Google is debuting a free service designed for high-tech neophytes looking for a simple way to share information with other people working in the same company or attending the same class in school. With only a few clicks, just about anyone will be able to quickly set up and update a Web site featuring wide an array of material, including pictures, calendars and video from Google Inc.'s YouTube subsidiary, said Dave Girouard, general manager of the division overseeing the new application. "We are literally adding an edit button to the Web," Girouard said. The tools are the latest addition to a bundle of applications that Google offers to consumers and businesses as alternatives to similar products sold by Microsoft Corp., one of Google's fiercest rivals. Google's latest service represents a challenge to Microsoft's SharePoint, which charges licensing fees. Google is unveiling its alternative just a few days before Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft hosts a SharePoint conference in Seattle. Users have a choice between just five basic templates - a standard wiki, a dashboard where google gadgets can be embedded, a blog-like template for announcements, a file cabinet for file uploads, and a page for lists of items. Instead of creating structured templates, users will now simply embed spreadsheets, presentations and word documents from Google Docs, as well as Google Calendars, YouTube Videos and Picasa Albums.Like Google Docs, Google Sites wikis can be made private, shared with others, or made public. Users can select from a variety of templates, but cannot yet customize the look and feel of the site. Somewhere down the road, Google says, they’ll release an API for the new service as well. Editing is done with a rich text editor that allows for basic formatting. Google Sites is a free product, with limitations on support and storage (10 GB).http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/02/28/google.websites.ap/index.html
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/27/it-took-16-months-but-google-relaunches-jotspot/
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