Google has added a number of new features to Google Reader. The biggest one, which is long overdue, is the ability to share content on other social networks. This seems like it should have been available for ages, but it has been MIA until now.
How Google Reader Sharing Contributes to Real Time Search
Google has announced that Google Reader has begun adoption of the PubSubHubbub protocol for shared items. This is a simple, open, server-to-server web-hook based pubsub (publish/subscribe) protocol, as defined on this Google Code page.
Here’s a visual overview of what that means:
New Google Reader Feature Spotlights Chatty Cathys
Here are a few simple facts: some people talk more than others. Also, some people are more interesting than others. And a new Google Reader feature called "Friends trends" may help you determine how the folks you interact with online score in both of these categories.
Sony Reader Gains Access To Google Books
Sony has reached a deal with Google to offer access to more than a half-million public domain books from Google available on its current models of its Reader.
The books will be available for free to users of the Reader via Sony’s eBook Store, which now boasts more than 600,000 titles. The move is seen as a direct challenge to Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader, which has access to over 245,000 titles along with newspapers, magazines and blogs.
Google Reader Now Offers Comments For Entries
Google is not not not building a social network. Really. They’re not. They’re just adding features to every product ever made to enable you to communicate and otherwise share information among your peer group and store all your information in a centralized place. That’s soooo not a social network, so I don’t need anybody telling me about how Google Reader’s new comment feature shows that they’re a social network.
Google Reader Gets More Social With Commenting
Google has added a lot of sharing-based features to Google Reader in recent memory, but it has now launched the ability to have conversations among those who are sharing items. Google acknowledges that this is a key element of sharing that the service has been lacking. I would have to agree.
Embedded Video Woes and Google Reader
Ever had trouble getting your embedded videos to show up in Google Reader? You’re not alone. Apparently your site has to be on a whitelist for it to work for you. For example, YouTube videos work, because YouTube is on the list. WordPress videos don’t, because Wordpress is not on the list. Somebody complained about the problem in a Google Groups post, and was met with a response from a Google Reader Engineeer, Mihai Parparita:
Google Reader Interface Improved
Google Reader has undergone some changes. The objective seems to have been to simplify things and give the whole thing a cleaner look and feel. While I’m sure the changes will still receive their share of critics, I for one am generally pleased with the update. Let’s take a look at the changes. First off, if you can’t find something that is supposed to be there:
Google Reader Gains Auto-Translation Abilities
We English speakers are truly lucky that so much of the world is willing to accommodate us, learning enough of the language to at least give directions to the nearest bathroom. But there’s an amazing amount of written content out there that isn’t in any given person’s native language, and to help with this issue, Google Reader has gained an auto-translate option.
Looking At More Trends in Google Reader
Google Reader has added some new data to the Trends department. For those who do not use Google Reader, or pay little attention to the Trends feature, it simply lays your reading habits out graphically so you can see when you are reading feeds the most, what you are reading the most, what you are reading the least, and so on.