Google Now

When I think about what I will blog about here, I grab my phone or tablet and spend a few seconds thinking about the apps that I use on a regular basis that help me be productive.

Today, not only did I think about Google Now, but I also thought about how it is such a seemless part of my daily prooductivity routine that I almost did not realise that this was the case.

There is something about using an app like that, one that becomes so seamless, so much a part of the way in which you work and play that you don't realise that it has become part of your subconcious routines.

Weather, package tracking and delivery, travel, timetabling, right down to suggesting stories it grabs from the web based upon my search and reading habits, Google Now is very much a part of the way I work.

I was most delighted with a recent update to the app. I recently had an organisation book travel for me as part of my work, and Google Now took the flight information from the confirmation emails, added it to my Google calendar, and gave me timely reminders without my having to lift a digital finger.

If you are not using Google Now, give it a shot. It can feel a little intrusive, and sometimes I still get a pang along those lines, however dip into it and turn it on (you need to opt in to Google Now) and give it a whirl for a few months. See what you reckon.

Google Photo's is amazing!

I am not sure when it happened, but suddenly Google Photo's became amazing. If you are not aware, you can choose between two modes of file storage. You can choose to store your photo's at the same quality that you took them, OR if you choose the standard photo storage size, you get unlimited (yep you read that right) storage of your photo's in Google Drive. Forever. That's it. No catch. That is the hook that first got me started.

However, the app on Android and then the web site just seemed to make a rapid number of incremental changes until it is now one of the apps that I use frequently, and it is a joy.

I think that unless you are in the media industry and have a need for particularly large files sizes for your photo's, the standard setting (which is called "high quality") is really all the average photographer needs.

What is great about Google Photo's is, like most of Google's apps these days, it is available on iOS. I have helped two of my Apple totting friends with stuttering iPhone's take advantage of the feature that removes photo's from your iPhone once they have safely been backed up to Google Drive. The free space, improved performance, ease of use and the way that we can now collaborate on projects together seamlessley across the ecosystem divide have made them rubberneck by Nexus 5 at least one time a peice.

Get on it. Google Photo's is great.