Google today is announcing the Google Apps Marketplace, and app store for the 25 million people currently using Google Apps.
The store comes out of the desire for increased functionality among Google Apps users, and the wish of developers to reach the millions of businesses that depend on Google Apps every day.
There have been companies developing for Google Apps for some time, such as SocialWok. However, the process has always been difficult, and overly complex for both developers and users alike. The new App store will change that by creating a central location for applications, a central management areas, “universal navigation,” data security, and simple sign in …
Mark Fletcher builds software, that’s just what he does. He may have sold the system that became Yahoo Groups for $400 million, and then made millions selling Bloglines to Ask.com as well, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to stop making software. And it’s not just any software he makes, either. Those two projects changed millions of peoples’ lives.
Fletcher will unveil his newest creation, a lightweight group communication tool called SnapGroups. You probably going to like it a lot: it’s easy, it’s clear, it’s got good social design and it’s real time. Check out the screenshots below …
Google looks to be following up the addition of its Google Chart Tools with a neat addition to Google Labs – the Public Data Explorer.
The purpose of the new tool, Google says on the new lab’s page, is to make “large datasets easy to explore, visualize and communicate”.
Google, with its access to an immense assortment of information, is in the perfect position to help us with ways to display this information …
Hulu has lost Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and “Colbert Report” in a dispute with the network over almighty advertising revenue — but the real implications could be far more reaching than a loss of popular content. Hulu’s days as a destination for free online video may be numbered.
The once-groundbreaking video-on-demand website may not be able to run on pre-roll ads alone, which don’t generate as much revenue as broadcast commercials. And the obvious alternative — charging subscription or pay-per-view fees to viewers — is likely to simply drive them back to live TV or DVR use …
It looks like Google has decided against releasing new iPhone apps for the time being and has focused most of its mobile development efforts on web apps instead. While the Buzz web app is very good, however, it can’t quite rival the speed and comfort of using a native iPhone app. Fiam’s Buzzie is the first Buzz app for the iPhone ($1.99 – iTunes link) and even though it is still missing some features …
Because today’s startup generally requires significantly less seed capital to function, the legal contracts once required for large-scale deals are no longer appropriate. Rather than forcing startups to draft lengthy legal documents, one attorney is offering an invaluable resource to entrepreneurs. Best known as the Fenwick and West attorney responsible for Twitter, Ted Wang recently released a series of templates to help startup companies navigate the difficult task of investment financing …
We’ve learned that Street View will also begin to feature user-submitted photographs. According to a recent Google Lat Long blog post, “We began integrating user photos into Street View last year. User photos allow you to view locations from entirely new perspectives, whether through the eyes of a talented photographer with a knack for capturing architectural detail, or simply taken from locations we couldn’t get to… We’re making it easier to navigate through these images in a way that should feel similar to how you’re used to exploring within Street View.” …
One of the features that Google’s online office program Google Docs lacks is a cloud-based version of Microsoft Office’s “clipboard” feature. Although you can copy and paste when using Docs, it’s a much simpler procedure. The keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + C” copies and “Ctrl + V” pastes, but it’s a one-time process. You can’t accumulate a collection of copied items for later pasting as you can with the Office clipboard.
Some may argue that’s by design – Google likes to keep things simple. However, it appears that may not be the case, after all. As spotted by the Google Operating System blog, a new server-side clipboard looks like it may be close to launch …
Gtriage is a new service that aims to help Gmail users suffering from “information overload” due to an overcrowded inbox – a problem affecting the majority of email users today. The way the service works is that it scans all your email messages and to determine which ones are the most important to you. It then tags those messages “Important” with bright red labels so they don’t get missed.
This sounds brilliant, doesn’t it? The only question now is will it actually work? …
If you’ve been on the Internet for long enough, you may remember the old UNIX finger command. With finger, you could just type in a command like finger email@yahoo.com and the email server would return more information about this person. Today, Google enabled the next generation of the finger command – WebFinger – for all Gmail accounts. WebFinger provides users with a standardized and decentralized way of sharing their profile and identity information online
Google began a small beta test of WebFinger in August 2009. Today, Google’s Brad Fitzpatrick announced that the company has now enabled WebFinger fall all Google accounts with public profiles.
