Tag: Google

Top Google Apps For Better Mobile Experience

We can’t deny the fact that we live a life either in our way or Google way; this is the level of impact Google has on our lives. Right from searching for something to paying someone online, Google apps surround us; without any doubt, we can say Google is the best friend we haven’t seen yet but been with it all the time.

In a recent I/O 2021 event, Google announced many more things, including Android 12 preview beta, a futuristic 3D video calling booth, lots of health-focused apps, and a foldable phone with the name Passport, but most of these things are associated with the future and currently limited for a few specific devices. But there’s no need to panic out as Google has more than 100 apps issued on the Play Store and Apple App Store that can make your day to day life better, and here, we’ve enlisted a few of the most incredible and must-have apps from Google.

Google Drive

Google Drive is a cloud-based storage option that lets you store your images, videos, documents, files, and almost every sort of material allowed with your phone on their cloud server. The default Android app provides you with 15 GB of free storage, with that you can access, edit and share materials from anywhere to anyone, that too, in a super-smooth way. You can work on Microsoft Word or Excel documents in Google Drive and collaborate with your teammates with an easy to use interface. Google Drive arrives with a safe option where you can set access levels for who can view, comment or edit your data; also, the app lets you share your data materials with anyone using a custom link.

Snapseed

Snapseed is a Google-owned photo-editing application that allows users to beautify photos and apply pre-loaded digital filters. If you’re trying your hands at smartphone photography and wishing to get an impressive number of followers on Instagram, then you should Snapseed right away; it’s a kind of application even professional photographers recommend to others and use to enhance their photos. When compared to other photo-editing apps, Snapseed is way too easy to learn, and once you understand its inner beats, there’s no coming back.

Google Forms

Google Forms is a web-based app that’s completely free with a Google account, and you can access it anywhere, anytime. If you’re running an NGO, a registration campaign, questionnaires, or any kind of survey, Google Forms is the app that’ll help you in every way to know better about what your clients want. The application allows you to create professional-looking forms/surveys using themes and can be shared with respondents by sending a link, or you can even embed them on your webpage or blog.

PhotoScan

Have you ever thought of turning your old physical photos into digital form? If yes, then you must have known about the Google PhotoScan app. The app uses your smartphone’s camera to let you scan and save your preferred printed photos. The app doesn’t just take a photo of your physical photos; instead, it creates advanced digital scans, and about the results, you know how good Google is with its camera software.

Google Ads

Google Ads, also called PPC (PayPerClick), is an online advertising platform developed by Google to show paid ads, product listings, or videos on Google search results. If you’re an advertiser who wants to grab the attention of your clients to grow your business, then Google Ads is the only app you’ll ever need. The app is an effective way to quickly generate a ton of qualified traffic toward your site, product, or online stores. Google Ads work better than SEO and even lets you target a specific audience from specific countries for better business opportunities. Once you learn how to use Google Ads, particularly about listings, then the app can be your major source to get the businesses.

Google Meet

Google Meet is an essential and secure video conferencing application for those who want to conduct video meetings online. The app lets you create, join and share high-quality video meetings with up to 1,00,000 viewers. The app allows you to create events directly from the calendar and offers security on every connection, be it audio or video. Google Meet is extremely easy to use and authorises you to share your video, desktop, and presentations with others.

Google Photos

If you click tons of selfies or photos on a daily basis and always run out of storage every other week, then you should consider backing up your old photos with a pre-loaded Google Photos app. The app lets you store, share, view and edit photos and videos with an automatic backup, you just have to select the particular folders. Google Photos also notifies you when about photo memories along with date and location. The app is straightforward to use, and it comes with AI-boosted editing and organisation features, including facial recognition, automatic collages and auto-created movies.

Google Pay

Google Pay is one of the most popular apps developed by Google. The app offers paying-requesting money, bills, recharges, and other online transactions when you add your bank details linked with your current mobile number. The app provides lots of offers and reward points, so next time before you pay via Google Pay, look for the ongoing offers; you might end up earning a hefty cashback or discount after a successful transaction.

Google Arts & Culture

Google Arts & Culture is an excellent app that allows its viewer to visit historical and cultural artworks virtually, but it hasn’t been in the main flow due to less traction and lingered behind. Like its name, it is developed for people who are fond of Art & Culture; the app lets you explore arts, historical wonders and more from thousands of archives, museums and other history organisations. If you’re tired of indoor-travelling on Google Maps and want to go further in these pandemic days, then Google Arts & Culture is the app for you.

Secrets IT guys don’t want you to know!

Nobody likes it when their computer stops responding or a vital document is locked behind a forgotten password. While there are some basic skills that every computer user has developed over the years, there are still a lot of things unknown to the masses. This is where the professional IT sector comes in.

Information Technology, however simple sounding, encompasses a vast array of topics. Nevertheless, there are some things that even professionals might not know. That said, here are some secrets the professionals don’t want you to know!

To begin with the most simple fact, Google has the answer to everything. So whenever the techies run out of options, that’s who they turn to! Not that what they search for is understandable by the layman, but even general computer users can try a few alternatives suggested by Google.

Although the private or incognito mode is the go-to option for undetected and secret browsing, it does not make the user completely invisible. However, the mode promises not to store any cookies or search history, the websites that the user visits can still track the computer’s IP address and store it if required. This IP address can be accessed by legal means and can be traced back to the user. So the next time you are browsing privately, beware!

Having mentioned Google as an all-knowing Wiseman, it would be somewhat surprising that even Google can be treacherous sometimes. Although it is legally enforced in the United States of America, Google can also share its information with other governments and authorities when required. If you would like to get a shock by how much data Google has stored about you, you can have a look via the Google Dashboard. Users can also use it to control what data they choose to share with Google.

Technology has risen as a great saviour of man, controls a cardiac defibrillator, and uses and uses it to induce ventricular fibrillation, a potentially lethal condition. They can also read sensitive medical information stored on the device and change it at will.

With each purchase of a brand-new computer comes the mandatory addition of anti-virus software. However, not even the best software available in the market can save your computer from the worst online threats. The solution? Protect and encrypt your data as much as possible. It is not that anti-virus software is completely useless, but it is better to take extra precautions.

Keeping all the negativity aside, the last secret is a good one. It might even be lifesaving. Whether your mobile phone has a GPS chip or not (which is almost impossible considering modern smartphones), your device can still act as a homing beacon. The network that the phone catches comes from a nearby cell tower. These towers can be used to triangulate any device’s position within a few hundred meters. Although it does not give the exact location, even getting an idea of the proximity can prove crucial sometimes.

Now that you are armed with this information, go out and explore the world of information technology! It would be best to leave it to the professionals, don’t you think?

QUIBI | QUICK BITES, BAD STORY

From the day Quibi was launched, I had my eyes fixated on it. Firstly because it was Meg Whiteman who raised an eye popping USD 1 Billion, secondly it was trying to enter a space where the grand daddies like Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon are heavily invested and willing to lose billions for their share of eyeballs. Literally this time. Back in India, I used to get these OTT platform startup pitches and my reply was simple: it is the airline business which will make you a millionaire from a billionaire. There is no way under the sun that any new OTT platform without any strategic bundle can be a profitable and sustainable business. Case in point, Netflix – Early mover advantage and the man Reed Hastings is simply outstanding. Let’s look at Amazon- Its prime membership and e-commerce play is big to keep churning content and throwing it for free. Imagine in future while you are watching an Amazon original and a pop up comes selling you any of its products. They are building their own advertising audience ready to be monetized in a few clicks Disney + Hotstar – For them the stakes are too high not to be in this space and even MX player for The Times of India is backwardly integrated with their own production jungle and their media muscle. Zee5 – Similarly if they don’t have their own OTT they will not be relevant any more, and if you are still not tired of all the above then there’s YouTube with billions of hours worth of free content which you can keep watching with your next generations ahead.

Coming back to Quibi, with its 10 minute – 5 USD service, on the face of it is a great idea. We want smackable content and just like 20/20 cricket matches, they are the need of the hour. But how many will pay for it? 10 minutes is a free spot served by YouTube. At first, the idea of mobile-first content, 10 minutes content and a great team led by Meg Whitman who has been associated with HP, Procter & Gamble, Walt Disney and that this will succeed was a no-brainer. But having attempted many startups myself and failed in many I can vouch that what looks on the surface as a brilliant idea, sometimes does a somersault once it goes on the floor. The project faced skepticism from the beginning, but there was a Hollywood heavyweight of Katzenberg’s reputation involved. As former chairman of Walt Disney Studios and a co-founder of DreamWorks Animation, it seemed that if anyone could disrupt the OTT shape in mobile viewership patterns, as Quibi was trying, it would be Katzenberg.

It’s easy to blame the present times for any failed business, but OTT and streaming apps have seen a huge uptick. But possibly, for Quibi dearth of content production since they were new in the business and the content factory was slammed with hard “Covid brakes.” In spite of shows like 50 states of fright and a dream team with 1.7 billion dollars in funding , streaming is a complicated space to disrupt. It’s almost like the e-commerce business after Amazon, Flipkart. That is where your search ends.

Google announces $10 billion tech fund for India

American tech giant Google officially announced a $10 billion digitization fund to help accelerate India’s digital economy. Sundar Pichai, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Silicon-based company took to Twitter to make the announcement today.

Pichai wrote, “Today at #GoogleForIndia we announced a new $10B digitization fund to help accelerate India’s digital economy. We’re proud to support PM @narendramodi’s vision for Digital India – many thanks to Minister @rsprasad & Minister @DrRPNishank for joining us.”

The company will focus its investments on four areas: 

  • First, enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, whether it’s Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi or any other
  • Second, building new products and services that are deeply relevant to India’s unique needs
  • Third, empowering businesses as they continue or embark on their digital transformation
  • Fourth, leveraging technology and AI for social good, in areas like health, education, and agriculture

India has more than 500 million people online everyday with more than 450 million smartphones in active usage. India is also a key overseas market for Google, due to its range of products and services getting deeply embedded in the Indian digital system. Services such as Google Search, YouTube and Android OS have almost become inseparable from the average Indian user.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also confirmed this news on Twitter. He stated, “This morning, had an extremely fruitful interaction with @sundarpichai. We spoke on a wide range of subjects, particularly leveraging the power of technology to transform the lives of India’s farmers, youngsters and entrepreneurs.” Modi also discussed the challenges brought by Covid-19 to areas like sports as well as the importance of data and cyber security.

Google joins the ranks of Facebook and Amazon in India to have made an investment of substantial amounts. Facebook made a $5.7 billion investment in Reliance Jio Platforms, the top telecom operator in the nation in April this year to digitize 60 million mom and pop stores in the country. During his visit to India early this year, Jeff Bezos said Amazon plans to invest an additional $1 billion in India, totalling the company’s to-date commitment to $6.5 billion.

Zoom Beware | Google Meet Adds 3 Million Users Daily

In the first-quarter report for 2020, Google’s parent company Alphabet reported its earnings during which Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai shared that Google’s video conferencing app ‘Meet’ is reporting a heavy addition of users. The addition of users goes up to 3 million users on a daily basis which is a big jump from its 2 million a day users when it reported earlier in the month.

Google Meet is a video conferencing application

Google Meet is a video conferencing application like other that we know of and the platform has been seeing a steady rise in its user base, most of it triggered by the current stay at home situation. The current rise in users is basically a three-fold increase in users since the month of January taking the total to over 100 million now.

Google Meet has been experiencing a strong surge in its user base and Google has been putting constant efforts in its developments. The company recently rolled out several updates last week including tiled layouts. The current update allows the app to 16 people together as opposed to four previously. Google meet also allows users to share high-quality video with audio with the new feature ‘Present a Chrome tab’. other features include a low-light mode for better visibility and improved noise cancellation.

Not only this, but Google also rechristened its video conferencing app for G Suite customers from ‘Hangouts Meet’ to just being ‘Meet’ now. Moreover, the company has made all the premium features of meet absolutely free for people until the 30th of September. The following extension has been made owing to the current pandemic situation across the world.

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