Apps

RCS to Enhance Standard Messaging

RCS (Rich Communication Services) will come with enhanced features that will take the standard messaging to the next level. Google in partnership with 43 carriers and device manufacturers is trying to better the usual messaging experience with RCS for every Android user.

What is RCS?

RCS which stands for Rich Communication Services is being launched by Google to give Android users a better SMS texting than what one has experienced. The current default SMS app on Android phones is sending Messages. Google will be implementing Rich Communication Services to this SMS app to give its users a better experience.

It will give a rich content with images, emoji inside the standard SMS app on the phone. In addition to text messages, one can do much more. Rich Communication Services provides file sharing, group messaging, images, stickers and gaming, voice and video calls inside the standard SMS app. Google’s RCS aims to provide a better and more interactive new standard SMS app.

At the Mobile World Congress, Google plans to work with their partners to bring Rich Communication Services to businesses in various regions. They will showcase how the business industry can be more interactive using RCS and change the way they interact with mobile customers. This will help the businesses to not only send text messages but also images of their products which can help the customers to buy something without leaving the messaging app. All the customers who get SMS messages from a business will automatically get this upgraded version of using RCS in Android Messages.

In order to provide the RCS experience to Android users all around the world, Google has been working in collaboration with most of the carriers and device makers.

In the previous year, carriers across Europe, North America and Latin America committed to launch RCS messaging, powered by Jibe RCS cloud from Google. Google had created an Early Access Program to enable businesses to take part in the Rich Communication Services business messaging. Companies dealing with food, travel, retail and delivery services in the U.S. and Mexico are having an interactive experience with their customers using Rich Communication Services.

On the flip side, if your interaction with Rich Communication Services is mostly business messages, then you can get many messages that are annoying, ads or even spam.

There is also a problem that if your phone and carrier support Rich Communication Services and the recipient of the message does not have Rich Communication Services, then you will not be able to use the RCS messaging app.

There are also a number of other messaging apps like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat being used to send messages.

According to a Google update, Google makes it clear that it will not allow businesses to spam users with RCS. In the Early Access Program, they will review every campaign and make sure the messages do not contain any spam. The businesses that send the

Rich Communication Services messages are basically the ones that people choose to receive and they can opt out at any point in time.

Google plans to adopt policies that will prevent spams and have automated and manual mechanisms to provide security to their users.

In a new series of experiments, where Google combines its ‘Google” technology to create apps, Google has come out with 3 photo apps. Google’s new “Appsperiments” take into account today’s selfie generation, where anyone and everyone wants to rake a pic. Forget just selfie, everyone these days is taking a pic often with them in it for social media or some other reason.

Bottom line is these photo apps Appsperiments allow an individual to configure or play around with their images to get a whole new portfolio of sorts. From comics to a- at-home-photoshoot, Google is giving users a chance to experiment with their photo apps.

Google’s inspiration for their Photo Apps- “Motion Stills”:

Google has used Motion Stills as an inspiration for their new Appsperiments. Motion stills uses google technology to capture many photos and then make it into cinematograph or a time lapse.

Motion Stills was created by google researchers and was the first app to use Google’s experimental technology. Taking cue from motion stills, google researchers have created the first installment of experimental photo apps using google technology.

Google’s photo Apps- “Storyboard”:

Google’s first in its Appsperiments photo app line up is- Storyboard. In storyboard a user can take a video of whatever mundane activity and transform it into a cool comic book layout.

There are over 1.6 trillion possible ways in which google technology converts the video stills into a comic book layout. Not happy with the layout? Simply pull down to refresh and get a new layout. This app is only available to android users.

Google’s photo apps-“selfissimo”

This Appsperiment sounds like a magic act. In this photo app available to both android and IOS users, users get a custom photo shoot at home itself.

This photo apps allows you to pose and pout just the way you want and then clicks the picture without you having to lift a finger. All you have to do is strike a pose and the app takes pictures as soon as you stop moving. You tap the screen to start a photo shoot and tap it again to end it. Users can then select images they want and delete the rest.

 

Google’s photo apps- “Scrubbies”

This photo app works much like a DJ’s remixing.  All you have to do is take a video with your phone and create video loops by speeding up the playback or focusing on funny faces all while “scratching” the phone like a DJ.

Scrubbing with one finger plays the actual video and you can capture the playback by scrubbing with two fingers and then save or share it.

This photo apps is available to only IOS users.

These apps are first in a series of Appsperiments that google plans on launching so there might be more in the future. There are many photo apps out there that allow you to edit your pics in various ways but none offer the same thing as Google.

These photo apps are focused on ways to bring Google’s trademark software to mobile phones in the form of apps.

Google is simply aiming at making the Google Assistant the most intelligent and smart smartphone AI for the millions of users. It has enhanced the capability of the AI when it comes to sorting out the local stuff and offering the best of results to the users. Now users will be able to make use of AI to look for different nearby service such as house cleaner, plumber, electrician and other with simple commands.

Search things local easily with  Google Assistant

Users are only required to say “Ok Google, find me a plumber’ and the Assistant will work on finding it through the search engine. This feature will work not just on the Android devices but also on iPhone and other voice activated speaker like the Google Home. This Assistant can even come up with follow up questions in order to offers you a more precise and local nearby options within few seconds. This feature helps in doing away with the need of typing out the query on the search box and actively looking into the search results to find the best possible match. Now users can simply ask the Google Assistant to do the apart of looking up the local services within few seconds without much effort. Ask the assistant for the recent sports score and it will surprise you with accurate live scores and yesterday’s score with ease.

Some other cool features of  Google Assistant

You can ask the Google Assistant to search for images by simply asking for it. When it comes to local searches Assistant can advise you on where to eat, drink, shop and dance. It makes use of the ‘Nearby’ feature to locate the requite places near you and bring the best possible options in a moment’s notice. You can ask Assistant casually to shows you the nearby restaurants and it will be do so by bringing forward a list of popular restaurants in the vicinity with reviews, rating, address, direction as well as a link for calling the restaurant.  If you are planning for getaway trip for the weekend but could get the ideas then simply ask Google Assistant about some cool vacation spots or ideas and it will showcase requisite search results which you can easily tap to get more information about some great vacation spots or ideas.

 Google Assistant new features is coming soon enough

Google is all set to lunch this new feature in US in the upcoming week while it will be rolled out in the rest of the weeks at the earliest. This feature will specifically showcase the pre-screened service providers in order to provide secure and safe service delivery. These service provider are either been screened by Google and partner companies like HomeAdvisor and Porch. If there are no pre-screened service providers then also Google Assistant will offer the nearby results but it has to be ascertained by the user whether they are up for job or not. Now users will be able to plan fixing, painting or cleaning projects with Assistant awesome help.

One of the useful features of smartphones is the navigation apps and Google Maps has been extensively considered the best of the lot.  Most of the users are not aware that there are some useful features in Google Maps which would make mapping on their next holiday much easy or even enhance their daily travel.  We present some google maps tricks which would be beneficial to iPhone and Android users.

1. Download Offline Maps

If the user desires to save the mobile data or check map without access of the internet, Google enables you to save maps to be viewed offline. Users could zoom the map according to their details and type OK Maps in the search option to save the map.  Another alternative for google maps tricks is that one could explore for a precise location select it to get the information car and click the menu icon towards the top-right area and bring up the `save offline map’ option.

2. Launch Navigation Mode Faster

Detailed directions are provided on Google maps which are very helpful while navigating and these google maps tricks could be beneficial.It tends to take a few clicks to launch the feature though one can get started on Android instantly on holding down the blue transportation icon towards the bottom left area of the app.  The icon is seen by default as a person, car, train or a bicycle based on the mode of transportation Google would assume to be suitable.

3. Zoom in With One Hand

Users could pinch and zoom on a location with Google Maps and if the user tends to have only one hand free then you could double tap the screen for zooming instantly.  Should you hold your finger on the screen after the second tap you could swipe up or down to smoothly zoom in or out.

3. Star Popular Place

Starring places tends to be useful while making plans and one can have their own personal directory whenever the need arises.  It separates the contents one would be interested in and helps in identifying places of interest like restaurants, coffee shops, dentist, your favourite stores, movie theatres, galleries, museums, a friend’s apartment which would be complex to reach if forgotten.

4. Save Work & Home to Save Time

Though it seems fundamental it is essential to save your home and office wherein instead of having to enter your address each time one attempts to reach home you would only have to type HOME and you can be on your way.  While driving, Google Maps would lead you through the fastest route to reach your destination.  Should the user avoid the beaten path and come across winding back road, ensure to head to your setting and switch on `Avoid Highways’ and `Avoid Tolls’. Thus the user will not get delayed in driving through long highways and find interesting pit stops en route.

5. Speed up Searches

Chrome enables text shortcuts to various search tools and Maps is said to be one of them.  In order to create the shortcut one can click on the menu icon – three vertical dots towards the top right area of Chrome window and opt for Setting.  On Scrolling down to – `Search Engines’, click `Manage search engines’. Scroll to the bottom of the `Other search engines and one will come across three boxes to add new search engine.

Just a few months ago Facebook made it clear that it is looking forward to establishing its social media platform as dedicated video sharing platform. Facebook simply wanted to give YouTube a stiff by banking on its massive active user’s base and it is trying to woo the video creators on its platform on a serious note with the launch of the Facebook Creator app. It brings a wide range of tools which helps in streaming videos, messaging people on varied Facebook platform as well as for updating stories.

Facebook had already other apps

This isn’t the first Facebook brought a dedicated app for a particular function or feature available on its platform. In the past, people had made use of the Facebook Pages app in order to manage varied pages present on the platform. It even had dedicated app for celebrities which helped in community building. But Facebook Creators app is different from the usual apps as it brings hard-core features for the users to actively manage the videos on the Facebook like never before. But this Facebook Creators app isn’t an original concept rather it is an updated and to be more precise a rebranded version of the app which was set to be named Facebook Mentions.

Exciting features in the new Facebook Creator app

Facebook Creator App boasts some special features which is designed for the Facebook Live. Using this app, users will be able to add intro as well as outros to their live videos and they can even add interactive stickers and custom video frame to make the video more punchy and individualized. This app can even be used for capturing and editing photos which can be posted later on in the Facebook Stories or on other platforms like Instagram.

Facebook has given a priority towards enhancing the communication with it new app. Facebook Creator app brings a unified inbox for the comments having both Facebook, Instagram & Messenger messages in a single place. This ensures that users don’t have to jump in between different apps to respond to other people messages, responses, and requests. Facebook Creator App isn’t free from glitches and shortcoming it happens to be a right step in the direction of efficiently managing to message within the varied Facebook services.

Facebook Creator app: Everything is thought of by Facebook

Since  Facebook Creator app is an app directed towards the video creators then it is essential to bring analytics functionality embedded into to understand the performance of the videos. Keeping this thing in mind Facebook has brought analytics feature in this app so creators can make the best use of their video. Facebook is making this app available at first on the iOS platform followed by the Android platform roll out in the coming months.  Facebook Creator app will certainly help the video creators towards making active use of the Facebook platform to take their video to a massive user base and with it will be strong enough to give stiff competition to the YouTube.

Google Street view was first launched in 2007.It is a technology used to capture and provide panoramic views of streets, places, towns and even museums.

Google street view was first launched in a number of cities in the US and then susbsequently it has moved to other places as well. Google is still in the process of mapping and photographing various places but it has achieved its presence in all the seven continents.

It is not an easy task to provide a series of panoramic images of places and this is seen in the process of making Google’s street view possible.

Equipment used in The Google Street View:

Taking pictures in rocky, snowy terrains or even underwater is no easy feat for any person. Considering that you cannot take a car ride to such places, the only other option is to take the a photography trip by foot. Google has come out with a backpack that has a 360 degree camera attached to it for such excursions. It is called the Street View Trekker.

Google has the Street view Trolley for all it’s indoor sightseeing. To fit through narrow doorways and not bump into any objects that may be lying about such as a statue in a museum, google has introduced a versatile mobile known as the street view trolley.

For those snow covered slopes, google has the street view snow mobile and for those places with narrow alley ways, Google has introduced the street view trike so that the Google team could pedal along zoos, campuses, UNESCO world heritage sights and more, capturing amazing photographs on the way.

Google’s Street View Publishing Process:

The first step in the venture is of course clicking photographs. For this Google has to see the time and place to click photographs in a particular place. They do this by first checking out the population density, weather and various other factors in a particular place.

The next step in the process would be to align the images according to their geographical location on the map. Google achieves this by using various sensors on their google street mobiles. These sensors measure the speed, direction and the GPS location of the image. The images are then adjusted according to their position on the map.

The third step in the process is to turn the images into 3D images. Whenever a picture is taken, the adjacent picture is taken with a slight overlap, Google then stitches the images to gather for a seamless 360 degree view using various algorithms.

Finally, there are lasers which are used when the pictures are taken. These lasers are used to gauge the distance of various objects in the image. Google then uses this info in making their 3D panorama.

Problems in 3D Panorama in Google Street View:

There are many problems that could come up when taking a picture. The rosette camera which is used to take pictures could be mis-calibrated, there could be timing differences in taking pictures and parallax. While parallax can be still taken care of by using more approximate geometry, other problems could still occur.

One of the things any new iPhone X owner would have to get used to is the fact that there is now no home button. Right from the time when the first iPhone was released to now there has always been a home button. This absence of a home button actually changes things up a bit.

It may take a couple of days to get used to the new gestures and ways to interact with your new iPhone X without a home button, but many of the tap, swipe, pinch and other functions remain the same as compared to previous models.

The Power button in the new iPhone X takes up some of the functionality of the home button that is where Face identification and a few tactile interactions are concerned. But in the end it is important to know how to navigate the interface without a home button.

 Going Home on the iPhone X:

If you are on a page or an app and are looking for ways to get off the current content and want to land the home page, then all you have to do is swipe the bar that appears on the bottom part of the screen, up and lift your finger off from there. That will take you directly to the home screen. The bar appears white or black depending on the matter you are reading.

Moving to different apps in the iPhone X:

To get to the apps that are at present running on the phone all you have to do is swipe right, this brings you to an app that is already opened. You can then swipe right or left depending on the app that you want to see. An important feature to note here is that if you pause at an app for a few seconds, the app moves to the rightmost position.

Swiping and getting rid of apps while multi- tasking in iPhone X:

To get rid of some of the apps that are running, you can access the multi- task list of apps by swiping the bar at the bottom to the top and hold it there, this is different form the home gesture as you remove your finger from the screen once the bar is dragged to the top. Once you get to a list of the apps running, it is then a simple task of tapping and holding on an app to get the minus sign on it that allows you to get rid of the app.

Swiping for Notification and Control center on the iPhone X:

To get to the notification center all you have to do is swipe down from the time that is displayed on the top of the phone, this then brings you to notifications that you can click on normally to go to the respective app.

Unlike previous models, the control center can be reached by swiping down from the WiFi, Cellular and battery usage icon.

Swiping to get Spotlight in the iPhone X:

All one needs to do in order to get the spotlight search is to swipe down from anywhere on the home screen.

 

Google Drive is an indispensable work tool for many companies and individuals and offers us an ever-expanding range of possibilities and tools to make our work faster and easier, as well as free. We have selected five Google Drive functions that you may not know about. With them, you can have the work better organized and carry out a more fluid communication between colleagues.

Change the color of the folders of Google Drive

If you have many folders, or especially if you share the Google Drive account with colleagues or study, this feature of personalization of folders will suit you very well. In Google Drive, you can choose the color you want it to have, and thus visualize it and locate it before. What do you have to do? Simple. Just put your cursor over the folder you want and use the right button. When you do this, you will be presented with a menu with a series of actions. Under “Undock” you will find a painter palette and the phrase “Change Color”. Click there and another menu will open with 24 colors to choose from. Mark whatever you want and it’s done. For the Google Drive mobile version you just have to press your finger on the folder, and you will have the option to open the same menu mentioned above.

Voice Writing in Google Drive

Known by few, this functionality allows you to dictate words in Google Drive using the computer microphone. You just have to enter a text document, go to Tools and there to search for Voice Write. It will open a microphone icon, and you can choose the language in which you want your words to be recognized. You click on the microphone, you speak, and almost at the moment, you will see how your words become written lyrics. When you finish, press again and you already have your paragraph. A very dynamic and useful feature that is missed in the mobile version, which is precisely where it may be more uncomfortable to write a long paragraph.

Scan and save option of Google Drive

A function still only existing in the Android version, allows us to scan a text using the mobile camera, the system then converts it directly into a PDF file and saves it to Google Drive. Once there you can share it quickly with other partners. Scanning documents have always been a tedious process that can now be speeded up thanks to this feature. And also without worrying about having a computer or a printer at hand.

Comment and edit live in Google Drive

Working live with other colleagues who are not present often requires reformulation of sentences or content, and it is good to have feedback at the time. Sure, you can use a messaging service like Skype or Facebook Messenger but, would not it be better if you could do it from the same Google Drive? Well you can. In a file that is shared with more users, you just have to give the Comment button, which appears right next to Share, in the upper right area. You can also mark a word or phrase, and comment it, using the right button and checking Comment.

How to Make forms in Google Drive

This feature in Google Drive allows you to make forms in shared folders. Depending on the security level of the file, it will be open to all types of users or only those who have permissions. You have the possibility to do test forms or with short answers. Either way, the answers to these formulas will not be public, only the administrator of the account will receive them. Perfect for assessing your bosses and employees ensuring the privacy of the participants. To do this you have to enter the main menu of Google Drive, give New, and then down to More. That will open a new tab, and the first option is the forms.

We hope these simple tricks will make work and communication much easier.

 

Every great thing ultimately comes to their end whether you like it or not. Google has brought a number of great things for its users but rather than growing upon their popularity Google rolls over it. Google Drive is dead or nearing its demise in near future. Google has left everyone confused and shocked by stating that it will be ending the support for Google Drive on Mac and PC from Dec 11. 12^th March 2018 has been set as the date when Google Drive finally stops working for once and all.

This isn’t the first time Google is doing away one of its successful product or feature altogether. For example just a few years ago Google pulled the plug under the GTalk and supplemented it with the Google Hangouts. Hangouts are good but it isn’t as simple and straight forward as the GTalk. Hangout is a feature rich messaging which even allows video conferencing to the users along with a plethora of features and functionalities.

A new product set to take  place of Google Drive

As just stated there is nothing to worry for the usual users as Google is set to bring two products in place of the Google Drive desktop app. First of the users should understand Google is doing away with desktop application of the Google Drive but it will not affect the usual Google Drive. All your documents, spread sheets and multimedia files will remain stored in the cloud storage offered by it. Google Drive cloud storage services are going to go away rather its desktop app is set to stop working from March next year. Google is planning to bring ‘Backup and Sync’ and ‘Drive File Stream’ for the home consumers and enterprise users which happens to be highly enhanced and improved version of Google Drive for Desktop.

What should Google Drive users do now?

Users with Google Drive Desktop app present on their desktop there is nothing to do at the moment. They are expected to start getting warning in the month of October notifying them that it will be going away by March 2018. Therein you will get the chance to upgrade to the ‘Backup and Sync’ or ‘Drive File Stream’.  If you are restless and need to get into the groove right now then go ahead and download ‘Backup and Sync’.

Enterprise users who make use of the G Suite will be able to make use of the Drive File System in order to manage their cloud storage. But this functionality will not be provided to them until September 26.  Google’s Drive File System will be turned on for all the customers and it will only appears as the download links in the Drive interface. If any user has both Drive Files System and Back & Sync installed on their system then Google will ask them to stop using the Backup & Sync in order to save the disk space.

WithApple’s announcement of its ARKit software less than three months ago, in enabling users to make a Pokemon Go-style augmented reality app running on millions on millions of iPhone and iPad when iOS 11 tends to show up this fall, the ARKit seems to have a ready-for-primetime feel about it.

It’s been the enthusiasm which had led the developers together with several other independent ones to build a complete host of ground-breaking ARKit experiments in a few weeks. The interest has been mounting and one can imagine that `there is an AR app for that – `could be a usual phrase’.

It is not surprising that Google has now announced its own ARKit competitor – ARCore, recently. Some of the not-so-secret issues behind ARKit are that it can notice flat surfaces such as tables, floors together with tops of chairs, enabling virtual object to seem like they had been realistically sitting on top and have observed that it even tends to work on glossy and reflective floors.

However ARKit presently does not tend to identify complex surfaces such as curved couch cushions or vertical surfaces like walls.  One would be capable of replacing a virtual IKEA couch in one’s room though would not be able to hang a virtual flat-screen TV, at the moment.

Utilising Camera/Motion Sensor Data

On current supported devices like the iPhone 6S and later, the ARKit tends to make use of the rear cameras. With regards to front-facing cameras to enable Snapchat-like advance AR effect or improved tracking for hand-free AR headset, Apple has refrained from commenting though maybe, the hardware of iPhone 8 would be answer.

The actual remarkable element about the augmented reality of Apple is utilising camera and motion sensor data in establishing the kind of continuous awareness which needs extra progressive AR and VR hardware.

This is utilised to some extent in the iOS public beta for a VR type mode in Apple Maps link,  We observe identical usages in 3D apps and there is no reason why it cannot be utilised for some games which are not technically AR at all.

There is really nothing unusual in the new processors of Apple which enables AR Kit to operate.  Though the dedicated image process in future iPhone is helpful, the main reason of restricting to fresh phones and tablets is that they will have adequate extra processor for developers in designing immersive experiences around it.

ARKit – Flexible

Single-lens iPhones tend to function well on ARKit as in the case of dual-lens Plus models in spite of the fact that the latter could ideally see complexity with ease.

Apple is said to be anxious regarding scale, enabling developers to address the maximum people possible rather than disintegrating them with various technologies.Apple has no intention of ARKit for hands-free visitors which the iPhone could pop into such as the Mira Prism.

ARKit seems to be quite flexible.  Combining the sensing of ARKit with hand-free iPhone visor could lead to some thought-provoking concepts. The iOS 11 is likely to arrive this fall and more information would be coming up when Apple has its next iPhone event, probably occurring on September 12.