A few weeks back, Google launched a feature in Gmail which enabled their Google voice users to make free calls to phones in the US and Canada from within Gmail. However, this feature is only available to users physically located in the US and Canada. Even if you have a Google voice account, Gmail doesn’t show up the option when you log in from any other country (they use your ip address to detect where you are located).

However, there is a smart workaround using which you can use use this feature from any country.

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When Google Wave was announced and previewed at the Google I/O conference, we loved it. We even ran contests to offer the Google Wave invites to you woikr readers.

They’ve put forth amazing use cases of real time collaboration and communication which we all were excited to see. I’ve got goosebumps thinking how this would be applied to create awesome apps.

Now, Google has announced that it’s going to stop further development of Google wave, as it hasn’t seen enough user adoption.

Many a times, at woikr we collaborated over website development tasks and maintained notes there. We even had discussions between old class mates.

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Looks like Google has hired some really smart and talented advertising agency to create ads for Google Chrome browser. Following the previous ad for extensions, they have released the following ad which is another example of sheer genius and amazing creativity:

The search giant Google has a new look for its search results page. The new look updates the visual looks and feel throughout and offers search tools in an all new left nav (click to enlarge):

Google is slowly joining the bandwagon of companies that go above and beyond to make awesome ads for their products. The list includes Honda, Vodafone among many others.

Check out Google’s latest ad for Google Chrome extensions:

[via This is awesome]

Google held a Chrome OS event yesterday at the their Mountain View office. Here are the findings:

• Its an open source OS
• Its very simple and lightweight, initially targeted to run on netbooks.
• Its basically a browser which is gonna run web apps
• Will support x86 and ARM processors
• You will have to buy Google approved netbooks to use it
• Will be release sometime next year

Here is the first official screenshot (click for a larger view):

Here is a 3 minute video from Google explaining the new OS:

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As promised, here are the winners of the Google Wave invite giveaway part II:

1. Bharat Jilliedumudi
2. Chris Larson
3. Fran
4. Nimesh Desai
5. Priyanshu Bahuguna

Congratulations!

We will be nominating the winners by Saturday 24th October 2009. As told earlier, Google wave invites are nominations. So please be patient. Winners will also receive a separate email.

While going through the entries, we couldn’t find the twitter @username of many contestants in their comments. We believe the instructions were very clear. Those entries were disqualified.

You can subscribe to our RSS feed or follow woikr on Twitter to keep yourself updated of such contests in future.

As promised, here is part II of the Google Wave invite giveaway. We have 5 invites with us which we would like to give away to our readers.

This is gonna be a lucky draw. Here is what you need to do:

1. Become a fan of woikr on Facebook.
2. Follow woikr on Twitter.
3. Answer the following question in the comments section of this post:

Do you think Google Wave is over hyped?

Please make sure that:

• You specify your twitter @username in the comment somewhere.
• You use the same name in the comment as your facebook display name.

(otherwise your entry will be disqualified)

It’s that simple! The contest closes Thu 10/22/2009 at 5PM IST. So hurry up!

Winners will be announced on Fri 10/23/2009 by 9 PM IST.

Google Wave invites are actually nominations. Google sends out invites to the nominees whenever they’re looking out for more users, few at a time. We can’t guarantee a time frame the invite will reach the lucky. Patience is the key.

As promised, here are the winners of the Google Wave invite giveaway:

1. Amit Agarwal
2. Pauke
3. Sanjeev Goyal
4. Shubham ~NeO~
5. Vaishalee

Congratulations!

We will be nominating the winners by Sunday 18th October 2009. As told earlier, Google wave invites are nominations. So please be patient. Winners will also receive a separate email.

While going through the entries, we couldn’t find many contestants following woikr on twitter. We believe the instructions were very clear. Those entries were disqualified.

Psst: We got some more invites to give away. Stay tuned for another contest. People who couldn’t win this time can try their luck again.

UPDATE: This contest in now closed. See the list of winners here.

Apparently, everyone wants a Google Wave account these days. Well, luckily, we have a few invites left with us which we would like to give away to our readers.

Since the demand is more than the supply (we have 5 invites as of now), this is going to be a lucky draw. Here is what you need to do:

1. Become a fan of woikr on Facebook.
2. Follow woikr on Twitter.
3. Let us know (by leaving a comment below) why you want a Google Wave account so badly. It can be as mere a reason as “collaborate with friends” to as important as “rub it in the face of my friends”.
4. Make sure you mention your Twitter @username somewhere in the comment. Otherwise, your entry will be disqualified .

It’s that simple! The contest closes Sat 10/17/2009 at 5PM IST. So hurry up!

Winners will be announced on Sun 10/18/2009 by 9 PM IST.

Google Wave invites are actually nominations. Google sends out invites to the nominees whenever they’re looking out for more users, few at a time. We can’t guarantee a time frame the invite will reach the lucky. Patience is the key.