Google invites you to place your vote for the best app and best game of 2018
We're approaching the end of 2018, so it's only natural that companies take a look back over the year and reflect on what was great about it. Not one to miss out on such things, Google is launching its first-ever User's Choice Awards and is asking for your votes.
Google users are invited to cast their vote for what they believe is the best app of 2018, and what is the best game of 2018. Want your voice to be heard? Now is the time to cast your vote.
Google unveils holiday season savings on games, apps, books and movies
It can't have escaped your attention that -- in the US at least -- holiday season is just around the corner. With Thanksgiving comes Black Friday and other sales, and Google is getting in on the action with a series of discounts in the Play Store.
There are great savings to be made on games and apps, ebooks and audiobooks for cyberweek, and if you're in the mood for a movie on Thanksgiving itself, you can rent any title for just $0.99.
Google is killing off SMS notifications for Calendar
In early January 2019, you will no longer be able to receive SMS notifications about Google Calendar events. The change will affect Android and iOS users.
While Google does not give an explicit reason for killing off SMS notifications -- other than seemingly not wanting to offer too many means of receiving notifications -- the company says that users should not notice any difference because of in-app notifications.
You can now watch full blockbuster movies on YouTube for free... thanks to ads
With little fanfare, YouTube has started to offer ad-supported, feature-length movies, giving visitors the opportunity to watch Hollywood titles for free.
As reported by AdAge, it seems that YouTube introduced this option last month, but gave it something of a stealth launch. It has been possible to purchase movies from YouTube for some time, but until now there has been no (legal) way to access movies for free. And if you are concerned that free might mean that poor quality, you should be reassured to see titles such as The Terminator and Agent Cody Banks in the library of free-to-watch, ad-supported movies.
Privacy-focused search engine Startpage.com relaunches with new look, faster speeds and Anonymous View
Startpage.com is a privacy-focused alternative to the likes of Google (although the search results are provided by Google -- minus all the ads and stripped of tracking), and the search engine has just relaunched with a new look and new features. The visual changes will be apparent to anyone who has used the site before, but for anyone who is concerned about their online privacy, it is new options such as Anonymous View that will be of greater interest.
This new feature makes it possible to visit websites completely privately, essentially using Startpage.com as a proxy. Importantly, this extra level of privacy and protection does not come at the expense of speed, meaning you can browse the web anonymously without compromise.
Google Store sent me kicking and screaming back to Apple
Part 1 of three. Google Store's bureaucratic ineptitude is beyond belief. My recent, unresolved customer crisis is an experience in artificial unintelligence. For a parent company whose core competency is supposed to be indexing, crunching, and disseminating information, it's inconceivable that something so simple as fixing a single order error could escalate into a tragically comic Catch-22. I should have abandoned all efforts long before reaching the point of penning this post and looking back to the Apple Way.
To summarize: I received the wrong Pixel phone nearly a month ago. Google Store struggled to process a return authorization, because the device in hand didn't match the one in the order. I eventually agreed to keep the thang, so long as the retailer could transfer the extended warranty -- so-called "Preferred Care" -- that I had paid for. But the process proved to be complicated, then necessity, after I unexpectedly needed to file a damage claim. You'll have to read on for the sordid punchline, but suffice to say it all ends in a comedy of compounding errors.
Google launches Squoosh, an open source online image conversion app
Google Chrome Labs has released a new online image conversion app by the name of Squoosh. The open source tool is essentially a simple browser-based image editor, and the focus is very much on speed.
Showcased at the Chrome Dev Summit, Squoosh is not limited to working only in Chrome -- other browsers are also supported. While the conversion options are useful to many people, Squoosh is really an opportunity for Google to show off new web technologies.
Google brings AI-powered GIF, emoji and sticker suggestions to Gboard
Google recently rolled out a floating keyboard option to Gboard, and now the company has introduced another new feature -- AI-driven suggestions for GIFs, emoji and stickers.
The move sees Google acknowledging that we increasingly communicate with images rather than words. Or, as the company puts it, it's a feature designed "for those of us who just can't even without the perfect GIF".
The New York Times turns to Google Cloud to digitize its photo archive
The New York Times is to digitize more than a century's worth of photographs, and it is going to use Google Cloud to do so.
The NYT has a massive collection of photos dating back decades, and the plan is to digitize millions of images -- some dating back to the late nineteenth century -- to ensure they can be accessed by generations to come. The digitization process will also prove useful for journalists who will be able to delve into the archives far more easily in future.
Google: adding Dark Mode to apps saves battery
There has been a spate of adding dark modes to apps, websites and operating systems in recent times. Many people simply prefer the look, while others say a darker theme is easier on the eye. But there is also the school of thought that says dark mode saves battery life.
And this is very much the message that Google is sending to Android developers. At the Android Dev Summit this week Google highlighted the massive difference Dark Mode makes, seemingly in a bid to encourage more developers to embrace the idea and add the option to their apps.
Android file manager Files Go becomes Files by Google and undergoes a redesign
It's less than a year since Google launched Files Go, its first attempt at a file manager app for Android. The primary aim of the app is to help users to free up space on their phones, and today Google announces that it not only has a new name, but also a new look.
Files Go has been rebranded Files by Google, and the updated version of the app is starting to roll out now.
In the race to win business chat, there's a big boy collision coming
Google will pay Apple $9 billion this year to remain the default search engine in the iPhone’s Safari browser, according to one Goldman Sachs analyst. That’s a hefty expense for Google, but will Apple end up paying the price when it comes to business messaging?
According to Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall, Apple charges Google based on the number of searches iPhone users perform using Safari or Siri.
Check to see if Google has given you free Play Store credit
Every so often Google starts to feel a little generous and decides to give things away. It's happening again, and you might just find that you've been given a few dollars in free credit to spend in the Play Store.
Seemingly at random, Google is handing out between $1 and $5 to Android users -- so you should check to see if you're one of the lucky ones.
Now you need JavaScript enabled to log into your Google account securely
Google has made a change to its account sign in process that means you now have to have JavaScript enabled.
The change, which has been introduced for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, is part of a security process which Google says protects you "before you even sign in". While the vast majority of people will have JavaScript enabled, the new policy will still affect a number of users.
Google is working with iRobot to map the inside of your home and share data with smart devices
Google is all about data, and there have long been concerns about how the data it collects is used and the associated privacy issues. As such, the company's latest collaboration is likely to raise a few hackles. Google and iRobot are joining forces to use data collected by smart vacuum cleaners like the Roomba i7+ to create maps of the inside of people's homes -- and then share that data with other smart devices.
The partnership is described by iRobot as "a collaboration with Google to integrate robotic and smart home technologies that will advance the next-generation smart home". What this means in practice is that devices other than your vacuum cleaner will not only know the layout of your house, but will know what you mean when you refer to specific rooms -- and devices will be better able to interact with each other.
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