Richard Waters, San Francisco
April 15, 2006
GOOGLE is opening a new front in its competition with Microsoft's traditional desktop software with the launch of a test version of an online calendar.
The service extends Google's reach further into the sort of personal-productivity software that has made Outlook one of the most popular elements in Microsoft's Office suite desktop software, one of its biggest profit-earners.
It also continues the internet company's steady transformation from a stand-alone search engine into a full-service internet portal, rivalling Yahoo.
Carl Sjogreen, product manager for Google Calendar, said the new service fitted the company's mission to "organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful", since it would make it easier for users to organise and access their personal diary information from any computer.
Google's venture into online applications such as email and personal calendars has already sent a shock through existing online applications companies, prompting a wave of innovation after a period of stagnation in the early part of the decade.
Andy Spillane, head of Yahoo Mail, said the launch of Gmail, along with the emergence of a range of new lightweight Web 2.0 technologies, had led other companies to accelerate their own new developments.
Yahoo itself is testing a new web mail service that is based on technology that it had acquired when it bought Oddpost in 2004.
Google said it had tied its calendar service closely to Gmail to make it easier to create calendar entries while communicating by email, and to communicate with other people about events in one's diary.
Reflecting the company's roots in search, Google Calendar includes a function so users can find other calendars published online -- such as one produced by their local sports team, for instance -- and integrate these with their personal data.
The company is developing software to make it possible for users to "synch" a Google Calendar with data in Outlook software, Mr Sjogreen said.
Google plans to extend the calendar service, available as a test initially only in the US, to countries where it offers Gmail.
April 15, 2006
GOOGLE is opening a new front in its competition with Microsoft's traditional desktop software with the launch of a test version of an online calendar.
The service extends Google's reach further into the sort of personal-productivity software that has made Outlook one of the most popular elements in Microsoft's Office suite desktop software, one of its biggest profit-earners.
It also continues the internet company's steady transformation from a stand-alone search engine into a full-service internet portal, rivalling Yahoo.
Carl Sjogreen, product manager for Google Calendar, said the new service fitted the company's mission to "organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful", since it would make it easier for users to organise and access their personal diary information from any computer.
Google's venture into online applications such as email and personal calendars has already sent a shock through existing online applications companies, prompting a wave of innovation after a period of stagnation in the early part of the decade.
Andy Spillane, head of Yahoo Mail, said the launch of Gmail, along with the emergence of a range of new lightweight Web 2.0 technologies, had led other companies to accelerate their own new developments.
Yahoo itself is testing a new web mail service that is based on technology that it had acquired when it bought Oddpost in 2004.
Google said it had tied its calendar service closely to Gmail to make it easier to create calendar entries while communicating by email, and to communicate with other people about events in one's diary.
Reflecting the company's roots in search, Google Calendar includes a function so users can find other calendars published online -- such as one produced by their local sports team, for instance -- and integrate these with their personal data.
The company is developing software to make it possible for users to "synch" a Google Calendar with data in Outlook software, Mr Sjogreen said.
Google plans to extend the calendar service, available as a test initially only in the US, to countries where it offers Gmail.
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