Category: Google

[Note:  While comments on this post are welcome, any post regarding one political party or another will be deleted.]

Regardless of where you stand politically, Google Search has you covered tomorrow.  With Americans going to the polls to decide not only the presidential election but multiple Senate, House or Representatives and other local elections, November 4th every four years is an seemingly endless flow of information.  Google is trying to give you a one-stop-shop for all that information.  On your Android Phone you can type in “Election Results” in Google Search and you will be taken to a comprehensive overview of all the election results for the country and your particular state.

Starting when the polls close on Election Day, you will be able to find U.S. election results integrated right into your Google searches in over 30 languages around the world. You’ll also be able to see detailed updates and results of the Presidential, Senatorial, Congressional, Gubernatorial races as well as state-level referenda and ballot propositions.

But, if you want live streaming of information, Google has an answer for you there too.  YouTube.

It appears that shipments for the new Google Home device have started for readers.  Multiple readers have either emailed or commented on Google+ of receiving shipment notifications of the $129 Google Assistant-powered device.  I too have received a shipment notification with it expected to arrive at the end of the week.

Aimed at competing with the Amazon Echo, Google Home brings the power of Google Artificial Intelligence to give you detailed information about your day, upcoming events, search information, travel information and the like.   While it is for everyone in the family, it tied to a single primary Google account.  Like Google OnHub, Home is aimed at sitting out in the open and doesn’t look like a piece of techno-kit sitting on a shelf.

An update is currently rolling out to the Google Play Store for Google Docs and Google Sheets that further both apps features around collaboration.  Both apps now allow you to create and assign action items to collaborators on a document or file.  For example, if you want to have a team member work on a specific paragraph or the financial figures in a particular part of the document or sheet, you can assign it to them and get notified when that task is completed.  It is a great way for teams to work together on a file and to make sure specific edits are completed.

With the shipment of the Google Home device just days away for many of us, Google has started laying the groundwork for their arrival.  At the October event the company held, we learned that one of these steps would be rebranding the Google Cast app.  That has happened and is rolling out now.  The Google Home app is, essentially, the same app as Google Cast but will be able to add additional cast devices and of course the Home device once it is released.  Google, wisely in my opinion, has lumped the Cast and Home device management into one app, much like they have done with Google OnHub and Google Wi-Fi into the On app.  This will help cut down on the number of apps you have to install to manage the growing number of devices.

With orders now starting to arrive to those who ordered the new Google Pixel or Pixel XL, Google has posted both the factory images and the OTA updates for both phones on the Android Developer website.  This follows the trend that the company has had the last two device rounds (Nexus 5X/6P and Marshmallow & Nexus 6/Lollipop).  This means that, like the Nexus lineup before it, the Pixel lineup will have images that those who want to manually update their devices can use as soon as the images are released instead of waiting for the standard over-the-air updates.

There is a new update to Chrome for Android rolling out that has some nice new features for the browser.  The update is version 54.0.2840.68 for those keeping score at home and is now in the Google Play Store.  The OTA update should roll out to your devices over the course of the next few days.  Once you have it, there are three new features that will be available that improve the overall experience of the app.  First, there are new article suggestions when you open up a new tab.  This will be based on your browsing history as well as topics you’ve identified in other Google services (like Google News) that are of interest to you.