Google Play Music now uses machine learning to suggest songs

GooglePlay Music will now use machine learning and contextual tools to suggest music you like. Users can opt in to get access to personalised music based on their location, activity and weather. “Your workout music is front and center as you walk into the gym, a sunset soundtrack appears just as the sky goes pink, and tunes for focusing turn up at the library,” explained Elias Roman, Lead Product Manager at Google Play Music. Also, the home screen of Google Play Music has been revamped to show music you like at the top. The feature is powered by Google’s machine learning systems that keeps getting better with time.
Google Play Music works offline as well. The app looks at songs you’ve recently listened to and curates an offline list for when there’s no Internet connection. “As long as you remember to charge your phone, you’ll have your favorite tunes, even if you forgot to download them ahead of time,” said Roman. The new version of the Play Music will be rolled outstarting this week on Android,iOS and the web. It will be available in 62 countries globally.
Google had earlier announced it is looking to sharpen Play Store recommendations with artificial intelligence and expand support for various payment platforms, among other initiatives. The Play Music update is an indication company’s plans have started to materialise. Also, the Google Play Store is also expanding to new platforms, including wearable devices, virtual reality headsets and Google’s Chromebook laptops.

WhatsApp launch video call on Android, iOS and Windows 10 platform

WhatsApp has just announced video calling for all users starting November 15.The feature will roll out to all users over the next few days. WhatsApp was launched in 2009 as a rich messaging service and is now one of the world’s largest OTT messaging platforms with over 1 billion users,. It added voice calls in early 2015.Here is how the new video calling feature works. The Video calling will work on all devices with Android4.1 and above. The rollout is happening at the same time for iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices, thus covering the top mobile operating systems across the world. Users will need to upgrade their app for the feature to show show up. When you click on the call button, you will start getting a new video calls options along with the existing voice calls.
Once the call connects, you will be able to choose either from or back camera of the phone for the video. You will be able to choose if the preview of you video is the main image or the incoming video. Also, the location of the smaller window can be moved to anywhere on the screen.
WhatsApp says it does not assume anything about the quality of the network from which the video call is being made. So the video call quality will improve as the system recognises that the network quality is good. The video calling feature has keep kept really simple so that engages everyone without confusing them. The one additional feature is the ability to multi-task by minimising the video and using other apps on the phone. User will be able to return to the call by tapping on the green band that appears across apps.
At the moment the video calling feature can be used synchronously between two users and not to whole group.

Google: Two Billion Chrome Installed

Google announced a new milestone for its Chrome browser today:2 billion active installs between desktop and mobile since its September 2008 release. The news was made public onstage at the Chrome Dev Summit conference by Chrome Engineering VP Darin Fisher. Of course, this stat differs from active use — just because you installed Chrome doesn’t mean it’s your primary daily browser. That’s especially true of mobile, where a company like Apple makes it easer to use its built-in Safari browser even after you’ve defaulted to mobile Chrome.
Still, 2 billion installs is a first for a Google product. The company announced last year during its I/O developer conference that it has more than 1 billion users of Android, Chrome, YouTube, and search. And last April, Chrome passed the 1 billion active user mark on mobile. That means, between its active install pass and growing mobile presence, Chrome could be the first Google product to hit the 2 billion user mark.
Though it is of course contending with Android. As of last September, Google’s mobile operating system was installed on1.4 billion active smartphones around the world. So for Google, it looks like a never-ending race with itself.

Android Chrome to get new Design

Google might be testing a redesigned Chrome browser for Android smartphones that places search bar at the bottom. The move is aimed at users with big smartphone screens, allowing them to use Chrome with one hand. According to a report in Android Police, the feature is unfinished as the space where the search tab is ideally placed (top) is empty as of now. “A new flag in Chrome Dev and Canary, only described as ‘Chrome Home,’ moves Chrome’s address bar to the bottom of the screen when enabled,” the report adds. In a screenshot put out by the site, we see controls including search tab, to add tabs as well as to switch tabs at the bottom.
While Microsoft has had browser controls for mobile versions of Internet Explorer and Edge for a couple of years now; Google might be on the verge of doing so pretty soon. Also, Safari for iOS has select select browser controls at the bottom such as switching tab, forward and backward. However, it looks like Google is only testing the feature for now and will roll out the same eventually for mobile users.
Google Chrome has been made 15 per cent faster on Windows. Google Chrome’s Sébastien Marchand, in a blogpost said, “Starting in Chrome 53, Chrome has started using Microsoft’s Profile Guided Optimization (PGO) technology to make Chrome up to 15 per cent faster on Windows.” ” PGO uses data from runtime execution that track which functions are most common to guide optimization,” he added.

Google Flights updated

Google is making it easier for users to plan trips and book flights as well as hotels this holiday season. Google Flights will now update users when flights are likely to increase in price, and help find good hotel deals. “Google Flights can now help you be more confident that you’re booking your flight at the right time to get the best price,” said Nabil Naghdy, Product Manager of Google Flights, in a blogpost. Google Flights now show when specific airlines a user is interested in are expected to raise their prices on specific routes. Users first need to select a specific flight they want to book. A notification indicating when the fare is expected to rise and how much they can save on booking might appear next. Notification bar with tips to choose the best price for a specific route may appear if users are looking to book a certain route but haven't selected a specific airline. “Tips can include things like recommendations for alternate airports or dates,” Naghdy said.
Google Flights may also show tips on an expected price jump for that route. Users will need to click on the card to see more details such as how much the price is likely to increase and when. Google Flights will send notifications via e-mail to users who’ve are interested in booking a flight for a specific route but haven’t done so yet. They can enter the details like airlines, routes etc and Google Flights will send notifications related to the same. Fare expiration and expected price jump notifications feature will roll out in the coming weeks.
Google Flights will let users track and manage saved flights seamlessly on their smartphones as well. There’s an Explore option which will suggest ideas on destinations to visit based on the type of vacation a user is looking for.
Google Flights will now help users find more deals on hotels in a particular location, like “hotels in new york”. Now, if users want to find out hotel deals , they need to tap in the upper left to filter for Deals. Additionally, Google Flights will notify users when savings are available toloyalty members on a hotel’s website.