During the Q3 2012 earnings call, Google software engineer Amit Singh just elaborated on the company’s enterprise business via Google+ (text version below):

The latest on Enterprise business @ Google from #google earnings. More Fortune 500 companies are #gonegoogle

Our Enterprise business continues to grow at an astounding pace as more and more companies and schools ‘Go Google’ and move to the cloud. We saw especially strong traction in the retail sector with Dillard’s, Kohl’s, Office Depot all using Google’s enterprise products.  In education, there are over 20M students, faculty and staff now on Google Apps, including Princeton, Virginia Tech, and the Philippines Department of Education, which has over 600,000 users. And with the launch of Google+ for enterprise customers, organizations of all sizes including Kaplan and Banshee Wines are starting to use our Hangouts and other tools to work together and get things done from anywhere.

Google Apps features several cloud-based Web applications that are similar to traditional office suites. The services vary per edition but generally include: Docs, Gmail, Calendar, Talk, Sites, Groups, Video, and Marketplace. Google Apps’ popularity among businesses and academicians has rapidly increased due to enhanced sharing features, accessibility, and cost.

Google has encouraged businesses and educational institutions to go Google with Google Apps since May as part of its “Go Google” campaign.

Google Drive received an update today that makes it easier to collaborate and communicate, as Google’s popular discussion function, previously only available in documents and presentations, is now live in spreadsheets.

According Software Engineer Patrick Donelan on the official Google Docs blog:

Getting things done with others would be much easier if everyone was sitting right next to you. But since that’s rarely the case, we’re always updating Google Drive to make it easier to collaborate with others, no matter where you are or who you’re with.

Today we’re bringing the discussion functionality that’s already in documents and presentations to spreadsheets. If a cell has a comment in it, you’ll see an orange triangle in the upper right corner and when you hover over the cell you’ll see the full discussion.

Totaled comments are now at the bottom of the sheet tab’s screen, where a simple mouse hover on the comment icon will display a thread. Users can also +mention to include other people in the project’s discussion, which will send a notification to their email, and then they can choose to reply without even leaving their Gmail inbox.

Comments prior to today’s update are tucked away as saved “Notes”, which are still accessible in spreadsheets, and users can further take advantage of the black triangle in cell corners to differentiate them from the new-comment style. Moreover, users can create new notes or annotations in a cell from the “Insert” menu.

Go to the official Google Docs blog for more detailed information.

Google just launched biking navigation and directions for the Android version of Google Maps in 10 countries.

The countries —Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom— also got desktop biking directions last month. Today’s rollout specifically includes voice-guided Google Maps Navigation (beta) for turn-by-turn directions across a half-gigameter of biking lanes.

Google Maps Software Engineer Larry Powelson elaborated:

Today, there are more than 330,000 miles (equal to more than 530,000 kilometers, or half a gigameter) of green biking lines in Google Maps. Dark green lines on the map show dedicated bike trails and paths with no motor vehicles, light green lines show streets with bike lanes and dashed green lines show other streets recommended for cycling. Biking navigation even helps you avoid steep hills.

Check out the official Google Lat Long Blog for more information.