Category: Google

Just a few hours ago the final Android Marshmallow preview was released and now you can download the official wallpapers from the release.  In total there are nine wallpapers that came in the release and I’ve got them all for you to download on the Wallpaper page.

Collecting first release wallpapers is somewhat of a hobby for many Android enthusiasts but the same is true for iOS and Windows Phone users too.  Each OEM seem to have a unique set of wallpapers that they release with their devices and of course Google is going to release their own with a new build of Android, just like Apple does with iOS.

Just a bit ago I shared with you the official naming of the next version of Android, Android Marshmallow.  In that post I hinted that the final preview should be coming this week and indeed Google has already released it.  In a post on the Google Android Marshmallow developer site, the final preview has been released along with the official 6.0 SDK to developers.  It is a milestone event for the release and likely signals release is just a matter of weeks away.

When compared to some of the more advanced activity tracking apps available in the Google Play Store, Google Fit seems pretty basic.  And it is.  While designed to be a hub of all your physical activity, Google Fit has some growing up to do.  Yet there is a simplicity about the app that makes it a joy to use.  It’s not cluttered with endless bar charts or huge amounts of data shoved in your face.  The data’s there, but tucked away so you only focus on the here and now.

I’ve been using Google Fit for the past several weeks as I explore its benefits and its limitations.  There are plenty of both and if Google continues to build on it as they have done over the past few months, it will be a powerful application for you to keep track of your steps, miles walked, runs, swims and other activities along with your weight.  Plus, there are already other apps like Withings and RunKeeper that plug into Google Fit to be that central hub of activity.  And it’s free and with Android Wear support, the future is bright for this app.  But you will need a bit of patience for now.

Google Fit – Free – Download Now

Over the course of the past month I have been in the process of trying and slowly migrating to the Google suite of Office apps:  Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides.  It started as an experiment to see if it would hold up to the compared to Office 2013, up until now, my main Office suite.  I have to say, for my work and what I need out of these applications, they work amazingly well and the transition has not been nearly as painful as I expected it would when I started this little science fair project.  In fact, it’s to the point now that I probably won’t go back for 99% of what I need to do.  Indeed this weekend I plan on uninstalling Office 2013 from my laptop because for that 1% of the time where I need something extraordinary, I can simply use Office online.

Is it the right thing to do for you?  That’s a personal decision but here is how the migration has gone for me.

This will be the first of a multi-part series I’m writing on migrating to the Google suite of Office apps.  This first part is going to cover the setup and foundation of getting your files migrated to Google Drive, setting up for offline work and using Chrome extensions.  Part 2 is going to cover Google Docs on a desktop PC, a Chromebook and the mobile apps.  Part 3 will do the same for Google Sheets while the final part will cover Google Slides.

Google has released an update to the Google Play Newsstand app that brings a new and asked for feature to the news & magazine app:  Automatic magazine subscription downloads.  As one who uses this app having migrated from the Amazon Kindle app for my magazines, it is a very welcome feature which I frankly missed after moving over.  The update is version 3.4.3 for those keeping score at home and it is available now in the Google Play Store and pretty much completes it as a news & magazine app in my opinion.  I moved to it about two months ago full time and I’ve not looked back.  I find the performance of the app to be outstanding.

Google Play Newsstand – Free – Download Now

Google’s push to make their apps a robust communication and productivity solution is continuing.  We saw the big announcement on Monday about Google Hangouts being updated and now Google Slides has been update too.  Why is that a big deal?  This update to Google Slides brings the ability for you to present your slides to a Hangouts video call audience that you have in your calendar.  Simple and seamless presenting without having to go through the pain of a separate app or service.  This update to Google Slides is version 1.2.312.15.35 for those keeping score at home.

Google Slides – Free – Download Now