In the latest stab into the belly of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has said that its Google Calendar product can now synchronize with Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM)'s BlackBerry products. With the BlackBerry being the portable email device of choice for millions in the U.S., the ability to bypass Microsoft's over-the-air calendar syncing (available on newer Windows Mobile competitive devices) is yet another way Google is teaming with partners to make the software giant less relevant in an on-demand and internet-connected customer world.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) just recently launched its Google Calendar for mobile phone usage (as of last week). Sounds pretty boring, right? Well, to most of us, it is. Google, however, sees the future of where people will be getting information from, and it's not the PC. You see, there are quite a few more mobile phones on the planet these days than PCs, and in more markets (except the U.S., yet), customers are using those nice, color mobile screens and higher-speed cellular networks to check e-mail and browse information (not necessarily websites). As such, Google knows that getting its brand in front of customers in that arena is a key move to its future.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) has not sat still either. "Yahoo! Go" is now being downloaded to cellphones, Treos and BlackBerrys in large amounts, putting the entire Yahoo! portal in front of millions of wireless phone subscribers who still need Yahoo!'s services when away from a laptop or other PC. Similarly, Google Calendar for mobile phones is yet another example of the company making many of its products available for cellphone use.

This is significant because as Google customers begin using its services on those hundreds of millions of phones, Google's advertising finesse could, at some point, reap even more revenue from mobile customers. Google already is playing with mobile advertising and if it can recreate (even partially) the success of its online advertising in the mobile phone space, another mold will be broken. In fact, it will be interesting to see if the same kind of battle will shape up between Google and Yahoo! on the mobile phone screen as has happened on the PC screen.

After just reading the latest issue of BusinessWeek, I was intrigued about the cover story -- which prominently figures Google VP Marissa Mayer, an AI and software engineering expert who also has an uncanny knack for releasing products that work sleekly, efficiently and are incredibly simple to use. For many people critical of Google Spreadsheet, I see it for its simplicity and usefulness for the tens of millions who are intimidated by Microsoft Excel and all the lavish functions it offers. Sure, there is a place for both products -- but they are targeting, for the most part, different audiences. Therein lies the "innovation" moniker that continues being placed on the Google folks.

Every tried Google's Gmail or Google Calendar? Both are fantastically easy to use and learn with very little configuration and tweaking. Compared to the incredible amount of settings in Microsoft Outlook, both Gmail and Google Calendar are, for many people, highly innovative and useful. One thing gearheads and power users tend to forget is that not everyone needs complex functionality out of their software -- whether locally-installed or web-based.

After reading this blog post, several question leaped to mind regarding many of the newer Google products that have surfaced recently, and why some of them have not gained the marketshare they've probably earned. Well, it all comes down to familiarity with many customers: there are many who argue that Google's Gmail service is the far-superior web-based email product, and it beats Yahoo! Mail and easily creams Microsoft's Hotmail with its speed and ease-of -use. So, two years after becoming available (not to the general public until recently), why hasn't Gmail upped its marketshare?

While this blog post -- and Google itself -- has said that Google's products are generally launched while not complete, I think Google hopes that by version three of four, the kinks will have been ironed out and people will flock to the product, whatever it is. Well, this is misguided thinking. There are plenty of examples of clearly-superior products not making inroads to established competitive products. Many customers are creatures of habit, and once they use a product or service for a while, the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" saying comes into play.

What about potential Office-killers like Google Calendar and the just-announced Google Spreadsheet application? Can these services gain customers by virtue of simply existing? Perhaps -- Google's search dominance has blossomed over the years due to a superior product and largely by viral marketing (and the press' obsession has not hurt, either). But can this situation translate into usage success for newer Google products? Gmail is gaining popularity and such, and other Google programs are just starting to walk. As usual, time will tell whether Google's past success can translate further into new and future Google products.

While Google has hinted at not really being a direct competitor to Microsoft, it has a strange way of showing it. As Sarah blogged on yesterday, Google has just announced a spreadsheet web-based application (as opposed to a locally-installed program) that will do away with the non-centralized editing that generally has to be done with Microsoft Excel.

Who hasn't created an Excel worksheet that needed to be sent around to many people as an email attachment? Google hopes to bypass this wary situation and create a spreadsheet program that is web-based and centralized for sharing among as many people as possible. Although Microsoft has hinted at online collaboratin with its Office suite, either it's been s dismal failure in implementation, or this feature has been marketed really badly. Up steps Google to bring online spreadsheet functionality to the collaborative environment, then.

In fact, Google says that the sharing aspect is central to the new web-based application's reason for existing in the first place. With Google's acquisition of online word processor Writely, and with Gmail and Google Calendar now being available, it seems that Google is systematically taking on Microsoft's core consumer products one by one. Although the new Google spreadsheet application will be available in a limited release at first, expect this new product to be live to the general public sometime this year.

One of the best lines I've heard from top Google officers recently had to do with this statement: "we launch products first, iron out the bugs, then find out how to monetize the product later" (paraphrased). This means that Google, while still (now) relying on search text ads for almost all it's billions in revenue, is hinting at the possibility of some products not making much, if any, money in the short-term.

Nothing new here, as there are scores of public companies that derive almost all revenue from a single source (ok, maybe a few sources) and break even or lose money in other areas. Generally, the good thing to do for investors in that instance is sell off or close the divisions that just squeak by. After all, what's the point if you can't make a profit?

Google seems to have a different way of attacking this problem. Investors don't seem to care that many of its products -- take Google Earth or Google Calendar, for example -- don't make the company money (at least now they don't). Google has the unusual luxury of giving excellent returns to shareholders thus far. This strategy builds in a timeline for the company to monetize other services it offers; and it will, given a little time.

In fact, my guess is that it's part of the Google strategy: unleash market-busting products (like Gmail, which upended the web email industry) and then slowly but surely launch the strategy that will make that product profitable to the company, while the strategy is cloaked in secrecy. Time will tell if this is correct, but Google may continue to outfox the competition using sly tactics like this -- if in fact it is.

So -- the world knows Google through Internet search. The investment community knows Google through pretty impressive quarterly results -- especially lately, like the first quarter. The deep thinkers -- and shallow market pundits -- constantly ring up that Google's on mighty dangerous ground; yes, it is making great numbers happen and its market share seems to run like the Energizer bunny. But, if you pull out that nice, large advertising cushion that Google solely relies on, at least for a rumored 99% of its revenue, it financially goes into death throes. Well, that's the comment most often brought about. Surely Google has a strategy to not let this happen. Read on.

Is Google heading this doomsday scenario off by the rapid-fire introduction of new services into its brand beyond just Internet search? Think about this: Google Gmail and the recently-launched Google Calendar are threats to many web properties, including Yahoo!'s similar services. Gmail works for Google (most likely) due to the non-obtrusive advertising it displays alongside messages. 

No matter how Google tries to smoke-screen their product rollouts and announcements, they are becoming more and more of a direct portal competitor to their longtime enemies - Yahoo! and Microsoft's MSN. Both are portals that have long had online calendars, although both calendars have languished for some time in neglect - I stopped using Yahoo! Calendar some time ago.

The new Google Calendar cements their status of taking on established players in the market already, including software competitor Microsoft Outlook. While Google Calendar does not have the email/calendar/contacts seamless integration (yet) of Microsoft Outlook, you can bet it will move in that direction to compete directly with Microsoft'sarguably most visible software product outside Windows.