The old saying, “They giveth and they taketh away,” Google has decided to do in reverse order. A few days ago, they abandoned the RSS market by canning Google Reader. Today they’re entering the notetaking arena with Keep. That being said, I wouldn’t be counting on Evernote’s demise just yet.
Keep is available now as a web app inside Google Drive and as an Android app for ICS 4.0 and above through the Google Play Store. The Android version also has a lock screen widget. If you’re looking for a desktop Mac or Windows app or if you’re using iOS, Windows Phone, or Blackberry you’re out of luck. At least at this stage of development. The interface seems to be very basic compared to Evernote on the web and not too much more extensive on the Android app. Also, according to our own Cali Lewis, the app lacks handwriting and formatting support.
From this initial release, Keep is not yet a threat to Evernote. That being said this, is a 1.0 release and it is available on limited platforms. It’ll be interesting to see how this one evolves.
