Google sets sights on Microsoft Office
Google has bought the maker of Writely, an online word processing program that gives the search engine leader another potential weapon in its escalating battle with Microsoft.
The acquisition of Upstartle continues Google's effort to assemble a suite of software applications that are tethered to an Internet connection instead of a single computer's hard drive. Google is also developing an calendar application, and an online data storage service.
Michael Arrington, who writes about Internet companies on his widely-read weblog, TechCrunch, says the acquisition of writely is a shot across the bow of Microsoft's ship.
