Weekend news roundup: 30 November-2 December

Google has released some of its plans for the future of Google Apps.

Although Google usually likes to keep news of most of its important product releases close to its chest, the company revealed its 2008 plans for Google Apps and the details will surprise many.

To be released sometime next year, a new service called Google Sites will expand on the currently available Google Page Creator and will allow users to set up intranets, implement project tracking and install customer extranets for businesses. Google Sites is not necessarily the final name of this service and it will probably not replace Google Pages, by the way.

Go offline with Google Docs

In a novel twist, Google will also start allowing users to edit documents and spreadsheets offline with the help of the Google Gears plugin. Even better, offline work with Gmail and Google Calendar is on its way next year too.

Google revealed that online editing will not, of course, have an immediate impact on a document or spreadsheet. The company claims the same algorithm will be used on both the online and offline version and the offline version will be merged back into online version in chronological order.

In other news...

According to an exclusive report from Gizmodo, AnySim, the free iPhone unlocking solution, may go open source. The solution's creators - iPhone Dev Team - have indicated that an open source AnySim could help the hackers confront the frequent Apple updates to the iPhone and "open a lot of possibilities for the future."

Japanese accessory manufacturer Radius has unveiled noise-cancelling iPod nano ear buds called the radStrap NOISE CANCEL that connect to the nano through the device's dock instead of its minijack. According to the company, this helps increase audio output while allowing the device to maintain its noise-cancelling capabilities. According to Radius, the radStrap ear buds can block up to 82 per cent of ambient noise. The ear buds will be available in the next few weeks for ¥8,980 (£39).

TOPICS
Latest in Tech
Josie and Matt laughing in front of the Google Pixel 9a
TechRadar Podcast: Is the Pixel 9a ugly? Has Apple ruined the smartwatch market? And is Samsung's One UI in trouble?
A Lego Pikachu tail next to a Pebble OS watch and a screenshot of Assassin's Creed Shadow
ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from LG's excellent new OLED TV to our Assassin's Creed Shadow review
A triptych image of the Meridian Ellipse, LG C5 and Xiaomi 15.
5 amazing tech reviews of the week: LG's latest OLED TV is the best you can buy and Xiaomi's seriously powerful new phone
Beats Studio Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones in Black and Gold on yellow background with big savings text
The best Beats headphones you can buy drop to $169.99 at Best Buy's Tech Fest sale
Ray-Ban smart glasses with the Cpperni logo, an LED array, and a MacBook Air with M4 next to ecah other.
ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from Twitter's massive outage to iRobot's impressive new Roombas
A triptych image featuring the Sennheiser HD 505, Apple iPad Air 11-inch (2025), and Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4).
5 unmissable tech reviews of the week: why the MacBook Air (M4) should be your next laptop and the best sounding OLED TV ever
Latest in News
Garmin clippd integration
Garmin's golf watches just got a big software integration upgrade to help you improve your game
Robert Downey Jr reveals himself as Doctor Doom to a delighted crowd at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
Marvel is currently making a major announcement about Avengers: Doomsday's cast on YouTube, and I think it's going to be a long-winded reveal
Samsung QN90F on yellow background
Samsung announces US prices for its 2025 mini-LED TV lineup, and it’s good and bad news
Nintendo Switch Lite
Forget the Nintendo Switch 2, the original Switch is getting one last hurrah in a surprise Nintendo Direct tomorrow
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge on display the January 22, 2025 Galaxy Unpacked event.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge colors seemingly revealed in new video, and there’s another sign of an imminent launch
Microsoft Copiot Studio deep reasoning and agent flows
Microsoft reveals OpenAI-powered Copilot AI agents to bosot your work research and data analysis