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The Google Wave logo

There was a bit of hubbub within the Internet community when Google started giving out exclusive invites for users to preview their newest baby – Google Wave.

Friends’ shout outs were variations of “I finally got a Wave invite!” and comments like “Nominate me!” and “Please send me an invite!” started going around social networking circles.

Google has done it once again, creating the same hype as when Gmail first came out. This “by invite only” feature works rather successfully, but will Google Wave live up to the hype and expectations of hundreds of intrigued users?

What is Google Wave? That is undoubtedly the first question to address.

Well, according to Google, it is an “online tool for real-time communication and collaboration.” Obviously, the key word here is “real-time.” Look at it as the evolution of email and IM thrown together – you can chat, post and reply to messages at once, share media – all in real-time.

Posts within the Google Wave interface are called waves. A wave can be:

• A conversation, email or IM style, wherein you can reply to messages as they are posted.

• Edited – any participant can edit the content posted and share ideas, comments, or suggestions with everyone included in that particular wave.

• Media-rich. That is, you can post photos, videos, and other media within a wave for all participants to view.

Google Wave’s notable features include:

• Inline comments – wave participants can comment on a specific line of text, especially if one is sharing a document in a wave. You can append your comment right after the text that you wish to add notes to.

• Photo sharing – just attach a photo to a wave, and participants can click on it to view in a lightbox or slideshow.

• Gadgets/extensions – some very useful stuff when you are collaborating with others but since this is still a preview, there are still few of these available at present. Interesting ones include the yes/no gadget, which is kind of like a poll where participants can choose yes, no, or maybe to a particular question, a Google Maps extension, and a game gadget where you can play games like Sudoku with your friends.

When to use Google Wave?
Google gives us some examples where Google Wave can be of use. Event organization is one – the yes/no gadget can be very useful here. It can be used for group projects or meeting notes, where one can collaborate with inline comments in real-time, as well as for brainstorming with other participants online. Or if you’re just bored and looking for something to pass away the time, why not engage in some interactive gaming? Challenge a friend with a Sudoku wave.

What do people think of Google Wave?
After the initial buzz, people have begun to sit back and really play around with what Google Wave can do. According to some, the collaboration part isn’t really quite there yet. As it is, Google Wave seems to be just an enhanced version of email and IM, and people are still very much comfortably attached to the latter rather than switching elsewhere.

But then again, Wave is still in preview stage, after all, and knowing Google, we are pretty sure they still got some surprises up their sleeve. For now, all we can do is wait and see and play around with the nifty preview.

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