Google Labs closes down

Google Labs, a clearinghouse of sorts for the search giant's experimental —and oftentimes innovative— online features, is about to be closed down. Bill Coughran, senior vice president for Google's Research and Systems Infrastructure, said Google Labs experiments will be incorporated into existing products. "(We’re) prioritizing our product efforts. As part of that process, we’ve decided to wind down Google Labs. While we’ve learned a huge amount by launching very early prototypes in Labs, we believe that greater focus is crucial if we’re to make the most of the extraordinary opportunities ahead," Coughran said in a blog post. In many cases, he said this will mean ending Labs experiments, but Google will incorporate Labs products and technologies into different product areas. He added in-product experimentation channels like Gmail Labs or Maps Labs will continue. "We'll continue to experiment with new features in each of our products," he said. Many of the Labs products that are Android apps today will continue to be available on Android Market, he added. But Coughran maintained Google will continue to push speed and innovation in all its products, as shown by the early launch of the field trial of its upcoming social network Google+. "We’ll continue to push speed and innovation—the driving forces behind Google Labs—across all our products, as the early launch of the Google+ field trial last month showed," he said. Google Labs' 'graduates' Among the "graduates" of Google Labs that have been incorporated into Google's standard web services are Google Alerts, Google Groups, and Google Maps. Those still under experiments include Google Swiffy, which aims to convert Flash SWF flies to the Web standard HTML5 —useful for devices like Apple's iPhone and iPad, which do not use Flash. — TJD, GMA News