in brief Google has broadened the number of online applications that people can use offline, adding spreadsheets and presentations to the mix.

However, unlike with word-processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations can only be viewed, not edited, according to a post by marketing manager Andrew Chang on the Google Docs blog Friday. Chang gives an example of giving a slide presentation without having to worry about network access.

The offline access uses the Google Gears technology the search engine giant introduced in 2007 as an open-source project.

Google is trying to take on Microsoft with its online software, but Gartner believes Microsoft poses a greater competitive threat to Google with online ads than Google does to Microsoft with online office suites.