Google Chrome surpasses 800 million monthly mobile users

As you may or may not know, Google is in the midst of holding its annual 2-day Chrome Developer Summit in California. During the conference’s opening ceremony this morning, the search engine giant revealed that the mobile version of its Chrome browser is currently being used by more than 800 million people each month, which is pretty impressive seeing as this time last year, the amount of Chrome mobile users was only estimated to be approximately 400 million — so in the last twelve months alone, it has doubled its user base. By the end of Q1 2016, Google expects there to be over one billion users using the service.

If you’re interested in the Developer Summit, you can catch up on today’s happenings by hitting the source link below.

Source: Google Developer Summit

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Google+ getting a revamped interface on desktop, mobile overhaul coming soon

Google has announced a new interface for its social networking site, marking one of the biggest changes Google+ has gone through since spinning off features like Hangouts and Photos into their own respective services. The new interface prioritizes the Communities and Collections aspect of Google+ which have apparently been the most popular sections of the site.

The new Google+ is all about the stuff you’re into and people who get you. Start exploring! https://t.co/X0c0kwWVKg pic.twitter.com/xaiTiVjoGr

— GooglePlus (@GooglePlus) November 17, 2015

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

This interface puts your interests at the focus of the site and makes it easier to keep up with things you’re passionate about. Things are a bit more colorful, too, picking up cues from Android’s Material Design.

The new design is opt-in at the moment, so you won’t be forced into the change just yet. There are some features that are still missing, so if you use everything Google+ has to offer you’ll have to switch back and forth between the two modes until everything gets ported over, which should happen sooner rather than later. The new interface will hit Android devices soon, too.

Anybody happy or unhappy with the changes?

source: Google

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Google Maps ready to help Thanksgiving week

Google has been busy making some improvements and adding new features to Google Maps recently, like the ability to check out special store hours during the holiday season or find cheap gas or a detour. Combining Google Maps with data mined by the search giant’s computers from the last three years, Google is offering up some tips and insights for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

First off, Google suggests that travelers may want to hit the road on Tuesday instead of waiting until Wednesday. It may not be much of an improvement, but Google’s data shows Tuesday is the second worst travel day topped only by Wednesday. That same data suggests return trips should be scheduled for Sunday instead of Saturday. Google does note that Wednesday failed to top the list as worst travel day in Boston, Honolulu, Providence and San Francisco.

Once travelers arrive at their destinations, Google’s search history data shows a couple trends that pop up during the holidays. On Thanksgiving Day itself, Maps users number one search term is “buffet restaurants” although some places like Houston leaned to “doughnut shops.” Another peculiarity that surfaced is the leading search term of “beauty salons” that comes up in Miami on Thanksgiving.

After making it through the big day itself, Americans face what has become another big day – Black Friday. As expected, search terms are dominated by people looking for places like “electronics store” or “outlet mall.” However, it looks like New York residents start thinking about tattoo shops while west coast residents look for hookah bars. Go figure.

Unfortunately, Google has not yet figured out a way to make it easier to squeeze into your clothes after the dust settles.

source: Google

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Google+ has been completely redesigned with a focus on communities

Much like the Google logo before it, Google+ is being completely reinvented today. In a blog post, Google says that after pulling in feedback from users it has decided to focus the former do-everything social network around two key features: communities and collections. Collections launched earlier this year as a way to let users gather a bunch of content together around a single idea and share it with other users, while the older communities section encouraged users of similar interests to share “whatever you’re into,” be it food, sports, photography, the country of New Zealand, or anything else. The new version is rolling out today on the web, iOS and Android — you’ll need to opt-in if you’re viewing it from your browser, and the apps don’t appear to have gone live just yet.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Google

Google Play’s minimum purchase price has been reduced in select countries

Nearly two hundred countries have access to Google Play, but no two countries are the same. Consumers and businesses differ from market-to-market. The Play Store, according to Google, is faced with “unique challenges and opportunities” in every market. Pricing is an area that is especially sensitive to change.

Google has decided that now is the time to reduce the minimum purchase price for apps and in-app purchases in seventeen countries.

• Brazil: R$ 0.99 (was R$2.50)
• Chile: CLP $200.00 (was CLP $500.00)
• Colombia: COP$ 800.00 (was COP$ 2000.00)
• Hungary: Ft 125.00 (was Ft 225.00)
• Indonesia: Rp 3,000.00 (was Rp 12,000.00)
• Malaysia: RM 1.00 (was RM 3.50)
• Mexico: MXN$ 5.00 (was MXN$ 9.90)
• Philippines: ₱15.00 (was ₱43.00)
• Poland: zł1.79 (was zł2.99)
• Peru: S/. 0.99 (was S/. 3.00)
• Russia: руб 15.00 (was руб 2.00)
• Saudi Arabia:﷼ 0.99 (was 2.00﷼)
• South Africa: R3.99 (was R10.00)
• Thailand: ฿10.00 (was ฿32.00)
• Turkey: ₺0.59 (was ₺2.00)
• Ukraine: ₴5.00 (was ₴8.00)
• Vietnam: ₫6,000 (was ₫21,000.00)

Developers can head into the Google Play Developer Console right now to alter their pricing.

Source: Android Developers

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Find your lost device with Android Device Manager

Losing your smartphone can be a big problem, especially if you have pertinent data on it, such as bank information, passwords, personal addresses, and so on. Thankfully, Google has implemented a handy piece of software within Android to make sure thieves can’t get access that sensitive information.

Android Device Manager will let you attempt to locate, disable, and even erase your device remotely from your computer or another Android device. However, there are some measures you might want to take before accepting that your handset is gone forever.

Taking all the right measures

It’s important that you use any resource available to you to find your device. After all, smartphones and tablets are pricey pieces of equipment, and you don’t want to just give up searching for your lost device without having taken every measure possible.

If you lost it in your home, make sure that you’ve had others try and call it so that you can attempt to find it through sound. Alternatively, you can ring it from Android Device Manager as long as the device is connected to your Google account. If you have Android Device Manager ring your handset, it will have the smartphone sound off for 5 minutes at full volume. It’s an excellent feature to keep in the back of your mind, especially if you suspect your device could be on mute somewhere close by.

Losing your device while you’re out and about is another possibility. You never know if you accidentally left it at a restaurant table or a movie theater. There’s also the possibility of someone stealing it, which is fairly common in places like New York City and San Francisco. If you have a hunch that your device was stolen, and after efforts of trying to locate it yourself, it’s always best to call law enforcement, file a report, and have them look into it.

In some cases, police have been able to locate lost devices from others crimes committed. They’re also able to review surveillance tapes around the area you claim it was stolen, though some departments won’t go to that length of searching for lost goods.

If none of these measures work, it may be time to disable and/or wipe your device by working some magic with Android Device Manager.

Finding your device with Android Device Manager

Android Device Manager, unfortunately, is a fickle thing. I recommended that you only use a computer with Android Device Manager, as the mobile application is extremely buggy and, in some cases, doesn’t work.

Using it with the Axon Pro and Moto X (2013), I was having serious difficulties trying to get it to function properly. With that in mind, we’ll just be covering Android Device Manager on the computer, but if you want to give the Android app a try, you can do so by downloading it here. You can still follow along with this guide, as it should be the same basic process. That is, if it works for you or not.

On the Android Device Manager page, if your device is online and can be located, Google will show you where it’s at using Google Maps. However, if you have a hunch your device was stolen and not just left somewhere, it’s always best to call the authorities over searching for the stolen goods by yourself. In case you can’t see your device on the map, and if you plan on checking back every couple of hours, it’s best to make sure your device has a password lock on it as well.

If you want to lock your Android device, select the “Lock” button. From there, you can set up a new password for your Android device, and once submitted, it’ll replace your lock screen with a password lock. Just make sure that this password is significantly different from your Google account password.

Resetting your device is just as easy, if not easier. Instead of selecting the “Lock” option, click the “Reset” button. A prompt will appear with a disclaimer, outlining all of the data that you’re going to lose. If you’re alright with that, just click the “Erase” button. If your Android device is offline, Google will erase all of its data once the unit comes back online.

And there you have it! That’s how you try to locate, lock, and even erase your device.

How to turn off Android Device Manager

You might want to disable Android Device Manager for a myriad of reasons. One of them might be that someone could easily obtain your Google username and password in order to track your location. It’s not likely to happen, but still a concern for the world we live in.

Another great reason for turning it off is that your GPS is a battery drain. In this case, you’ll want to turn off your device’s location services, which in turn shuts down the ability for Android Device Manager to locate your phone.

Alternatively, you can outright turn Android Device Manager off. Head into Google Settings > Security, and under Android Device Manager, you’ll want to turn everything off. This effectively stops Android Device Manager from running.

Closing

And that’s everything you need to know about location, retrieving, and securing your Android device in the case of losing it to thievery or some other means. There obviously isn’t a lot of hope in getting your data back after erasing it, but you can at least rest in the fact that some person with malicious intent won’t be accessing any of your personal information. However, for future reference, be sure to check out our guide on backing up your data manually so that you never lose it again.

Have you ever had your device stolen? What did you do in that scenario?

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