New Zealand Blog
Google news for Kiwis
Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app
Friday, September 23, 2016
Whether it’s planning a night out or just catching up, we all rely on messaging to stay in touch with friends and loved ones. But too often we have to hit pause on our conversations — whether it’s to check the status of a flight or look up that new restaurant. So we created a messaging app that helps you keep your conversation going, by providing assistance when you need it.
Today, we’re releasing Google Allo, a new smart messaging app for Android and iOS that helps you say more and do more right in your chats. Google Allo can help you make plans, find information, and express yourself more easily in chat. And the more you use it, the more it improves over time.
Respond quickly with Smart Reply
Google Allo makes it easier for you to respond quickly and keep the conversation going, even when you’re on the go. With Smart Reply, you can respond to messages with just a tap, so you can send a quick “yup” in response to a friend asking “Are you on your way?” Smart Reply will also suggest responses for photos. If your friend sends you a photo of their pet, you might see Smart Reply suggestions like “aww cute!” And whether you’re a “haha” or “😂” kind of person, Smart Reply will improve over time and adjust to your style.
Express yourself with photos, emojis and stickers
Chat is more than just text, so we’ve created a rich canvas for you to express yourself in Google Allo. You can make emojis and text larger or smaller in size by simply dragging the “send” button up or down. Make photos your own by scribbling on them before you send. And we’ve worked with independent artists and studios around the world to create more than 25 custom sticker packs, because sometimes a “sloth riding a pizza” says it all.
Meet your personal Google Assistant
In Google Allo you’ll also be introduced to a preview edition of the
Google Assistant
. With your Assistant in Allo, you can have a conversation with Google — ask it questions and let it help you get things done directly in your chats. You no longer need to leave a conversation with friends just to grab an address, share your favorite YouTube video, or pick a dinner spot. Just type @google to bring your Assistant into any group chat. And of course, you can also chat one-one-one with your Assistant in Allo.
Here are just a few ways your Google Assistant can help in Google Allo:
Make plans with friends.
You can easily move from discussing dinner with friends to making plans for the night, right in your chat. Just add the Assistant to your group chat and ask for movie times, local restaurants and more. You can also research travel destinations, flights and hotels together with friends.
Get answers.
Get the latest info on everything from news, weather, traffic, sports, or your upcoming flights status. Ask the Assistant to send you daily updates on the information you care about.
Have some fun.
Ask your Assistant to share that funny YouTube video or play games with friends right in your group chat -- for instance you can compete to guess a movie title based on a series of emojis.
The Google Assistant is the next chapter in a journey Google has been on for many years to assist people in their everyday lives. We’re starting with a preview edition to show you just one way that your Assistant will work for you in chat. Over the coming months, your Assistant will be available in more Google products, working seamlessly throughout your day at home or on the go. The Assistant will initially be available in English, with more languages coming soon.
Chat in Incognito mode
We take privacy and security seriously in Google Allo. All chats in Google Allo are encrypted using industry standard technologies like
Transport Layer Security
(TLS). But we went a step beyond this and we created a mode within Google Allo called
Incognito
(h/t Chrome). When you chat in Incognito mode, messages have end-to-end encryption and additional privacy features like discreet notifications and message expiration.
You can also message friends who aren’t yet using Google Allo through
SMS
or, for those using Android,
app preview messages
.
We can’t wait for you to say hello to Google Allo! We’re beginning to roll out Google Allo for
Android
and
iOS
, and the app will be available worldwide in the next few days.
Posted by Amit Fulay, Group Product Manager, Google
See more, plan less with Google Trips
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Whether you’re juggling work, school, family, or just the demands of daily life, everyone needs a little break and a new adventure once in a while.
But knowing what to do when your holiday starts can turn what’s supposed to be fun into a lot of work. You might get recommendations from friends, travel guides, or online reviews — but figuring out how to squeeze everything you want to do into a finite window of time can be stressful, especially when you’re in a new place, often with limited access to the web. In fact, a
GoodThink study
showed that 74% of travellers feel the most stressful aspect of travel is figuring out the details.
We wanted to reduce the hassle and help travellers enjoy their hard-earned holidays. So today, we’re introducing a new mobile app to help you instantly plan each day of your trip with just a few taps of your finger:
Google Trips
.
Google Trips is a personalised tour guide in your pocket. Each trip contains key categories of information, including day plans, reservations, things to do, food and drink, and more. The entire app is available offline — simply tap the “Download” button under each trip to save it to your phone.
Choose your own adventure
For the top 200 cities in the world, Google Trips shows you a variety of day plans featuring the most popular daily itineraries. We’ve automatically assembled the most popular sights, attractions, and local gems into a full day’s tour — all based on historic visits by other travellers. Say you’re visiting Barcelona. You can choose from multiple day plans, like “Eixample District,” which maps out the can’t-miss buildings by Antoni Gaudi, the famous Spanish architect.
Plan each day of your trip like magic
Everyone has different interests and time constraints. No matter how popular an itinerary is, there’s no one solution for the perfect day or the perfect trip. Google Trips can help you build your day around places you already know you want to visit.
Say your friends told you that you have to see the Sagrada Familia — and you’re looking for suggestions on things to do around that spot. Press the “+” button in the day plans tile to jump into a map view containing all the top attractions in your destination. If you’re time constrained, you can specify above the map whether you have just the morning or afternoon, versus a full day. Then simply tap and pin the Sagrada Familia to build your itinerary around it. Google Trips automatically fills in the day for you. If you want more options, tap the “magic wand” button for more nearby sights. You can pin new spots, and if you want even more, each tap of the “magic wand” instantly gives you a new itinerary with updated nearby attractions like Palau Macaya or Parc del Guinardo, so you can build your own custom itinerary in minutes while munching on your morning churro.
All your travel info, all in one place
Keeping track of all your flight, hotel, car and restaurant reservations when you travel can be tough. With Google Trips, all your reservations are automatically gathered from Gmail and organised into individual trips, so you don’t have to search and dig up those emails. They’re waiting for you within the reservations tile, even without WiFi.
Holidays are a chance to recharge and experience new places and cultures. For your next trip, let us help you see the sights, without all the hassle. Google Trips, available now on
Android
and
iOS
, has you covered from departure to return.
Posted by Stefan Frank, Product Manager, Google Trips
Explore the natural world with Google Arts & Culture
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Many millions of years ago, dinosaurs ruled the Earth and giant sea creatures were not just Hollywood creations, but fearsome predators that stalked the oceans.
It’s a world that vanished long ago, but one that continues to fascinate those seeking to understand the origins of life on our planet.
To allow anyone, anywhere to explore this world, we’ve partnered with more than 50 of the world’s leading natural history institutions and scientists to bring this lost world to life again online. From today, you’ll now be able to browse through more than 150 interactive stories, 300,000 new photos and videos and more than 30 virtual tours on Google Arts & Culture, exploring the beautiful, the dangerous and the endangered.
You can go behind the scenes at the Australian Museum, look at a book in the Queensland Museum that has pictures of creatures drawn by Europeans nearly 500 years ago, and meet Sweetheart, a 5.1m saltwater crocodile at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and study a kiwi up close at the Auckland Museum.
With just a few clicks on
Google Arts & Culture
, you can come face to face with a 180 million year old giant, as virtual reality raises the colossal sea dragon from extinction.
Discovered in Dorset in the UK and residing at London’s Natural History Museum. the
Rhomaleosaurus
— to give it its formal name — can now be explored in 360 degrees. We also used VR to bring the
Giraffatitan
back to life in Berlin’s natural history museum. Standing at 13 meters (42 feet), it’s one of the tallest dinosaurs that ever lived. It was twice as tall as today’s giraffes, and could easily put its head through a fourth floor window.
We worked with ecologists, paleontologists and biologists to put virtual skin and flesh on the preserved skeletons. From the size of the eye to the position of the snout and the bend of the neck, the texture and creases of the skin were all painstakingly recreated, and verified by a team of scientists. For the best experience, use a viewer like Google Cardboard to look the beast in the eye.
As well as the VR experiences, we’ve added plenty more artifacts and features for experts and armchair explorers alike:
Incredible images of
butterfly eggs
from
Museum Victoria
Meet
Sweetheart
at the
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
View the awesome
PNG photography
and
Wild Planet
exhibition at the
Australian Museum
See the
Queensland Museum
’s ancient drawings of
Sea Monks and Sea Bishops
View 3,000 species on display in
one giant cabinet
or find out how our own predecessors may have
looked
.
With Street View, walk around dinosaurs in New York, explore 30+ natural history museums from
Australia
to
Russia
and even go underwater with turtles in
Brazil
.
The free collection opens today at
g.co/naturalhistory
and through the Google Arts & Culture mobile app on
iOS
and
Android
. And if you are a teacher, there are more than 20 new
Google Expeditions
waiting for you and your classroom to discover. We hope you enjoy this journey through the history of nature as much as we do.
Posted by Alan Noble, Director of Engineering, Google Australia
Search is a Jack of all trades
Friday, August 26, 2016
Today we’re dealing two new hands from the Google Search deck: solitaire and tic-tac-toe. Now you can play two of the oldest and most popular games for all ages, on desktop and in the Google app.
It’s been said solitaire’s roots are in fortune telling. If that’s true, today your fate rests on your quick wit and the luck of the draw. When you search for “solitaire” on Google, the familiar patience game may test yours!
If you’re looking for something a bit simpler, tic-tac-toe is your best bet. In this game of naughts and crosses, you can select your level of difficulty or even go head to head against a friend. Xs and Os to the winner (hugs and kisses, that is!).
For some other fun tips, try asking Google, “
what sound does a pig make?
” Or if you’re looking to settle a bet and feeling lucky, “
flip a coin
” may come in handy.
These are just a sample of the delightful surprises that await you on Google. After all, Search is for so much more than research and practical matters -- it’s for fun, too!
Posted by Stephen Cognetta, Associate Product Manager
Meet Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app for everyone
Friday, August 19, 2016
Video calling is the next best thing to being with someone in person, but too often it can be a frustrating or complicated experience. You shouldn’t have to worry about whether your call will connect, or if your friend is using the same type of device as you are. It’s no wonder that nearly half of us never make video calls on mobile*.
Today, we’re releasing
Google Duo
— a simple 1-to-1 video calling app available for Android and iOS. Duo takes the complexity out of video calling, so that you can be together in the moment wherever you are.
Google Duo works across Android and iOS — all you need is a phone number
Simple interface
Duo is simple from start to finish. To get started, all you need is your phone number and you’ll be able to reach people in your phone’s contacts list. No separate account is required, so you can sign up in just a few steps. From there, you can instantly begin a video call with a single tap.
Fast and reliable
We all know how it feels when a call fails to connect or when video gets choppy. We’ve built Duo to be fast and reliable, so that video calls connect quickly and work well even on slower networks. Call quality adjusts to changing network conditions to keep you connected — when bandwidth is limited, Duo will gracefully reduce the resolution to keep the call going smoothly. For video calls on the go, Duo will switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data automatically without dropping your call. You can start your call at home, and continue seamlessly even when you head out the door.
Human design
We designed Duo to feel warm and inviting, focused on just you and the person you’re calling. To make calls feel more like an invitation rather than an interruption, we created a feature in Duo called
Knock Knock
which lets you see live video of your caller before you answer, giving you a sense of what they’re up to and why they want to chat. Knock Knock makes video calling more spontaneous and welcoming, helping you connect with the person before you even pick up.
Knock Knock in Duo lets you see who’s calling before you pick up
Finally, we built Duo with an emphasis on privacy and security, and all Duo calls are end-to-end encrypted.
Give your friends a wave with Duo! We’re roll out Duo for Android and iOS today across Australia.
Posted by Justin Uberti, Principal Software Engineer
*Google YouGov Survey, July 2016, U.S., Among 18+ online population, n=1,058
Meet Gboard: Search, GIFs, emojis & more. Right from your keyboard.
Friday, August 5, 2016
Kiwi iPhone users—this one’s for you. Gboard — the new app for your iPhone that lets you search and send information, GIFs, emojis and more, right from your keyboard — is now available in New Zealand.
Say you’re texting with a friend about tomorrow’s brekky plans. They ask you for the address. Until now it’s worked like this: You leave your texting app, open Search, find the restaurant, copy the address, switch back to your texts, paste the address into a message, and finally, hit send.
Check it out here
Searching and sending stuff on your phone shouldn’t be that difficult. With Gboard, you can search and send all kinds of things—restaurant info, flight times, news articles—right from your keyboard. Anything you’d search on Google, you can search with Gboard. Results appear as cards with the key information front and center, such as the phone number, ratings and hours. With one tap, you can send it to your friend and you keep the conversation going.
You can search for more than just Google search results. Instead of scrolling to find💃 or 👯 , search for “dancer” and find that emoji you were looking for instantly. Even better—you can search for the perfect GIF to show people how you’re really feeling.
Emoji search
GIF search
Gboard also has Glide Typing, which lets you type words by sliding your finger from key to key instead of tapping—so everything you do is just a little bit faster.
Glide typing
Joining text, search and emoji suggestions, you’ll now see GIF suggestions too. Say you’ve got a reason to celebrate so you text your friend “let’s party!” — now, you’ll see a suggestion to search for relevant party GIFs with one tap.
Smart GIF suggestions
Whether you like a keyboard that blends into the background or shows your personal style, today’s update is for you. For those who like a more low-key style, in addition to the current light keyboard, we’re adding a dark keyboard so that Gboard can blend in with darker apps. We’re also introducing the ability to select a personal image from your camera roll to show behind your keyboard, so you’ll never be without your favorite picture from that trip to Crater Lake.
A personal keyboard
Gboard works in any app—messaging, email, YouTube—so you can use it anywhere on your phone.
Get it now in the App Store
.
Posted by Rajan Patel, Principal Engineer
YouTube Kids now works with YouTube Red
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Back in May we
launched YouTube Red
, a paid membership that makes allows you to enjoy ad-free videos across all of YouTube. You can also save videos to watch offline and play videos in the background of your phone or tablet. Since then we’ve heard from families that they’d love the option of these features in the
YouTube Kids app
too. So today we’re excited to say it’s finally here: the YouTube Kids app now works with YouTube Red in New Zealand!
With YouTube Red, your kids can now watch their favorite shows with all-new features like:
Ad-free videos: Let your kids learn and laugh along with their favourite characters without paid ads.
Offline videos: In the car or on grandma’s sofa—always have videos when you need ‘em, even if you don’t have a connection.
Uninterrupted music: Keep family sing-alongs going while you use other apps on your phone.
To get started, all parents need is the YouTube Kids app and a
YouTube Red
membership. Then, just sign in to your YouTube Red account from the parental controls section of the YouTube Kids app and follow a few simple steps. Once that’s done, your little one’s ready to sing along with
Bounce Patrol
or bake something yummy with
Charli’s Crafty Kitchen
.
And we’ve got even more updates to YouTube Kids the way. Over the next few months we’ll be making some changes to the app that’ll give parents more choice on how to customise the content that appears or doesn’t appear in their YouTube Kids experience.
Until then, we hope you and the family enjoy YouTube Kids with YouTube Red benefits in New Zealand.
If you haven't already, take YouTube Red for a spin with this
free 30-day trial
.
Posted by Sanoop Luke, YouTube Kids Content Manager, recently watched "
Cartoon | Oddbods - Office Roister | Funny Cartoons for Children
" on Oddbods
Tell your mum, your kids and your dog - you can now share your movies and apps with the Google Play Family Library
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Families bond over shared entertainment, whether it’s Friday night movie night or a new favourite game. With this in mind, we’re introducing
Family Library
, a way for up to six family members to share purchases on
Google Play
. When you buy an eligible app, game, movie, TV show, or book in the Play Store, you can now share it with your family—across devices—with no additional sign-up fee.
Share across your family’s devices
Many families have a lot of devices, and it should be easy to share content no matter where we are or what we’re doing. Everyone in my family loves the Star Wars movies and we all want to be able to watch them on our phones, tablets, laptops, or TV. All purchases added to Family Library are available across Android devices, and movies, TV shows and books can be enjoyed on iOS devices and the web.
Easily manage sharing and family purchases
As with most family matters, flexibility and choice is important. With Family Library, you can choose which items you want to share and which to keep to yourself—for example, I’ll probably keep my collection of comic books in my personal library. Flexibility is also built into your purchasing options. When you sign up, you’ll select a credit card to share as your family payment method, but your family members will always have the option of buying stuff with their personal credit cards or gift cards. And for your younger family members, you’ll have the option to approve each of their purchases.
Share a Music subscription with your family
Finally, if your family loves music, you can also subscribe to the
Google Play Music family
plan. On this plan, up to six family members can stream millions of songs on demand for $14.99 a month. We
launched
the family plan late last year, and today we’re expanding it to New Zealand. And you can now sign up on the web, in addition to your Android device.
Family Library is available in Australia and New Zealand from today. To get started,
sign up
in Google Play, invite your family members, and start sharing what you love!
Posted by Raj Iyengar, Product Manager, Google Play
The Digital Technologies Curriculum will help prepare Kiwis for the jobs of the future
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Preparing Kiwis for the careers of tomorrow begins in the classroom today. We welcome today’s announcement that
New Zealand will formally integrate Digital Technologies into the curriculum
. This curriculum will help produce a new generation of creators in technology by teaching students about
computational thinking
, design and programming.
Research shows
that 75% of the fastest growing occupations require skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)—which are the building blocks for a career in computer science. We believe New Zealand’s innovation, growth and future prosperity will be accelerated by helping young people develop these critical skills.
As with any curriculum change, teachers will be the key to both educating and inspiring the next generation of innovators in the classroom. At Google and we’ve long supported the professional development of teachers.
We’ve supported the development of
CS Unplugged
and the
Computer Science Field Guide
, and
many other resources
to support teachers and classrooms across New Zealand and around the world. Through our Computer Science for High Schools (CS4HS) program, we work with our partners to train hundreds of high school teachers in computer science across New Zealand each year.
For example, this year we partnered with Professor Tim Bell at Canterbury University in Christchurch to offer the program to Christchurch's primary school teachers. Professor Bell has been working on a pilot to integrate computer science and computational thinking (a set of problem-solving skills and techniques that software engineers use) into other curriculum areas — such as numeracy, literacy, music, and physical education.
Students at Christchurch’s Chisnallwood Intermediate School completing an
information theory
activity.
While we know there’s a long way to go to implement this curriculum, we’re excited by it’s potential. As the new digital curriculum rolls out, we’re committed to continue our support for teachers to help prepare Kiwi kids for the jobs of the future.
Posted by Sally-Ann Williams, Engineering Community & Outreach Manager, Google New Zealand
Updates from ISTE: 4 new tools to help teachers do what they do best
Monday, July 4, 2016
[
Cross posted from the Google for Education blog
]
Teachers are great communicators, collaborators, creators and critical thinkers. It takes a teacher to empower students with these skills and create the leaders of the future. As technology becomes an increasingly integral component of our classrooms, the role of teachers becomes even more important.
Today at ISTE, we’re announcing four more ways for these everyday heroes to engage their classes and empower their students using Google tools. Look out for a deeper dive on each of these launches on the blog throughout this week.
Bring curriculum to life: introducing the Expeditions app
Since we launched the beta Expeditions Pioneer Program in September of 2015, more than
one million students
across 11 countries have taken one of our virtual reality trips. Today, we’re making Expeditions available to everyone. To get started, all teachers need to do is download the
Expeditions app
onto a set of devices. With more than 200 Expeditions to choose from, students can journey far and wide, learning from immersive new experiences. Our content offerings have also grown to include Expeditions made by established educational content providers like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Pearson is beginning work on Expeditions content as well. The app is available today for
Android
and will be available for iPhones and iPads soon.
While Expeditions can be used with many of the devices schools or students already have — either smartphones with Google Cardboard or tablets in 2D full screen mode —
Best Buy Education
will also be making Expeditions kits available for schools to purchase. These kits will contain everything teachers need to bring their classes on amazing Expeditions: a tablet, virtual reality viewers and a router to connect them all. Kits are available for pre-order and will ship in time for back-to-school. We’ll also publish clear specs for partners interested in working with us to create their own kits.
Empower student-driven classrooms: Google Cast for Education
Collaboration is key to student success, but in most classrooms today the biggest screen in the room is out of reach for students. If students want to share their screens with the class, they have to physically connect their devices to the classroom projector. When teachers present, they’re tied to the projector at the front of the room. Educators are eager to overcome this barrier, so much so that wireless screen sharing for schools was one of the top features requested by teachers in 2015.
Today we’re announcing
Google Cast for Education
, a free Chrome app that allows students and teachers to share their screens wirelessly from everywhere in the classroom. Cast for Education carries video and audio across complex school networks, has built-in controls for teachers and works with
Google Classroom
so it’s easy to invite your students. And because the app runs on the teacher’s existing computer, it doesn’t require new hardware. Teachers run the Cast for Education app, and students can share their screens with the existing Cast feature in Chrome. Check out the
Cast for Education video
.
Teacher view
Student view
Accelerate the feedback loop: Quizzes in Google Forms
Getting feedback early helps students learn and teachers teach. Starting today,
Quizzes in Google Forms
will allow teachers to auto-grade multiple choice and checkbox questions — so teachers can spend less time grading and more time teaching.
Teachers can also add review materials in the form of explanations, supplemental websites or review videos — so students can get quick, actionable feedback. Plus, teachers can get instant feedback on student progress, so they know which lessons need more explanation and what to teach next. We’ve also added a common request from educators to disallow students from sending themselves a copy of their responses.
Ignite student creativity: creative apps on Chromebooks
We’re on a mission to discover Chromebook tools that foster skills of the future, including problem-solving, digital literacy, leadership and creativity. We listened to teachers in Chromebook classrooms and collaborated with
EdTechTeacher
, and we’re excited to announce a collection of creative apps on Chromebooks that schools can purchase as a bundle.
Explain Everything
,
Soundtrap
and
WeVideo
are creative apps that help students demonstrate their understanding of curriculum through their own unique voice. We’ve worked closely with our partners to offer these apps to schools at a special price when all three apps are purchased together. They may be purchased alongside Chromebooks or on their own. Contact your school’s reseller to learn more.
Students use creative apps at Muller Road Middle School in South Carolina [
watch video here
]
Posted by Jonathan Rochelle, Director of Product Management, Google for Education & Cyrus Mistry, Lead Product Manager, Devices and Content in Education
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