Google Calendar

Encyclopedia : G : GO : GOO : Google Calendar

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This article or section contains information about Development_stage#Beta>beta software currently in development. The content may change dramatically as the software development progresses.

Google Calendar, previously code-named CL2, is a contact- and time-management web application offered by Google. It allows users to synchronize their Gmail contacts with a web-based calendar. It became available on April 13, 2006, and is currently in beta stages. While users are not required to have a Gmail account, they are required to have a free Google account in order to use the software.

Features

The interface of Google Calendar is similar to desktop calendar applications such as iCal on Mac OS X or Brown Bear Software's [Calcium]. The Ajax-driven interface enables users to view and add events without reloading the page, and sports a variety of view modes, such as the weekly, monthly and agenda views. Users can "quick add" calendar events by typing standard English phrases, such as "Dinner with Michael 7pm tomorrow". Users can also set the number of days to show in their custom view mode. All events in a Google Calendar can be commented on by its users.

Events are stored online, so in the case of a hard drive failure, no data is lost. The application can import Microsoft Outlook calendar files (.cvs) and iCal calendar files (.ics) (the de facto open calendaring file format), although at this stage only when the fields are all in U.S. format. Multiple calendars can be added and shared, allowing various levels of permissions for the users. This enables collaboration and sharing of schedules between groups or families. There are also general calendars available for importing into one's account which contain national holidays of various countries.

Google Calendar is integrated with Gmail, Google's web e-mail service. When an e-mail that contains trigger words (such as "meeting", or dates and times) arrives, an "add to calendar" button is automatically displayed alongside it. This feature is not yet available to all Gmail users.

Currently, Google Calendar can only be synchronized with mobile devices (e.g. BlackBerry, Palm, Pocket PC) or with PC applications (e.g. Microsoft Outlook) via third party software. This feature is offered by its main competitor, Yahoo! Calendar. Event reminders are available via SMS to most mobile phones, but only in the United States.

Compatibility

Since Google Calendar is a web-based application, it supports virtually any operating system, provided that it has a browser which supports the web technologies that it employs. Since it is a relatively new application, browser compatibility is limited to Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, Mozilla Firefox 1.0+ and Safari 2.0.3 with other browsers encountering rendering errors or even failing to load the page at all.

External links

• [Google Calendar]
• [Google Calendar Tour]
• [An unofficial screenshot tour of the software]
• [Unofficial Google Calendar source code Class and Function reference]
• [Unofficial site to view shared Google Calendar files without a google account]

 

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