Google Wave Video Overview

Earlier today I shared the announcement of Google Wave — the new, as-yet-unavailable web app that might — if Google has their way — revolutionize the way we do email, instant messaging, communicate and collaborate. Now we’ve got the entire Google Wave keynote from the Google I/O developer conference. See it for yourself, then share your opinion. 

Is Google Wave the next best thing since sliced bread? Or is this yet another Google product destined to wither on the vine?

Is Google Wave the New Email?

This week at the Google I/O  developer conference, they announced what they describe as a whole new communications platform. It incoporates email, IM and integrates other communication mediums like Twitter, and it is called Google Wave.

Google Wave takes the various communication and collaboration streams that you currently use and ties them all together in “waves.” It’s similar to the threaded conversations in Gmail, but incorporates IM, Twitter posts and using the Wave API, anything you want to build. 

Wave was created by brothers Lars and Jen Rasussen and Stephanie Hannon in Google’s Syndey, Australia offices. Lars explains, “Wave is what email would look like if it were invented today.” 

MG Siegler at TechCrunch is at Google I/O and has written great review with his initial perceptions. Note that Siegler’s comments are based on a demonstration, not a hands-on review. His thoughts? Simply put, Lars may be right. 

Google Wave shows a lot of promise. You will be able to use Wave as a “product” built on HTML 5, but you can also embed “waves” on your blog or website to allow direct interaction. And you could even host waves on your own servers, making it an intriguing choice for collaboration behind the firewall. 

What’s interesting is that Wave incorporates some of the real-time features that have made their way into the limelight via Twitter, FriendFeed  and (most recently) Facebook. Updates to a wave show up in realtime without a page refresh, and search also updates realtime. 

Google plans to make Wave open source. You can read more about the Wave protocol at http://www.waveprotocol.org/

What do you think? Could Wave be the future of online collaboration?

Google Syncs Your Phone

I can remember when… (man, I sound like my grandpa) 

I remember when your cell phone (we didn’t call them mobiles) had it’s own address book, and you had no way to back it up. If you lost the phone and didn’t have a redundant storage system (paper or PC), you were screwed. 

Smartphones emerged and we could sync! Well, we could if ActiveSync didn’t act up and give us grief. But we were still tethered to a single PC. 

The phone companies started offering to backup your address book from your phone — for a cost. Are you kidding me?! 

Now Google comes along and introduces Google Sync, promising to sync not only your contacts, but your calendar entries as well (if your phone supports it). Google Sync is currently in beta, and works with the iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and many Nokia phones. Of course, you’ll have to have a Google account to make use of this, but if you do, you’ll want this. 

The beauty of Google Sync is that you can make changes on either your phone or on the web (via any internet-connected PC) . The updates syncronize in both directions. 

Here’s a video overview of Google Sync:

There are some subtle differences between features and functionality on different devices, so be sure to check their site for the details on your phone. 

And remember that this is beta — be sure to backup your contacts and calendars just in case. Google even reminds iPhone users: 

Important! Google Sync uses the Microsoft© Exchange ActiveSync© protocol. When setting up a new Exchange ActiveSync account on your iPhone, all existing Contacts and Calendar events will be removed from your phone. Please make sure to back up any important data before you set up Google Sync.

All existing contacts and calendar events will be removed? Gulp! 

Seriously, back up first, but give it a try. I’ve been using it happily for some time with no serious problems. 

Google Sync