Google Buzz should get another shot at life in a few months’ time.  A new report’s indicated that the service, which has so far been a flop with normal users, will finally be integrated with Google Apps and given a chance to operate in more formal environments.

When we first reported that Yale was poised to adopt Google Apps, the development seemed like a big win for Google.  The situation’s now looking a bit different, though, as the prestigious university has postponed its school-wide switch to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and other products from Mountain View.

Google has launched a YouTube channel for its recently released Google Apps Marketplace. The Apps marketplace is a place where developers can create apps that integrate with Google Apps and sell them to users. According to Google, they can reach over 2 million businesses and 25 million users.

The YouTube channel should be a good place to checkout some of the apps that are available in the marketplace, and see what they can do.

The city of Orlando loves Google, and it’s not hard to understand why – according to the city’s own estimates, switching to Google Apps cut its IT costs by a massive amount.  So now Orlando’s CIO, Conrad Cross, is returning the favor (and maybe helping Orlando secure a special prize) by spreading the Google gospel.

It’s no secret that Google and Microsoft are in heavy competition in the enterprise application space. This competition may extend into a relatively new sub-category of this space – internal microblogging. Think Twitter, just for within the enterprise.

The other day, Google announced that it would be redirecting its Chinese language search engine at Google.cn to Google.com.hk, the company’s Hong Kong site, where they would now censor search results. That does not mean, however, that Google has ceased operations in China entirely.

Last night at Campfire One, Google launched the Google Apps Marketplace, where developers can create apps that integrate with Google Apps and sell them to users. According to Google, they can reach over 2 million businesses and 25 million users.

Right off the bat, the Google Apps Marketplace launched with over 50 applications from companies like Intuit and Atlassian, with more coming soon from companies like NetSuite and SuccessFactors, a Google spokesperson tells WebProNews.

We’ll let you decide whether, given the recent loss of life in Haiti and Chile, Google’s timing is a little off here.  But for better or for worse, the search giant picked today to promote Google Apps in a blog post titled "Disaster Recovery by Google."

One of America’s oldest universities is going to turn to Google for a lot of new software, according to a new report.  Indeed, Yale is supposed to get the whole Google Apps for Education shebang, including email, Google Calendar, and Google Docs.

Google’s promoted Apps for Education as a cutting-edge and yet user-friendly solution for quite some time.  Yale’s utilization of it would be quite the PR win, considering how the school’s so well regarded.  A lot of other universities might accept Yale’s decision as a smart one and follow its lead.

According to unnamed sources cited by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, Google plans to launch a store where it will sell online business software for use with its own Google Apps products. The Times cites "a person familiar with the project" and the Journal cites "people briefed by the company."

Google has launched the Google Apps Script in Google Apps Standard Edition, meaning that it is much more broadly available now. Previously, it was only available in Google Apps Premier and Education editions. It was released back in the summer.

Google Apps Script starts in the spreadsheets of Google Docs. It lets you create sheets to read and change formulas, formats and cell contents, and lets you create custom functions so you can automate repetitive tasks.

Whether or not you’ve heard of a corporation called MWV, you’re probably familiar with its products – MWV puts out everything from Coca-Cola packaging to Mead notebooks to asphalt for roads.  And now, this giant has entrusted some of the technical aspects of its operation to Google Apps.

Given that MWV has a market cap of roughly $4.75 billion and employs about 12,000 people, this counts as a big – and tough – job.  Moreover, those employees are spread out over 34 countries, and as you might expect, English isn’t every individual’s preferred language.

The Los Angeles city government is moving ahead with its plan to embrace Google Apps.  Today, 34,000 city employees are supposed to switch to it from an old system, and the mood appears to be much more "excited" than "nervous" at this point in time.

The L.A. City Council approved a $7.25 million Google Apps contract in late October, but not everyone was enthusiastic about the move.  Councilman Paul Koretz displayed a bit of doubt, for example, by referring to both "cutting edge" and "the edge of a cliff."

Google announced that is now including Google Groups in the Premier and Education editions of Google Apps. The company says Groups is one of its most widely-used applications, so it only makes sense.

When a group is set up, employees/students can share documents, spreadsheets, presentations, shared folders, sites, calendars, and videos with the group, rather than having to include individual email addresses or try to remember who joined or left a certain group.

In Google Docs, there is a new sort-by-relevance feature for search results. When you search in Google Docs, your results will be organized by relevance, rather than "last modified date", which has been the way of the past. There is a menu on the right side of the toolbar that lets you decide how you want your results sorted.

Google has introduced a feature that lets you send attachments in Gmail while you’re offline. It works the same way as it would online, except that you can’t include inline images.

Web designers beware. Google is expanding its templates for Google Sites, which is part of Google Apps, and the company is really pushing Google Apps these days. What this means is that as more businesses adopt Google Apps and find a wider variety of site templates to choose from, the less they may need the services of web designers for basic design work (developers are a different story).

The City of Angels has shown a great deal of faith in Google.  Late yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a $7.25 million contract that’ll have all branches of the city’s government adopting Google Apps over the next eight or so months.

Update: Google has expanded the campaign to additional countries:  U.K., France, Canada, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

Google has made some updates to Google Docs. For one, they have introduced shared folders, which the company has been promising since July, and says is the most requested feature they get for Google Docs. Shared folders let users collaborate on groups of documents more easily.

Google has made it easier to insert Picasa Web Albums photos into Google Sites. They have added a photo option to the "insert menu."

In addition, users can upload photos directly to Picasa Web Albums from within Google Sites, using the "upload photo" tab in the insert dialog. It should be noted, however, that Google Apps users will not see the options, because Picasa Web Albums is not available in Google Apps.