Productivity, Usefulness Reign in Latest Google Apps Updates

Matthew Weinberger

January 31, 2011

2 Min Read
Productivity, Usefulness Reign in Latest Google Apps Updates

gmailcount.pngGoogle Apps has made a name for itself with its constant stream of incremental updates. The idea is that resellers get new value-adds on Google’s cloud productivity offering, and users get incremental power with each update. Well, the week ending Jan. 28, 2011, saw Google take that to the extreme, launching five new Google Apps features and updates in as many days. Headlining the pack for resellers will be the addition of Cloud Print to mobile content, but the rest are worthy of a look.

Here is the list of updates, as per the official Google blog entry:

  • Cloud Print, which lets Google Apps users print from their computer to any remote printer that supports the protocol, has gotten an update to enable mobile devices and tablets. Now, the mobile web versions of Gmail and Google Docs support printing. If this announcement sounds like Google is trying to better position its upcoming Android tablets against the Apple iPad and AirPrint, you’re probably right.

  • An Education category has been added to the Google Apps Marketplace to help connect the places of learning that have gone Google with developers providing tools and new functionality.

  • Users of the Google Chrome browser can now get desktop notifications of new Gmail e-mails and Google Talk instant messages by enabling them in the settings.

  • The last two features are both from the ever-popular Google Labs: the first is a “search-as-you-type” for Labs itself, helping zero in on the exact feature you want. The other puts the number of unread Gmail messages in the browser tab icon. It may sound like nothing, but as a Gmail user myself, let me tell you how useful this can be.

That wasn’t the only news coming out of Google last week, between the announcement that Verizon plans to sell Google Apps and that Google is looking to hire 6,200 new employees.

Are all these separate endeavors part of a larger strategy to show Google’s maturation as a full-fledged enterprise-ready, channel-focused company? TalkinCloud continues the search for answers.

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