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Google Drive's new plans bring family sharing and more options
You probably haven't had a huge reason to upgrade from Google Drive's free 15GB service, but Google thinks it can sway you with the right incentives. It's launching a new set of plans, nicknamed Google One, that give you considerably more than extra capacity. There's now a family sharing option similar to services like iCloud, for starters -- up to six family members can share a plan, each with their own private storage areas. Google is promising better support as well, with "one-tap" access to experts for Drive and other services. Previously, you needed a G Suite business account to get that kind of live help.
Dropbox gets full-screen iPad navigation and drag-and-drop for iOS
You know how an iPad's screen real estate is wasted on Dropbox? Well, it's wasted no more. The file hosting service has rolled out a pretty meaty update for Apple devices, which includes full-screen file navigation for Cupertino's tablets. Just collapse the preview pane to see files' full names, so you can be sure you're clicking on unbelievablylengthyfilename01 instead of unbelievablylengthyfilename02. You'll also notice that you can now drag and drop files around when you tap and hold them -- so long as your device is running iOS 11 -- making it easier to arrange them a certain way or organize them in folders.
Google caters to productivity pros with macro recording in Sheets
If your work revolves around spreadsheets, there's a good chance you depend on macros -- those automated actions can save you hours upon hours of repetitive effort. They've been a pain in Google Sheets, however, as you've had to rely on complicated scripts. It should be much easier in the next few weeks. Google is adding macro recording to Sheets, making automation just a matter of walking through the necessary steps yourself. You still have to dive into scripts when you want to edit macros, but this should help you spend more time working on budget reports and less time getting ready to work.
Dropbox Smart Sync is finally available to all business users
It's been a few years since Dropbox first started talking about Smart Sync, a feature that lets users see everything stored in their Dropbox in the Mac Finder or Windows Explorer, regardless of whether that file is available locally or stored in the cloud. Everything stored in Dropbox shows up in your native file browser, but does so without eating up hundreds of gigabytes of storage -- a feature particularly useful for large teams or businesses with massive file systems. After a few years of development and an early access program, Dropbox is releasing Smart Sync for all its business customers.
Google Drive will help you figure out who needs access to a file
One of the tricky things about coordinating an email chain is always making sure everyone has access to the right files, but Google said it's making that easier in Drive. The next time you go to share a document or other file through email or a calendar invite its built-in access checker will be updated to show the names and email addresses of anyone you're including who doesn't already have permission to view it. Apparently it also "will anticipate who needs access to a file and intelligently default to sharing with those recipients only."
Tablo launches more affordable over-the-air DVR with cloud storage
Nuvvyo's over-the-air Tablo DVRs are potentially big bargains if you want the convenience of recording shows without a pricey cable package, but the up front cost (dictated in part by the built-in storage) can make them daunting. The company has a simple solution to that: release a DVR that lets you pick your own drive. Its newly launched Tablo Dual Lite includes the same dual-tuner recording as before, but ditches the 64GB of built-in storage in favor of a lower $140 price (down from $220) that lets you get only the USB drive you want. And importantly, that local storage will soon be optional.
NVIDIA teams with Adobe to ensure AI editing runs smoothly
Adobe and NVIDIA are partnering up to power up the former's cloud-based AI endeavors with the latter's GPUs. Each new update for software in Adobe's suite leans more on its artificial intelligence toolkit Sensei to improve editing features, and it makes sense to tap NVIDIA's chips to ensure those run smoothly.
Amazon simplifies gaming competitions and prizes with 'GameOn'
Much as it has with every other retail sector, Amazon has steadily expanded its gaming presence, especially since it purchased Twitch in 2014. Now, it's unveiled a service that will allow it to break into another gaming arena. Built on Amazon's massive AWS cloud infrastructure, GameOn will let developers integrate competitions natively into PC, mobile and console games. Furthermore, it'll allow companies to offer in-game and even real-world prizes that are fulfilled by (wait for it) Amazon.
A cloud service for mobile gaming isn't as dumb as it sounds
We're reached a point where cloud gaming finally makes sense. The technology that exists now is beyond what was available to famous failures like OnLive and many others you could say were ahead of their time. Servers, the consoles and computers we have in our homes, and the speedy internet connections that feed them are now capable of mimicking the experience of playing a game stored on your local machine. Big companies like Sony and NVIDIA have gotten involved over the past few years for just this reason, and one upstart believes it's spotted an unfilled niche in the market. What Spotify has done for music and Netflix for TV, Hatch wants to do for mobile gaming.
August's smart doorbells now include 24 hours of video recording
Video doorbells are great for spotting visitors, but their live footage only goes so far. What if you don't pay extra for cloud storage and miss an important guest, or (perish the thought) a burglar? With August, at least, that shouldn't be an issue -- it's giving 24 hours of free cloud video to Doorbell Cam and Doorbell Cam Pro owners. This won't help much if you go on a vacation or need to keep footage for evidence's sake, but it could help you catch a lazy courier or give police a snapshot to work with.
Alexa lost its voice... for real this time
Has Alexa been giving you the cold shoulder recently? You're far from the only one. Outages in Amazon's cloud services muted the voice assistant for many people on March 2nd, producing error messages when you spoke commands to Echo speakers and other Alexa-equipped devices. The issue didn't affect everyone (we successfully spoke to Alexa in Canada during the outage, for instance) and could sometimes be overcome by using the Alexa app, but you certainly didn't want to depend on the AI helper for anything important.
Intruders 'borrowed' Tesla's public cloud for cryptocurrency mining (updated)
Tesla isn't immune to the plague of cryptocurrency mining hijacks, it seems. Security researchers at RedLock have reported that intruders gained access to Tesla's Kubernetes console (where it deploys and manages containerized apps) without needing a password, exposing the EV brand's login credentials for Amazon Web Services. From there, the attackers both abused Tesla's cloud resources for cryptojacking and accessed private data held in Amazon's S3 service. The culprits were creative, too.
Microsoft's cloud business just keeps growing
If there's one major takeaway from Microsoft's earnings reports over the last few years, it's this: The cloud is everything for Microsoft. And, based on the company's financials for the second quarter of 2018, its success in the cloud doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Microsoft reported a 12 percent revenue jump for the period, reaching $28.9 billion up from $25.8 billion a year ago. And mostly, that growth was driven by the company's investments in cloud services.
Microsoft is helping developers make cloud-connected games
Microsoft has acquired PlayFab, a game development startup that offloads the burdens associated with cloud-connected gaming for developers, allowing them to focus squarely on creating games. The terms of the deal haven't been disclosed, but Microsoft will integrate PlayFab's tools into its Azure cloud service, presumably in a bid to take on Amazon Web Services, which launched a similar set of tools two years ago.
SpaceX Falcon 9 launch leaves a creepy cloud over LA
It seems like everyone in southern California is looking up and asking "what is that?" this evening, and after revelations earlier this week about government investigations into unidentified flying objects, UFO is a popular answer. In truth, the trails were left by a SpaceX launch in the last hour from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara, CA. You can watch a live video feed of the launch below.
Microsoft axes Outlook.com premium features
We hope you didn't get too attached to Outlook.com Premium -- from all indications, it's already going away. Microsoft is adding most of Premium's features (tougher email security, ad-free web access, more storage and top-tier support) to Office 365, but in the process has revealed that it's removing the paid option for Outlook.com users. You can keep receiving the benefits if you renew an existing subscription, but new subscriptions are "closed." If you took advantage of the custom email domain, which isn't coming to Office 365, Microsoft is working on a way to transfer that domain somewhere else.
Microsoft drops its lawsuit over gag orders on DoJ searches
It's been more than a year since Microsoft sued the government (with backing from Amazon, Apple, Google and many others) over the right to tell its customers when the authorities ask it to hand over data, and now the DoJ has responded with a new policy. Microsoft says that the new rules restrict the use of secrecy orders and it says they should have defined time periods. With those conditions applied, President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said Microsoft is dropping its lawsuit, but also says more changes are necessary, as he called on Congress to amend the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act that is at the center of the dispute.
Google Drive on PC/Mac is dead, long live Backup and Sync
If you use Google Drive and/or Photos on PC and Mac, beware that both of those apps are being eliminated starting December 11th, 2017 and shut off completely in March of next year. Don't mourn their loss too much, though. Both have already been replaced by a single app called Google Backup and Sync, which handles both photos and data at once. Business and enterprise users, meanwhile, are being shuffled to Drive File Stream, which is now in wide release after a limited launch in March.
Crashplan drops its cloud backup service for home users
If you rely on Crashplan as a remote backup for your computer, you're going to have to find an alternative in short order. Code42 is phasing out its Crashplan for Home service as it switches its focus to business users. The company has stopped offering new or renewed Home subscriptions as of August 22nd, and the service will shut down entirely on October 23rd, 2018. If you haven't moved your files elsewhere by then, you're out of luck. The team is trying to make the transition as gentle as possible, at least. It's extending all Home subscriptions by 60 days to give people time to find alternatives, and it's offering discounts for both its own Small Business tier and a preferred alternative, Carbonite.
Any Tesla will soon pull your personal settings from the cloud
There aren't a lot of formalities for new Tesla feature launches -- if CEO Elon Musk decides to tweet something then it's coming, and probably soon. A case in point is new cloud-based driver profiles. "We are going to move all info and settings to the 'cloud' (aka server) so any Tesla you drive in the world automatically adjusts to you," Musk said on Twitter yesterday.
