Google sure is on the shopping spree. AppJet an online collaboration startup said on Friday that Google is buying the San Francisco firm and merging its technology with an innovation Wave communication platform the Internet giant is creating. EtherPad enables people at various computers to simultaneously edit documents shared online, with changes instantly reflected on all users’ screens.
AppJet’s EtherPad fits with Google’s vision of an innovative Wave communications platform that liberates people from the constraints of traditional email.
In September Google began inviting people to test its Wave messaging platform that merges email, online chat, social networking and “wiki” style group access to Web pages or documents.
With the Google Wave, email or instant messages blossom into shared online arenas where anyone in the exchange can edit documents, add digital content, or comment at any time. AppJet launched in December of 2007, and three members of the startup’s five-person team are former Google employees.
The purchase price was not disclosed, but unconfirmed online reports place the figure around US$10 million.
Etherpad is now being phased out according to their announcement. In addition, users cannot create free documents (no new pads can be created). Users who have paid for it, will be maintained until the end of March 2010 and get an export function and no refunds would be made.
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