Google’s certainly made some enterprise inroads with Google Apps, and now it’s opened the door for other cloud-based service providers to build on that success: it’s launching Google Apps Marketplace to sell third-party web apps that integrate with the Apps suite. The apps are sold as a subscription, with both monthly and annual pricing, and the billing is all handled by Google. Since it’s all targeted at the enterprise, the apps themselves are pretty dry — we’re talking notables like Intuit Online Payroll, eFax, and TripIt — but it’s pretty easy to see how Google could build a similar consumer-level marketplace into Gmail and Google Calendar sometime in the future. And then? Skynet. Video after the break.

Skyfire makes one of the best browsers for Windows Mobile, a fully Flash compatible app that draws on Skyfire’s server-side compression to make browsing bearable on slower connections. Today, they’ve announced that they’ve gobbled up kolbysoft, the company that makes alternative Android browser Steel. Sounds promising, right? Skyfire’s CEO feels the same way:

By adding kolbysoft’s talent to Skyfire, we’ll be able to fuse the best of Skyfire’s famed cloud-computing multimedia capabilities with the Webkit browser movement to create a better hybrid model for Android. Steel has been the most acclaimed browser in the Android Marketplace, adding features atop Webkit. Together, we’ll be able to do so much more.

So Skyfire is coming to Android, albeit running atop the WebKit rendering engine, like Google’s default browser. No release date or further software details have been announced yet, but this is fantastic news for a platform that could use some fresh browser blood. [Skyfire]

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Be A Square

If you are have been looking around for a slick and easy way to create a website, give Square Space a look, it is a complete cloud computing website service (no email hosting).

The difference between this and traditional web hosting/design services:

- You don’t have to design the website on your computer then upload it.

- You build the website online in real time.   You MUST have a fast connection (or you will be waiting for pages to refresh between changes, and waiting for your pictures and videos to be uploaded.  This where upload speed becomes as is important as download speed.)

- The website stays online and is backed up online.  It does not touch the local harddrive

- You don’t really need to understand HTML, CSS, PHP, etc to have a really good looking site.   Although, if you want to customize it, having those skills will set your site a part.

The site’s features include:

· Blog

· Photo Gallery

· Form Builder

· File Storage

· Forum

· Change Tracker

· Google Maps

· Amazon Items

· Free 14 day Trial

· Instant scalability

· Very sophisticated design palette

This type of service is perfect for:

- Small Businesses

- Students

- Professionals

- Large Business that don’t require enterprise integration