Using your browser off-line with "Google Gears" - the shape of things to come

If you use Google Reader for your RSS feeds, you may have noticed that you can access the content behind the feeds when you are off-line. This is a (rare) example of a web application working off-line inside your browser; and for users of laptops and other mobile devices who are frequently away from a good (or any!) internet connect, this kind of functionality makes a real difference.

Yesterday Google launched Google Gears, for Mac, Windows, and Linux, in very early "beta", aiming at developers wanting to make web applications that will work off-line.

There is an explanation of what Google has in mind in this description by Aaron Boodman and Erik Arvidsson. At the moment the development is not that relevant to "ordinary users", and this piece is mainly pointing out the way things may be moving. But even now, if you install Google Gears, you seem to get some additional functions within Google Reader. Don't ask me what they are yet......