Google Launches Google Calendar Beta

Posted on April 13, 2006

Google has debuted a beta version of its long-awaited Google Calendar. The calendar supports the ICal standards and works with Gmail. The new calendar from Google will intensify the competition with Microsoft and Yahoo, which each offer their own calendar.

The Google Blog introduces the calendar in a post titled, "It's about time."

Google says, "We're all busy people. Whether it's work or play, school or family, every day is filled with stuff that takes time. Keeping track of schedules isn't easy, and frankly we haven't been too happy with the tools available. So we invite you to try Google Calendar -- a tool that simplifies keeping track of events, special occasions, and appointments -- whether they're on your own agenda or on the calendars of contacts who opt to share their schedules with you."

An interesting feature of the calendar is the invite feature for events. CNET says Google has taken a page from sites like Evite with this feature. CNET says, "Users can create event invitations to be sent to anyone with an e-mail account. They can also send event reminders via e-mail or cell phone text message, and keep track of RSVPs from within the program."

Google's new online calendar tool should be quite popular.