Google Advances
Internet search giant Google has continued its juggernaut-like advance across the digital landscape in recent weeks, trotting out new services and products along with an announcement of an additional 14 million or so shares to be released into the marketplace.
Complacent the Google management team is not. No one can accuse it of resting on its laurels. You might think that pure search as a product would be enough to keep the company going.
Then again, this management team has surely seen the demise of other market segment leaders: Netscape and AOL spring to mind.
This summer The Mountain View, California company released a revamped desktop product, Sidebar, that offers highly personalized information features. Sidebar is essentially Google’s Desktop Search tool repackaged with several innovative features while addressing privacy concerns raised by users of the earlier product.
Also over summer Google upgraded the capabilities of its “Earth” tool (earth.google.com), building on the technology acquired in the takeover of satellite imagery company Keyhole. Be prepared for some effort if you plan to test out this product: a 200 meg download to get going and you’ll need a 3D-capable video card.
A day after releasing Desktop 2/Sidebar, Google trotted out its attempt to win over a portion of the Instant Messaging (IM) market. Google Talk (www.google.com/talk/) has some promising elements but it is questionable at this point whether it can compete effectively with MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger. These two, when combined with AOL, represent on the order of 75 million users.
"At Google, we're continually investing in areas where we can make technological change, and we recognize the importance of efficient instant communications and information exchange," said Georges Harik, director, Product Management, Google Inc. "Google Talk further enriches our users' communications experience, whether they choose to communicate via email, IM, or a call."
Google has two tricks up its sleeves that may help in the conversion battle. Number one is the large number of users of its free Gmail service. In fact, you will need a Gmail account in order to use Google Talk. If even a small percentage of those Gmail users adopt the “Talk” product then a serious assault on the top three may take place.
Number two is the voice or audio messaging aspect of “Talk.” Although not VoIP (Internet Telephony) per se, the service may well evolve into that sort of technology. For now, by all accounts, the quality of the voice service is superb.
Just to reiterate, in its present form, Google Talk’s voice component is strictly for computer to computer calling. No calls to a standard telephone at present.
Google Talk’s minimalist approach to IM could win new converts to the field but keeping them aboard, not to mention attracting users from other platforms will be key to the product’s long-term survival.
Immediately obvious in the spartan interface is that this is no bells and whistles product. Straightforward messaging. That’s it. No emoticons. No group chat feature either. That surely is an oversight that needs to be corrected almost immediately.
The need for a Gmail account seems hokey. It’s not as if the technology depends on it. Taking a long term strategy, though, Google is offering a Gmail account to anyone in the United States with a text-capable cell phone. Some observers see this as a means of winning over the Skype telephony crowd once Google Talk evolves into a platform that can call out to standard telephones.
Canadian readers without a Gmail account will have to nuzzle up to a friend with one: most Gmail users have around fifty “invitations” to distribute as they see fit.
For now Google Talk is a Windows-only product. Given that restriction however, this is one easy installation. Older machines shouldn’t present a problem: for this column it was tested successfully on various machines ranging from an old Pentium-II box running at 500 MHz under Windows 2000, right up to a recent laptop running XPPro.
For more information and downloads:
Sidebar/Desktop2: desktop.google.com
Google Earth: earth.google.com
Gmail: mail.google.com
Google Talk: talk.google.com
Skype: www.skype.com
Peter Vogel is a Physics and Computer Sciences teacher at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School (www.ndrs.org). Suggestions and comments may be sent via email to peterv@portal.ca.
Complacent the Google management team is not. No one can accuse it of resting on its laurels. You might think that pure search as a product would be enough to keep the company going.
Then again, this management team has surely seen the demise of other market segment leaders: Netscape and AOL spring to mind.
This summer The Mountain View, California company released a revamped desktop product, Sidebar, that offers highly personalized information features. Sidebar is essentially Google’s Desktop Search tool repackaged with several innovative features while addressing privacy concerns raised by users of the earlier product.
Also over summer Google upgraded the capabilities of its “Earth” tool (earth.google.com), building on the technology acquired in the takeover of satellite imagery company Keyhole. Be prepared for some effort if you plan to test out this product: a 200 meg download to get going and you’ll need a 3D-capable video card.
A day after releasing Desktop 2/Sidebar, Google trotted out its attempt to win over a portion of the Instant Messaging (IM) market. Google Talk (www.google.com/talk/) has some promising elements but it is questionable at this point whether it can compete effectively with MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger. These two, when combined with AOL, represent on the order of 75 million users.
"At Google, we're continually investing in areas where we can make technological change, and we recognize the importance of efficient instant communications and information exchange," said Georges Harik, director, Product Management, Google Inc. "Google Talk further enriches our users' communications experience, whether they choose to communicate via email, IM, or a call."
Google has two tricks up its sleeves that may help in the conversion battle. Number one is the large number of users of its free Gmail service. In fact, you will need a Gmail account in order to use Google Talk. If even a small percentage of those Gmail users adopt the “Talk” product then a serious assault on the top three may take place.
Number two is the voice or audio messaging aspect of “Talk.” Although not VoIP (Internet Telephony) per se, the service may well evolve into that sort of technology. For now, by all accounts, the quality of the voice service is superb.
Just to reiterate, in its present form, Google Talk’s voice component is strictly for computer to computer calling. No calls to a standard telephone at present.
Google Talk’s minimalist approach to IM could win new converts to the field but keeping them aboard, not to mention attracting users from other platforms will be key to the product’s long-term survival.
Immediately obvious in the spartan interface is that this is no bells and whistles product. Straightforward messaging. That’s it. No emoticons. No group chat feature either. That surely is an oversight that needs to be corrected almost immediately.
The need for a Gmail account seems hokey. It’s not as if the technology depends on it. Taking a long term strategy, though, Google is offering a Gmail account to anyone in the United States with a text-capable cell phone. Some observers see this as a means of winning over the Skype telephony crowd once Google Talk evolves into a platform that can call out to standard telephones.
Canadian readers without a Gmail account will have to nuzzle up to a friend with one: most Gmail users have around fifty “invitations” to distribute as they see fit.
For now Google Talk is a Windows-only product. Given that restriction however, this is one easy installation. Older machines shouldn’t present a problem: for this column it was tested successfully on various machines ranging from an old Pentium-II box running at 500 MHz under Windows 2000, right up to a recent laptop running XPPro.
For more information and downloads:
Sidebar/Desktop2: desktop.google.com
Google Earth: earth.google.com
Gmail: mail.google.com
Google Talk: talk.google.com
Skype: www.skype.com
Peter Vogel is a Physics and Computer Sciences teacher at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School (www.ndrs.org). Suggestions and comments may be sent via email to peterv@portal.ca.
posted by Peter Vogel at 1:34 PM
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