NOTE: For various technical reasons, robots can disappear or break without warning. At the time of writing, these robots work… but if you can’t get them to work, Google is probably doing some maintenance, or the robot’s developer is busy bug-testing. Google Wave is still very much in beta testing!

To use a robot, simply drop in its address as a new Wave participant.

* * *

1. Multi Lingual Bot — multilingual-bot@appspot.com

Say there’s a hot girl, but she doesn’t speak English — or, wait, better example: you’ve picked up a new client that speaks patchy English and you need to communicate a design specification. Perhaps more importantly, maybe you don’t speak any languages other than English? well not to worry! this bot translates each blip (a message in a wave) into a language that you specify. You type in English, they read your translation in a language of their choosing… and vice-versa!

2. CleanTXT – cleantxt@appspot.com

I tried to take a better screenshot of this robot, but it seems I just don’t know how to type like a proper ‘txt kiddie’. but even so, if you’re a ‘proper’ writer like me and hate, revile and wish ten kinds of hell upon those that write like deranged apes, this is a great robot to keep waves clean and readable.

In the above example, it capitalises ‘lol’, and replaces ‘r’ with ‘Are’ — the author says it’ll do a lot more. give it a go and find out just how illiterate you can be before it stops assisting you.

3. Dice Bot — dice-bot@appspot.com

You’ve probably gathered from the Wave Gadgets article that I like dice-rollers. I think the first thing that Wave will replace is forums and email. Dice-rollers… forums… email… what’s the common thread here? Role-players of course! Unlike the dice-rolling gadget I showed you previously, this neat robot actually converts your dice rolls in-line with your blips.

4. Piratify – piratify@appspot.com

I thought long and hard about including the Talk like a Pirate robot. I mean, is it really useful? Maybe, if you’re role-playing a pirate? Or perhaps you can use it once a year on September 19th, the official Pirate Day? I can’t really justify this robot’s inclusion in the list, so I’ll just say that it’s really quite fun. It’s always a pleasant surprise when you’re having a deep-and-meaningful with a female friend and suddenly you — or she — bursts out with a big all-caps ‘YAARRRRR!’

It’s a real ice-breaker.

5. Wikify – wikifier@appspot.com

I am using this screenshot to illustrate the potential issues of using more than one robot in a wave. For obvious reasons, when two robots try to manipulate your blip you can get some… interesting results.

Wikify simply replaces <wikify topic_name_here> with a link to the relevant Wikipedia entry. as you can see in the screenshot, ‘furries’ is correctly forwarded — and someone needs to make a Download Squad entry!

This is more of a ‘convenience’ robot, I think, but may be useful for the heated discussions that can occur in forum forays and rapid-fire emails. there are plenty of ’search’ robots that can drag results from external sites into Wave, but they are too numerous to list here!

6. Treeify – treeify@appspot.com

I stumbled across this very neat robot a few weeks ago when looking for something to organise a bunch of waves. Google Wave in its basic form is completely flat — you can link between waves, but there’s no inherent structure. with Treeify you can form trees of data — hierarchical structures that let you easily create projects or knowledge bases.

Obviously, when you are potentially collaborating with hundreds of wavers, a well-defined structure that keeps data atomic and easily-findable is highly valuable. Treeify does just that.

7. Emoticony – emoticonbot@appspot.com

You know, I’ve only just realised you can’t spell ‘emoticon’ without ‘emo’? how about that. Personally I would never install a robot like this, but I can think of a lot of people that might. there aren’t a huge number of graphics available, but more than enough to get going with (a complete list can be found on the Emoticony wiki).

As for the quality of the smileys themselves, I’m sure they will improve as time goes on! as will support for the more obtuse anime smiley faces hopefully…

Also, looking at the screenshot, I wonder if there will be an option to disable the ‘and Emoticony’ text in every blip. might get a little irritating after some time.

8. Embeddy – embeddy@appspot.com

Are you sick of the cutesy ‘-y’ naming convention yet?

This isn’t actually much of a robot, but more of a ‘helper’. You may have noticed, if you’ve seen the large Wave Tech Demo video that waves can be embedded into normal HTML webpages. Most of your non-email-like interaction with Wave will probably be out there on the Web!

This is how you turn a wave into a blog entry or a forum — simply by embedding a Wave onto a web page. You do need a Wave login to view and participate in each wave however… but judging by the number of invites going out, that’ll be real soon now!

9. Hangman bot – wavehangman@appspot.com

I made it all this way without including a game! There’s surprisingly slim pickings when it comes to actual, programmed games at the moment — perhaps because they’re all in development at the moment, awaiting Wave’s public release?

Hangman works just as you’d expect. I have no idea how big the dictionary is, or how long and esoteric the words can be, but it’s a great little time-waster nonetheless.

Also, note how the name is entirely un-cutesy. ‘Hangman bot’ — straight to the point.

10. Notify – wave-email-notifications@appspot.com

Here’s a good one to end off with! notify simply sends you an email when someone updates a wave that you’re following. You’re probably thinking this is a bit backward, considering Wave is meant to replace email. And you’re right, it is backward — but until Wave is connected to the outside world, it’s vital!

Right now, you can’t send anything in or out from Wave (without using robots!) Tabbing between Wave, Gmail and your other social networks is pretty irritating, especially if most of your friends still haven’t been invited! the notify robot lets you close your Wave tab, which saves a lot of resources, let me assure you — Wave is heavy. Then just open it up every time an email arrives in your inbox telling you there’s been an update!

Obviously, Google Wave will ultimately replace email and every other communication channel on the Internet — but until then, this is a must-have robot.

As always, if you have a ‘killer’ robot that the world should know about, leave a link to it in the comments!

Posted by: Stephen Baker on November 28

I came across a pumped-up email system called Pixetell that could help with a problem I’ve been having. Of late, I’ve been writing laborious click-by-click instructions to explain to people on a Ning network how to change their profiles. Sometimes the written word is a round-about way of communicating.

With Pixetell, it would be easier. you describe or explain whatever you want in your voice as you move the cursor around and click. And then it all goes in an email. The person receiving it might as well be looking over your shoulder. Here’s a video demo featuring my colleague Arik Hesseldahl.

The technology looks useful. it would be great for help desks. Not sure at this point if the rest of us would shell out $9 or $19 a month to be able to generate these messages. (Everyone can receive them, but for now, subscribers have to have Windows machines.) looks like something that Microsoft and Google could add as an enhancement. In fact, it may compete with parts of Google Wave. But Pixetell looks far simpler. (I started to watch the Google Wave video, but then realized, to my horror, that it wasn’t a minute and 20 seconds, but an hour and 20 minutes.)

Google wave is introduced for communicating and collaborating and really this has lot of potential to make you more productive. The beta version is under testing and lot of people are actively using Google wave and Google is busy in collecting Feedback from its ongoing Survey. Everyone has accepted that Google Wave has potential to make you more productive.

People who have tried Google Wave have given the feedback that they have easily managed their project on it, some has accepted that it store brilliance but not yet at use many users like the simply love Google and use all the apps of it and given the feedback that Google wave is very nicely integrated service.

Google has indicated that users love the Google Wave concept and everyone has well applauded the collaboration feature. People like the extension, robots and gadgets but most confusing part of Google wave is that the user’s who are trying the Google Wave beta version their friends, colleges or other business contacts don’t have access to Wave.
The beta testers also experiencing slow speed and want to get email integrated with it.

Many users are feeling that Google is not offering contacts to add and if no contacts than this is of no use at all.

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We’re pretty into Google Wave, and we want to give our readers get a crack at playing around with the invite-only preview, so we’re back with our weekly Google Wave invitation donation thread. Note: Read the entire post carefully before commenting.

If you’ve got Wave invitations you’re willing to donate, post a comment below, saying something like: “I’ve got 10 Wave invites; who wants one?” in that case, the first ten people to reply to that comment providing that generous soul with a means to invite you get invitations.

Here’s the important part:

Do not start a thread unless you have invitations to hand out. these threads get unwieldy very quickly if we don’t follow some ground rules. despite that, we really want to help give our readers a chance to try Wave, so we’re giving it a go anyway. Please, please only start a thread if you’ve got invitations. Don’t just post your email address thirty times hoping someone will grab it. If you want an invitation, reply to someone who’s offering one. Finally, it takes our interns hours to admin comments every day, and these threads wreak havoc on their efforts, so if you don’t already have an approved commenter account, please don’t comment on this thread.

Make sense? Good luck, and thanks to everyone who’s donating invitations. If you do happen to secure an invitation, be sure to check out The Complete Guide to Google Wave, Gina and Adam’s comprehensive book on Wave.

Note: If you’re posting comments but they aren’t showing up on the post, that means you are not an approved commenter. how can you become an approved commenter? Read our comment FAQ. in the meantime, please don’t post any more comments on this thread asking for invitations if you’re not an approved commenter.

Send an email to Adam Pash, the author of this post, at tips+adam@lifehacker.com.

Rumours of a new Google design boasting a revamped logo and three-pane search page have proved to be true.

A Gizmodo writer has discovered a code which enables users to preview the new layout when entered into a browser URL bar.

The new design features a striking logo with less shadowing, bright blue buttons, and most notably, a permanent pane on the left containing the search options menu.

The search options – which currently have to be toggled on manually – make use of colourful icons alongside tabbed categories such as news, images, blogs and video.

Also new to the layout is a “see also” section suggesting related search terms, and the lower half of the sidebar displaying filters tailored to the type of content selected.

Gizmodo welcomed the change, praising the cleaner, more streamlined page look.

“Like the Google Wave-inspired interface for Gmail, the new user interface is cleaner and bolder than the current version, offering more options to the user … it’s good to see some changes after so many years of same all same all.”

Meanwhile, a Softpedia news editor said the jazzed-up interface was a step in the right direction.

“It’s still the same minimalist Google design that we all know and love, but it’s gotten a bit livelier. a lot livelier actually, thanks to the small icons adorning the categories in the now-permanent sidebar, but especially to the bright, new blue, which is everywhere from the links to the logo.”

Said endofweb blogger Matthew Rogers: “It’s not a huge difference, but it’s noticeable to those who use Google regularly. The front landing page is now more obviously inviting and accessible for touch-screen devices. The results page is cleaner with formerly hidden options brought to light as standard fare, and sidebar prominence. Overall, they’ve upped the efficiency while keeping it classy, and that’s all anyone could ask when something as iconic as Google’s design gets tweaked.”

Webmonkey’s Scott Gilbertson wasn’t sold on the layout, however.

“The brighter, more Wave-like look of the prototype doesn’t bother us, but we’re not so sure about the sidebar, especially given that the same options are already available in the infinitely more compact menu that runs along the top of the page,” he wrote.

And a Daily Tech Log writer said: “For people unfamiliar with Google’s many features, it’s a smart move as it’s way more user friendly. For the rest of us, I prefer the simplicity of the old setup – Google’s minimalism has always tickled all the right spots – but I can deal.”

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Google Voice just keeps getting better and better, and sometimes it does so without the help of Google.

Developer Chad Smith today released a new version of his Google Voice dialer, which takes the service that’s so handy on the Google Voice page, and basically puts it on every web page. now there’s no need to migrate to a different page to make a call, and a number that’s on a page can now be dialed with a click.

It’s a feature that those who use iPhones have come to enjoy. when looking at a web page with a phone number, the iPhone software automatically makes that a link and when you touch that number you can dial it.

Now you can do that same thing from home.

I first learned about Smith because he wrote the very first Add-on to Google Wave, which I still find very useful. like Wave, Google Voice is still somewhat limited in release, but just like with Wave, if you don’t have an invite, the best idea is to just ask around among your friends; they may have an invite and not even know it. There’s no add-on for this, your pals will have to go to the Google Voice page, and at the bottom of the left column it will show how many invites they have left to give.

As Google continues to innovate with Google Chrome OS and build new products like Google Wave, it might seem as if they’re leaving their core business — search — to gather dust. a few recent developments are proving otherwise.

You may recall that GoogleGoogle acquired AdMob in the hopes of gaining market share and attention in the mobile search space, and yesterday they also announced the acquisition of Teracent, for improved targeted display ads.

Today, the company is talking up another new development around search: new ad formats. Google is actively testing and developing new ad formats, some already live in the US, and incorporating visual elements, more links to specific pages, location and maps, comparison ads, and even images and prices for specific products.

The new ad formats are designed to capture your attention and provide you with more relevant and contextual information that you don’t typically expect from ads. The visual elements in ads mean that should you search for a movie title, you might see an ad with a trailer that you can watch on the search results page.

Plus, if you’re searching for local products or businesses, one of the new ad formats you’ll see is a map that pinpoints a nearby shop, or a map that highlights all the surrounding locations of a particular chain.

According to Google’s blog post on the new ad formats, you’re also about to experience ads that help you with comparison and price-point shopping. Here’s their description of how these ads will function:

“You might spot ads that include images and prices for specific products. when shopping for the ski outfit your nephew has been hinting about all year, you might see pictures from the retailer’s inventory to help you quickly determine if they have the color and style you had in mind.”

Still other ad formats may introduce new ways of presenting information, such as Comparison Ads, which allow you to specify exactly what you’re looking for and to compare rates and prices in a single location. With the approaching new year comes resolutions to get things in order, so you might want an ad that lets you see side-by-side refinancing offers.”

Ideally the new ad formats will serve up content that searchers can actually use, and may blur the lines between an advertisement and valuable content. What’s your take on the new formats? Share your thoughts in the comments.

BEIJING, November 18 (Xinhuanet) — Email, or electronic mail, may become a thing of the past if research conducted by ISP TalkTalk and the University of Kent is to be believed. According to researchers social networking sites and Instant Message platforms are fast replacing traditional email. Twitter facilitates having several accounts and a method by which people may send private or Direct Messages to each other. Business social networking site LinkedIn has recently installed a Twitter interface into its site and Facebook already facilitates users sending instant messages.

The use Instant Messaging services like MSN Messenger Google Talk and QQ, which is popular in Asia, has grown in recent years particularly among younger Internet users. the research showed that youngsters in their late teens or early twenties much preferred using the likes of Twitter or MSN Messenger. only half of them used email regularly.

While email may not die out imediately it is clear that the format for online communication is changing. In September Google unveiled its much talked about Google Wave. Although only around 100,000 invites were initially sent out the non-linear approach to messaging has many people very excited. Google wave enable several people to take part in a conversation, called a Wave, and may add picture, video, maps as well as text to any part of an ongoing thread.

Internet Service Provider TalkTalk stated on its blog, “Email has been the dominant mode of communication over the internet for the past 20 years, but that doesn’t mean it always will be…Increasingly people want to send quick, short messages reaching many people in one go, and there are now better ways of doing that than via email.”

Editor: Zheng Limin | Source: Xinhua

While Google Apps will always have a soft spot in my heart for freeing me from Outlook I’d be the first to admit its UI is getting rather tired. so it appears would Google…

Leaked to Engadget today are some seemingly legit screenshots of new interfaces for Gmail, Google News and Google Docs all integrating Google Wave-style layouts. The site’s tipster said “the goal is to provide a consistent experience throughout all Google Apps and blur the line between the browser and the website (e.g. drag and drop, right-click, etc.).”

Certainly makes sense to us, and – as Engadget itself postulates – suggests that Google Wave (despite a somewhat mixed initial reaction) is fundamental to the search giant’s future plans. could it also be combined with the newly launched Google Dashboard to provide a unified experience in the impending Chrome OS? Well it wouldn’t hurt.

Donning my sceptical hat for a minute, let’s not get too carried away before an official Google confirmation/denial. Still given my own personal view is Google Wave isn’t a replacement for email, but blending its key functionality into email would be very welcome indeed..

Rest of the screenshots below.

In related news Google News could come under threat from a charged up News Corp after chairman and overlord Rupert Murdock said he will block aggregator sites from listing its content. Speaking to Sky Australia he said: “The people who simply just pick up everything and run with it – steal our stories, we say they steal our stories – they just take them. That’s Google, that’s Microsoft, that’s ask.com, a whole lot of people … they shouldn’t have had it free all the time, and I think we’ve been asleep”

As for those publications who cite stories originated from News Corp publications (which include The Times and The Sun): “if you look at them [referencing the BBC], most of their stuff is stolen from the newspapers now, and we’ll be suing them for copyright”.

Better? we beg to differ, but a brave new world awaits journalism and one everyone will be monitoring with interest.

Link:
via Engadget

eWorld – InternetColumns – come again! Wave Rich R. Dinakaran

It could be a coincidence. the week after I wrote about Google Wave, I got two Waves from Google.

My friend said he had also sent me an invite, and I am awaiting it.

Now I have two Wave accounts, which means I have 16 invites to give away! from a pauper, I am in a position to offer Wave invites to over a dozen people.

But there is a small catch. Google doesn’t deliver your invites immediately. It takes its own time. It may be a couple of days, or even weeks. Google itself alerts you: “Invitations will not be sent immediately. we have a lot of stamps to lick”.

As Google licks the stamps, it reveals the reason for offering invites. “Google Wave is more fun when you have others to wave with, so please nominate people you would like to add.”

Google is right. There is no point in having a Wave account if you don’t have others to collaborate or `wave’ with. When you spread your invites, you must also ensure that you give a few to those with whom you will have to `wave’ or collaborate often. else, Wave will be just a glorified chat application.

There are other problems with Wave. Most of those who have Waves don’t know what to do with it. Online collaboration is new, and it takes time to learn. I am still learning how to surf the Wave – usefully. only now have I learnt to embed a Youtube video.

Google also warns you to “keep in mind that this is a preview so it could be a bit rocky at times”. Rocky it is, to some extent, but given Google’s reputation, we can expect it to iron out the creases soon. the `welcome’ video also alerts us to the fact that the Wave is in `preview’ mode, which means it is not perfect.

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