Google Wave – A Threat to Microsoft Outlook!?

A month ago, in the last Google I/O Conference, Google announced a new software for communication and collaboration on the web, called Google Wave.

This new software, developed by the two brothers who developed Google Maps (Lars and Jens Rasmussen), formally from the mapping startup called ‘Where 2 Tech’, describe a "Wave" as equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

So, how it works?

Lars Rasmussen, a Software Engineering Manager at Google and one of the lead developers of Google Wave, describes:

“In Google Wave you create a wave and add people to it. Everyone on your wave can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the web. They can insert a reply or edit the wave directly. It's concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave. That means Google Wave is just as well suited for quick messages as for persistent content — it allows for both collaboration and communication. You can also use "playback" to rewind the wave and see how it evolved.”

Want to see it in action? Check this Google Wave Keynote Video:

(Forward to 0:02:45 to start with the demo…)

This software is scheduled for release later this year.

More information can be found at the Google Wave Homepage and in the Official Google Blog - Went Walkabout. Brought back Google Wave.