I scrolled up and down for about 15 seconds trying to figure out if this screenshot was supposed to be a concatenation of multiple Walls or if it was one long wall view (I think it's the latter):
That kind of visual confusion is a bad thing. I understand the desire to move away from lines and boxes within boxes. But elegant lines should not blur functionality.
Also, how would this design look when trying to accomodate the many kinds of statuses that do not have banner-size-worthy photos? My guess is not very well.
Your last point is a huge problem with the Google+ Android app. I like the normal g+ website, but on the mobile app it assumes that every single post is just a pretty picture. That app is a usability nightmare because they failed to grasp how people actually use social networks (which is strange since the design on the normal website seems to understand this just fine).
http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles14/398559/projects/65046...
That kind of visual confusion is a bad thing. I understand the desire to move away from lines and boxes within boxes. But elegant lines should not blur functionality.
Also, how would this design look when trying to accomodate the many kinds of statuses that do not have banner-size-worthy photos? My guess is not very well.