Android Nougat Officially Announced

June 30, 2016 Android Nougat No Comments

After an online naming suggesting site and countless rumors, we now know the name for the next version of Android.  The Android team tweeted this morning that Android Nougat is the name for the “N” release, ending speculation and probably making more than one person say “I told you so” this morning.

While many thought that this would be the official name, until now we were not 100% sure.  Many had hoped that Nutella would be the name and teasing by Google suggested that was in the running.  But Nougat was one of the first names to be thrown out there and it seems to have stuck.

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Play Store Now Showing A Beta Channel for Everyone

June 30, 2016 Android, Google Play Store No Comments

It has been rolling around in, erm, beta for a while now but the new Beta channel in the Google Play Store is now available to everyone.  The update on the back end and a recent update to the Play Store app on Android will now show you the beta apps that are available to you for the apps installed on your phone or tablet.  Generally it is only going to show you the beta programs you are involved in so don’t look for beta programs to join here.  Rather, it is simply a way for you to easily see which apps you are running beta code.

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Google Search Now Gives Earthquake Information Near You

June 30, 2016 Google Search No Comments

A small but potentially life saving update has been made to Google Search around earthquakes.  Now you can type in “earthquake” or “earthquake near me” in Search and get instant information about the magnitude of the temblor, its epicenter and survival information all at the top of the search page.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that approximately 500,000 earthquakes occur around the globe each year, 100,000 of which can be felt. Now people who feel the effects of an earthquake can ask Google directly about the disaster and get timely information to help them stay safe.

In the event of an earthquake, searches for “earthquake,” “earthquakes near me” or similar queries will give you an at-a-glance summary about the quake, right at the top of the search page.

With many of us living in earthquake active areas, this type of information can be not just handy but potentially life saving.

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Google Inbox Update Adds Direct Share Functionality

June 30, 2016 Android, Android Marshmallow, Google Inbox 2 Comments

The latest update to Google Inbox is currently rolling out in the Google Play Store and with it comes Direct Share support.  For those who aren’t familiar with it, Direct Share is a feature in Marshmallow that allows your most frequently used contacts to show up in the Share pane of an app.  This is something that several apps have been rolling our recently including Google+, Whatsapp and Hangouts.  Now if you have Inbox installed and you want to share something (say a website), you can use the share function in your browser and share it directly to a contact using Inbox.

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Comment Notifications Come To Google Docs, Sheets and Slides

June 30, 2016 Android, App Update, Chrome, Chrome OS, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Slides No Comments

Google has rolled out a behind-the-scenes update that enabled comment notifications in Chrome and on Android for Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides.  Previously, when someone made a comment on a shared file, you would receive an email notification that the comment had been made on the document.  Now you will get a standard notification on your Android devices or in Chrome when these comments have been made on the file.

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