Google Inc. plans to launch software similar to Microsoft Corp.'s popular PowerPoint program as the two companies vie to dominate the online experience.
Google announced Friday it would pay $3.1 billion to acquire ad-management technology company DoubleClick Inc. Almost as soon as Google announced the cash acquisition, Microsoft and AT&T executives said the deal could violate antitrust legislation and result in a dangerous concentration of Internet users' personal data at Mountain View-based Google.
But Schmidt, noting that Microsoft and AT&T have had their share of antitrust skirmishes, retorted, "Give me a break."
"They're wrong," Schmidt said. "It's false."
The two companies already offer e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet programs, and other tools. Google's new presentation software will compete against Microsoft's ubiquitous PowerPoint software that's part of its popular Office suite.
"This completes what most users of PCs consider the Office suite," said John Battelle, who leads Federated Media Publishing and grilled Schmidt about the product at the conference.
Google will give away two versions of the presentation software starting this summer, and it will sell a "Premier" version with extra storage for $50 per year. The presentation program is part of Google Docs & Spreadsheets, which the company has been unveiling piecemeal for nearly a year.
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