News & Reviews:   Google

Google has announced a slew of new features and apps for Chromebook which the tech giant claims can take creativity and productivity to the next level. These include video editing tools in Google Photos, enhanced app capabilities and more.

Google has announced three new features on its popular web mapping platform, Google Maps that will make it easier for users to plan their next adventure. Shared via a blogpost yesterday, the three new features include immersive view, cycling route information and a more robust location sharing.

The Google Pixel 6a is set to officially launch on 28 July 2022, but it looks like Google may already have to make some tweaks to its software due to a rather problematic bug. According to various tech personalities that are reviewing the smartphone, the in-display fingerprint sensor is allowing almost anyone to unlock the device despite their biometrics are not registered to the device.

Today, Google is celebrating 10 years of Google Play. To celebrate the occasion, the company has listed down a few of its favourite milestones and offered 10x points of purchases in the store.

Google Photos is one of the most popular online photo sharing and storage services in the world thanks to its integration with other Google services. While users mostly use its app version, the service is also available on the web and now, the latter has become even more convenient with a new ‘Backed up’ section.

Google Maps has partnered with K-Pop group BTS to showcase the members' favourite artworks from various cities. The new feature BTS x Street Galleries lets the fans explore the artworks through Street View, and each of them comes with a story told by the members for why they love the pieces.

Google Maps for iOS recently rolled out a quality-of-life update that makes it easier for users to share their current real-time location. Now, instead of navigating through the menu, you can just easily tap the blue dot signifying your current position on Google Maps to access and execute actions based on your current GPS location on the app.

Google Senior Vice President (VP) Prabhakar Raghavan has revealed that TikTok and Instagram are becoming competitors to its core services, Search and Maps. During a discussion about the evolution of search, Prabhakar revealed that younger users are now turning to TikTok and Instagram instead of Google services for discovery purposes.

Google employees have been told by its chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai to work with ‘greater urgency’ and ‘hunger’ as well as be ‘more entrepreneurial’ amidst a potential global economic recession. Asserted by Pichai in an email to staff yesterday (12 July 2022), the tech giant also announced that it plans to slow down hiring for the remainder of the year.

It seems that all the major tech companies have been updating their app or platforms’ icons recently and Google is no exception. Fresh from updating its Chrome web browser icon, the Android de facto app store, the Google Play Store has also discreetly received a refresh recently.