Tech Talk

Google has announced its entry into the social networking arena, and confirmed the reports Tech Talk cited Monday.

Mashable has all the details and screen captures on Google Buzz.

Check them out now, and check Tech Talk later for analysis.

Google will launch a new feature as early as this week to make sharing media and updates with friends easier, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The new module, which will be integrated into Gmail, is intended to make the e-mail application “more social” by allowing users to “view a stream of status updates from people they choose,” the newspaper reported.

The new feature seems to expand off of the Google Talk application currently integrated into Gmail. 

I regularly update my Google Talk statuses to reflect what I am doing, and utilize the application to communicate with friends and colleagues — as I once did on AOL Instant Messenger.

The difference, according to the Journal, is that the development will include an area where users can sift through a stream of updates — that includes the Google-owned YouTube and Picasa services —  in a similar timeline view as on Twitter and Facebook.  It remains uncertain if updates from non-Google entities will be included.

If the development goes across networks, Mashable notes:

[T]he new features could be thought of more like a TweetDeck or Seesmic, looking to provide an aggregate view of your friends’ social media activities along with the ability to push status updates to the services you use from inside of Gmail. If not, it could be thought of as a major competitor to Twitter and Facebook as Gmail looks to covert its millions of email users into users of a whole new breed of social media service.

Nexus One image courtesy of Google.

Rejoice!

Google’s new smart phone, the Nexus One, is now available for purchase. 

You could take a virtual tour of the phone here.

But before you run out — or, more accurately, log on – and give the search engine $530 for an unlocked version that is said to work with “nearly all” GSM SIM cards, (or send T-Mobile $180 and get locked into a two-year contract,) I suggest reading Wired’s detailed review here.

For more analysis and a comparison of how the Nexus One stacks up among other smart phones, I recommend checking out an article in the Wall Street Journal here.

And then, if you ultimately decide to get the phone, send your review to Tech Talk.  We would love to hear from you.

Google users have come to expect the search engine giant to ring in various dates of interest by decking out its homepage icon with appropriate garb.

However, this year, in addition to launching a festive icon, Google has created an Easter egg.

To admire Google’s fireworks, simply hit the “I’m feeling lucky” button on Google.com without typing anything into the search box.

And have fun.  But hurry, it won’t be around for much longer.

And if you enjoyed this one, check out this previous Tech Talk postabout cracking Facebook, well kinda.

And happy 2010!

As our society comes to expect to know what is happening immediately, it is growing increasingly important for search engines to deliver that information or risk losing its audience.

Shortly after parts of Times Square were evacuated earlier Wednesday over concerns of a suspicious van that turned out to pose no safety risk hours before the country turned its eyes toward the crossroads of the world, a technology writer entered “Times Square” into the query boxes for Google and Bing.  Guess who had the most relevant information, or for that matter, the only pertinent information.

If you guessed Bing, you are correct! 

According to TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld, Google returned old news results about New Year’s Eve preparations whereas Bing offered timely articles from ABCNews and CNN about the still developing story.

While Google had the relevant information on its site, it was buried and not easy to find.  Bing successfully delivered the most relevant news to a person yearning for it.  While Google still controls a substantially greater market-share, the search engine giant should not forget about its core business — Internet searches.

Real-time searching will play an increasingly prominent role in our society as more people sign on to social networking, and Google needs to recognize that.

If Google drops the ball too often, people may begin to become accustomed to turning to Bing for timely and relevant news queries — and then day-to-day searches, just as folks turned to Google over Yahoo not so long ago.

Great news!

Additional Google Wave invitations were released this evening.

Wave, a revolutionary platform that encourages communication and collaboration, is among the most coveted invitations on the Internet — as invitations to GMail were.

I am happy to report I received my invitation, and have one to spare.

It would only be appropriate to share it with you, my loyal reader.

So, if you would like to score an invitation, simply e-mail me at wave@jamiedeloma.com and mention this blog in the subject.  I will select one person at random at midnight on Monday morning to nominate for an invitation — and announce it on a subsequent post.

The invitation will be requested immediately, but could take Google several days to process.

Good luck.

RELATED TECH TALK POSTS:

• Ride the wave, dude
• Google to give 100K users access to Wave this fall

Concerned about the potential for a swine flu epidemic?

The Internet offers everything you need to know about the spread of the virus and how to stay healthy.

For general information about H1N1, check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  They have a microsite dedicated to:

• Basic information about H1N1
• Taking care of sick loved ones
• Frequently asked questions
• Background information
• What to do if you come down with H1N1 symptoms
• Information about antiviral drugs

To see where H1N1 is now, check out HealthMap. This dynamic site allows users to:

• Track H1N1 around the world
• Zoom down to the continental and state level
• Determine what specific points in a community have been impacted
• Check out the site’s reporting sources

Are you looking to get the H1N1 shot? Flu.gov offers all the information you will need, including:

• State-by-state flu shot locator
• Vaccine information
• Relevant social media links
• H1N1 self-evaluation
• Pandemic plans for each state, including Connecticut
• Flu prevention and treatment information

And you could always set up an RSS feed dedicated to H1n1 by clicking here.

While the Internet offers a great multitude of information about the spread of the potentially fatally virus, good old soap, water and common sense may be your best bet.

Be well.

Do you want Google Wave?  Unfortunately, so does everyone else.

And as the technology giant did when it released Gmail five years ago, users need an invitation to gain access to the service.

So what is a person who is craving access to the re-imagined Web-based e-mail interface to do?

Well, you have a few options.

The first option is to request an invitation through Google.  However, there is no way of knowing when you might actually receive the ‘it’ ticket of the moment.

The second option requires about $50 and lots of patience and trust.  There are several dozen folks on eBay claiming to have invites to sell.  The going ‘buy it now’ rate is about $50.  However, most of the sellers who are offering this option are saying that while they will immediately invite the buyer, Google has indicated there would be an undisclosed delay in processing and sending the invitations.  Also, there appears to be a constant struggle between sellers and eBay, as all of the invitations (including multiple day auctions,) have been appearing and disappearing throughout the day.

The third option involves almost as much trust as patience.  There are numerous tweeters (like @goowaveinvites and @googleinviter) who promise to dole out invitations if folks retweet their ridiculous plea for an invite multiple times.  However, there is no independent indication of any success through this sort of method.

The final, and perhaps most promising option, is utilizing a Web site called Google Wave Invites.  This site is incredible simple to use and is free!  It also allows folks with invitations to donate them to those seeking them.

While I am still not among the lucky few, I am trying to gain access to Wave. 

For the record, I have tried to solicit an invitation through Google itself as well as Google Wave Invites.  I will let you know if I have any success, as I hope you will, too.

Good luck!