Google office gets 'Powerpoint'

According to Business Week, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt says his outfit will offer a Powerpoint style of software to run with its online version of Office.

Google already offers e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet programs, and other tools.

So far the company is not releasing many more details about its new presentation software, though product manager Rajen Sheth said users would be able to store documents online and let anyone with a free Google account view the slides.

There will be two versions of the presentation software which will be released in a few months. A "Premier" version with extra storage will cost $50 per year. Schmidt admitted his Powerpoint software did not have all the functionality of Microsoft Office, but was a "better fit" to how people use the Web.

There could be a bit more coming from Google in this area. The outfit just bought Tonic Systems which specialises in collaborative presentation software.

See the slides at Business Week .