Google is famous for unveiling new free services that change the way we use the Web. For example Google Scholar quickly became one of the most popular services for searching books and journals online. But where do these products come from?

Google Labs. Many Google projects are available in open beta format at Google Labs. Some of these products still need some work, some need a lot of work, and others are ready to go.

Some favorites:

A quick way to read news headlines from many sources.

User created walking tours of cities worldwide. Alas Concord is not included. (yet!)

Like Google Earth. Only on Mars.