Now that I have humbly tried to cover the situational analysis at this time for Google Inc and its direct competitors, it is time to focus on something new, that I consider a significant part of the short-term future of the company – the Google Wave.

What is Google Wave? – Communication, Collaboration and Sharing tool (pictures, videos, links, thought etc.)

Until now, the user had an email client, a social network to share his/her thoughts, an instant messenger to talk to friends and peers, and a photo bank to share photos… Virtually, there is a tool to satisfy almost every individual’s need to interact and share stuff with others. But with Google Wave and its launch later this year that landscape will be changed forever.

The marvellous thing about Google wave is the open-source code that will allow this medium’s long tail usage. Since the online user is getting more and more demanding, this customization will assure this new tool’s acceptance.

• – Wikis
• – Drag-and-Drop sharing
• – Applications and Extensions
• – Language spell checker in 40 languages

Another great point here is that interaction is held in real-time – users can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. And if two or more users are online within the discussion simultaneously, they can talk to each other again in real-time.

The killer here is the fact that Google Wave can be implemented in third-party websites – personal and organizational. So this tool will allow real-time follow-up and relationship management. One can embed it in his/her website/blog or another CRM system.
From a personal point of view, the Google Wave will allow the user to collect all the online conversations he/she participates in or would like to follow in one place. This is a time-saving feature. I am sure many will be appreciating.

All is asked from us to be patient enough to wait for this tool to be released later in 2009.

Here is the demo video from Google’s IO conference in San Francisco on May 27, 2009:

Here is some background reading, should, of course, you being interested to follow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Wave
http://mashable.com/2009/05/28/google-wave-guide/
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/google-wave-drips-with-ambition-can-it-fulfill-googles-grand-web-vision/
http://mashable.com/2009/07/21/google-wave-invites/

Image source: Google Inc.

Copyright © 2009 Borislav Kiprin. All Rights Reserved.