New social features are popping up in iGoogle gadgets, those apps you can add to your personalized Google homepage. For instance, the My Google Book Search Library gadget, which lets you search books and create a personal digital library, now asks people who have OpenSocial profiles if they want to allow the gadget to “know who I am and access my profile” and “post updates to my Friends group.” This appears to be done through Google Friend Connect. A source sent us the screenshot at left, so this could very well just be bucket testing on the part of Google.
But it makes sense. Google has been pushing Friend Connect onto other Websites as a way for them to tap into this same profile data. Individual apps in the form of iGoogle gadgets can benefit just the same. Google has allowed developers to play around with adding social features to iGoogle gadgets since last April, treating them effectively as OpenSocial apps.
Perhaps Google is now ready to socialize iGoogle gagdets more broadly. Combined with its recent changes to allow for wider canvas pages for each app, iGoogle itself might be taking on more of the trappings of a social network. All it needs is a buddy list and activity feed.
iGoogle supports OAuth, so it’s really easy to build personalized iGoogle Gadgets that mashup and aggregate the user’s personal data that are OAuth protected
What’s iGoogle? Ohhh.. that thing I quit using when they quit caring about how their actual users wanted it to work. Been with Netvibes ever since and it’s a million times better.
I agree, iGoogle is a total waste of time. Whether or not iGoogle does become more social doesn’t encourage me to use it, although since when was Netvibes a viable alternative? You wouldn’t consider something like Yahoo Pipes?
iGoogle > Netvibes
And at the same time they are destroying the user experience for everyone with an iPhone. Great work google. I’m currently switching to netvibes as well.
http://www.tech...oogle-you-suck/
very true
http://cashcratereview.com
In case you haven’t found the gadget:http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/books/library_gadget.xml
I never liked the personalised google ie iGoogle , because the normal one works perfectly in my iphone once logged in!
I think the gadget will be empty, until you add something to your shared library. Need to search for book and then use “add to shared library” link. eg: http://books.go...the%20new%20big
They messed with the iGoogle layout one too many times. Drag and drop doesn’t work, can’t change themes, etc. Just this second switched Firefox to My Yahoo! and it stays there.
I don’t use iGoogle either, I set the regular Google page as my home page.
>> [iGoogle gadgets] now asks people … to allow the gadget to “know who I am and access my profile” and “post updates to my Friends group.”
They’re just copying what the Facebook Platform already does.
Indeed, what Facebook already does, only this time you can integrate it into your own website. Web2.0 for everyone!
Really nice to see Open Social getting more and more features.
I use igoogle since I’ve found this gadget to send my vocal-notes: http://www.goog...amp;source=imag
Cool.