I wrote an e-book about Google, in case you missed the ads splattered all over my website about it, so I get invited to speak about it often. I have always loved Google and the services it provides, and when I got my Android phone a whole new world of Google ‘things’ was opened up to me. I have way more than 5 things that I love about Google, but I get asked all the time what my favorite ‘things’ are. So here is my top 5, in no particular order…
1. Google Voice – (link) now that it no longer requires an invite, GV will transform the way that you deal with voicemail. Just try it. You’ll thank me. And if you happen to have an Android Phone, you can get the free Google Voice app to download your voicemails to your phone.
2. Google Maps – (link) there are lots of mapping websites out there, but I don’t think that anything can come close to the experience you get with Google Maps. And the ‘street view’ is simply the icing on the cake! Add in the fact that you have Google Places integration
3. Google Maps Navigation – (link) I have owned numerous GPS units in my life, but nothing comes close to Google Maps Navigation on my Android phone. Voice-guided directions, points of interest along the way, integrated street view, and the ability to submit real-time events to Google Maps (liked blocked roads and accidents) make this one of my must-haves.
4. Voice input– on my Android phone I have voice input built into all aspects of the phone. I can do a Google web search with my voice. I can search for things on my phone using my voice. I can dial someone using my voice. I can transcribe text messages and emails with my voice. I use it daily, all the time. I need it.
5. Google Reader – (link) I don’t search for news anymore. I let Google do it for me. I tell Google what I am interested in… these sports teams, these politicians, these products, these companies, these news topics… whatever… and on one page Google provides me headlines for all those things I am interested in from news sources all over the internet. I simply look down the list to see what the latest news is and go read what interests me. I save untold amounts of time in my day using Google Reader.
Man, that was hard. I left out so many things that I love…. Google Skymap, Google Alerts, Google Shopper, Google Translate, Google Listen, Google Earth…. and on and on.
So, did I leave something out of my top 5? What would your top 5 be??
