Google to offer Office-style web app bundle

Google is diving further into the web-based productivity application market by offering a new product that combines its online word application and spreadsheet programs.

The company is today set to launch a beta version of Google Docs & Spreadsheets. The free program lets people create, manage and share documents and spreadsheets on the web.

The program allows users to collaborate online in real time, use a variety of file formats for importing and exporting, and publish documents and spreadsheets on a web page or blog.

Google is not targeting the desktop productivity suite market place Microsoft dominates with Office, despite speculation it is, said Jonathan Rochelle, Google Docs & Spreadsheets product manager.

He said: "It made sense to combine these products and people were asking for that. It doesn't change our strategy. This is complementary to desktop products... and lacks certain advanced features [of desktop products]."

Starting with email, Google has been rolling out web-based services and software in a move seen by many as encroaching on Microsoft's turf. Microsoft responded last year by revamping its business to focus on web services under the Windows Live and Office Live monikers.

Google acquired the online word processing application Writely in March and launched Google Spreadsheets in June.

Google also sells a product to corporations and organisations called Google Apps for Your Domain that ties together web-based email, calendar, chat and web page publishing and which they can offer their employees and members for free.

Elinor Mills writes for CNET News.com