Google this evening has announced a trio of updates to its Drive suite of apps. First off, Google Docs has been updated to add the ability to merge the cells of a table. In order to merge cells in Docs, simply highlight the cells to be merged, then right-click and choose the “Merge cells” option from the pop-up menu.
Today, Google announced some new security features for its subscribers that should make it easier to manage the equipment linked to your account. While some people may have already had access to these options, Mountain View has now made them available to its entire user base. The gist of the search company’s new dashboard is a quick way to review and control the gear tied to your profile. This will let you quickly revoke a device’s access if you happen to lose your phone, laptop or tablet.
Google is currently recruiting Wallet users with payouts and you can now throw deals in the mix as well. The company recently announced its new “Buy with Google” promotion, which offers discounts from a group of retailers including: B and H, Beautylish, CheapTicket, EAT24, Expedia, Fancy, JackThreads, LivingSocial, Newegg, Pose, Rue La La, Vinted USA, Sidecar Ride and Wish.
Almost six months ago to the day, Google acquired an enterprise device management firm by the name of Divide. Today, the search giant quietly released a new Productivity Preview app to the Play Store, which currently operates on an invite-only basis, similar to how the company handled the release of Inbox. Targeting the corporate world, this Google-made Divide application offers a software suite packed with tools for business email, calendar, contacts and tasks.
Android TV’s voice search capabilities aren’t too shabby, but there’s definitely some room for improvement. Aware of this, Google has added its standalone app to the Play Store making it accessible to people who purchase third-party media boxes outside of its Nexus Player.
Google has today launched a new platform that aims to reinvent how content creators on the Internet make money. It’s called Contributor, and it involves readers committing to a certain monthly payment of $1-3, which will in turn give visitors an ad-free browsing experience on some sites. This could potentially be a full-blown alternative to Google’s AdSense, giving publications like this one and others a new form of monetization.
Google has today announced that the Google Drive app within Hangouts has been discontinued, and is being replaced by the ability to share links to Drive files directly within the Hangouts chat window.
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Google wants you and your friends to use Wallet. Like, really badly. So much in fact, the company is running a cash-driven promo to motivate the service’s users. If you use Mountain View’s money service to send cash (even a penny) to a friend who doesn’t have a Google Wallet balance yet, the company will hit you and your amigo with a $5 kickback.
Back at I/O, Google gave attendees a look at Android Auto and now the outfit is giving developers the tools to optimize their applications for automobiles. Today, the company announced the availability of its first APIs for building car-friendly apps with voice and messaging capabilities.
Google’s collection of user information is often used as propaganda, but there’s no denying that the company monitors its subscribers closely. Do you regularly use products like Gmail, Maps, Chrome, Android, YouTube, and search? If so, there’s a good chance that Google has a detailed log of your habits assigned to your user profile. Don’t believe us? Check out this list of links to see what type of information Google has about you.
The New York City Department of Education Division of Instructional and Informational Technology has approved Google Apps for Education as a supported platform for its schools. After evaluating the search giant’s offerings, NYC Department of Education CIO, Hal Friedlander and his team decided to add Google’s productivity suite and affordable notebooks to their list of approved tools for New York’s schools.
When YouTube Music Key was announced earlier this week, we were left with many details about the service unexplained. Of these, was the question of whether or not current Google Play Music subscribers were going to have access to the service automatically. While the announcement said that subscribers of Music Key would be getting All Access subscriptions included, it wasn’t exactly clear whether or not it worked the other way around. Now we have the answer:
Starting next week, as a Google Play Music subscriber, you’ll get free and complete access to the YouTube Music Key beta, a new service from YouTube where you can watch ad-free music videos, and keep the music playing in the background or when you’re offline. The Google Play Music app will also include ad-free music videos alongside select tracks. Stay tuned for more information.
In an email sent out to Google Play Music subscribers this morning, the above snippet of text explained that those who already subscribe to Google’s music service will be getting access to the Music Key beta starting “next week.” The service promises ad-free listening to music on YouTube, offline playback, and the ability to listen to music in the background on your mobile devices.
If you’re not a Google Play Music All Access subscriber and you still want to get access to the Music Key beta, head over to the Music Key splash page and hand over your email address.
With the release of Android Lollipop for a wider lineup of Nexus devices expected to occur any day now, the official Google Search app has been updated with a brand new design and several new features that make searching for everything from the best sushi in Chicago to Van Gogh research for a school project that much better of an experience.
First and foremost, the Google Search app has been revamped with a Material Design user interface and that includes bold colors, fluid animations and simplified layouts. Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 users also benefit from being able to activate “Ok, Google” searches even when the smartphone is unplugged and the display is off.
The latest version Google’s official app is more effective at organizing your day-to-day life by automatically pulling events that it feels you might want to follow up on, like catching up with Chris over dinner or getting drinks with Susan. Normally, these small events would be buried in your inbox and you might forget to follow up on them later.
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Update: It appears that Google’s DoubleClick servers are now functioning properly as ads begin to reappear across the web.
If you happen to be browsing the web and noticing fewer banner ads or slower loading times on your favorite websites, including our very own, the reason is that Google DoubleClick for Publishers appears to have been experiencing some downtime since approximately 9:00 AM Eastern. AdSense ads still appear to be loading correctly.
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Google is slowly updating its apps with Material Design guidelines ahead of the widespread release of Android Lollipop, with the official Android Wear companion app the latest set to receive a makeover. This morning, leaked screenshots surfaced of both the new Android Wear app alongside the latest version of Google Play Services.
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Google announced on Friday that the new user interface for Google Drive, introduced in June as an opt-in experience, is now the default design for the cloud storage platform. Google Drive users can revert back to the old design through the Settings dropdown for the foreseeable future, although Google will eventually remove this option.
Following the change, users are now prompted with a “welcome to the new Google Drive” pop-up message upon loading the web-based service. The dismissible message provides a walkthrough of a number of Google Drive’s new features, including the ability to view and manage versions for non-Google file formats and add caption files or transcript files to videos.
Google announced a new update for its Google Maps apps for Android and iOS today that adds a fresh new Material Design layout focusing on bright colors and real world surfaces and shadows. The software’s refreshed interface is set to roll out over the next few days, with new features like dinner reservations from OpenTable (US only) and enhanced information cards with photos and reviews of popular attractions near your location.
Android users might have raised an eyebrow at the media attention given to Apple Pay, given that the Google Wallet service has been available since 2011. However, it now appears that Google may be benefiting from Apple raising the profile of mobile payment: sources cited by arsTechnica report that Google Wallet service has seen the number of users almost double, with a 50% increase in weekly transactions during the past couple of months …
Google has released an updated version of its News & Weather app on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with a news widget for Today view in Notification Center. Google News & Weather for iOS was released last month, providing users with a combination of local news, weather and a personalized view of headline stories.
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Just in time for the weekend and binge watching all of your favorite TV shows and movies, Roku announced on Friday that it has added Google Play Movies & TV to its Channel Store in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. The channel is available for current-generation Roku players, while Roku TV support is coming soon.
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If you’re the punctual type, odds are you run a tight ship and to help make life easier, Google has added a few noteworthy updates to its web-based version of Calendar. For starters, you no longer have to refresh the app for updates. Things like invitations and event updates are now displayed in real-time.
It has been just over one week since Inbox for Gmail was released as Google’s intuitive new emailing solution for Android, iOS and Chrome, and many users have been eager to get their hands on the exciting new product. For those still waiting, you’re in luck, as Google has just provided Inbox users with three additional invites to send out.
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Google announced on Thursday that, starting next week, it will begin notifying users of Google Apps domains on the Rapid release track about the upcoming migration of old spreadsheets to the new version of Google Sheets. Any spreadsheets created before December 2013, including subsequent changes, will be migrated to the new service.
Google claims that the migration process will begin in the next two to three weeks, with no action required by users. While no spreadsheet data is expected to be affected by this transition, Google notes that some formulas and features may be different in rare cases and advises users to read this Help Center article to understand the changes.
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Google has updated Drive for Android with a Material Design facelift and three new features in improved search, better sharing and an enhanced PDF viewer that make it easier for users to find, view and share through the app. The update will be rolling out on the Play Store for Android devices over the next several days.
The new search bar in Drive is easier and more predictive at finding content by updating results as each letter is typed into the field. Meanwhile, the app has improved sharing functionality that allows for users to write a custom comment on shared files so that all collaborators know why they sent it.
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