It looks like Google is going after the social media space and launching something brand new tomorrow! Can this be a possible twitter / facebook killer? We all just have to wait until tomorrow to find out!

For now, all we know is tomorrow Google will launch a brand new social feature for Gmail that is likely to allow users to make ’status updates’ which is a very common thing for people to do on both twitter & facebook. However, unless Google really innovates here, or somehow manages to integrate their social stream with Facebook or Twitter, I don’t really see Google catching up with these big guys anytime soon.

Like Nicholas Carlson says, Google has never really been good with consumer products. In fact Google’s universe is all surrounded by their search product. All the other products that they tried to release such as Social Network – Orkut, Google Video, Gmail never really became mainstream.

But I have to say – they tried, they tried hard! Google made a lot of expensive acquisitions to acquire the user base/technologies of sites that they figured would help them to take a new product mainstream. They acquired Youtube (Video Site), Jaiku (Micro-blogging service), Picasa (Photo sharing), Zingku and many others. A complete list of Google’s acquisitions to date are here. Out of all these products, only Youtube sort of went mainstream in the video space, other than that most of the other services they they have acquired didn’t go anywhere.

So it would be really interesting how they are going to compete with the two social messaging giants – Twitter & Facebook. Facebook is now beyond acquisition as they have become way too big and they are also sort of tied up with Microsoft from the beginning. Twitter on the other hand was rumored to be acquired by Google for some time, but looks like thats not happening too!

John Battelle writes:

Google is simply not understood by consumers to be a place where they can connect with friends and colleagues. If it intends to become that, it has some DNA mutation in its future.

This one is indeed going to be very interesting…

Update:

Mashable reports that they have received an invite to the Google HQ for tomorrow where Google is supposedly going to unveil some product innovations in two of it’s most popular products. The event begins at 10:00 a.m. PT tomorrow and honestly i can’t wait to hear what Google plans to announce!

Bloggers Reaction around the Web

Google To Unveil Broad New Social Product Tomorrow – Techcrunch

Google’s ‘Social’ Gmail: Could It Really Work? – PC World

Google to make Gmail a little more social – Cnet

Report: GMail to Add Twitter-esque Feature – Search Engine Watch

Google to Introduce a Twitter/Friendfeed Like Feature for Gmail – The Next Web

Google’s Social Push Accelerates Tomorrow With Gmail Social Stream – Social Times

Google Stream? Google will launch “huge” new social features tomorrow – Download Squad

Google to Add Social Features to Gmail – NY Times

Gmail to Get Social News Feed: Report – GigaOm

Google Going Social…Again? Gmail to Add Streaming Updates – Search Engine Journal

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Today I was listening to Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani, Jeff Jarvis & Pete Cashmore on This Week In Google, and during the end of the show Jeff popped a question to Gina in regards to Google Apps account and how it can be used as a Google Account. If you want to know what the exact question was you got to download the TWIG Episode 28.

But anyway I’ll just quickly go and answer the question in general for everybody as I believe many others (including myself) have run into this loop hole before.

Google Account vs Google Apps Account

Even though both the names sounds kind of similar but they operate very differently. Google Account is basically an unified sign-in system used by Google for most of google products online including – Gmail, Picasa, Google Groups, iGoogle, Google Docs, Web History etc.

On the other hand Google Apps is rather a professional/business solution of a google applications suit that consists of Email, Document collaboration, calendar etc. For most people your Google Apps username is yourname@yourdomain.com, which you can use to sign in to all these different Google applications available under the Google App Suite.

So if you are a Google Apps user and you don’t have a ‘regular’ Google Account, then you wont be able to log in to most of the other Google services that are not a part of the Google Apps program.

Make your Google Apps or Any Email Address a Google Account

The simple solution is to make your Google Apps account or any email address that you like (hotmail, yahoo, aol, domain.com) a Google account.

Step 1: Go to the Google Account Registration page: https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount

Step 2: Fill in your email address and a password. Note: Your email address here can be an existing Google Apps email account or even a 3rd party email (non google app based company email, yahoo, hotmail etc.).

Step 3: Google will send you a verification Email & maybe a verification SMS as well. Once the verification is complete that particular email address of your choice will become a “Google Account” and now its not any different from a gmail address.

You can now use that email (google account) in things like – Picasa Web, Google Voice, Google Profile etc. which was previously not available.

This is exactly how MSN passport (a.k.a Windows Live ID) works. You can make your Gmail account your Windows Live ID and sign in to skydrive or anywhere that requires a Windows Live login. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a hotmail/live account.

Hope this helps!

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If you like music discovery engines that recommends you new music every time you listen to a song then you will definitely appreciate the new addition in the Youtube Labs – Youtube Music Discovery Project.

This new feature is not only a music discovery tool but also a video playlist maker for youtube. The page has a big search box on top of which says, “Find>Mix>Watch,” and once you enter a name of artist and hit the “Disco” button, the system automatically finds related artist/songs and mixes them on one single playlist for you.

You can enter any music group or artist, and it takes only few seconds before it populates you a nice play list, along with a thumbnail video and a description of the band right on the page. You can find related artists, create a mixtape, and save playlists directly from the page as well. The best part of this Youtube Music Discovery system is it lets you add or delete songs as you are listening to music and watching videos.

So lets say if you search for Pearl Jam, the results that you are likely to get in a playlist are Eddie Vedder & Co., Nirvana and Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and Black Crowes etc.

So do you feel like discovering new music today? Try out youtube.com/disco

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Google Maps has recently launched a new and nifty feature that automatically makes suggestion to similar places that you may like based on your search query in maps. So if you search for a restaurant that you love, Google maps will automatically suggest other restaurants on that area that you may love.

According to the Google LatLong blog, suggestions to places aren’t based on a specific characteristic. Google uses a “broad set of signals” to deliver recommendations.

Even though this feature is not available in Malaysia/Singapore yet for me to test out, I really feel that this feature will be extremely useful for travelers who are searching for hotels, restaurants or bars in any given area.

Search Engine Land recently pointed out that Google Maps will also be rolling out yet another compelling feature that will enable you view inside of the store. Similar to street views, Google Store Views will allow people to visually walk into the store from Maps. Now that’s cool!

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Helvetica is probably one of my most favorite font that I use for most of my design work. And its really fascinating to see that there are many other Helvetica lovers out there who has taken their love to the next level!

For those who love to bake & also love the Helvetica typeface, I present to you Helvetica Cookie Cutters by Beverly Hsu.

» Click here to continue reading…

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Wunderman recently did a study by surveying 17,000 people and found unqiue profiles and purchasing trends among partisans of the top-three web search providers – Google, Yahoo & Bing.

According to the study, if you are a user of Bing, you’re probably an early adopter, but you also prefer to visit, shop and ultimately make purchases from Walmart when compared with other search-engine users. Google searchers, on the other hand, are customers of Target and Amazon, and Yahoo searchers have a strong preference for wireless service provider AT&T and Sprint.

Advertising Age reports:

The study, being released next week, was conducted by Wunderman (an agency partner of Microsoft), along with BrandAsset Consulting, Zaaz and Compete. It is intended to determine the profile of search-engine-brand loyalists and identify how search engines are changing consumer behavior and helping to build brands.

“It’s going to wake people up because it’s a new wrinkle,” said David Sable, vice chairman-chief operating officer, Wunderman. “What this means if you are managing a brand is that you need to know how consumers relate to Bing, Yahoo or Google and how that reflects on you.”

It is very interesting that the findings sort of indicate that the different search engine consumers has a different perception on the big brands and the search engines really influence their decisions that they make while they are on those sites. The study found different degrees of consumer engagement, from visiting to purchasing, based on the search engine used and the brands and vertical categories studied — automotive, travel, retail and wireless.

Below is a small summery of the findings:

• Google users are more likely to book a flight online at JetBlue or make a reservation on Hotwire.
• Google users tend to do research on a Lexus, while Bing users tend to like Toyota cars more.
• AOL customers feel less intellectual than their peers and are usually 55 and older. They spend their money more responsibly, want to blend in to the crowd, feel like they’ve gotten a raw deal out of life, expect less from their future and, believe it or not, still use dial-up modems.
• Bing users are middle-aged, highly educated tech-savvy individuals who consider themselves to be average and spend more than 10 hours a week online.
• Googlers tend to be the average internet Joe. They are usually conventional people yet open to trying new things, believe in following rules and don’t consider themselves any smarter or less intelligent than the person next to them.
• Yahoo users tend to be 55-plus, reserved and a less-independent group with little faith in imagination. They feel they have little control over their future and are skeptical and cautious of new or untried ideas.

Discussion on Techmeme

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Super Bowl XLIV is one of the most important game of the year out of all events on the American sports landscape where advertisers pay millions for a 30 seconds of your time on the big screen.

YouTube has just announced the launch of a dedicated Super Bowl ad channel at youtube.com/adblitz, which will allow viewers to vote on the commercials immediately after they air on TV.

The channel is sponsored by the car manufacturer Kia Motors and is a one-stop shop for everything Super Bowl-related. As soon as the ad is aired on the super bowl, the video will also go out on this particular channel on youtube where everybody can vote and comment. The top rated commercial will be featured on the YouTube homepage on Thursday February 18th.

[Source: Youtube Blog]

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