Google+ received another new feature this week to go along with trends. Google has extended the chat functionality across its services to include Google+ circles. If you don’t chat using services such as Google Talk, Gmail, iGoogle and others, you probably won’t notice anything different. For others, you’ll find it easier to interact with people in your circles in more places than one.

Google Talk already supports file transfers in its downloadable desktop app, and it will soon be available to other instant messaging pipelines. Today updated chat in iGoogle and orkut chat to support file transfer between users. Clicking the “Actions” menu and then selecting “Send a file” will make it possible to share files with a more »

What’s the biggest threat to cloud computing at the moment? Most of us might answer with something like cost, lack of stability or sluggishness. Zoho doesn’t think this way, though. It seems that for Zoho’s services the biggest issue is user laziness or forgetfulness. Zoho has announced its new Zoho Gadgets. Zoho Gadgets are embedded more »

Google is attempting to do its part to help the environment by launching the application, Google PowerMeter, an iGoogle gadget. The way that this application works is that it will show how much energy is consumed in your home broken down by each appliance. The program uses technology known as smart meters, which can communicate home energy consumption back to utilities every couple of minutes.

Google hopes this application will help users become more aware of how much energy that they are wasting by leaving certain appliances on. The software is in the testing phase and users have found that they are able to save thousands by determining the inefficient appliances within their home. Google is also pushing for energy data to be available in real time to all consumers at no cost.

Another day, another new product or feature from Google. Well, at least it seems that way sometimes. Usually, there isn’t much added to the search function of Google, the updates tend to be to Gmail, Maps, or new products. This time its different, Google has actually found a way to change, and possibly improve searching the web using its search engine. Its called Searchwiki, and it isn’t as intimidating as it might sound.

In a nutshell, Searchwiki allows you to customize your searching if you search for things often. It allows you to move results up to the top of the list where it might not appear normally. You can also remove sites you don’t think fit the category or you just don’t like. There is one thing to know, however: these results are only for you. Google will remember them for you, but the results won’t go to the top for everyone else. So even if you add Gadgetell to the top of your list when you search for “gadget” it unfortunately won’t happen to everyone else. Continued after the break.

Things aren’t looking good for Yahoo right now. Google has pulled out of the advertising deal that looked so promising for both companies citing potential antitrust issues. Now, CEO Jerry Yang is saying that the Microsoft buyout was probably the best thing that could have happened. This coming even after a rumor saying that Microsoft and Yahoo “were in advanced talks to sell the company for between $17 and $19 a share,” that Yahoo discredited.

Aside from turning down the Microsoft deal, Yahoo’s problems aren’t necessarily its own fault. It is slowly rolling out the new Yahoo homepage to compete more against iGoogle. It still owns Flickr, one of, if not the most popular photo hosting site. Yahoo Answers seems to have grown quite a lot as well.

Google launched the redesign of its popular iGoogle portal last week and the complaints began almost immediately. Users are upset with the new look and furious that the redesigned interface was sprung on them with no prior announcement.

The interface allows users to collect web “gadgets” such as map and weather apps, organize RSS feeds and aggregate info such as news, sports and GMail. The revamped interface includes a new “canvas” view that allows gadgets to be displayed full screen and new navigation bar. Find out what else has changed after the break.

Yahoo is making good on its promises to overhaul their site into a better, more accessible version of what it is now. It’s looking to make the main page into something of a cross-breed between the MyYahoo page and the current main page. It will essentially try to act as even more of a hub of your web browsing, with the ability to add bookmarks and web services like Gmail to the sidebar. You apparently won’t even need to leave Yahoo to view the content of some of these pages, though it isn’t outlined how that’s possible. Yahoo will also implement a system they call “Content Optimization Knowledge Engine” (hopefully COKE for short) that will be able to recommend sites to users based on past web activity.

Google has just introduced two enhancements to its mobile service to provide users a faster mobile search experience through a fast loading mobile homepage and better iGoogle gadget management.

First, they updated their mobile homepage to make mobile access faster than before. When users visit google.com using their mobile browser, Google will cache the homepage so that when users bookmark the homepage, they will have quicker time when loading it during their next visit. This is possible no matter where users came from, whether through the mobile browser or through Google’s mobile search plug-in.

Yahoo! announced it’s new OnePlace service that will be live in Q2 of this year. At it’s basic level, OnePlace allows you to access bookmarks and various links anywhere on any machine or mobile device.

The example Yahoo! uses is a trip you are about to take. You do research beforehand, noting some places you’d like to check out. When you arrive at your destination, instead of relying on memory or a new search, you just look up those links you saved and you are good to go.