Google Reader gets friend comment function
Plus image search tweaks for the mobile app
Google has added commenting to its Google Reader web application – allowing people to share stories and comment on them.
Google Reader is one of the most popular RSS readers, and the ability to share pages has been an integral feature of the app for some time.
However, by adding in the ability to comment on shared pages, Google is no doubt hoping that it can bring some Web 2.0 social networking capacity to its application.
Sharing fan
"I'm a big fan of sharing (might be all those lessons I learned in kindergarten). And when I share something, it's always nice to get a response like "Thanks!" or "That was the funniest thing I've ever read," comments Dolapo Falola on the official Google blog.
"Google Reader makes it easy to read and share your favorite articles, blogs, and videos. In the last year, we've added new features to Reader like the ability to choose friends and share items with a note.
"But it did occur to us that the sharing process was incomplete -- there was no way to have conversations with friends about all those shared items.
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"That's why we're excited to announce that starting today, your friends will be able to reply to shared items with comments, allowing you to have conversations with your friends right inside Reader. Comments can only be seen by friends of the person who originally shared the item."
Mobile app changes
Google has also tweaked its mobile application for iPhone, Android and iPod touch – bringing better functionality to the image search facility.
"With the new Image Search results, you can easily scan up to 20 images on a single results page and get the details for images that interest you. From the details page, you can view a larger thumbnail, visit the web page containing the image, or view the image by itself in full size," says Google
"The new results page also supports 'search-by-style' filters, which allow you to restrict your search results to people's faces, clip art, line drawings, or photo content. This feature was previously launched on Google Image Search in December 2008, and we are excited to now bring this feature to mobile."
Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content. After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.