Google is today adding new templates to the initial selection it first rolled out to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides back in September of last year.
During the early days of smartphones, one of the coolest apps you could show off was an augmented reality-like stargazing app. At the time, Google made a free version called Sky Map. The app is showing signs of life again and received its first update in four years.
After rolling out voice typing functionality to Google Docs on the web in Chrome back in September, today the web app is adding the ability to make edits using your voice too.
Spotify has announced that it is moving its music streaming backend to the Google Cloud Platform. The gigantic task will take place over the coming weeks and months and hopefully should not result in any service disruptions for users. For Google, the move is a clear win for their burgeoning cloud business.
Recent updates to Google Drive added notification controls to the mobile apps and easier management of shared items. Its latest Android update, simplifies the cluttered file and folder menu, adds the ability to see deleted files on mobile, and more avatars.
As part of Safer Internet Day 2016, users who perform a security check on their Google account will get 2GB of additional free Drive storage. Those who did the promotion a year ago can even do it again and get the added storage.
In Alphabet’s earnings call today, Google CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned that Gmail has joined a list of 6 other Google services that now have more than 1 billion active monthly users. The other services include Search, Android, Maps, Chrome, YouTube, and Google Play.
To go along with the announcement, Google posted a really creepy video on Twitter:
Thanks a billion for helping us make Gmail better and better!https://t.co/Rd82YqwGjl
— Gmail (@gmail) February 1, 2016
WhatsApp also announced on its blog today that the service has passed the same milestone.
As of today, one billion people are using WhatsApp.
That’s nearly one in seven people on Earth who use WhatsApp each month to stay in touch with their loved ones, their friends and their family.
While Gmail and WhatsApp may now have more than 1 billion active monthly users, both apps have long since passed the 1 billion stall mark on the Google Play Store. Speaking of that—it’s been a while since we’ve seen a new 1 billion+ install app. It’s probably time.
Google today detailed some improvements it’s making for Apps users when it comes to file sharing with Google Drive and managing permissions for various users. The new functionality comes in the form of new “Access Checker” features within the Apps Admin console that will allow admins to select one of three options for file sharing with users:
If an admin allows external, public file sharing (i.e. they’ve checked the box next to Allow users in XYZ domain to publish files on the web or make them visible to the world as public or unlisted files), that admin will now be able to say which of the following three options their users will have when sharing files in the scenarios described above:
- Option 1: Recipients only, their domain, or public (no Google account required)
- Option 2: Recipients only or their domain
- Option 3: Recipients only
For admins that allow public file sharing already, the “recipients only, their domain, or public” will be selected by default. Otherwise, the “recipients only or their domain” option will be on by default. Admins can access the new settings once they’ve rolled out under Admin console > Apps > Google Apps > Settings for Drive > Sharing settings.
Google goes into more detail about the new options in its full blog post here for those that are interested.
Admins can expect to see the new feature rolling out in the next few days.
Google has been sprucing up their web apps this week as the first new updates of 2016 start to trickle in. Inbox by Gmail on the web adds a super convenient photo and attachment picker, while Google Plus now allows users to pin posts to their profiles.
Google Drive’s web interface has been updated with a few tweaks to make it easier and quicker to organize files. A more prevalent ‘Move’ icon helps users place files into folders from anywhere.
In November of last year, Google announced they were combining their various cloud and enterprise products into one team headed by Diane Greene, the co-founder of VMWare. Greene was brought over after Google purchased her cloud platform startup Bebop for $380 million, as revealed in an SEC filing today.
The well-connected Derek Ross took to his Google+ profile yesterday, sharing a post entitled “Things that’ll piss people off”. In said post, he details something that — indeed — will piss people off. According to Ross (who has a pretty good track record when it comes to Google software), the Mountain View company is planning to strip SMS support from Hangouts in an effort to make the app better at its job…
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As a way of saying “thanks!”, Google is offering a $20 Best Buy eGift Card for free when you use Android Pay on an eligible Nexus device. The credit gets added automatically to your Android Pay app by January 31.
That’s the best offer we’ve seen involving Android Pay, even though Samsung offered a free $50 Best Buy gift card for using Samsung Pay two weeks ago. The offer ends December 31st. Terms and Conditions:
Chromebooks have emerged as the clear leader in the classroom, reports CNBC, leaving former market leader Apple for dust.
Chromebooks now make up more than half of all devices in U.S. classrooms, up from less than 1 percent in 2012, according to a new report from Futuresource Consulting […]
Google’s rapid gains come at the expense of its biggest rivals. Over the past three years, Apple’s market share been slashed by more than half, from 52 to 24 percent and Microsoft’s market share has slipped from 43 to 24 percent.
Chromebooks now make up 4.4M of the 8.9M devices sold to schools and school districts, with Google noting that it is seeing the dual benefit of both increased market share and overall growth in demand for computing devices in schools …
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I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Gmail is on the way out quite yet, but it seems a new message is appearing for some Inbox by Gmail users notifying them that they will now be redirected from Gmail to Inbox by default. Of course, users still have the option to turn this off if they would like their gmail.com and inbox.google.com inboxes to remain separate…
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Privacy campaigners the Electronic Frontier Foundation have filed a formal complaint with the FTC, claiming that Google “deceptively tracks students’ Internet browsing.” They say that Google is in breach of the Student Privacy Pledge the search giant signed back in January. Once Google signed, the terms became legally binding on the company.
The EFF says that one issue is with Chrome Sync, a feature designed to enable users to work with the same bookmarks, logins and other data across devices. Chrome Sync is currently switched on by default on Chromebooks sold to schools, and the EFF says that Google collects this data and uses it for other purposes …
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Update: Google has provided us with a statement, or rather a statememe, about the bug:
When logging into Gmail yesterday, some users saw a tiny “skull and crossbones” icon in the lower right of their window. Hovering over said icon revealed text like “Component Spy,” “Data Spy,” and “Channel Spy. The issue is not widespread with one user mentioning that the bug only appears on one of his three Gmail accounts.
Replying in a thread on the Gmail Help Forum, a Googler stated that the issue is “purely cosmetic and should not affect normal Gmail functionality.” An issue with Google’s in-house debugger is responsible for the skull and bones and a fix is being worked on.
For some, the skull is still present today in Gmail across Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. If the icon is so bothersome, switching to the HTML version of Gmail should get rid of it. Rest assured, however, that the skull and crossbones emoji should be gone very soon.
Notably, although probably unrelated, the skull and crossbones emoji was just recently added to iOS in the 9.1 release.
From 9to5Toys.com:
As expected from its leaked Black Friday ad, Sam’s Club is now offering a $100 Google Play gift card for $79.64 shipped. That’s more than 20% off your next Google Play purchases on games, apps, movies, TV shows and more. While we do see iTunes gift cards go on sale quite often, these Google Play vouchers are much harder to come by. They can be amazing gifts for Android users and anyone who’s locked into Google’s video services.
It ships free and can be redeemed on the web or Android devices. Full details/instructions can be found below. Head over to 9to5Toys for all of the best Black Friday deals the entire weekend-long.
Includes:
One (1) $100 Google Play gift card
To redeem on the web:
- Go to play.google.com/redeem.
- Scratch label off of card & enter code.
- Start shopping – your gift card value will be added to your Google Play balance.
To redeem on an Android phone/tablet:
- Launch the Google Play Store app on your Android phone or tablet.
- Select Redeem.
- Scratch label off of card & enter code.
- Start shopping – your gift card value will be added to your Google Play balance.
Specifications
Terms and Conditions
Use of card subject to additional terms and privacy policy: play.google.com/about/card-terms.html. Valid only for users 13+ years of age and resident of U.S. Redemption requires Google Wallet account and internet access. Limits may apply to redemption and use. No fees or expiration dates applicable to this card. Card may be used for purchases of eligible items on Google Play only. Any refunded amount will be credited back to your Google Play balance for future use under same terms. Card is not redeemable for cash or other cards; not reloadable or refundable; cannot be combined with other non-Google Play balances in your Google Wallet account, resold, exchanged or transferred for value (except as required by law). Once card is purchased, risk of loss and title for card passes to purchaser. Google Payment Corp. and its affiliates disclaim all express or implied warranties as to the Google Play card and Google Play.
Google announced today that it’s adding “guest access” to Hangouts, allowing users without Google accounts to join a Hangouts video call.
Google notes that the feature is something that has been highly requested by businesses, giving them an option to easily invite clients and others that may not already be hooked into Google’s ecosystem.
Previously inviting users without Google accounts to a video call would prompt them to create one before joining. With today’s changes, non-Google account holders can join a chat straight from a Google Calendar invite by only entering their name:
Say you’re a business about to talk through new product plans with your supplier, and you decide it’d be great to also get the thoughts of a key customer. No problem. Invite your external guests with Google Calendar… They click a link in the event description and fill in their name
With the update, Google notes joining video calls are now one click away and won’t require filling out forms or creating accounts. The feature is available now for users joining Hangouts through a web browser.
In the wake of some absolutely tragic and terrifying events tonight in Paris, Google has made international phone calls to France free on Google Hangouts. In other tragic past events, many companies that offer calling services have offered similar opportunities.
In a related initiative, Facebook has tonight launched a feature called Safety Check, which allows you to “quickly find and connect with friends in the area” and mark them safe if you know they’re safe. You can also let your friends know if you’re in the affected area.
We’ve made international calls to France free via Hangouts. #ParisAttacks
Android→ https://t.co/RLNSn2HPHd
iOS→ https://t.co/UKRrBZgBGT— Google (@Google) November 14, 2015
You can head over to the Play Store or the App Store to grab the app for free, or head to hangouts.google.com to make free international calls to France straight from your browser.
My thoughts are with all the victims and their families on this sad night #Paris Great to see everyone come together to support France
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) November 14, 2015
Google is making some announcements for its Google for Work platform today at the Web Summit in Dublin, including the introduction of a new program dubbed “Recommended for Google Apps for Work” and an update on paid user numbers.
In addition to announcing the new app recommendations, Google’s Amit Singh unveiled that the company has now hit over 2 million businesses with paid Google Apps for Work accounts:
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According to a post made on the Google for Work blog this morning, Google is now giving enterprises a new opportunity to try Google Docs. Google knows that many enterprises likely have previous enterprise agreements with other companies that would make trying out Docs for their organizations difficult, so the company is now offering to pay the usual Google Apps fees until those contracts run out:
In fact, we’re so confident that Docs has all the features you need, without the ones you don’t, that we’re making it even easier to give it a try. If you’re worried about switching to Docs because you still have an enterprise agreement (EA) with another provider, we’ll cover the fees of Google Apps until your contract runs out. We’ll even chip in on some of the deployment costs and set you up for success with one of our Google for Work Partners.
Google says that once your enterprise agreement is runs out, companies can sign up on a simple contract “with no traps or gotchas,” and that many businesses find that Google Apps is cheaper, as well. The company, additionally, points out that many of the features that businesses think are missing from Google Docs are actually present, and that more and more useful tools are being added constantly.
Businesses can head over to the Google Apps‘ website to learn more.
After enjoying one of the most successful multi-platform runs in recent memory, Minecraft is back again with its newly released Story Mode title on Android and iOS, as well as other platforms. This new rendition, from Telltale Games, builds on the success of the original title by bringing campaign-style play to the mix.
Jesse, the main character, adventures through the Overworld in the first episode The Order of the Stone. For the first time, Minecraft gamers will experience dialogue and have choices that effect the outcome of each episode. The voice-overs are handled by a number of celebrities including Patton Oswald, Ashley Johnson, Scott Porter and others. There are a total of five sections to the game, which can be purchased at a 25% discount through the app.
Minecraft: Story Mode is available today in Android and iOS app stores for $4.99.
THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME IN THE WORLD OF MINECRAFT
***Save over 25% on additional episodes in Minecraft: Story Mode by purchasing the Multi-Pack [Episodes 2-5] via in-app***
In this five part episodic series, you’ll embark on a perilous adventure across the Overworld, through the Nether, to the End, and beyond. You and your friends revere the legendary Order of the Stone: Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Griefer, and Architect; slayers of the Ender Dragon. While at EnderCon in hopes of meeting Gabriel the Warrior, you and your friends discover that something is wrong… something dreadful. Terror is unleashed, and you must set out on a quest to find The Order of the Stone if you are to save your world from oblivion.
• Created by award-winning adventure game powerhouse Telltale Games, in partnership with Minecraft creators, Mojang
• Featuring the voices of Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D), Brian Posehn (The Sarah Silverman Program, Mission Hill), Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us, Tales from the Borderlands), Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights, X-Men), Martha Plimpton (The Goonies, Raising Hope), Dave Fennoy (The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series, Batman: Arkham Knight), Corey Feldman (The Goonies, Stand by Me), Billy West (Futurama, Adventure Time), and Paul Reubens (Tron: Uprising, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse)
• You will drive the story through the decisions you make: what you say to people (and how you say it), and what you choose to do in moments of thrilling action will make this YOUR story
Update: Google says all services are restored!
Seeing Google Drive and other services unresponsive this afternoon? Rest assured that it’s not just you. Google has acknowledged the service disruption on its app status page with this message posted within the hour:
We’re investigating reports of an issue with Google Drive. We will provide more information shortly.
