Google Buzz to take on Twitter and Facebook

The service integrates directly with Gmail

Google has unveiled its latest step towards world domination, Google Buzz. Going head-to-head against Twitter and Facebook and integrated directly into GMail, users will be able to post status updates, share content and comment on friends' posts and updates.

With around 10million GMail users Google is hoping to nab Facebook's mobile market and jump on Twitter's bandwagon with its army or loyal followers. Taking the "good bits" from the pair of social networks, Buzz messages will appear directly in a users' inbox highlighted with a "buzz symbol", private status updates will appear on a users profile page and public updates are fed into search engine results.

Taking another chunk from Twitter, Buzzers (or Buzzards as we've taken to calling them) will also be able to follow people that share updates as well as like or dislike what they have to say.

Google Buzz product manager Todd Jackson described it as "an entirely new world in Gmail" during a press event at Google headquarters in Mountain View.

Roll-out of the tool starts today but some Gmail users will have to miss out on the Buzz for a few days yet as a note on the website reads: "We're still rolling out Buzz to everyone, so if you don't see it in your Gmail account yet, check back soon."