iGoogle, Google’s offering of a single location for users to access applications such as Gmail, RSS feeds, news feeds, and weather information, now offers users the ability to add social-networking capabilities. This puts iGoogle closer to powerhouse social networking platforms like Friendster, Hi5 and MySpace, and may even offer access to these sites on iGoogle soon.
In addition, Google launched 19 “social gadgets” last week. The browser-based applications included games such as Scrabble and Chess (where users can play with other users anywhere in the world), joint to-do lists and video sharing on YouTube. More social gadgets are expected to be launched soon.
Another new feature on iGoogle is the option of adding a “friends” list to user profiles. Users can now select contacts from their Gmail address book and use social gadgets to connect with them. There’s also a new feature that lets users chat with their contacts directly from iGoogle.
At this point, it’s unlikely a Google-Facebook tie-up will happen – Google uses OpenSocial API for third-party developers, while Facebook uses its own API called Facebook Connect. However, as we know, anything is possible and all we can do is wait and see.
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