Google previews Friend Connect. Run Open Social apps on your web site.

Being able to run your social apps outside of Facebook or Hi5 and on your web site seems incredibly powerful.

The example they give is guacamole lover who wants to build a community around her guac recipe site. She adds a OpenSocial a widget that lets her friends rate the recipie postings, if you opt-in those reviews get pushing pack into your news feed.

Their demo site:

http://loveguac.com/guac1.htm

Seems like Orkut is doing all the widget parsing/generation. Curious how that works with FB/Hi5 and how they deal with security since the widgets are js.

Here is the video introducing Friend Connect:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIEwUxMrJ4Y

And finally here are some examples Google gives, can't wait to start playing with this:

* A cooking site - Review a recipe and provide comments which clarify or improve it. Add a recipe to a social recipe box that appears across multiple cooking sites.

* A musician's site - Post pictures from your latest concert on the band's site, and communicate directly with your fans.

* An extreme sports site - Play a motor cross game, then compare your score to friends and other site members.

* An academic site - Discuss and review articles in context with colleagues and the broader community. Filter the discussion to colleagues only, or widen your view. Forge connections with new participants whose comments seem particularly insightful.

* A shopping site - Read expert reviews and tips right next to the camera you're thinking of buying, and find a friend who has already purchased the same item.

* A philanthropic site - Cultivate a community around your cause, post pictures at fund raisers, let donors connect, and involve their friends.