Google Wave is a new offering that combines email, IM and wiki-style editing. It is all set to go on public trial today…
Google believes that its new offering will transform how people communicate online. Google had dubbed it as what e-mail would look today if it were invented today. Google Wave will be available to 100,000 invitees only. Users can send invitations to others to join the Wave.
Google Wave is an open source application. This means that third-party developers can view the source code, develop applications on it and extend it further. Google has said that Wave is basically a communication and collaboration tool.
Google Wave was developed by Lars Rasmussen and his brother Jens. Rasmussen said, “It struck us that email is still the main communication tool on the web, which seemed remarkable given that it is 20-year-old technology.”
Google Wave also incorporates real-time typing. This allows users to see the comment as it is being written and so can formulate an answer in realtime. While this feature can be a time-saver, it can also be really annoying. For users who do not want other Wave users to see what they are writing in realtime, Google is working on a “draft mode” which will allow this feature to be switched off.
Unlike instant messenger, Google Wave conversations will be archived so that users who join the conversation later can also read all the earlier messages.
One of the more radical features of Google Wave is wiki-style editing. This allows other users to edit conversations. A playback facility will allows everyone to see the edits made by other users. Wave also allows users to share images. All that the user has to do is drag and drop the image file onto the Wave platform.
Currently, Google writes all its design documents in Wave. Google is well known as a collaborative firm.
Google Wave will work with most browsers. Internet Explorer users have to download an extension called Chrome Frame to make Wave work. Microsoft, on the other hand, has criticized this extension claiming that it may have security issues.
Google Wave was developed mostly in HTML 5, the next-generation markup language for the web. Google Wave already features a host of applications. These include Sudoku and Chess. A crossword puzzle is also on its way.
The success of Google Wave will depend on how users take it. If people do not adopt it, Google Wave will never see success. Google is very optimistic about Wave. Ever since Google announced its new offering at a Google developers’ conference in May, over one million people have registered interested.
Initially, users will be able to invite only 5 members to join Wave. Wave will have a full consumer launch early next year.