Every now and then, search giant Google surprises me. It’s happened again today – and I’m not referring to the privacy concerns surrounding the company’s foray into social networks.

Let me explain. I got hooked watching the mens’ snowboard cross event in the Winter Olympics last night. It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a sport that’s so instantly watchable and packed with drama.

If you’ve not had the pleasure, watch the BBC’s short highlights of the action to see what I’m on about.

I heard on the radio that the ladies’ event is tonight and wanted to find out when it starts. Turning to Google was the obvious option, so I entered winter olympics snowboard cross times into the search engine.

What happened? I got exactly the information I wanted, displayed bang at the top of the search results, in UK time, with links through to the Winter Games site for more information.

Stuff like this must drive Google’s competitors mad.

I use Google Reader. A lot. It’s my main source of news and information through the day, and I find it’s great for homing in on stories I’m interested from websites I like.

I logged in a few minutes ago and it’s been redesigned. I haven’t explored the new interface fully yet, but it looks cleaner. They don’t seem to have added any themes (like they did with Gmail), but at first glance it looks good.

Judge for yourself with this screenshot. Click for full-size:

Do you rely on a good RSS Reader for news? Which is your favourite? Leave a comment and let me know.

Just spotted a rather portentous headline on the BBC technology news site: ‘Symbian dismisses Google Android’.

I know that Google has next to no experience of producing a mobile platform. And I know that Symbian has plenty. But given Google’s track record, I do wonder if Symbian might come to be haunted by that headline in a couple of years’ time. Google just seem to be good at virtually everything they do.