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Tag: gmail

  • Google Makes Some Adjustments to Gmail

    Google has made some updates to the Gmail experience with a heavy focus on contacts. The company says that out of all of the feedback it gets about Gmail, most of it is about improving the contacts experience.

    New contacts features include:

    • Keyboard shortcuts (go to Contacts and hit "?" for the full list)
    • Sort by last name (look under "More actions")
    • Custom labels for phone numbers and other fields
    • The ability to undo changes you’ve just made
    • Automatic saving
    • Structured name fields, so you can adjust titles, suffixes, and other name components
    • A bigger, more prominent notes field

    GmailIn addition to these, Google has slightly altered the look of Gmail. Mail, Contacts, and Tasks links have been moved to the top left. Compose Mail is now a button rather than a link. A smaller header area puts the first message in your inbox higher on the screen. Finally, the select all, none, read, unread, and starred links that used to be above messages are now in a drop-down menu, next to the archive button.

    The features appear to be in the process of rolling out, as I am not seeing them yet in my own account. The company also says that Google Apps users will have to wait because they’re working on making domain-specific features work well with the new interface.

  • Google Wave – Ahead of its Time or Just Another Failure?

    Google Wave may be going away, but it is highly unlikely that the web has felt its presence for the last time. As Google said in its announcement, the company will "extend the technology for use in other Google projects."

    Were you able to find a reason to use Google Wave?     Tell us about it.

    It will be interesting to see if the technology still goes by the name "Wave", but I have little doubt that some of the innovations we’ve seen in Wave will be popping up in various Google offerings in the form of new products and new features to existing products.

    Google’s aim with Wave was to replace email. That didn’t happen, and frankly, I have a hard time believing that too many people bought into that one, but that didn’t change the fact that Wave did some interesting things. One only had to watch a demo or two from someone who knew what they were doing to see its potential.

    The question is where will Wave fit into the Google universe if not as its own product? Gmail? If replacing email was the plan, it would make sense that some Wave-like features appear in Gmail, especially given Google’s penchant for adding features (and labs experiments) to it.

    How about "Google Me"? It’s still unclear what Google is up to with this rumored social media project that everyone has been considering the company’s move to rival Facebook, despite no announcments from Google or any real evidence.  Wave certainly has social (not to mention realtime) elements that could factor into a broader social networking plan.

    Here are a few significant moves by Google that may also contribute:

    – Google is getting into gaming. Besides a reported investment in Zynga and talks with Playdom and Playfish, the company has reportedly agreed to acquire game company Slide.

    – All YouTube users will be required to have a Google account

    – Google is letting users sign into multiple accounts at the same time from the same browser. This could be big for businesses wanting control over multiple accounts more conveniently.

    – One of the biggest trends in social media right now is that of checking in. Well, Google is focusing on that too with its Google Places API.

    Of the company’s social media plans (apparently being run now by Vic Gundotra), Eric Schmidt says that Google isn’t looking to create another Facebook. "Facebook versus Google…We’re not trying to do what Facebook does. The world does not need another Facebook," he is quoted as saying.

    Well, some privacy advocates may disagree with that (though Google’s reputation for privacy doesn’t exactly have the best track record). Either way, regardless of how Google pitches whatever strategy it has (not another Facebook), the fact remains that Facebook is eating up much of consumers’ time online, and that is no doubt time that Google would prefer be spent with their properties. So from that standpoint, Google vs. Facebook is very real. It’s about mind share, and ultimately about advertising. If Facebook ever uses the Open Graph to build its own AdSense-like network, then it will really be real.

    But back to Wave’s role in Google’s future. How about Chrome? Wave functionality from the browser? Chrome OS? Wider adoption could be more easily achieved from the browser or the operating system. Any of this could be tied to whatever "Google Me" turns out to be, as long as it is connected by a Google Account.

    People will call Wave a failure and stick it in the box of past Google social media failures, but Wave (or at least some of the concepts behind it) will be felt in the future.

    "We liked the (user interface) and we liked a lot of the new features in it (but) didn’t get enough traction, so we are taking those technologies and applying them to new technologies that are not announced," CNET quotes Google CEO Eric Schmidt as saying. "We’ll get the benefit of Google Wave but it won’t be as a separate product."

    Is it just me or does Google seem to be pulling the plug on Wave a little early? Could they already have a specific new strategy in mind for it that they’re already moving forward on?

    What do you think about Google Wave? Sad to see it go or good riddance? Share your thoughts.

  • Chrome Users Can Drag Attachments Out of Gmail

    Google has added a new useful feature to Gmail for Chrome users. Now, you can drag attachments out of messages in Gmail and save them to your computer.

    "Let’s say you have an email open containing an attachment. Hover your mouse over the attachment’s ‘Download’ link or its file icon and a tooltip appears that says: ‘Click to view OR drag to your desktop to save,’" says software engineer Adam de Boor.

    "Simply click and hold, then drag your cursor to anywhere in your file system that you want to save the file," he adds. "Release the mouse button, and voilà! Your attachment is saved (for large files, you may see a progress dialog)."

    This is the latest in a series of feature Google has added to Gmail that involve dragging files. First, they launched a feature that allows you to drag images into messages. Then, they launched one that simply lets you drag and drop attachments onto messages. Now it works both ways.

  • Google Testing New Tweaks for Gmail?

    Alex Chitu at Google Operating System has spotted some changes in Gmail that Google appears to be testing with some users. Google constantly tests new features in its products, and while some of them go on to become actual features, some of them fade away and never get integrated on a mass scale.

    Chitu says, "Here’s what I noticed: there are three links for ‘mail’, ‘contacts"’ and ‘tasks’ below Gmail’s logo, there’s a new button for composing messages, a ‘call phone’ option in Gmail Chat, a drop-down for switching between Google accounts and the options that let you select unread or starred messages use less space."

    Chitu has a screenshot here.

    Besides trying to get Grandma’s using Gmail’s Video Chat, Google has recently added several other features to Gmail, though it doesn’t seem like the company has been cranking out the Gmail Labs experiments at the rat it was for a while.

    This past month, they’ve added some existing HTML5-based functionalities for Safari, as well as rich text signatures.

  • Google Wants Your Grandma to Use Video Chat in Gmail

    Google has posted a video and an accompanying, printable guide for grandmothers to understand how to use Gmail’s video chat feature.

    Google wants you to be able to easily show your grandparents how to use Gmail video chat, because let’s face it: a lot of grandparents aren’t hip to all of the latest web trends (if you are a grandparent that is hip to them, than good for you!).

    "Often when I tell people that I work on Google video chat, I hear stories about how they’ve used it to give a video tour of a new home to friends, introduce a baby to relatives, keep in touch with traveling loved ones… the list goes on," writes Google’s Jason Toff. "This got me thinking about how convenient— and sometimes even magical — the experience of video chatting is."

    "So when I saw that my grandma, who loves keeping in touch with family more than anyone, wasn’t set up to use video chat, I decided to help her get started," he adds.  "While doing so, it occurred to me how many people there must be out there in similar situations. If only there were a simple way that any grandmother could use to get started on her own."

    There is a link you can send to your grandparents if you can’t show them what to do first hand. Just have them go to google.com/chat/grandma, and they will be presented with both the video and the printable guide. You might not want to show Grandma ChatRoulette.

  • Google Reworks the Gmail iPad Experience

    Google has released a new "compose" interface for its Gmail web interface for the iPad.  Users now get a big full screen compose window, as opposed to a split screen with the inbox and compose views.

    "More text is visible at once and there are no more distractions with messages on the side. We’ve also fixed problems that prevented scrolling on long messages," says Google Mobile software engineer Craig Wilkinson.

    Compose interface for Gmail on the iPad

    For now, the interface is only available in US English, but that will no doubt change in time.

    Google says it is continuing to experiment with the large touchscreen interface and tablet form factor. This will become more important as more iPad-like devices hit the market.

    Today’s announcement was part of a new series from Google called the Iterative Web App in which the company will continue to release features for Gmail for Mobile, so be on the look out for more.

  • Google Voice, Gmail VoIP Rumors Spark Interest

    There is a rumor going around the blogosphere that Google may be working on a VoIP service utilizing Google Voice integration with Gmail. A spokesperson for Google tells WebPronews, "We’re always testing new features and looking for ways to improve our products. We have nothing to announce at this time."

    Google Operating System (an unofficial blog with "news and tips about Google") says, "Google tests a new feature that makes Gmail chat more useful: users are able to make and receive Google Voice calls from Gmail. A new phone icon opens a Gmail chat window with a dialpad, an option to find contacts, a credit balance and a call button."

    The report adds, "The new feature will allow users to make voice calls over the Internet and it’s likely that it won’t be limited to Gmail."

    There is speculation that Google is building a competitor to Skype based on technology from the recent acquisitions of Global IP Solutions and Gizmo5.

    But, as Google says, there is nothing to announce at this time, and they are indeed always testing features. Some of them come to fruition, and some of them don’t. We’ll have to wait and see.

    Google did make video chat, voice chat, and group chat features much more prominent in Gmail this week.

  • Advanced Gmail Chat Features Made Easier To Find

    Whatever sorts of microphones and webcams the average Gmail user has attached to his (or her) computer may soon start getting a lot more use.  Yesterday evening, Google made the video chat, voice chat, and group chat features much more prominent.

    A post on the Official Gmail Blog explained, "Video chat, voice chat, and group chat have all been available for some time within Gmail, but they’ve been curiously tucked away.  Getting them up and running required fidgeting with a little menu at the bottom of each chat window.  Starting today, all of these features will be just a single click away."

    More advanced options like "Go off the record," "Block," and "Send SMS" are then available via the easy-to-see "Actions" menu.

    Plus, if one user wants to interact with another who doesn’t yet have the video and voice chat plugin installed, there’s a little icon the first user can click to send an invitation.

    This update could turn out to be a good way for Google to make up ground in the "social" sphere, considering that it’ll get people to spend more time using Gmail and arguably takes aim at Facebook Chat.  It also happens to stem from some similar improvements made on Orkut not too long ago.

  • Gmail and Google Buzz Get Google Maps Previews

    Google has released a new Gmail Labs feature that lets you preview Google Maps within Gmail and Google Buzz.

    "I often receive emails containing addresses in them — where to meet for dinner, the location of my friend’s new apartment, etc. To find out where these places actually are, I have to copy the address, open up Google Maps, and paste it in," says Google software engineer Mark Knichel, explaining the motivation for creating this feature.

    Now users can enable "Google Maps previews in mail" from the Gmail Labs tab under "settings", and when they receive an address or a Google Maps link in an email, a preview will appear containing an interactive Google Map of the location.

    Google Maps Preview in Gmail

    When a user pastes a Google Maps link into the post box in Google Buzz, it will automatically fetch an image preview of the location, and you can associate that with your post.

    Google Maps Preview in Buzz

    At this point, the Gmail feature only works with US addresses, but Google says it’s working on making the feature available for addresses around the world. Any Google Maps URL will work.

  • Will Google Buzz Find Mainstream Appeal?

    Google is starting to make some significant moves that may give Google Buzz a significant boost. For example, this week, a "Reshare" button was announced. This is essentially Google’s version of the retweet. If you follow a Buzz user who posts an interesting update, you can hit the "reshare" button (down with the comment, like, and email buttons) to repost that post to your own Buzz stream.

    Will new features fuel Buzz growth? Comment here.

    Reshare only works for public posts. Private posts will not have the reshare link. However, you can reshare posts yourself publicly or privately. If a lot of people you follow reshare the same post, the similar posts will be collapsed.

    "You’ll notice that resharing creates a new post, effectively forking the conversation. To fork or not fork was a decision we debated for a while," says Buzz software engineer Sam Goto. "Ultimately, we think forked conversations help create more varied, intimate discussions around a single item. We realize people may want a non-forking version too, so we’re thinking about how to do that as well."

    "When there is a chain of reshares, the names of all of the people who publicly reshare the post appear on the original item, even if they’re not directly connected to the original author," Goto explains. "If you share something that ends up getting passed around by lots of other people, it’s pretty cool to see that."

    It’s also worth noting that you can "like" a reshare, and that will not translate to a "like" for the original post. This means you can like a comment without liking what the comment is about.

    Google Buzz - New Reshare feature - Google's version of the retweet

    Google also  announced that it’s releasing an XHTML version of the Buzz website which can be accessed from many mobile devices like those running Android pre-2.0, Blackberry, Nokia S60, and Windows Mobile. This could go a long way for getting Buzz used by mobile users across a broader range of devices.

    Google Buzz launched earlier this year to a great deal of hype – and why not – a potential Facebook/Twitter competitor from the giant that is Google – but much of the "buzz" about Buzz has faded in the months since. In fact, most of the discussion in the media about Buzz has been centered around privacy issues (though that has become considerably less rampant…Facebook has filled that role nicely).

    As we’ve been saying since long before Buzz was announced, the key to a Google social network offering is in the integration with its other products. This made launching Buzz within Gmail seem like a smart move, but there is still much work to be done if Buzz is to become a real player in the space.

    Adding features, such as the reshare feature is a start, but what may have a more significant impact was an announcement that came last week.

    During Google I/O, I attended a session in which Google quietly announced the launch of the Buzz API. The news was generally overshadowed by other Google announcements, such as the unveilings of Google TV and FroYo, but with developers getting access to the Buzz API, there is room for much to be done around the service in terms of third-party apps, which should ultimately make Buzz much more useful. That’s what happened with Twitter. Developers like TweetDeck, Boxee, Buzzzy, Klout, Meebo, Seesmic, Vinehub, Shareaholic, and other have already taken advantage of the Buzz API.

    It’s hard to say if the general public will find a real need for Buzz alongside Facebook, Twitter and other services, but as Google grows its presence in mobile via Android, and soon into television via Google TV, there will be more potential gateways for Buzz adoption, as well as integration.

    Is Buzz headed in the right direction? Do you think Buzz use will explode? Share your thoughts.

  • Microsoft Previews New Hotmail Upgrade

    Microsoft Previews New Hotmail Upgrade

    Microsoft has introduced a preview of its Hotmail email service aimed at reducing inbox clutter and winning over users of other rival services such as Yahoo mail and Gmail.

    Key highlights of the revamped Windows Live Hotmail include the ability to create and edit Office documents right in the inbox, view new emails from friends, social network updates, shipments and appointments upon logging in.

    The new Hotmail will also come with a virtual broom to allow users to "sweep" unwanted mail out of their inbox and into folders or the trash. Hotmail will be able to do sweeps automatically with the check of a box.  Users will be able to sweep mail from Gmail and Yahoo Mail accounts by adding them to their Hotmail inbox.

    Get Microsoft Silverlight

    One click filters will allow users to manage their entire inbox to the show the mail that is most important to them including messages from contacts, social networks or mailing groups.  Users can click once to find all messages that contain photos, documents, videos, shipping updates or messages that have been flagged.

    Microsoft has added the ability for Hotmail users to view videos from YouTube or photos from Flickr directly from their inbox without having to go to another site.

    "With over 360 million active Hotmail accounts worldwide, Microsoft has spent a lot of time listening to customer feedback and thoughtfully designing solutions to meet their needs," stated Owen Sagness, Vice President, Consumer and Online, Microsoft Canada Inc.

    "Whether it’s organizing events, managing commercial transactions, searching for jobs, sharing photos, or communicating with friends and family, the new Hotmail will help increase personal productivity."

    Microsoft says its new Hotmail will begin to rollout in mid-summer to users worldwide.
     

  • Is a Lack of Search on Google Profiles Hurting Buzz?

    Google’s Rick Klau points out that homepage for Google Profiles is missing a pretty obvious feature – search. While Google profiles are tied into your Google account as a whole, when it comes to Google Buzz, your Google profile is essentially your Wall. All your Buzz posts appear here, and so do any of your personal links you want people to see.

    It is somewhat surprising that Google, being the search giant that it is, does not have a search feature here, where new users could look for other people they know. If you were looking at joining a new social network, you’d probably want to see if you have friends that are already using it. How much could this be impeding the growth of Google Buzz?

    Google Profiles Home page

    Granted, Facebook, the king of social networks doesn’t have a search feature, but look at Twitter’s home page. Search is very prominent. In fact, they made it this way in the era of everybody trying to figure out why they should be using Twitter. Google Buzz still has some convincing to do of its own.

    Buzz has often been presented as a Gmail feature, but the profile is really the center of any user’s Buzz presence.

    Even if a user does not wish to use Buzz, they may still find value in having a Google profile, given that they appear in search results.

    Klau notes that if you use Chrome, you sill have a way to search through profiles, and if you visit your own or somebody else’s existing profile, you will find a search box at the bottom.

    "Yes, adding a search box to the Profiles page is going to happen Real Soon Now," says Klau.

    That will be one improvement. I’m thinking they should consider adding a Search Buzz field to individual profile pages as well – not to search for users, but to search for content. Remember how much more useful Twitter became with a search feature (granted, there is a Search Buzz button within Gmail)?

  • Gmail Expands Drag-And-Drop Feature

    Gmail Expands Drag-And-Drop Feature

    About four weeks ago, Gmail gained a drag-and-drop feature that made attaching files to emails considerably more convenient.  Now, as a sort of complement to that text-focused upgrade, another new feature is set to make inserting pictures into emails easier, as well.

    A noteworthy point here is that Google’s skipped past the beta/lab stage, offering the new option to lots of ordinary Gmail users.  Another important fact is that it’s user-friendly – the sort of thing even people who don’t read WebProNews and official Google blogs might discover for themselves.

    Michael Davidson, a software engineer, explained on the Gmail Blog, though, "[W]e’re launching a feature that allows you to drag images from your computer into a message.  You don’t have to have the insert image lab enabled for it to work.  Just drag the image in, resize it if you want, and send."

    Then Davidson mentioned the one catch, which is significant: "Currently, this feature only works in Google Chrome, but will be coming soon to other browsers."

    It’s your call whether Google is trying to reward Chrome users by giving them early access to some cool stuff, or if this is just a new way of testing things out on a small subset of the population.  Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see how long "soon" turns out to be.

  • UC Davis Faculty Snub Gmail Over Privacy

    UC Davis Faculty Snub Gmail Over Privacy

    Privacy Awareness Week is perhaps not working out the way Google would have liked.  There’s word this afternoon that officials at the University of California, Davis have decided not to deploy Gmail on a campus-wide basis due to privacy concerns.

    GoogleAccording to Paul McDougall, CIO Peter Siegel, Academic Senate IT chair Niels Jensen, and Campus Council IT chair Joe Kiskis all signed a letter last week ending a pilot program and criticizing Gmail. 

    In the letter, they explained that faculty members "expressed concerns that our campus’s commitment to protecting the privacy of their communications is not demonstrated by Google and that the appropriate safeguards are neither in place at this time nor planned for in the near future."

    Google doesn’t view this as too huge a blow, though.  In an interview with WebProNews, Jeff Keltner, who is a business development manager for Google Apps for Education, pointed out that students at UC Davis have been using Gmail on an official basis for quite some time and will continue to do so.  It’s only the faculty who are effectively backing away.

    Keltner also characterized this as "an atypical experience for us," pointing out that a lot of other universities – such as Brown, Cornell, Georgetown, and Vanderbilt, among many others – are happy customers.  And Keltner maintained, "We’ve really tackled the privacy issues contractually" and "tried to push the limits in terms of protecting our users’ data, protecting out users’ privacy."

  • Google Reclaims Gmail Name In The UK

    Four and a half years ago, Google lost the right to use the term "Gmail" in the UK due to a trademark dispute, and ever since, "Google Mail" is what its email service has been called in the region.  Only now, Google’s finally ditching the two-word moniker and going back to good old Gmail.

    A little background info: Independent International Investment Research first objected to Google’s use of "Gmail" because it offered a G-mail service of its own.  And Independent International Investment Research wanted $500,000 per year, plus "the same amount in advertising credits," in exchange for standing aside.

    Unfortunately, no one’s talking about whatever sort of settlement Google’s reached with the company.  Google Software Engineer Greg Bullock was happy to explain the ramifications on the Gmail Blog, though.

    Bullock wrote late yesterday, "If you already have a Google email account in the UK, you’ll soon have the option to switch your existing @googlemail.com address to the matching @gmail.com one, but you’re also free to stick with @googlemail.com.  And starting later this week, anybody who signs up for a new account in the UK will get an @gmail.com address."

    This should make things slightly more convenient for users and decrease the chance of typos occurring, considering that Bullock stated, "Since ‘gmail’ is 50% fewer characters than ‘googlemail,’ we estimate this name change will save approximately 60 million keystrokes a day."

    For whatever it’s worth, Bullock also claimed, "At about 217 microjoules per keystroke, that’s about the energy of 20 bonbons saved every day!"

  • Gmail Opens Up To Apps With OAuth Support

    Sharing one’s password is considered a huge security sin; a recent Symantec survey made clear that telling it to even a boss or spouse is verboten.  Gmail users may be glad to hear, then, that Google has figured out a way to encourage the creation of Gmail-related apps without asking everyone to compromise on the password issue.

    A post on the Google Code Blog explained, "[I]t is more secure for the app developer to use the industry standard protocol called OAuth which enables the user to give their consent for specific access without sharing their password.  Most Google APIs support this OAuth standard, and starting today it is also available for the IMAP/SMTP feature of Gmail."

    An outfit called Syphir has already taken advantage of this feature to improve its SmartPush app for the iPhone, and you can view the result below.

    A company known as Kwaga has upgraded its desktop "smart notifier," too.

    So it looks like we’ll see a great many third-party developers make an attempt at improving Gmail thanks to this development.  And Gmail users won’t have to worry about losing their privacy every time they give something new a try.

  • Google Alerts Users of Suspicious Gmail Log-In Activity

    Google introduced a new security feature for Gmail today. It notifies the user when a suspicious log-in activity is detected on their account. This notification will come in the form of a message saying ""Warning: We believe your account was last accessed from…" along with the geographic region that Google can best associate with the access. Engineering Director Pavni Diwanji explains on the Gmail Blog:

    To determine when to display this message, our automated system matches the relevant IP address, logged per the Gmail privacy policy, to a broad geographical location. While we don’t have the capability to determine the specific location from which an account is accessed, a login appearing to come from one country and occurring a few hours after a login from another country may trigger an alert.

    By clicking on the "Details" link next to the message, you’ll see the last account activity window that you’re used to, along with the most recent access points.

    Gmail Notification - alerts users of suspicious log-in activity

    Gmail will allow users to change their passwords from the same window if they choose, or they can click "dismiss" if they are sure the log-in activity was legitimate.

    Google intends to extend the feature into Google Apps after enough feedback is gathered.

  • Six More Features Graduate From Gmail Labs

    It looks like the people in charge of Gmail Labs have decided to do a little spring (or more accurately, late winter) cleaning.  They’ve removed a full 11 experimental features from Labs, with six of the bunch becoming regular Gmail features and the other five failing to make the cut.

    Many of the "graduated" features are ones you’re probably familiar with, or can at least guess the functions of.  Forgotten Attachment Detector, YouTube Previews, Custom Label Colors, and Vacation Dates all fall under this heading.

    The last two approved features are Search Autocomplete and Go To Label, and a post on the Official Gmail Blog covers the only tricky parts, explaining, "If you have keyboard shortcuts turned on, type ‘g’ then ‘l’ and instead of getting the old ‘Go to label’ pop-up, you’ll be in the search box with the ‘label:’ operator filled in for you.  Start typing the label you want to go to, and autocomplete will take it from there.  All you have to do is hit enter.  If you want to send your cursor to the blank search field, the keyboard shortcut ‘/’ will do it."

    As for the experimental features that’ve been dropped, they’re called Muzzle, Fixed Width Font, Email Addict, Location in Signature, and Random Signature.  And a lack of popularity is the main reason they didn’t make it further, in case you were wondering.

    Anyway, Google’s likely to introduce more Gmail Labs features to replace all of this stuff before long.

  • Will Google Buzz Change the Social Media Game?

    Update 2: Buzz has gotten off to a great start in terms of attracting users. Google said in a blog post yesterday that over 9 million posts and comments had been created, and they were seeing over 200 posts per minute. Both numbers have likely grown since then.

    In the post, Google addresses some of the privacy concerns people have been having, and improvements they’re making based on user feedback.

    Update: Google has uploaded the entire Google Buzz launch event. If you are interested in seeing the new product unveiled, you can watch it below:


    Article starts:     Google held a press event to announce the most "buzzed" topic of the week – Google Buzz. This is Google’s new product, which is being compared to social networks like Twitter and Facebook. It is integrated with Gmail and other Google products, and appears to be one of the missing links in tying Google together as a social network, a concept we’ve discussed repatedly.

    Do you think Google could make an impact on social media with this release? Share your thoughts.

    Editor’s Note: The bulk of this article was written before the announcement was made and has been adjusted to reflect the announcement itself, after liveblogging the press event.

     

    Google says Buzz has five key elements:

    1. Auto Following
    2. Rich, Fast Sharing experience…
    3. Support for public and private sharing….
    4. In-box integration
    5. Just the good stuff…

    Watch the video below to get a general idea of what Buzz does.

    Buzz will show a thumbnail of a YouTube video and make it easy to play in line. With photos, they will show thumbnails, but Google built a custom photo viewer, which lets you flip through pictures and see them "big and fast". If you share links, it will automatically fetch headlines and photos from the post (similar to Facebook). You can "like" and "unlike" stuff, and expand comments. It works with keyword shortcuts from Gmail.

    Public/Private sharing – The post box will let you post updates publicly or privately. If it’s public, it will go to your Google profile, and is indexed by Google’s real-time search. You can share privately, and it will let you send to groups and custom groups.

    In your in-box, you will see buzz notifications that contain real-time comments. It sits in the same in-box as your regular email, but you can move between your regular in-box and your Buzz stuff. It integrates it right into Gmail.You can also use "@" for replies like with Twitter.

    While Google Buzz is presented as a Gmail feature, it goes well beyond Gmail. For one, all public updates you post will be posted to your Google profile page, (which is searchable). In addition, Google launched three new mobile products for Buzz:

    1. The ability to use Buzz from www.Google.com on iPhone/Android
    2. Brand new app at buzz.google.com
    3.  Maps Update for Nokia Symbian/ Android.

    Mobile could be one of the biggest keys to the success of this product. Google says Google.com is the world’s most popular mobile home page, and Buzz can be accessed from there on iPhone and Android devices. Android’s popularity is growing quickly too.

    Buzz will find your location (if you let it) and snap your updates to that location. With the Google Maps feature, you can see what people are saying based on location. You can even use voice recognition to post buzz updates by voice.

    Do you see yourself using Google Buzz from your mobile device? Let us know.

    Search Implications

    Buzz posts get indexed by search from the page that its posted to (the Google Profile page), just like anything else on the web. Google says they don’t do anything special to promote it in SERPs.

    Google didn’t really talk about social search with regards to Buzz, but it would not be surprising to see Buzz updates integrated these into social search, which recently became part of the web search norm. Your Gmail contacts are the first people listed in your "social circle" that Google draws from for these results.

    If Buzz content appears in both real-time search results and social search results, that’s two good-sized chunks of SERP real-estate. Not all SERPs have both or either, but it opens some additional search marketing doors. The feature would also open up more reputation management issues,  as simply an additional place to monitor, not to mention other ways businesses are currently using services like Facebook and Twitter for marketing.

    Do you think Google Buzz will be important to search marketing? Tell us what you think.

    How Else Could Google Buzz Be Used for Business?

    Buzz may benefit businesses as an orgnizational tool. The first thing that comes to mind is the expansion of communication with existing contacts. When you’re frequently seeing what your Gmail contacts are saying, it will not only keep those people fresh in your mind, but it can cultivate further communication.

    The feature could possibly lend to better organization of your communication, which could in turn save time. Again, depending on how many of the possibilities (if any) mentioned in this article actually come to fruition, it could become a central place for that communication. The more services Buzz gets integrated with, the better it could become for organization.

    Google co-founder Sergey Brin says he wrote an op-ed piece, posted it to Google Buzz, and quickly had 50 comments, and edited based on feedback. He finds it efficient as an editing tool.

    Competition

    Before it even launched, a lot of people suggested that Google’s product could never compete with Facebook and Twitter, but I was not and am still not so quick to rule out the possibility. No, it’s not likely to come out and kill those two, but that’s not to say that it can’t co-exist, and gain popularity of its own, if Google makes the right moves in integrating it with its other products. It’s already off to a good start on that (especially with the Google mobile home page).

    How well the product can compete is directly related to what possibilities Google explores. Even if a lot of options aren’t explored immediately, that’s not to say they won’t be slowly. Google has a way of adding a feature here, and adding a feature there to its different products. Before you know it, things are more connected than you may have realized.

    It’s not all bout Gmail. According to comScore, Gmail had 176 million unique visitors in December, but how many people have actual GOOGLE accounts? You don’t have to be a Gmail user to have one, and Google is increasingly finding more ways to draw people in through various products.

    Facebook is supposedly working on its own email product, which could directly compete with Gmail. Between that and Google Buzz, the competition might be heating up between the two companies more than ever, but it still doesn’t mean they can’t co-exist. Will it even matter as more third-party apps begin supporting everything? It’s very possible that these updates will be portable among all of these different services anyway, and they could even support each other in the future. Facebook has had no problem with posting updates to Twitter. Last year, Google actually made a big deal about its initiative to make user data as portable as possible. They formed the Data Liberation Front to "make it easier for users to move their data in and out of Google products."

    More Possibilities for Google Buzz

    Google says it wants Buzz to be as open as possible. That means there is plenty of room to grow and increase integration with different services. The company says it will be wired up to other parts of Google and other parts of the Internet. Facebook Connect integration is "something they’ll think about", but it’s not happening yet. Google says it will bring Twitter content in, but will not yet let you push it out to Twitter…yett. That could change in time. Think about being able to do all of your social media and email communication from one place. That is something Mozilla is trying to develop with its in-progress Raindrop project. What if Google was able to do it with an established product like Gmail? Google says theyr’e "just getting started" with Buzz. 

    I think it’s safe to expect Buzz integration with a lot of other Google features. Google has already said that it places Wave as "high on the list of things they can do" as far as integration.

    Google could potentially integrate the feature with any product it chooses (and it has a lot to choose from). What if it became available with the click of a button on the Chrome browser (which is gaining popularity)? It’s already integrated with Google Reader. What about Google Docs? Wave? There could be a Google gadget, for users’ iGoogle home pages. There are a lot of ways tha Google could potentially get people using Buzz. Google says Buzz will be launched as an enterprise product eventually as well.

    On a sidenote, it’s pretty interesting that Google and Yahoo both now have products called "Buzz."

    Do you see the potential for Google Buzz to be successful? Would you use it? Please share your opinions.
     

    Related Articles:

    > Is Google Launching a Competitor for Facebook/Twitter?

    > Is Google Bad at Social Media or Really, Really Good at it?

    > Is Gmail Google’s Real Social Network?

  • Google Takes Popular Email App from iPhone For Itself

    The competition between Google and Apple appears to be getting fiercer by the day. Google has now acquired popular iPhone app reMail, and has discontinued it in Apple’s App Store, and most likely offer it in the Android Market (although this has not been confirmed).

    Google reMailreMail was created by a former Google employee, who used to work as a software engineer on Gmail. "Gmail is where my obsession with email started as an engineering intern back in 2004, and I’m thrilled to be coming back to a place with so many familiar faces," Remail creator Gabor Cselle says on his blog. "reMail’s goal was reimagine mobile email, and I’m proud we have built a product that so many users find useful."

    Although reMail has been removed from Apple’s App store, those who have already downloaded will continue to be able to use it. Support will be continued through March.

    "We’ve enabled all paid reMail features for you: You can activate these by clicking ‘Restore Purchases’ inside the app," explains Cselle. "reMail downloads email directly from your email provider to your phone, and your personal information, passwords, and email are never sent to or stored on our servers."

    This week at Mobile World Congress, Google CEO Eric Schmidt stressed the importance of mobile to Google’s strategy. This acquisition, which some have considered to be a slap to Apple’s face, is only the latest piece in that puzzle. It will be interesting to see if Google goes after any more apps from Apple’s store. The company has certainly been in the mood for acquisitions. Just last week, the company acquired social Q&A site Aardvark.

  • Gmail-Free Version of Buzz Being Considered

    Update: In case there is any confusion, Google will not be taking Buzz out of Gmail. The company issued this statement after some confusion in the blogosphere:

    No, we’re not planning to remove Buzz from Gmail. Among some of the features we’re considering is building a standalone Buzz experience in addition to the one in Gmail at some point in the future.

    Original Article: There’s no question that Google Buzz has been the topic of the week. Google took the tech and social media industries by storm as it launched its new social media product.

    Already, Buzz has shown a great deal of potential, but it has also created more than a few problems and concerns. Privacy has been the key concern. The most heavily publicized and perhaps most illustrative example of this can be found in this story from a woman who was automatically connected with her abusive ex-husband. Her post begins…

    I use my private Gmail account to email my boyfriend and my mother.

    There’s a BIG drop-off between them and my other "most frequent" contacts.

    You know who my third most frequent contact is?

    My abusive ex-husband…

    Google is rolling out additional privacy adjustments to Buzz, reportedly in response to this woman’s post. People you block in Buzz still show up as following you in Google Reader and there has been no ability to block people from Google Reader, but Google is working on changing both of these. Google has issued a statement to this effect.

    On another Buzz-related note, Danny Sullivan reports that Google is also considering a version of Buzz that would be independent from Gmail:

    “It’s clear that interest in Buzz may extend beyond the current Gmail base, and we’re open to serving that community,” said Bradley Horowitz, Google’s VP of Product Marketing, when I spoke to him about some Buzz issues at the TED Conference.

    Horowitz stressed that Google would still offer a version of Buzz within Gmail, in addition to any independent version.

    “We think that Buzz within Gmail is a great experience, and we’ll keep offering that as well,” Horowitz said.

    Google Buzz may have gotten off to kind of a rocky start in some aspects, but many others have paid the service plenty of praise. Google said as it was announced that it was only the first version, and they were counting on user feedback to help them improve it. At least they appear to be making good on that.