Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Microsoft has finally managed to buy the Office.com domain – as it continues to move towards the release of its next version of the Office software suite.Although many will be surprised that Microsoft did not already own the Office.com domain, it was in fact owned by a Belgian firm called ContactOffice.
However, Ars Technica has discovered that Microsoft has now snapped up the domain for an undisclosed fee – probably to use it for the increasingly cloud focused consumer offering of Office.
Too early to share
"At this point it's too early to share details on our plans around www.office.com," a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars, when questioned about the domain's future use.
Office remains Microsoft's most profitable software, with programs like Excel, PowerPoint and Word used in homes and offices across the globe.
However, with the likes of Google Docs and OpenOffice improving rapidly and people becoming more up to date with hosted applications, Microsoft is keen for its suite of software to evolve.
Early review code of Office 2010, which as you may expect arrives next year, did not include the web apps, but Office.com could potentially host the mooted free online versions.
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Plans by Google to create the world's largest library of digital books face intense scrutiny after civil liberties groups publicly questioned what the company plans to do with user records.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, among others, wrote to Google CEO Eric Schmidt late last week urging him to make sure reader privacy would be protected.
Big Brother
Of particular concern is the service's ability to monitor exactly what Google Books readers are doing with the service.
The letter explained why: "Under its current design, Google Book Search keeps track of what books readers search for and browse, what books they read, and even what they 'write' down in the margins."
Have patience
As a result, the bodies want Google to create a very clear privacy policy that ensures reader records are not shared with third parties and with authorities only on production of a proper warrant.
Google responded on one of its official blogs by asking for patience and promising that the safeguards will be put in place when a pending agreement with authors and publishers is finalised later this year.
