Unfortunately, neither the data nor the imagery is available in the API version of Google Maps. While Google provides programmatic access to driving directions, as well as walking directions — the third type, transit, has never been a part of the Maps API. The reason could be that there are extra factors, like fares and zones, that don’t quite fit the same structure as other directions.

Indeed, though Google receives hundreds of transit feeds from hundreds of agencies, only a handful have data accessible to other developers. This may not be Google’s fault, as I wrote in Why Aren’t There More Transit APIs? It’s easy to see the benefit of providing data to Google, but a harder sell to open up to any developers. Of course, some are better than others.

Developers don’t necessarily need Google or agencies to provide them with all the data. London Tube Journey Planner, for example, shows routes and plans trips. We currently list 91 transit mashups, several dating back to 2005.

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Chrome is the browser from Google and now offers a heap of great themes to customise the interface to suit your personal style. Check out this collection of themes created by noted artists.

Gallery: Google Chrome Artist Themes 

https://tools.google.com/chrome/intl/en/themes/index.html

This collection of artist themes features art and design works from all ends of the spectrum, from Jeff Koons to James White, from Porsche to Dolce & Gabbana. Add this to themes for Bayonetta, Kid Robot, Ratchet and Clank and a whole lot more and you are more than spoiled for choice.

The gallery features 95 themes in total, each with a link to the appropriate page on the Google Chrome website so that you can apply the theme and see if it tickles your fancy. Enjoy!

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Although Internet users already have lots of ways to access music, Google's (GOOG) involvement could make the initiative important.

"Radio has lost its mojo" for promoting songs, says Phil Leigh, president of market research firm Inside Digital Media. "When new releases come out, people do a Google search."

But that's been a frustrating experience for some fans — and for record companies, which have been lobbying the No. 1 search company to change the way results are displayed when people want to track a favorite performer or song.

The current arrangement just offers links to other destinations and often features a grab bag of fan sites, without a clear way to find the music itself.

Under the new system, the No. 1 search company will put at the top of its own page a box with information, photos and, possibly, song lyrics.

Visitors who want to listen to a song can click on a link that generates a pop-up screen connected to music services Lala or iLike. Lala can stream an entire song from its catalog of about 8 million tunes, while iLike primarily offers clips.

People can buy songs from Lala or jump to Amazon or iTunes.

Google's also talking to music subscription services, although one, eMusic, says that it's been difficult to figure out how to integrate them.

Programs such as Google's are mostly aimed at consumers who only want to purchase a single song, says eMusic CEO Daniel Stein. But he says that while details about his talks with Google are confidential, "perhaps we'll participate in this type of program in the future."

Google isn't the only company trying to beef up its music offerings.

Facebook this week will introduce an arrangement with Lala that makes it possible for people to buy songs and give them to friends without leaving the social-networking site. Transactions will be simple to initiate via an icon on user pages that "is as prominent as the icons for photo and video," says Lala founder Bill Nguyen.

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Google Wave

Though it is still too early to pass a judgment on Google Wave, most users feel that there are still many issues with the application. From missing features to complexities in usage, the list seems long. eWeek’s Clint Boulton has listed a few gripes that users have from Google Wave. Here’s bringing to you the nine things most users didn’t like in Google Wave.

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The search giant announced Thursday at the Frankfurt Book Fair that in the first half of next year it will launch Google Editions, a new service that will deliver e-books to anyone with a Web browser.

Partnering with publishers which whom it already has digital rights deals, Google plans to initially offer about a half-million books through the service, according to press reports from Frankfurt. Readers will be able to purchase the books directly from Google or from online bookstores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

In September, in conjunction with Congressional hearings into its Google Books project, the search titan had revealed a reseller program that would give competitors a share of money from such a service.

Google plans to share the sales with both publishers and the online bookstores. For books sold directly from its Web site, the search giant said at the book fair that it would give publishers 63 percent of the sales and keep 37 percent itself. For books sold through Amazon or other retailers, the publisher would get 45 percent, while the retailer would get almost 55 percent with a small share for Google.

The company said that consumers would be able to read the books on any connected device, including PCs, Netbooks, and smartphones. Apple iPhone users could access the e-books through their Gmail accounts. Google said it doesn’t plan to offer a dedicated e-book reader to accompany the new service, according to the press reports.

"We’re not focused on a dedicated e-reader or device of any kind," Tom Turvey, Google’s director of strategic partnerships, told journalists at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

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Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

GrandCentral users can also create a single mailbox, accessible over the Internet, for all their phone messages, Google said on its Web site.

Users register their phones and can set all or some of them to ring based on who is calling.

GrandCentral, based in Fremont, Calif., was founded in 2005 by Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, two executives who worked for Dialpad Communications, a Web phone company that was acquired by Yahoo in 2005.

“GrandCentral’s technology fits well into Google’s efforts to provide services that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between our users,” said Google, which is based in Mountain View, Calif.

GrandCentral’s investors include Minor Ventures, a venture capital firm in San Francisco, according to its Web site.

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