Google last year announced that it’s shutting down Inbox following the big redesign of Gmail. With that deprecation set for next month, the company is reportedly testing legacy features like bundles and reminders in the new Gmail for Android.
Last December, Google released a funny Christmas-themed ad called “Home Alone Again” that saw Macaulay Culkin reprising his role as Kevin McCallister. Featuring a smart home with Google Assistant devices, the company today posted what is essentially a reaction video of Joe Pesci watching that ad.
With Hangouts classic set to be retired later this year, Google is moving full steam ahead on making Hangouts Meet a full featured video conferencing solution. The latest enterprise-focussed feature sees Google add fixed IP addresses for the G Suite service.
Following Gmail earlier this week, the latest G Suite app to get the Google Material Theme is Google Voice. The core navigation and user experience of the VOIP service is unchanged, but this update does provide a clean refresh.
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Google Arts & Culture often leverages augmented reality to share works through viral features like Art Selfies and Pocket Gallery. The Android and iOS app was updated this week with a new Camera tab that makes all these AR features easily accessible.
Since launching last year, YouTube Music has slowly added new features like Top 100 Charts and design tweaks earlier this month on Android and iOS. Today, Google’s latest streaming service is adding Sonos speaker integration.
Last April, Google completely revamped Gmail on the desktop web with a focus on machine learning-powered features and other smart functionality. Now available on Gmail for Android, this redesign includes a handful of other changes beyond the Google Material Theme that are welcome carry-overs from the web counterpart.
After first rolling out on Android this release cycle, the latest version of Google Chrome is now available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. On desktops, Chrome 72 removes the ability to setup Chromecasts from the web and revamps browser settings.
Once every few releases, Chrome for Android hits the stable channel before the Mac, Windows, and Linux update. Chrome 72 this morning is rolling out to Android. On the security and privacy front, media player notifications for Incognito content are now masked, but this is otherwise a minor mobile release.
If you switch over to the beta, dev, or canary channels of Google Chrome, you’re bound to stumble upon some features in testing. In its latest dev channel update, Chrome for Android is testing new omnibox features with buttons for copying the URL and sharing, as well as making some search-friendly changes.
Back in 2016, Google revamped its G Suite service for making online sites and other internal resources aimed at teams. A plan to deprecate classic Google Sites was announced the year after, but Google is now pushing back that schedule to 2021 until feature parity is achieved on the new product.
As the past several years have demonstrated, voice is now an important interaction method that’s increasingly natural for users. But before Assistant, Google Search has long featured voice lookup on the web, and it’s now available on the mobile version of google.com.
Yet more Android Pie update news for Samsung devices, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is officially receiving the Android Pie update for UK users (as initially reported by SamMobile).
In an effort to make it just a bit easier for users to adjust the quality of the video they’re streaming, YouTube has just made a subtle change. By reordering its video quality options on Android, it just got a little easier to pick the highest video quality.
We’ve been reporting about the Android Pie updates for the Samsung Galaxy S9, S9+ and Galaxy Note 9 for some time, to the point it is likely becoming annoying to read about the delays and hold-ups.
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Slowly but surely, Google has been applying its Material Theme to Google Maps for Android. This week, it seems a server-side change has added Material Theme to the search interface of the popular navigation app.
Finally, we are seeing US Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8 and S8+ users get the chance to join the Android Pie beta program. Samsung has opened up the option to unlocked device owners for the time, however, that may change in the near future.
The Google Feed last year was rebranded to Google Discover with new features and availability on the mobile web. Along with the new name, it includes more types of content, including AMP Stories. Google Discover is now surfacing Posts on Google.
The Google app already features the Material Theme, but a revamp more widely rolling out this week tweaks additional elements. Settings and the “More” tab have been completely redesigned with menus and options reorganized for easier access.
Originally launching as a chatbot analytics platform in 2017, Area 120’s Chatbase can now design virtual agents that leverage machine learning to be more helpful, and over time improve. The new Chatbase Virtual Agent Modeling service is a part of Google’s internal incubator and is available in early access.
International Samsung Galaxy Note 8 users were lucky enough to get an Android Pie beta program (no word on US availability just yet) ahead of the official rollout in the coming months. Well, now anyone currently enrolled should see a second beta update OTA very shortly.
Google last week revealed how Search results for news would appear if the European Union proceeded with Article 11 of its Copyright Directive. With ratification now stalled, Google today reiterated that it might have to pull Google News from Europe if changes are not made.
In addition to announcing Apple Pay this morning, Target is finally supporting other mobile-based payment systems. Both Google Pay and Samsung Pay users will be able to use their service of choice when shopping at the U.S. retailer.
As of September, the new Gmail on the web is now available for all users. Today, Google announced a handful of new Gmail features on he web related to the compose window and a new download option for messages.