Google has released a new version of Google Apps called “Team Edition” that, on first blush, doesn’t offer much that’s new. The same document, spreadsheet, instant messaging, calendaring, and start page functionality that we’ve come to expect from Google Apps is here. But now it’s easier for groups within established organizations (businesses, universities, etc.) to collaborate using Google Apps without getting their entire organization to buy into Google Apps (quite literally) first.

As can be seen in the video below (and screencasts do help a lot to explain this announcement), Google Apps Team Edition has been designed to make it easier for you to use Google Apps with people who share the same email address extension (@whatever).

This edition should be useful for Google in recruiting members of organizations who will in turn exert pressure on those organizations to adopt a premium version of Google Apps.