Myspace gets a new face
The revamped Myspace looks like Pinterest, LinkedIn adds an awkward endorsement feature, and Barnes & Noble will soon hit play on Nook Video.
Myspace is getting an extreme makeover. The former king of social media has a video teaser of what the site's relaunch will look like. It's focused around displaying your photos, videos and music in a horizontal-scrolling profile. It looks like a mash-up between Pinterest and Microsoft's Windows 8 interface.
Music is still a major part of Myspace. There's an area to create playlist mixes, and those mixes can also have photos. (You could post a party playlist along with the party photos, for example.) There's also an area to discover trending topics and upcoming concerts. It'll be hard to take on Facebook, but maybe it will shakeup the digital music scene.
LinkedIn has added the ability to endorse someone's skills with a few clicks, rather than writing in a recommendation. Problem is, the endorse feature can come off a bit awkward with some skill keywords, as you'll see in today's Update video. I was asked if a newspaper editor in my network knows "about newspaper?" and there was a prompt asking if another connection knows "about Spokesperson?"
When profiles use multiple skill keywords, it also comes off strange if you only recommend one or two and not all of them. That's because your floating head sits next to whichever skill words you endorse. For now, you'll be better off writing a personal recommendation.
For those hoping Google will come out with its own map app for iOS 6, don't hold your breath. Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt told reporters that Google has "not done anything yet" for Google Maps on iOS 6. But it may happen someday.
Apple has said its maps will get better as more people use it. When users come across wrong information, they can report it on the app.
Barnes & Noble is coming out with its own digital video streaming service to complete with Amazon. It's called Nook Video, will let users buy and rent shows when it goes live this fall. It's widely expected that Barnes & Noble will also unveil a new version of the Nook to compete with Amazon's latest Kindle Fire tablets.
