Web Based Calender unleashed by search giant Google

Google Inc. on Thursday unveiled a free Web-based calendar application that is expected to heat up competition with other calendar systems such as Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo Calendar.

This is the latest feather in the cap of the company whose name is synonymous with searching the Internet. The search giant has once again expanded its franchise by introducing this free calendar function that is arguably easier to use and more powerful than competitive calendars from Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL. Google already offers mapping feature and its Gmail email service.

First and foremost, the beta version of Google Calendar, which can be accessed without a Gmail account, allows users to maintain several kinds of calendars, for work, for social life, and for children's schedules.

Secondly, it is based on open software that can be integrated with other software services and Web sites. Users can search for and add events from within the program or through Web sites that use open standards for calendars. Such sites are invited to add Google Calendar buttons next to events they list.

It also enables users to determine who else can view their calendar information by entering permitted viewers' e-mail addresses. Users of the new Google application can also access events from friends' shared calendars and import events from Microsoft Outlook. Once they add events, they can use a "Search My Calendars" searchbar to find them. Events can also be created by typing simple messages like "Lunch with Nandita 11:30 a.m. Wednesday" in the program's "Quick Add" bar.

Taking a page from sites such as InterActive Corp's Evite, Google also built invitation management into Google Calendar. Users can create event invitations to be sent to anyone with an e-mail account. They can also send event reminders via e-mail or cell phone text message, and keep track of RSVPs from within the program. People can see their schedules by day, week, month and four-day views, highlight any period from a monthly calendar for a customized view and display only certain events at a time on their calendar view.

Google said that it tried to play "nice" and made its calendar compatible with those of its rivals.The application interoperates with other calendaring programs that use Apple Computer's iCal or XML standards. In the coming months, Google Calendar will be able to synchronize with Outlook and mobile devices, Product Manager Carl Sjogreen said. The application works best with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 and higher, and with Firefox 1.07 and higher. Users must have JavaScript and cookies enabled, Google said.

The new service by google comes as Microsoft is planning a major calendar upgrade for its Outlook 12 release later this year. The major search and portal companies are in a race to offer the most useful Web-based applications to a growing Internet-savvy population that is increasingly moving its life off paper and onto the Web. Slowly the web services jigsaw puzzle that Google is building is starting to form.

It now has an email product, a word processor, a calendar and a web page builder (Google Page Creator). All of these products will be funded by Google's advertising model. We should not be surprised and indeed fully expect to see a number of additional web-based office productivity tools appear from Google in consequent months.

As soon as web service equivalents to Excel and Power Point make an appearance, Microsoft may need to consider seriously how much longer it can stick with its legacy business model of the 1980s.