But the nappies are still on.

Yes, Google Gears (now officially just Gears) reachs it’s first birthday today. The application allows you to cache online apps and use them offline. I’ve been using Gears for some time now and I love it. I can take my Google Apps with me, modify them and upload the changes when I go back online. Ok, in the early days it was a little clunky but Google have worked hard to make this a real winner.

But Gears isn’t just about using Google Apps free software. Remember that Google is commited to the SaaS market. Combining deals with the likes of SalesForce and offline working has huge potential for Enterprise software.

So how does it work? It’s relatively simple; Gears installs an open-source SQLite database engine on the client machine. This allows Gears-enabled pages to cache data for offline use. SQLite allows Gears to overcome the key problem with online apps: no connection, no applications.

Google is currently in the process of adding support for Firefox 3 and Safari. Windows Mobile supports Gears but functionality is limited - hmm, no surprise there.

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