Google’s iGoogle Gadgets are getting an upgrade, with new social networking tools built into them.
The gadgets, which work with Google’s personalised homepage at igoogle.com, can now feed information into an OpenSocial profile. All sounding a bit techie? Don’t worry, there are real benefits right around the corner.
For a start the Google Book Search gadget will now send updates to friends as you build up your digital book collection, and it’s just the first to plug into the OpenSocial platform.
Think of the gadgets as standalone Facebook apps, able to hook you up with other iGoogle users and share information. What’s more, because OpenSocial doesn’t have to work through just one site (in this case iGoogle), it could open up networking to other users, using different social networks entirely. Is this the start of Google tackling social networks with its own range of trancendant apps?
It could be. But without a core reason to drag people in, as with Facebook’s friendship network and photo-tagging, It seems a bit to disparate to us. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Out now | £free | iGoogle (via techcrunch)
