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Google Launches Buzz, Targets Twitter and Facebook

by Thomas Houston on February 9, 2010 at 01:49 PM

Google just announced Google Buzz, a new system for sharing (and commenting on) updates and media both privately and publicly. A social network similar to Facebook and Twitter, Buzz seems to be fully integrated into many of Google's services; you'll be able to access it via Gmail, Google's redesigned mobile homepage, a new dedicated Buzz app, and an updated version of the Google Maps app.

Gmail integration is at the core of the product, but where Buzz distinguishes itself from Twitter and Facebook is its strong focus on location. The aforementioned mobile apps will offer ways to share your media and location via GPS, a capability that, Google claims, will cut through the clutter so prevalent on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Google Buzz



Buzz focuses on the exchange of content, building on Twitter's simple retweet and @reply features. In other words, as you share content on Twitter, flickr, Picasa, Google Reader and what-have-you, you'll be able to scroll through and view your friend's responses to your photos, videos, and more. Your personal Buzz page will live on Google's Profiles, which should function like a more media-rich Twitter profile page.

Google highlighted five key features of Buzz at the event this morning:
  • Easy friends lists: on setup, Buzz automatically adds your friends and family based off of your contacts in Gmail
  • Sharing: as mentioned above, Buzz incorporates Twitter, flickr, and information and media from other sites you use (note: no Facebook integration yet)
  • Public and private settings: security and privacy in mind, Google lets you post to the entire world or just to a small, private group
  • Inbox integration: select notes (for example, a reply to a photo you've posted) will appear in your Gmail inbox
  • Recommended buzz: Google's recommendation engine will suggest information that it 'thinks' will be relevant and interesting for you.
Rollout of Buzz starts today, and will be complete in the next couple days. Unlike Twitter and its comparatively simple text-based 140 characters and simple links, Buzz is more reminiscent of FriendFeed and Facebook's threaded, multi-level conversations. It will be interesting to see if Buzz, like Google Chat before it, can take advantage Gmail's hundreds of millions of users (176 million, as of Decmber 2009) to grow. As the Financial Times blog notes, Buzz could quickly become an enormous social network overnight if most Gmail users opt to join.

The mobile homepage should work on most mobile Web-browsing platforms, buzz.google.com will work on Android phones and the iPhone, and the updated Google Maps app will appear on Android, Windows Mobile, and Nokia's S60. Instead of tying your location to simple latitude and longitude coordinates, Buzz will attempt to tie it to nearby, recognizable real-world locations (e.g. addresses, businesses, restaurants). If shared publicly, these geo-tagged messages will be browsable via the newly updated Google Maps apps.

Finally, Google announced it will be adding Buzz to Google Apps eventually, adding this kind of sharing and conversation functionality for business users. Look below for the official Google videos for Buzz and Buzz for Mobile, and keep checking back for more hands-on once Buzz is fully rolled out!

Google Buzz


Google Buzz for Mobile

Mobile Buzz, accessible at m.google.com from a mobile device, appears to be up and running. We got some hands-on with the mobile Web app, so check out the gallery below.

Buzz Mobile App Hands-On


Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, buzz, facebook, google, google buzz, GoogleBuzz, top, twitter

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