NEWS

Yes, Google Does That Too

Just like Microsoft in the ’80s, ’90s and early ’00s, Google is on a quest to take over the world. And they’re doing pretty damn good. They got the search game on lock, they’re email, despite still being in Beta, is used by everyone we know in the know. Their ad game runs the ‘Net. They have a mobile phone operating system on the horizon and they own YouTube. Granted, all of Google’s products are ways for them to power their advertising, but hey—they’re free.

Now, in attempts to further keep you locked into their world and services, they’ve released their long rumored browser, Chrome. The Firefox crew said they weren’t worried, and we’re sure Microsoft isn’t too bothered…yet. But those aren’t the only people Google is looking to take out the game. Check out a couple lesser-known services the big G offers to compete with their Silicon Valley rivals.

KNOL
COMPETING WITH: Wikipedia

No one uses encyclopedia’s anymore, do they? They just use the ‘Net, right? And the first place anyone goes for info these days (after Google) is Wikipedia. Of course Google wanted in, so they launched their own user generated open encyclopedia called Knol. Launched in July, Knol, which they say is a unit of knowledge, is made up of “authoritative articles on specific topics” written by users. Sounds a lot like Wikipedia. In addition to your normal entries there are really specific articles on stuff like, The 20 Most Important Popular Songs, and Photo Printing for the Modern Age, which is cool, but who’s really searching for that? Also, when we want to find something on Wiki, we just type what we’re searching for into Google. With their own service, will Knol results replace Wiki’s? We’ll see. [LINK]

GOOGLE HEALTH
COMPETING WITH: WedMD.

This is another service that almost no one knew Google had. Google Health is, duh, the company’s entrance into the online personal health records field. You fill out your profile with your doctors, known illnesses and medications or just import your medical records if your doctor/hospital is partnered with Google and Google Health will tell give you more info on your sickness, tell you the known treatments and let you know where you can go to get treated, among other things. They claim it’s safe, but do you really wanna give up your medical info to Google? [LINK]

ORKUT
COMPETING WITH: Facebook and Myspace.

Google’s Orkut social network isn’t new. It’s actually been around since 2004, the same year Facebook launched, but for some reason it never took off in America. Maybe it was the ugly user interface. Who knows. But we’re just one country. In Brazil, Orkut is the most popular social network, and it’s pretty heavy in India, too. As of this year, Orkut boasted 120 million users. We’re not saying Facebook should be on the look out or anything, but we’d hop on Orkut just for the women. [LINK]

GOOGLE DOCS
COMPETING WITH: Microsoft Office.

It’s no secret that the masses, for some reason, dislike Microsoft Office. Although the ‘08 version fixed a lot of bugs and introduced a lot of cool features, it’s still pretty bloated and hella expensive. Google has the remedy. An online office suite for $Free.99. It may not be as feature-filled or as robust as Microsoft Office, but… aight, it’s got a little ways to go before it takes the crown from the Redmond Roller, but you can’t beat a free office suite that you can use anywhere there’s a browser and online connection and allows you to easily collaborate with friends and co-workers on documents. [LINK]

ANDROID
COMPETING WITH: Apple iPhone, Windows Mobile and Symbian.

Having the default search application and being the default search engine for the iPhone just wasn’t enough for Google. They want you to be immerssed in the Googleverse at all times. Enter Google Android. Developed by Andy Rubin, the guy responsible for the T-Mobile Sidekick, Android is a powerful mobile phone operating system capable of running on a number of different handset models—full touchscreen, flip phone, etc. But the best part is that it’s completely open to every and any carrier that wants to run it and open to any developer that wants to make applications for it. We’ll see how the public likes it when T-Mobile releases the first phone running Android this fall. [LINK]

GOOGLE CHROME
COMPETING WITH: Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.

C’mon, we all knew a Google browser was going to happen eventually. Regardless of what browser you currently use, we’d bet Darren McFadden’s rookie contract that you use Google in some form or fashion. Either you use GMail, browse YouTube (which they own) or you use Google for search like the majority of other web surfers. Well, now not only will you be using their services, you’ll now probably switch over to their lightweight, lightening quick, intuitive and somewhat intrusive new browser, Chrome. Using the webkit engine, they stole adapted a number of features from Apple’s Safari, Microsoft’s IE 8 and Mozilla’s Firefox and made a pretty promising product. [LINK]