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Google News and Info ServicesThese services will let you dig a little deeper into specific topics or dimensions of Google’s wide-ranging information services.
Regardless of where you get your news, Google Reader is an indispensible RSS feed aggregator, with mobile versions for Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.
For quick access to news from all over the web, Google News is tough to beat. It collects stories on hot topics into clusters, often bringing hundreds of sources together into a single cluster to help you find a multitude of perspectives on the day’s news. Unfortunately, many news sites now target hot Google News topics so aggressively that it can turn any given topic cluster into an echo chamber, but the multisource approach is great.
Google Blog Search does for blogs what Google News does for news sites.
If you’re doing scholarly research, Google Scholar should be on your list of reference sites. It weeds out general web content to focus strictly on scholarly journals to give you sources worth citing.
Doing some investing? Google Finance is a one-stop shop for market analysis and business news.
Like Wikipedia, Knol is a user-created reference site with articles on just about everything. Unlike Wikipedia, Knol is poorly monitored for the veracity of its content. While the site has attracted the contributions of some real experts in their fields, much of Knol’s content is mind-bogglingly incoherent.
Google Voice SecretsIf you use your Google Voice number for business, or just don’t want to be disturbed at certain times, you can set custom days and hours when the service won’t ring your phone. Click the Settings icon in the top-right corner of the window and choose Voice Settings. Then click Edit under the phone you want to set hours for, and click “Show advanced settings.” Under Ring Schedule, you can either choose a preset schedule or click “Use a custom schedule” to set the time range that works for you.
Rather not give up your existing mobile number to get Google Voice’s transcription and voicemail features? Use Voice Lite. During sign-up, just click “I want to use my existing mobile number instead,” and you’ll get the essential features without another number to remember. Note: This feature will port your mobile number from your wireless carrier to Google Voice.
To start recording an incoming Google Voice call, press 4 at any time during the call. The recording will be saved to your Google Voice inbox for later retrieval. Sadly, this feature isn’t available for outbound calls.
Want to jot a few notes about a voicemail so you can refer to them later when you call the person back? Click More at the bottom of the voicemail bubble and then choose “Add note.”
Getting too many annoying calls on your Google Voice number? Change it. Just click Port/Change next to your number at the top of the window, and choose “I want to get a different Google Voice number.”
When you select a Google Voice number, you have the option to choose a number containing an acronym.
Need an hour or two of peace? Enable Do Not Disturb by clicking Settings, then Calls, and check the radio button for Enable “Do Not Disturb.” Choose the amount of time you want calls to go straight to voicemail, and your phone won’t ring during that time.
Power Up Google CalendarGoogle Calendar is so straightforward, its basic features need very little explanation. But you can supercharge your productivity by adding these awesome tools from Google Calendar Labs. Click the little green flask icon in the top-right menu to get started.
Premium calendar apps like Outlook let you attach documents to scheduled events so everyone has the same materials for the meeting. By default, Google Calendar doesn’t. But if you enable this handy Lab extra, you’re in business.
Whether you’re taking a vacation or just want to block off a few hours as a no-meetings zone, this add-on saves you the trouble of having to manually turn down meeting invitations when you’re unavailable.
Always getting invited to meetings at times when you’re already booked? Use Smart Rescheduler to automatically analyze your group’s schedules and find a time when everyone can make it.
When your schedule’s really packed, it helps to clear the view a little. This Labs add-on renders next Thursday’s weekly status meeting in a lighter shade than other events so you can focus on less mundane stuff.
Someone invited you to a meeting and inconsiderately named it “Call with you.” Why do people still do this? No matter. Enable Who’s My One-on-One With? to automatically display the names of people you have meetings with to the right of the event name.
The Who’s My One-on-One With add-on from Google Calendar Labs helps you fill in the blanks when your event descriptions are less than descriptive.
Google Platforms: Android, Chrome, and Google TVA few years ago, you might have been forgiven for doubting Google’s ability to threaten Microsoft’s OS dominance. But now that the company is aggressively branching out into traditional Redmond territory, the competition is heating up.
In the span of two years, Google’s Android mobile operating system has managed to do what Microsoft couldn’t: go toe-to-toe with Apple’s iPhone. Android is currently neck-and-neck with iOS in smartphone market share, and the platform’s app selection is growing fast. Many analyst projections show Google leading the smartphone market within the year, thanks to its multidevice strategy of open development, and the new 3.0 Honeycomb release could signal gains on tablets.
Meanwhile, the Chrome browser has gained roughly a quarter of the global browser market, further eroding Internet Explorer’s slice of the pie chart. And, while it’s still very much in development, the browser-only operating system known as Chrome OS shows that Google has its eye on unseating Windows from the desktop environment.
Constantly hedging its bets, Google has begun a push into the living room with Google TV, an embedded OS for surfing the web from your couch. If you’ve been keeping up with Maximum PC, you know that we haven’t been impressed by the first generation. Whether this platform will succeed or fade into obscurity like MSN TV remains to be seen, but the surge of app-driven HDTVs this year could give it a boost.
Overclock Google DocsPrefer to work in Microsoft Office but want the sharing features of Google Docs? Yeah, us too. Google Cloud Connect is a simple Office plug-in for Windows that automatically syncs your documents to Google Docs as you work.
Once you’ve been using Docs for a while, your Documents List will become massive and unnavigable. To make files easier to locate even when you can’t remember what you named them, use Collections. They’re basically just folders, but Google seems to want to have a different name for everything. You can share entire collections with other Docs users to make collaboration easier.
Google Docs lets you edit documents from a phone with Android 2.2 or later, or iOS 3.0 or later, installed. No need to download third-party apps. Just browse to docs.google.com and you’re in. If you’re using some other kind of phone, try using Documents To Go.
Collaborating with a colleague on a document? When you’re both viewing it at the same time, you can start a chat session by clicking their name in the upper-right corner of the window. Alternatively, just use the comments feature, which—thanks to a recent upgrade—now acts more like an IM session.
Google Docs can now scan PDFs and image files for readable text when you upload them, turning them into fully searchable, editable documents. Just check the radio button for the “Convert text from PDF or image files to Google Docs documents” option in the upload menu, and select the appropriate language from the drop-down.
Trick Out GmailMousing around your screen like a newb is no way to get things done. Gmail supports a variety of hotkeys to help you navigate through messages quickly, and you can enable them near the top of the Settings menu. At the very least, you should be using the K and J keys to move up and down your conversations list, R to reply, and C to compose a new message.
Tired of typing the same message every time someone asks you the same question? The Canned Responses add-on in Gmail Labs lets you prepare a variety of messages that you can insert by clicking a little drop-down in the editing menu. It’s also good for folks who use more than one email signature.
The Send & Archive feature in Gmail Labs is one of the simplest timesavers you’ll find. As its name implies, it sends your reply and archives the conversation with one click.
Why does Gmail insist on putting your signature after the quoted text in your reply? We don’t know. But we don’t put up with it, either. Enable the Signature Tweaks add-on in Gmail Labs to place the signature above the quoted text, where it belongs.
Google places little icons to the right of the message subject line in your inbox, but half the people we talk to never seem to know about it. To make these icons more useful, move them to the left of the subject by enabling the Move Icon Column feature in Gmail Labs.
It’s nice to be able to set messages apart by clicking a little yellow star, but once you’ve clicked a few hundred of those stars, the significance begins to fade. The Superstars Gmail Labs add-on gives you as many as 12 different icons in place of that single yellow star. What you use them for is up to you.
The Superstars add-on in Gmail Labs gives you up to 12 different icons with which to mark your messages.
Some guy you don’t know is leaving the company, and your inbox is rapidly filling with the insincere farewells of a few hundred well-wishers. Use the Smart Mute add-on in Gmail Labs to automatically bypass your inbox on future messages in that thread.
Comments are closed on this article
Eoraptor
April 26, 2011 at 10:24am
Well I have used google stuff for a while now. Did not know about Aardvark, so will have to try that out. I do keep Reader, Gmail, and News tabs pinned.i messed with igoogle, but honestly, I don't use it.
However, I have found that bing maps seems to be faster and more responsive than Google Maps, so I switched to that service.
Send and Archive and Move to Next Message are two great tweaks to Gmail. I hate hot it defaults by making you go back to your inbox when you are done with a message, and wish they would turn those two features on by defualt.
-=GNO=-
April 26, 2011 at 5:27am
Just want to let you know your link to Picnik doesn't work. You have a K between the C and N that doesn't belong. Just an FYI.
Phrish
April 25, 2011 at 5:24pm
I would just like Google to concentrate on making the basic PIM apps as best as they can be, and fully sync'd with Android services.
-Contacts
-Calendar
-Tasks
-NotesMail...
They have the mail thing down VERY well. Great service. However, they still don't have a way (that I know of) to mark messages high/low importance. I'd also like to see inline graphics as well as attachments. There is also a very capable Android app for Mail.
Contacts...
Contacts is getting better. Interface-wise, it opens in the same window as mail, via link on the left. It stores great data for contacts, the search is good, and the types of data are very flexible. Each type of dropdown (email, phone, link) has a custom selection where you can write anything you want (e.g. this number isn't "work" or "home" or "mobile" but it's "workshop"). One thing that does scare me, though, is that changes you make in Contacts are IMMEDIATELY saved. Whoopsiedoodle, I just messed that number up. Crap it's already saved, I don't have the option to "cancel." Still Contacts is very serviceable, and it's my main contacts list and backup right now (Outlook used to be my main backup, with stuff mirrored in Google Contacts... now Contacts is my main). Android also has a very good Contacts app, though with some trouble showing full addresses.
Calendar...
Google Calendar is also very good. Interface-wise, it's not on the left side with Mail and Contacts. It's on the top of the browser window. Nor does it open into the same space as Mail and Contacts, but opens a whole new browser window or tab. Nothing wrong with that functionally, but it's a poor interface choice that's slightly confusing, since it's not in the same place as Mail and Contacts. Any human interface designer would tell you that this is bad form. BTW, Outlook has the interface for all the basic PIM apps nailed. The buttons to access each app are in the same place (in a button array on the lower left of the screen), and they bring the app up in the same "space" so you know what to expect. Beyond interface, though, Google Calendar is very capable, and I love the fact that it can work with multiple calendars, yours or public. Android has a very serviceable Calendar app.
Tasks...
Google Tasks needs some work. It's very, very basic. Interface-wise, you access it from the same place as Mail and Contacts (link on the left), but like Calendar, it doesn't use the same "space" as Mail and Contacts. It's a strange popover window over Mail or Contacts, whichever happens to be active at the time. It's a basic list outliner, but in a style that I like. Works a bit like MS Word's outlining function, type, enter, tab, shift tab... for very fast task entry. Despite simple, I would like to see the interface for it improved a bit. Android doesn't have any Tasks equivalent, which is a glaring omission on Google's part... shame on you Google. Fortunately, apps like Astrid are starting to "sync" with Google Tasks, but still Google should have a dedicated app for it itself. This is a BASIC PIM APPLICATION, and Google needs to get on the stick.
Notes...
Google doesn't really have a notes service. Well, in honesty they do, but no one knows about it. Now, by Notes, I do NOT mean Google Docs, which is NOT a note app. Think again to Outlooks notes, small, sticky-like notes you can keep for yourself. If you are an avid adventurer, you can spelink into the dark, stinky bowles of Google and find Google Notebook (www.google.com/notebook), and this is my idea of notes. However, Google neither advertises it, nor practically supports its use. There is no Android equivalent that will sync. As for the PC it's almost impossible to even find it unless you type the URL directly into the address bar. Again, Google, this IS A BASIC PIM APP and you need to have this supported with the others, in the same basic interface, with full sync compatibility and a dedicated Android app. What's wrong with you? Even Windows Mobile and Palm have been doing this for years... do you even have a human interface expert on staff?
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Well that's my rundown on Google Services. I have no hope that anyone at Google will read this and say "oh hey... dugh!" but you never know. Here's to dreaming the dream...
