Google Wave

What is Wave?

If you want the official take, take a peek at Google’s own Wave preview, or else you can digest the Wikipedia entry. Positioned as a real-time communication tool, my take is that Wave is not actually yet fully defined (I doubt that even Google knows where it will go) and will evolve/adapt as the commercial application becomes clearer.

If I was pushed for a definition, for me it’s a powerful collaboration tool that enables disparate groups of people to connect, interact and exchange information in a dynamic way, where conversation is multi-directional and instant.

Wave is not IM or Live Chat

One of the throw away comments I’ve read is that Wave is basically a posh version of IM. Not true. IM may facilitate communication but it has inherent limitations. Message transfer is not instant, there is a lag as you wait for a message to be written.

This means conversation is staged, not fluid. IM is not multi-directional, the conversation is linear and you can’t play back specific sections when required, a key function of Wave. Perhaps the key difference is that in Wave you can have multiple mini-waves, or wavelets, enabling micro conversations to build around the principal conversation but without creating interference. IM can’t cope with this. Wave is what happens when IM gets bored and needs space to grow, and then some.

Under the hood: key functionality

Below is a snapshot of the core features of Wave:

Wave is a protocol. This enables other developers to build wave applications to enhance solution provision.
Open source. The evolution of this technology will be collaborative and community led and developers can build their own apps within waves.
Continuity. Users can open the Wave at any time, add comments and progress the discussion; this becomes iterative over time and the history is stored and easily accessible.
Real-time. Messages are transmitted character by character to mimic real life conversation (you don’t get a “John is typing....” command and then a download of everything); you can respond in real time to specific sections of a message.
Multi-directional. Participants can comment on conversation strands that they have not previously been involved in and playback previous sessions; this facilitates investigating and manipulating the entire history of the wave.
Private replies. You can specify recipients of messages if some content is sensitive and needs to be exclusive.
Embedding You can embed your wave on other websites and blogs, with wave content being displayed dynamically and in real-time.
Drag and drop file sharing. Goodbye attachments, hello drag & drop. Simply drag your file and drop it directly into the wave to give access to others.
Wave interaction. You can take content, including images, from one wave and drop them into a new wave, making content sharing quick and easy.
Auto-correction. Google Wave has inbuilt language monitoring to auto-correct things like spelling mistakes.
Mobile compatibility. Waves can be accessed and edited from devices like Android and iPhone.
Multi-language. Collaborative editing is supported via the interface.
Social media compatibility. Social gadgets can sit within waves to support networking and sharing.

If you want to trial Wave you will need an invite as it is still in Beta testing, please send an email to Richard@maxwifi.co.uk and we will send you one of our invites, first come first serve though as we have a limited supply.

Originally posted 04 January 2010 13:58pm by James Gurd at http://econsultancy.com/

Google Wave - What, Why and How ?

Copyright © 2009 Max WiFi