Today Google is releasing its Google Talk, Labs Edition, a new version of Google Talk which enables news notification of GMail, Google Calendar and Orkut, in addition to the built-in features of Google Talk Gadget. It is Google’s initial foray into the desktop space whereby its users can now install Google Talk in their PCs or laptops. Though it will have little impact on the instant messenger (IM) market, this release underscore Google’s aim in extending its product not solely on the Web, but also as a client software version. From now on, there will be four different version of Google Talk: the original client, Gmail Chat, the gadget and the Labs edition.

To try it, You can download it when visiting this page.

via [Google Operating System]

Google has lost another high-profile executive to Facebook in less than a month. Ethan Beard, Google Director of Business Development has resigned from the company and will start work at Facebook. Why Facebook over Google, Ethan Beard told TechCrunch:

I think Facebook is great for a variety of reasons: the company has an innovative product with amazing growth, the team they have assembled is first rate, and the business is at a very exciting time in its development. I am excited to join Facebook at a time and in a role where I can have a significant impact on its core business and bottom line.

Other Facebook high-profile executives that previously worked at Google include Sheryl Sandberg (now COO), and Gideon Yu (now CFO).

via [TechCrunch]

Last August, I did a brief introduction on the launched of Google Sky, now Google has took it one step forward by launching a browser-based Google Sky. For me, it sounds like they’re relaunching this Google Sky. It is not the same old version of Google Sky, as I profiled in my previous post, i.e. an added new feature that existed within the Google Earth software, but users can access to it simply through a Web browser, and no software needed to download in order to use it.

According to the official Google blog, this browser-based Google Sky was done by an intern at Google, namely Diego Gavinowich. He came from Buenos Aires and was a finalist in Google’s Latin America Code Jam. It should be noted that he completed this Web version alongside with other staff engineers at Google within his internship at Google.

Since it is a browser-based Google Sky, users will be able to view the sky, search for the planets and galaxies, in addition to zoom in and out and pan around the celestial bodies. With this new release, Google now can deliver this wonderful experience to an ever larger circle of users (some users’ PCs didn’t support the software version of Google earth.) Apparently, this browser-based Google Sky is an example of Google moving back its application into browser-based, as Google is an Internet firm, we can’t imagine that we had to download a Web client in order to experience their new offerings.

I think this browser-based Google Sky is terrific, as viewed from its features that reported by Google LatLong:

- Powerful search that lets you browse tens of thousands of named objects.
- Three optical sky surveys that show you what your naked eye would see if it had a really good zoom lens. Try switching to infrared, microwave, ultraviolet, or x-ray to see the sky in a completely different light. Or blend between these views to create unique visualizations on the fly.
- Galleries highlighting the best images from Hubble and many other telescopes.
- Current planet positions and constellations.
- Overlays of custom KML content. (Simply paste a Sky KML URL into the search box, just like on Google Maps.)
- Last but not least, the Earth & Sky podcasts gallery is not to be missed, particularly for those who run a classroom.

There is also a video clip about this new release of Google, as embedded in the below.

via [The Official Google Blog]

A new search engine created by Ex-Googler called Topicle has been launched today. It was Steffen Mueller’s own idea, to launch a search engine community which business operating model is similar to Wikipedia that allowed users to create or edit the content, in this case, i.e. search results. Steffen Mueller, previously held as the Product Manager at Google, and played a part in the launching of Google Maps, Google Web Search and Froogle, believed in search engine should be performed better if the results are relied on human efforts rather than computer algorithms.

Topicle begins with the Internet users, i.e. you. Of course, in this sense you can say the value of Topicle is lies not so much in advanced and unique technology, but in the critical mass of the URLs the users submitted. In illustrate this, Topicle has provided an about page to show users how they can make Topicle a better search engine. First, an user can create her own search engine by enter the search engine name such as Best Recipe Sites, and below the column user can submit the URLs that she think is most suitably. Apparently, Topicle’s technology will check the URLs in order to qualifying the URLs as well as checking the invalid URLs, resulting the spam sites may not easily be shown on the Topicle search result pages. Besides, users can edit the URLs others submitted and they are allowed to vote each of the URLs in the scale from 1 to 5. Click on the link “URLs are waiting for your rating” will enable you to do the edition either “Skip this URL” or “Report Spam.” And thus, for the long term, Topicle has the potential to collect all the best yet hidden Web link in the search engine sector.

The deepened between Topicle and users tend to fill a gap that other search engines available on the Web by allowing users to keep control of the search results. Apparently, users are the clear winners, as all the URLs are handpicked by users, in spite of the back-end search engine are provided by Google Custom Search technology. However, the future success of Topicle depends on the contribution of users, will the users are more than happy to submit the URLs they like to Topicle still an unknown factor. Nevertheless, it will be really interesting to take a look at Topicle a few years from now, as more and more URLs are submitted by the users.

As of present, Topicle is the first Web product of Zoolium and is getting major publicity for the launched of this vertical search engine.

via [ReadWriteWeb]

Google Sites, is a new service that launched by Google in order to help users to create the Websites. It is mainly developed by using Google-acquired JotSpot’s technology, and it is Google’s foray into what I believed will be the first step for an organization to make a team site as easily as possible. As it is designed for organization, an user need to sign-up with her office email, not that those individual email addresses with the suffix of gmail, yahoo, hotmail, or aol.com. In other word, only schools or businesses email addresses can be used in applying the Google Apps Team Edition, as Google Sites is part of the beta products available in Google Apps. Presently, Google Sites is a latest new addition to the Google Apps, as Google Apps Team Edition currently includes the following Google Apps services: Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Personalized Start Page. Once an user sign-up with the service, she is eligible to create Website with Google Sites. In return, Google also assigns a partner page for this particular user. The partner page will looks like a personal Google page, with search bar at the top, and several links such as link to email, today’s weather news, Reuters news, Google Talk, and etc., but the partner page will has its own sub-domain, prefix with http://partnerpage.google.com/yourusername.

As mentioned by Google blog, Google Sites is a feature-rich application. It offers templates, a rich-text editor, 10GB of storage for each Google Apps account and integration with other Google services so you can embed gadgets, calendars, spreadsheets, presentations, photo slideshows and videos. You can invite people to collaborate or just view a site and you can also publish the site so that anyone can view it.

Below is the Google Sites that I’ve just made.

The sample Google Partner Page:

via [Google Operating System Blog]

I just came back from a bookstore and bought the FAST COMPANY technology magazine. By usual, I don’t like about technology magazines because I often find technology magazines have been occupied by a lot of advertisements. However, this issue of FAST COMPANY caught my attention because its headline has a word on Google, i.e. 15 REASONS GOOGLE IS NO. 1. It interviewed 15 different people working at Google, each holding position such as CIO, VP, Director, and etc. All these Googlers shared their experience of why they think Google is different. It is a fine read. If you’re interested in reading it, this is the online version.

Google has announced its latest product, i.e. Google Health is no longer being a stealth mode, and already began its journey of pilot test. The first test center will be at the Cleveland Clinic where some 1,500 patients will start to test the Google Health service. Despite the fact that people are skeptical about the medical data being stored by an Internet company, Google stated that this product will only help users to keep their health records more secure, portable, accessible and useful. You can realize that there is a lot of sanguine reasons for Google in this product and believed that they shall succeed.

If you trust on Google’s principle: You can make money without doing evil, then continue to do so if you believe that Google Health is appealing to you. However, bear in mind that this product will not be available generally to users until second-quarter of 2008.

via [AFP]

The Times Online today is reporting that Yahoo! may resume its talks with AOL about a possible merger. This new direction for Yahoo! is simple, yet clever. Yahoo! was reported want to avoid the takeover from Microsoft, a talk with AOL about the merger possibilities would signaling its intention to keep the Yahoo! brand name in the market while retain its core values. However, the merger deal is expected not to be finalized easily as this involved several parties. Google has a 5 per cent stake in AOL and AOL’s back-end search engine was provided by Google.

It is common sense to assume that Yahoo! might want to pursue its media dream by merging its media businesses with AOL. On the other side, Google will take over Yahoo! search or ads division, further solidifying its number one position in the online ads industry.

via [Times Online]