Powerpoint view as slideshow in gmail

Now you can open PowerPoint attachments as slideshows, without having to download anything. Just click "View as slideshow" next to the .ppt attachment you want to preview. Since you can open .doc and .xls attachments with Google Docs and Spreadsheets too, there's no need to leave your web browser to check out your Gmail attachments. Learn More.

Microsoft to unveil coffee-table-shaped computer

Microsoft is to unveil a coffee-table-shaped "surface computer" today in a major step towards co-founder Bill Gates' view of a future where the mouse and keyboard are replaced by more natural interaction using voice, pen and touch.

Microsoft Surface, which has a 76cm (30-inch) display under a hard-plastic tabletop, allows people to touch and move objects on screen for everything from digital finger painting and jigsaw puzzles to ordering off a virtual menu in a restaurant. It also recognises and interacts with devices placed on its surface, so cell phone users can easily buy ringtones or change payment plans by placing their handsets on in-store displays, or a group of people gathered round the table can check out the photos on a digital camera placed on top.

The world's largest software maker said it will manufacture the machine itself and sell it initially to corporate customers, deploying the first units in November in Sheraton hotels, Harrah's casinos, T-Mobile stores, and restaurants. The company is selling the Surface for between $US5,000 and $US10,000 each, but aims to bring prices down to consumer levels in three to five years and introduce various shapes and forms.

PC World - The 100 Best Products of 2007

Innovative Web applications, powerful processors, spectacular HDTVs, and creative game consoles--we asked you for your favorites and added lots of our own for our annual roundup of the best hardware, software, and services. Then we looked at each product, rating and debating its design, impact, performance, and value to create our ranking of the best tech products available, from 1 to 100.

Of course, no matter when we plan our best-products story, a few hot contenders--we're looking at you, iPhone--will end up just around the corner. So this year we took time out to run down our five most anticipated products, as well as several hot and not-so-hot technologies. Read on for all that plus slide shows, video, and more. - PC World's Best 100 products

• The Top 100 Products, in Ranked Order
• The Top 100 Products, in Alphabetical Order
• In Pictures: The Top 20 Products of the Year
• In Pictures: Readers' Picks for Best Products of the Year
• In Pictures: Most Anticipated Products of the Year
• Video: The Best Products of 2007

Google, Salesforce.com Partnership Predicted

Google Inc. and Salesforce.com Inc. will announce a partnership on Tuesday, a source close to the company in Europe said Thursday. Salesforce.com has scheduled an online news conference on Tuesday at 11 a.m. GMT at which Lindsey Armstrong, co-president of the company's operations in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region, will make a "strategic announcement." The source said it is safe enough to assume that the announcement concerns Google.

In the U.S., Salesforce.com has said that it will make an announcement with "a leading Internet company based in the Bay Area" first thing on Tuesday. A Salesforce.com U.S. spokesman reached on Thursday declined to comment on the identity of the Internet company.The Wall Street Journal reported on May 21 that Google and Salesforce.com were holding talks over a possible alliance that could see the two companies bundle Web-based applications. Both vendors declined to comment on the report.

Google and Salesforce.com have each been rapidly expanding the online services they offer. - PC World

The New Palm Foleo

A couple of days ago Palm announced the Palm Foleo, a different class of devices complementing the smartphone category, instead of complementing the PC category.

How is that? Until now PDAs and smartphones (from now on mobile devices) were PC companions, that is, users would synchronise their information (PIM, files, programs) to a PC. At the end of the day everything on a mobile device would just be a replica of the same kind of information present on a user's PC.

The Palm Foleo changes this by actually being the companion to a mobile device. Its main features are actually the large screen, full size keyboard and the ability to synchronise with a mobile device. Note that in this case the main repository is the mobile device, not a PC - although you could have a mobile device synchronising to a PC, and the Foleo synchronising to your mobile device.

Google has acquired Feedburner

Each day, FeedBurner delivers feeds to millions of users around the world and offers unique and useful tools for publishers to analyze, optimize, and monetize their content. Further, FeedBurner offers a feed advertising platform for advertisers to reach engaged feed readers through targeted in-feed ads and innovative techniques like RSS feed-driven ads.

"If you are a Google advertiser, now you can advertise on feeds that you otherwise may not have had access to," she said. Also, "our advertisers will have more access to (FeedBurner) publishers." Google will figure out "interesting ways" it can integrate FeedBurner technology with its Google Reader, Wojcicki said. RSS feeds enable media Web sites, bloggers and podcasters to shoot their content directly to readers through so-called RSS readers. FeedBurner helps publishers deliver the RSS feeds, as well as manage the feeds, track usage of the subscribers and serve ads.

The Google deal will undoubtedly shine the spotlight on technology that while growing rapidly, is not yet mainstream. The FeedBurner acquisition is just the latest of several recent Google purchases. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Google acquired security software developer GreenBorder Technologies. On Wednesday, it was disclosed that Google has purchased Spanish geo-photo firm Panoramio.