Although Google Drive has spread far and wide, its localization hasn't always kept pace. The service just took a few needed strides forward, however, with the addition of 18 new languages. Asia gets the most recognition with support for Hong Kong Chinese, Khmer, Lao, Malaysian, Nepali, Persian, Sinhalese and Urdu. Not that Google is neglecting other corners of the world, mind you: Africa is well covered with the additions of Afrikaans, Amharic, Swahili and Zulu, while Europeans get some TLC through support for Basque, Estonian, Galician and Icelandic. French Canadians and Spanish-speaking Latin Americans get localizations, too. Google Drive still isn't tuned for every language on Earth, but those with cloud storage in Cape Town or Kuala Lumpur should feel at home.

Filed under: Storage, Internet, Google

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Source: Google Drive Blog

Navigating that image repository and commenting on collaborative documents while in route is now a bit easier with Google Drive for iOS. The folks in Mountain View updated the Apple-centric version of its cloud storage app to allow swiping between stored images and the ability to view, create and respond to a Docs' comments on the go. Those who haven't already been prompted to update -- or those looking to dive in for the first time -- can do so via the source link that follows.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Google

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Via: Google Drive (Google+)

Source: iTunes

In October Google started a field trial that allowed users to peruse their Drive files and Calendar entries straight from the Gmail search box. Apparently the test was a rousing success, as the company is rolling the feature out to all US accounts, in English. The feature hasn't changed since it made its debut late last year -- simply start typing and your autocomplete results will include your next homebrew meeting, your epic beer inventory spreadsheet as well as emails from family members suggesting you seek help for your new "hobby." If you don't have access just yet, be patient, Google says it'll roll out slowly over the next week.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: Gmail Blog

Cards, cards, cards... that's the refrain around the Google campus these days. Everything is getting turned into cards. That now includes your documents stored on Drive, too. The Google Drive app for Android was updated today with a whole new UI that moves towards the refined Holo design of the Play Music app and displays your uploaded files as "cards," though, you can always revert to a tweaked list view. The cards offer a thumbnail preview along with the file name and an icon indicating the type of document. The ability to snap photos and have the results turned into a OCR-processed PDF has also been updated slightly. The feature is now called "scan" and it automatically crops photos to contain only the document you need to upload. Lastly, you can finally tweak text settings in sheets, delivering a much more robust mobile formatting experience. Just hit up the Play Store to get your update now.

Filed under: Software, Mobile, Google

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Source: Google Drive Blog

After sitting in a beta phase since early April, Chrome 27 is finally seeing a wide release with its arrival on the stable track. Headlining the fresh desktop version is a 5 percent speed boost to web page load times and a new API for saving and syncing data to Google Drive. Refined spell correction, "numerous fundamental improvements" to the Omnibox, improved prediction rankings and an assortment of security fixes have also been baked in. Back in developer territory, Google's François Beaufort announced that the latest Chromium build for Mac has been outfitted with the anticipated app launcher. Check your browser for the update or jab the source links below to grab the apps manually.

Filed under: Google

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Via: AppleInsider

Source: Chrome Releases, François Beaufort (Google+)

Google's efforts to streamline aren't limited to some spring cleaning and more spartan interfaces. Today the company is breaking down the artificial walls between the pools of online storage provided for Gmail, Drive and Google+ Photos. Instead of 10GB for all your messages and attachments, alongside a separate 5GB repository for your photos and documents, now all three sites share a common 15GB slice on Google's servers. So, if you happen to be a little photo crazy, but are nowhere near the limit on your Gmail account, you no longer need to rely on workarounds like archiving images as attachments. This also means that storage upgrades for Gmail no longer top out at 25GB. There's also a handy new visualization that shows how much of your available storage you're using and breaks it down by service for finer-grained tracking.

Update: If you're a Google Apps customer your available cloud storage will also be unified, leaving you with 30GB shared between all three services.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: Google Drive Blog, Google Enerprise

Sure, you could see and manage your Google Drive files from within the comfort of your PC / Mac file management system, but you couldn't publicly share them with friends -- until now. Google Drive files are now sharable via right click directly on your desktop, meaning the Drive desktop app now has one more feature that Dropbox already had several years ago. We hope you'll forgive our lack of enthusiasm for Google's catchup effort, but it's hard to get all jazzed up about functionality that should've probably been there at launch. Anyway, if you're not seeing the new feature pop up on your dashboard yet, Google says it's "rolling out over the next few days." Hold tight!

Filed under: Internet, Software, Google

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Source: Google

Well, it looks as if the Drive news just keep pouring in. Shortly after outing a couple of new features that make the service a little more friendly with collaborators, Google's rather quietly taken to its own social network to announce some offline tidbits. Starting today, users of Mountain View's cloud-based storage goods can easily create and edit any drawings without the need for an internet connection. What's more, Docs, Sheets and Slides will now be automatically available offline -- something that should come in very handy while you're, say, 20,000 feet up in the air with no Gogo in sight. Fret not if you don't see these changes the next time you log in, as Google says "it may take a few days" before the rollout is carried out.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Google

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Source: Google Drive (Google+)

When you're sharing a file in Google Drive, your time should be spent collaborating, not arranging conversations. Right? Google agrees strongly enough to have just finished tweaking Drive's web interface for better teamwork. Users actively working on the project now show as mouse-over icons, with their Google+ relationship front and center -- if they're not friends and you want them to be, you can change that almost immediately. It's even faster to start group chats, as a new dedicated button will launch a chatroom for everyone who's currently looking at the project. Google expects the speedier Drive socialization to reach us within a day or two, and it's planning to bolster the update with wider file support sometime in the near future.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: Google Drive Blog

Vital Google services down for you? Well, you're not alone. Tips have been pouring in this AM that many of Mountain View's apps are down, including Gmail and Drive. We were able to independently confirm the partial outage and Google's App Status Dashboard has been updated to reflect the "service disruption." The down time isn't affecting everyone, however. Most of those hanging around the Engadget compound are still able to check their hate mail and Caskers notifications. Are you having trouble getting through to Google's servers? Let us know in the comments.

Update: According to the App Status Dashboard, everything should be a-okay now.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: Google Apps Status Dashboard

The Google Drive app for iOS is freeing users from the shackles of portrait-style document editing in its latest update, version 1.30, as well as speeding up Google Doc support in general. Alongside some "minor bug fixes," that's the general thrust of the latest Google Drive update for iOS devices; an update which adds what we'd call no-brainer functionality. Most importantly, this update should allow users to stop swearing loudly while trying to edit documents in portrait mode, which we'd call a major plus.

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Apple, Google

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Via: The Next Web

Source: iTunes App Store

As glad as we are that Google gave mobile photographers the chance to upload full-size photos to Google+ back in December, the absence of a desktop equivalent has been more than a little conspicuous. We're back to equilibrium now that Google has enabled full-size uploading from any old computer's browser. Enable the option and a collection can hit the servers just as you'd remembered it. Like with mobile uploads, though, this isn't intended as a large-scale backup service: any images more than 2,048 pixels across (or videos over 15 minutes) will still count towards whatever your Google Drive cap may be. Don't upload a gigapixel-class photo of your vacation, then, but do know you'll have a safe place to store everyday photos in all their original glory.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: Jon Emerson (Google+)

As much as we love Google Drive, its neither the prettiest nor simplest cloud storage interface. New UI tweaks rolling out to users starting today aren't suddenly going to change that hierarchy too much, but they should add some much needed polish. When you view shared folders now, you'll get a much more visually appealing layout and access to the new preview function that lets you quickly flip between files. And, perhaps the most welcome change, is the new "Add to Drive" button that will conspicuously live in the upper right-hand corner. Now adding shared material to your own Drive account is just a single click away. Normally, this is where we'd say hit up the source for more details, but that's really it. Enjoy!

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Google Drive (Google+)

We often focus on market share for hardware, but cloud media services increasingly dictate our lives after the devices have reached our bags and pockets. Wouldn't it be nice to know who rules the online media landscape? According to Strategy Analytics' just-published study from the fall, it's Apple's iCloud and iTunes Match that are top dogs in the US at a combined 27 percent of usage -- a not entirely surprising lead when Apple has pushed hard on iCloud's media syncing since iOS 5, and has large swaths of market share in MP3 players and tablets, not just smartphones.

There's a considerably tougher fight involved for just about everyone else, however, including Google. Dropbox and Amazon Cloud Player are almost neck-and-neck at 17 and 15 percent respectively, while Google Drive holds just 10 percent. Music is clearly the driving force, Strategy Analytics says: when audio represents 45 percent of the content on a generic platform like Dropbox, companies ignore tunes at their own peril. Just don't confuse market share with absolute popularity. A full 55 percent of those asked hadn't used a cloud media service at all, which suggests that there's a long road to travel before we're all streaming and syncing our collections.

Filed under: Storage, Internet, Apple, Google, Amazon

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Source: Strategy Analytics

Google has been eager to have programmers weave Google Drive sharing and syncing into their apps, but the coveted live collaboration has remained solely in Google's domain. Until today, that is. The company has posted a Google Drive Realtime API that lets third-party apps integrate the same simultaneous collaboration as Google Drive, including important nuances like conflict resolution and presence. More enterprising coders can create custom objects beyond what Google offers on its own. A handful of companies are already using the Realtime API for apps that everyday users can try right away, such as Draw.io, Gantter and Neutron Drive; other developers just need to visit the source link to get started.

Filed under: Storage, Internet, Google

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Via: Google Developers Blog

Source: Google Developers

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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If there's ever a great time for Google Drive to start having issues, it's first thing on a Monday morning. We've received a not-inconsiderable fleet of tips from readers saying their access to the cloud storage service has been flaky, and similar complaints can currently be found all over Twitter. Google's service website confirms that there's "an issue," but the company hasn't yet shared any specifics. We've reached out to Mountain View for more details, and we'll let you know if we learn more.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Google

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Source: Google

Another day, another leak from Google. As The Next Web reports, a note-collecting service called Keep was accessible on Google Drive for a short period of time last night -- and if your short-term memory is a bit cloudy, Drive itself got leaked in a similarly bizarre fashion before getting official last year. 1E100 had initially found source code, images and various links that seemed to point to Keep, which apparently went live soon after. Interestingly, while all of the links point to error pages, one redirects to a specific, unresolveable app url on Google Play. Android Police was able to snag some screenshots of the web app in action -- albeit disconnected from Drive at the time -- noting that it's reminiscent of Mountain View's late Notebook service that was killed in '09. Whether the likes of Evernote will have to worry remains to be seen, but the added functionality to Drive will certainly be appreciated -- now, how about letting us get at that Now app for iOS?

Filed under: Software, Google

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Via: Android Police, The Next Web, Google System

Source: IE100 (Google+)

Although web-based editors like Google Docs are wonderful for writers who don't have a save shortcut hardwired in their muscle memory, they're lousy for anyone who's interested in seeing major revisions on the road to a final copy. Nathan Kontny's new Draft web app might be far more helpful for those creators who work step by step. It lets writers declare given document versions as mid-progress drafts, and offers editing side-by-side with older versions to see just what's new in the current session. The app also avoids some of the lock-in that comes with cloud services by allowing imports and syncing with Box, Dropbox, Evernote and Google Drive. There's no easy way to directly publish online as this stage, but if you're only concerned with producing a masterwork in the cloud from start to draft to finish, Kontny's web tool is waiting at the source link.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Draft

Mountain View has just made it easier to peek the contents of Google Drive files on the web with a brand-new preview feature. Now, users will be able to quickly view up to 30 file types (photos, videos, PDFs and more) in a lightbox overlay, and thumb through by clicking right and left arrows within the window. When it comes to documents, folks can zoom in and out, scroll through pages, and even select and copy text. If the update hasn't made it to your account already, Page and Co. say you can expect it to roll out over the next few days. As for the Drive's Android app, it's been updated to let devices wielding Honeycomb or higher stream video saved on the service. According to the changelogs, the application has also been upgraded with performance enhancements, pinch-to-zoom in the presentation viewer and a grab bag of bug fixes and assorted tweaks.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google

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Via: Phone Arena

Source: Google Drive (Google+), Google Drive Blog, Google Play

Mountain View's just doled out an update to Google Drive on iOS, giving it the ever so slight bump to version 1.2.2 and a handful of new features. Font fanatics could see the addition of Helvetica Neue to Docs as the big ticket item in the new release, but the ability to upload multiple photos and videos otherwise headlines the batch of improvements. With the latest version, pinch to zoom now works with slides and QuickOffice users can open files and save them to Drive. In addition, spreadsheets have been freshly endowed with improvements to animations, diagonal scrolling and cell formatting for dates, decimals, currency and the like. Google Wallet on Android also received an update, but it focused on delivering a revamped UI and sundry improvements to stability and battery use. Now, the app packs navigation tabs and houses cards under the "My Wallet" section. Hit the neighboring source links to give either application a spin.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Google

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Via: 9to5Google, Android Central

Source: Google Play, iTunes

Even with the popularity of cloud computing and terabyte servers, most US offices are still drowning in a sea of dead trees; around 10,000 sheets of paper a year per worker, according to the EPA. Enter Paperless 2013, a campaign that will email you monthly tips on how to make the paperless office a reality. It's funded by the "Paperless Coalition," a group of digital solution companies comprised of Google Drive, HelloFax, Manilla, HelloSign, Expensify, Xero and Fujitsu ScanSnap -- none of which have any ulterior motive behind encouraging this paper-free existence. None at all. Of course, you don't have to go with these specific companies to go eco-friendly (Dropbox and PDFPen are a couple of other options) but if you need some advice on how to shed those wasteful printing habits, then go ahead and sign up at the source. Or you could do what we did and unplug our printers altogether -- just in case it gets possessed.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Paperless 2013

If Google recently caught you off-guard with its announcement that Google Apps would move to a $50 per user model, perhaps some free software will help restore balance to your world. Today, the company announced a free version of Quickoffice for the iPad, which is an exclusive perk for users of Google Apps for Business. The software suite allows users to view, edit and create Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, and as proof that integration isn't lost on Google, all files are stored to Google Drive. For the moment, only iPad users will be treated to this free version of Quickoffice, but Google insists that iPhone and Android versions are on the way. If you'll recall, this is the same bit of software that Google purchased earlier this year. Nice to see it's being put to good use.

Filed under: Software, Google

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: App Store

Earlier today, a new Google Drive extension was released to the Chrome Web Store. This productivity tool provides users with a new way to capture and store web-based content. By clicking the extension's icon, you can save a copy of a webpage, its HTML source code, or a web archive. You can also save items by right-clicking photos or file links. In addition, Google has introduced new scrolling, fit to page and 100 percent image viewing options, along with the ability to comment on selected areas of pictures saved to your Drive. Whether you're looking for a replacement for Skitch, or an easy way to collect snippets of the web, this extension just might be what the doctor ordered.

Filed under: Storage, Software, Google

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Source: Google

The hit parade of Google Drive updates continues. As of today, account holders can publish web content to their Drive storage in a public folder accessible from any browser; it can even host JavaScript for those who want to run web apps from their personal space. Lest we rush to toss out our existing web hosts, however, Google has some inherent ground rules. Content has to be static, and any links to other pages or files in the folder need a special approach to show web addresses that make sense to mere humans. As such, Google Drive won't quite relive the glory days of 1998 and simple web tools; at least we can still add a permanent "under construction" GIF.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Via: SlashGear

Source: Google Apps Developer Blog