Nearly a year and a half after acquiring Jotspot, Google has finally opened the hosted-wiki service back up to the public. Now branded as Google Sites and packaged as part of Google Apps, the service aims to help users create group collaboration tools that can be easily edited and changed. From within Google Apps, administrators can control which users can access a specific site and what, if any editing levels they can have. Right now Google Sites has only a few default templates to choose from, but we expect those options to increase in the coming months.
The best part of Google Sites is its instant integration with the rest of Google Apps and services. YouTube, Picasa, Google Calendar and Google Docs can all be embedded into Google Sites templates, making sharing and collaborating information easier than ever.
At the time of this writing, we were unable to try Google Sites out for ourselves (it has not been activated on our Google Apps accounts, nor on a new Google Apps account we just created), but the examples shown on http://sites.google.com and in the video above look promising.
Like the rest of Google Apps, Google Sites is free and can be linked to a domain name. Premier service, which includes support and additional storage is available for $50 a year per user.
Google and Zoho aren't the only names in online office applications. ContactOffice has been offering online applications for business use since 1999. But this week the company announced the launch of ContactOffice 1.1 and it's so much more AJAX-ey.
Unlike Zoho and Google which are offering MS Office replacements, ContactOffice is targeted more narrowly at group communication needs. Applications include a calendar, contact list, notes, document sharing (but not editing), notes, tasks, chat, bookmarks, and a Wiki.
Read/WriteWeb reports that there's a chance more office-oriented applications like a Spreadsheet program and a word processor could be in the works.
ContactOffice comes in free and subscription based varieties. Pricing is set depending on how many groups you need to create, how much storage space you need, and a handful of other variables.
Another company prepares to enter the Googleplex, this time it's going to help out Google Apps users with security, archiving and policy enforcement.
The acquisition of Postini announced this morning will help Google deliver their hosted applications to businesses, adding in another level of complex information security for organizations. Postini's solutions include Email Security, IM Security, Web Security, Message Archiving, Message Encryption and Policy Enforcement. With the new deal, Google will provide Organizations high quality communications tools, without the expense of on-site solutions while still maintaining the quality and complex information security mandates organizations demand.
Google put up $625 Million for Postini, who will become a wholly owned subsidiary. The agreement is scheduled to close by the end of the third quarter. Google will host a few conference calls to discuss the acquisition. The first conference call will be held at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time (9:30 a.m. Eastern Time). The second conference call will be held at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (12:00 p.m. Eastern Time). Live audio webcasts of the conference calls will be available at http://investor.google.com/webcast.html.
Scott Hanslemann is a very well known developer in Microsoft circles, but is certainly not married to Microsoft technologies. In a recent post, he outlines the process of moving his family (both immediate and extended) onto Google Apps for your Domain. The walkthrough describes the overall setup, but most interestingly describes in great detail how he went about importing email histories from various other services into Google Apps. Great stuff.
The article is packed with useful tips for anyone considering taking the plunge, like the fact that if you want to use your Google Apps mail on your Blackberry, you need to download a separate application for your Blackberry from the one that is used for regular Gmail accounts.
If you've already taken the plunge into Google Apps or are considering doing so, Scott's post is a must-read.
Google has announced a partnership with the Rwandan Ministry of Infrastructure, and the Kenya Education Network that will result in the use of Google Apps in Rwanda's educational institutions and government ministries, as well as in Kenya's universities. Both of these African countries will now have access to free communication tools that include email, shared calendars, instant messaging and word processing under their institutions current domain names.
There are two main packages of the Google Apps that are being provided free of charge. With 20,000 users in Rwanda, The National University of Rwanda, the Kigali Institute for Education and the Kigali Institute for Science and Technology will have Google Apps Education Edition. The countries government ministries using Google Apps Standard Edition. 50,000 students at the University of Nairobi will be the first ones offered the Google Apps for Education in Kenya, with 150,000 additional students signing on at a later date.
Google has just issued a press release stating that this initiative will be helping Google to further organize the world's information, and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google's philanthropic Freudian slip is showing, don'tcha think? Gates can run around throwing money at the worlds problems all he wants, but I bet this secures Google a permanent spot in the hearts of many a socially conscious geek.
Savvy Gmail users have known for a while that adding +anything to an address will create an instant, though dirty, email alias/nickname (example: downloadsquad+spam@gmail). Email sent to these addresses still arrives in your main inbox, but this method allows for all sorts of organization tricks that make email easier to manage (such as applying a label and/or archiving all of these messages). While this works decently enough, it isn't a true alias in the sense that spam bots and alert individuals can easily spot this trick and still scrape out your real email address. Google's hosted Apps for Your Domain service, however, handles this whole alias issue in a much more efficient and useful way.
Under each user in Google Apps's management panel (in both Standard and Premium versions), is a section for creating what is referred to as a Nickname. Why Google chose to call these by a different name, however, is beyond us, and even their own documentation on the matter uses conflicting terminology. Nevertheless, as you can see, this system allows Google Apps users to create true-blue nicknames at which each user can receive email, and Google's standard instructions for sending email from a different address work perfectly for setting up full sending and receiving with these nicknames from your primary email address.
Google's own announcement was an eloquent introduction to a mighty shot off the MS port bow. The reaction has begun, and we'll be analyzing the impact of Google's first honest premium software service for some time. Here are a few blogs with their take:
What do you think? Is Google really getting into Microsoft's enterprise space? Is this phase one of a larger plan? Or will they be content to provide just this until they've chipped away at MS's entrenchment?
As far as marketing goes, good on Google for not calling it Google Office (which is what we're calling it anyway, right?). Google Apps Premier Edition sounds so business-ready.
Google just launched Google Apps Premier, a suite of subscription based business applications taking direct aim at Microsoft's business owner market share. They have already signed up mega corporation Proctor and Gamble Global Business Service as a charter member and more are expected to follow suit. The service is $50 per user account per year (free for trial until April 30th), and includes phone support, additional storage, and a new set of administration and business integration capabilities. The premier edition will include the standard features of Google Apps including GMail, Google Calendar, Google Talk and IM. Another goodie Google announced today, is the inclusion of Google Docs and Spreadsheets in both packages. You can see how the two packages compare by clicking here.
We want to know, where's the presentation software? If you're going head to head with the Microsoft behemoth, PowerPoint is surely a must have in the corporate world.
Naturally, this announcement has generated the usual grumblings of Google hegemony and security concerns, issues raised by people concerned that Google is set to take over the world. These concerns will continue to be scrutinized in the months to come as the innovative Google extends its never ending reach into our personal and work lives. Office isn't mortally wounded however, we can only imagine that some execu-drones in Redmond will be having a 2 Maalox lunch this afternoon. We'll have more to say on how today's announcement squares with Microsoft Office, so stay tuned.
Google Apps for your domain allows domain owners to host email services at Google in a similar format to Gmail, with the added benefit of using their own unique domain. Administrators also have the ability to activate Google Talk, Calendar, custom start page, and domain web pages for different user accounts that they create. Google is expected to soon add Docs & Spreadsheets to this list as well, making it a complete online office solution for businesses. But BusinessWeek reports that Google will soon begin charging companies a subscription fee of a few dollars per person, per month. Business users are used to feature rich applications, so this might take some getting used to when it's released in full to the marketplace.
Microsoft has also unveiled Office Live where businesses can have access to web based email, calendar, project and task manager, and a customer organizer for $39.95/month. Zoho has a Virtual Office suite it has brought to the market that has no cost for individuals and $3 per user per month for an online hosted solution, and up to $295 per year for an on-premise solution consisting of webmail, calendar, web docs and sharing, tasks and reports, contacts, notes, bookmarks, instant messaging, WAP access, announcements, and multi-language support.
Today Google announcedGoogle Apps for Your Domain. Through this new service, Google is offering free private label email, instant messaging and calendar tools.
The web-based applications are built on the same free Google applications you are used to like Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, and Google Page Creator, but with the addition of your unique branding and interface design. Users have the ability to totally switch up the colors and logos used in the page layout.
Google originally launched the Gmail for your domain in February 2006 for select users to test out. In the main administration account, users can manage and set up email addresses and distribution lists through an easy to use control panel. With the Google Apps for your Domain service, it makes it extremely easy for smaller businesses to manage their information more efficiently, without costly additions to email software, upgrades, and IT staffing.
The free, ad-supported service that is launching today is still in a beta form, and consists of 2 gigabytes of email storage for each user in the system that is currently built for US-English only. (Google is currently working to develop the service in other languages) Google is working on a premium version of Google Apps for your Domain for more advanced users, and will release more details and pricing soon.
Another company prepares to enter the Googleplex, this time it's going to help out Google Apps users with security, archiving and policy enforcement. 
Scott Hansleman
Google has announced a partnership with the Rwandan Ministry of Infrastructure, and the Kenya Education Network that will result in the use of Google Apps in Rwanda's educational institutions and government ministries, as well as in Kenya's universities. Both of these African countries will now have access to free communication tools that include email, shared calendars, instant messaging and word processing under
Google's own announcement was an eloquent introduction to a mighty shot off the MS port bow. The reaction has begun, and we'll be analyzing the impact of Google's first honest premium software service for some time. Here are a few blogs with their take:
Google Apps for your domain allows domain owners to host email services at Google in a similar format to Gmail, with the added benefit of using their own unique domain. Administrators also have the ability to activate Google Talk, Calendar, custom start page, and domain web pages for different user accounts that they create. Google is expected to soon add Docs & Spreadsheets to this list as well, making it a complete online office solution for businesses. But BusinessWeek reports that Google will soon begin charging companies a subscription fee of a few dollars per person, per month. Business users are used to feature rich applications, so this might take some getting used to when it's released in full to the marketplace. 
Today Google announced Google Apps for Your Domain. Through this new service, Google is offering free private label email, instant messaging and calendar tools.
