May 19, 2012, 7:50 AM — I’m a big fan of Chrome’s Bookmarks Bar, which puts my most frequently visited sites across the top of the browser, just one click away.
The problem is that I have so many favorites, they don’t all fit. Instead, they get squeezed out of view, requiring me to click the little double-arrow on the right end of the Bookmarks Bar. Then I’m stuck perusing a drop-down menu, which takes, like, all day.
[ FREE DOWNLOAD: 3 things Google Apps needs to fix... like, NOW ]
The solution I’ve found is to condense those favorites icons, or favicons, by eliminating the text that accompanies them. It takes a bit of time, but I think it’s worth the effort. Here’s how:
1. Right-click any icon in your Bookmarks Bar, then click Edit.
2. Remove the text from the Name field, then click Save.
3. Presto! Now you’ve got just the favicon for that favorite.
4. Repeat the process for all the other icons in your Bookmarks Bar.
Keep in mind that because not every Web site has an easily identifiable favicon, you might not want to take this approach for each and every favorite.
For example, sites like Facebook, Ebay, and PC World have instantly recognizable favicons. But others are more vague, and if you have any bookmarklets, those are usually represented by nothing more than a gray globe — and therefore shouldn’t be shortened.
Thus, you’ll want to fiddle with this to find the best arrangement for your particular setup. You could always reduce a favicon’s name to an abbreviation, like “LMI” for LogMeIn (which has a fairly generic-looking favicon). That would allow you to condense your Bookmarks Bar while keeping your icons easy to identify.
Contributing Editor Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your PC hassles at Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your Phasslefree@pcworld.com, or try the treasure trove of helpful folks in the Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your PPC World Community Forums. Sign up to have the Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your PHassle-Free PC newsletter e-mailed to you each week.
Article source: http://www.itworld.com/software/277119/condense-icons-your-google-chrome-bookmarks-bar
Tags: Bookmarks Bar, Chrome Bookmarks Bar, Google Apps, LMI, PC, Rick Broida
May 05, 2012, 7:30 AM — Lots of users are probably trying Google Chrome for the first time, and maybe having some trouble learning the basics of the browser. Downloads in particular can be confusing if you’re moving to Chrome.
When it comes to downloading files, not all browsers are created equal. In Microsoft Internet Explorer, for example, clicking a download link produces a pop-up bar along the bottom of the screen, asking if you want to run or save the file. In Mozilla Firefox, the browser I used prior to Chrome, you get a pop-up requester front and center, followed by a big ol’ status window. For anyone accustomed to this, Chrome can be a head-scratcher. It’s easy to overlook the arrival and status of a file download, especially if you’re accustomed to looking near the top of the screen or seeing a pop-up window.
[ FREE DOWNLOAD: 3 things Google Apps needs to fix... like, NOW ]
Chrome’s download-status indicator appears quietly and unobtrusively in the lower-left corner of the screen. If you blink, you’ll miss the little arrow that flashes at the start of the download. (Google no doubt added this because so many people had trouble finding any evidence of download activity.)
Of course, now that you know where to look, you’re all set. When the download is done, you can click it to run or open the file, or click the little arrow alongside it for a handful of options (including the always-handy Show in folder, which opens the folder containing the download).
Want to view all your downloads? Press Ctrl-J to open Chrome’s download manager in a new tab. You can also click the little wrench icon in the top-right corner of the screen, then select Downloads. This may seem like an obvious thing, but it took me a while to get accustomed to Chrome’s tucked-away-in-a-corner download indicator.
Three Things You Should Know About Google Voice
Have you tried Google Voice? If not, I think I can understand why. It’s one of those services that sounds a little confusing–and perhaps not terribly useful.
But Google Voice is a pretty cool tool, and it can solve more than a few hassles. Let’s take a look at three GV perks you might not have known about.
(Note: I’m assuming that you’ve already signed up for a GV account. If not, just visit google.com/voice and follow the instructions. You’ll need to have some sort of Google account already, like, say, Gmail.)
1. You can use it to send text messages. Why bother pulling out your cell phone and typing on its tiny keyboard every time you want to send a text message?
If you’re at your computer, you can simply open up Google Voice, click Text, enter the recipient’s phone number, and type your message. Click Send and you’re done. Best of all, replies will pop up right there, so you can hold an entire SMS conversation right in your Web browser.
Oh, and unlike with standard texting from your phone, GV texting is free (for you, anyway–the recipient still has to pay regular rates).
2. You can use it to make free calls (for now). Google Voice is, at its core, a voice-over-IP calling service. And a free one, at least until the end of 2012. That means you can make unlimited local and long-distance calls without spending an extra dime.
Looking for a way to integrate this GV goodness with your current phone system? Check out the Obihai OBi100 adapter, which plugs right into your router (much like a MagicJack, but with Google Voice as the service provider). Connect your phone’s base station and presto: You’ve got dial tone.
3. You can use it to record phone calls. Are you conducting an interview? Talking to a customer-service representative? Planning some blackmail? Might be nice to have a recording of the call. Google Voice makes this a cinch: Just press 4 during the call to initiate recording. When you’re done, you’ll be able to access the audio file from the GV dashboard.
Just one caveat: this works only for incoming calls. And depending on your state’s laws, you may need to get consent from the other party.
If you’ve got a hassle that needs solving, send it my way. I can’t promise a response, but I’ll definitely read every e-mail I get–and do my best to address at least some of them in the PCWorld Hassle-Free PC blog. My 411: hasslefree@pcworld.com. You can also sign up to have the Hassle-Free PC newsletter e-mailed to you each week.
Article source: http://www.itworld.com/internet/273630/getting-started-google-chrome-and-google-voice
Tags: Click Send, Google Apps, Google Chrome, Google Voice, GV, IP
MENLO PARK, Calif., April 25, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ – Knoodle, the enterprise social learning company, today announces a newly expanded set of capabilities that give companies more ways than ever to deploy collaborative learning and continuous knowledge sharing programs leveraging the GoogleApps ecosystem.
To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/55732-knoodle-fully-integrated-cloud-based-social-learning-platform
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120425/MM92055 )
Along with basic integrated user management and single sign-on through Google Apps, Knoodle provides additional built-in functionality for:
- Importing presentations, images, audio and video from Google Docs and YouTube into Knoodle, providing direct access to content stored on Google and more seamless ways to build learning modules and courses on Knoodle.
- Direct, one-click publishing of Knoodle presentations to Google Docs and YouTube, extending the reach to share Knoodle presentations privately throughout the organization or publicly across the world.
- Access via the Chrome Web Store, providing additional reach and availability, as well as full native Chrome and Google Cloud Print support.
- True end-to-end mobile learning capabilities with full functionality on Google Chromebooks and Android enabled devices.
These new capabilities solidify Knoodle’s position as the only social learning platform that gives businesses a full range of integrated social learning capabilities that leverage not only the application and user management power of Google Apps, but also seamless access to content, connections and reach for both rapid content authoring, as well as publishing and sharing within both private and public audiences.
“We believe strongly that learning technology for the social enterprise must do much more than just facilitate internal collaboration,” said Michael Rose, General Manager of Knoodle. “These new capabilities are a reflection of our commitment to enable continuous learning and the seamless exchange of ideas between internal teams, as well as with remote field organizations and the external ecosystems of customers and partners leveraging leading social enterprise platforms like Google Apps. We have seen strong initial demand for Knoodle from Google Apps companies, and we’re looking forward to continued growth within the Google ecosystem.”
The expanded reach, authoring, and sharing capabilities now available through the Google ecosystem go hand in hand with the rapid authoring, testing, and analytics capabilities that have made Knoodle a leader in the enterprise learning space. By leveraging already familiar tools such as PowerPoint presentations and standard image and video formats, Knoodle makes it easy to rapidly build and deploy anything from product how-to demos, to online certification courses, to new employee onboarding programs, to fully collaborative subject matter expert communities.
To try Knoodle for free, install Knoodle on your Google Apps domain from our listing in the GoogleAppsMarketplace, or visit www.knoodle.com.
About Knoodle Knoodle is the social learning platform for your company. We help your people learn faster and do their jobs better by combining the depth of traditional enterprise learning technology with the immediacy and interactivity of social tools to make learning and knowledge sharing a natural part of the work day.
Companies big and small trust Knoodle to achieve a broad range of critical business objectives, ranging from product training and demos, to employee onboarding, training and certification programs, to broad social learning communities that bring together employees, customers and the ecosystem of partners. Knoodle delivers its solutions through the cloud, so there is no software to install and manage, deployment occurs in minutes not months, and is accessible anywhere and on any device.
For more information, visit www.knoodle.com.
SOURCE Knoodle
Article source: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/25/4441407/knoodles-deep-integration-with.html
Tags: Chrome Web Store, Google Apps, Google Chromebooks, Google Cloud Print, Google Docs, Michael Rose
Google senior vice president Sundar Pichai says the GDrive will soon be integrated with the company’s Chrome OS operating system. Image: Flickr/niallkennedy
Google will tightly integrate its new Google Drive online storage service with an upcoming version of its Chrome OS operating system, according to Sundar Pichai, the man who oversees development of the company’s Chrome products as well as its Google Apps online services.
Chrome OS is Google’s effort to move all applications and data onto the web. First released last year on “Chromebook” laptops from Acer and Samsung, this lightweight operating system revolves around a single local application: Google’s Chrome browser. The idea is to streamline the way we use, update, and secure our laptop and desktop machines, and though it succeeds in some cases, the OS still hasn’t mastered the art of moving files from place to place.
By integrating Chrome OS with Google Drive — the online storage service Google introduced on Tuesday — the company seeks to correct this problem. “With Chromebooks, [Google Drive] is even more powerful,” Pichai says, “because it just starts working naturally. Your local drive is also Google Drive. This makes it really powerful because you just don’t think about it.”
Basically, Google Drive — a service that operates on the web — will perform as if it was the local file system. If you open the ‘save file’ dialog box on Chrome OS, for instance, the system will take you straight to Google Drive. “We’ll…effectively integrate [Google] Drive into the native file system of Chrome OS,” says Scott Johnson, Google’s Google Drive product manager. “All the core OS functionality will use [Google] Drive as a place to store data — if that’s what you opt in to.”
According to Pichai and Johnson, Google Drive will integrate will version 20 of Chrome OS. An early incarnation of version 19 is currently under test, prior to its official release.
The long-rumored GDrive is an online service where you can upload, share, and collaborate on files, including documents, videos, photos, and PDFs. It’s available to consumers, but it’s also part of the Google Apps suite of online applications the company offers to businesses.
The service is similar to what Google has long provided as part of its Google Docs online word processor — it even looks the same — but in moving file storage to a new service, Google is looking to facilitate the transfer of files between all sorts of online applications, including its own services as well as those run by third parties.
VMware’s SlideRocket — an online service for building slide presentations a la Microsoft PowerPoint — is among a handful of third-party services that already tie into Google Drive. The appeal of GDrive, says Chuck Dietrich, who oversees SlideRocket at VMware, is that you can open files directly from the service. “When you open a document, you can immediately start editing,” he says. “They have their own editing tool, but they also have integration with other tools like SlideRocket.”
Other storage services, such as Box.net, are moving towards in a similar direction, so Google Drive is not unique in this sense. But this does make it a good fit for Chrome OS. Because the OS does not run local applications, you’re forced to shuttle files between online apps, and even when you have an effective local file interface, this can be difficult. You end up uploading files and then downloading them and then uploading them again.
When Google unveiled an early version of Chrome OS in December 2010, it offered no obvious way for users to access files stored on the machine itself. By the time the OS hit the market, it included a rudimentary file viewer, but moving files was still quite difficult.
Currently, Google offers downloadable software that tie Google Drive to the file systems of other desktop OSes, including Apple’s Mac OS X, letting you synchronize files across multiple machines. But with Chrome, this sort of software will be part of the OS itself.
As recounted in Steven’s Levy’s In the Plex, Google was on the verge of releasing a GDrive storage service several years ago, but Sundar Pichai was among the Googlers who were against launching the service — apparently because it was little more than a way of storing files. “The point I made was that files — in and of themselves — don’t matter,” Pichai remembers. “What matters is applications.”
But the new GDrive, he says, takes a different tack. “This version of GDrive is deeply tied to how we think about Google Docs,” he says. “The focus is on applications — powerful applications — that let people live and work in the cloud, create and collaborate. We started by letting people upload files to Google Docs, and GDrive is an evolution of this. It’s a place where you go to create and collaborate and share documents…Users are not just looking for file systems and storage.”
Soon, Google Drive will bring this approach to Chrome OS. And it’s needed.
Article source: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/04/google-gdrive-chrome-os/
Tags: Chrome OS, Google Apps, Google Docs, Google Drive, OS, Sundar Pichai
When you open a new tab in Chrome, you may want more than a few Google Apps or recently opened sites. Start is an extension that lets you add bookmarks and more to your start tab.
Pin It
Many of us have tricked-out home pages, but if you don’t want to spend a lot of time and energy on it, the Chrome extension Start can add functionality to your start tabs without much effort. Here’s how to use it:
- Install Start here.
- Click the wrench icon in the upper right, then select Options, then click Extensions in the left sidebar, then click Options for Start.
- If you want an RSS feed or bundle on your new tabs, follow the directions to create one, then add the URL.
- Click Advanced to set layout and other options.
- Open a new tab or window to see Start in action and change more settings.
Step 5: “Start!” in action.
(Credit:
Rob Lightner/CNET)
- At the bottom of the page is a small tool pane that lets you access Start options quickly, change the background image (or set your own), set background opacity, and minimize the tool pane.
That’s it! While Start may not have a deeply robust set of tools, it is easy to use and is definitely a step up from the default start tab.
Article source: http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57393672-285/customize-and-enhance-chromes-start-tab/
Tags: Click Advanced, Google Apps, Install Start, RSS
In my recent post entitled, “How does Google intend to compete with Microsoft in the cloud?”, I spoke to the Chrome web browser/operating system as being Google’s basis for competing with the likes of Microsoft, amongst other IaaS type cloud providers. Considering their SaaS-oriented cloud strategy, I also mentioned how Google has to make up for lost time in terms of the enterprise’s back office, since Microsoft has a strong foothold over the productivity software market, not to mention their ability to run legacy systems in the cloud with the VM Role. Therefore, if Google and Chrome are to be successful, they’ll need to build a highly available framework to run their application stack.
With the recent announcement that the Chrome browser is coming to Android phones, and assuming there are no major bug concerns, Google takes a big step toward a completely on-demand cloud offering, even in its goal to compete in the enterprise resource planning or business software arena.
Most consumers know Chrome simply as just another web browser. However, for Google, it’s a means for operating system independence, as is indicated through Google’s Chromebook. Arguably the world’s first out-and-out netbook, Chromebook instantaneously connects users to the Chrome web browser at logon. The Chrome OS has been good for the mobile consumer, as the devices it is installed on are lightweight, have long battery life, and are both Wi-Fi and 3G enabled. For the enterprise, the Chromebook is also a low-cost, easy-to-support computing device for connecting to Google Apps, a hub for intuitive business communication and output. Now, with the Android Chrome release, Chrome, as an extensible web browser with the ability to be served across virtually any computing device, taps itself into the smartphone and tablet market as well. When taking into account how pervasive smartphones and tablets have become in everyday consumer life, as well as in the enterprise, Google has seen the need to compete with the iPad. Something Google needs to make the argument, however, that Chrome is not just for playing Angry Birds. It’s also for mobile enterprise workers.
Imagine a highly mobile organization such as a sales force. Aside from a few middle-level managers and executives who remain in a centralized office, most company sales people spend the entirety of their day on the road, with customers, or traveling to and fro from customer sites. With limited time in front a traditional PC, it’s still important that these mobile workers have the same access to email and the company CRM. With Chrome-enabled Android devices, each sales rep can receive email via a very familiar Chrome-based Gmail interface, just as they might use on a PC or Chromebook, as well as fill-out vital sales data into a Google Apps-integrated CRM, as provided by one of many CRM solutions listed under the Google Apps Marketplace.
The scenarios for a mobile Chrome on Android are endless for the enterprise. Furthermore, these prospects will be even more substantiated by the promise of remote syncing capabilities, where one’s browsing history can be shared with other instances of Chrome. Chrome’s instinctive UI stands to bring an uniformity and familiarity to enterprises, similar to what Microsoft has accomplished with its Office suite of software. Although much needs to be done to ensure that both the Chrome web browser and the devices it’s installed upon work seamlessly, as well as to ensure that the SaaS applications they provide in the cloud remain highly available, Google has now rounded-out its framework for ultimately delivering Google Apps anywhere.
Article source: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/datacenter/chrome-for-android-furthers-googles-goal-to-grow-in-the-enterprise/5371
Tags: CRM, Google Apps, PC, Something Google
The Chrome Web Store, open to developers since mid-2010 and to end users since late 2010, is still at a nascent stage, but
has the potential to succeed in a major way, according to a Google executive.
So far in this initial phase, Google feels it has done a good job promoting the idea of apps running within a desktop browser
to consumers, as evidenced by the fact that the Store’s app installs have doubled in the past three months, said Sundar Pichai,
Google’s senior vice president of Chrome and Apps.
Currently, Chrome browser users install about 1 million applications from the store every day, he said during an appearance
at the Goldman Sachs Technology Internet Conference, where he answered questions from a financial analyst and from audience
members.
“We’re pretty excited about the opportunity there, but it’s still early days,” he said.
The next stage is for developers to start earning money from apps, whether by selling them outright or through in-app payment
features, according to Pichai.
There will be a “whole slew” of new game applications added to the store, along with more productivity applications, he said.
Asked about the Google Apps collaboration and communication suite, Pichai acknowledged that most customers are still small
and medium-size businesses, but that there has been a shift toward acceptance in the past six months by CIOs of large enterprises.
As a result, Google is seeing Apps adoption among large companies and organizations accelerate, he said, offering as examples
two recent big customer wins: Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, which will roll out Apps to its 110,000 employees worldwide, and
Roche Group, which will adopt Apps for its 90,000 employees globally.
“That’s a profound shift we’re seeing,” he said.
Large companies’ privacy and security concerns about the cloud-hosted model of collaboration and communication suites like
Google Apps have lessened, he said.
CIOs also used to worry a lot more about the “feature gap” between the Docs productivity suite of Google Apps and an on-premise
competitor like Microsoft Office, but now their priorities have started to shift, he said.
Now, it’s becoming more important for enterprises to have a productivity suite that can be deployed across multiple devices,
including phones and tablets employees bring to work from home, he said.
“The current model of how you use productivity apps is extremely tied to a Windows-centric view of how you use them,” he said,
adding that as that model changes, the “value proposition” of Google Apps gets a boost.
Of course, archrival Microsoft sees things differently. Asked for comment about Google’s announcement of its Roche Group customer
win on Thursday, Microsoft said via email that the announcement is an attempt by Google to “build credibility with the enterprise
audience.”
“As Google’s past history has shown, winning customers is one thing, keeping them is another,” Microsoft said.
Microsoft has said that Office 2010 is the fastest-selling consumer version of Office in history: A copy is sold worldwide
every second. Office 365, the cloud suite Microsoft launched last year as a Google Apps competitor, is on track to become
one of Microsoft’s fastest-selling products ever, it said. And about 80 million people use cloud applications from Microsoft,
including Office 365, its predecessor Business Productivity Online Suite and the Live@edu suite for schools and universities.
The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.
Article source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/021712-googles-chromeapps-vp-its-early-256315.html
Tags: Chrome Web Store, Google Apps, Microsoft Office, Roche Group
The Chrome Web Store, open to developers since mid-2010 and to end users since late 2010, is still at a nascent stage, but has the potential to succeed in a major way, according to a Google executive.
So far in this initial phase, Google feels it has done a good job promoting the idea of apps running within a desktop browser to consumers, as evidenced by the fact that the Store’s app installs have doubled in the past three months, said Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president of Chrome and Apps.
Currently, Chrome browser users install about 1 million applications from the store every day, he said during an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Technology Internet Conference, where he answered questions from a financial analyst and from audience members.
“We’re pretty excited about the opportunity there, but it’s still early days,” he said.
The next stage is for developers to start earning money from apps, whether by selling them outright or through in-app payment features, according to Pichai.
There will be a “whole slew” of new game applications added to the store, along with more productivity applications, he said.
Asked about the Google Apps collaboration and communication suite, Pichai acknowledged that most customers are still small and medium-size businesses, but that there has been a shift toward acceptance in the past six months by CIOs of large enterprises.
As a result, Google is seeing Apps adoption among large companies and organizations accelerate, he said, offering as examples two recent big customer wins: Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, which will roll out Apps to its 110,000 employees worldwide, and Roche Group, which will adopt Apps for its 90,000 employees globally.
“That’s a profound shift we’re seeing,” he said.
Large companies’ privacy and security concerns about the cloud-hosted model of collaboration and communication suites like Google Apps have lessened, he said.
CIOs also used to worry a lot more about the “feature gap” between the Docs productivity suite of Google Apps and an on-premise competitor like Microsoft Office, but now their priorities have started to shift, he said.
Now, it’s becoming more important for enterprises to have a productivity suite that can be deployed across multiple devices, including phones and tablets employees bring to work from home, he said.
“The current model of how you use productivity apps is extremely tied to a Windows-centric view of how you use them,” he said, adding that as that model changes, the “value proposition” of Google Apps gets a boost.
Of course, archrival Microsoft sees things differently. Asked for comment about Google’s announcement of its Roche Group customer win on Thursday, Microsoft said via email that the announcement is an attempt by Google to “build credibility with the enterprise audience.”
“As Google’s past history has shown, winning customers is one thing, keeping them is another,” Microsoft said.
Microsoft has said that Office 2010 is the fastest-selling consumer version of Office in history: A copy is sold worldwide every second. Office 365, the cloud suite Microsoft launched last year as a Google Apps competitor, is on track to become one of Microsoft’s fastest-selling products ever, it said. And about 80 million people use cloud applications from Microsoft, including Office 365, its predecessor Business Productivity Online Suite and the Live@edu suite for schools and universities.
Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.
Article source: http://www.techworld.com.au/article/415843/google_chrome_apps_vp_it_early_days_chrome_web_store/
Tags: Chrome Web Store, Google Apps, Juan Carlos Perez, Roche Group
The Chrome Web Store, open to developers since mid-2010 and to end users since late 2010, is still at a nascent stage, but has the potential to succeed in a major way, according to a Google executive.
So far in this initial phase, Google feels it has done a good job promoting the idea of apps running within a desktop browser to consumers, as evidenced by the fact that the Store’s app installs have doubled in the past three months, said Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president of Chrome and Apps.
Currently, Chrome browser users install about 1 million applications from the store every day, he said during an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Technology Internet Conference, where he answered questions from a financial analyst and from audience members.
“We’re pretty excited about the opportunity there, but it’s still early days,” he said.
The next stage is for developers to start earning money from apps, whether by selling them outright or through in-app payment features, according to Pichai.
There will be a “whole slew” of new game applications added to the store, along with more productivity applications, he said.
Asked about the Google Apps collaboration and communication suite, Pichai acknowledged that most customers are still small and medium-size businesses, but that there has been a shift toward acceptance in the past six months by CIOs of large enterprises.
As a result, Google is seeing Apps adoption among large companies and organizations accelerate, he said, offering as examples two recent big customer wins: Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, which will roll out Apps to its 110,000 employees worldwide, and Roche Group, which will adopt Apps for its 90,000 employees globally.
“That’s a profound shift we’re seeing,” he said.
Large companies’ privacy and security concerns about the cloud-hosted model of collaboration and communication suites like Google Apps have lessened, he said.
CIOs also used to worry a lot more about the “feature gap” between the Docs productivity suite of Google Apps and an on-premise competitor like Microsoft Office, but now their priorities have started to shift, he said.
Now, it’s becoming more important for enterprises to have a productivity suite that can be deployed across multiple devices, including phones and tablets employees bring to work from home, he said.
“The current model of how you use productivity apps is extremely tied to a Windows-centric view of how you use them,” he said, adding that as that model changes, the “value proposition” of Google Apps gets a boost.
Of course, archrival Microsoft sees things differently. Asked for comment about Google’s announcement of its Roche Group customer win on Thursday, Microsoft said via email that the announcement is an attempt by Google to “build credibility with the enterprise audience.”
“As Google’s past history has shown, winning customers is one thing, keeping them is another,” Microsoft said.
Microsoft has said that Office 2010 is the fastest-selling consumer version of Office in history: A copy is sold worldwide every second. Office 365, the cloud suite Microsoft launched last year as a Google Apps competitor, is on track to become one of Microsoft’s fastest-selling products ever, it said. And about 80 million people use cloud applications from Microsoft, including Office 365, its predecessor Business Productivity Online Suite and the Live@edu suite for schools and universities.
Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.
Article source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/250226/googles_chromeapps_vp_its_early_days_for_chrome_web_store.html
Tags: Chrome Web Store, Google Apps, Juan Carlos Perez, Roche Group
The Chrome Web Store, open to developers since mid-2010 and to end users since late 2010, is still at a nascent stage, but has the potential to succeed in a major way, according to a Google executive.
So far in this initial phase, Google feels it has done a good job promoting the idea of apps running within a desktop browser to consumers, as evidenced by the fact that the Store’s app installs have doubled in the past three months, said Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president of Chrome and Apps.
Currently, Chrome browser users install about 1 million applications from the store every day, he said during an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Technology Internet Conference, where he answered questions from a financial analyst and from audience members.
“We’re pretty excited about the opportunity there, but it’s still early days,” he said.
The next stage is for developers to start earning money from apps, whether by selling them outright or through in-app payment features, according to Pichai.
There will be a “whole slew” of new game applications added to the store, along with more productivity applications, he said.
Asked about the Google Apps collaboration and communication suite, Pichai acknowledged that most customers are still small and medium-size businesses, but that there has been a shift toward acceptance in the past six months by CIOs of large enterprises.
As a result, Google is seeing Apps adoption among large companies and organizations accelerate, he said, offering as examples two recent big customer wins: Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, which will roll out Apps to its 110,000 employees worldwide, and Roche Group, which will adopt Apps for its 90,000 employees globally.
“That’s a profound shift we’re seeing,” he said.
Large companies’ privacy and security concerns about the cloud-hosted model of collaboration and communication suites like Google Apps have lessened, he said.
CIOs also used to worry a lot more about the “feature gap” between the Docs productivity suite of Google Apps and an on-premise competitor like Microsoft Office, but now their priorities have started to shift, he said.
Now, it’s becoming more important for enterprises to have a productivity suite that can be deployed across multiple devices, including phones and tablets employees bring to work from home, he said.
“The current model of how you use productivity apps is extremely tied to a Windows-centric view of how you use them,” he said, adding that as that model changes, the “value proposition” of Google Apps gets a boost.
Of course, archrival Microsoft sees things differently. Asked for comment about Google’s announcement of its Roche Group customer win on Thursday, Microsoft said via email that the announcement is an attempt by Google to “build credibility with the enterprise audience.”
“As Google’s past history has shown, winning customers is one thing, keeping them is another,” Microsoft said.
Microsoft has said that Office 2010 is the fastest-selling consumer version of Office in history: A copy is sold worldwide every second. Office 365, the cloud suite Microsoft launched last year as a Google Apps competitor, is on track to become one of Microsoft’s fastest-selling products ever, it said. And about 80 million people use cloud applications from Microsoft, including Office 365, its predecessor Business Productivity Online Suite and the Live@edu suite for schools and universities.
Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.
Article source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/250226/googles_chromeapps_vp_its_early_days_for_chrome_web_store.html
Tags: Chrome Web Store, Google Apps, Juan Carlos Perez, Roche Group
