posts on Buzz and be viewable to anyone with access to the link. Google says that these posts could appear in search results and in their Google Profile, if it’s linked to the Buzz posts.

Comments made on Buzz posts in the past will be saved to the author’s files and not yours. Authors are the only ones that can change the sharing settings of those files — Google emphasizes that should the author make their posts public and you have a comment on there, you have no control over its appearance. The company’s response to any reaction: delete your Buzz content now if you don’t want that to happen.

Google says all Buzz files will be treated “the same as any other Drive file”, meaning that they can be downloaded, updated, or deleted.

If you’re interested in finding out what you’ve shared or commented on, you can do so by going to your Google profile page.

Photo credit: FRANK RUMPENHORST/AFP/Getty Images

Creative blogging platform Jux is shutting its doors on August 31. In a blog post, the company revealed that its growth wasn’t “large or fast enough to attract further investment” as the reason. It has released a feature that will allow users to download their work.

The New York City-based startup launched in August 2011 as a mixture of Tumblr, About.me, and Flavors.me. As TNW reported back then:

It’s creation. It’s sharing. But it’s also permanent and personal. Jux isn’t about one off creations a la Tumblr. It’s a place where you can create a story, own a topic and be proud of your blogging.

The goal was to help people make better stuff. Prior to launching, company CEO Ted Metcalfe told us that 50,000 people had signed up for the service. The company was founded by Mark Gorton, who created Limewire, the once popular peer-to-peer file sharing client.

In the past couple of years, Jux has made some steady improvements to making it more accessible and useful for its users. In October 2011, it released a new way to share on the iPad with an HTML5-powered interface. Two months later, it became available on the iPhone before announcing its integration with Google Maps’ Street View and the addition of several social features.

Since its August 2011 launch, Jux said that it has seen a 1,400 percent increase in posts and 3,000 percent growth in page views, with 20 percent of its traffic coming directly from links shared on Twitter and Facebook.

Metcalfe once told us that his company was focused on one main goal, that being growth: “Growth (sans expensive advertising) validates the idea and invigorates the community.” Running up against endless comparisons to Posterous and Tumblr, he believed that Jux would be able to serve as that “fun and magical place” for people to create.

Sadly, Metcalfe’s vision didn’t pan out. Jux managed to raise some funding, but looks like it wasn’t able to capture the attention of investors.

Of course, Jux took to Twitter to announce their news and some users felt that the timing couldn’t have been any worse:

@tactixian timing couldn’t be worse! jux iphone app days from release and tumblr joining best western, err, yahoo, some irrelevant brand :)

— Jux (@JuxDotCom) May 25, 2013

With Posterous already closed after its acquisition by Twitter and rumors of people leaving Tumblr after Yahoo snatched it up, could this offer Jux a bit of a reprieve? Highly doubtful as the company would probably need a huge influx of users to make it sustainable — and it’s not charging users to create their blogs either.

Current users of the site have until August 31 to download their work. To begin, Jux says that users can go to https://USERNAME.jux.com/!/mystuff (where “USERNAME” is the user ID) and a zip file will begin downloading. The company asks users to be patient as the download may take a long time, depending on how much work is stored on the site.

For those interested in migrating their data to another service like WordPress or Tumblr, Jux says that it does not have a feature that will automatically import content into those services.

Update: This post was amended to show that Jux’s site traffic was more than we originally reported.

Photo credit: Thinkstock

Gmail users could be seeing the service getting a redesign soon. Following reports by Android Police about leaked screenshots of the update during Google I/O, we’re also hearing that the email service will feature five tabs to categorize emails for better organization. These changes will be available for not only on the Web, but also for iOS and Android devices.

A source shared with us that the new Gmail will have a few default tabs as part of its new theme. Categories that will be listed are Main, Social, Offers, Notifications, and Forums.

We’re told that with Main, users will find it for emails from friends, family members, and for communication that can’t be sorted into another place. In Social, all messages relating to social media, including emails from Zynga, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and Google+, will be lumped into this category.

If you receive a lot of email from retailers, daily deal sites, and other merchants, Gmail will assign those to the Offers category. Important emails about bills that need to be paid, dining reservations, and flight alerts will be included under Notifications. Lastly, if you happen to be associated with any mailing lists or forums, those emails will be found under Forums.

If it’s to be believed, these tabs are an enhanced way at filtering and labeling the email that we receive. In a way, this is something similar to what AOL did with its Alto application, except it’s not a desktop application.

Earlier today, Android Police discovered that at Google’s I/O developer conference, leaked screenshots showed that Gmail was going to be getting a new navigation drawer.

In the above image, you can see that there’s a three-line button in the top-left, which Android Police referenced as “hamburger” and when tapped, a menu will appear from the left, showing not only labels, but also the categories that we described earlier. Categories can also be found within Gmail’s mobile app inbox.

We have reached out to Google to verify the authenticity of these images. A spokesperson tells us that the company doesn’t comment on rumor or speculation.

If true, users could expect to see these features begin to roll out over the next couple of weeks. Of course, should this update not be suitable for users, Google is giving them the option of reverting back to the current version — albeit probably for a short period of time.

Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In wake of the Oklahoma tornado tragedy, Google has shared that it is working with both Verizon Wireless and Acer to set up Chromebook stations with free Internet around the area.

According to Google, three locations have been set up, including two Red Cross stations — located at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church and the Moore Community Center — as well as Walmart #277.

With such wide-scale damage affecting the city of Moore, these stands should play a role in helping victims better communicate with their loved ones.

In addition to these stations, Google also released a crisis map for Oklahoma today, which includes Red Cross shelters, traffic alerts and storm reports.

Google has a history of stepping up after tragedies, as do many other tech firms like Twitter, AT&T and T-Mobile. Google’s response to Hurricane Sandy as well as its Person Finder initiative are noteworthy examples.

Following Google’s decision to release the Glass system image and rooted bootloader for hackers, new labs features have surfaced, including an “Ok Glass Anywhere” feature, which lets users give voice commands from anywhere in the UI.

According to Android Police, this new feature initiates an “always listen mode.” Glass still has to be on, but now users won’t have to return to the main screen to give a voice command.

Additional features can be enabled, including the “wink to take a picture” feature —which we’ve known about for a while now — and a Web browsing flag that simply does not work at the moment. Remember, this is highly experimental software, which is why everything from slightly buggy to downright broken features are to be expected.

To see the newly discovered labs features in action, check out the video below:

Earlier this week, Google shared that winning #ifihadglass applicants will start receiving invitations to try Glass “over the next few weeks.” Sadly, if you are not among the lucky few selected by Google, it doesn’t look like you’ll get your hands on Glass any time soon — the company says it isn’t “taking any more applications right now.”

Microsoft and Google have apparently put their differences aside and are now building a compliant YouTube app together for Windows Phone. The app will likely be developed using YouTube’s iFrame API, will serve ads, and will be out as soon as next month.

“Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube’s API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks,” the two companies said in a joint statement to TNW. “Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time.”

The apparent agreement and decision to work together follows a few episodes of back and forth between the two companies. The timeline below puts today’s announcement into perspective.

On May 7, Microsoft rolled out a new YouTube app for Windows Phone 8 that the company developed itself. The app included extra features such as being able to download videos from the site, and no ads.

On May 15, Google sent Microsoft a cease-and-desist letter regarding its YouTube app, pointing out the company had violated some of YouTube’s terms of service. Google requested that Microsoft either block or pull the YouTube app from the Windows Phone Store by May 22.

On May 22, Microsoft released an updated app with the download functionality removed. The company also offered the following statement:

Microsoft updated the Windows Phone YouTube app to address the restricted video and offline video access concerns voiced by Google last week. We have been in contact with Google and continue to believe that our two companies can work together to hone an app that benefits our mutual customers, partners and content providers. We’re earning new customers every day, with IDC reporting recently that Windows Phone posted the largest year-over-year gain among leading operating systems. We look forward to working with Google to maintain a great YouTube experience for the growing number of people who rely on both of our respective products.

Today, it appears that Google has finally agreed to play ball, though it’s not clear what Microsoft had to offer to pull off a deal. Ultimately, it appears that every Windows Phone user who uses YouTube will benefit from a Google-approved app.

See also – Rivals: The long burning turf war between Google and Microsoft

Top Image Credit: Eric Piermont/Getty Images

Google is reportedly working on a way to connect more people around the world to the Internet, specifically those in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the search engine company is looking to build wireless networks in emerging networks through TV airwaves, making it possible to connect where wired Internet isn’t available.

It’s believed that Google will be partnering with local companies to build out these networks. It has been talking with regulators in South Africa and Kenya to look at the current laws in the country to see if this network can be built “en masse.” Sources tell The Wall Street Journal that Google has also been working on new microprocessors and low-cost Android smartphones to help those that can’t afford devices that many in more resource-rich countries can.

This isn’t the first time Google has explored being a good global company. At the Google I/O developer conference, co-founder and CEO Larry Page spoke at its keynote and said “technology should do the hard work, so people can get on doing the things that make them happiest in life.”

He spoke about a technology utopia that he envisioned Google playing a part in, which is supported by its X division. The company has been investing in moonshot technology, such as the self-driving automobile and, most recently, Google Glass. The goal, according to Astro Teller, Google X’s director, is to find something that is a huge problem for humanity and look for ways to fix it.

While there are many countries in the world that enjoy high-speed Internet, there are still those that don’t even have access to it, mostly because of the lack of infrastructure, not due to government interference. Reports show that Google is working on making “special balloons or blimps, known as high-altitude platforms” to transmit signals to an area of hundreds of square miles.” The company is also looking at developing a satellite-based network, but acknowledges that a given solution won’t necessarily work in every market it’s targeting.

Google has spent its resources and technology to better connect people with one another, specifically in the areas of education. It has donated its Chromebooks to schools to help students learn, made its Google Apps software available to encourage knowledge sharing, and more. It has also created a Crisis Response team to help in the event of disasters around the world to help people find out what’s happening and get the latest news.

Additionally, it can’t go without being said that this is certainly similar to Google’s effort to bring faster Internet in the US, having launched its Fiber service last year in Kansas City, Missouri. Austin, Texas and Provo, Utah have lined up to be the next two supported cities.

Photo credit: KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP/Getty Images

In case you’re still itching to learn more about how the Xbox One‘s upcoming Kinect sensor works, Microsoft’s Scott Evans and Kareem Choudhry have released two videos showing off what they call the eyes, ears and brains of the new Kinect.

As you’ll see below, Evans and Choudhry show off a number of improvements coming to the Kinect, including high-fidelity 3D vision, the larger (and wider) field of view, a 1080P 2D color camera with active infrared (IR) technology, the ability to isolate voice commands and major advances in skeletal tracking.

Only yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that the next iteration of Kinect will be coming to Windows next year. For more on its upcoming release, head here.

Facebook Page owners this week have noticed that their Page Insights data has not been updated since last week, as far back as May 13. Facebook has confirmed the issue with The Next Web and is currently working on a fix.

“Page Insights data from 5/13 onward is currently delayed in Page Insights,” a Facebook spokesperson told TNW. “This is a known issue, and we are working to update our systems ASAP.”

In a thread on the Facebook Community Forum, over 30 comments were posted this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as users realized the issue has persisted for much longer than it should have. While the thread was started six months ago by a user seeing a similar issue last year, all replies on it have been about the issue from this week from users searching for an explanation.

The only reply from a Facebook Help Team employee by the name of “Aiden.” He pointed to a Help Center link with this explanation:

When you visit your Page Insights, you should see data about how people have been using your Page. It takes about 2 days for today’s data to start showing up. If your Page’s insights aren’t loading correctly, let us know.

Our Community Director Matt Navarra checked our own Facebook Page and found that it isn’t showing Insight Data past May 15. Another commenter noted that she wasn’t seeing data beyond the 13th until today, when it updated to the 15th — either way it’s still more than a week behind.

Given that this issue has been going on for 11 days, Page owners are understandably getting frustrated as they are unable to track their campaigns and promotions. This prompted us to look into the problem and get in touch with Facebook for a better explanation.

We’ll update this article when the company fixes the issue and if it shares more details.

See also – Facebook adds realtime Page updates and Graph Search insights for developers

Top Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The question about just who will buy Hulu just got a bit more complex as two large private-equity firms may have made individual bids for the video site. Bloomberg reports that KKR & Co and Silver Lake Management LLC have joined the fray of companies interested in purchasing the popular service.

KKR & Co. and Silver Lake Management are probably best known in the tech industry for acquiring GoDaddy back in 2011 for $2.25 billion. The two firms join a growing list of companies participating in the Hulu auction. It’s believed that DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, Guggenheim Digital, and the Chernin Group are all interested in bidding.

Walt Disney and News Corp. put the service up for auction back in 2011 but quickly ended the process, announcing:

Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process and look forward to working together to continue mapping out its path to even greater success.  Our focus now rests solely on ensuring that our efforts as owners contribute in a meaningful way to the exciting future that lies ahead for Hulu.

It’s completely understandable that there’s confusion if you’re trying to keep up with the Hulu purchase saga. At one point, Google was thought to be in preliminary talks to buy the site. Microsoft and Amazon also were rumored to be interested. Earlier this month, Yahoo was reported by All Things D to have held talks with Hulu about a potential sale following its failed purchase of French video portal Dailymotion.

Hulu has been continuing to move on despite acquisition talks. Last year, the company announced that in 2012, it saw revenues increase by 65 percent to $695 million and now counts more than 3 million subscribers. Advertisers are also paying attention to the service as Hulu saw 28 percent more buyers in the last year. It’s library has also been growing, with more than 60,000 TV episodes, 2,300 series, and 50,000 hours of video.

All of this growth comes amid the departure of Hulu’s CEO Jason Kilar and CTO Rich Tom, who left the company earlier this year. It’s believed that Kilar’s departure, while rumored for months, was because of tensions with Hulu’s backers.

Photo credit: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images

Players won’t have to pay an activation fee in order to play pre-owned games on the Xbox One, according to reports by Eurogamer and MCV. The stores who sell them will.

MCV cites numerous retail sources who say they have been briefed by Microsoft about how the new system will operate. Brick-and-mortar stores will be required to register a game as being ‘traded in’ by using a dedicated system offered by Microsoft.

The title is then wiped from the user’s account, which could be the reason why the Xbox One needs to be connected to the Internet at least once every 24 hours.

To sell the game pre-owned, the store then has to pay an activation fee. Eurogamer says Microsoft hasn’t specified what this is yet and hence much of the confusion circulating on the Internet at the moment.

Regardless, the activation fee will be split in two; part of it going to Microsoft and the remainder to the publisher. Such a system sounds unnecesarily complex, but it makes sense on multiple fronts. Microsoft is looking for any additional revenue that can be sourced from trade-ins, and taking a cut from second-hand games seems a good place to start.

Meanwhile, publishers are worried that they’re losing vital business as crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter continue to grow, as well as direct digital distribution on PC by indie studio. Taking a cut on pre-owned, physical games will help to fill the gap left by changing consumer and developer behavior.

How will this affect me, the gamer?

If true, the effect of such a system is two-fold. By handing a cut to Microsoft and the publishers, retailers will be forced to increase the price of pre-owned games. Consumers, as a result, will still pay some form of activation fee, albeit indirectly.

The higher price-point for pre-owned games will also cause sales of such products to slow. Players will buy less of them, choose to pay for a new edition, or simply wait until a new copy drops to a price that they’re comfortable paying.

All of this plays into Microsoft’s hands. Hardware manufacturers and publishers want to kill the pre-owned market as quickly as possible; or find a way to earn a share of the profits. It also means that Microsoft will likely be able to change the cost of the activation fee depending on its impact.

After all, Microsoft would be wise not to choke a valuable source of revenue for brick-and-mortar stores. Doing so might jeopardise their very existence and as a result, reduce the opportunities for consumers to buy new copies of their latest console and games.

Update: “The ability to trade in and resell games is important to gamers and to Xbox,” Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb said in a statement. “Xbox One is designed to support the trade in and resale of games. Reports about our policies for trade in and resale are inaccurate and incomplete. We will disclose more information in the near future.”