An unofficial blog that watches Google's attempts to move your operating system online since 2005. Not affiliated with Google.

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December 26, 2007

Predictions for Google's 2008

Some of these items are obvious, others are mostly wishful thinking.

1. Google will try to unify its application and transform them into a big social network. The Maka-Maka project (or Google's activity stream) will enhance the already existing profiles. If Google doesn't understand that your Gmail contacts aren't necessarily your friends, we'll see a huge privacy backslash.

2. Google should finally go beyond indexing text and start to use image analysis and speech recognition in Google Image Search and Google Video. The NevenVision acquisition should produce visible results in the image search engine and we could see better results for famous people or the option to find similar images.

3. Google won't give up on universal search, but we'll see a different interface that separates standard search results from OneBoxes and other additions. Google's snippets will become smarter and they could include information about authors, locations, concepts.

4. Gmail will add another batch of new features, one of the most important being task management, and will finally go out of beta. Gmail will launch a Google Labs-like site with experimental features that could be added by those who are curious to see the next features before they are officially launched.

5. The first Android phones will be a disappointment, but developers will create a lot of interesting applications that could compensate for the poor designs.

6. Most Google applications will work offline using Google Gears, even if the functionality will be limited. Google Gears will also work on mobile phones and could become a part of Firefox.

7. Google Maps will be redesigned and could include more space for user-generated content. We'll start to see user's locations, important events from our area, recommendations from friends. Google Maps will become more personal.

8. OpenSocial won't work as well as expected and Google will focus on its own social network(s). iGoogle gadgets are about to become social and aggregate data from your contacts.

9. Google will launch a people search engine that gathers data from the web, especially from social networks.

10. Google Books will be more present in search results and Google will start to sell access to the full content of some of the books.

11. One word: sync. At the end of the year, Outlook and most mobile phones will be able to synchronize with Google Calendar and Gmail's contacts. Google Docs will have plug-ins that let you edit documents in Microsoft Office or OpenOffice and save the changes online. Google Toolbar will integrate Browser Sync and start to synchronize your bookmarks, cookies, passwords and your browser's history.

12. Multi-faceted search, searching from different points of view (objective information vs positive/negative opinions, official information vs comments from blogs, forums).

13. Google will differentiate commercial search results by integrating data from Google Base. Google will continue to try to promote Checkout, this time by showing small badges next to the search results from sites that accept Google Checkout.

14. Google Talk will move completely online: the embeddable gadget will let you create custom chat rooms, talk with other people and maybe even see them if they have webcams.

15. Picasa Web Albums will add some of the photo editing features from Picasa and will increase the free storage.

16. GDrive will finally launch, but it won't offer infinite storage or advanced features. It will let you access the files stored in different Google applications and upload new files from a single interface. Storage: 20 GB.

19 comments:

  1. I agree with you on #5 and #8
    I don't agree on #2 (or maybe in Picasa?...no), #10 and #13 (Google Base will die)

    Can you analyze that please? I'm not sure if you made predictions last year or not.

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  2. Privacy backlash? Already begun. See - http://groups.google.com/group/google-reader-howdoi/browse_thread/thread/318c4559e2ac5bbe#06cb1414ec43f7c8

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  3. @TomHTML:
    Regarding the link, that wasn't a prediction. Quote:

    << David Girouard, VP and General Manager at Google Enterprise, told Internetnews.com that Google Talk will include many new features and will become a true VoIP client. "Girouard said that Google Talk, which currently allows users to make VoIP calls among themselves, will be beefed up to integrate with traditional phone systems as well as VoIP offerings from other vendors." >>

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  4. Where is your Gdrive prediction?

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  5. Is it possible to talk with other people using only a web browser and an online GTalk?

    I hope it does!!

    and... what about GDrive??? what is going on with that?? am waiting for it a long time agooooooooo!!!

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  6. It's definirely possible to use a web browser to IM - I use Meebo.com all the time. And That's what GMail's Talk is.

    I'll third the request for more info about GDrive - surely we dont have to wait yet another year...

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  7. If the #14 comes true, i will leave google talk forever, i prefer a desktop client :o)

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  8. OK, I added two more predictions. WSJ had an article that anticipated the launch of GDrive next year.

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  9. What about the Google Health?

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  10. I was expecting you will say something about the Google's growing interest in Wireless, about the bid for the spectrum.

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  11. >> 14. Google Talk will move completely online...

    This is what I'm afraid of :(

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  12. Now all we need is the face detection in picasa, even if its not quite yet face recognition. Preferably as some sort of optional plugin.

    Yes i know, thats a wish list item, not a prediction. But, some people HAVE been predicting this ever since google bought the recognition company , Neven Vision.

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  13. What about youtube - do you think that we will see High Definition videos that go past 10 minutes?

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  14. That's exactly what I think GDrive will be - not an unlimited online storage site, but a central page where you can manage all of your storage from all of Google's services.

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  15. Bueno en mi opinion no es bueno esto por que nos obligaria a estar atados a todos los WEB de Google y eso no es bueno en mi caso aparte de correo y los grupos y el buscador de google utilizo Google Brower Sync y pues no quiero mas.

    Well know in English in my case i don't think this is fear because some of we juts use one or two of the products of google and integrate every thing to one single and general program will make like they are train to tie we to the company and thats not fear.

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  16. You should submit your ideas to Internet Evolution. They're holding a competition for 2008 Predictions.

    Tis the season to host frivolous contests and give away money (Fa la la la la...)

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  17. I agreee with you on 14.

    Google Talk will 100% go completely online! If that will happen, I will go back to LIVE.

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  18. Whatever ......... do what you want Google!

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  19. I'd love to see a google account merge option sometime this year. Right now I have 4 different accounts (1 gmail, 3 accounts from various domains I host through google) and it's quite annoying to manage things like calenders, contacts, adwords & analytics. If, for example, someone invites me to some event and sends to the google invite to the wrong email address I would like it to show up on my default calendar. As it stands I have 3 Thomas Paine calendars shared with my primary account.

    I'd also love to have one login that allows me to check all my various email accounts.

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