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Filed under: Web services, Google, Web

Google integrates Picasa, Google Docs, calendars, etc with Google Sites

Google Sites Insert
For ages people have been wondering when Google was going to roll out the mythical "GDrive" that would allow users to upload files to a Google server and access them from a single place. Well, that still hasn't quite happened yet, because you can't exactly add Google as a shared network drive (without using third party software) and backup your files. But Google rolled out a new feature this week that does make it easy to access data uploaded to several of its most popular services all from one place: Google Sites.

Google Sites is the company's web page/wiki builder. You can create a single web page or a series of interlinked pages using a simple web page editor, and you can share your sites with a small group of collaborators or with the whole world.

Now Google has added a new "Insert" button that lets you add items stored in other Google services including Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Maps, and Picasa Web Albums. You can also upload photos directly to Picasa from Google Sites.

In other words, you can access many of the files uploaded to various Google products all from one place. What's interesting is that Google still gives you separate bits of storage space for each service. Files uploaded to Picasa don't affect the amount of space available in your Google Docs account, for example. And you still can't access all of your uploaded files in all Google services. But it's starting to look like Google is working toward better integrating all of its products.

[via Google Operating System]

Filed under: Internet, Office, Google, Web

Google Docs now supports translation into 42 languages

Google Docs translate
Google has added a "translate document" option to the tools area of Google Docs. This lets you translate the text of any document to 42 languages. You can either replace the original file with the translation or copy the translation to a new document which you can share with collaborators or export as a DOC, HTML, PDF, RTF, TXT, or OpenOffice.org file.

You could also use the tool to import documents written in another language and translate them to one that you speak. Of course, the machine translations won't be any better than what we've come to expect from the Google Translate web service. But garbled machine translation is better than no translation... usually.

Translation is available for documents, but not for spreadsheets or presentations.

Filed under: Office, Google

Google Docs hints at GDrive... maybe

Google Docs files
Google has been busy rolling out new features for Google Docs over the past few weeks, including the ability to upload and share document templates with other users. But it's a smaller change which could be even more interesting. Under the sort items by type menu, "PDF" has been replaced with "Files." And that could mean that Google is preparing to let users upload and store other file types soon.

There've been rumors that Google was working on an online storage service for years. After all, Google already offers Gmail users over 7GB of storage space. Throw in a Picasa account, Google Docs, and a few other services and you're looking at nearly 10GB of free web storage space. Why not give users an easy way to access all of their uploaded files in one place?

Of course, we've been down this road before, and I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for a day that may never come. But ReadWriteWeb's Sarah Perez does make an interesting point: Google could be planning to launch the mythical GDrive when the Google Chrome Operating System is ready for the public. After all, the OS is designed for netbooks, which are often considered to be secondary computers. It makes sense that a mostly cloud-based OS would include a cloud-based storage system for either storing all of your files or at least synchronizing files between your computer(s) and the web.

[via Google Operating System]

Filed under: Office, Google

Google Docs adds support for Word and Excel 2007 documents

Google Docx
Google now lets users import .docx or .xlsx files into Google Docs. In other words, next time someone sends you a document created in Word 2007 you don't need to convert it into a format that your aging copy of Microsoft Word 2000 can handle. You can just load it up in Google Docs and read or edit the document online.

This brings the complete list of file formats supported by Google Docs to DOC, DOCX, HTML, TXT, RTF, XLS, XLSX, ODS, CSV, TSV, TSB, PPT, and PPS.

Of course, Zoho Docs has supported Office 2007 files since last year. Zoho Docs also lets you export files in those formats, while Google Docs will only let you import Office 2007 files.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Office, Productivity

OffiSync mixes Microsoft Office and Google Docs

If you often transfer files back and forth between Microsoft Office apps on your desktop and Google Docs online, OffiSync might be exactly what you need. It pulls Google Docs functionality into Office, letting you save, manage and browse your Google Docs as if they were in a directory on your hard drive. You can also share docs and add collaborators, and send email and notifications, all while you're writing up that next draft in Word.

The first version of OffiSync is apparently close to launching, and you can sign up for the beta right now. It's initially going to roll for Windows XP (SP2), Vista and Windows 7, but a version for Office Mac is also in the works. The idea is pretty interesting, and it looks like OffiSync could be an extremely useful product if it ends up working as advertised.

Filed under: Internet, Security, Office, Google

Holes in the cloud: consultant finds more flaws in Google Docs

Remember the shouting about the Google Docs privacy lapse a few weeks ago? As it turns out, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Security consultant Ade Barkah has found several more gaps, and they're all just as alarming - if not more so.

Issue #1 appears right at the top of his blog post: an image that he embedded in an unshared document. Apparently all uploaded images can be accessed directly by anyone, as long as they've got the url.

On top of that, Barkah discovered that another user can view past versions of diagrams you insert in a document even after your replace them. As with the image access flaw, finding the previous versions is as simple as replacing the rev=# in the drawing's URI.

Last but not least, users you've previously granted access to your docs but later removed aren't necessarily gone for good. There are certain cases in which they can regain access themselves without you ever knowing about it.

Tin foil hat wearers rejoice, this is further confirmation that just because you're paranoid that doesn't make you wrong.

[via TechCrunch]

Filed under: Internet, Office, Web services, Google, web 2.0, Web

Google Docs adds vector-based diagramming with new drawing tool


The Google team has certainly been busy lately, adding new features to their services and apps on what seems like a daily basis. This morning a new drawing tool became available on Google docs, allowing users to create images in any browser that supports VML and SVG. As mentioned in the Google Docs blog, the tool is based on technology acquired when they purchased Tonic Systems in 2007.

From any document, just click on the insert link and choose drawing. The canvas will appear, and you can then add one of the 100+ shapes (all vector-based), add lines and arrows, add text, or do some freehand drawing. Line color and weight can be changed, as can fill colors. Drawings also support z-order so that you can stack shapes in the order you want.

Shapes can also be rotated and flipped, and you can select multiple shapes to perform changes in bulk. Once you've clicked out of the canvas, your drawing is added to the document. From there, you can quickly scale its contents by clicking and dragging any corner.

While it's obviously not as powerful as a full-blown desktop "visual communication" tool like Visio, the new tool gives Google Docs some basic (but welcome) flow charting and diagramming abilities.

[via Google OS]

Filed under: Internet, Office, Web services, Google, web 2.0

Google stumbles again, accidentally shares docs

Google has confirmed that a TechCrunch tipster was telling the truth: an error indeed caused some users' text documents and presentations to be unintentionally shared with others.

According to Google's statement, the glitch affected "less than .05% of documents" and only shared files to people with whom a user (or one of their collaborators) had previously shared another document.

Somehow, that's not very comforting.

Regardless of the number of users affected or how isolated an incident this was, it raises some serious concerns. Even if none of your documents were involved, they could have been. Accidentally violating privacy and exposing data (whether it's confidential or not) is a massive problem, and one that just shouldn't happen. Period.

None of my Google Docs contain any sensitive details. They don't contain any useful information about anything, for that matter. That doesn't mean I'm not concerned about who sees them and who doesn't. They're my documents, and I certainly don't want collaborators being accidentally given permission to access them.

For a while I've been pondering finally moving my documents from my desktop to my Google Docs, but that's a move that I'll be putting on hold for the time being.

Filed under: Internet, Office, Google, iPhone, web 2.0, Browsers

Edit Google Docs Spreadsheets on your iPhone

Running a mobile handset with a Webkit-based browser? If so, Google has added some functionality to the Google Docs mobile view just for you.

Up until now, the interface has really only be a handy way to view your files on the go. Now, however, you'll be able to perform simple edits on your spreadsheets right from your handset. iPhone, iPod Touch, G1, and Nokia S60 users can all get in on the action.

You won't have access to the same breadth of options as you do in the desktop version, but that's to be expected. It's still incredibly useful for doing quick edits on the go or maintaining simple lists directly in your gDocs from your mobile.

While other document types still can't be edited yet, they may not be far behind.

[ via Google OS ]

Filed under: E-mail, Office, Google

Export a Gmail message to Google Docs

Gmail DocsI use a lot of Google services on a day to day basis, including Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. So I'm always excited when Google announces a new way to make these web apps play well together. Yesterday the company announced a new feature in Gmail Labs that adds a "create a document" link to your email menu.

When you open an email and click the document link, the message will be exported as a Google Document. From there you can edit it, share it, or download it as a Word, PDF, or RTF file.

In order to enable the feature, just click the Gmail Labs icon (it looks like a beaker and hangs out next to the settings link in the top right side of your Gmail homepage) and scroll down until you see the Create a Document option. Click enable and Gmail will reload with the feature enabled.

Filed under: Internet, Office, Freeware, Browsers, Web

OpenItOnline for Firefox opens Office, image files with web apps

By now, many of you are probably using web-based office suites like Zoho, Google Docs, or Thinkfree as your primary office applications. If you do and you're a Firefox user as well, you'll probably love the OpenIT Online addon.

I mentioned it previously in my list of 14 extremely useful addons, but it's been updated quite a bit since then.

When you install the plugin, the configuration wizard will help you create file associations. You're not limited to one suite, either. If you'd rather open spreadsheets with Zoho and documents with Thinkfree, OpenIT can handle that. Zoho viewer is also supported and is a nice, fast way to view files you don't need to edit.

OpenIT adds two context menu entries (which you can see in the screenshot above): one to open a file with your default viewer/editor and a submenu that provides access to all available options.

This is a great extension to add to your portable Firefox install. It's an excellent way to make sure you can open a wide array of documents on any computer.

Filed under: Windows, E-mail, Google

Gmail gets the Google Docs PDF viewer

Google PDF Viewer
Google has long offered Gmail users the ability to open PDF attachments as HTML files without downloading the file and firing up Adobe Acrobat, Foxit or any other PDF viewer. But you lose a lot in the translation when you convert a PDF file to HTML.

Now Google has begun allowing users to open PDF files using the Google Docs PDF viewer. That means you can view PDFs sent to your email inbox without downloading them and without losing the formating, graphics, or other elements that make PDFs do darn fun to look at.

[via Google Operating System]

Filed under: Windows, Web services, Beta, web 2.0

Mount remote storage, use web apps as local apps with Gladinet

Gladinet
Gladinet is a new Windows utility that aims to help bridge the divide between desktop and web-based applications and storage. Here's how it works. You install the free (at least while in Beta) Gladinet utility and select the web based services and applications that you want to access locally. For example, you can mount your Windows Live SkyDrive or Amazon S3 Storage as a local drive that you can access using Windows Explorer.

You can also mount your Google Picasa Web Albums and Google Docs folders as if they were local folders, allowing you to upload, download, and access documents and images stored on Google's servers as if they were on your desktop.

But the ability to mount remote storage as a local folder is just the tip of the iceberg. You can also use Gladinet to launch web based applications like Google Docs, Google Calendar, or ThinkFree Doc, XLS, or PPT viewers in a standalone window as if they were desktop apps.

Last, but certainly not least, you can use Gladinet to mount folders on remote computers as local folders.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Filed under: Text, Office, Productivity, Web

EtherPad: worth giving up Google Docs for?


Hosting documents online is nothing new, and neither is sharing them for collaboration. Right off the bat, you're probably thinking of Google Docs. I was too, until I found EtherPad. It doesn't beat Google Docs at everything, but it does have advantages, like editing in real time, and using highlighting to distinguish who wrote which text. EtherPad is also faster to set up, since it doesn't require an account to use.

Just pass the URL to your collaborators, and everyone is set to start editing. There are stylistic limitations, with no fancy fonts and formatting, but edits happen in real time. There's also a handy chat box in the sidebar, in case you need to discuss your changes. Where you might want to use Google Docs instead is if you're writing something long that needs to be exported to Word or another file format. EtherPad does saving -- and infinite undos for all users, which is quite handy -- but it doesn't do exporting. You'll have to plug your document's URL in to pick up where you left off.

Complaints? Not many. The aforementioned exporting would be nice, and although it's great that you can quick-start with no accounts, they should at least be an option for privacy. And, speaking of privacy, users can see each other's IP addresses in the sidebar. I'm not sure what that adds. A built-in spellchecker would also be a perk, but it's not necessary. What EtherPad has so far is quite impressive, and I hope it continues to improve, while staying fast and easy to use.

Filed under: Business, Internet, Office, Web services

Zoho: on a roll and not looking back

zoho docsAs usual, TechCrunch makes a good point about Zoho calling their offerings "still a bit all over the place." But the fact that Zoho now has over one million users and just launched Zoho Docs bodes well for the company (and the still-nascent online business suite business at large). Zoho Docs integrates Writer, Sheet and Show, allows some version controls, more organization features and access control lists. That's a powerful set of glue tying some already-useful apps together. Now we'll have to see if they continue to grow beyond their core users and make real traction in the business space. With Office Live Workspace and Google Docs + Chrome powerhouses coming on strong in Q4, it'll be one heck of a battle.

Previous coverage of Zoho:
And here's how you can log in to Zoho with your Google Apps account.

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