No internet connection?

2007-05-31 09:39

Ben Charny

San Francisco - Google Inc on Wednesday introduced new software called Google Gear that lets web browsers access its internet features, even when there isn't any internet connection.

Google Gears is compatible, so far, with Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer browser and the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox, the company said. A web browser from Apple Inc, known as Safari, and Opera Software's Opera browser are next, Google executives said.

For now, the new feature only works for Google's Google Reader, which is used to automatically collect new material posted on favourite websites and blogs.

Google Product Manager Sundar Pichai said Google intends to make other features compatible with Google Gears.

Moreover, Mountain View, California-based Google is positioning Google Gears as an industry standard way to work with web applications without a web connection. There's no standard for this kind of feature, Pichai said, which has helped to slow development of this corner of the internet.

But demand for these kinds of features is growing as businesses look for any edge they can get over rivals, hence putting pressure on the internet industry to come up with a solution, Pichai said.

"There's only been some very early work done on this," he said. "We all want to make this happen."

- Dow Jones