On Wednesday (04/13/06) Google unveiled their latest product, Google Calendar. The new web-based application is open to the public, but is expected to remain in beta temporarily. Google Calendar, code-name CL2, helps track events, schedule appointments, and share them with others. This new service is completely intergraded with Gmail, allowing users to add events mentioned in messages to their calendar or emailing scheduled events to contacts. Google Calendar will also notify the user by email and/or SMS notifications if requested. Since Google Calendar supports iCal standards, it can import content from applications such as MS Outlook.
Main Features:
- Gmail Intergration – send events to contacts or save mentioned events
- Calendar Sharing – create public calendars or grant users permission
- Data Importing – import data from other applications (Outlook, etc.)
- Multi-Calendars – manage seperate calendars for work, home, etc.
Any calendar can be easily shared among others by either giving specific users access or by making it open to the public. The application will even schedule appointments with others not using Google Calendar through email. This new service is amazingly better and faster than both MSN’s and Yahoo’s services, which have existed for many years. Google Calendar will work in both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, but not in Safari. I suggest trying or at least testing this new service, as it is completely free.
Links: Google Calendar | Press Release
Related: MSN Calendar | Yahoo Calendar
Coverage: BetaNews | Weblogs Inc | TechCrunch