Today, Google announced that over 3 million businesses have met their messaging and collaboration needs by switching to Google Apps. To celebrate the occasion, Google announced two new features it is adding to its cloud-powered services: two-step verification and mobile editing for Google Docs. First, two-step authentication. As Google explains:
Google Apps Premier, Education and Government Edition administrators can now have users sign in with the combination of their password (something they know) and a one-time verification code provided by a mobile phone (something they have). Users can continue to access Google Apps from Internet-connected devices, but with stronger protections to help fend off risks like phishing scams and password reuse. For the first time, we’re making this technology accessible to organizations large and small without the costs and complexities that have historically limited two-step verification to large enterprises with deep pockets. Furthermore, in the coming months, Standard Edition and hundreds of millions of individual Google users will be able to enjoy this feature as well.
The second feature, mobile editing of Google Docs, is exactly what it sounds like. Google has demonstrated the ability to edit documents on the Android OS as well as the iPad. “In the next few weeks, co-workers around the world will soon be able to co-edit files simultaneously from an even wider array of devices,” writes Google.
There you have it. Two-step authentication for extra security and the ability to collaborate and edit Google Docs on select mobile devices. We’re curious, any individual users going to take advantage of the two-step authentication process when it is rolled out to all Gmail/Google users?
