Dropbox's collaboration tool opens up to everyone, gets new apps

Dropbox's new productivity software is getting a big update.

The company has been testing Paper, a new Google Docs-like tool, since last year when they quietly introduced something known as Project Composer in the spring. The collaboration tool was later dubbed Paper and the initial testing group has slowly expanded since. 

Now, it appears Paper is closer than ever to being ready for primetime as Dropbox announced it's opening up the beta to all users and releasing two new mobile apps for the service.

As we noted in our first hands-on last year, Paper is a bit like a mashup of Google Docs and Medium. It's centered around real-time collaboration but it also has formatting and editing tools. You can also easily embed things like Pinterest boards, SoundCloud files and even strings of code within your document.

Though any Dropbox user can now use Paper, the company says it is best suited to teams who need to work together to complete projects and tasks.

On the web, Paper is getting a few upgrades like improved tables and image galleries and an overhauled notification system that makes it easier to keep track of comments and other interactions you have with your teammates inside of a document.

The biggest update, though, are the new mobile apps for iOS and Android. These allow you to catch up on notifications, check documents offline and edit on the go.

Though this marks Paper's biggest expansion yet, the service is still in beta so it's likely there will be at least a few more changes before the service officially launches (no word yet on when that will be.

Google adds Q&A and laser pointer features to Slides apps

Google is making its presentation tool more interactive.

The company introduced a new Q&A feature for Slides Wednesday, which allows audience members to ask questions while they watch presentations. 

The new Q&A feature, now live on Slides' website, iOS and Android app, allows people to ask questions in real-time during presentations. 

To use the new tool, presenters must choose to enable questions from within the presenter mode. Once enabled, viewers can submit questions via a URL and vote on each other's questions. The presenter can then view the questions and sort them by which have the most votes. (You can see the feature in action in Google's video with one of its former Science Fairwinners, here.)

IMAGE: GOOGLE

Google says it expects the feature will make it easier for people to engage with their audience during presentations and will make people more comfortable asking questions. 

If you're presenting from Slides from a computer, you can also now take advantage of a new "laser pointer" feature, which simulates a laser pointer by overlaying a red dot onto the screen. Additionally, the Slides apps now support presenting via Chromecast, Airplay and Google Hangouts.