As a startup, it’s probably pretty scary and frustrating when you hear that Google has launched a competing offering. Tuesday, that happend for Dropbox when Google launched Google Drive. Google’s announcement came on the heels of Microsoft’s SkyDrive update announcement earlier this week.

Many expressed concern over privacy, but Google’s policy is actually no worse than its rivals. Google’s new cloud-based document and storage solution is priced aggressively and boasts best-in-class integration with other Google services — including Google Docs.

The cloud storage and collaboration space is more competitive than ever before. Google faces competition not just from cloud companies such as Box and Dropbox, but from Apple, Microsoft and Amazon as well.

A 100GB Dropbox account costs more than three times what a Google Drive account costs. Can Dropbox survive? We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Dropbox conversation chatter

Google Drive was mentioned in 71% of all Dropbox conversations since yesterday. Although some of those mentions were to say things like Google Drive won’t be a Dropbox killer.

Google Drive vs. Microsoft SkyDrive vs. Dropbox buzz

Google Drive chatter more than doubled Dropbox and SkyDrive chatter online since yesterday.

If you’re a Dropbox user, will you switch to Google Drive?

Photo-sharing social network Instagram released its long-awaited Android app today. Instagram has been around since 2010, available only to iOS devices. Android users will join a community of 30 million registered users, who contribute more than 5 million photos a day.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Instagram online.

Instagram buzz

Instagram mentions have skyrocketed online since January 2012. Instagram is currently being mentioned in 0.5% of ALL Internet conversations. Pretty impressive for an app only available on iOS until today.

Instagram vs. Facebook buzz

We compared Instagram mentions online to Facebook, which is consistently one of the brands generating the most buzz online. Instagram is nearly equal to Facebook buzz today.

Is Instagram poised to be the next dominant social network?

Apple introduced a new model iPad, called ”iPad,” and an improved Apple TV set-top box at a media event in San Francisco on Wednesday, along with an update to its mobile operating system, iOS 5.1. The highly anticipated event delivered exciting news for Apple users, with several new features, improved display resolution and updated the versions of several of apps.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

iPad conversation sentiment

Conversations around the iPad are currently more than 80% positive.

Features mentioned within iPad conversations

Of the new features announced, Retina Display is generating the most buzz, followed by the 4G LTE speeds, the A5X processesor, new Voice Dictation, new iSight Camera, and 1080p video recording.

For further analysis, visit www.infegy.com/socialradar.

Adobe Photoshop brought its powerful image editing capability to Apple iOS Monday with the launch of Photoshop Touch for iPad 2. Photoshop Express is a free iOS app for editing digital photos, but pales in comparison to the robust Photoshop Touch solution introduced to the Android Tablet market last year.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Adobe Photoshop online.

iPad mentions within Photoshop conversations

iPad appeared in 24% of all Photoshop conversations online following Monday’s launch.

Photoshop Touch for iPad sentiment

Conversations around Photoshop Touch for iPad are currently 89% positive.

What do you think of the $9.99 app?

Chipotle aired its first national television commercial during Sunday night’s Grammy Awards on CBS. The animated ad took an entire year to produce and didn’t involve an advertising agency. The ad, more like a short film, features puppet-like characters depicting a farmer who turns to industrial methods, only to think again and return to his earth- and animal-friendly methods. The spot’s goal was to make more consumers aware of Chipotle’s commitment to sustainable farming.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Chipotle online.

Chipotle buzz

Chipotle mentions spiked more than 300% over the weekend. We analyzed our database back to 2008, and found that Chipotle chatter is currently at its highest point. Chipotle was also recently named one of Fast Company’s 50 most innovative companies.

Chipotle conversation sentiment

Conversations around Chipotle are currently 69% positive. The terms Grammys, Coldplay or commercial appear in 15% of Chipotle mentions. The spot is set to a Willie Nelson cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist.”

Matthew Yglasias for Slate recently compared Chipotle to Apple, saying that Chipotle’s CEO Steve Ells is revolutionizing fast food in the same way that Steve Jobs transformed personal electronics. Do you agree?

Fair-labor organizers delivered 250,000 signatures to Apple stores in six cities around the world on Thursday in protest of the company’s working conditions in China. Apple’s main factory, Foxconn, has faced numerous accusations of providing an inhumane work environment to Chinese workers.

Have these protests affected Apple’s buzz online? We used Social Radar to find out.

Apple buzz

Apple chatter online is currently at its lowest point in six months.

Apple sentiment

Conversations around Apple are currently only 64% positive.

Apple conversation topic cloud

The Foxconn working conditions are currently appearing in 5% of Apple conversations.

Will Apple take appropriate measures to improve working conditions in their Foxconn plant as a result of the protests?

Apple has posted impressive quarterly earnings for the 14-week period ending on December 31, 2011. According to a press release, the company reported a quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion, as well as a quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share, the company’s best quarterly results yet. Apple’s 116 percent profit growth helped push its total cash to $97.6 billion — enough to cover Greece’s debt payments due in the next two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Apple sold 37.04 million iPhones, 15.43 million iPads and 5.3 million Macs during the quarter.

What’s interesting is the continued growth of iPad sales.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around iPad, iPod and iPhone online.

iPhone vs. iPod vs. iPad buzz

iPad mentions topped iPhone mentions for the first time in December 2011.

Apple buzz

Overall Apple mentions have been in slight decline since 2008. Although Apple passed Exxon as the most valuable company based on market cap.

New findings from ChangeWave Research show that demand for the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s first tablet, is outpacing pre-launch demand compared to the iPad. Surprised, we decided to use Social Radar to analyze buzz around Kindle Fire and iPad online.

Kindle Fire vs. iPad buzz

iPad generated 35x more buzz over the last month than Kindle Fire.

Content distribution

Both iPad and Kindle Fire are receiving balanced press via Twitter and blogs. Though iPad is generating significantly more chatter online.

Can Amazon’s Kindle Fire take market share from Apple’s iPad?

British band Coldplay released its fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto, Monday, Oct. 24. The album is positioned to head straight to the top of the Billboard 200 charts next week.

Coldplay chose not to make its new album available on Spotify or any other streaming music subscription service. Fans will either need to purchase physical copies or MP3 downloads from places like Apple’s iTunes store, Microsoft’s Zune store or Amazon. The decision is more likely financially motivated as Coldplay stands to make a great deal more money by encouraging the tens of millions of consumers who have streaming music subscriptions to purchase the songs.

How has the new album release affected Coldplay’s buzz online? We used Social Radar to find out.

Coldplay buzz October 2009-present

Coldplay buzz is currently more than 3x higher than its previous high point within the last two years.

Coldplay sentiment

Conversations around Coldplay are currently 76% positive online. The new album name, Mylo Xyloto, is currently being mentioned in 6% of Coldplay conversations. Rihanna, who collaborated with Coldplay on a song for the new album, is being mentioned in 5% of all Coldplay conversations. The classic Coldplay track “Fix You” is currently mentioned in 6% of all Coldplay conversations.

Apple announced the new iPhone 4S, but no iPhone 5 today. Apple executives insist that the 4S packs a lot of punch and unveiled a host of new features for the phone on Tuesday at Apple headquarters. The new iPhone 4S has a faster processor than the iPhone 4. Its camera’s resolution and sharpness have been nearly doubled. Web pages and videos load more quickly. And it will be available to Sprint customers in the U.S. for the first time.

The most anticipated feature is a talking personal assistant named Siri, which combines voice activation and artificial intelligence. Apple purchased Siri nearly a year and a half ago.

Are the new features enough to satisfy Apple customers, who have come to expect mind-blowing, amazing product announcements? Or is the public disappointed that Apple did not announce the iPhone 5? We used Social Radar to find out.

iPhone & Apple buzz

iPhone buzz increased 400% today, and was mentioned in nearly 1% of all Internet chatter.

Apple sentiment September 4 – October 3

Conversations around Apple were an average of 82% positive leading up to the announcements.

Apple sentiment October 4

Apple sentiment dropped to only 66% positive after Tuesday’s announcements.

iPhone sentiment September 4 – October 3

Conversations around iPhone were an average of 85% positive leading up to the announcements.

iPhone sentiment October 4

iPhone sentiment dropped 20% to only 65% positive after Tuesday’s announcements. The word “same” appeared in 4% of all iPhone conversations and was 46% negative. Are users afraid that the 4S is not different enough to warrant an upgrade?