Most of the functionality is now built into browsers.
Google came in 2007 with browser plug-in Gears that made it possible to use web applications like Gmail even without Internet access through local caching of data. Gears has also been used to provide increased functionality to include Google Docs, Gmail, Reader and Picasa, MySpace Mail Search and Zoho Writer.
Gears has gradually been made available for most browsers and operating systems, including a number of smart phones and the company's own Chrome browser, which has Gears built in. But now it seems that the need for the plug-in is about to get smaller.
The reason for this is that much of what Gears offers, now is about to become a part of HTML5. Certainly not the specification finished yet, but both Google them self and several other browser manufacturers have long since begun to build in support for some central news in HTML5 as is getting quite completed.
- We are thrilled that much of the technology in Gears, including offline support and programming interfaces for geolocalication, is about to built into the HTML5 specification as an open standard, supported across browsers. We see this as the next logical step for developers who want to include this functionality on their web pages, write a spokesman for Google in an email to the LA Times.
- We will continue to support Gears so nothing breaks for sites that use it. But we expect that developers will use the HTML5 for this functionality in the future, as a standards-based approach that will be available across all browsers.
Google was aware that this would come already, when Gears was made, but the company has a lot to prove when it comes to what is possible with applications that run in your browser.
One possible reason that Google now probably put the brakes on for further development of Gears is that the Snow Leopard release of Mac OS X in general not allow the installation of the Gears. This will cause the Chrome for Mac, which is approaching a beta release, has not Gears built in.
