In partnership with CIT, Google announced on its Official Enterprise Blog today that it would roll out a new Chromebook rental program as a trial. The month-to-month rentals, starting at $30 for a Chromebook and $25 for a Chromebox, will be available to organizations and come with full 24/7 support and a three-year limited warranty. Google noted there is no commitment required and the costs decrease each year depending on the terms of the rental. The company also announced it would make volume purchases for up to 10 ChromeBooks available to Google Apps customers:
Imagine you’re setting up shop for a local political campaign and will have an influx of new, temporary workers. You can rent a Chromebook for each worker for the next few months, and return them when the campaign is over. Chromebooks meet the needs of most workers, making this rental program a great option for companies with seasonal workers, larger organizations who want to pilot Chromebooks, fast-growing startups and any company looking to preserve cash.
The full details on the rental solutions being offered through CIT are below. Expand Expanding Close
Google started giving Google Apps users access to Google+ in October, and the company added to its initiative today by publicly launching Google+ for enterprise uses with a set of new business-focused social features.
According to a post by Google Apps Product Management Director Clay Bavor on the Google Enterprise Blog, the features include restricted sharing options, Hangouts integrated into Gmail, Calendar, Docs and other Google services, and administrative controls:
So today we’re launching an initial set of Google+ features designed specifically for businesses, and we’re excited to move into a full preview mode for Apps customers. During this preview period, organizations that have gone Google will be able to use the business features of Google+ for free through the end of 2013 while we continue to add more features and administrative controls designed for organizations.
For the past few months, pilot customers like Kaplan and Banshee Wines have been using Google+ to help employees engage and connect with each other. We’ve worked hard to incorporate early feedback from pilot customers into our plans, and we’re thrilled to begin offering Google+ features tailored to organizations.
Google announced today on the Lat Long Blog that it added even more Street View imagery to Google Maps; this time for Brazil and pre-hispanic Mexican cities. While there was already Street View imagery available for the locations, the latest additions include panoramic imagery for 70+ cities throughout Brazil including “colonial cities like Fortaleza, architecturally compelling cities like Brasilia and coastal landmarks like Recife, Natal and Salvador.”
You can even virtually travel to the west side of Brazil and visit Foz de Iguaçu, or if you’re planning an upcoming trip, preview the the area around your hotel as well as nearby shopping malls, historic monuments, restaurants and more. With so many upcoming events, like the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, we’re excited to share the riches of Brazil’s cities not only with tourists from around the world, but also with locals who might want to visit a city, neighborhood or landmark they’ve not yet experienced.
Also included in today’s update is 30 Mesoamerican archaeological areas in Mexico, including the 1,100-year-old Kukulkan’s Temple pyramid, and other sites such as Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza, and Tulum.
Google rolled out its Google Wallet web app at the beginning of the month and introduced support for all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, America Express, and Discover, at the same time. Today, the company announced on the Google Commerce blog that Discover Card is the first to implement the new “Save to Wallet” API for credit and debit card issuers.
Discover securely transmits all required information directly to Google Wallet. You can then select your Discover Card to be the primary method the Google Wallet app will use for in-store purchases, or when shopping online from Google Play or other merchants that accept Google Wallet. You’ll continue to earn rewards on every purchase you make. Discover has also provided Google Wallet with card imagery for the Discover More® Card, so you can easily identify your virtual Discover card in your mobile wallet.
Google demoed the new API during its full Wallet session at Google I/O in June. The feature allows card issuers and eventually other partners to provide a “Save to Wallet” or “Add Your Card” option in their website or application to securely transfer card and account information to Google Wallet. Google said the API would eventually extend to saving Offers in addition to payment cards.
To save a Discover Card to Google Wallet, follow the instructions below:
According to a report on TheNextWeb, Google appears to be testing a new Gmail login page that will make it much easier to log in and out of multiple accounts. The current Gmail login page requires users to enter their login information each time they sign in from the login page. The new Gmail page will allow you to add login information for multiple accounts and easily select any account with one click. Keep an eye out for a link at the bottom of the login page to try the new feature.
Google introduced a new feature last year for Google Apps for Business admins that allows them to manage a large set of mobile devices across all platforms. Admins can make settings, like allowing or blocking the phone’s camera, which then requires employees to set passwords on their devices, and making a way for administrators to set data encryption policies for users’ devices. It is an easy way to manage a ton of devices.
To hopefully make things a bit easier, Google unveiled a new feature for administrators today that gives users (employees) the ability to remotely wipe data off their phone from the moment it is lost or stolen. The feature is very similar to Apple’s Find My iPhone, which just today allowed New York Times reporter David Pogue to locate his iPhone. Users will be able to view their device from the “My Devices” page, where the PIN on the phone can be reset and the device can be locked, rung, or wiped. Non-work Android device users have had a similar feature for quite sometime. We all know it is a scary situation when a personal artifact is lost, so having the ability to somehow find it is always welcomed.
FedEx and Google will both offer FedEx Office Print & Go integration for Google Drive just like they did with Google Docs. The Print & Go feature allows users to easily print their documents at any of 1,800 FedEx Office stores nationwide, letting users go into their accounts from an in-store kiosk to manage files and easily print them. A similar feature was available with Google Docs where users could upload their files on FedEx’s online file locker. Furthermore, users can also choose to have prints delivered to their door by ordering them from FedEx’s website. How convenient. [FedEx via Google Plus]
Google updated its universal iOS app today with a couple of noteworthy improvements including smoother animations and scrolling on the iPhone and iPod touch. It even features the ability to save picture attachments to the iOS photo library by tapping and holding an image. The update also includes the usual bug fixes.
What’s New in Version 1.3
– Smoother animation and scrolling on iPhone and iPod touch.
– Save picture attachments to your photo library. Touch and hold an image to save it.
– Bug Fixes
Sparrow has just announced that it has been acquired by Google. The company’s team will be integrated within the Google Gmail team.
We’re excited to announce that Sparrow has been acquired by Google!
We care a lot about how people communicate, and we did our best to provide you with the most intuitive and pleasurable mailing experience.
Now we’re joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.
We’d like to extend a special thanks to all of our users who have supported us, advised us, given us priceless feedback and allowed us to build a better mail application. While we’ll be working on new things at Google, we will continue to make Sparrow available and provide support for our users.
We had an amazing ride and can’t thank you enough.
Full speed ahead!
Dom Leca
CEO
Sparrow
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lYitaF4lDo]Promo video for Sparrow for iPhone
Sparrow has long been noted as a great third-party email app for both the Mac and iOS, specifically on the iPhone. The application has a unique user interface that is intuitive and very well integrated into social networks.
Teaser for Sparrow for iPad
The company said that an iPad app is in the works, but it is unclear if this app will launch now that the team is integrated into Google. Notably, Sparrow says that its current apps will stay available. Sparrow will also still provide support for its users.
Sparrow has also long been noted as a great Gmail solution for iPhone users. Google’s official iOS Gmail application is definitely in need of new features – beyond just a web view – and we hope that Sparrow’s team has a part in creating a new Gmail experience for iOS users.
Screenshot of Sparrow for Mac
Sparrow has also just sent out a different, more personal note to its users. Notably: no new features or updates coming.
Hello,
We’re excited to let you know that Sparrow has been acquired by Google! You can view our public announcement here, but I wanted to reach out directly to make sure you were aware of the news.We will continue to make available our existing products, and we will provide support and critical updates to our users. However, as we’ll be busy with new projects at Google, we do not plan to release new features for the Sparrow apps.
It’s been an honor and a pleasure to build products for all of our wonderful users who have supported us over the years. We can’t thank you enough.
We look forward to working on some new and exciting projects at Google!
A Google spokesperson has reached out to provide the following statement:
The Sparrow team has always put their users first by focusing on building a seamlessly simple and intuitive interface for their email client. We look forward to bringing them aboard the Gmail team, where they’ll be working on new projects.
We’re also told that Google will support Sparrow in supporting its current Sparrow user-base and in providing essential app updates. The Sparrow team is also said to be focusing on new Google projects, likely related to Gmail. Google would not comment on specific future product plans.
One of the most widely publicized and important knocks against Sparrow’s iOS application is the lack of push notifications. As Sparrow CEO Dom Leca said, “now we’re joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.” We think that bigger vision includes more resources; assets that will help Sparrow make email even better for everyone with features like push alerts.
In a blog post on the official Google Africa blog today, the company announced it created Gmail SMS. It is a new service that will allow users to send and receive Gmail messages via SMS. Rolling out first in Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya, Google explained the feature would hopefully make Gmail even more accessible to users who often find themselves without an Internet connection:
You can now send and receive emails as SMS messages using your mobile phone, regardless of whether or not your phone has an internet connection, like Wifi or 3G. Gmail SMS works on any phone, even the most basic ones which only support voice and SMS.
Gmail SMS automatically forwards your emails as SMS text messages to your phone and you can respond by replying directly to the SMS. You can control the emails received by replying with commands such as MORE, PAUSE and RESUME. Additionally, compose a new email as an SMS and send to any email address recipient – who will find your message in the right email conversation thread!
Receiving Gmail messages via SMS will be free, but your standard SMS rates will apply for replying to messages and everything else. Google has instructions for how to sign up for the new service on its blog. Expand Expanding Close
Microsoft is slated to unveil its next iteration of Office today, and The Wall Street Journal’s Shira Ovide is prepping the announcement with some comparison data about the productivity suite and its direct cloud-based rival Google Apps.
According to the WSJ’s video above, Dominion Enterprises held a $2 million annual contract with Microsoft, but it recently decided to switch to Google Apps. The company now pays $200,000 for Google’s services.
Despite the loss, the Office sodtware remains a hugely successful product for Microsoft. It is one of the company’s most profitable goods, and it continues to maintain a stronghold in the desktop productivity market. Google Apps, on the other hand, is still in its infancy, but it is rapidly gaining steam and attention.
Today’s announcement from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will surely set the pace for the company’s future against the ever-growing Google Apps.
As highlighted on the official Google Analytics blog, the company is today announcing the addition of mobile app analytics for three main areas: Acquisition and new users, Engagement (retention, crashes, conversions), and Outcome (app sales and in-app purchases).
New and active users – measure the number of new and active users who launch your app everyday and analyze your most valuable segments.
App versions – keep track of the distribution of active users over the older and newer versions of your app so you know what to support.
Device overview – check out the top mobile devices and OS versions that your app runs on, and optimize the experience for each device.
User behavior – assess how loyal your users are, how frequently they use the app, and the engagement level of each loyalty group.
Engagement flow – visually see the screens, actions and paths users take to move throughout your application in order to optimize usage.
In-App purchases – if you sell virtual or tangible goods in your app, you can measure the number of purchases and the revenue generated.
In addition to the inclusion of the new Mobile App Analytics reports that can be seen in the screenshots above, Google is also rolling out a new Google Analytics Android app (images above via AnalyticsTalk.) If you are interested in checking out the new Mobile App Analytics and app, Google said it would roll out to select whitelisted users. You can sign up to become part of the beta here.
Google just announced new custom themes will come to Gmail that allows users to upload their own background images (or select from Google+ photos), browse from a selection of “Featured Photos,” or enter a URL of any image. The video above pretty much speaks for itself, but Google noted it would roll out the new themes for users over the next couple of days with both Light and Dark options.
You can upload your own images directly, select from your Google+ photos or simply paste any image URL. Or, if you don’t have a particular image in mind, you can browse our searchable Featured Photos section to find one that speaks to you. With so many great options, it may be hard to choose, so to get a sense of the images available, try searching for ‘hdr scenery’ or ‘bokeh wallpaper’ in the Featured tab.
Google launched its Schemer social networking mobile app today as a free iPhone app in the App Store. It originally launched as an invite-only service in December, and then it released on Google Play in April. The service is a social network “all about the schemes” that allows you to post your plans for future activities, meet with friends, and get activities, or “schemes” recommended to you.
The app is completely separate from Google+, but it does utilize your Google+ account to “show you what people in your circles are scheming about.” There is always a possibility we will see more integration between the two services, or Schemer becoming a feature of Google+ after the service picks up steam.
Google just announced a small, but welcomed, update to Gmail. Among the new features is the ability to quickly access contact information and Google+ circles from within your inbox.
When searching for an email address in Gmail, in addition to person’s profile image and past conversations, you will now see the person’s contact details like email, phone number, and quick links to start voice and video chats. Google noted the contact data would automatically stay updated for users who have a Google+ profile.
Google has integrated with Gmail through a number of ways in recent months, but today’s update brings further integration with the ability to use Circles in search and filters by typing circle:[circle name] or has:circle. The update also adds profile photos of people in any selected circle in the upper right of the page. The new features will roll out to all Gmail users today.
Google+ always allowed you to receive notification emails for specific activity from the network, such as comments on your posts and when another user mentions or shares with you. Today, Google is making the experience even better for Gmail users by making those notification emails interactive. In Gmail, you can now “view, comment on, and +1 posts” directly from within your inbox. Google noted, “Comments appear in the Google+ stream in real-time, and responses from others instantly appear in Gmail, as part of the notification message.”
Google explained replying to the notification emails is now possible from your mobile device through a “Reply to this email” prompt (pictured, right):
Tap reply, send your comment, and we’ll automatically add it to the ongoing Google+ conversation. Even if you don’t use Gmail, you can still reply by email from many different services.
Google launched a new “Go Google” campaign today to flaunt its array of cloud-based services, and now the Google Docs team is doing the same by rounding up a host of improvements it made to Google Docs in April with the announcement of 450 new fonts and 60 new templates.
“Today, we added over 450 new fonts to Google documents to make it easier for you to add a little something extra to whatever you create,” explained Software Engineer Isabella Ip on the Official Google Docs Blog.
To select the new fonts, click on the font menu, and then select “Add fonts” at the bottom. This will open a menu to all the Google Web Fonts available. Users can narrow their search for the perfect font by alphabetical order, date added, and “trending.” Once a font is selected, users are free to implement them in Google Docs, especially in one of the service’s 60 new templates that were unveiled today.
Gmail just received three handy improvements, while killing off some aging features, but the most notable update is automatic message translation.
According to the Official Gmail Blog, Google pushed Gmail Labs’ automatic message translation to everyone today after receiving overwhelming positive feedback on the feature from Google Apps for Business users:
We heard immediately from Google Apps for Business users that this was a killer feature for working with local teams across the world. […] Since message translation was one of the most popular labs, we decided it was time to graduate from Gmail Labs and move into the real world. Over the next few days, everyone who uses Gmail will be getting the convenience of translation added to their email.
With the launch of the highly anticipated Google Drive earlier today, many iOS users were left wondering where their iOS-optimized app is. Do not fear, because AllThingsDconfirmed with Google that the Google Drive iOS app is launching soon. In an interview with Google SVP of Chrome and Apps Sundar Pichai, the executive told AllThingsD that the iOS is “98 percent done, and it will be here soon.” Soon is hopefully this week.
Luckily for Android users, Google launched an app alongside Google Drive. After playing with the app this afternoon, I can tell you it is very sleek. It is an awesome solution for managing files—especially documents. Google also launched a Mac app, which is useful.
Alongside the unveiling of its new Google Drive cloud storage service that essentially replaces Google Docs, the company confirmed today it would increase Gmail’s free storage allotment to 10GB. Before today, Google offered users roughly 7.5GB. Google said the change would take place over the next 24 hours, so you should get your extra space any time now. Expand Expanding Close
In addition to the announcement of an unlocked Galaxy Nexus being made available to purchase directly from Google Play, the company confirmed on the official Google Commerce Blog today that Google Wallet is now available through three devices on Sprint: Galaxy Nexus, LG Viper 4G LTE, and LG Optimus Elite. It also confirmed that Wallet would come to the LG Optimus Elite on Virgin Mobile. Google is continuing to offer all new users a $10 credit for their Google Prepaid Card when accessing the service for the first time.
If you use Google Apps, I am sure you know the service is usually behind when it comes to receiving new features that have already rolled out to regular users. Today is no different, because the Google Apps team announced on the Google Apps Blog this evening a few new, but small, features inside of Gmail.
First off, users can now share YouTube videos and inline images inside of Gmail with just one click, which is definitely a useful feature. This saves time when composing a quick email and makes it easier to view the media.
A feature that we have enjoyed on the consumer version of Gmail is also coming, which is the ability to add Google Plus users to circles directly from Gmail messages. You are usually emailing co-workers and friends throughout the day anyway, so it makes sense to be able to add them quickly to your Circles for organization on Google+.
Lastly, Apps will now feature a new People Widget in the upper-right hand corner that will show the last three images a contact has sent. This is an awesome feature, because it gives you a full breakdown on exactly whom you are talking to, including the ability to catch up with them on Google+.
Google said in its blog post that the new features are set to roll out to Apps users quickly over the next few days.
Google released Gmail Meter today, which is a tool for analyzing your inbox that is similar to the Google Account Activity feature launched last month.
The Google Team announced Gmail Meter on the Official Gmail Blog. Google Apps Script Top Contributor Romain Vialard developed the Google Apps Script-powered feature after looking at his sent mail one day and noticing there were many things he wanted to know about his email habits.
The video above explains the tool, but here is a quick run-down: Gmail Meter sends an email on the first day of every month containing statistics about an Inbox for detailing a user’s emailing habits. Some of the data measured regards volume statistics, daily traffic, traffic patterns, email categories, times before first response, word count, thread lengths, and top senders and recipients.
