What's the buzzz all about...? GOOGLE BUZZ

Google adds 'Buzz' to Gmail

Fuelling Competition: Google Co-founder Sergey Brin, participates in a panel discussion in Mountain View, California
Source: Wall Street Journal

Google Inc. launched a new service to bring social updates such as photos and Web links into Gmail and some Google mobile products, in a challenge to Facebook Inc. and other social media sites where people go to check up on their friends.

FEATURES

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  Dubbed Google Buzz, the service allows users to post and browse content from people they regularly communicate with over Gmail in a new stream-like interface.

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  People can choose to follow content from other Google users and Google tries to figure out what's relevant, surfacing some updates directly into a users' inbox.
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  People can consume the stream of information through a left hand menu under a user's inbox.
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  Beginning soon, they will also be able to post and view updates from Google's mobile Web site or Buzz mobile software application.

Todd Jackson, the product manager for Buzz, described the service as "a new world inside of Gmail." "There has always been a giant social network beneath Gmail," he said

The service borrows features from a variety of social media sites; whether it can stand out and fill a new need remains unclear. Like Facebook, Buzz allows people to post content publicly or privately and comment on posts. It also allows users to "follow" others, a model popularized by Twitter.

What does Facebook has to say?
Social networking giant Facebook, said in a statement that the company hadn't used Google Buzz but was "supportive of technologies that help make the web more special and the world more open" "(We) are interested to see how Google Buzz progresses over time"

The Distinguishing Factor
Buzz plans to distinguish itself by helping people aggregate other social sites. To start, users can connect Buzz to other Google Web sites, along with Twitter and Yahoo Inc.'s Flickr. Mr. Jackson said connecting the service to Facebook in the future was "something to think about."
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