A new Web-based, open source communication platform was described this week, forthcoming from Google later this year.
Google Wave integrates several different digital communication functions, including email, instant message, microblogging, maps, and events. Conversations are organized into threads or “waves,” each potentially containing content from various sources. New people can be added to a “wave” in mid-course, then “Playback” the wave to catch up.
Collaborative document authoring is built into waves, wiki-style.
Additionally, Wave is supposed to reach out beyond the app, into the rest of the Web.
Google isn’t just thinking of Wave as another web app that it creates and you use on one site — it wants you to be able to use it across all sites on the web. Say, for example, you have a blog. As a post, you could share a wave with the public and allow others to see what you and the other people in your wave are doing. And these visitors to your blog could even join in as well right from your blog, and all the information would be placed right into the original wave.
Put another way, Waves can be embedded in a Web site. “Users could use this as a chatroom, as a way to contact you, or for something more.”
Wave is targeted at developers as well as users, with the launch of an API site. A Wave Protocol Federation site has been launched. The Wave team already demoed a mashup between their service and Twitter, called (inevitably) Twave. Within Wave, extensions and “Gadgets” can be built and installed:
First: almost any iGoogle or OpenSocial gadget can run within Google Wave. That means thousands of applications that have been already created will work in Google Wave. Second: a gadget built within Google Wave can take advantage of live interaction with multiple users. This means something like a live online game with active participation from all users.
As another Web-based communication tool, Google Wave should compete with various Microsoft offerings, including Outlook.
For more information, see this intro page or the Wave site video. There is also an interview with the Wave team, available here. Mashable offers one extensive guide.
(thanks to Gardner Campbell via Twitter for one key link)
In: Communications, Tools · Tagged with: API, email, Google, IM, mashup