Thursday, 20. March 2008
Google Puts Gadgets in Online Spreadsheets
Google is rolling out enhancements to Google Docs Spreadsheets that will enable users to embed gadgets in their documents, and visually display data in new ways.
The Gadgets-in-Docs and Visualization API are meant to act as a platform on which anyone can build an application for displaying spreadsheet data on a chart, a table or any other area with a Web page. The idea is to let users expand the use of Google spreadsheets, which are part of the company Google Docs product that also includes online word processing and presentation applications.
"We've always wanted to give people more options to view and use their information in Google Docs," wrote Jonathan Rochelle and Nir Bar-Lev in Google's blog. "We knew that trying to build all of these one at a time would simply serve too few people, given all the different ways people use and share spreadsheets."
Google Docs are considered a complement and rival to Microsoft Office, the industry's dominant productivity suite for homes and businesses. Docs are part of a collection of online software called Google Apps, which also include Web mail, calendar, instant messaging and a personalized homepage.