Menlo Park (ip-192.com): Google Wave, a collaboration tool that combines email, instant messaging and rich content such as video, interactive polling, and maps, has been released to the general public. The availability of the online tool, which Google described as "a new web application for real-time communication and collaboration," was announced during Google's I/O conference in San Francisco.
"Waves" are hosted XML documents that allow users to concurrently modify content. Any participant of a wave can reply anywhere within the message, edit any part, and add additional users at any point in the process. Team members are notified of any changes, additions or replies in all collaborations (or waves) they are actively participate. All changes are visible in real time if users are online, but they can be displayed in chronological order later.
Initially released only to developers, a preview release of Google Wave was extended to 100,000 users in September 2009, each allowed to invite additional users. Now, everybody with a Google account can sign in and start a new Wave.
On the first logon, a "Welcome to Google Wave!" will tell users that they can use the service for:
- Live discussion: let everyone have a voice;
- Task tracking: stay on top of who needs to do what;
- Meeting agendas: leave a meeting on the same page;
- Document creation: draft content and gather feedback in one place;
- Brainstorming: let the creative juices flow;
- …or just start with a blank wave and see where it takes you!
Google Waves can be confusing at first, but several videos available on YouTube explain how to use the service efficiently.
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