Category: Android Tablet

Google has released the all new Google Street View app today for both Android and iOS.  Previously, Street View was embedded into Google Maps and when you tapped on a location, you could then enter into Street View.  This new Google Street View app is a standalone app that allows you to explore 360-degree views of places all over the world plus gives you the ability to add your own 360-degree photospheres right from within the app.  Think of it as making your own personal street view and if you happen to have a spherical camera, support for it is there as well.

Google Street View – Free – Download Now

A couple of weeks ago I posted on the new Google Hangouts website where you can use the messaging service without actually having to be on your Android phone or tablet.  Now Google is going one step further and moving all traffic from the messaging service to a new domain, hangouts.google.com.

Following the launch of the new standalone Google Hangouts homepage, Hangouts-related services and web traffic will be served from ‘hangouts.google.com’ in addition to existing host names.

This news isn’t really all that shocking and frankly it makes a lot of sense for Google to do this.

Google Hangouts for Android – Free – Download Now

Last month I began a series of four articles on my migration from Microsoft Office to Google Docs. In part one of the series I covered the foundations for making Google Docs work the best for you both online and offline. In part 2 I focused on Google Docs, the document editing app that is most analogous to Microsoft Word.

In part 3 I am going to focus on Google Sheets, the spreadsheet application that is part of the suite. Like I did in part 2, I am going to cover the app from the perspective of working with it from a desktop, from a Chromebook and from the Android app.

If you have not had the opportunity to read part 1 and part 2, you can find the links below for your reference.

My Migration to Google Docs Part 1 – The Setup

My Migration to Google Docs Part 2 – Google Docs on All The Toys

As a reminder to everyone who is thinking of making this migration, a word of advice-meets-warning I posted as part of the first article.

Take your time.  You will find that the majority of features in Microsoft Office are in the Google apps but they will be in different places.  It may take you a few menu clicks to sort it out.  Be patient.  Give it a chance.  Sure it may turn out that it isn’t right for you and your needs but I would suggest trying the experiment over a week or two before you make a final verdict.  It isn’t as big a migration from say a PC to a Mac but it is similar to moving from Internet Explorer to Chrome in many ways.  Same thing, but bits in different places and this process or that process may be a little different.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and your migration to Google Docs won’t happen that fast either.  Patience is the word of the day.

As expected, the flow of Google apps updated today after the new company logo was revealed has been pretty constant. The first one I saw was Google Maps but now many of the other apps have been updated. A key one is Google Search and the new Google Now that comes along with it if you are using the Google Launcher.  Google Now is a much cleaner, more refined design now and it significantly more organized.  I personally live in and love using Google Now and this upgrade is just fantastic in my view.

As everyone has seen by now, Google announced today a new logo and “G” icon for their branding as part of their effort to reflect the different ways the Google services are used.  One key question around the announcement was when we would start seeing that new look on Google Apps for Android.  Apparently, in a matter of hours.

Google Maps is the first Google app for Android that has received the new look and it is part of the new 9.14 build that I wrote about earlier.

Arguably one of the best mobile racing simulators available today is Real Racing 3. It has outstanding graphics and game controls and the FireMonkey team over at EA Sports are continually adding to the game, bringing more tracks and more cars. Now, finally, it has NASCAR.

The mega update to Real Racing 3 that is available now in the Google Play Store brings the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) to your Android phone or tablet. In brings you the ability to race as a top driver including the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr. amongst them as you go for oval racing glory.

Real Racing 3 for Android – Free (In-App Purchases) – Download Now