Google shifts up a gear

Google launches latest iterations of Gears and Web Toolkit to aid developers

Google has launched new versions of its developer tools, Google Gears and the Google Web Toolkit (GWT), promising improved performance and deployment options.

The Google Web Toolkit 1.4 is a web app development tool for Java developers, which now features functionality that could make applications 30 percent smaller and 20 to 50 percent faster, according to a posting on the GWT blog.

Google Gears, which allows users to access their online applications even when not connected to the internet, now includes cross-origin API support and a new HttpRequest module.

David Bradshaw of analyst Ovum said the new upgrades to these tools are important steps in Google's aim to dominate not just the search space but " advance the business model into new areas".

"It looks like they're trying to just get the [technology] out there and decide later how to monetise it," Bradshaw argued. "These are still a work in progress but it's an important thing for them to do to move forward in the web applications space."