“OK Google” now integrates with select chat apps
Effective as of today, Google Now users can send texts by voice through some popular messaging apps. These include the latest versions of WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Telegram, and NextPlus, with other apps planned to be added. For now, this will work in English in any country. Other languages are coming soon.
This works almost identically to texting through the platform. Just say something along the lines of, “Ok Google, send a WhatsApp message to Joe.” This will bring up a pop-up that asks you to speak your prompt. Also, you can group it with the initial “Ok Google” statement, allowing you to skip the last step.
Google’s integration of chat apps in Now follows other recent updates to the platform, such as new cards of reminders, TV shows, books, video games, music albums, public transit, apps, and more, and the ability to send Hangouts messages.
Source: Google Inside Search
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Google Search notifies users of peak business times in results
Google is always thinking of bright ideas to make our lives more efficient. One annoyance we often have while we’re out and about is arriving at our favorite shop only to find that we weren’t the only ones with it in mind. Our delightful trip then turns into frustration of shuffling through crowds and waiting in line.
Fortunately, Google is expanding their business data collection to be able to relay to us the busiest times in a particular day that business sees throughout the week.
The information will show up when you search for a business and tap on the name to expand their details. Google states that the feature will cover “millions of places and businesses around the world”.
I would certainly love some extra time! Kudos to Google for the idea.
Source: Google+
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Google Store offering $15 discount with purchase of two Chromecasts
Google is offering a limited time promotion on its popular Chromecast device which might be of interest to you. Normally $35 a pop, you can pick up two of them for $55. Indeed, a limited time promotion sees Google shaving $15 off the cost of two Chromecasts.
It is not clear how long the deal lasts so be sure to hop on it quickly if you’re interested.
“Good for one movie rental on Google Play with the purchase of one Chromecast from the Google Store in US from July 24, 2015 – December 31, 2015. A promo code will be emailed after the device ships. “
Also, don’t forget that you can also score a free movie rental with the purchase of a Chromecast!
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Google Translate can help you with text in 20 new languages
Let’s face it: Google Translate is a handy tool when traveling abroad or reading text on the web that’s written in a different language. The software already offered help with seven languages, and today Mountain View added 20 more. This means that you’ll be able to translate to and from English to Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, Indonesian, Polish, Turkish and several others. You’ll also be able to leverage one-way translation from English to Hindi or Thai. And all of those are just for printed text.
You can also use the camera on your mobile device to snap a pictures of a sign or text that you need a hand with as Google Translate’s camera mode supports 37 different languages. To put the software to work, though, you’ll have to download a 2MB language pack for each one inside the app. Google also beefed up the voice conversation mode so that its real-time translation works well even on slower networks, which is particularly handy in developing areas. The updates are hitting both Android and iOS apps over the next few days.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Source: Google
Google location cards now tell you what times restaurants are at their busiest
In a never-ending quest to make its search engine as robust as possible, Google has now added a new feature to the cards it gives us in Google search that applies to businesses, restaurants, coffee shops, and the like. If you search for something like “Starbucks” you’ll now find that towards the bottom of the location card is a section that shows popular days and a break down of the times that generate the most foot traffic. The data here is based around “historical visits” to the location, and so actual accuracy may vary wildly.
As you’d expect, the new feature doesn’t apply to every restaurant or business you search for. Even a few of the Starbucks nearby didn’t happen to have enough data to generate the “popular times” list. Of course, just like any Google feature, we can expect more businesses to incorporate the feature in the days, weeks, and months to come.
For those that regularly frequent the same coffee shops and restaurants, this new feature probably won’t be that useful to you, as you probably have a pretty good grasp of “busy times” in your area. Then again, this could be a welcome feature to travelers, or for those times when you are trying some place new.
This server-side change is now working for both web search and directly from the Google search app, no app update required.
You can now send messages through WhatsApp and Viber using voice commands through Google
Google has integrated a few new messaging apps into its voice commands in the Android app, so now you’ll be able to quickly send messages in your favorite clients without ever having to touch your phone.
The process works just like sending a text message, but instead of dictating to send a text, you can tell Google to send a WhatsApp message to someone. Afterwards, Google will prompt for what you’d like to send. The process works with several of the most popular messaging services, including WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Telegram, and NextPlus.
This is just one of the many steps Google is taking to roll as much functionality into their core Google Play services as possible, making Android a very, very compelling platform. Currently, sending these messages is only available in English, but like always Google is working on rolling that out to other languages soon.
source: Google
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Cyanogen users are getting a new stock calendar
Cyanogen’s certainly set on loading its Android version with Google app replacements. Earlier this year, it announced that it will make Boxer’s Gmail-like email app the stock option for Cyanogen OS 12. Now it has revealed that the new calendar made by the same firm will also become a stock app in future versions of the platform. As Boxer is known for making Google app substitutes for those fond of them but who’d rather not tie their details to an account, its new calendar’s pretty much like GCal, with events indicated by color-coded blocks. It’s integrated with the company’s email app, which means you’d instantly know if you’re available when you receive an invite in your inbox. Boxer’s calendar will come preloaded on Cyanogen OS devices to be released in the next few months, but you can download it right now from Google Play or iTunes.
Filed under: Misc, Mobile, Google
Source: Boxer, Google Play, iTunes
New hamburger animation rolls out: Download and install the latest Google Play Store 5.8.8 APK
The Google Play Store has just received a version bump, bringing it to version 5.8.8 and few minor changes. You can probably guess by the small increase in version number that this one is a tiny update but is quite visually pleasing so is alone enough to warrant updating to the new version.
What’s New
– Hamburger-Arrow morphing animation
Of course, there could be more undisclosed under the hood performance enhancements not immediately noticeable.
Why download it?
If like me you like to be on the cutting edge of developments, you can go ahead and grab the latest Google Play Store 5.8.8 APK from here. Running the latest version of the Google Play Store always ensures you have the latest features and experience the changes first-hand into new developments within the APK. Often small incremental updates will lay the ground work for future, more substantial, changes and running the latest APK enables you to see these clues for yourself and experience the fixes Google are delivering to the Google Play Store app.
Notice anything else different in the newest version of the Google Play Store? Drop us a comment below.
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Android users can now say ‘Ok Google’ to send messages via WhatsApp, and more!
As an avid user of Google Now, I am forever welcoming added additions to the service that make it more useful and especially those that add voice functions. What’s great about this latest update to Google Now is that I have been wanting this functionality for a very long time – you can send a Hangouts message with voice commands so why not WhatsApp, or any other social messaging client? Well, now you can.
Today, that Google Now functionality has expanded to messaging apps, including WhatsApp, WeChat, NextPlus, Telegram, and Viber. If you say, “Ok Google, send a WhatsApp message to John,” you’ll get a prompt asking you to dictate your message. Or, you can just say: “Ok Google, send a Viber message to Ted: What are you up to?”
You’ll need to update both the Google Now app as well as the associated messaging app to see this functionality work. If one is updated but not the other then it’ll error out.
Google continues to enhance their Google Now service having only recently allowed cards from third-party apps to appear in the dashboard. Expect to see further apps added to the supported list, as well as further functionality undoubtedly be introduced over the coming months as we approach Android M.
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[Deal] Google kicks off new Chromecast promotion
Google has just kicked off a great new deal in which it’s offering a $15 discount to anyone who purchases two Chromecast units before Friday, July 31. One Chromecast will set you $35 back, but you can grab two for just $55 with this promotion.
If you like the sound of this deal and want to take advantage of it — hit the source link below.
Source: Google
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