Google Catches a Wave

Google announced Thursday plans for a new application/protocol designed to revolutionize communication. (end over-blown marketing hype) Google is billing its latest project ‘wave’ as a modern rethinking of email and instant messaging. A "wave" is “equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.” In other words, it allows a group of people to talk and share media or ‘wave apps’ in real time.

Furthermore, Google plans to make the wave API open-source allowing disparate individuals to develop a plethora of unique and useful or frivolous but cool applications that work with Google wave. For instance, during the demo the developer dropped a Google map into the wave and manipulated it in real time. Google has launched a site for developers and hopes to create a number of applications before wave launches later this year. Also, for those of you concerned, they have already created a Twitter app.

For more information check out the wave site, or google Google wave, there a million and one stories about it.