Cloud Computing: Google Shuts Down 11 Services

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Thomas Claburn.

As 2012 winds down, Google is shutting down more of its services, this time calling the closures "winter cleaning" rather than the usual "spring cleaning."
Venkat Panchapakesan, VP of engineering, said in a blog post that difficult decisions are necessary for Google to maximize its impact.

Eleven services are being discontinued, although few are likely to be widely missed — none of these offerings have a particularly high profile. Five affect Google Calendar. On Jan. 4, 2013, Google plans to:
— shut down the ability to create new time reservations through Calendar Appointment slots;
— discontinue Calendar Labs experiments Smart Rescheduler and Add gadget by URL; and
— terminate two U.S.-only features: Check your calendar via SMS, and Create Event via SMS…

Google also is putting Google Sync out to pasture as of Jan. 30, 2013, because it has been superseded by other open protocols, specifically IMAP, CalDAV and CardDAV. However, this applies only to users of Google’s free services. Google Sync will remain in place for Google Apps for business, government and education customers…

Read more from the source @ http://www.informationweek.com/cloud-computing/software/google-shuts-down-11-services/240144494