Dropbox Squaring Up Against Google Docs

Last week the internet was buzzing with speculation that Dropbox was preparing to take on Google Docs with a new offering called Composer.

The program appeared to have been accidentally leaked, allowing access to just a few users before being shut down.

Initially, Dropbox remained silent about the slip-up, but the company confirmed this week that it was in fact a new program under construction at Dropbox.

Expanding Into New Spaces

Dropbox Head of Product, Business And Mobile Ilya Fushman told Business Insider on Monday that the company was working on a few projects that will help users collaborate on documents to add to its service offerings, and that Composer is one of them.

Those who had a chance to use the program said it was similar to a word processing program that could be edited and changed right from Dropbox.

Collaboration A Key Offering

This isn't Dropbox's first foray into document collaboration, and is unlikely to be its last.

Last year, Dropbox acquired Hackpad, a startup focused on developing shared document editing software, and CloudOn, the startup that created the first apps that allowed access to Microsoft Office documents from mobiles.

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The company also rolled out Project Harmony, a way for users to collaborate on Microsoft Office documents in real-time.

Stiff Competition In Cloud Computing

With the growing popularity of cloud-based computing, Dropbox has had a fair amount of competition from similar services being offered by Google Inc GOOGGOOGL and Apple Inc. AAPL.

Google Docs has emerged as one of the most popular file sharing options, leading Google to push its use in companies and schools, but many expect the release of Composer to make Dropbox an attractive alternative.