Way back in September, I told you about Google’s range of office software, that runs inside your web browser. That is the word processor, and spreadsheet programmes, and I said if you combine them with Google’s Gmail, Calender, and Notebook, you had a comprehensive set of office software that all run in a web browser, and are available to you on any computer anywhere, your files being stored somewhere on the web. The only software missing was a Powerpoint equivalent, to produce presentations.
In this article, I want to tell you about two options for building presentations online, using just your web browser.
The first one is Spresent. Based on Flash, which is a technology that allows you to create animation, for display, on a web page, Spresent allows the building, and sharing by email, or the web, of presentations.
There is a set of standard templates that you can base your presentation on, or if you wish, you can build your own layout. There are several templates to choose from, as well as a selection of photographs, and clip-art. You can also use animated images, and you have the ability to animate the text you input. There is the opportunity to select wallpaper to act as a background to your information. Photos, and images stored in Flikr can also be used in the presentation.
It is very easy to build a presentation with Spresent, and once you start construction, you can get lost in the software for hours.
I have produced a sample presentation as an example of what is available. There is a gallery with examples, at the Spresents web site, that are better than anything I could produce. For more information take a look at the YouTube videos (1,2), which provide a basic introduction.
Another answer to the presentation question is Thumbstacks. In comparison to Spresents, Thumbstacks’ look is minimal, and there are no templates etc available, you have to provide all that input yourself. But I wouldn’t let that distract you from giving it a try. Once again it utilises Flash, but only if it is available. Another technique, called Ajax, is used, if Flash is unavailable.
Despite the minimal feel you can manipulate the fonts, size and colour of the text, to produce a decent set of slides.
Apparently the software is very new, and still has a few bugs. The author recommends that you do not rely on it for “mission critical” presentations. He has plans to expand the functionality by adding features such as; drawing tools, allowing the slides to include, lines, arrows, shapes, etc; export to Powerpoint, and other formats; private sharing of presentations. The sharing at the moment is only public, but the “public” has to know the URL; and lastly, a search feature for finding public presentations.
Once again I have produced a very simple slide to show you what is possible.
Currently I believe that Spresent has the edge, and produces better presentations, but Thumbstacks is still in its’ infancy, and should improve over time.
The question is, which one will Google purchase to include in its suite of office software?
