OK Google to expand across Android OS: Report

NEW DELHI: The 'Ok Google' voice command that launches the Google Search app from the homescreen on phones with the Google Now launcher and from the Google Now screen on other smartphones, will reportedly be extended to core Android apps. 

According to Android Police, users will be able to perform certain actions through the voice command 'Ok Google,' inside core Android apps like Photos and Gmail. For instance, they'll be able to share images through voice commands within the Photos app or reply to emails inside the Gmail app by simply saying 'Ok Google.' Apps that support the feature may sport a red coloured round button with the letter 'g' in lower case denoting the functionality. 

The report doesn't mention the source of the information but claims that the project is being actively worked on. The feature may be available only on Google experience devices like Nexus 5 and Nexus 7. The website has also posted mock-ups of the activation screen of "Ok Google" everywhere.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE from timesofindia.com

Google Now and Cortana are the future, not Siri

Now that our gadgets are plenty fast and powerful, and most software is easy enough for babies to use, everyone is searching for the Next Big Thing in tech.

Based on the investments Big Tech companies are making, the next tech wave will likely be powered by contextual and predictive technologies.

In plain terms, contextual and predictive technologies are designed to get our devices to do exactly what we want without us having to ask over and over again.

Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) new Cortanafeature for Windows Phone can dive into a handful of apps and anticipate when and where you'll need certain bits of critical information. For example, Cortana can offer up your flight info and boarding pass as you travel to the airport. It can then prominently present that information to you without you doing anything. In some cases, it could even automatically relay information to another app.

What's particularly interesting about Cortana is how much attention Microsoft has given it. Cortana was the star of the show at this year's Microsoft Build developers conference, overshadowing substantial Windows and Windows Phone updates.

Microsoft is not alone, either.

Google (GOOGL) offers a similar service called "Google Now" for Android devices. Earlier this year, Yahoo! (YHOO, Fortune 500)paid a cool $80 million for Aviate, an Android app that changes the look of users' homescreens based on where they are, what time of day it is, and what they're doing. Nest's thermostats learn your habits and the most efficient way to manage the temperature in your house. 

READ MORE about Google Now from 

How to add a Google Drive folder to Google Sites

Google Sites are great because they are easy to set up and can be used in a variety of different ways. Embedding a Google Drive folder on a Google Sites page  is one of our favorite features, and it has a number of different use cases for a variety of different users.

>READ MORE from ASK THEGOORU

Google Trends Debuts Email Notifications For Search Topics, Hot Searches And More

Google Trends, the informative resource that shows you what’s currently popular around the web right now in and in the recent past, now offers email subscriptions, Google announcedthis morning. The new feature will allow you to subscribe to any search topic, plus Hot Searches for any country, or any U.S. monthly Top Chart, says Google via a blog post detailing the feature.

However, though Google Trends itself is a real-time data provider, letting you see what people are searching for at this very moment, the subscriptions feature is not always a real-time alerting service. Instead, when you go to create your first subscription for a topic you specify, after selecting the search term and country, you can then set your emails to arrive either “about once a week” or “about once a month.” (The company notes that the “how often” designation is only a rough estimate, and will vary between topics and over time.)

In other words, that feature is designed more for keeping up on news you’re interested in, by allowing you to more passively receive updates on a fairly regular schedule, but not necessarily getting the information the minute it arrives.

> READ ALL DETAILS ON HOW TO USE GOOGLE TRENDS from 

Essential Tips For Saving Time In Google Search And The Chrome Browser

Have you ever gotten frustrated after combing through search results that aren’t even related to what you’re seeking?

Or how about having to repeatedly press the back button in Google Chrome to find that website you saw about eight pages ago?

Google is loaded with tips and tricks that make it easier to search for content and navigate websites.

Even if you’ve read dozens of tip articles and claim you’re a Google expert, chances are there are a few hidden gems you’ve yet to uncover.

Here are a few hacks that will help you zip around Google Search and Google Chrome like a pro.

> SEE THE TIPS from InternationalBusiness Insider International

11 Quick Tricks To Become A Chrome Omnibox Power User

Do you want to become an Omnibox power user and save plenty of time and keystrokes? All you need are a few good extensions and a little knowledge of how to tweak the search settings.

The Omnibox in Google Chrome is useful for more than just searching with Google or visiting a link quickly. Omni literally means ‘universal’ and the Omnibox can be used for almost every task on the Web or otherwise, be it searching a site, setting a timer or sending a tweet.

> LEARN ALL THE TIPS from 

Google's Plan To Bridge Chrome, Android, And Search To Do Everything On Your Device

Occasionally, an OS update will bring around features that really change things. Android 3.0 brought the Android experience to tablets. 4.0 completely revamped the UI and added guidelines that made Android look cohesive for the first time. 4.4 added Svelte, which promised to seat Android comfortably on an even broader range of devices. We have reason to believe another one of those changes is right around the corner, and it's known internally as Hera.

We feel confident in this rumor, but we'll take the same approach we always do - a brief breakdown of our confidence level, the rumor itself, the evidence, and any other thoughts. Since this rumor is a little more complex than past rumors, we'll combine "The Rumor," with the Evidence section, as some concepts should be seen and discussed at the same time. Remember that often, with pre-release software, we cannot show source materials, but we do our best to faithfully mock up the functionality and interface.

READ FULL ARTICLE for examples and how Google may integrate all devices, from

 

Quick Links Lab for Gmail

The Quick Links Lab for Gmail has been around for a few years, but it’s still an underused feature. If you frequently find yourself searching for the same email, then Quick Links might be the perfect Lab for you.

Quick Links lives inside your Gmail inbox, and can actually be found in the same place as Chat, directly below the label list. It’s a great place to store all of the emails, searches and settings links that you visit on a daily basis.

For example, instead of searching for ‘Exchange to Google Apps Migration’ and sifting through dozens of emails, I can create a Quick Link. We’re all looking for ways to save time in Gmail, and a Quick Link is a great tool to use.

Original Article from 

Google Calendar Changes Simplify Event Management

Google has updated its Google Calendar API to make it easier for business users to schedule or reschedule employee activities.

Google has just made improvements in its Google Calendar API that make it easier for enterprises to schedule employee activities more accurately through new "event IDs," which are used to help differentiate different activities.

By incorporating this change, businesses will have an easier time managing calendars for multiple employees because the changes will be directly highlighted through an event ID, rather than through an internal database that previously managed activity changes, wrote Lucia Fedorova, the tech lead of the Google Calendar API Team, in a March 19 post on the Google Developers Blog. - See more at: http://www.eweek.com/cloud/google-calendar-changes-simplify-event-management.html/#sthash.WyOUY63J.dpuf

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4 Advanced Search Operators to Help Find Elusive Google Drive Files

A lot of the value of Google Drive comes from how quickly we can identify and access exactly what we’re looking for. While creating a folder structure can serve as a great foundation to Drive, we’ve found that many people fail to maintain these folders, making search a much more efficient option.

This video covers a view of the best search operators in Google Drive and how you can put them to good use. For example, if you frequently add stars to files in Google Drive, it almost ruins the point of having them! But pairing a keyword search with a specific search operator can help turn up those important files in no time.

READ MORE from ASK THEGOORU

No Track Internet Searching

YOUR search history contains some of the most personal information you will ever reveal online: your health, mental state, interests, travel locations, fears and shopping habits.

And that is information most people would want to keep private. Unfortunately, your web searches are carefully tracked and saved in databases, where the information can be used for almost anything, including highly targeted advertising and price discrimination based on your data profile.

“Nobody understands the long-term impact of this data collection,” said Casey Oppenheim, co-founder of Disconnect, a company that helps keep people anonymous online. “Imagine that someone has 40 years of your search history. There’s no telling what happens to that data.”

Fortunately, Google, Microsoft’s Bing and smaller companies provide ways to delete a search history or avoid leaving one, even if hiding from those ads can be more difficult.

READ MORE from nytimes.com