However, to create a presentation, you need some sort of software. Or do you?

If you are going to create a presentation slide deck, you would likely think of PowerPoint. But what if you do not want to pay for the full version use it more than the trial period allows.

Keep in mind that when you are using one of the options below, you will be somewhat limited. If you are looking to make something super fancy, you may want to look into Keynote (Mac) or PowerPoint.

Some common features all of the below will have are:

• Downloading as .pptx (PowerPoint) file
• Save to PDF
• Print slide deck
• some sort of collaboration

Web-Based options

1. Google Docs

In Google Docs, there is a presentation option. Like the other Google applications, you can collaborate with other people on one presentation. These same people can view a live version of the presentation. This may come in handy if you are rehearsing for a presentation with a partner who is in a different area of the building, or even the world.

If you want to put the presentation onto your web page, you have the option to get the code to do just that. If you update the presentation, the embedded version will automatically update.

2. Microsoft Live

A while ago we talked about how Hotmail added a lot of cool features. One of these features is a cloud based Office suite. A simple version of PowerPoint is usable to anyone with a Hotmail or Live account.

It works in much the same way as Google Docs does. Everything is stored in the clouds on your SkyDrive. You can share and view the presentation with other Live account holders.

Aside from being able to download the presentation as a .pptx file, you can smoothly transition from the cloud to your desktop. You are given a choice to edit in your browser or open with PowerPoint (assuming you have it installed).

3. Zoho

Show is Zoho’s online presentation application. I was pretty surprised at how many features Show has over Google Docs and the cloud version of Office. You can embed and print the presentation just like the others too.

One feature of Zoho Shows is the ability to add transitions. Not just one or two transitions, but over 30 different transitions.

The other feature that stood out as being very different than the other two, is to play the presentation remotely to anyone. Email them a link, no need to sign into Zoho or create any accounts. This is handy for simple webinars or trial runs of an actual presentation.

Google Chrome Web Apps

The next two options are applications you can add to your Google Chrome browser.

4. 280 Slides

280 Slides has a very Mac-like feel to it. It doesn’t have the same drag and drop abilities like Keynote does, but the clean and minimalistic feel.

You can upload your completed work to your SlideShare account if you have one. Other ways of sharing are embedding a copy of your presentation into a sales page or blog post. If you would prefer, you can link to the presentation in an email or instant message.

You can work on and export your presentation with no account. But if you want to save a copy online, you will need an account which is free. If you don’t want yet another account, you can download the file and import it next time you want to work on it.

5. Slide rocket

Sliderocket is a pretty cool little web app. You can do the same basics as all of the others, but the unique features set it apart.

The share option is simple. You can embed or send a link. Sliderocket lets you customize your link. This means the presentations will be easier to determine which presentation is which when you only have the link in front of you.

Of the two web apps, this is the one you will want to use if you need transitions when you change from slide to slide.

You also have access to a few plug-ins. These plug-ins add some cool functionality I didn’t see with the others. The Twitter plug-in will let you place a live Twitter feed in your presentation. The Quote plug-in will help you find and display the perfect quote to fit the mood of your presentation.

While there are some limitations to each of these options, they are a great way for the occasional user to create a brilliant looking, easily sharable presentation.

image indieridley.i.ph

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Like a lot of cloud applications, this service is free with limited features. The thing is, all the features and limitations present with the free version, it shouldn’t affect many freelancers or small business owners. Read on to take a look to see what Zoho Repots is going to do for you.

There are many reasons why you need a good looking report. Board meetings, loan applications or even meetings with potential investors. Having the information you want to share displayed in a professional manner can mean the difference between looking organized or not.

Creating an account

Zoho lets you sign in with your login credentials from other sites. Google Apps, Facebook, Yahoo and Google are all options. This means one less password to remember.

Importing data

If you are a larger company, you may want to keep your data in constant sync with your database. This can be done, but may cost you. If you do not need a constant sync, the free account lets you import information 3 times. This should be enough to get you through the presentation or meeting.

Right after you import your data, you can have a report auto generated.

What do the charts look like?

Here is a sample of a chart I made with a sample spreadsheet. It shows all the things you would need. You can see Zoho read the information in the fields and created a graph with a legend or key.

Drag and drop customizing

Even though your chart may be the most artful report you have ever created, the person reading it may not make it through the whole thing. For that reason, you will want to customize the report to display the most important information first.

Making a custom report is as easy as dragging the graphs and charts where you want them to be.

Sharing your reports

One problem you may have run into, is how do you share the report? Sure you can email it, but does the recipient have the same software you used to create it? The same version?

Sharing via email can cause a lot of headaches when trying to share your report. Zoho Reports gives you a couple of really easy ways to share your reports.

Embedding the your report into a web page or blog is one option. By adding the code provided, you can see a current view of the report. In the same manner you can add the chart to your iGoogle home page.

Another option for sharing your report is by email. The difference here is, you can make the chart public or share it with a few users. The people you share the link with only need to sign into Zoho Reports to see the report.

What else?

There are so many features and options that they cannot all be listed. I picked out a few I thought you may be interested in. To find out more of what Zoho Reports can do, look at the features and benefits page for more explanation.

What can your small business use a professional report for?

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Google Docs

Since Microsoft Office 2003, add-ins have been a great way to extend the functionality of Ms Office. OffiSync is one such add-in that you can use to sync your Ms Office document to Google Docs.

After you have downloaded and installed OffiSync, you will find a new toolbar in the ribbon.

Features include Open/Save from/to Google Docs, import web content such as images and templates right from within MS Office, collaborate with others in real time, letting users see each other’s edits as they work with Office files and share their final documents with others inside or outside the firewall.

OffiSync works with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and compatible with Ms Office, from 2003 to 2010.

Zoho

Zoho is another popular online office suite that people used for mass-editing and collaborating. To access Zoho from Ms Office, you can use the add-in developed by Zoho themselves.

Download and install Zoho Ms Office plugin

Similarly, after the installation, you will find a toolbar at your ribbon menu.

To initiate a upload to Zoho server, you will need to login to the Zoho account everytime you start Word/Excel.

One thing that bothers me is that to save to Zoho server, you need to save the document as a local copy on your desktop first.

Furthermore, it only supports doc and xls extension. So if your document is of the docx and xlsx format, Zoho upload won’t work.

Features of Zoho plugin

• Option to keep a local copy
• Switch between the local copy or the server copy
• Offline editing of documents/workbooks
• Allow other users to edit the document in Ms Office too

Unlike OffiSync, Zoho plugin only works with Ms Word and Excel. It does not work with Powerpoint.

Office Live

Office Live is Microsoft’s proprietary product, and is also a great competitor to Google Docs. Office Live is integrated with Skydrive, which means you get a whopping 25GB of storage space alongside the useful online office apps.

In Microsoft Office 2010 (I am not sure about previous version), it is deeply integrated with Skydrive so that you can quickly publish/sync your documents online.

To save to your Skydrive, go to File -> Save and Send -> Save for Web -> Save As.

From your Skydrive, you will be able to view your document in the browser. You can then select if you want to edit it in your Word/Excel/Power Point or in the browser.

Which online office app do you use to sync your Ms Office documents?

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Google Docs could become a good alternative since it is web based and does not require any installation at all. The problems: you have to login everytime and you can’t set it as the default word processing application.

The solution? Zoho Webservice.

Zoho web service is a project developed by Canonical (the team behind Ubuntu) that integrate the Zoho Web office suites to Ubuntu. Once installed, you can easily run Zoho applications in your browser.

Installation

You can search for “zoho webservice” in Ubuntu Software Center or simply type the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install webservice-office-zoho

Users of older version of Ubuntu can grab the package here.

Once installed, you can access Zoho via Applications -> Office -> Zoho Web Service. You can even right-click at a word document and open it in Zoho.

Functionality

What Zoho webservices can do at the moment include:

• Open, read, edit and save email document attachments.
• Open, read, edit and save local documents.
• Open, read, edit and save remote documents linked to with a url.
• Launch the required application, Writer, Show or Sheet (Word Processor, Presentations, Spreadsheets) which will present the user with an empty document of that type ready to edit.

Zoho Webservice Word Processor

The Word processor comes with a ribbon-like menu bar where you can click on each tab to see the options. Basic text-editing tools are available, but you won’t find any advanced features (such as annotation) here.

File format that you can export your document to include: doc, docx, odt, pdf, sxw, rtf, html, txt and latex.

Zoho Webservice Spreadsheet

The Spreadsheet only comes with a single row of toolbar with simple text editing and cell management ability.

File format that you can export your document to include: xls, xlsx, ods, sxc, gnumeric, csv, tsv, html and pdf.

Zoho Webservice Presentation

The Presentation supports all the tools/features that you need to create great slides, but don’t ever compare it to the latest Microsoft Office 2010 Powerpoint. It will have no where to hide.

File format that you can export your document to include: html, ppt, pps, odp and pdf.

Some Tips and Tricks

1. Zoho Webservice does not have any dependencies and can run in most browser. I found that it runs well in Google Chrome, but can be lagging in Firefox. You might want to consider making Google Chrome the default browser so Zoho Webservice can run smoothly.

2. Enable cookie in your browser to allow Zoho webservice to save your document automatically

3. To make Zoho Word the default application for opening .doc file, right click on any .doc file and select Open with. Scroll down all the way to the end and highlight Zoho Word Processor. Check the box “Remember this application for Word document files”.

4. When exporting files, you can save your documents to your Ubuntu One folder so that it get synced across all your Ubuntu machines.

Have you tried Zoho Webservice? Is it good enough to replace your Open Office?

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Zoho chat currently supports Gtalk, Yahoo, AIM, Windows Live, ICQ and Jabber. Once you sign in to Zoho chat, you can easily add the corresponding IM accounts which you like to use and sign in to the respective IMs. There is also a setting for you to change your background picture according to your mood.

Features of Zoho chat

1. Chat with multiple logins of same client

Zoho chat allows you to login with two accounts of  a same IM client at the  same time, i.e. login to two Yahoo accounts or two Gmail account at the same time. To enable this option simply go to Chat Preferences, add the same IM client twice (or more) with different login credential.

2. Add live support and chat to your web page

Now, if you are selling a product or providing a services, you can add Zoho chat to your web page and have it acts as a live support for your customer. Once you have configured the widget, including the color and theme to suit your website design, just copy the javascript to the respective web page and your live support will be up in minutes.

3. Change background images to reflect your mood

Unlike other web app, you are not restricted to the same background in Zoho chat. You can pick a background picture from Zoho account or upload images or use your Flickr image. You can also make Zoho change the background picture on every login.

Conclusion

Zoho chat is a great online tool that is powerful in the backend and easy to use on the frontend. Features like live support, embedded chat enables us to add lively effect and interactivity to static pages. Zoho chat is also integrated with Zoho Mail and with give a notification whenever a new mail arrive.

Have you tried Zoho Chat? Share your experience with us in the comment.

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The question is: Is there any application that allows you to manage multiple email accounts? In desktop, Zimbra answers this question. For Web-based application that is independent of any application or platform. Zoho mail seems to be a great choice.

In this tutorial, I would like to demonstrate how you can manage multiple email accounts (in this case, Gmail, Yahoo and Live) with Zoho mail.

Steps to Manage Multiple Email accounts with Zoho Mail

1. Sign up for Zoho mail account or sign in with your Gmail or Yahoo ID.

2. Once you login to your Zoho mail, Go to Settings ->Common Settings -> My Preference and add your other email accounts.

3. After adding your Yahoo or Gmail email addresses, Zoho will sent you a verification ID of which you have to enter to finalize the email settings.

4. Repeat the above step to add as many mail accounts as you want. The following image shows the result after adding all the mail accounts

5. Now sign in to your respective emails individually which are all added in Zoho account to enable Mail forwarding options

Gmail allows you to configure all incoming mails to forward another email address, yet keep a copy of the original in the inbox

For Yahoo, the forwarding option is available only to the old users. New user will have to upgrade to the premium account to enjoy the forwarding service.

Similar to Yahoo mail, Live mail also have limitations in their forwarding options.

6. Once you have set up the mail forward options in all the Email accounts, you can now use the Filters and Folders options in Zoho mail to segregate the mails when they arrive at the inbox.

In the home page of Zoho mail, add folders like Yahoo, Gmail or any other name that you fancy.

Once you have added the folders, go to Settings ->Personalize mail options -> Filters. Add filters separately for Yahoo, Gmail and Live mail. Enter the Filter name and fill the criteria as “to” contains “yourname@yahoo.com” and perform move to the specific folder.

7. When composing/replying a mail, you can easily switch between the various accounts so other won’t know that you are sending from Zoho mail.

Conclusion

You might have plenty of email accounts, each set up for different purposes: personal, groups, newsletter, work and so on. What Zoho mail does and allows you to do is to become a hub for you to maintain all the email accounts. Other benefits include the offline mail option with Google Gears and the eye catching cool Zoho mail experience with a short mail alias name@zoho.com.

For those who are using Gmail to micromanage their multiple emails, you can try out Zoho mail and feel the differences. Tell us about your experience in the comments.

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