Google testing Cloudboard, an online clipboard service

It appears that there could soon be a new way to share data between Google’s many web services.

Google Operating System has uncovered details of private testing for a new product called Google Cloudboard. According to an internal feedback form (screenshot here), Cloudboard would allow you to send data between different Google apps.

Although only the main Google Docs apps (the word processor, spreadsheet and presentation apps) are being targeted by the service at first, it appears that Google is keep to expand the service in future. Examples of how Cloudboard could be used include:

• Copying a formatted cell range from a spreadsheet to a word processor, creating an HTML table that maintains all formatting.
• Pasting excerpts from Google Spreadsheets to Gmail
• Copying multiple images from Picasa Web Albums
• Copying YouTube videos
• Copying an event and pasting it into Google Docs or Gmail
• Pasting copied items from Google Image Search
• Copying maps into Google Docs.

It all sounds highly useful. The idea of copying Youtube videos and pasting them into a Google Doc file is particularly intriguing.

This free flow of information between (admittedly Google-only) services sounds like just the kind of thing we’d like to see become a web standard. If Google could open Cloudboard to third parties we could see some inspiring uses in the future. Imagine copying a Flickr album and pasting it straight into Picassa, for example.

Hopefully this service will make it to public use. We’ll keep you informed.