The world is about to change, and Google is responsible (again)…

During day 2 of Google I/O, they dropped a bombshell called Google WAVE, which will without a doubt revolutionize online communication through an OpenSource browser-based collaborative protocol that will surely replace emails within the next three to five years…

Built by the same engineering team who are responsible for the Google Maps API, and who, for the past couple of years have been secretly developing this new service out of Sydney Australia, the more and more that they explained about this platform and protocol, the more and more one’s jaw finds itself dropping towards the floor.

As Mashable were quick to point-out…

The concept behind Google Wave is to “unify” communication on the web. It’s a hybrid of email, web chat, IM, and project management software. It features the ability to replay conversations because it records the entire sequence of communication, character by character. Because of this, discussions are also live in Google Wave: you will see your friends type character-by-character.

The features don’t stop there, either. Google Wave also supports the ability to drag attachments from your desktop into Google Wave. It loads that file and sends it immediately to anyone in the conversation. It’s also embeddable, so you can embed Google Wave conversations on any blog.

CNET were amongst the first to officially break the news and have since posted the following video, live from the Google I/O conference where they first announced this news to the world:

(be warned that this video is 90 minutes, but well worth it)

The API feature set of WAVE is phenomenal, and some of the demos being showcased by Google include live translations between 40 different languages as you type, where integrated form functionality and Google Maps are just some of the native possibilities encouraged by the platform. What’s most important here is the underlying protocol (not just the product or platform, but the underlying technology itself) is also OpenSource, which is a clear attempt to put an end to the static irrelevance of POP3 email messaging protocols.

Waves can be created and hosted by anyone, not just Google!

This must surely have Microsoft VERY worried - for in many ways, it threatens Microsoft Exchange, which may ultimately become the first truly powerful platform that Microsoft releases as an OpenSource project, but then again, perhaps that’s taking dreams a little too far…

Some important links include:

Without exaggeration or flamboyance, this is quite possibly the most interesting and exciting technological (internet-based) breakthrough since the internet itself…

It also helps to explain why there were never any rumours that Google might buy Twitter or why they were not participating with live-communication - because it’s quite clear they have just reinvented what LIVE communication is really all about…