Google Launches Buzz, A Twitter Competitor for Posting Updates From Gmail, Phones, Google Maps

Today, Google announced Buzz, a service that will let users post Twitter-esque updates from within Gmail, as well as from select mobile platforms. The service is free, and will roll out over the next few days.

In his opening remarks, VP of product marketing Bradley Horowitz described the glut of information we currently receive in our social networks: endless updates from potentially thousands of “friends.” This is “a large scale problem,” he said. “A relevance problem. The kind of problem we’re good at.” He likened Buzz to the convenience of being able to chat within the Gmail interface, a single browser window.

First and foremost, Buzz is available as a feature within Gmail. When you first launch it, Buzz will automatically follow your most frequent Gmail contacts. Users can post textual updates, as on Twitter, as well as rich media, such as Picasa albums and YouTube videos.

In order to post updates yourself, you’ll need a Google profile. Every time you post, you can choose to make those updates public or private. To buzz publicly means that your updates will appear in your Google Profile. It’s not unlike having a public Twitter, although Twitter doesn’t let you make individual tweets private.

Personally, the idea of having my updates indexed in my Google Profile is oddly scary to me, even though my tweets are all public as well. I think the difference, for me, is that someone has to be on Twitter, seeing my tweets in their timeline, to become aware of me. My Google Profile appears every time someone searches for me on Google.

On the desktop side, Buzz borrows elements from Facebook and Twitter. If you type “@” plus a Gmail contact’s name or e-mail address, their name will Autocomplete, as if you were adding recipients to an e-mail. That reply will then go straight to that person’s inbox. Meanwhile, users can comment on updates, just as Facebook users can on pretty much anything in their feed.

Then there’s mobile devices.

First, the Google homepage will appear slightly different on iPhones and Android devices. In the upper right hand corner there will be an icon for uploading a buzz. By default, it determines your location so that it can geotag your update. A Google rep confirmed, however, that if the buzz you’re generating on the road happens to have nothing to do with your location, you can opt not to include it (ditto for people who want to keep their whereabouts private). Android users can also speak their updates and watch it appear as text in the text field.

In addition, Buzz will integrate with Google Maps (for now, this applies to Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Android). If you wish, you can select an additional layer of information on your map called — wait for it– Buzz. Again, you can geotag posts that you write yourself. In addition, if you’re searching for a restaurant you can read the Buzz about it. That strikes me as a dual shot at Foursquare and Yelp.

Google also announced it would “soon” announce a version of Buzz tailored for the enterprise. My two cents: Google needs to first do a better job of integrating Google Apps with its own Android OS (I can’t log into Google Talk on my Droid using my Google apps email address, and my Droid doesn’t see my Google Apps calendar either).

Google Buzz will roll out over the next few days. Stay tuned for some hands-on first impressions.