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.

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 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.

Gmail users worldwide have been reporting a bug at the top of their emails in the form of a grey banner with an exclamation in a hexagon for the past two days. The bug, which asks users whether they want to ‘continue receiving messages from this sender’ are reportedly appearing too frequently (even with contacts and frequent senders) to the annoyance of users.

After being ignored for a couple of years, Google has finally replaced the Play Movies & TV app on both iOS and iPadOS to the Google TV app. With the update, comes a few upgrades that Apple users that use the app have been missing out on such as the remote control feature to control Android TVs using the app.

The Google Pixel Watch, the tech giant’s first foray into the smartwatch market is set for release later this year and according to a new leak, it may not be the flagship wearable that Pixel fans have been craving for. Get this, the upcoming Pixel Watch may be powered by an almost 4-year old chip, the Exynos 9110 found in the first Samsung Galaxy Watch released back in 2018.