Google Wave – Communicate and Collaborate in Real Time

Hello All friends …

I hope … umm no, I’m sure you are having best in every aspect of your life …. hey don’t think i’m again going to tell you something about aspect oriented programming … no, not at all at this time … though I know it’s third part is pending but don’t think I’ve forgotten … it will surely there in next couple of days …

Again hat’s off for Google … From last 2 days, I’m exploring Google Waves, a new product from Google … and now at this time,  my level of “fan to Google Products” has increased to some more points … Google Wave is probably the most exciting product announcement from Google since Gmail. Someone gave really good definition of google wave … as take Twitter, Gmail, Instant Messenger, Flickr, and Google Docs. Pour them into a blender; stir in robots and open the whole thing up to developers to the mix and start blending. You might have something like Google Wave .. interesting han … yes indeed it is ..

Google Wave was introduced at the Google I/O developer’s conference in 2009. Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation
and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

In Google Waves, people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. It is a shared platform. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ&feature=player_embedded]

Some Features of Google Waves

Real Time Conversation among many people at at time

People can talk simultaneously, can share their and ideas suggestions in real time with with many others at a time. You can reply to any part of the conversation any at point. Other participant can see what you are typing as you type rather just getting a message “My ABC is typing…” All of your friend can join a single thread of conversation (infact a wave) to share their ideas .. hence make it a real time group discussion.

Organizing events

Keep a single copy of ideas, suggested itinerary, menu and RSVPs, rather than using many different tools. Use gadgets to add weather, maps and more to the event.

Group projects

Collaboratively work in real time to draft content, discuss and solicit feedback all in one place rather than sending email attachments and creating multiple copies that get out of sync.

Photo sharing

Drag and drop photos from your desktop into a wave. Share with others. Use the slideshow viewer. Everyone on the wave can add their photos, too. It is easy to make a group photo album in Google Wave.

Meeting notes

Prepare a meeting agenda together, share the burden of taking notes and record decisions so you all leave on the same page. Team members can follow the minutes in real time, or review the history using Playback.

Brainstorming

Bring lots of people into a wave to brainstorm – live concurrent editing makes the quantity of ideas grow quickly! It is easy to add rich content like videos, images, URLs or even links to other waves. Discuss and then work together to distill down to the good ideas.

Interactive games

Add a gadget to a wave to play live interactive games with your friends (we’re hooked on Sudoku!). See everyone’s moves as they make them in a fast-paced game or take a break and come back later.

Basic Concepts in Wave

A wave is an entire conversation on Google Wave. Think of it like a large back and forth thread with one or more people in a discussion forum or through an email conversation.

A wavelet is a smaller branch of conversation spawned from a large wave. This is like the smaller group of party-goers having a private conversation in the kitchen while everyone else hangs out in the living room. That same group could later rejoin the larger wave.

A blip is the smallest unit of conversation. Think of a blip as a single email or a single instant message.

Google Wave is probably a next generation email. Google Wave is a communication system, just like email or instant messaging. Only it combines these methods of communicating and adds a few more.

Some Keyboard Shortcuts I found Usefull

while exploring waves, i found some keyboards shortcut keys that makes wave easy to use ..

• Shift+Enter will submit a reply and start a new reply.
• CTRL+Enter will indent a reply
• Home and End take you to the beginning/end of a Wave
• Tab or Spacebar “jump” to the next unread ‘blip’ below (a blip is a message)
• Press Shift+Spacebar to move up to see new blips/messages (as opposed to going to the top of the Wave and pressing the spacebar)
• CTRL + click on Wave opens up a Wave in a new panel (hold down CTRL and the Wave)

Author Profile

Aasim Naseem

Hey, Thanks for your interest. I’m a PMP, AWS Solutions Architect, and Scrum Master certified professional with 17+ years of hands-on experience leading projects, building teams, and helping organizations deliver software solutions better, faster, and smarter.

Outside of work, I’ve got a deep curiosity for history — especially ancient civilizations like Egypt. I also enjoy reflecting on the everyday moments that shape how we live and work. This blog is my space to share insights, lessons, and thoughts from both my professional journey and personal interests.

Thanks for reading — and I hope you will find something here that matches your interest.

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