Google’s Web-based word processor, Google Docs, can now be used offline to view and edit documents in your browser. That means you no longer need to be connected to the Internet to write a letter or draft an agreement. When you connect again, all your changes are updated. Google Docs now joins Google Reader as a Web app that can work offline. Spreadsheets and Presentations are coming up next.
This offline capability has been a long time coming. Google Docs is finally taking advantage of Google Gears, a browser plugin for creating all sorts of offline apps which launched nearly a year ago. Using Google Gears, Zoho came out with an offline version of its Web-based word processor last August.
Is it me, or is innovation at Google slowing down?
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Big guy not so “agile” is he?
it’ll be really awesome once they have a *fully* offline version that isn’t bogged down by having to run inside a single javascript thread in a web browser.
wait, what? they already have that and it’s called Word? who knew?!?
@2; you don’t understand web technology, this is significant for the fact this becomes word and its free.
@1; I think they are very agile, most innovations (in search engines) are slight and undetectable so unless your an SEO then you wouldn’t notice.
*also kinda double standard if you tell say “Google lost focus” when they have too many products, then say “Google is slow” when they focus
.rb
@2 - Word for Mac runs slower than Google Docs. No lie.
Google should have done this a year ago when people were asking for it, now other companies have grabbed marketshare by offering the solution. It will be interesting to see what Google does when it makes docs completely offfline and see if they can integrate other services like their reader and email into the doc platform.
@2 - only a moron would use something that COST … Word.
Today we have OpenOffice 2.4 that replaces Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc. Google Office and Zoho are a layer above. It utilizes the collaboration technology of the web that makes revision and editing in a group environment easier. Yesterday, I was exchanging document back and forth, my email probably has 9 of the same documents b/c of the many revisions that had to be made.
One step closer … shut Microsoft down. Whoohoo!
Doesn’t work with Safari
wtf? this is big news since “you no longer need to be connected to the Internet”?! 2.0 my bum.
I thought the whole idea was that they were slowing down on new stuff in order to make the current stuff more stable and feature-rich. Wasn’t that Sergei’s push about 12 months ago?
It’s a little too late for you to say that. You should’ve said that when Zoho started using Google Gears before Google even had that presentation feature.
I think it’s you.
Try to code a web based word processor with offline capabilities.
BAD NEWS FOR MICROSOFT.
Yeah, bad news for microsoft. I’m sure the WordPad dev team is really depressed. Office team, not so sure…
I agree with Erik. Innovation at the goog is slowling to a crawl. Guess that happens when you get huge and expand in every direction. They have their hands full with so many projects that need polishing, stability, etc.
They are stretched thin as it is. You can tell by the botched launched of OpenSocial, Android, etc. No time to innovate when you are trying to make your past innovations products people can actually use. Most of their future innovation will probably come from acquisitions.
Google Spreadsheets lives just north of unusable.
Now it lives just north of unusable offline, eliminating the only reason I’d ever even attempt to use it instead of Excel.
– Start sarcasm –
Now I have MS Wordpad capability, circa 1998, in a browser for free.
– End sarcasm –
Technically challenging to the developers on the project, I’m sure. Getting a big set of users interested? It’s going to be a while before that happens. It’s a step forward, but there are many steps that will need to be taken to get the broad set of users of these applications to change course.
Zoho is no doubt doing great. They now have many cool products in his family.
Recently they launched Zoho Invoice. it’s here
http://feedshub.blogspot.com/2.....ation.html
Offline is useless… Office is more useful… Gday introduces Gdrive… yay…
Google step towards making Google docs available offline will also increase the fucntions that we have in Google docs
Sounds good. But what I really want is Google to add a personal wiki to it’s growing array of services…..I could really use it.
Yaayyyyyy more competition for MS Word. Take that Microsoft!!!
Irene Green lasers guide
Google has there own in-house doctors now? Man…what a company.
Harry “only read the title” Wang
yes, a good wordpad and that is where it stops. Google is the most hyped company and Google Docs is the most hyped up product. Simply useless for corporates.