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Chrome OS version 20 hits stable release channel, brings Google Drive and Aura UI for Cr-48s along
If you're a Chrome OS user who doesn't live on the bleeding edge, it's finally time to experience the latest version 20, which most notably adds support for its Drive cloud storage. Also mentioned as included in the upgrade is offline support of Google Docs, Pepper Flash upgrade, access to the new Aura UI on Cr-48 systems and other tweaks. Tighter integration with Drive and Docs may address a few of the issues noted in our review of v19, Chromebook and Chromebox owners can check it out as it arrives on their machines over the next several days and let us know if that's the case.
Richard Lawler07.11.2012
Google Drive client comes to Chrome OS and iOS, available today
Windows, Mac and Android users are no longer alone in their access to Google Drive's online repository. Now iOS and Chrome OS users can install a client and pull down their data and docs (though, the promised Linux client was nowhere to be seen at IO). The iOS app has all the features that make Drive drive great on Android, including OCR and picture recognition. As part of the demo, Clay Bavor, Director of Product Management for Google Apps, showed off the apps ability to decipher and index text from receipts he had taken a picture of. Perhaps more impressive though, was his ability to simply type "pyramids" and have his vacation snapshots pop up. There was no metadata attached to the images identifying them as the pyramids in Egypt, Google was able to recognize the landmarks by analyzing the photos. Obviously, Drive and seamless integration with it is key to Chrome OS's success. Now the browser-based OS finally has a native Drive client allowing you to quickly sync and access your data on the lightweight Linux machines. The ability to sync files with Chrome OS is great, but more importantly, an update to the web service has now made offline editing available -- perhaps the most requested feature. Now with offline access ironed out and all the major desktop and mobile OSes under it's belt Drive may actually be ready to challenge peripheral competitors like Dropbox. Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012's developer conference at our event hub!
Terrence O'Brien06.28.2012
Google Drive SDK version 2 supports Android and iOS apps, common file tasks
Virtually every corner of the Google universe is being touched at Google I/O, and that now includes Google Drive. A version 2 update to the Drive SDK gives Android and iOS developers the option of building the cloud storage into their mobile apps, whether it's downloads, uploads or on-the-spot edits. The programming interface has likewise been expanded as a whole to handle everyday file duties, such as conversions, copying and revision handling. Web-only users are taken care of with support for embedded shares and opening Google documents in any given software that will take the exportable formats. The updated Drive SDK is ready to go, with a flood of apps either coming or already here -- if you want to hop on the bandwagon, just take a peek at the source link.
Jon Fingas06.28.2012
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i delivers scans to Android or iOS, spreads a little cloud love as well
Fujitsu's original ScanSnap S1300 earned a soft spot in our hearts -- no mean feat for a scanner -- so it's with piqued interest that we catch word of a direct upgrade. The S1300i is all about serving those of us who might never send scan results to a printer. Android and iOS aficionados now only have to send the results to a relevant mobile app, skipping the usual computer-to-phone shuffle. That stack of receipts can also go skip devices entirely and go straight to the cloud, whether it's Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs, Salesforce Chatter or SugarSync. However that paper gets converted to digital, it'll be accomplished about 50 percent faster, or 12 double-sided, color pages every minute. All the extras lift the price price even higher, though: $295 is a lot to ask for a scanner. Even so, if that stack of bills is high enough to trigger an avalanche, it might be worth the premium to avoid being snowed in.
Jon Fingas06.22.2012
Google acquires Quickoffice
Google has announced that it's acquired Quickoffice, originally founded in 2002 and known for its productivity suite for iPhone and iPad. The move is a smart one. I've never been impressed with how Google Docs has been handled on the iPad. The desktop version of Google Docs made its way to iPad in 2010, and the performance was disappointing. I've always considered Quickoffice to be the stronger of the iOS productivity suites, and it'll be interesting to see what Google does with the property. I would like to see Quickoffice become an official Google Docs app, complete with dropping the app cost.
Megan Lavey-Heaton06.05.2012
Google acquires Quickoffice, expands cloud-based app suite for enterprise
What's a search giant with nigh endless cash reserves to do? Acquire, acquire, acquire -- that's what. In keeping with its recent track record, Google's taken yet another company under its ever expansive wing with the purchase of Quickoffice. The move, no doubt positioned to further the company's reach in enterprise cloud services, should enhance its existing portfolio of GApps and, by logical extension, Docs. It's safe to say that the company just bought itself an existing suit-and-tie user base and a mobile future filled with even more native productivity applications. Check out the source below for Mountain View's official release.
Joseph Volpe06.05.2012
Google Docs gets new Research tool, lets you search without leaving your work
Google has already brought a pile of new fonts and templates to Google Docs this month, and it's now back with another fairly big new feature. Open a document today and you'll find a new Research tool on the side of your page (which can be toggled on and off), offering the ability to search for any topic and get results without having to leave the document you're working on. Those results can include images, quotes and other basic information that's delivered right in the sidebar -- and, of course, the usual search results that you can open in a new tab or window if you want to dive deeper on a subject. Hit the source link below for all the details on how to use the new tool, or simply fire up a new document to try it out for yourself.
Donald Melanson05.15.2012
Google Docs adds 450 fonts and 60 templates, sadly includes Comic Sans
Google Docs has lagged behind offline apps in the number of fonts and pre-made layouts to choose from, but that's just changed with a much larger catalog for both. More than 60 new templates and 450 fonts are now on tap to use in your presentations and reports. This comes on top of a handful of other recent improvements, such as Google Drive support, searching the Life Photo archive and boosts to accessibility and spreadsheet layouts. Apps Script gets both a Google Drive tie-in and new publishing control, too. Be forewarned: Comic Sans is one of the new font options, and it's clearly not an April Fools' gag.
Jon Fingas05.02.2012
Google Drive is coming to Linux, tells users to 'hang tight'
As you may know, there is at least one out and proud Ubuntu devotee on staff. So, when Google Drive was announced, there were a few grumbles from those who noticed Linux was absent from the list of supported platforms. Especially in the wake of Picasa for Linux, many were afraid that Big G was slowly killing off it's (comparably) robust support of the open-source OS. But, rest easy, in addition to Dropbox and Ubuntu One, soon enough you'll be able to use Google's offering as well. Google Docs community manager Teresa Wu (we assume, soon enough, that will be Google Drive community manager) swung by a potential customer's Google+ profile to assuage his ire over the lack of Linux support. The message, while not very detailed, was quite clear: "we're working on Linux support -- hang tight!"
Terrence O'Brien04.25.2012
Google Drive official: 5GB of free storage, Chrome web apps, Wave-like sharing and editing (video)
If it happened any other way, it just wouldn't be as satisfying, now would it? After years of leaks, murmurs, hubbub and other familiar synonyms, Google's mythical cloud storage platform is now official... sort of. As Lady Fate would have it, the company apparently outed a memo of the features on its French blog earlier today, but before it could yank the 'pull' switch, an eagle-eyed reader managed to grab the text and run it through -- surprise, surprise -- Google Translate. What's left is an official-as-you'll-get-right-now transcript of Google Drive's features, but contrary to the hype, it all feels way more enterprise-centric than consumers may have wanted. For starters, there's no real mention of music (we guess Google Music is on its own, there), and there's just 5GB of free storage for "documents, videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs, etc." According to the brief, it's designed to let users "live, work and play in the cloud," with direct integration with Docs and Google+. We're also told that Drive can be installed on one's Mac, PC or Android phone / tablet, while an iOS version will be "available in the coming weeks." Of note, Google's making this accessible to visually impaired consumers with the use of a screen reader. As for features? Naturally, Google's flexing its search muscles in as many ways as possible; if you scan in a newspaper clipping, a simple Search All within Drive will allow results to appear directly from said clipping. If you upload a shot of the Eiffel Tower, it'll show up whenever you search for the aforesaid icon. Moreover, Drive will allow folks to open over 30 types of documents directly from a web browser, including HD video, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and more -- "even without the software installed on your computer." For those concerned about access, the new platform will have the same infrastructure as any other Google Apps services, giving admins a familiar set of management tools on that end. On the topic of storage, just 5GB are provided gratis, with 25GB costing $2.49 per month, 100GB running you $4.99 per month and 1TB demanding $49.99 per month, with a maximum of 16TB ($799.99 per month, if you're curious) per user; thankfully, Google Docs will not be included in your usage total. Finally, the note played up the ability to "attach documents directly into your Drive Gmail," and given that it's intended to be an open platform, Goog's promising to work with third party developers in order to enhance Drive's functionality even further. The source link below is still dead as of right now, but it simply can't be long before the lights are officially turned on. Oh, and if you're not enamored at the moment, the outfit's suggesting that "many more developments" will be arriving in the coming weeks. Update: It's live on the Google Play store, and a pair of explanatory videos are embedded after the break!
Darren Murph04.24.2012
Google Docs bumps up free storage to 5GB, primes servers for Drive?
Is space at a premium in your Google Docs folder? Good news from Mountain View, then, as it's just stealth-increased the storage allowance for its cloud-based document editor. Unfortunately, anyone that's already plumped for a paid extension of their Google Docs storage won't see an extra 5GB on top. This new storage limit also tallies with what we're expecting to see from Google Drive -- presumably pretty soon. [Thanks Kenji]
Mat Smith04.24.2012
IDrive Connect offers Google Docs access via virtual folder on your Windows machine
Need a way to access those Google Docs outside of the native interface? IDrive Online Backup has unveiled its free software that does just that. IDrive Connect allows folks who fancy the document-sharing platform to access files as if they were resting in a folder on their PC -- in a DropBox-esque fashion. The application enables drag-and-drop capabilities for easy upload, conversion for popular document types to the Google Docs format and file sharing directly within the Connect interface. If that wasn't enough, you can also save those Google Docs to an existing IDrive account, which offers up to 5GB of backup / storage (not just documents, either) at no cost. If you're looking for all the details, hit the PR below or take a gander and the source links to download the app and get started.
Billy Steele04.04.2012
Google Drive leaks suggest 5GB free storage, in-app document editing
Mountain View has been leaking Google Drive details like a glacial trickle, but we still have no firm notion of how much free cloud storage it'll bring or just how deeply it'll be integrated with other services. There have been rumors of a Dropbox-like 2GB limit, but now a screenshot purporting to show the beta version's main welcome page points to a healthy 5GB instead. Moreover, Google's Support portal mentions that the Drive app for Android will have document-editing capabilities, which brings us back to the question of whether this is a whole new service, or an add-on to Google Docs or indeed a complete re-branding of Google's documents platform. Regardless, calling it 'Drive' still makes it sound like sat nav.
Sharif Sakr03.30.2012
Google aids accessibility with ChromeVox reader, better YouTube captions and more
Engineers from Google have commandeered a booth at this year's CSUN accessibility conference and they're keen to talk up their latest efforts. For the visually impaired, there's now a beta version of a Chrome screen reader called ChromeVox (demo'd after the break), plus improved shortcuts and screen reader support in Google Docs, Sites and Calendar. Meanwhile, YouTube boasts expanded caption support for the hard of hearing, with automatic captions enabled for 135 million video clips -- a healthy tripling of last year's total. Check the source link for full details or, if you're anywhere near San Diego, go and hassle those engineers the old-fashioned way.
Sharif Sakr02.29.2012
Google Drive SDK, Gmail integration hinted at in Google Docs source code
Still wondering if Mountain View's Google Drive service will launch as a Google Docs rebranding? The folks at the Google Operating System blog have some code you might want to peek at, then. Apparently the Docs' source code mentions an SDK connected to the upcoming Google Drive, opening the door for third party app support. The code hints at deeper Gmail integration too, "Say goodbye to email attachments and hello to real time collaboration," it says, "Drag anything shared with you to My Drive for easy access." If Drive turns out to be more than a hefty Docs update, at the very least it seems clear that the new service will play nice with El Goog's other web apps -- after all, isn't that what that consolidated privacy policy is supposed to be about?
Sean Buckley02.24.2012
Google Docs presentations slides out of preview, adds import and comment options (video)
The slide-making masses have spoken and Google's dutifully listened. After launching presentations for Docs as a preview last October, the search giant's making that editor ready for prime time with a few user-suggested tweaks in tow. In addition to the recently introduced slew of transitions, themes, tables and collaborative options, Mountain View's now tossing in the ability to make, edit and resolve comments, send email notifications, as well as control read / write privileges for outside users. And don't worry about your old documents getting lost in the shuffle; a new import setting will enable those visual gems to benefit from this new facelift. Check out the source below for a fuller walk-through or catch the instructional vid after the break.
Joseph Volpe02.22.2012
Google Docs for Android update brings collaborative editing for all
It's been barely a month since Google Docs on Android got offline support, but here comes Mountain View with another equally impressive update. Those upgrading today are treated to collaborative editing, much in the vein of their desktop counterparts. That means you can now watch edits happen in real time from your Android tablet or smartphone. In addition, there's a bevy of interface tweaks too, including a new pinch-to-zoom gesture and rich text formatting. Feel good video demoing all awaits after the break.
Dante Cesa02.22.2012
Google Docs for Android updates: adds offline support, better tablet experience
Google clearly didn't want to blow everyone's mind right away with its Google Docs app for Android. That's why it's been slowly rolling out the updates, incrementally adding features and turning what began life (more or less) as a glorified web browser into a useful app. The latest upgrades deliver possibly the most requested feature -- offline access. Now there's an option to pin individual files for local storage and the app will automatically sync the latest version anytime you're on WiFi. If that's not often enough, you can manually update whenever you have a data connection. There's also a new layout for viewing docs on tablets that allows you to swipe left and right to flip between pages and a scrubber at the bottom for quickly jumping from one part of the doc to another. Hit up the Android Market now to score the update for yourself.
Terrence O'Brien02.01.2012
Dropbox-for-Google Insync leaves beta, goes free and opens doors for business
Advertising itself as a cheaper Dropbox alternative with a better feature set, Insync has been in closed beta for the last 15 months. Now, they're finally ready to launch with a service that tightly integrates into Google Docs. It's "8x cheaper" than Dropbox, according to their marketing; in fact, the core service is now free, and customers who paid for the service during the beta period will be offered a refund or premium service credit. The only cost for basic membership is the cost of Google storage. Insync brings a number of novel features to the table, differentiating it from Dropbox's current service. For example, you can share individual files with more granularity -- not just as public links, but specifying read-write or read-only permissions. You can also revoke a sharing link, which isn't possible on Dropbox unless you move or delete the shared file. All your files live inside your Google Docs account, but that doesn't mean you're limited to the supported Google file types; any file can be synced over, as long as it's less than 10GB in size (assuming you have that much room in your storage allocation). You can nest sharing privileges so people have access to just part of a folder structure. You can also set re-sharing permissions, specifying whether those you share with can re-share that material or not. Share recipients are not charged against their storage quota. Insync supports multiple Google accounts and uses Google's storage system. Google starts with 1GB free storage, and then moves to 20GB for $5/year up to 16 TB for $4096/year. Dropbox's pricing rates includes 2GB free storage, and then jump to 50 GB paid storage at $10/month. Dropbox's 50 GB will cost you $120/year compared to Google's $20/year for 80 GB. That's $0.25 per GB per year for Google Docs versus $2 per GB per year for Dropbox. To use Insync, you sign in with your Google credentials and permit it to gain access to Google Docs. You then download and install the client software on your computer. From there, you launch, link the Google account to your machine, and you're ready to go. On OS X, all your Google Docs appear in a Finder window. In its current incarnation, Insync feels a lot like Dropbox, including its menu bar widget and small status indicators next to files (both Egnyte and Box.com use similar UI conventions for their respective cloud sync tools). If you're used to Dropbox, then you already know how to use Insync.
Erica Sadun12.30.2011
Kodak's Document Print app means never visiting the girl from the Xerox place
Printing on the road usually leaves you at the mercy of your local Kinkos FedEx Office, but as long as you've got one of Kodak's cloud-print enabled Hero printers, you can avoid getting gouged. The company's just released an Android app that lets you print nearly everything, even webpages as long as they're accessed from the baked-in browser -- provided that you've left your home printer switched on. You can pull it down for free from the Android market from today and if you're interested, head on past the break for an unusually terse press release from the company.
Daniel Cooper12.06.2011