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A localization data file found at docs.google.com allegedly contained references to Presently, which some have speculated is an office presentation program similar to Google Writely. Although the references have since been removed, the original version of the file was copied and is still circulating around the Internet. Google has not yet confirmed or denied the existence of Presently, but the evidence in question seems to indicate that the product is at least planned, if not under active development.
Based on the contents of the localization file, Presently appears to be a presentation application modeled after Microsoft Powerpoint with support for features like full-screen viewing and the ability to convert data between presentation and document formats. The localization file also seems to indicate that the Presently program is unsupported in Opera.
The addition of a presentation application to Google's current productivity offerings could put Google in a position to compete more directly with Microsoft in the integrated office suite arena. Although Google's word processing and spreadsheet applications lack much of the functionality found in Microsoft Office, some Office users take advantage of only a fraction of the software's features. Ease of use and the ability to leverage Internet storage and easily collaborate on documents could give Google's productivity apps enough appeal to disrupt the office suite market, which has traditionally been one of Microsoft's more profitable spaces.
From instant messaging to e-mail and word processing, Google is becoming a figure of growing prominence in virtually every sector of the web-based services market. Despite the sheer number of Google web applications, there are a number of factors that have prevented the company from using its various offerings to their full potential. Integration is still poor, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the business model behind some of the services.
Despite being an obvious prelude to direct competition with Microsoft in one of the company's most lucrative businesses, there are other broader implications as well. In the past, we have argued that Google's primary goal is to promote open file formats. Indeed, it seems likely that Google has more to gain by using its office suites to create a culture of software diversity than it could get by slapping ads on software like Writely and Presently.
Does Google have what it takes to gain serious momentum as a provider of office suite software? I think that it all depends on Google's ability to make web-based services more useful than the conventional desktop software alternative, and the key to that will be Google's office API. An API that can be leveraged by third-party applications and remote web sites will provide users with a whole new level of power and flexibility. Third-party web services that can utilize and manipulate office documents could eventually blur the lines between documents and data, reducing the barriers associated with pushing content into the semantic web.




Source:arstechnica.com