Google Docs adds web-based presentations

Google is responding to user demand for presentation sharing

Google has added features to Google Docs allowing users to create simple web-based presentations that others can update and view from their own computers, even at the same time.

Google Docs already offers online word processor and spreadsheet applications that users can access in conjunction with Google Mail and Google Calendar.

Dave Armstrong, product marketing manager at Google, told vnunet.com that the productivity suite offers the features people use most frequently with a simple and consistent interface.

The latest collaboration features help users maintain "one version of the truth", according to Armstrong, removing the risks of changes being lost or undone if many users are trying to modify the same document simultaneously.

Robert Whiteside, enterprise sales manager at Google UK & Ireland, explained that presentations are usually created with the intention of being shared and that this is a natural addition for Google Docs.

The new collaboration features will allow several users to view and edit a document at the same time, tracking changes and alerting other users in real time when someone is making a change.

Multiple users can also view a set of slides while a moderator controls the presentation, and work on or present presentations through Google's email, chat and calendar applications all from within Google Docs.

Users also have the option of importing and exporting presentations to and from Microsoft's PowerPoint.

Google stressed that the new features are still in the early stages and that it is making them available today in response to user demand for presentation sharing. Updates and improvements will continue to roll out over the coming months.

When asked about offline functionality for Google Docs through the Google Gears platform, Armstrong would say only that the company is working on it, but could not provide any timelines or further details.

Google Docs is now available around the world in 25 languages.