Groove Networks' latest collaboration software adds support for
products from its new industry partner, Microsoft, including the
ability to exchange instant messages with Windows Messenger
users.
Groove's client software lets users share and edit documents in
real time over the Internet. The product has Groove's instant
messaging software built in, allowing users to communicate while
collaborating on documents.
Groove Version 1.3, made broadly available on 29 October, is geared
to run most efficiently on Windows XP. The software shares a
similar user interface to XP and makes use of the instant messaging
technology built into Microsoft's latest operating system, Groove
said.
As part of the integration between the products, users of Groove's
peer-to-peer application can now chat with Windows Messenger
users.
Groove now has a "privileged relationship with Microsoft", said
Gartner analyst Rob Batchelder, adding that a recently announced
financial deal between the companies provides an incentive to build
compatible technologies.
Groove, founded in 1997 by Lotus Notes creator Ray Ozzie, secured a
$51m (£35m) investment from Microsoft on 10 October. The startup
said at the time that it would work with Microsoft to develop and
market peer-to-peer technologies.
"Microsoft, prior to this, has been very open to working with
companies to create hooks to operate with its MSN network," said
Batchelder. "This is just another manifestation of that."
Before this release, Groove users could only chat with each other
using the messaging software included with the peer-to-peer client.
Similarly, Windows Messenger users could chat only with other
Messenger users.
Groove Version 1.3 also lets users share and collaborate on
Microsoft Office documents, so that multiple users can
simultaneously edit a Microsoft Word document, for example, from
separate desktops.
The relationship between Microsoft and Groove points to a new
direction for the Seattle software giant. The company wants to
enhance the real-time communication features in its products,
analysts said.
"Microsoft seems pretty keen on the idea of peer-to-peer
communications, and although the majority of consumers really
identify it with sharing music and video, there are an increasing
number of companies taking that technology and building it into
their corporate networks," said Matt Bailey, an analyst at research
firm Webnoize.
Groove also announced that it has sold 10,000 licences for the
software to Dell, which will use it to let employees share
documents and communicate in real time through the Internet. Other
Groove customers include GlaxoSmithKline.
Groove Version 1.3 will be available for enterprise customers in
the US by the end of November. The application will cost $49 (£33)
per user for the basic software. Test versions of Groove's
enterprise products can be downloaded free of charge from Groove's
Web site. They will be available to buy during the first quarter of
2002, the company said.