In a comprehensive piece of reporting, The New York Times has laid out a strong case that Apple has not pursued safe and fair working conditions at its supplier factories in China as strenuously as it could have. Citing both current and former Apple executives, the NYT details dangerous labor conditions at Apple suppliers and lax oversight from Apple itself. The core of the problem stems from a fundamental conflict between Apple's demand for low margins and fast turnaround with suppliers' need to cut corners to meet those demands — often doing so by sacrificing worker safety.

In one example, after an explosion at a Foxconn factory caused by aluminum dust, Apple did not require consistent ventilation standards across all its supplier factories, which arguably allowed another explosion to occur at a different factory. A safety expert cited by the NYT called Apple's policy here "gross negligence," adding "We solved this problem [of properly ventilating dust] over a century ago."

Although reports of poor working conditions have come out of Apple supplier factories before, now former Apple executives have come forward, albeit anonymously, to criticize the company's supply chain policies. Apple's famously strict control over the supply chain, driven in no small part by CEO Tim Cook, demands perfect products and slim margins. However, executives and workers' rights organizations say it doesn't extend into working conditions as much as it could. Citing the conditions, one former executive said they exist "because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice."

Apple claims that it works to improve and monitor conditions, most recently publishing an audit that revealed underage workers and involuntary labor. Although Apple has performed inspections and audits at an increasing rate since beginning them in 2005, the question of whether or not it genuinely would drop major suppliers — especially Foxconn — doesn't seem to have as clear an answer. One former Apple executive said, "Noncompliance is tolerated, as long as the suppliers promise to try harder next time. If we meant business, core violations would disappear." Former executives say that Apple has only terminated relationships with 15 suppliers since 2007, a claim which seems to verify the lack of teeth in Apple's compliance policies.

Foxconn, of course, denies that it has a problem with working conditions, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Although the effectiveness of Apple's policies are dubious, it does claim that it has seen improvement in labor conditions at the factories it audits. Other technology companies use the same suppliers and face the same issues, but claim they offer more transparency than Apple and, more importantly, less pressure on profit margins.

Apple has just had its greatest and most profitable quarter in history, and actually the best quarter of any tech company ever. If even a portion of the NYT piece is true, some of that profit has come at a very real, very human cost for which Apple shares culpability because of how it oversees its supply chain. Some of that blame also belongs to us, the consumers, who purchase technology products and don't demand better labor practices from the companies that supply them. As a current, anonymous Apple executive points out: "right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China." Whether that describes you or not, the full article is worth a read.

The day has come, millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod owners finally have the chance to experience the new iOS 5 software from Apple, bringing a large number of new features, services and bug fixes.

As with every major Apple release, the new software provides users with completely new but also vastly improved features and services. With the release of iOS 5, Apple brings enhanced notifications to iOS devices, iMessage, wireless updates and iTunes syncing, widgets, Twitter integration, improved camera and photo support, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, enhanced reminders and a whole host of new and impressive features.

The new iOS 5 update will most likely be one of the last people have to make via iTunes, because the new software allows users to update their iOS devices via a new Software Update feature in the iOS software itself, downloading updates via the device’s WiFi connection and automatically applying them without the need for a physical connection.

Coupled with that is Apple’s iCloud service, which will take care of all of your music, photos, documents and other important files, wirelessly syncing them between your iOS devices but also your Mac – no longer relying on a signal piece of software to store and update data and apps on your device.

To apply the update, connect your iOS device to your iTunes installation and check for updates. Do make sure to backup your important data and files before you do, just to be sure, but once you have downloaded the update, the software will take care of the rest. Once installed, you can all but kiss goodbye to iTunes for device updates, making you love your iOS device even more.

This morning Facebook announced Timeline, a crazy (and kind of creepy) omnibus look at everything that has ever happened in your Facebook lifespan. It’s like a story book of your life — or at least the online, documented parts.

Facebook said that Timeline would be on the way for everyone sometime in the coming weeks… which is great and all, for everyone else. You’re the type of person who reads TechCrunch, and are thus likely the type of person who likes their new and shiny things right now.

That’s okay. We can make it happen.

Fortunately, enabling Timeline a bit early isn’t too difficult — but it’s not at all straight forward, either.

You see, Facebook is enabling Timeline early for open graph developers. You, too, can be an open graph developer — even if you’re just looking to dabble.

A few things to note:
- You probably don’t want to do this unless you’re actually a developer. Expect bugs.
- Only you will see your timeline at first (unless you decide otherwise), but it will automatically go public after a few days. My timeline was automatically hard-set to go public on September 29th.
- It seems that if you login into Facebook on another machine, Timeline gets disabled automatically on all of your machines. With that said, it seems you can get back to your timeline (but ONLY after following the steps below) by navigating to http://www.facebook.com/YOURUSERNAMEHERE?sk=timeline
- You’ll need to have a “verified” account for one of the steps, which means you need a credit card or phone number attached to the account.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Log into Facebook

2. Enable developer mode, if you haven’t already. To do this, type “developer” into the Facebook search box, click the first result (it should be an app made by Facebook with a few hundred thousand users), and add the app.

3. Jump into the developer app (if Facebook doesn’t put you there automatically, it should be in your left-hand tool bar)

4. Create a new app (don’t worry — you wont actually be submitting this for anyone else to see/use). Give your shiny new app any display name and namespace you see fit. Read through and agree to the Platform Privacy agreement. This is the step you need to be verified for.

5. Ensure you’re in your new app’s main settings screen. You should see your app’s name near the top of the page

6. Look for the “Open Graph” header, and click the “Get Started using open graph” link.

Create a test action for your app, like “read” a “book”, or “eat” a “sandwich”

7. This should drop you into an action type configuration page. Change a few of the default settings (I changed the past tense of “read” to “redd” — again, only you can see this unless you try and submit your application to the public directory), and click through all three pages of settings

8. Wait 2-3 minutes

9. Go back to your Facebook homescreen. An invite to try Timeline should be waiting at the top of the page

And you’re done! We’ve seen this work quite a few times now, so it should work without a hitch for just about anyone.

The issue of violence in children’s entertainment has been around much longer than you think. In the Supreme Court decision that confirmed the freedom of speech to video games, Justice Scalia made the point that children’s entertainment has had violence, making reference to specific Grimm fairy tales. But violence in fairy tales has been around since the earliest folk tales in children’s literature. Remember Jack in the Beanstalk? The blood and guts date back to 1711. Little Red Riding Hood — 1729. And, Grimm’s Fairy tales? 1812. Here’s a sampling of the extreme violence you have grown up with in these fairy tales:

• For trying to poison Snow White, the wicked Queen is forced to dance in red hot slippers until she falls dead on the floor.
• Cinderella’s evil stepsisters have their eyes pecked out by doves.
• Hansel and Gretel kill their captor by banking her in an oven.
• Jack (originally Jack the Giant Killer), kills the giant in a murderous rage to cover up the fact that he stole a bag of gold coins, a hen that laid gold eggs and a magical harp.
• In the Grimm version of Little Red Riding Hood, the huntsman disembowels the wolf. In the original version of the story, Little Red Riding Hood is not rescued, and dies. ​

Woodcut, Jack the Giant Killer 1840 Opie, The Classic Fairy Tales

This is bloody violent stuff, one might say. But as you will see, it does serve a practical purpose in the healthy development process of kids. And, if this kind of fantasy violence has always been a part of fairy tales, then why are parents so up in arms about video game violence? Video game violence is a huge issue with parents. And, video game violence is specifically considered “participatory violence” because the gamer is seen as directing or participating in violent actions, albeit, in-game, and albeit still fantasy violence. Adding to this misinformation, parents typically rely on the ESRB rating system. Unfortunately, it is a vague, inaccurate and inconsistent rating system that provides information on the age-appropriateness of video game content. To us as parents, violence in video games might be puzzling at best, and may also be worrisome and troubling to our ethical sensibilities at worst. However, changing our perspective may be a helpful and a cathartic move. The new thinking zen, think inductively without a box. We need to make a move towards rethinking video game violence’s helpful role in assisting healthy child development: to place video game violence in a larger psychological role, to reclaim the practical role that fantasy violence has held within fairy tales in which it’s lived peacefully for so many centuries.

Image: WB Animation – DC Comics

Allow me to share my personal story with you. Once upon a time (actually, around 2001), I had decided that I was going to be the perfect father. I wanted to rear a lover of non-violence, a boy who had no knowledge of the dark side of the force. I was on a crusade against violence in video games, videos, toys, etc. Around this time, my son played constantly with LEGO and Playmobil structures and figurines, and of course, watched age-appropriate videos. I would sift through the piles of mini-figures and remove all the “tools of violence” — plastic swords, scabbard, rifles, pistols, gun holsters, bullet belts, etc., sequestering and containing them in a plastic bag. At the time, also I “pre-screened” cartoon shows, and I was a little worried about the Batman Beyond show that my son had begged me non-stop to watch, as it seemed much darker and more violent than the other Batman cartoons. Oh, how bad could it be, really? Finally, we watched one of the videos together. There went the fists flying, the bullets ricocheting — ergo, all my suspicions confirmed of the violence whose evil I thought had crept into our cartoons (never mind that it had never left the cartoon world). No matter, I thought, my son will never find the plastic LEGO and Playmobil “weapons of doom” that I had industriously hidden away, and surely the dark Batman thing will just fade away from his memory. Moral fiber intact, my crusade still winning out over violence. One day, it all changed. A friend lent me the game Blood Wake. Bear in mind my son was still in preschool, and I was virulently opposed to video games for kids, although a hard-core gamer myself. My stream of moral consciousness tells me, ah, this is a game about boats. So they have little guns, how bad can it be. Out of pure curiosity, I decided to play the game. My son tried out the XBOX controller, and picked up the controls in a matter of minutes. I’ll never forget the unbridled delight on his face when he outmaneuvered my boats, torpedoed and blew them up. It wasn’t the dazed look of the fog of war, nor was it the gloat of  the evil triumphant, but just pure, childish delight at beating his dad.

Image: Microsoft Game Studios

How can we, as parents, possibly rethink something so troublesome as the role of video game violence in our children’s healthy development? Again, the zen, thinking inductively with no box.The first step to understand why children tend to play violent video games. If kids are dealing with anger, chances are they will play M-rated violent games. Coping with anger and purging negative feelings is only one of many other social, emotional and intellectual reasons why kids play video games. Kids who play M-rated games in particular play to compete and win, to get anger out, to “mod” the game and because they like the weapons in the game. Let’s be frank — violent content is emotionally appealing to kids. They appreciate the tremendously beautiful graphics in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood with the grand city of Renaissance Rome and enchanting landscapes of the campagna outside the city. Kids gain achievement in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood as they’re emotionally immersed in a complex game universe with a well developed historical backdrop and complex plot line that includes (among many other elements), an ancient order of Assassin’s struggle against the Borgia papacy in Renaissance Rome.

Image: GJ Caulkins www.mightywombat.com

Yes, kids do enjoy the guns and weapons in video games. They are challenged with learning and mastering new and improved, powerful firearms and getting new ​ways of killing the in-game nemesis (soldiers, zombies, monsters) with more efficiency. It’s exciting and dare I say, fulfilling to see awesome, colorful explosions . . .” the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air” . . But these thrilling sensations are in a video game. The emotions are real, of course, but they happen in the context of a game, so they can be controlled. Children have the option to experience (or avoid) emotions by selecting different situations in the video game. Experimenting with emotions is an especially valuable experience in the teen years, where kids might be trying out different identities. For boys, it might be Ezio (ultimately the Mentor of the Assassin Order), or for girls, Kat (Kat-B320), the Noble Team’s second-in-command in HALO Reach. Or why not vice-versa. And, they can experiment to their heart’s content — XBOX live levies no value judgments or condemnations of kids’ behavior.

In short, it’s not the violence itself that is attractive to kids. It’s the opportunity to develop and master skills and have the freedom to make choices in the game universe. Again, the games with the most emotional appeal just happen to have violent content in them. When kids can have these in-game options that are enhanced by violent content’s emotional draw, it’s a powerfully seductive combination. Preteen boys tend to enjoy games with exaggerated violence that they can’t do in real life. The “can’t do in real life” realization is the key phrase here. Again, just as with the weapon in games issue, violent games attract this age group because there is more action, more challenge and more options.

So without a box, we think, and consider the greater proposition — that games have potential value in a healthy child’s development. But what is this value exactly? The first point to consider is that video games can serve the same purpose with boys as playground rumbling still does. There are fights for “who’s the best” in video games just like the rough play in “King of the Hill” crowned the top dog on the top of the hill in the park down the street. Fighting is also a way for boys testing the relationship waters with girls. Playing video games could possibly help develop boy-girl friendships.

The second point is an important one that brings our thinking full circle. The mystique of violent and scary themes draws children’s natural curiosity, and dealing with it is a part of normal child development. Experiencing these mental images in fairy tales helps children to gain control over the physical and emotional sensations of fear. Governing fear was a basic skill that preserved children’s lives through history. In Victorian England, the dangers of working in factories and mines demanded it, as well as coping with rampant disease and poor medical care.

Image: Activision

Dealing with frightening video games similarly empowers children to cope with these images when they know they are in a safe environment. Charles Perrault’s original ending (with the death) of Little Red Riding Hood served a practical (albeit horrific) purpose: to scare children away from speaking with strangers. How different are video games that continue this didactic mission in children’s entertainment? Video games deal with violence, anger, fear and sexuality. Victorian parents realized that children would face danger and fear, and therefore welcomed the practical, moral messages that fairy tales presented. Video games and fairy tales are both different forms of storytelling. As twenty-first century​ parents, we tend to protect our children from “issues” like fear and violence. But, when exposed to scary content, children can learn to cope with and overcome fear. Perhaps it’s time to allow them to teach themselves with different fantasy worlds that has similar challenges and practical, moral lessons just as fairy tales still do.

Image: Square Enix

Recognizing the practical role violent and scary content plays in our children’s development is a radical step. The fact is, kids have already made this leap without us. They are already hanging out, competing, teaching each other, making friends, leading together, regulating feelings, gaining specialized knowledge, expressing creativity, experimenting with identities and discovering new things about the real world in these fantasy worlds in which they’re immersed. And a lot of it happens within the story lines of Call of Duty Black Ops, Gears of War, Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect, Deus Ex and many more. And, because kids’ problem solving in these and many other games is connected to emotional value, they are motivated to learn by video games. ​

Image: Activision

Consider this positive statistic. The 2011 ESA report states that 45% of parents play computer and video games with their children at least weekly, an increase from 36% in 2007. This is a good sign of our participation in our kids’ gaming activities. Clearly, almost half of us are already involved. I made my own decision to leap to the new zen, and yes, it was hard at first. But I challenge you to reflect on the larger perspective that “scary and violent” in video game content may have in helping our kids gain practical skills. It’s safer than having our teens do drugs, alcohol and street racing in the real world. My son plays lots of violent video games. But he’s the world’s most sensitive football player too. Take the small step into the fantasy world where your children are already playing. Look for the constructive things it might offer you. Your kids will probably teach you a practical skill or two.

Apple’s Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of the company, reports the company. Apple’s COO Tim Cook has been named as a replacement and Jobs has been named Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors.

In a publicly released letter, Jobs says that he can no longer meet his duties and expectations as CEO of the company and that he has resigned as the CEO of Apple. In the letter, he also recommended Apple’s COO Tim Cook as a successor, which does not come as a surprise to those of us who have been following the company.

As the company’s interim CEO in recent  months as Jobs has been absent due to health concerns, Cook has been the clear choice to those outside Apple for some time now, and apparently that choice had been made inside Apple as well as Jobs says that this is according to the company’s succession plan.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

“The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

Steve Jobs has been one of the most intense and charismatic executives of any company in recent years and his leadership has propelled Apple to new heights. This is a dramatic announcement and we will have continuing news on the ramifications of Jobs’ move to Chairman and the replacement of his role at CEO by Tim Cook.

Would you be able to defend yourself and your loved ones if someone were to physically attack you? It's a question most of us don't want to consider, but violence is, unfortunately, a fact of life. Thankfully, regardless of strength, size, or previous training, anyone can learn several effective self-defense techniques. Here's how to prepare for and stay safe in common real-world violent situations.

Prevention Is the Best Self-Defense

First, remember that prevention is the best self-defense. Attackers, whatever their objectives, are looking for unsuspecting, vulnerable targets. So be sure to follow general safety tips like being aware of your surroundings, only walking and parking in well-lit areas, keeping your keys in hand as you approach your door or car, varying your route and times of travel, and other personal security precautions.

Apart from avoiding confrontation, if you can defuse a situation (talk someone down from physically assaulting you) or get away—by handing over your wallet/purse or whatever they want, do that. Hand over your money rather than fight. Nothing you own is worth more than your life or health.

If violence is unavoidable, however, to really defend yourself, you'll want to know ahead of time how to fight back effectively—it's possible even against someone bigger or stronger than you. Here are some basic self-defense techniques that can keep you safe:

Get Loud and Push Back

As soon as the attacker touches you or it's clear that escape isn't possible, shout loudly ("BACK OFF!") and push back at him or her (for simplicity's sake we're going to use "him" for the rest of the article, although your opponent could be female). This does two things: it signals for help and it lets the attacker know you're not an easy target. The video at left from Rob Redenbach, a former trainer of Nelson Mandela's bodyguards, shows why this is the first thing you need to do. It may not dissuade all attackers, but getting loud will warn off those that were looking for easy prey.

The Most Effective Body Parts to Hit

When you're in a confrontation, you only have a few seconds and a few moves to try before the fight may be decided. Before an attacker has gained full control of you, you must do everything you can—conserving as much energy as possible—to inflict injury so you can get away. (This is no time to be civil. In a physical confrontation that calls for self-defense, it's hurt or be hurt.) So aim for the parts of the body where you can do the most damage easily: the eyes, nose, ears, neck, groin, knee, and legs.

Su Ericksen, who writes the very helpful Self-Defense for Women website, offers techniques for striking these pressure points so you can defend yourself and get to safety. She writes:

Depending on the position of the attacker and how close he is will determine where you will strike and with what part of your body you will employ. Do not step in closer, say, to strike his nose with your hand, when you can reach his knee with a kick.

When striking a target on the upper half of the body you will use your hand. Effective strikes can be made with the outer edge of your hand in a knife hand position, a palm strike or knuckle blow for softer targets or a tightly curled fist.

Here are some photos Su offers on attacking these highly sensitive pressure points (you can view others for additional pressure points on her website):

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Eyes: Gouging, poking, or scratching the attacker's eyes with your fingers or knuckles would be effective, as you can imagine. Besides causing a lot of pain, this should also make your escape easier by at least temporarily interfering with his vision.

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Nose: If the attacker is close in front of you, use the heel of your palm to strike up under his nose; throw the whole weight of your body into the move to cause the most pain and force him to loosen his grip on you. If he's behind you, you can strike his nose (from the side or front) with your elbow. Either way, aim for the nasal bones.

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Neck: The side of the neck is a bigger target, where both the carotid artery and jugular vein are located. You could possibly temporarily stun your attacker with a knife hand strike (all fingers held straight and tightly together, with thumb tucked and slightly bent at the knuckle) at the side of the neck. (For even more injury, you could thrust your elbow into your assailant's throat while pitching the weight of your body forward. See the Target Focus Training video below.)

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Knee: Su says the knee is an ideal self-defense target, vulnerable from every angle and easily kicked without risk of your foot being grabbed. Kick the side of the knee to cause injury or partially incapacitate your attacker. Kicking the front of the knee may cause more injury but is less likely to result in imbalance.

How to Maximize Damage

Use your elbows, knees, and head. Those are the parts of the body that are most sensitive when hit. Now here are the parts of the body used most effectively for inflicting damage: your elbows, knees, and head (they're your body's bony built-in weapons). This video from Elite Defense Systems in IL explains how to defend yourself against three most common attacks by using these key body parts.

Use everyday objects. Everyday objects you carry around with you or things in your environment can also be used to your advantage as weapons. Hold a key or pen between your middle and ring finger while you're walking home in the dark for more assurance. Outdoors, you can toss some dirt or sand into your attacker's eyes. Women are often told to spray perfume or hairspray into an assailant's eyes. The point is, use what ever you can to make your defense stronger (for more inspiration, watch some Jackie Chan movies).

Leverage your weight. No matter your size, weight, or strength in relation to your opponent, you can defend yourself by strategically using your body and the simple law of physics. This is the principle behind martial arts systems like Jujitsu and other self-defense programs where a smaller person is able to defeat a larger one.

Tim Larkin teaches in his Target Focus Training self-defense system that striking is not about punching or kicking, it's about throwing your body weight strategically at someone. You don't want to be standing there trading punches or kicks with an attacker; in a violent situation, it's critical to injure him using efficient, targeted moves. Basically, target those pressure points mentioned above, but leverage your weight to cause the most damage. (Note: The video at left is a bit long, though all of it is insightful; if you want to skip to the demonstration part showing how to use your body weight in this "point of injury" technique, scrub to about the 4-minute mark. Also note that this technique, used by law enforcement agencies, can seriously injure the attacker.)

Moves for Getting Out of or Defending Against Common Holds or Attacks

Wrist Hold: Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is another school of self-defense, one that offers modified Jujitsu techniques that normal (or even weak) people can carry out. This video from Gracie Academy shows what to do when an attacker has grabbed your wrist. Instead of pulling back to try to get out of the hold, squat down into a strong stance, then lean forward and bend your elbow towards him all the way towards his forearm until he can no longer hold onto your wrist.

Front and Back Choke Holds: Similarly, this video from Ford Models suggests bending your elbow in to get out of the wrist hold, but then pushing upwards to break free. The video also offers techniques to get out of a front choke hold and a back choke hold: Swing one arm across to break the attacker's hold then use your other arm's elbow or hand in a knife strike position to hit the attacker.

Bear Hug: Krav Maga is the official hand-to-hand self-defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces, with techniques to defend against realistic grabs and holds. This video shows a Krav Maga defense for when someone holds you from behind: Drop your weight and try to hit his head with your elbows or stomp his feet with your feet. If that doesn't work, pull his fingers back to force him to release you, rotate out of his hold, and attack him with your knees/kicks. (Pulling fingers is also an effective move in a choke hold in some cases.)

Mount Position: If the attacker has you pinned on the floor, you can pivot to be on top with this Gracie Jiu-Jitsu technique. Hook onto his wrist with one hand and use your other hand to grab behind his elbow, trapping his arm to your chest. Then use your foot to trap his foot and leg, lift your hips and turn over onto your knees to get on top.

Sexual Assault: In my interview with Rener Gracie, whose grandfather established the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu method 90 years ago, he told me there are four phases to nearly all sexual attacks on women: 1) Identify an unsuspecting target, 2) Subdue the target, 3) Exhaust the target, and 4) Execute the sexual assault. We want to fight with all our might and the moves we have above in the second phase. In the third phase, however, right before an assailant executes his sexual attack, all he wants to do is exhaust the victim and gain complete control, so fighting back actually may backfire at that point, wasting energy. Gracie's Women Empowered training program teaches women to recognize when they've entered that phase where they are truly trapped and are no longer in the defensive movements phase—and to feign giving in. Pretend to be compliant (kind of like playing dead for a bear). In those split moments, the predator will think you have given up and will loosen his grip, giving you a chance get away.

Apple is more worried about Facebook as a competitive threat than any other tech company, according to a source who works with Apple.

Our source was surprised since it would make more sense for Apple to worry about other companies. Google has Android. Microsoft dominates the PC business. Amazon is threatening to enter the tablet space.

But Facebook is coming on like a freight train in a space Apple doesn't really understand and it's not willing to play nicely with Apple.

Another source who works with Facebook backed this up earlier this year, telling us that Apple hates Facebook because it worries Facebook could co-opt the iOS platform thanks to its strong user base.

A few other reasons we think Apple would fear Facebook:

It was burnt once by Google, so it learned its lesson: When Apple negotiated with Google to get Maps and search on the iPhone, it thought it was starting a great partnership. That didn't last, as Google built Android, which is now beating the iPhone in market share. Facebook is equally ambitious, and there's reason to believe it's going to build its own mobile OS.

Apple doesn't do social (or the web) particularly well: Apple understands the PC business, and therefore Microsoft. It gets the mobile business and Google. It gets Amazon's entry into tablets and its digital media business. Social? Apple doesn't get that at all. It doesn't really do social.

Facebook credits could be a threat to iTunes: In the long term people will be buying virtual goods, digital media, and real goods through Facebook. Facebook is already encouraging developers to work around Apple on its web platform.

Facebook has 650 million users and growing. Just like Google is worried about Facebook fencing a big portion of the world's population, Apple should be worried about Facebook controlling hundreds of millions of people. It's a platform war out there, and Facebook is in a good position.

Whatever the case may be, we're guessing something happened when Apple was negotiating with Facebook over Ping that opened its eyes and now it's keeping its eyes on Mark Zuckerberg.

Don't Miss: The Facebook Versus Apple Rivalry Is Starting To Get Nasty

Last week, Google rolled out a beta of its highly-anticipated new social networking platform, Google+. Reaction to the launch so far has been mainly positive, with praise for the app’s design and features. But having played with Google+ over the last few days, I think that it may find a home in a somewhat unexpected market: the workplace.

While Facebook and Twitter have been massively successful in the consumer space, they’re not really suited for use in the workplace, as they make it difficult to keep personal and work-related information separate, and few companies would be happy about the possibility of potentially confidential information being broadcast to the world. Google, however, has produced an app that’s much more suited for use in the workplace by building Google+ around its Circles feature, which enables users to limit the sharing of information to specific groups of people, and by incorporating some very useful built-in collaboration features.

Circles, effortless contact management

Google+ is a lot like Facebook, offering users the ability to connect to other users, post status updates, share links and photos, and so on. But where it differs from apps like Facebook is its use of Circles, which allows users to define groups of contacts and then only share specific updates and other information with that group. Circles are effectively easy-to-understand privacy controls. They can be set up via an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, and there doesn’t appear to be any limitations on the number of them you can define.

You could, for instance, have a Circle for all of your work colleagues, a Circle for your team and then also create ad hoc Circles for project teams as required. This ability to easily control who you share specific pieces of information with is powerful, and very useful in the workplace: you may only want to send an update regarding the status or a project to only those colleagues working on that project, for example.

Facebook has tried to give users a similar degree of control over contact management with its Lists feature, but it’s clunky and nowhere near as well-implemented or as central to the experience as Circles is; while Google + is effectively  built on top of Circles, Facebook’s Lists feature feels like an afterthought.

As Google+ is a general-purpose social networking tool, a user can connect with any other Google+ user. This means that, unlike with many of the private enterprise social networking apps like Yammer, Jive, tibbr, Socialtext and Salesforce Chatter, people can use the app to easily communicate and collaborate with people outside of their organization — contractors or clients, for example.

Hangouts, Google+’s killer app for remote teams

Hangouts is Google+’s built-in multi-user video chat tool. It allows users to chat with up to ten people simultaneously and it’s really well implemented. Unlike other video chat apps, where you generally have to ping the other people you want to chat with on IM or email, get them to open their video chat client and then connect with them, Hangouts enables you to “hang out” in a video chat room, advertising your availability to chat to your contacts. If no-one else is around, you can leave it running in the background.

It’s all browser-based, so the user doesn’t have to fire up another app, and allows for much more spontaneous and effortless collaboration than other video chat app I’ve tried. I think it could potentially come close to replicating an “in office” experience for remote teams, allowing for the virtual equivalent of wandering up to a colleague’s desk to discuss a problem, or the traditional “water cooler” social chat.

Hangouts has an intuitive interface: Whoever is currently talking is highlighted in the large central window, with everyone else displayed in  strip of smaller windows underneath. In my testing, it works really well, with little lag. There’s a built-in IM feature for sharing links and so on, and also a YouTube feature, which enables users to share the watching of YouTube videos (which is neat, but probably not all that useful in the workplace). As Om noted, Hangouts is group video chat done right. It’s much better than Skype’s somewhat clunky group video chat feature, it’s free, and as it’s standards-based, it could be integrated into other applications, too (if you’re curious, Janko has written an interesting overview of the standards-based tech used to build the service).

Hangouts isn’t Google+’s only collaboration tool. It also features a built-in group texting feature called Huddle (see Stacey’s review here), which is currently only available on Android handsets.

Keep your team up-to-date with Sparks

Another great feature that differentiates Google+ from Facebook is Sparks. It lets users define an interest (robotics, for example), and then trawls the web looking for articles related to that interest, making it easy for users to find relevant articles to share. This could be useful in the workplace for research or keeping abreast of industry news, for example, helping users to stay up-to-date with topics of interest to them and their team, and then easily share and discuss any particularly interesting bits of information.

Why Google+ isn’t the perfect enterprise social-networking tool — yet

While Google + is well designed and has a lot of really great features, it’s not the perfect enterprise social networking tool just yet; it’s got a way to go before companies like Yammer and Salesforce should begin to really worry. Firstly, as Mathew noted, it needs users. Google+ is still in beta, but even after it launches to the general public, even if Google is massively successful in getting new users to sign up it will be a while before Google+ can get anywhere near rivaling Facebook’s numbers.

Secondly, Google+ isn’t yet set up to work with Google Apps accounts, which precludes a large number of potential enterprise users from using it with their main work email accounts. However, it’s probably safe to assume that Google+ will be made available to users of Google Apps soon — and the prospect of integrated social features in Google Apps powered by Google+ is a tantalizing one.

Finally, although Circles is an easy to use and intuitive way for users to determine who they share specific bits of share information with, it’s not perfect: there have already been reported privacy concerns with Google+ and Circles, with updates being forwarded on (or “reshared”) beyond the original Circle it was intended for. Google is being responsive to the concerns and is now addressing that particular issue, so hopefully any lingering privacy concerns will be ironed out before the product sees a more widespread release.

Of course, as Jess noted earlier today, the success of enterprise social networking tools depends on much more than just the technology itself. But Google’s latest foray into the social space is very well designed and offers a a great range of features. Assuming the company can tackle any privacy concerns that pop up and can persuade enough users to join the service and give it the initial traction it needs, Google+ could well become entrenched in the workpla