Round-Up 21st November 2011

Today's round-up looks at last week's top viral video, Facebook changes and news from the digital world. We also continue following G+, as the network is constantly adding new features as it tries to catch up with long-established companies like Twitter and Facebook.

Enjoy the read and let us know if you have any cool news - don't forget to leave comments!

Google+ now has trending topics!

The new feature only appears when you search within G+, bringing up an extremely real-time list of topics (more real-time than Twitter!).

Trending topics will likely consist of celebrities that are being mentioned heavily, as well as events and keywords that are making the headlines. According to TechRadar, today's trending topics are Tahrir Square, Beckham and Taylor Swift.

We like the 'real-timeliness' of the trending topics, but we're not so sure about the way it's hidden in the search process.

Apple's Siri hacked for Android Use

A group of developers have successfully hacked the protocol for Apple's voice assistant Siri. The hack allows developers to use the Siri recognition engine on any device, meaning app developers just need to create an app to run Siri effectively on Android devices.

The HTTP protocol that connects Siri to Apple servers was cracked, meaning a connection from non-Apple devices is possible.

This news comes a few weeks after the announcement that an iOS hacker was able to bring Siri to other Apple devices, as opposed to just the iPhone 4S.

Facebook updates photo uploader, but what happened to Facebook Timeline?

Around two months ago, a lot of attention was focused on Facebook Timeline, the new layout for each person's Facebook profile. There were many guides that explained how users could try out the life-displaying layout. But whatever happened to its public roll out?

According to tech figure Robert Scoble, the company has been hitting legal issues with Timeline Inc. and privacy investigations from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This has prompted Facebook to constantly update its privacy settings.

Although many people still haven't had the chance to see or try Facebook Timeline, the company has still been rolling out new features and updates, such as its Open Graphs, app integration with the ticker (such as Spotify and the Guardian) and today's sleeker and faster photo uploader.

It's unlikely we'll see Timeline by the end of 2011, but if you can't wait, here's a guide to get it early.

John Lewis Christmas ad tops viral chart

According to CampaignLive, John Lewis' campaign ad topped last week's viral video chart. It is followed by Canadian agency John St's Catvertising campaign and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

The Christmas ad was shared 202,637 times, with 192,189 on Facebook and 10,258 on Twitter. There was a lot of talk about this £6 million campaign in the press, with some questioning the cost of the ad and its production values. To some, the ad makes good use of emotional techniques, to others, it has been labeled as boring.

The ranking is compiled by measuring the amount of times videos are shared on blogs, Twitter and Facebook.