First Look at IE8 Activities
and WebSlices

Google is doing something interesting with its Gadgets platform, making
gadgets a data source for spreadsheets as well as a data distribution method for
developers.

"If I'm collecting census data and putting it into a spreadsheet, I can also
make that data available to statisticians," through the Visualization API, says
Rochelle. "It doesn't have to be in a spreadsheet form" to distribute.

Spreadsheets is just the first data source that can be handled this way.

"We're making the spreadsheet almost a platform for simple development and
delivery," he says.

With the enhancements, Google is ratcheting up the competition its free
Web-hosted apps are giving Microsoft's desktop productivity suite, which
companies pay for.

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