Google has announced "Google Gears" for developers; an open source technology for creating offline Web applications.

"Google Gears" marks an important step in the evolution of Web applications because it addresses a major user concern: availability of data and applications when there's no Internet connection available, or when the connection is slow or unreliable.

Reportedly, the new software will run both online and offline, affording users the flexibility to work anytime anywhere, including at the remotest of locations. All the user needs to do is install a plug-in into Web browsers, and the software will open an offline door to applications that till now were accessible only via an Internet connection.

Google hopes that in the long term, "Google Gears" will help the industry as a whole move towards a single standard for offline capabilities that all developers could use.

Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google, said, "With 'Google Gears' we are tackling a key limitation of the browser in order to make it a stronger platform for deploying all types of applications, and enabling a better user experience. We believe strongly in the power of the community to stretch this new technology to the limits of what's possible, and ultimately emerge with an open standard that benefits everyone."

Google is offering "Google Gears" as a free, fully open source technology in order to help not just Google applications but all Web applications. For starters, the Google Reader feed reader (http://reader.google.com) is available with Gears-enabled offline capabilities.

Meanwhile, the company also plans to add other programs such as e-mail, calendar, word processing, and spreadsheet to its list of Gears-enabled offerings.

As of now, Google has partnered with Adobe Systems to use "Google Gears" in their products.