Google has launched its latest salvo against rivals such as Yahoo and Microsoft, unveiling a free online calendar service.
The web calendar lets people to store appointments, receive reminders and share schedules with others. It is tied in to Google’s e-mail service, Gmail, automatically offering to add the date information in a message to the calendar.
Google Calendar is part of its expansion into new areas, pitting the search giant in direct competition against Yahoo.
Yahoo has offered a calendar service since 1998 and in October bought the event planning site, Upcoming.org. Yahoo is currently the most popular web calendar service in the US.
If you have a gmail or other Google service, you can log into Calendar here.
Google calendar looks to be released a tad too early. Nasty bug that shifts all your imported appointments by x hours, the difference between where you are and the Google engineers are (PDT). Apparently they think everyone lives in California… Back to Yahoo! calendar.
I’ve been using 30boxs for a while, and naturally i had some inertia about changing (and indeeds the bug parent describes is unfortunate, since many people will be migrating” asap) But after playing with it for a fair while it’s become apparent a lot of what google are offering is “synergy” (£1 in the jar for using that word). Gmail, search, map, notifier (probably blog, 30boxs couldn’t compete with that.
I shall whisper the word *anticompetitive* and say nothing more.
It does say, “beta” — right?
I’m at the age now that the free calendar from the hardware store suffices. A sharpy tied to a string next to it finishes this advanced organizer off. 🙂
PayneX…. you can whisper “anticompetetive” all you want, but this really is the antithesis of anticompetetive.
Google offers ALL of their tools individually. There’s no requirement that you use one if you use another (this is what got MS in trouble… you MUST take our browser if you have our OS…. they can’t be separated)
Google makes great, free products. They’re simple to use, and they don’t smother you with the ads. The ads are there, for sure, but in a few months of using their gmaill, I’ve NEVER clicked on one. They even provide a bit of amusement as I try to figure out what words in my email trigger the ads I see.
Anyway, I like the products, and now that they’ve duplicated the important features of Outlook and Thunderbird, I’m never going back to an email client.
Ryan
I just use the CustomizeGoogle extension to erase the ads. I only wish it could get rid of those annoying “Sponsored Link” entries in my Web Clips bar.
Ryan,
But why did MS get introuble and Apple did not when Apple does the same thing as MS?
Why would you want to store your calendar on the internet? If you have to post your calendar outside your office or your personal possession you must be stupid. Isn’t that what laptops, pdas, smartphones, pen and paper are for? Don’t you need a computer and internet access to retrieve it?
Am I missing something?
Hmmmmm….. because MS told computer suppliers: “If you add the Netscape browser to your desktop, we’re not going to give you any special pricing on Windows.” (which would mean there is no way the computer supplier could be competetive.)
Basically, they ABUSED their monopoly. BEING a monopoly is not a crime. USING your monopoly to prevent competition is.
Ryan
O-R-G-A-N-I-Z-E is how we spell it in southern north America. What kind of spelling is that for a headline? Organise? Organ-ise? In American, this would be….organs used as a verb….right?
One still has to have a US cell phone to get a GMail account. And… one needs a GMail account to get access to the calendar.
(Oddly enough, there are some other countries like Turkey where a cel phone # is sufficient, but NOT Canda – I guess it’s the cheese-eating Surrender Monkey problem….)
This is a tough way for Google to gain world domination.
Yes, I know you can receive an invite from a pal … but I have no pals.
Actually, “se” instead of “ze” is how all the English-speaking world does it — except the U.S..
And first sight of the article happened to come down the pipeline from my BBC RSS feed.
And you know that, meetsy.
I just logged in and it asked me “for additional information”, which was my Timezone.
Do you have that set properly, Gary?
re 10/12: Like colour – color, Brasil – Brazil. I guess that is what happens when you get a language influenced by different languages.
I’ll be glad to invite you ace…..i think I still have like 900 or so left…..I’m serious….I have no problem putting my email name up here so you can mail me and I will be glad to send you an invite.
I love the hell out of gmail….i haven’t used yahoo or msn for ever.
#14…rus62…I have so much trouble with the different spellings. I go to University in England, and my subject has a lot of research writing involved…..my tutors are always correcting my American spelling of British words……lol
I hope they will expand gmail notofier so yu will get notified about upcoming events in your calendar… ATM you have to have the browser opened and sigend in (that i know of) to get notified!
I already don’t really know anything unless I have access to google, so I’m fine with this new development.
My Make Money Fast! scheme once cell phones are small enough to be implanted in earlobes is to provide a service where a college student with access to google listens in on all of your conversations and feeds you tidbits of information so that you can sound like you know what you’re talking about in any context. Like a phone-a-friend hint, but always on.
Emil — there’s probably a Mac widget for that. And there should be something comparable in the XP world.