Google




Neverware’s CloudReady Makes an Old PC New Again!

We’ve been trying to get our “junk drawers” organized, and in the process we unearthed my old Toshiba NB205 netbook. I loved this netbook, and it was a faithful companion for two years. Time took a toll on performance, and it slipped into the pile of unused electronics. It has new life, though, thanks to Neverware’s CloudReady (ChromeOS) build!



Saying Goodbye To Google Project Fi

I joined Project Fi in August of this year. Project Fi is essentially a prepaid phone service for which Google acts as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). This is just a fancy term for a company which doesn’t own the cellular towers but merely purchases a bulk block of service from the carrier(s) and resells it.





Google Restructures, Reinvents and Renames Themselves

Once, I debated the future of Microsoft with my father. He pointed out they had a lot of great ideas, but they were so big any changes were like turning around a battleship in a bathtub. I can’t help but think that was on Google’s mind when they announced their new restructuring, though nothing explains why they renamed themselves “Alphabet”.


Google Opinion Rewards Lets You Get Paid for Allowing Google to Track You

Google tracks everything we do. It’s common knowledge that they use web search, emails, and general use patterns to tailor advertising to their users. But Google is always looking for ways to gather even more data, and if you’re an Android user one of those tools is Google Opinion Rewards, an app that pays you to take Google Surveys.



Are iTunes Purchase Confirmations Too Slow?

This weekend I used some Google Play credits to grab a quick game for my phone. Immediately, I had an email from Google letting me know a game was purchased in my account with my credits. It’s not that weird, except that I had made some purchases in iTunes recently, and it took TWO DAYS to get a confirmation email!


Lolli-Flop 5.02 Bricked My Over-Priced Nexus 9

Friday I received notification that Android 5.02 was available for my Nexus 9.  I accepted the update and left it on the charger in my office before leaving for the weekend. Upon my return Monday morning, I found that update 5.02 has apparently bricked my Nexus 9, leaving it in perpetual reboot sequence, and it doesn’t look like I’m alone.




Gmail (Finally) Gets One Inbox

Will miracles never cease? Google just announced  their Gmail client now offers a universal inbox experience. Finally! Now instead of flipping between multiple accounts in the native Gmail app, you can click “All Inboxes” and view email from all your Gmail and non-Gmail accounts.


Google Photos (Finally) Arrives in Google Drive

Google today announced the ability to view and manage photos and videos in both Google+ and Google Drive. Previously you were limited to managing photos and videos within Google+. While this new feature is not yet live everywhere Google’s help page details that if you delete a photo/video in Google Drive it will also be removed from Google+ (and vice versa).


Google Wants You to Pay Your Bills Through Their New Gmail Pony Express

In another experiment from Google that may or may not (but more than likely will) eventually kill off, the search engine is reportedly building a new service for their Gmail Pony Express. The service is being called “Pony Express‘, which will let Gmail users pay bills, as well as split the costs of items with fellow Gmail users.