Google gives Apps admins a deeper dive on usage info

The changes aim to simplify management and give IT pros a better view of app usage

 Google has redesigned the reports section of the Apps admin console, giving IT staff a lot more details about who's been using the online apps suite and how.

"Starting today, we're introducing a new Reports section to the Admin console to make it easier for admins to manage Google Apps and also gain insights that help their entire organization run more efficiently," product manager Rishi Dhand said in a blog post.
However, Google is giving admins the option to toggle between the old and new reports sections, because some features haven't yet been ported over.
Menu names have changed, as well as how features are grouped together, so Google has provided a table that maps out how the old and new locations match up.
The new Highlights page gives an overview of users' activities, including the number of Docs, Sheets and Slides files created. It also shows the number of Hangouts held and the amount of Drive and Gmail storage used. From here, admins can export reports to Sheets for further analysis.
In the Usage Activity page, admins can get granular data on how employees are using the different apps. They can also shift columns around to customize data views and apply filters to zero in on details, like who has created or shared the most documents.
The Security page shows information like who has turned on two-step verification and how many files have been shared externally, and admins can rearrange and filter data as with the Usage Activity page.
The Login Audit page lets admins see a log with the IP addresses of people trying to access the Apps suite, the dates and whether they were successful. "Admins can use this report to track suspicious activity and take corrective action like resetting passwords," Dhand wrote.
Unlike the old reports, the new section doesn't have data on mobile and Chrome OS users; Google plans to add those soon.

Google gets over 41,000 requests to 'forget' personal data

Google should anticipate what kinds of information people will want removed, says top E.U. data protection official

 Google has already received around 41,000 requests to delete links to personal information from its search results in the three weeks since a key ruling by the European Court of Justice about the so-called right to be forgotten.

On May 13 the court ordered Google to remove links to a Spanish newspaper notice about a mortgage foreclosure against Costeja GonzA!lez, a 58-year-old lawyer, because it infringed his right to privacy. The paper itself was not ordered to remove the information, but GonzA!lez successfully argued that the links displayed by Google to this information about him had become inadequate and irrelevant over time.
In response to the ruling, Google put a form on its website to make it easier for it to process requests to delete links. The search giant, which processes more than 90 percent of all web searches in Europe, described the form as "an initial effort" to comply with the ruling.
Within 24 hours of putting the form online, Google had reportedly received 12,000 deletion requests -- and by Monday, that figure had risen to 41,000, according to a source at the company.
The European Union's highest data protection official sees Google's reaction as a good sign.
"Google is organizing itself, which is welcome, because the ruling means that the search engine needs to anticipate what the reasonable expectation of a consumer might be," Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), said in an interview Monday.
There is no absolute right to have information deleted, and Google will have to weigh a number of criteria in responding to the requests to delete links, including relevance of the information, and the time passed since the facts related.
That means Google will have to take a more active approach to managing the personal information in the search results it returns, according to Hustinx.
"Google needs to work out what a reasonable consumer might find out-dated. This is not straightforward and if they do not anticipate, then they will have too many requests," he said
Not everyone is happy with Google's online form for processing deletion requests, which requires applicants to provide proof of their identity including name, address and photo ID. Google said this was to avoid imposters making fraudulent removal requests, but Hamburg Data Protection Commissioner Johannes Caspar said the requirement may itself be in breach of data privacy regulations.
While the May 13 ruling has changed Google's processes, it did not change the law, Hustinx said.
"The European Court of Justice is simply applying existing remedies in the context of a search engine. It is not changing any signposts. It is not as revolutionary as some people have made it out to be. Reaction that 'this is the end of the Internet' is just nonsense," he said.
Hustinx and data protection chiefs from the EU's 28 member states were meeting this week in Brussels to discuss the ruling.
"There is a difficult balance to be struck on a case-by-case basis and we will be discussing what this means for national regulators. Obviously there will be questions about coordination. But the ruling does not mean re-writing history or systematic censorship," he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start menu allegedly returning to Windows 8.1 in August

After releasing the first Windows 8.1 update earlier this month, Microsoft is now working on the second update that is expected to arrive in August with some much requested features.

One of the key features is actually an old feature of Windows that will be making a comeback: the Start menu. After bringing the Start button back in the first update, Microsoft will now bring back the entire Start menu in the second. The menu will be familiar to anyone who has used Windows 7 and will also feature some live tiles on the side.
Along with the Start menu, another feature being added is the ability to run Windows 8 modern style applications within windows on the desktop side. This will let you run your modern apps without having to go over to the other side and not have them take your entire screen. This will definitely help those who run a mix of modern style and traditional Windows apps simultaneously on their system.
These features were said to be part of Windows 9 that will be arriving next year but it seems Microsoft is pushing for an early release.

Solar powered schools in Kenya, courtesy of Samsung

Massive corporations are known to launch charitable initiatives (they are tax write offs, after all), and Samsung has decided to start an interesting one of their own.

This past Tuesday, May 20th, Samsung made their own charitable gesture by opening the first internet school in Kenya that runs entirely on solar energy.
Called the Hope for Children Initiative, Samsung contributed a Solar Powered Internet School, or, SPIS, to the Arap Moi Primary School in Kenya.
What is an SPIS? It is basically a massive technological hub that is retrofitted inside a shipping container. It makes transportation of the school much easier. The metal of the shipping container is durable and provides decent enough insulation for the equipment inside, which is fairly substantial.
Lining the innards of the SPIS are 24 laptops, an all-purpose printer, a 50-inch electronic board server, internet access, and, perhaps the neatest feature: solar panels. What’s interesting about these panels is that they are constructed out of rubber as opposed to glass, for greater durability. All of the products inside are, of course, manufactured by Samsung and have been optimized to work with the Solar technology.
Internet service is being provided to the SPIS with compliments of Safaricom, for five years.
In areas with access to electricity, Samsung also provides “Smart Schools”, which come with Galaxy tablets, internet, and e-board servers.
What do you think of Samsung’s charitable contribution? Do you hope that other companies will follow suit?

Google Camera update brings 16:9 mode, self timer

Google recently updated the stock camera app in Android with a completely redesigned version. Unfortunately, the update got rid of half the features in the camera app, and it didn’t have a lot to begin with.

The latest update attempts to fix that but doesn’t really try too hard. One of the features that was taken away and is back now is self timer. You can now choose from 3 or 10 seconds timer options. The white balance option is still missing and you can forget about having things like ISO, shutter speed and metering options.
One change Google made in the new app was to show full 100% output from the image sensor in the viewfinder. This meant that phones with 4:3 sensor (which is almost all of them) would show a smaller preview than before with a large shutter button on the side. Those who are clueless about how sensors work complained about how the viewfinder was now smaller than before, even though it was actually showing them more area now than before. You can read through all the negative reviews for the app on the Play Store and see that 90% of the complaints are about the viewfinder.
So to appease the uninformed, Google has brought back the 16:9 crop as an option. You can now select it from the resolution settings and not only will it show a 16:9 preview, thereby taking up the entire screen (the shutter button becomes translucent) but unlike before, the images taken are also in 16:9 (and at a lower resolution) so at least you get what you see.
Other additions are some new panorama modes. If you go to the Panorama mode, you will find that other than the standard horizontal panorama, you can now also take a vertical one, square and circular panorama. Time taken to process these images, even on the Nexus 5, is still too large, though.
The update is now rolling out on the Play Store and should be available for download soon, if it’s not already.
Play Store

Windows Phone finally gets an official file manager

We knew that Microsoft was working on a native file manager for its Windows Phone eco-system and the app is now officially available from the Windows Phone Store. The Redmond giant had recently enabled the APIs for file picker and file access for third party developers, and it was about time the company built its own app.

The app is dubbed ‘Files’ and can be used to access all the data stores on your phone and SD card. You can also use the app for browsing, searching or launching files. The file manager gives you the ability to share multiple files, create folders to organize your files, copy, move, rename or even delete your existing data.
Microsoft might include the ‘Files’ app in its future Windows Phone update, but for now, you can head on to the Windows Phone Store

Top 5 Battery Saver Apps for Android

 

 

  I love my Android phone. It does everything I want it to, be it playing those intense games with out of the world graphics, music or videos. And yes, I even use it to make call sometimes. It’s just incredible thanks to those powerful processors these days.

But, there is one thing we all hate. The poor battery life it comes with. No doubt mobile companies have raised the bar with bigger & beefier batteries but that’s not doing justice to be frank. Smartphones with powerful processors, amazing display & various sensors have gone on to become more & more power hungry. Few android phones don’t even make it through a day with normal use forget about gaming & videos. Now imagine you have a great jet plane but no fuel to fly. It’s somehow same with these smartphones as well. They are all incredible smartphones full of amazing features but we use it miserly due to poor battery life.
Well guys, here I have prepared a list of top 5 battery saver apps for android which will increase your phones battery life & you won’t need to carry your charger all the time -

Juice Defender:

A complete package, Juice Defender tops my list for its sheer customization options. It has various profiles like balanced, aggressive, extreme, customize & advanced. These profiles can be set according to ones needs & requirements. It helps increase the battery life significantly.
What’s special about Juice Defender is that it automatically manages most of apps installed on your android phone including 3G/4G & other connectivity options causing lesser battery consumption. It gives you options to control almost everything on your smartphone be it Apps, CPU Speed, Wi-Fi or Mobile Data.
It’s free to download with basic features but you need to pay if you want to use additional features and guys, its worth!
Key Features:

• 2G/3G auto toggle
• Wi-Fi auto control
• Multiple Battery Profiles
• Battery Widgets
• CPU Scaling

Battery Doctor:

It has one of the simplest UI you can find amongst all the battery saver apps. It’s free to download & incredibly easy to use. There are various power saving modes like work, class & sleep which can be scheduled for activation. It also has automatic brightness control to reduce battery consumption. It can estimate the remaining battery life/levels more accurately than any other app in the play store. It also reads your usage pattern & accordingly shows the power remaining. Its
A key feature that sets Battery Doctor apart from others is it’s the task killer that comes with it. It can be used to kill unnecessary apps running in the background causing battery drain.
Key Features:

• Simple UI
• Task Killer
• Accurate Power Estimation
• Schedule Power Saving Modes
• CPU Management (rooted phones only)

Du Battery Saver & Widgets:

DU Battery Saver is another free to use but powerful app which if used properly can extend your smartphones battery life. It has SMART PRE-SET MODES which with its Intelligent Mode Switching ability changes according to your usage. It can even be customized giving you flexibility with the settings. Its One Touch feature can automatically change according to requirement/preference & can kill the apps that drain battery when you are running low on power. There is also option to control the CPU frequency to save battery life. It also comes with many useful widgets which provide quick access to the app settings. And yes, it is fully customizable as its Custom Made is also available for personalization.
Key Features:

• Smart-Pre Set Modes
• Auto Clear Apps
• CPU Frequency
• One Touch Widget

Go Battery Saver & Power Widget:

A great battery saver app by Go Dev Team which is free of cost & does what it says. GO Battery Saver comes with ONE CLICK OPTIMIZATION which contains various pre-defined power saving modes giving you an extended run. It also has the customization options which you can use to set the apps according to your personal use & preferences. It continuously checks for the apps that suck more juice. This app also gives you an exact estimate of the time your smartphone can run for when certain functions like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth are shut down. Its Smart Tab can be used to define an app or task that will turn on at a time of your liking.
Key Features:

• Accurate Battery Time Estimation
• One Click Battery Consumption Optimization
• Smart Tab Feature
• Charging Maintenance

Easy Battery Saver:

This app is specially designed to save battery reading your usage patterns. It has features which help you save battery by optimizing various features of your phone like Network Modes, Wi-Fi, Display & lots more. There is various power saving modes like General Saving Mode, Intelligent Saving Mode, Super Saving Mode & Advanced Customization Mode which give you plenty of freedom to choose your preferred settings to run you phone longer. The Super Saving Mode is unique as it takes care of your phones stand by time so it won’t die anytime soon. Its free to install from the Play Store.
Key Features:

• Various Power Saving Modes
• Simple UI
• List of Real-time Running Items Consuming Battery