Top Story USA
23 February 2007
Google goes after Microsoft with online software suite
In a direct assault on its arch-rival Microsoft, search engine
Google has introduced Google Apps Premier Edition, a pay-for-use
commercial version of Google Apps. The online enterprise software
suite provides e-mail, instant messaging, calendar, word processing
and spreadsheets, along with support for Gmail for Mobile on
BlackBerry devices. The Mountain View, California, company is
charging $50 (U.S.) a year, per user vs. about $500-$600 for
Microsoft Office.
Google Apps Premier Edition will include a number of significant
upgrades over the Google Apps, its free service launched last
August. All versions of Google Apps include Gmail, Google Calendar,
Google Talk, and Start Page. The company said it has now added
Google Docs & Spreadsheets.
Each paying user will have 10 gigabytes of storage per user,
compared with 2 gigabytes in the free version. This will eliminate
the necessity of deleting old email on a regular basis. Google
Apps Premier included enhanced access for customization by companies,
guaranteed 99.9 percent uptime, and round-the-clock technical
support.
According to Jim Murphy, an analyst at AMR Research, Google
Apps Premier Edition is "the biggest threat to Microsoft"
since the 1990s, when Microsoft slugged it out with Lotus Notes.
Microsoft didn't directly address Google's new software but
called its own new version of Office a "dramatic step forward."
US soldier jailed for Iraq murder
US soldier Sgt Paul Cortez has been sentenced to 100 years in
prison for the gang rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the
killing of her father, mother and sister.
Smith to be buried in Bahamas alongside
son
Former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith is to be buried in the
Bahamas, her infant daughter's advocate has said.
Cheney critical of China's military
build-up
US Vice-President Dick Cheney has expressed concern over China's
military policies, saying they were at odds with the country's
stated peaceful aims.
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