Google Plus Now Added to Flipboard – This Week in Google Plus
This week’s content seemed to tip a little more into the Google News section, but not to worry, there were still some new features available for Google users! Here is the most recent developments in the world of Google over the past 7 days.
New Google Plus Features
Custom Gmail Themes Now Available
Previously on Gmail, users were only allowed to choose from a already determined set of background pictures to customize their Gmail page. As of Tuesday, Google has announced that soon users will be able to choose their very own background images to give their Gmail account a more personalized look and feel.
As another step in the integration of Google Plus and Gmail, users will have the option to choose pictures directly from their Google Plus albums. They will also have the ability to upload picture directly from their computer or paste any image URL to use as their Gmail background. Once the photo is selected, users will have the option to set the rest of the interface as “light or dark” to best fit the image that they have chosen. Read more here.
Google Plus Joins the Ranks of Flipboard
Flipboard is a relatively new application available for Android and iOS which allows users access to both their Facebook and Twitter accounts simultaneously.
As of this week, Google has signed on to include Google Plus into this social media app in time for when the next version is released. It has been announced that both text and multimedia content will be available for the Google Plus portion of the application. A new version release date has yet to be determined, however the recent trend of combining our social media into one easy-to-use location is a notion that has gotten a lot of nods of approval from users. It will be interesting to see what the next step may be in the near future.
Google Plus News
The Endangered Language Project
Google has recently launched the Endangered Language Project, a website dedicated to catalog and preserve over 3,000 different languages who are categorized to be on the brink of extinction.
Each language has its own individual page showing clips of the language being spoken, information about the language, and links to source documents focused on the study of the language. Each language is identified by location and given a color code ranging from “At Risk” to “Vitality Unknown”. With the extended efforts of Google and the Alliance for Linguistic Diversity, these languages may never be lost from history.
MightyText Grows from Former Google Employees
Two former Google employees, Maneesh Arora and Amit Sangani, have been developing a free, web-based messaging system for Android devices over the past 2 months. Their project has finally been released as the new app: MightyText.
MightyText originally stemmed from the same concept applied as a Google Chrome extension called Texty. The duo used their profits from this project to create an application for all Android phones. The app works a lot like the popular Google Voice, except that it uses your own phone number instead of requiring you to have an additional one just for the app. MightyText can be used to talk to pretty much every device on the market, and securely stores all texts, pictures, and phone calls so that they are easily accessible to the user. The only requirement is that the user has an internet connection, meaning that their are no messaging fees outside of data use!
Dual Trackpads Confirmed for Project Glass
A recent patent approved for Google’s Project glass by the United States Patent and Trademark Office has given us an inside look of some of the more inner workings of the HUD glasses.
It has been confirmed through this recent patent that there will be one trackpad on either side of the glasses that will allow the wear to scroll up, down, left, right, and also select. One obvious use will be the ability to read text and web pages with this scroll function or fine tune the camera when you snap a picture or record a video. All of these uses are purely speculative as of now, but Google has shown that it is taking the legal portion of this project very seriously.
I hope you all had a great week! Join us back here in another 7 days to get caught up with all the happenings within the Googleverse.
Happy plussing,
-Mark Gundersen
About Mark Gundersen
Current blogger for UpYourPlus; sharing the most up-to-date features and news surrounding the world of Google and social media with all Google Plus members.