thechromesource – Google Chrome and Chrome OS News and Forum

Video: Google Docs Gets a More Collaborative Social Feature

Posted on 16. Mar, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey. 2 Comments

One of the best features of Google Docs is the fact that more than one contributor can be working on the same document and see changes being made in real time. Even people who don’t work in offices can benefit from this: check out this great example post from two fiction authors that have used Docs to produce novels together.

Today, Google is rolling out a new comment system that will enable users to work on documents that allow for even more collaborative elements.

I can see this new feature having both positive and negative affects. The positive: Google is essentially taking a social feature that is commonly found on sites like Facebook and applying it to a productive purpose. That’s great, and really differentiates their product from Microsoft’s Office offering.

The negative: I could see this being a distraction depending on workflow. Sometimes, too much information is simply not conducive to getting things done and projects hitting their deadlines. I would be curious if there is a way to turn this off – or even better – a limit on the number of comments that can be made by default.

Really, though, you have to give Google credit for taking something that everyone uses in Facebook and on blogs and putting it into a context that allows for work to get done. I hope we see more of these type of “social” implementations in Google’s feature set for their services in the future.

via Official Google Blog

Google Working with Citrix, Businesses for Chrome OS Enterprise

Posted on 07. Dec, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 2 Comments

A recent New York Times article referenced VP of Chrome Engineering Linus Upson saying that 60% of business machines could be replaced with Chrome OS. This recieved a bit of negative press, and that was warranted. Who in their right mind would switch from Windows to an unproven operating system made by Google?

Yet some chief information officers have taken notice of Google’s efforts. The ability to reduce IT costs is a very clear goal for the enterprise. Remember, to executive management IT costs are very expensive, and do not directly contribute to a company’s bottom line in most cases. It’s sometimes difficult to justify many corporate expenses in technology, and there is a lot of motivation to eliminate unneccesary overhead.

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thechromesource Daily: Links for 8/30/10

Posted on 30. Aug, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments

Here’s a great look at three ways Google will invade the enterprise market.

Google Reader now has fullscreen capability; here is a more detailed look at how to use it.

Wired received a firsthand look at “The Wilderness Downtown” including some time with Chris Milk, the director of the project.

Google is obtaining a lot of social media companies; they’ve continued in this vein by acquiring SocialDeck.

TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington thinks the new Google Voice is a “hot mess”.

thechromesource Weekend: Links for 7/25/10

Posted on 25. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments

Does Google need to buy Zygna in order to have leverage against Facebook?

ReadWriteWeb reports that users and developers alike will be the engine driving Google’s enterprise growth.

The new YouTube embed format checks your browser to see if it is HTML5 capable, otherwise it will play the clip in Flash.

Mashable has posted 10 behind-the-scene videos that are all about Google.

Although the cover design looks a bit Windows-like, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Google Chrome and Chrome OS” will be out Aug. 3.

thechromesource Daily: Links for 5/19/10

Posted on 19. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments

Predictive pre-connections are coming to Chrome 6 to make it even faster. Here is a breakdown of what this is.

Wave, a collaborative service that has been in testing since last year’s Google I/O, no longer requires an invite.

VMWare and Google are going to be partnering up for better integration and deployment of Google Apps.

Google Storage for Developers has been announced, with 100GB of storage and 300GB monthly bandwidth for no charge.

The Google App Engine for Business has been introduced, allowing developers to quickly create new enterprise applications.

Here is Google’s official breakdown of all the announcements that occurred during I/O’s Day One.

thechromesource Daily: Links for 5/8/10

Posted on 08. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments

ARM has created a Motorola Droid robot using Lego’s Mindstorm that is able to solve a Rubik’s Cube in twenty-five seconds.

Web document company Scribd, which embeds PDF files on web pages to keep documents secure, is moving from Flash to HTML5.

Chromium’s O3D technology will be moving from a plug-in to a JavaScript library, mainly because of the recent speed improvements.

Google has invested in Invidi, a TV advertising platform startup company and they plan work together selling ads on DISH Network programming.

KMWorld has a good article talking about how Google’s community fiber project is a great step for them to get into the enterprise market.

thechromesource Daily: Links for 5/6/10

Posted on 06. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments

More Google services will be integrated with a single sign on, according to the Google Enterprise Blog.

The highly anticipated Google I/O developer conference May 19-20 will have its keynote presentations streamed live on YouTube.

ARM marketing vice president Ian Drew says that the delay in optimizing Flash for mobile devices has stalled the market to some degree.

A new feature to Google Goggles now allows someone to capture text with their phone’s camera and have it translated.

Google is in an interesting battle with Blue Destiny Records over the legality of linking to copyrighted material.

Understanding the Benefits of Google Apps for Business

Posted on 27. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments

More often lately we have been discussing the impact of Google in the enterprise market. It’s all for good reason: with the launch of the Apps Marketplace Google’s software suite for business rivals that of the competition that is out there. Not to mention it is allowing companies of all sizes to get up and running for a per user license fee, with varying cost structure for add-ons that can be implemented though the Apps Marketplace.

For those of us who haven’t switched to Google Apps for business, this may all seem overwhelming. That’s why we took the opportunity to talk to Jim McNelis, a Google Apps “subject matter expert” and CEO of Dito LLC which works with companies to implement a Google solution for their businesses. Dito is also one of the initial Apps Marketplace partners.

Thanks for taking the time to do this Jim. So, how is business since the arrival of the App Marketplace?

Businesses are waking up to the fact that the old way of managing email is dead. Email no longer requires vertical integration; instead businesses can leverage the power of Google’s Cloud to increase workforce productivity while decreasing CapEx and Operating Expenses. The introduction of the Google Apps Marketplace will prove to be a key differentiator as customers evaluate competing messaging and collaboration platforms.

The SaaS delivery method has certain inherent advantages, not the least of which is rapid development and delivery of solutions to market. Ultimately, businesses and end-users will benefit from the continuous innovation cycle — developers responding to customer needs — enabled by the Google Apps Marketplace. In fact, it was that exact innovation cycle that spurred Dito Directory for Google Apps: We received a few dozen requests from prospective and existing clients for a better Domain Shared Contacts management for Google Apps.

Tell us a little bit more about what Dito does.

Dito provides Google Apps Solutions — Deployment, Training, Support, & Development — to organizations seeking to leverage of Google’s disruptive cloud technology. Our entire approach begins with listening and responding to our customers’ needs. Whether a client needs the proverbial “boost” to migrate up into the Google Apps cloud or expertise to further integrate Google Apps within their workflow, Dito has the expertise customers need to quickly leverage the technology within their organization.

What are the types of companies you’re working with that have an interest in your services?

We serve a very eclectic sample of customers: from a 3-user Real Estate Investment Firm, ~200 user Home Improvement publication, to a government organization finding ways to stretch their budget during these difficult economic times.

What are some ways for companies to test or try out Google Apps for their business?

A 2-4 week pilot of Google Apps, alongside their current email solution, isn’t uncommon. Some companies have already decided that Google Apps is a good fit before contacting Dito…maybe they have been Gmail users for years and just found out that Google Apps is here for their business.

Can you talk about how administration works on this platform and what IT folks in an organization need to do on the back end?

Administration of Google Apps is fairly straight-forward for most common tasks. There are more and more advanced configuration and integration points that require additional knowledge, but Google does a pretty good (job) of documenting these features. With that said, Dito provides solutions for these advanced configuration and integration points. It’s kinda what we do.

What kind of impact will Google Apps Marketplace have on developers as opposed to other application stores that exist?

It’s still pretty early since the launch of the Google Apps Marketplace, but we have already had hundreds of admins install Dito Directory via the marketplace. We are very encouraged by the prospect of this new app marketplace. We have already installed several apps off the marketplace for use in our everyday processes that integrate really well with Google Apps.

Google has a hit on their hands with the new Apps Marketplace. They are allowing 3rd parties to address the users’ needs directly. Google simply cannot develop the multitude of apps that Google Apps users demand. The marketplace serves the customer’s needs, which is why it will end up being a big hit with users and developers.

One concern that many have about using Google Docs for business is compatibility with other solutions such as Microsoft.

With 3rd party apps like OffiSync, the ability to upload any document into Google Docs up to 1gb, and Google’s recent acquisition of DocVerse, those computability issues are becoming a thing of the past.

Is there anything you can tell us that you feel would help make Chrome OS for the enterprise successful?

I think the main factors to Chrome OS’s success are security, reliability, & affordability. This assumes the OS is tightly integrated with Google Apps.

On the subject of the App Marketplace, could you talk a little bit about the Dito Directory app?

Dito Directory was recently featured on the Google Apps Developers Blog: Google Apps Developer Blog.

Dito Directory Value Prop:

As a Google Apps user, have you ever noticed Domain Shared Contacts isn’t quite ‘up to snuff’? Trust us, you are not alone in your observation. Dito Directory for Google Apps fills the gaps in Domain Shared Contacts management by seamlessly integrating the following features:

-Bulk Upload large numbers of Domain Shared Contacts via Google Docs
-Browse the entire Domain Shared Contacts Directory for your domain
-Add/Edit/Delete Domain Shared Contacts
-Copy Domain Shared Contact to Personal Contacts
-Instantly add Contacts on your mobile device via Google Sync for your phone
-Edit User Profiles

You can install the Lite version here and upgrade to the Pro version ($99/domain/year) via Google Checkout to take advantage of the advanced features (e.g. Bulk Upload, Manage 50+ Contacts, and Copy to Personal Contacts). Once installed, Dito Directory will appear in the ‘more’ category of the universal navigation bar located in the upper-left corner of the Google Apps interface.

Please note that Dito Directory requires Education or Premier version since we integrate with the Google API’s.

Are there any other apps that you have in the pipeline?

None we can discuss at this time…but we are working on some exciting stuff. In the near-term, expect to see regular updates to Dito Directory. Our first update will come as early as next week, which adds the ability to manage Group Email addresses, and add those email addresses to the shared contacts list.

Using Online Storage to Collaborate in Google Docs

Posted on 15. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments

In my previous post, I showed an example of a company that decided to make the switch to Google Apps as an enterprise solution. I find this interesting, since for as many years as I can remember there have only been a few companies that have dominated this segment of the technology industry with Microsoft being the bellwether and IBM pulling a distant second.

It’s never a bad thing in an industry to have some competition, but the reality is that we don’t hear too often about companies that have switched over to Google as an enterprise solution. At least, not yet. Fortunately, those of us who just want to use the regular version for now can have some of the benefits of the souped-up business version.

So, all in an effort to help people further understand some of the functionality that exists in the non-enterprise version of Google Docs which is free, here is a way to use online storage to share files with others. You are able to share out 2GB at no cost, and there are some cheap options available for an upgrade. For example, you can get an additional 20GB for just $5.00 a year to share between Picasa, Gmail and Docs.

This is really a good option to use for large files that may not get to a recipient if emailed or if the file in question is one that would be picked up by a spam filter as dangerous such as an archive or a configuration file. To do so, it’s really easy, so here is how:

While in Gmail, click on the Documents link up at the top:

From here, you’ll see Google Docs open up in a new tab. Go ahead and click on “Upload” at the top left:

From here you will be in a window that allows you to upload several files at once:

Once you have chosen your files click and your files will be stored on the servers. This may take some time depending on file size. You will then be able to see the file(s) in you main Docs window. You can select a document you want to share, hit the “Share” button:

Then you can invite someone to be able to use your file from their Docs account:

Again, this is very useful for when you need a way to send files that are too big to email or read by Postini as dangerous. Plus, it’s free, integrates with existing Google Applications like Gmail and is easy to use. The business purpose of this would be valuable, and I know in the enterprise edition the feature set is even richer in terms of options available.