Google promises Doc editing to iPad and Android users

In an effort to improve Google Apps access to mobile users, Google announced Monday that it will soon provide editing capabilities to both iPad and Android users. This move marks another improvement to Google's cloud services which have expanded rapidly over the past few months.

The company now offers Cloud Print, a print service for both native desktop and wireless devices, and a full range of office apps like Google Calendar, Docs and Gmail. Today, the company even announced that it was upgrading its cloud application security to a double validation system.

Google Apps (a.k.a Google Suite) is just like Microsoft Office or the Adobe Suite. Apps is Google's suite of tools available to Google account users free of charge.

What did we learn from Google Wave?

Citing a lack of user adoption, Google announced Wednesday, via its official blog, that the company will nip development of Google Wave "as a standalone product." Meaning more or less that Google will take all the great parts of Google Wave and use them in other Google Suite (yep, that's what we're calling it) products like Google Docs and Gmail.

Perhaps the problem was a lack of direction from the company. When the company initially announced the product at Google I/O, Google fans were incredibly excited and once the product was released everyone wanted an invite. However, most users (including this blogger) were disappointed with Wave once invites became more abundant.

The fact was that, yes, Google Wave could do practically anything users asked it to but how were we supposed to use it?

We blogged a few months ago giving reasons as to why users should give Wave another chance pointing out the tool's ability to collaborate on fast-paced projects. However, while there was plenty room to use Wave in a work setting, there seemed little need to use Wave for play.

Regardless, Google Wave development is finished but can we really call the product a failure? No.

"...what's possible in the browser"

The truth is Wave taught both developers and users a lot about what was possible in the browser. While Twitter desktop apps like Tweet Deck and Tweetie were growing in popularity, Wave promoted browser-based Twitter applications which now make a lot more sense to HootSuite users.

Real-time collaboration by character

Wave also taught users how efficient real-time collaboration could be. The very fact that users could watch collaborators type sentences by character meant that collaborators could respond to questions and ideas before another collaborator even finished a thought. This developed into faster, more efficient collaboration. Meanwhile to Wave users, having to hit "save" to allow collaborators to see changes in a Google Doc seems almost archaic.

One-stop app

Finally, Google Wave alluded to an idea most of us have been waiting for: when will someone create an app that incorporates email, social networking, Web-browsing and professional-based collaboration tools all in one package? Why do we have to go to hundreds of places to check so many different things. What made Google Wave so exciting initially was that it promised to be an all-in-one browser-based app. Unfortunately, it never came close.

What was your favorite feature of Google Wave and how did you use the tool? Leave a comment here or on our Facebook page.

Why users should give Google Wave another chance

By Andy Stettler

Chief Blogger

When I first received my Google Wave invitation last November I was ecstatically excited. After a month of tweeting Wave hash tags, begging for an invite, I was finally able to get a feel for what Software Engineering Manager Lars Rasmussen and Google Wave Product Manager Stephanie Hannon had demoed in front of Google staff during the Day 2 Keynote of Google I/O.

I had expected a browser application that would allow me to manage all of my social networks, email, documents and means of communication into a one-stop super app. But the truth became clear by the end of my first weekend with Wave that the tool did allow users to do all of the above, but not conveniently. I received my invite on a Saturday morning. By Sunday night I had decided Google Wave just wasn't practical and I wasn't going to use it.

Six months later, I'm reassessing that truth. I've realized that the trouble wasn't that Wave was impractical, the problem was that I didn't have a use for Wave at the time.

Google Wave is made for real-time communication and collaboration. During the Ben Franklin Project, we used Google Wave to connect two of Montgomery Media's two offices, one in Fort Washington, Pa. and another in Souderton, Pa.

Through Google Wave five staff members were able to connect, collaborate and produce an initial press release explaining the project to the public. In a sense, Google Wave not only allowed our team to collaboratively create the project's description, it also worked as a foreshadow to evoke the idea that we would be using new and free technology to connect and create throughout the entire project.

Why Google Docs was not enough
Initially, we began writing our ideas for the press release into a Google Doc but quickly found that the tool was insufficient in that we had to save the doc in order to alert other staff members that we had made changes or updated the doc. We couldn't just type something in the document and rest assured that the other team members would see the changes.

However, let me be clear that we did use Google Docs for almost everything else during the project. It replaced Microsoft Word and Apple Pages during story production. However, when we needed something that could support our need to collaborate in real-time, from different locations, Google Wave worked in our favor.

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New templates to improve the way we Wave

In addition to using "blank documents" on Google Wave, the tool now offers a number of other templates users can work with.

Brainstorm

When you're working with a team of staff on a specific project, use the brainstorm template to produce a list of ideas. As the template suggests, "encourage wild ideas" and "defer judgement." This is a place for creativity, use the discussion template to breakdown your ideas and to decide what is realistic. Note: The brainstorm template offers a visual box that allows users to draw logos, page designs and anything similar.

Discussion

The discussion template can be used in the next step of your brainstorming process. Use the discussion template as a place to differentiate which of your past ideas are worth pursuing and which should go down the shoot. Users can offer the brainstorm ideas or "proposals" while other users can vote in favor or against the idea.

Task Tracking

Use the Task Tracking Template to record what needs to be done in order to put your ideas to work. Users can arrange jobs by priority (high, medium, low, not going to do) using the Wave as a place to come back to in order to see what is next on the agenda.

Meeting

Use the Meeting Template to create agendas for meetings. These Waves, when shared with other team members, help to provide a structure to your meetings. Write who will be attending, what needs to be discussed and what jobs need to be done (refer to your Task Tracking Wave).

Have an addition to our report on Google Wave? Send us an email at AndyStettler@Gmail.com.