by Media Optimiser
O. Gaywood
Google made an announcement on the second day of the Google I/O conference that has got e-mails circulating, IMs flapping and web chats buzzing - a new way of communicating online that could see all these methods of interaction plummet in popularity. O. Gaywood
Google Wave is an in-browser, real-time communication tool that is a hybrid of all current ways of talking online. Developed by two of the creators of Google Maps - Jens and Lars Rasmussen - and friends, Google Wave is a mash up of e-mail, chat and file sharing software that allows multiple users to discuss, swap files and replay conversations, character by character if needs be. Waves can be embedded on any website and they can also be customised, with users being offered the opportunity to develop their own applications and extensions.
Google's own applications are ready to use straight away with Wave - want to give someone directions then add in a Google Map, for example - as well as other options, like the ability to start a game of chess while you're waiting for someone to give an answer.
Waves will also have Wiki functionality where anything written can be edited by anyone - great for a business conversation to ensure business information is constantly up to date, even better for juvenile pranks in a conversation with friends. Text can be interrupted with comments - or questions - and a conversation can start up in the middle of someone else's paragraph.
Google Wave is not yet available to the public - the official launch is expected later in the year. Currently it's only a tool for developers to play with and tweak. Until then e-mail and IM remain dominant for online chat.
