With Google CEO Eric Schmidt as emcee, several Google execs showed off a variety of cool technologies, based on the upcoming fifth version of HTML that will make browsers more powerful than ever as application platforms. These include new markup tags such as <canvas> and <video> that will provide native support for, respectively, 2D drawing and running videos in browser–tasks which today typically involve installing plug-ins such as Flash or Shockwave. As guest speaker Jay Sullivan, a vice president at Mozilla, put it, HTML 5 will get “things like video out of plug-in prison.”

Also coming: new APIs for other features such as offline storage of data (so that you can use Web apps even when you’re not online), 3D graphics (think first-person-shooter in a browser) and geolocation (Google demo’d a new “My Location” button on Google Maps that you can opt to share with others — hmm, will this supercede Zhiing?).

An Android guy (Romain Guy, to be precise) talked about how the next version (code named Donut) will include a neat open-source text-to-speech engine and multiple language packs. Used with a translation app, this could basically turn your phone into a neat portable translator for supported languages.

You can read Google’s official Google I/O keynote press release to see what they thought was important (but remember, it’s for developers).

As for news you can use right now, head on over to Google’s Web Elements page, which has an assortment of neat code snippets that make it super easy to instantly add modules for Google search, chat, YouTube video, maps and more to your Web site.

You can add this Google Custom Search web element by pasting a few lines of code onto your site.

The best part of the keynote, though, was the end, when Google Engineering VP Vic Gundotra announced that all attendees would be receiving free Android phones – and SIM cards for 30 free days of unlimited voice and data use. I’m looking forward to some quality time with Android.

Zhiing's main menu on my iPhone

If I need to figure out how to get somewhere, I can use Google Maps on my iPhone. But what if someone else needs to figure out how to get to me? Sure, I can spend a few minutes on the phone describing my whereabouts or giving directions. But unless I can easily pinpoint my location in a couple of words (e.g. Moscone West), Zos Communications makes it so much easier with a free application called Zhiing.

Available for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile handsets, Zhiing lets you send your location info to another handset (or a Zhiing-enabled location based service) as easily as you would an SMS message. The recipient with a Zhiing client sees a message in their Zhiing Inbox; others simply get an SMS. Either way, you get a link to whatever map your handset supports (via a browser if need be) and the option of written directions from your location (Zos plans to offer a premium version that will add voice directions for hands-free navigation).

A Zhiing in your inbox shows who's sending their location and a thumbnail map.

A Zhiing map shows your location using coordinates--and a much more user-friendly pushpin.

What’s really impressive about Zhiing is that while it requires GPS, it doesn’t rely on it solely to establish your location. Zos has partnered with Skyhook Wireless, a company whose XPS technology uses GPS, Wi-Fi and cell-tower data to determine your whereabouts. That means you can run Zhiing indoors, even when there’s no GPS signal in range.

Being able to give friends and family members instant maps and directions can be useful, but Zhiing could become even more useful if the platform is taken up by companies whose services involve knowing your location.

I liked the example Zos CEO Jon Ziskind gave me of how Zhiing could make it much easier to get a cab to your home: You wouldn’t even have to call the cab company–you’d simply Zhiing ‘em with your request. Zos says emergency workers are already using Zhiing to locate people in need of help.

Given its platform-agnostic approach, Zhiing seems to have a lot going for it. Check it out when you have a chance.