On September 30th this year, Google will release yet another product, but this time it is set to be bigger and better than any of its predecessors. Google first demonstrated its functionality at the IO conference last May in San Francisco. The service was restricted to just those at the conference and developers. From the end of next month, 100,000 members of the public will be able to test the product for themselves.

The new product is called google wave and is described as a communication and collaboration tool. Personally I think this is a big understatement, it is so much more than that and you will see why.

Having viewed the demonstration recorded at the conference I cannot wait to try out the beta version next month. There are so many functionalities, it is hard to begin to describe how this tool will revolutionise blogs, email and IM as well as photo and file sharing. One area which will bring a smile to IM fans is the live transmission which they have introduced on Wave. This means when you are talking to your friend “Jo” on line, instead of seeing “Jo is typing” you can see the characters appear as the she writes them and so you can start replying straight away. You can also invite other people into the IM conversation and they can use the “play back” functionality to see the conversation from the beginning, from before they entered the chat.. You can also share photos easily through Wave. Simply drag and drop the photos you have in to the conversation. With Wave you can also create a group album so that everyone in your group can see your photos. It is a much simpler way to create a group album than with Picassa. Some expect Wave will replace some of Google’s older applications.

If you would like to view the demo yourself, check out Google’s blog