Universities sign up for online Google Apps

Google Inc. said Thursday that it had added five universities to its roster of customers for Google Apps, a collection of Web-based programs that compete with Microsoft Corp.’s products.

The University of North Carolina in Greensboro and the University of Texas in San Antonio are among the institutions that will start using the product, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said. Google Apps includes e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet programs.

Google has introduced new services and made acquisitions to compete with Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft. Google Apps, released a year ago to give clients e-mail and calendar software that can be customized, is now a primary business along with Internet search and advertising, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in May.

Clemson University in South Carolina, Kennesaw State University in Georgia and Arkansas State University in Jonesboro also have signed up to use the service, the company said.