40Tech

Google is thought to be preparing its own social network, called “Google Me” by some.  Smarterware recently published a slideshow from a senior research at Google, that might give us a glimpse at what to expect from Google Me.  The slideshow focuses on how our social networking needs differ among different groups of friends.

Last week we reviewed Zenbe as a possible replacement for those of you who used and came to love Google Wave. Today we offer our second suggestion. This suggestion isn’t a collaboration site so much as a system to replace Wave. The system to replace Wave is based on using the full-range of Google’s other products. Read on for a look at the Google services that we use, and how we tie it all together into a manageable system.

The founder of Digg, Kevin Rose, tweeted that Google is preparing its own social network, Google Me. Rose deleted that Tweet, leaving some people wondering if he had been forced to retract it. Later, on Leo Laporte’s This Week in Tech, Rose repeated the assertion. Then, SF Weekly and a former Facebook executive also confirmed that their sources had provided the same information. We don’t normally like to traffic in the rumor business here at 40Tech, but our previous concerns over Facebook’s privacy problems make this one particularly interesting. If this is true, can Google mount a credible challenge to Facebook’s dominance?

One of the great features of Google’s Gmail is the ability it gives you to customize your Gmail experience using Google Labs. Labs features can be accessed by clicking on the green beaker symbol at the top right of the Gmail screen. Some Google Labs features fall into the “cute” category, but several of them are useful, and can make you more efficient. Here are the top 5 Labs features that can make you life easier.

“Open” is the new buzzword du jour, with a few of the major tech companies claiming to support open standards. Two of those companies are Google and Apple. As Wikipedia notes, there is no single definition of an “open standard,” and interpretations vary with usage. Even the companies themselves seem to have differing definitions of open, depending on the setting. Let’s take a quick look at Apple and Google, and at how “open” they are.

If you’re a book author, keep your eyes open.  Under the Google Book Search settlement agreement, you may have to take action or cede rights to Google to use your work.  The Google Book Search settlement agreement is a proposed deal between the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers, and Google.  The deal arose [...]

Google Buzz is Google’s latest foray into social media.  Buzz seems to borrow some elements from Twitter, a few from Facebook, and even some from FriendFeed.  Like most new products, though, Buzz isn’t perfect.  Many users have expressed their opinions on ways to improve Buzz, and we’re no different.  Here are 5 ways we think [...]

I love a good conspiracy theory — they’re just fun, aren’t they? The other day, I read a lengthy article that describes 33 conspiracy theories that are apparently proven true. I tweeted about it. I also wrote a post on my Posterous and Tumblr accounts a few days ago expressing some annoyance at the country-based [...]

Last week, Google officially opened the doors of Google Chrome Extensions, the extensions site for the Google Chrome browser. This puts Google Chrome one step closer to being a serious competitor for Firefox 3.5, especially considering the super-fast loading speeds of the Google browser. Google Chrome Extensions launched with over 300 active add-ons, with more [...]

As a not-so-closet techie (or tech-geek, if you will), I find myself instantly attracted to all things new and shiny — even when the polish is not altogether there yet. This is why, on this US Thanksgiving evening, I find myself writing a post about Google Chrome OS from within a recently released build of [...]