Niantic, the creator of the massively popular Pokémon Go location-based game that got everyone and their mom to walk around in the real world for several years, is partnering with Capcom to develop a new title called Monster Hunter Now. The game will be a “real-world hunting action” role-playing game for phones and will combine […]
Continue ReadingGoogle’s ‘Now Playing’ feature for Pixel phones to give deeper insights into the songs you hear
The ‘Now Playing’ feature on your Pixel phone is one of those niceties that you forget about 99% of the time, but that 1% of the time when you’re at a restaurant and someone asks what song you think this is and you glance over at your phone and say “hehe, this is Happy by […]
Continue ReadingAfter 25 years, Google is building a new search engine, and it’s powered by artificial intelligence
During a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Google and Alphabet’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, confirmed that the company is developing a new AI-powered search engine to outpace Microsoft and OpenAI. In the interview, he was asked if by embracing Bard and other AI roadmaps, he was killing his cash cow. Pichai stated in response that while […]
Continue ReadingChrome is updating its security icon with a new design that’s meant to better reflect user control
Google is abandoning its long-held tradition of using a padlock security icon and replacing it with a toggle and slider circle in ChromeOS Canary 114 in LaCrOS, as first noticed by C2 Productions on Twitter. I believe the new “Security Icon” is designed to better reflect a user’s control over their own privacy and data. […]
Continue ReadingGoogle Chat for Chromebooks has one frustrating limitation: Sharing
I’ve spoken a lot about Google Chat Spaces this week. From its Material You redesign to it being the spiritual successor to Google+ and Google Currents. Back when Google first replaced the Android app on Chromebooks with a progressive web app (PWA) in the Google Play Store, I was initially excited since I believe PWAs […]
Continue ReadingGoogle Chat is getting the Material You redesign it so desperately needed
Google has been busy refreshing its suite of Workspace apps this year, and now it’s Chat’s turn. The app will be getting a new look based on Google’s Material You design. This will bring several changes (pictured below), including updated fonts, colors, and layouts, making it more consistent with the company’s other products like Gmail […]
Continue ReadingThe last shred of Google+ is being killed off, but its spirit will live on in Google Chat Spaces
The last surviving version of Google+ meant for Enterprise users only – Google Currents – is finally being shuttered. While the “wind down” was announced last year, it’s now time for it to ride off into the sunset once and for all. In its place, Google Chat Spaces is taking the lead. The communication app […]
Continue ReadingEffortlessly organize your files with Google Drive’s revamped location picker
Are you tired of endlessly scrolling through folders in Google Drive to find the right location for where to place your files? Well, Google just introduced a game-changing update that will make file organization a breeze. The tech giant has announced a new and improved location picker for its web-based Google Drive interface that allows […]
Continue ReadingChrome’s latest updates optimize browser speed for high-end Android devices
Google just announced an update to Chrome that looks to prioritize speed on higher-end Android devices, rather than app install size. This separate version of the browser will use “compiler flags tuned for speed rather than binary size”. According to Google, Android handsets running this will run the Speedometer 2.1 benchmark up to 30% faster! […]
Continue ReadingGoogle Chat will soon let you create Spaces meant only for announcements, not chatter
Google Chat has been a great tool for organizations to collaborate and communicate with each other. However, with the increasing number of users in Spaces, it can sometimes be difficult for important announcements to be seen among all the chatter. Google is addressing this by introducing a new feature that will allow you to create […]
Continue ReadingGoogle TV adds Plex, Tubi, and Haystack to the ‘Live’ tab for a total of over 800 free channels
Everyone likes free stuff, right? Do you remember last year when Google TV added channels from Pluto TV to its “Live” tab? While a popular update, today’s news will blow that out of the water. Free channels from Plex, Tubi TV, and even Haystack News are being added to that very same “Live” tab, bringing […]
Continue ReadingYouTube Premium will now let you queue videos and “continue watching” on mobile, more
I’m not much an advocate of many of Google’s services these days (call me jaded), aside from things like Keep, Calendar, Tasks, and so on, mainly because they benefit me as someone who likes to journal and keep life in alignment amidst the chaos. However, one service that Google has done a lot right with […]
Continue ReadingAndroid to implement automatic app archiving to help you save a bunch of space on your phone
The Google Play Store’s Nextbit Robin-style app archiving tool was rolled out at the end of last year, and today, Google announced on its Android Developer Blog that this feature would begin working automatically instead of relying solely on users’ archival actions. According to Google, this one action can save you up to 60% of […]
Continue ReadingYour kids may soon no longer be able to play games on the Google Nest Hub
Back in 2020, Google shut down the popular kid’s reading app Rivet from the tech giant’s mistreated and underappreciated Area 120 in-house incubator. At the time, I wrote that it was a good thing since many of those experiences were headed to Google Play Books and Nest Hub. For the latter, they would take the […]
Continue ReadingFind your Pixel phone even when it’s off: Google may be working on a ‘Pixel Power-off Finder’
A few months ago, we reported on Google’s development of an Apple AirTag competitor, codenamed “Grogu”. These innovative “locator tags” may help users find anything they’re attached to, from luggage to personal items, using UWB Bluetooth technology. At this time, we’re thinking these will be released under the Nest branding and ecosystem. Now, an exclusive […]
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