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A look at Google's New Slides Application
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A look at Google’s New Slides Application

After nearly two months since Google launched their Docs and Sheets applications on iOS and Android they have finally released the long promised Slides application for creating slideshow presentations. The applications promise to offer a well featured app for creating presentations with proper support for importing documents in Microsoft’s PowerPoint format.

The first thing you see upon opening the app is a list of all presentations you have stored in your Google Drive account. The app looks very much like the preview of the updated Gmail application shown at Google IO with the circular button for creating files at the bottom and a drawer that slides in from the left containing most of the options for navigating around the application. In portrait mode the three dot overflow menu is still present to give options for viewing as a grid and sorting by name or date. When in landscape mode these options are exposed in the navigation bar at the top of the application.

From the settings menu you can change the size of the on-device cache allowed for storing files, and can clear the cache entirely. Encryption of documents can also be enabled, and a setting allows files to only be synced when connected to WiFi to avoid those on a limited data plan using up all their data. Lets take a look at importing and playing a file created in PowerPoint. On the desktop it looks like Google is still having some issues. Upon opening the PowerPoint file I imported I was greeted with the following image which is displayed alongside the appearance in PowerPoint 2010 for reference.

Microsoft PowerPoint on the left, Google Slides in Google Chrome on the right

Obviously Google still has some work to do with Slides for web. Thankfully the experience is a bit better on mobile with the PowerPoint opening fine with all the visible formatting intact.

In terms of design the app looks very nice. At the top there’s a list of actions that can be performed within the app. The icon with two arrows facing different directions is the undo/redo option, the triangle is the button to begin the slideshow, the icon with the person and the plus symbol is for document sharing, and the plus symbol alone is for bringing up the menu to insert images, text boxes, and shapes. On the left there’s the list of all the slides in the slideshow and the plus button at the bottom is to create a new slide. The application also matches the new slides to the theme of the slideshow which is something I have found problematic with Apple’s mobile Keynote application. My one complaint is that the scrolling of the list of slides is drastically below 30fps on my HTC One M7 Google Play Edition.

When adding images, text boxes, and objects the app creates a box around them to transform the size and scale as required. When the object is where you desire it to be you touch the checkmark in the top left corner which removes the transform controls and keeps the image in place until it is touched again. At this point I was happy overall with the new application but I had spoken too soon when I stated that the app seemed to be working well with the imported PowerPoint file.

Upon trying to play the file the editor crashed and sent me back to my list of documents. It’s clear that Google still has some work to do in making the app completely compatible with Microsoft Office files. After using the app’s built in feature to convert the slideshow to the Google Slides format it played properly and there were no issues with formatting after doing the conversion which is more than can be said for converting certain PowerPoint files to Apple’s Keynote format and vice versa.

Google’s office suite is shaping up to be a powerful alternative to traditional tools like Microsoft Office. While Google still has work to do, they’ve created tools that all have a unified design across many different platforms and devices. Google Slides is available at the very least in the United States and in Canada from Google Play. Google is known to do staged rollouts for updates and new applications so it may take some time before it is available throughout the world.

Source: Google Play

Google Announces Improvements to Google Docs at Google IO
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Google Announces Improvements to Google Docs at Google IO

Near the end of April I took a look at Google’s new Docs and Sheets mobile applications that had been spun off of the Google Drive application. I felt that Google was really trying to create a separate brand for their office application suite. The main complaint about Google’s applications has always been that they can’t work with Microsoft Office file formats which are commonplace in the industry. In 2012 Google had acquired the office suite Quickoffice which did support editing Microsoft Office documents and it was hoped that the ability to do that would eventually be integrated with Google’s Docs, Sheets, and Slides programs. Today at Google IO that is being realized as reality with Google announcing that their office applications now work seamlessly with Microsoft Office document formats. 

Google has also finally released the long awaited Google Slides application for iOS and Android allowing users to create slideshow presentations from their smartphones and tablets. We’ll be taking a look at the new Slides app on Android and iOS later today.

Google also took some time to talk about Google Drive in the workplace. Google Drive for Work provides enterprises with encryption for files both while in transit and when stored on their servers. Pricing for companies that switch to using Google Drive and Google Docs is just $10 per user per month for unlimited storage. Google has been successful in moving into the enterprise world with their cloud tools. They state that 67 of the top 100 startup companies are using the Google Drive platform, along with 58% of the fortune 500 companies and 72 of the top 100 universities. It will definitely be interesting to see how Google’s cloud services and branding continues to evolve as time goes on. 

LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live Available For Purchase Today
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LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live Available For Purchase Today

Today at Google IO Google gave the world a sneak peak at some of the features of their upcoming Android Wear OS. They also announced that the first two smartwatches running the new operating system would be available for purchase from Google Play starting today. The first of these is the LG G Watch. Before today information about the G Watch was limited apart from the knowledge that it would be water and dust resistant and sport a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8026 CPU. LG has now updated the product page for the G Watch with some more information. The watch has a 1.65″ IPS display with a resolution of 280×280 for a pixel density of 240ppi, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of NAND, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 400mAh (1.52Wh) battery.

LG also states that the new watches will work with any standard watch strap of 22mm in width. The LG G Watch will be available today on Google Play in both black and white color options.

The second smartwatch that will be available to order today is Samsung’s Gear Live smartwatch which also runs Android Wear. According to Samsung the Gear Live is similar in specifications to the LG G Watch with the same 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8026, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of NAND, Bluetooth 4.0, and IP67 rated dust and water resistance. It differentiates itself with its display, sporting a 1.63″ Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 320×320 which works out to a pixel density of 277ppi. The battery in the Gear Live is also smaller than the G Watch with a capacity of 300mAh (1.14Wh). The power usage of the AMOLED display will likely be the factor that determines whether or not the smaller battery capacity results in significantly less battery life than the G Watch. Like other recent Samsung devices the Gear Live also includes a heart rate monitor for tracking heart rate during exercise.

Samsung launching a device running Android Wear is an interesting move as they have moved all their previous smartwatches over to their own Tizen operating system and it will be interesting to see if they pursue both paths or if they eventually transition to smartwatches based on only one operating system. The Gear Live will be available in black and red color options.

Both smartwatches will be available for purchase later today on Google Play and require Android 4.3 or later to work. Based on Google’s Android user statistics that puts the percentage of Android users that can use these new smartwatches at about 24%.

Update:

Both devices are now available on Google Play. The LG G Watch is selling for $229 USD with a listed shipping date of July 3 and the Samsung Gear Live is selling for $199 USD with a shipping date of July 8. In the UK the LG G Watch is £159 while the Samsung Gear Live is £169 making the roles of the cheaper and more expensive smartwatch different depending on where you live.

Source: LG, Samsung

Google Announces Android Auto at Google IO
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Google Announces Android Auto at Google IO

Along with news about Android L and Android Wear, Google also announced a new vehicle focused initiative called Android Auto at this year’s Google IO. Android Auto is Google’s take on an in-car mobile experience and much like Apple’s CarPlay it hopes to provide a seamless and unified experience across many different vehicles from many different manufacturers.

Google Auto starts by extending the interfaces that Android users are familiar with. It uses the same card based design and colorful backgrounds as Google Now, and it functions in a similar fashion with cards that display information about travel routes, music playback, and other relevant information. Android Auto works by connecting to the user’s smartphone or tablet and translating all the content on that into a simpler and more navigable interface for a vehicle. The Android Auto system is also designed to be functional with only the use of voice controls which will hopefully reduce the number of car accidents that occur because a driver is using their cell phone without paying attention to their driving.

Android Auto has three main points of focus that Google feels are essential to providing the best in-car experience for the user. The first is a fairly obvious necessity for an in-car operating system, navigation support. By using Google Maps and Google’s navigation features the Android Auto system acts as a hands-free GPS. The user can simply tell Google Now what destination they would like to navigate to and it will bring up a card with traffic info and an estimated travel time. The user can then confirm they wish to begin navigation and the map interface will open with driving directions spoken over the car’s speaker system and a visual map displayed on the screen.

Communication is the second main focus of Android Auto. People are becoming increasingly connected and are constantly bombarded with phone calls, text messages, etc. Android Auto wants to make managing this constant communication safer for users by letting the user keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road rather than fiddling with their smartphone. Because Android Auto works by running off of the user’s phone it can display notifications for texts, calls, and other messages right on the vehicle’s built-in display alongside all the other cards for navigation and music. The user can use Google Now to dictate a message using their voice and then send it without ever having to pick up their phone. They can also make phone calls and speak aloud without having to use one of their hands to hold their phone up to their ear. These features are great because they serve a dual purpose of simply being more convenient for the user, but also letting people drive safely while still being able to use their mobile device.

The third point of focus is on music playback and streaming. Many people listen to music over the speakers in their vehicle and Google wants to make it easy for people to get to the songs they want to hear and to have access to all their music stored on their device as well as across multiple streaming platforms. As you can see above, Android Auto features a very simple interface for music playback with big buttons that are easy to press. Like all the other features in Android Auto, the user can also control their music playback via voice control which makes navigating to a specific song as simple as asking Google Now to play that track. 

Google has also been working with major music streaming companies to get apps ready for Android Auto upon launch. Users will have access to all their music on streaming services like Pandora and Spotify in addition to all the music they have stored locally on their smartphone or tablet.

To ensure Android Auto is an ever evolving and improving experience for users, Google is making an Android Auto SDK available for developers so they can modify their apps to be functional and well integrated on in-car displays running this new extension of Android. Google has stated that the Android Auto experience will be available to users alongside the public Android L release later this year and that over 25 automobile manufacturers have signed up to ship cars with Android Auto support in the near future. More information on the list of manufacturers that plan to include Android Auto in their vehicles can be found on the Open Automotive Alliance website which is the home for all companies committed to using Android in automobiles.

HTC Commits to Android L For One (M7) and (M8)
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HTC Commits to Android L For One (M7) and (M8)

In a rather surprising move, HTC is the first OEM to promise an update to Android L. HTC has stated that this policy is part of their HTC Advantage program and that this will apply to the One (M7) and One (M8). There’s also the caveat their 90 day delivery promise applies to when HTC first receives the code, not when the developer previews go live.