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RT @jvaudio: I hope that @leolaporte reads how Google lies and misrepresents itself to users with their search results: ...

Today I'm excited to announce the next evolution of Messages. You decide how you want to talk to your friends: via SMS, chat, email or Messages. They will receive your message through whatever medium or device is convenient for them, and you can both have a conversation in real time. You shouldn't have to remember who prefers IM over email or worry about which technology to use. Simply choose their name and type a message.

Schmidt says to expect Chrome OS “in the next few months” and the new version of Android (a.k.a. Gingerbread) in the next few weeks.

Leo's tool? Google has just released Hotpot, a recommendation engine for places. The aim of Hotpot is to make local recommendations more personal and relevant, by recommending places based on your ratings and the ratings of your friends.

A few weeks after third-party apps started filtering in, Google's launched its own Google Voice app for the iPhone, and it looks to have all the most important features: call and text support, push notifications, and voicemail access (including transcriptions). It's available right now -- US only at the moment -- on iPhones with iOS 3.1 or higher as long as you've got a valid Google Voice account set up... so get to it.

A brand new book from Jerry Pournelle? Captivating! @ Chez Laporte

Earlier this year, as part of an on-going dialogue between Google's corporate development team and Twitter, Google floated the idea of an acquisition with a price around $2.5 billion, we've heard from a source close to an executive involved in the talks. We'd caution that this was not a formal offer – more of a casual offer to offer. The overture was refused – even characterized as "insulting."