Category: Google

One of the few non-Material Design apps from Google, Google Authenticator, has finally been updated to reflect a more modern design.  The app has been bumped up to version 4.44 for those keeping score at home and also brings support for Android Wear so you can perform authentications for your 2-factor enabled accounts from your wrist and not just your phone or tablet.

For those who may not know what the app does, it provides you a six digit PIN for you to authenticate your identity on accounts such as Google, Evernote and Dropbox where you have enabled 2-factor authentication.  2-factor authentication is a more secure way of keeping your accounts secure by requiring not only a username or password but also this PIN to prove you are you.  It is always a best security practice to enable 2-factor on your accounts to prevent hacking of your accounts.

Google Authenticator for Android – Free – Download Now

Google has released an update to Google Calendar that, while is mainly focused on performance improvements, also brings a new and pretty sophisticated reminders function to the app.  The update is version 4.1 for those keeping score at home and it is in the Google Play Store now.  If you have not received the OTA update, you should over the course of the next couple of days.

The new reminder function allows you to setup a reminder for a wide range of activities from phone calls to checking in for flights and is found on the “+” menu in the lower right corner of the app.  Now you can chose Reminder as well as Event on that menu.  By adding a reminder, you will be able to tell the app what you want to be reminded of and fill in the details.  A reminder is then placed in your calendar for that event and you can setup notifications to remind you of your reminder.

One of the big misconceptions about Project Fi is that you are absolutely required to use Google Hangouts for your SMS/MMS and Instant Messaging app.  Here is a quote from a post I made a couple of weeks ago on the subject:  If you are a new Project Fi users, chances are you are a bit confused.  That confusion surrounds SMS and which app you can use for getting your text messages on your Nexus phone using Fi.  On the surface, it looks like you are required to use Google Hangouts, the voice, video and yes, text messaging integrated app.  But that not necessarily true and in fact, even Google suggests that you use Google Messenger, the default SMS app on Nexus devices, for texting.

That said, for those of us on Project Fi, there are some benefits to having everything in one app like Hangouts.  Not only does it give you one app to go to for your communications, the information synchronizes with Hangouts on your PC.  That means you can get your messages and your texts on your desktop, read them and reply to them.  If you haven’t considered moving your SMS/MMS communication to Hangouts, read this article and see if it is right for you.  A lot of it will depend on how you communicate and with whom.  But after being an avid Messenger user for most of 2015, when I switched to Project Fi, I embraced Hangouts and haven’t looked back.

Today the Google team has rolled out a great improvement to the search results on your Android phone or tablet.  Now when you do a search of a band, actor or actress, TV show or Movie, you get a significant amount of more information about them than just the search results themselves.  The update was announced on the Inside Search blog and it is a behind-the-scenes update from the company.  That means it is working now for everyone on Android devices and soon will work for iOS Google Search.

If you search for a band, you will see an overview of that band, albums and photos of the band, see songs information, links to videos of the band of particular songs, their discography and you are a tap away from playing their music from sources like YouTube, Google Play Music, iHeartRadio and TuneIn.  It is a great way to help you identify more music from a song you have heard or if you have a favorite band (Rush fans unite!) you can get all kinds of great information on them.

After seeing the announcements for Chrome for Android and desktop, it’s no surprise then that we see an update for Chrome OS today.  The latest update brings it up the version 47 release (version 47.0.2526.74 (Platform version: 7520.55.0) for those keeping score at home) and brings with it a number of new features and enhancements, particularly for touchscreen devices.  This new build has been released by Google and it is for all devices.  That means over the course of the next couple of days you should see this update hit your Chromebook, Chromestick or Chromebox.  If you want to force the issue, go to Settings>About Chrome OS and manually check for an update.  Sometimes it will take a few tries to get it but eventually you will – or you can just wait for the OTA.

As with any update to Chrome OS, there are security and performance improvements in this build.  Google does not specifically call out what fixes were provided in the update but likely are tied to many of the security fixes that were found in the Chrome browser update earlier this week.  One performance update that was mentioned was the improved YouTube CPU useage on the latest generation of Intel devices with a specific note of noticeable gains in 60fps videos.

Google today announced their strongest commitment to the environment and renewable energy with the purchase of 842 megawatts of power, the largest purchase ever by a non-utility company.  The purchase, a combination of wind and solar sourced energy, will power the companies data centers and goes towards their goal of having all of their energy use as a company come from renewable resources.

Purchases and commitments like this are not new for Google.  They have been using & promoting renewable energy sources since they opened up their first company owned data center in 2006.  With the purchase the company made today, they now have 2 gigawatts of energy from renewable resources.  As they put it, that is the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road.