Category: Google

Google Photos saw a small but important update yesterday that gives you more control over your videos you have stored in the app and online.  The updated version is build 1.6 for those keeping score at home and it is rolling out to the Google Play Store now.  If you have the app, you should see the OTA for it in the next few days.  The big change is that you now have the ability to fast forward and rewind videos that you have stored as you watch them.  Previously you could only pause videos but if you wanted to go back in the video, you had to tap the play bar to go back or start over.

Google is upping the ante on Chrome OS.  For the past couple of years, the company has had an open invitation for everyone to try and hack into a Chromebook running Chrome OS.  The payout?  $50,000 US.  Not bad but the company have virtually no takers.  Not satisfied and genuinely wanting attempts to hack the OS made, the company has upped the payout to $100,000 US if you can break into a Chromebook or Chromebox.  They are serious about how secure the platform is and are willing to put their money on it.

It is update time for Chrome OS users.  The Chromium team in Google has just announced the release of build 49.0.2623.95 (Platform version: 7834.60.0) for all devices.  As usual, the update is full of bug and security fixes that we expect each month with a release but there are also several new features that are coming along with this build.  Perhaps the most notable is a new Material Design look for the Media Players on the platform. This certainly will give it a more modern look and feel over the more plain Chrome look of the past.

If you navigate with Google Maps today, you may notice a small but handy change that has come to the app:  Navigation bubbles.  Now when you are in navigation mode, you will see a small bubble with street names of where your next turn is as you go to your destination.  It is a visual cue to back up the audio cue you receive as you navigate and is particularly handy if you don’t use the audio turn-by-turn navigation.  The nice thing is that this new feature is already built into the most current version of Google Maps so no new app update is required.  This all happened on the backend at Google.

While it is expect that we will see a new Nexus tablet at some point this Spring or Summer, you can still pick up the late-2014, HTC built Nexus 9 tablet and at a great price.  Over on Amazon you can pick up the 32GB, Wi-Fi model for $299.99.  Originally this model sold for $479.99 so you are saving $180.  Keep in mind too that the Nexus 9 has already been upgraded to Android Marshmallow (and you get the updates fast since this is a Nexus device) and it is eligible to be upgraded to Android N when it is released so you are somewhat future proof for the next year on this tablet.

This time last year, Google launched the stand alone Google Store, the place where you could get your Google hardware like Nexus phones and tablets along with Chromecasts and other Googlely goodies.  To celebrate the store’s first birthday, Google has dropped the price of the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P by $50 on any color and configuration you want.  That means you can pick up the 5X for as low as $349 and the 6P for $499.  But funny enough, Amazon has an even better deal on these phones if you don’t mind certain colors.