Google preps online Powerpoint alternative

Google will be rolling out a web-based presentation application in the coming months according to CEO Eric Schmidt at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco.

The application will allow users to create and share business presentations over the web. The presentation software joins Google Documents and Spreadsheets in the company's growing suite web-based applciations that perform the same basic features as Microsoft Office.

Schmidt, however, would not go so far as to deem the presentation software a 'Powerpoint killer,' pointing out that Microsoft's application would sport a much more extensive list of features than Google's web-based presentation offering.

Instead, the CEO sees the software as a web-based solution for users needing to collaborate online or work from multiple PCs.

Much of the software for the presentation app will come from Google's recent purchase of developer Tonic Systems, which makes Java-based presentation and document management software.

"We've already freed those of you working in teams from the burdens of version control and email attachment overload when going back and forth on word processing and spreadsheets," wrote Google Engineering Director Sam Schillace on a company blog.

"It just made sense to add presentations to the mix; after all, when you create slides, you're almost always going to share them."

Schillace said that the new software would be available some time this summer.

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