So, Google did aquire their presentation software. | Hacker News Reader

So, Google did aquire their presentation software.

googleblog.blogspot.com

8 pointsdawie12 comments

I think that this purchase was about the server technology to create and edit PowerPoint presentations as well to convert them to plaintext or PDF. Finally, they have their own stand-alone PowerPoint viewer that works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

From their web site circa 2004 via archive.org ---- Tonic's unique and patent pending PowerPoint® library provides an enterprise-ready API for you to programatically work with PowerPoint® documents, taking slide presentations to the next level of sophistication.

The library provides a 100% Java API to read, create and manipulate PowerPoint® presentations. Use the library to generate new slides, populate presentation templates or extract data from existing presentations. The library supports the standard PowerPoint file format that is used by PowerPoint 97, 98, 2000, XP, etc.

The library works directly with PowerPoint® files. This means you don't need the PowerPoint® application to use the library, only to view generated presentations.

Turn Slide Presentations into Powerful Business Tools Here are just some of the ways to use Tonic's PowerPoint® library:

Convert PowerPoint® presentation into other formats e.g. PDF, HTML Extract data from PowerPoint® templates Auto-generate entire presentations from existing data sources e.g. a database or spreadsheet Manage collections of presentations Extract slides or data from existing presentations to create new ones For examples of what Tonic Systems' PowerPoint® library can do for your business, see our Case Studies.

Availability and Pricing The library is currently shipping. A license to use the library is priced at US $5000, where the envisaged usage is a single instance running inside a web application, serving unlimited users. For other usage models or inclusion in a product, we are happy to discuss different pricing options. Site and global licenses are also available.

Compatibility with MS Office is a big deal for business users - at least in the beginning. But the staying power will come from how well the app works on the web.

From what I understand the google presentation software has been in development for quite some time and Tonic was aquired to help fill gaps in their software.

I wonder why they didn't buy Slide or Zenter

From what I've read about Tonic, they have a lot of tech for Powerpoint compatibility--in particular, reading Powerpoint files, writing powerpoint files, and converting them into file formats which do not require powerpoint.

Slide.com doesn't do anything with PowerPoint. If you go yo Slide.com, you can see that they are not a presentation software company; they are a social networking widget company. Slide.com is not about technology--in fact, their tech looks downright trivial. They are all about branding. Slide.com has no technology to buy; they only (maybe will sometime) have customers to buy.

He means slideshare.com

slideshare.net

Thanks. Another reason why one should never go for the .net

Slide and Zenter have nothing to do with each other, or Tonic.

Vald,

Zenter is an web based presentation app that promises to really take advantage of being online. Users will have the regular functionality of PowerPoint, but with the ability to directly add content from the web (Google Images). Each public slide show will also be put into a public library, for other users to remix or just drop into their show.