Google introduces Google Buzz

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

On Tuesday, Google introduced a new service called Google Buzz, a new feature to share updates, photos and videos. The service is built into Gmail, which already has 176 million users, according to comScore. Buzz's features will be available on Android operating system based phones as well as the iPhone, allowing real-time updates.

Google hopes to integrate frequently visited sites like Picasa, Flickr, Google Reader, Twitter and YouTube, so users can stay connected to everyone via a single browser window.

Buzz has a built-in group of friends which are automatically selected including the people that the user communicates with most frequently via Gmail and Google Talk.

Google Buzz will be available as a mobile Web application, letting the user provide status updates by voice and geotagging their posts. Location-based updates can be read while one is using Google Mobile Maps. Posts by fellow users can be classified location-wise.

Google executives said that Buzz would help tackle the problem of information overload, as Google would apply its algorithms to help people find the information most relevant to them.

Facebook currently has more than 350 million active users worldwide. Google already has a micro-blogging site Jaiku, comparable to Twitter in terms of format. Orkut also has been one of Google's previous ventures in social networking. Google Buzz will look to compete with such sites.

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Sources

Edward Ho. "Google Buzz in Gmail" — Official Gmail blog, February 9, 2010
Miguel Helft and Brad Stone. "With Buzz, Google Plunges Into Social Networking" — The New York Times, February 9, 2010
Jared Newman. "Gmail goes social with Google Buzz" — PC World, February 10, 2010

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