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Google to launch PowerPoint killer?

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
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Elinor Mills

Google is working on a tool that will let you convert documents into a presentation much like Microsoft's PowerPoint does, according to the Google Operating System blog. The tool is dubbed "Presently," which is a play on the name of Google's Web-based word processor Writely, according to the blog posting.

A Google representative said: "We're continually exploring opportunities to expand our offerings but we have nothing to announce at this time."

Google has been releasing more and more productivity applications and other services as free, online versions, starting with Gmail. Last year Google merged its Documents and Spreadsheets products and the industry has been waiting for the next shoe to drop as Google expands its hosted services.

Despite executives' claims that Google's Docs & Spreadsheets is not designed to compete with Microsoft, industry insiders say Microsoft is rightly threatened by Google's moves. By offering free online versions of fee-based Microsoft desktop software, Google is hitting Microsoft in its Achilles heel. And Microsoft's response--Windows Live--has not exactly paid off yet.