Gmail on steroids
As we anticipated earlier, search giant Google has launched a new social networking tool called Buzz. On one level it initially looks like a way of integrating a bunch of Google services like Gmail, Picasa, Reader and YouTube with a Twitter-like status update stream functionality.
At the launch event, which was broadcast live on YouTube, the Google execs - which included co-founder Sergey Brin - faced a lot of questions about how inspired by Facebook, Buzz is. Of course they insisted that Google doesn't spend much time thinking about what other companies are doing, but Buzz seems designed to deliver a similar user experience to Facebook.
Perhaps the most telling indication of what has inspired Buzz was a large chunk of the presentation given over to highlighting the extra functionality that comes from using it on a mobile device. Integrated with Google Mobile Maps, status updates can be geo-tagged and you can also see status updates from nearby users.
Doubtless a bunch of other location-based services and advertising will also be introduced, as Buzz becomes another weapon in Google's quest to dominate the mobile Internet.
Google Buzz will be rolled-out to Gmail users over the next few days. The Google Buzz site says you can download it onto your phone now, but we couldn't at time of writing and it may be restricted to Android and iPhone apps for now. Here's a Google vid explaining what it's all about
