Google, which started as a college research project way back in the year 1996, today has its presence in almost every place where internet has reached. Today Google offer many dedicated services for both mobiles and computers.

Some of these services are even better than paid alternatives. So here we have the top five Google alternatives to paid applications.

Google Docs: (Alternative for office mobile)

Most of us are used to the Google Docs’ service. It is a free cloud based document authoring service that allows users to create and share documents with other users independent of the platform.

So be it a computer or a smartphone or even your feature phone, if you can access internet you can access Google docs. Also the Google docs supports all known document formats like .doc, .xls, .ppt and so on.

Ebook Reader: (Alternative for services like Amazon Kindle)

With larger screen mobile phones flooding the market, ebooks are gaining popularity by the day but you need to download both the ebook and a special software.

With Google ebook reader, another free service, users can access any ebook directly from the device. All you need to do is download the application designed for your device and read the ebook you want over an active internet connection.

Users get a huge catalog of books and apart from the numerous free titles users can also buy ebooks from the application itself.

Google Maps : (Alternative for GPS based navigation)

In recent times many Indian car and motorbike owners have started using popular GPS navigation system both on mobile phones and personal navigation devices. But it does not come for free.

On the contrary, Google maps are a completely free application which can be downloaded in the handset. Along with the simple navigation, the newer version of the application supports turn by turn navigation and voice based alerts.

Gmail: (Alternative for paid Push email service)

Gmail is again another such service which almost most of us have used and still use everyday. Features that Gmail offers are usually found with paid services such as access over imap, offline storage.

And the option of linking your Gmail account to other email id’s gives a greater flexibility that even the paid email services do not offer.

Mobile Sync: (Alternative for paid mobile backup services)

Mobile Sync is a lesser known feature rater service provided by Google for free.
It works across platforms and is available for almost every phone that can be connected to internet. The biggest benefit apart from the free usage is its compatibility across mobile platform.

So for example If today you use a Blackberry but you want to shift to iPhone, you can simply link your device with the account and sync your device.

Kik Interactive has added group chat service to Kik Messenger service, which is a BlackBerry Messenger like service made for Android, and iPhone.

Users can now also send pictures through their Kik messenger. The update is free for the users for Android and iOS platforms.

With Kik Messenger, users can enter and leave the conversation according to their convenience as in real life. The basic vision behind the group chatting feature is to add friends as and when the need arises, instead of talking to all of them at once.

Photos can also be added to the conversation stream easily and since users on both ends can view the same pictures, it makes the conversation a lot real.

In the end, it’s just a simple cross-platform Messaging App which doesn’t discriminate on the basis of mobile platform you are on.

So are you a conquerer? Have you feel the desire to take up cities with your army?
If yes then here is your chance to raise your own Robot Army and become an emperor!
Qonqr, a location-based game, allows you to build nanobots teams and win cities.

A group of developers based in Minnesota have build the concept.

The game requires the players to be near the city’s centre so they can send nanobots to conquer cities. Those who are not close to the city, they want to conquer, need to use real money to send virtual missiles to achieve the same purpose.

If the city has been captured already, the player with more nanobots wins the game (or the city).

Like other location based games, it uses global positioning system (GPS) technology. Players have to join one team out of three. As the team members gains experience, they become more powerful.

The game would be released as an App for Windows Phone 7, iOS and Android platforms.

The company plans to raise money by selling virtual goods within the game itself. Another idea is to make businesses the battleground where the game would be fought.

TweetDeck, which allow users to create their own information streams, has revamped its own iOS application that will be released within two weeks.

The free App has been redesigned and is likely to look good on the Retina Display (screen Resolution equal to our eyes).

The columns have now become fully flexible, and it will have Facebook stream as well.

The TweetDeck blog post says, “Android TweetDeck also defined a new era of TweetDeck design, form and function. For our brand new iPhone/iPad app, we have taken this level of quality and innovation and built in a whole bucketful of magic to create a TweetDeck app that will raise the bar for iOS apps just like we did for Android’.

If the users need to blend Twitter lists with Facebook stream, even that is allowed. TweetDeck allow the users to control their columns. The Android TweetDeck is already out in the market which set the bar higher for the forthcoming TweetDeck app updates.