It's no secret Google's got communication problems. What are they you may ask?
GMail. Google Voice. Google Talk. Messenger. Hangouts.
All great tools on their own, but would be vastly more powerful under one communication umbrella. In this regard, Google is definitely trailing behind. As it stands, competing platforms have been building their user bases and grabbing mindshare.
iMessage, WhatsApp, and KIK are some popular messaging clients all trying to be our messaging platform of choice, but each has its limitations. iMessage is iOS only. WhatsApp and KIK lack desktop clients. With almost a billion members, most of our families, and friends, Facebook's own platform agnostic Messenger is setting itself up nicely to become the de facto standard for ubiquitous communication. Every iteration of the mobile app has improved with features that are easily supplanting existing SMS text messaging.
Google's communication offering is fragmented. Yes I know choice is great, but Google's going to have to start sending a clear, um, message about how it wants its users to use its tools to connect. This is all part of the Google/Android experience, and right now it's totally disjointed. Last summer, Google purchased Meebo. Will we finally see its technologies integrated this year? It's something I know I'm definitely hoping for when Google I/O comes around. If we're lucky, we'll see it in the release of Android 5.0, Key Lime Pie, and permeate Google's full suite of services this summer. It's a massive endeavor, but an expectation I think we're all starting to have of the tech giant.
Are you waiting for some GUM with your Key Lime Pie this year?
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