Google Drive was launched in April of 2012 and encompasses Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, among other Google apps. In addition to being an office productivity suite, Drive allows users to upload their files and photos. Users get 15GB of free storage between Gmail, Photos and Drive, with the option to purchase more on a monthly basis.
Like with Docs, Google allows users to create links to share uploaded files. Google Drive supports a variety of image and video formats, as well as Microsoft Office and Adobe file formats. Third-party apps can integrate and store data in Drive, while the official Mac and Windows apps allow automatic syncing of local data from a desktop.
On Chrome, the Drive app can sync files for offline viewing. Android and iOS apps allow users to view all their files on the go and make edits.
Today, Google announced a couple of updates for its office software suite that should increase productivity for frequent users. The search giant has added a new formatting feature to Docs, Slides and Drawings that automatically creates bullet points or numbered lists after typing an applicable character at the beginning of a paragraph. For example, if you type an asterisk followed by the spacebar, Docs will automatically add a bullet point to that particular segment.
In an effort to make its office software suite more appealing to business types, Google Drive desktop users can now use Drawings to make elbow and curved connections between items. These new options are ideal for visual projects like flowcharts and instruction manuals.
Google has announced a new tool for its iOS Google Apps users this evening that makes it easier to manage accounts and settings. Called iOS Sync, the feature will be integrated directly in to the company’s iOS Gmail and Drive apps and offer a variety of new management tools.
HTC and Google have just teamed up, yet again, to offer 100GB of free Drive storage to users. When the HTC One M8 originally launched earlier this year, Google gave 50GB of Drive storage to its users. Now, anyone who purchases a One M8, Desire 816, Desire 610, One Remix, or One Max can redeem 100GB of Drive storage for free, double the original amount. Expand Expanding Close
Dropbox has today slashed its pricing and doubled the maximum storage space from 500GB to 1TB. Up until yesterday, you’d have been paying $500/year for 500GB; today you can pay just $120/year (or $99/year when paying annually) for a terabyte.
Google Drive has been updated with a new Filter Views feature that makes it easier to sort and filter data on view-only spreadsheets. Google Sheets users can now turn on a “temporary filter view” from the toolbar or Data menu to make adjustments that appear on their screen, but do not permanently apply to the shared spreadsheet. Expand Expanding Close
Liberio, an online eBook publishing platform the based on Google Drive went from beta to official today. Designed to connect to Drive, this new tool lets you import just about any text-based document and convert it into an eBook that is compliant with industry standards, making it compatible with most major online stores like Amazon, Google Play Books or the iBooks Store.
Hot on the heels of updating the Docs app for Android, Google has just started rolling out an update to Sheets on Android, as well. The update is packed full of changes, both feature-wise and in terms of design. The update comes just days after Google announced it was shutting down Quickoffice on iOS and Android and introduces several features formerly available in the mobile editing app.
Way back in 2012, Google announced that it was acquiring the mobile document editing company Quickoffice. At the time, Google said that it had no intentions on shutting the service down, but would also work to integrate the unique features of QuickOffice into its own suite of editing apps. Following the announcements of new features for Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets at I/O, the company has announced that Quickoffice will soon be shutting down (via The Google Operating System Blog).
“With the integration of Quickoffice into the Google Docs, Sheets and Slides apps, the Quickoffice app will be unpublished from Google Play and the App Store in the coming weeks. Existing users with the app can continue to use it, but no features will be added and new users will not be able to install the app.”
Quickoffice for Android was last updated on February 14th of this year, while the iOS client hasn’t seen an update since January 6th. We knew that eventually, Google would be forced to shut down Quickoffice to focus exclusively on the Google Drive suite of apps. Google never promised to keep Quickoffice running forever.
During its annual developer conference today, Google announced several new enterprise features that are coming to Android with its “L” update and a new “Android for Work” program. Thanks to a plethora of new APIs, the “L” version of Android will be able to seamlessly unify personal and business apps and data. Google claims that currently, many employees are required to carry two phones: one for work and one for personal use.
Along with all of the other numbers and company updates Sundar Pichai shared today, he also just announced during the enterprise portion of the event that Google has now hit 190 million Google Drive users. That’s thanks to strong growth among enterprise customers and includes only active users over a 30-day period. The announcement comes alongside new features announced for the Drive suite of apps across devices.
Microsoft is making notable improvements to its storage offerings for its OneDrive cloud-based service. The company is announcing today that OneDrive storage at the free tier will be more than doubled, Office 365 storage will see a major increase, and that there will be storage price drops across the board. Here are the three main announcements in more detail:
Currently, OneDrive’s free tier includes 7GB of storage. This storage is accessible via the OneDrive apps on iOS, Android, Windows, and on the web, and much like Dropbox and the upcoming iCloud Drive, it can store files of all kinds. Now, this 7GB is moving to 15GB. Microsoft says it is making the switch to 15GB now that people store more files in the cloud and now that images and videos taken on smartphones consume much more space.
A bigger shift is occurring on the Office 365 storage side. That service is moving from 20GB of storage to 1TB of storage per user. This 1TB tier costs the same $6.99 per month for an individual user or $9.99 for a 5 person family plan (which still provides 1TB per family member). This move from 20GB to 1TB is a significant boost, but it’s unlikely that most people even have ~1000GB worth of Office files to store. Office 365 keeps Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents in sync between the iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, and web Office apps.
For those customers who do not want an Office 365 subscription at the aforementioned prices, users can now tack on additional storage to a OneDrive account in increments of 100GB or 200GB. 100GB is $1.99/month and 200GB is $3.99/month. The change here is price decreases: 100GB used to cost $7.49 per month and 200GB previously was $11.49 each month.
These price changes automatically go into effect today for current users. The shift is notable because OneDrive’s free storage tier now matches Google’s 15GB Google Drive and other cloud services. OneDrive’s 100GB storage plan also now matches Google’s at $1.99 per month. Google also offers much larger storage plans than Microsoft, which can be seen below:
A nice little enhancement for Google Drive users started rolling out last night with the ability to delete files directly from within any given app’s editor. For instance, if you’re editing a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide, you will no longer have to return to your main list of files in Drive to delete it.
The new option is located under File > Move to Trash as pictured below:
Update: Google Drive appears to be back up for most users. Google says it will continue to investigate what caused the issue and provide more updates on the Status Dashboard.
The problem with Google Drive should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better.
According to a plethora of tweets, Google Drive is experiencing what appears to be a somewhat major outage. Google confirmed that the service is experiencing issues on its Status Dashboard. Google acknowledged the outage at 10:32 AM, though some Twitter reports note that it started a tad earlier.
It shouldn’t take Google long to restore service, but a 30 minute outage is relatively significant for Google. Keep on eye on the Status Dashboard to see when Google Drive goes back up.
Ahead of its tradition “update Wednesday” regiment, Google has pushed out a minor update to the Gmail app on Android today. The update bumps the app to version 4.8 and includes some various interface tweaks, most notably in the slide-out navigation menu (via +Gmail)
One of the changes includes profile images next to individual profiles on the slide-out navigation menu, and should you have more than one account, there’s also now a checkmark to better indicate which account you’re currently using. The Settings and “Send Feedback” options have also been crammed into the slide-out panel, whereas they previously were located in the action overflow button in the upper right corner.
Last month, HTC acknowledged a bug that blocked its Advantage customers from redeeming 50GB of Google Drive storage space. The Taiwanese manufacturer advised that it was working on a fix for the matter and said that it expected a patch to be ready a few weeks later. Today, the company announced that AT&T had approved an update for the HTC One M8 and that users could download the update and claim their cloud storage.
Google’s mobile office suite isn’t the most refined experience, but it’s there if you need to compose a document or edit a spreadsheet while on the go. Aware of its shortcomings (and competition), the company has released three new mobile apps today that aim to improve the way you handle projects when out and about. First up is Docs, a full-blown word processing application that lets users compose, edit and share documents directly from their mobile devices. The second new piece of software in Google’s big release is Sheets, which focuses specifically on spreadsheets. With similar functionality to Docs, this app lets you edit and manage rows and columns on a spreadsheet from the comfort of your smartphone or tablet.
You were all set to wow the boardroom with that new presentation you worked on over the weekend, but before you walked out the door to head to the office, you received a call telling you that the conference room’s projector was on the fritz. What do you do now? Pull that Chromecast out of your TV, that’s what! Google has quietly updated its desktop version of Drive, giving it the ability to stream presentations to its mighty media dongle.
HTC’s Advantage program offers screen replacement, a software update guarantee and 50GB of Google Drive storage. Actually, there’s a problem with that last one. At least for AT&T customers who own the HTC One M8. Recently, the Taiwanese manufacturer posted a status update on its Advantage website stating that there’s a technical issue blocking Ma Bell’s customers from redeeming their Drive storage.
Dear HTC Customers and Enthusiasts, A minor technical error has temporarily deactivated the Google Drive cloud storage offer for the AT&T HTC One (M8). Please be aware that we are working to fix this error, and the 50GB of Google Drive storage space will be available by Mid-May for this device. Thank you for your patience, and we hope you are enjoying your new HTC One (M8). Sincerely, Ed Kuhner Vice President Customer Experience
HTC didn’t provide any further details on this matter, but by saying it’s working to resolve the problem suggests that it could be an in-house issue. The company claims that things should be resolved in the next few weeks.
Since its release back in December, AllCast has become one of the most useful apps for owners of Google’s $35 Chromecast. This afternoon, the app, developed by Koushik Dutta, was updated with support for yet another source to beaming content from your Android device to your Chromecast. With this update, you can now stream content from your Google Drive account to your Chromecast, via the AllCast app.
The feature is still in an early beta, but it actually works quite well. The interface within the app still needs work, though, For instance, you simply see a list of all your videos and images, which can be rather cluttered for people with a lot of files stored in Drive. Folder support is in the works for the next update, however, according to Dutta.
In addition to Google Drive support, the update also includes various bug fixes, including a fix for those whose Chromecast and Android device were disconnecting after 30 minutes. The full changelog is below:
If hardware quality was the only factor in buying a phone, you could stop reading right here and go out and buy the HTC One M8 – it is the best looking, best built (AFAICT after 3 days) phone out there, bar none.
The front will look familiar, if elongated, to current One owners. It still has separated stereo speakers which incidentally are again the best you’ll hear in a phone by a long shot, but the screen is bigger and unfortunately so is the bezel around the screens.
That extra length tallies to a centimeter taller than its predecessor making an already big phone now almost phablet-like in stature. Add to that HTC’s insistence of putting a power button on top of the phone which you must shimmy up and down to reach and you’ve got yourself some usability experience issues before you even turn on the phone.
The back of my gray “stainless steel” unit matches up nicely with my fridge in the kitchen. I mean that in the nicest possible way. It looks gorgeous, though I’m not sure I’d say the same for other color variations offered, particularly the gold model. The improved curves are super nice in the hand and also look the part. You’d almost forgive how long this thing is…almost.
The M8 may not be terribly repairable by iFixit standards, but HTC has your back with a pretty impressive repair plan called HTC Customer Advantage. In it, you get a free screen repair within 6 months, a somewhat vague promise to keep Android updated to the most recent version (the website says “We are committed to keeping you current” but at the show they said 2 years of upgrades), and 25-50GB of extra Google Drive space.
Besides the length coupled with the power button, I’m still a huge fan of the exterior. But then there is the interior with HTC’s insistence on Sense 6.0 and this new 3-camera system… Expand Expanding Close
We’re getting set for tomorrow’s big launch event by watching previews of what we’re going to see. A lengthy claimed video of the long-awaited successor to the HTC One has been posted, and while it’s unverified, it certainly looks convincing.
The M8 is simply the codename for the handset, just as the One was codenamed the M7. It’s not known whether HTC will brand the replacement as the new HTC One or give it a new name. Separate rumors have suggested the HTC One 2, and the HTC All New One, both of which sound pretty silly.
We’re expecting to see a Snapdragon 801 or 805 processor, 2GB RAM, a choice of 16 or 32GB storage, support for microSD cards of up to 128GB and a full-HD (1920×1080) display, running Android 4.4. The casing appears to be all-aluminum, with a brushed finish. Rumors have suggested that it will be available in a choice of silver, gold and grey colors … Expand Expanding Close
Google announced today on its blog that it’s lowering the monthly pricing plans it offers for users buying extra storage on Google Drive. Google attributes the changes to “recent infrastructure improvements” that is allowing it to offer more affordable storage options. Google reminds us that, as always, Drive storage purchased through the new plans counts towards storage for Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photos.
The new plans begin at just $1.99 for 100GB down from the previous $4.99 for the same amount of storage. There is also a new $10 plan for 1TB (down from $50 previously), and a 10TB and up option that starts at $99.99. Google will also continue offering the free 15GB option that comes with your Google account for Drive, Gmail and Google+.
How big is a terabyte anyway? Well, that’s enough storage for you to take a selfie twice a day for the next 200 years and still have room left over for… shall we say… less important things. Like before, storage continues to work across Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photos. And, of course, the 15GB plan remains free.
The new pricing plans for Google Drive are available now through www.google.com/settings/storage. Users that are already signed up for a monthly plan will be automatically switched to the new, better plans. Expand Expanding Close
For those who may be waiting to choose between the Samsung S5 and the new HTC flagship handset code-named the M8, HTC has a little sweetener for you: a free, one-time replacement of the screen if you break it within the first six months of ownership. The company is also promising to offer Android updates for two years.
Now when customers buy any HTC One they can rest assured their device will be future proofed, with major Android updates for 2 years from launch. And it’s nearly accident proof too, because we will replace a broken screen for free once within the first 6 months you own it—let’s face it accidents do happen and we want to keep your device in great condition … Expand Expanding Close
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