Google Soon To Step Into Online Word Processing

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Hi guys,

????[/tab]I came across this site called Writely - which offers you an online browser-based Word Processor, quite similar to what Microsoft is trying to offer in it's Windows Live. What suddenly caught my notice was this one single line right below their site logo that says -

The Web Word Processor

...that's now part of Google.

 

[tab]Digging further I came upon this article at Red Herring describing Google's buyout of this company and the subsequent assimilation of their software into the Google system.. My guess is soon enough we'll find Google making a public announcement about stepping into this arena... When Microsoft is at it, Google can't be far behind.. can it ?

Google Buys Writely

 

The search company strikes at Microsoft by acquiring a web-based Word competitor.

March 9, 2006

 

In an overt challenge to Microsoft, search giant Google said Thursday it had acquired Writely, an online word processing tool, for an undisclosed amount.

 

Writely, a project of Upstartle, functions much like Microsoft Word but in a web browser. The online environment allows for collaboration between multiple authors and the benefit of someone else hosting your document.

 

The four employees of the Portola Valley, California-based company, which has not disclosed any outside funding, will move a couple exits south to Mountain View, California-based Google.

 

In a post on Google’s blog, Writely’s Jen Mazzon said “many thousands of people” had used Writely, which debuted in a beta version at the end of August 2005. She said the software would not be available to additional users until it had been moved onto Google’s systems.

 

Upstartle CEO Sam Schillace said, “We’re absolutely thrilled,” but declined further comment.

 

Read more at: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

 

Free signup at the Writely site has been temporarily shut down while their system is being migrated to Google.

 

Funny thing is I'd have NEVER come across this Writely site, unless it was for those little newsflashes in Google Desktop !! That's how I found Writely - thinking that - "Oh! Cool.. another online WP... let me check it out."

[finaldesign1405241487 0]

Interesting. This is really usefull tool. I just imagine myself using it. Probably there is a spell checker included, that would be awesome. I mean, spellchecker is what I really miss when posting here at forums. Anyway I newer imagine google can acquire such projects as writely, I just hope they will improve writelly further more, and offer even better service, maybe even hosting of your online documents

Edited April 13, 2006 by finaldesign (see edit history)

[Quatrux 4]

This is great, even though I wasn't looking forward to it, it is quite useful for a lot of people and when the google is in the name, I see quality and that it is reliable.

I mean, spellchecker is what I really miss when posting here at forums.

Opera has an integrated Spell Checker with which you can easily spell check your Text Area, it is fast and easy to use, I still don't know but I think there might be an Firefox Extension which might do something similar by using Aspell or something, the online spell checkers are not so Fast, especially if your connection is not super fast.

[organicbmx 0]

one of the columnist for the guardian newspaper technology section says that he often uses the gmail word processer [i.e. email writer] to do his writing. he prefers it to word and you can log on to it anywhere.it would be a very small step for google to turn this into an online 'my docs' with the gmail jog as the editor. and text based files would take alot less space up on servers than goggle video.

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Gmail's word processor - i.e. an adaptation of the HTMLArea WYSIWYG Editor Script is a pretty decent editor - but lack almost all the necessary features that accompany a full-blown Word Processing software. This Writely thing sounds far more promising from whatever descriptions I read at their site. It you go by that, this tool doesn't short fall of MS-Word in any respect.. and it's online and your files probably get stashed directly into your Gmail drive for easier mailing. What more do you want ??

[kaputnik 0]

Somehow, this gives me an impression of a complete computing desktop solution that is available online and is free to use, supported by minimilistically invasive advertising.Picture this: you're either, home, at your office, on your handheld computer, at a fiends place, steaming along on the high seas or maybe even travelling in space. You preffer a combination of Linux and MS windows and perhaps some other OS, all running simaltanously. Imagine for a moment, that all you have to do when you switch on your web enabled computer (whereever you are, and whatever type of system you're on) and you feed in your service IP and password, and in a few seconds (over a high speed connection) your system is running a remote OS along with any possible program you can think of (all open source or shareware) - everything remotely. You run office tools and applications, it's run on a remote computer accessed by your client computer/ or maybe you'd like to calculate the million'th 'pi'. Google looks to be aiming towards something like this and seeing the way technology is fast progressing, it wont be very long before all this becomes a reality. Something like an intranet sharing applications and processing services on a mammoth global (and perhaps outerspace) scale.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

they've been talking about it for a long time, but I never knew they actually did it.xboxrulz

[illini319 0]

Well if it isn't obvious already, Microsoft should be shaking in their boots. It seems that almost every computing niche is targeted, or is in the process of being targeted, by Google. I guess time will tell how pervasive Google will become; and when the Feds might jump in...Online-WP certainly has its advantages... but what about security?

[sandeep1405241520 0]

ya that's true. I have added my email address for the notification when writely is up running. It will be really nice if they merge writely with and web search as they have merged messenger with mail.Regards.

[plot 0]

This is very intresting, you can obviously see how google is slowly taking over the webb, soon they will have a monopoly on everything the internet has to offer, but im sure google will have a good impact on it.

[agentblade 0]

wow..that's cool.. can we sign up now? or is it still unavailable?

[Compuccino 0]

I haven't heard of Writely but now I have joined it, it seems quite good!Google have bought it to expand their "Empire" and so they can develop more things. It is like Yahoo! planning to buy Friends Reunited!Compuccino

[inevitable 0]

I've used it. It's only good for those who rarely make typing errors. Its a bit slow on dial up, the best feature is its auto saving feature

[Opethian 0]

What I'd like to see is if they can move into spreadsheets, which because of the current browser technologies, would be pretty hard to accomplish. Writely is something that I have been using just for the heck of it, and I'm glad Google saw the value of it.

[iceblade1405241492 0]

one of the columnist for the guardian newspaper technology section says that he often uses the gmail word processer [i.e. email writer] to do his writing. he prefers it to word and you can log on to it anywhere.
it would be a very small step for google to turn this into an online 'my docs' with the gmail jog as the editor. and text based files would take alot less space up on servers than goggle video.

Yeah, I use gmail to write on a short story I am working on. Its very helpful because I can access gmail where ever there is an internet connection that I can get into with my laptop. So I can work on the thing at home, and where ever else. I do most of my writing on my laptop, granted, but since its old and the hard drive may fail at any time...

Anyway, this would be GREAT news to me. I look forward to it!

What will you come up with next, google? An OS? A web browser? A music program?

Okay, google rant real fast before I go to bed.

I think google is great because they offer most of their things for free. Which is great for me. When ever my dad is talking about email for work or something I just have to throw in the fact that I have over 2.5 GB of space on my gmail account, and I am only using about 56 MB or something (approximately 2% I think the website said) So thats really nice.

Gmail is really intertwined with mor ethings then I realised. When I downloaded Google talk, I didn't realise it would auto check my gmail emails for me!

Okay, thats my short google rant. I am really hoping google brings this out for everyone to use soon.