Productivity tools vendor Zoho has become the first firm to utilise new Google Gears open source technology to allow its customers to work offline.

When users of word processing application Zoho Writer click the “Go Offline” link, their personal and shared documents are automatically downloaded. Once offline, users can then access their documents using the app's browser-based interface, according to the firm.

Initially users will be given read-only access, although full read and write functionality will be available soon, said Zoho. The technology works in both Internet Explorer and Firefox.

"Many thanks to Google for a great open source project. We plan to support and contribute to this project," wrote Zoho's Raju Vegesna in a blog posting.

The firm also added a Comments feature to the application, which is designed to boost collaboration and productivity.

"You can add comments within the content of your document by clicking on the new comment button in the toolbar or just right click and select ‘Add Comment’, " explained Vegesna.