The Latest Google Drive API is All About Collaboration

Michael Garrity — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:00:00 GMT

Earlier this week, Google launched its Google Drive Realtime API to allow developers to utilize Google Drive’s real-time collaboration features in their own applications.

According to Google, this API is meant to offer collaborative versions of popular data objects, like maps, strings, lists and JSON values, as well as automatically synchronizing and storing any modifications to these objects. Developers can even add their own custom objects and references.

Plus, since the API will track the presence of collaborators, the developers can alert users when other people join and leave, as well as when they make changes to a document.

As with Drive, the Realtime API will enact any local changes that take place when a user is in the developer’s application, and these will be immediately reflected in the local document via the use of operational transformation. In other words, local apps will continue to be responsive, even if they’re running on high-latency networks.

In addition, Google has opened up the Drive Realtime API Playground, so that developers can go in and test out their applications. To use the Drive Realtime API and gain access to the Playground, users must first sign up for the original Google Drive API.

Forget Docs - Zoho has Arrived on Google Drive

Michael Garrity — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:27:00 GMT

When Google Drive was announced, it was clear that the company had every intention of keeping it closely aligned with its Google Docs office suite. Fortunately for those of you who aren’t too keen on Docs, Zoho is now offering an alternative.

Thanks to an integration using Google Chrome extensions, Zoho is able to tap into Google’s cloud storage service to offer users its Writer, Sheet, and Show products with Google Drive integration, making it available to all of Zoho’s over 6 million customers.

Many users take umbrage with the fact that Google forces them to use all of their products in order to access one, as everything in the suite is so closely integrated. One can click on an attachment in Gmail that will automatically open with Docs. Likewise, files saved in the cloud will be automatically saved to Drive. All of this is useful to a hardcore Google consumer, but for those who don’t necessarily want to use all of these services, it can be a major annoyance.

The downside to this integration is that Zoho users will have to access each package separately in the Chrome Store. Here’s Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet, and Zoho Show.

'Net Features : google drive

The Latest Google Drive API is All About Collaboration

Forget Docs - Zoho has Arrived on Google Drive