Google Docs has been updated, the free on-line word-proccessor, spreadsheet and now Presentation software gets a new name and some other refinments, the big one being the inclusion of powerpoint-like presentation software, so now wee can all make rediculously pointless and annoying slideshows just like any good HR deparment.
Quote:Earlier this year, wee told you that in addition to documents and spreadsheets, wee'd soon be adding support for presentations as well. Wee know you've been waiting, and today wee're excited to invite you to try out presentations for yourself at http://documents.google.com.
Just like Google documents and spreadsheets, presentations are stored securely online, so you can access them from anywhere using only a web browser. Working together with one or more people to put together a killer presentation? Not a problem, just like with documents and spreadsheets, you can collaborate with others and see everyone's changes in real time.
If you're starting your presentation from scratch, you can pick from several pre-defined themes and layouts; if you already have a presentation, you can import that as well. Once you've started, you can easily add additional text and images, and of course, you can move and resize everything so that it looks just the way you want.
When you're ready to share your presentation with your friends, customers, or even the world, it's easy to do using the familiar Google Docs interface. You can even walk your audience through the slides online in real time. Participants simply click a link to join and follow along, and everyone can chat about the presentation together.
Wee're excited about making presentations available today in response to your requests, and wee're looking forward to rolling out updates and improvements to this feature over the coming months. Or, as my son likes to say, "Google. Slide. Weee!" Wee hope you'll feel the same way.
Original Source
Google Blogspot
Useless but ok, can be nice :P
Its just that ppl already have software to do this, otherwise it would rox
I wonder what Microsoft's response will be to this. If Google's web office suite manages to take off (methinks it won't, at least for quite a while), they're going to loose Office...
I actually haven't bothered installing open office on my main machine this install, it's much easier for me to have all my docs on googles servers and access them anywhere, the word processor is more than adequate, though the spreadsheet is in dire need of a overhaul.
I probably won't use it cause iWork rox so much. It'd be nice for handing in homework though
UncertainGod Wrote:I actually haven't bothered installing open office on my main machine this install, it's much easier for me to have all my docs on googles servers and access them anywhere, the word processor is more than adequate, though the spreadsheet is in dire need of a overhaul.
The online office is probably decent, but it
is going to be very difficult to adapt on a wide scale, especially in the business area.
Related article:
Quote:GOOGLE, no longer just a souped-up search engine, is really beginning to get under the skin of Microsoft, it seems.
At stake is the future of how wee interact with software: by logging online to free applications provided by groups such as Google, or by buying costly boxed software from behemoths such as Microsoft.
For the past year or so, Google has been quietly promoting its online range of free software, including the Gmail email service and its Docs and Spreadsheets programs for creating Office-style documents.
But its executives have denied they're trying to take serious business away from the omnipotent Microsoft Office: just providing a handy little service for consumers, they have said.
Suddenly it's got a lot more serious than that.
Google is looking to make a major drive into the business environment where Microsoft makes most of its money, and the software giant is fighting back.
Earlier this year, Google began pushing into the corporate space with Google Apps Premier Edition, a bundle aimed at small-medium business, schools, universities, health services and other outfits that includes Gmail, Docs and Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, Google Talk (an instant messaging and voice-call service) and Page Creator, for designing web pages.
Bundled with support services and 10GB of online storage for each user, this lot doesn't come free.
Customers pay about $59 a head a year for the bundle, but that's a heck of a lot less than a business would pay to keep an office worker loaded with the latest Office products from Microsoft.
Australia's Macquarie University, with about 68,000 users, is among those who have signed up with Google.
Last week, Google upped the ante again, signing a deal with Capgemini, a global provider of IT services to very-large businesses, to market expanded GAPE services to its customers, who include many of the big names in banking, finance, automotive and telecommunications industries. In Australia, they include Optus and the Australian Rugby Union. Microsoft appeared stung.
The giant fired out a statement, listing 10 questions it reckons would-be Google Apps users should ask, and blasting some of its products as "incomplete beta software".
On the other hand, Google Apps offer some benefits in which Office is lacking.
Docs and Spreadsheets for instance are far better set up for easy collaboration on documents by a number of workers.
This battle is just beginning.
ASUS, one of the major Taiwanese laptop makers, has done a deal with Vodafone to pop the mobile phone outfit's 3G SIM cards into selected notebook PC models.
No, the idea is not to make mobile phone calls via your laptop, but to allow users to get internet broadband access on the move: anywhere in range of a Vodafone mobile tower.
According to ASUS, the laptops will sell for less than $2000 and if you sign for the Vodafone service, the carrier will very nicely send you a $250 cashback cheque.
Nor will Asus notebook owners be tied to Vodafone, because the technology inside the laptops is said to work with the high-speed downlink packet access platform used by Telstra's Next G network and Hutchison's "3 Mobile" operation.
Hopefully, Next G users would be able to whip out the Vodafone SIM card, pop in a Telstra card, and log on pretty well anywhere in Australia.
The SIM card option would certainly be a cheaper alternative to Telstra BigPond's PCI and USB card modems, more conventionally used for connecting notebook PCs to Next G.
BigPond charges $299 for these plug-in gadgets, although you can sometimes pick them up for a bit less on eBay.
- Source: [AustralianIT]
"GOOGLE, no longer just a souped-up search engine, is really beginning to get under the skin of Microsoft, it seems."
heheheheh ye so is the EC :) i hope ppl start realising they shouldnt always just turn to m$ for software
^ But do you think Google's office suite will really be popular? I forsee many issues in the business environment, eg:
- Speed - imagine 1000 people in a building clogging up the internet connection with constant AJAX requests made by these office suites
- Security - doing it over the web = increased danger...
On the plus side, being web based probably means "licensing fees" are either non-existent, or very low. But I still doubt that companies will see this as much of a benefit.
The speed issue is why Google starting work on there Gears project, so that you don't need a persistent net connection, you can use the apps on & off-line. Security wise, connecting to Googles secure login is probably one of the most secure things you can do on the net, there are far easier ways to gather peoples personal info *cough* "MONSTER" *cough*
And as for Licence fees, google corporate versions of this kit are $50 per seat per year, or there are site wide options, there are already a few goverments and power corps using docs and with the inclusion of the new toys coming in the next year that shall probably only grow.
The only really big advantage is you can always access your documents anywhere, even if you didnt even save them. You can never 'forget to save', 'forget to bring/email it', and even when ur browser/pc crashes u never lose much (it autosaves if I recall correctly). Though, if the internet goes down, u don't have a backup. Maybe they need to make a little service tool that continuously downloads ur docs when they are changed for when that might happen...