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google pack posts

Filed under: Internet, Office, Google, Freeware

Google adds StarOffice to GooglePack (not OpenOffice)

Google PackWant to save $70? Sun's StarOffice application suite would normally set you back that much, but Google has just added StarOffice to Google Pack. For free.

The move is slightly perplexing, as OpenOffice.org is absolutely free, and it's built on StarOffice source code. The main difference between the two office suites is that StarOffice includes some proprietary graphics, fonts, and templates.

It's unlikely that Google's eating $70 for every person that downloads the application. In fact, we doubt Google would have made this move if it had cost the company a single penny, so this could be an expansion of the software distribution agreement that Google and Sun share.

It's worth noting that installing the Google Pack version of StarOffice means you get a Google Search toolbar in all of your StarOffice applications, whether it makes sense or not. Writing up that quarterly report, but you need to check to see what the last movie William H. Macy was in, go ahead and search Google. Or your desktop. Oh yeah, or the document you're working on.

The move does seem to indicate that Google will not be moving its Documents & Spreadsheets applications from the web to the desktop anytime soon. But perhaps we'll see integration between the applications in the future? Perhaps you'll be able to create a spreadsheet using StarOffice and save it both to your desktop and to Google Docs & Spreadsheets online.

[via Google Operating System]

Filed under: Google

First look at Google Pack?

Google Pack

Some people have reported being able to download and install Google Pack, the eclectic bundle of apps that Google announced today. I'm unable to get in, but one Italian blogger has posted a supposed screenshot of Google Updater (Babelfish translation here), an app that downloads and installs the Google Pack apps and (I assume) keep them up-to-date. It looks pretty legit. Intriguingly included among the apps in the screenshot is "Google Pack Screensaver" and the post includes this English snippet from the (now inaccessible) Google Pack site: "The version of Norton Antivirus in the Google Pack includes 6 months of protection updates that enable the program to identify and remove new threats. If you’d like to continue receiving these updates after 6 months, you’ll need to purchase an update subscription from Symantec. Purchasing a subscription is optional."

Update: The blog author has posted an English version of the post here.

[Via Digg]

Filed under: Google

Google to introduce paid TV downloads

GoogleArs Technica is reporting that tomorrow Google will be announcing a new video service that will "allow users to buy video content for pre-determined prices," and they're also planning to announce partnerships with CBS and the NBA. Ars has lots of juicy speculation, including whether they'll be offering downloads or only streaming video, if they'll use Flash video as Google Video currently does, and if this means we'll finally see the long-rumored Google Wallet. Google also plans to announce Google Pack, a software bundle which, says Ars, will include the obvious Google software like Desktop Search, Picasa, Google Earth, Google Talk, and more, but also some third party tools including "Google-tweaked" versions of Firefox, Acrobat Reader, Symantec anti-virus software, the malware remover Ad-Aware, multi-network IM client Trillian, and RealPlayer. I agree with Ars: Those last two choices are very curious indeed.

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