So here’s one for the fans of Google Docs; a couple of people have noticed that Google Docs has included in the source code, hints about the new features coming soon.
The source code lists a few things. Some we already knew about, such as cloud printing, device recognition, and syncing. The interesting one is third party apps.
Basically, if we go into how each of these will affect Google Docs, we basically have Cloud Printing, which allows Google Docs to print from any device to a printer without losing the formatting, Device Sync, which allows you to share documents with your devices, and Third Party apps, which opens up Google Docs to a lot of possibility.
Cloud Printing is looking like a feature which will be implemented in Google Chrome and Chrome OS, which means that it will probably be launched at some point in the coming weeks. It will be a definite improvement over the current printing system which just doesn’t look very attractive. It will help for the printing of PDFs without the weird formatting issues, and it will end up being pretty helpful and lighter on systems.
Device Synchronization is an idea that’s been in the works for a while; mostly because of display ratios, it’s been difficult to open and view documents on a smaller screen, and also because cellphones (except Blackberries) don’t run .doc or .docx as native file formats for word documents. It probably was something Google wanted to make possible, and of course it is a decent thought because now, Google users can go back and forth between using a computer and an android phone, for example, when it comes to document editing, etc. This little feature will be helpful for those college students who don’t want to carry around a computer and would prefer to take notes on their computers (don’t do it because I said so).
The most exciting feature is the Third Party Apps. While we aren’t privy to what these apps might be, people have taken guesses, suggesting that it might include image editing, presentation tools, PDF editors, etc. And while “third party” often leaves a lot to the imagination, if the suggestions are anywhere near close, we might be seeing a strong move towards Google in the near future.
In the case that you’re already a Google fanatic, you can check out this Google Early Years collection of images, or the Google Rubik’s Cube.
Via Google Systems
