Google Workspace Updates: August 2014

New available contacts tab for Hangouts in Gmail

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

With this launch, we are introducing a new tab to Hangouts in Gmail that shows a list of a person’s contacts sorted by availability, making it easier to see which contacts are currently online.

Available contacts (those with the green circle) will show in an alpha-ordered list first, followed by a second alpha-ordered list of unavailable contacts. Contacts can be hidden or pinned to the top of the contacts list regardless of their availability.

To access the new contacts tab, click on the person icon on the bottom of the Hangouts section.

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

For more information:

G+ Post

Help Center

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Changes to legacy Google Drive URLs

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

As initially mentioned last month, in line with the new Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides home screens we announced in June, we’ll now start redirecting docs.google.com to point to the new Google Docs home screen instead of to Google Drive. You can always get to Google Drive by going to drive.google.com.

Those with docs.google.com bookmarked as a way to access Google Drive should update their links accordingly. We will be showing a notification to users in both Drive and Docs to remind them of this change.

Release track:

Rapid release (gradual rollout over the coming weeks), followed by rollout to Scheduled release domains two weeks after completion of rollout to Rapid release domains

For more information:

Quickly find and insert special characters into Google Docs, Slides, and Drawings

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

We have launched a new version of the special character picker in Google Docs, Slides, and Drawings, making it easier for people to find characters and symbols—like arrows, shapes, or non-Latin characters—to insert into their content.

The new picker now supports keyword search as well as free form input, so editors can draw the symbol that they have in mind and the picker will return available characters that resemble the drawing.

To add special characters, click the Insert menu and select Special characters.

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

For more information:

G+ Post

New Google Slides, Docs, and Sheets apps for iOS

Monday, August 25, 2014

The new Google Slides mobile app is now available on iOS, making it easier for people to quickly find, edit and create presentations on the go--online or offline. As with the Android version, the Slides iOS app includes support for editing PowerPoint files. Additionally, as announced for Android in June, the Google Docs and Sheets apps for iOS have been updated to allow for seamless editing of Word and Excel files. No need to worry about file compatibility or internet connections anymore with the new Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps on iOS--it all just works. Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

Enterprise blog post

Get the Google Slides, Docs, and Sheets iOS apps

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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View event support in Google Drive audit logs

Monday, August 18, 2014

Currently, Google Apps Unlimited customers are able to access Drive audit logs using the Reports API and in the 'Audit' section of the Admin console reports. The current Drive audit logs include events such as create, upload, edit, rename, move, add to folder, remove from folder, trash, delete and untrash. We are now adding view event support to the Drive audit logs.

View event will cover file views for Google and non-Google file formats. Admins will also be able to filter on view events and combine that with other filtering criteria like document name, user name and timestamp.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Copy and paste charts within Google Sheets

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

People using Google Sheets will now be able to copy and paste high-fidelity, fully functional charts inside the same spreadsheet and between spreadsheets. When copying inside the same spreadsheet, the original data is used, so updating any data updates the chart. When copying between spreadsheets, a copy of the data is used, so no data is linked and updating the original data does not affect the chart. Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

Google+ Post

Help Center

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Chart trendlines now available in Google Sheets

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

People creating charts in Google Sheets will now have the ability to add trendlines--lines superimposed on charts revealing the overall direction of the data. Trendlines can be styled with different colors and line thicknesses, and can be displayed as an item in the legend. They are available for scatter plot, bar, column, and line charts. Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks For more information:

Google+ Post

Help Center

Classroom now available to Google Apps for Education

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Today we started to open Classroom to all Google Apps for Education users, helping teachers create and collect assignments paperlessly. Classroom includes time-saving features like the ability to automatically make a copy of a Google Document for each student, and also creates Drive folders for each assignment and for each student to help keep everyone organized. Students can keep track of what’s due on the Assignments page and begin working with just a click. Teachers can quickly see who has or hasn't completed the work, and provide direct, real-time feedback and grades right in Classroom. We’ll be rolling out to more users every day, so if you go to classroom.google.com with your Apps for Education account and don’t have access yet, please check back soon.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

Enterprise blog post

Optimize the experience working with Office files on your Chromebook

Friday, August 8, 2014

People using Chrome OS on the latest versions (36.0.1985.138 or 36.0.1985.126), and who are opted-in to the new Drive UI, can now edit Office files natively from Drive and Gmail. They will also experience greater stability and rendering fidelity for files.

If your organization manages updates for Chrome, be sure to update to the latest Chrome OS versions to get the best experience working with Office files on your Chromebook.

For more information:

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/2481498

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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New bulk mail filter in Gmail Spam settings

Thursday, August 7, 2014

With this new option in Gmail Spam settings, admins can turn on more stringent filtering of bulk mail using a single checkbox. This is a feature that was available in Postini, and will now be available to Google Apps customers. For migrated Postini customers, the checkbox will be enabled by default.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/2368132

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Support for third-party internationalized email addresses in Gmail

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

With this launch, Gmail users will be able to send to, and receive from, email addresses that contain accented or non-Latin characters. This includes both the ___domain name (to the right of the @ symbol) and/or the local-part (to the left of the @ symbol), as in 武＠メール.グーグル.

Google Accounts will continue to contain only non-accented Latin characters (ASCII), so users will not be able to create an account such as Борис@gmail.com.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Enterprise Blog Post

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Video call links in Calendar events for all Apps customers

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Last week we announced the roll-out of Hangouts video calls for up to 15 participants to everyone on Google Apps. This applies to people with and without access to Google+, with either Google Talk or Google Hangouts chat enabled. Starting today, Google Calendar will automatically add video call links to new Calendar events for all Google Apps for Business and Education customers.

As announced earlier this year, administrators can disable this functionality for specific organizational units.

We plan to provide similar functionality to Google Apps for Government soon.

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

More information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/4362302

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Table cell border styling in Google Docs

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

People working with tables in Google Docs will now be able add styling to the borders of individual cells or groups of cells within the table. New controls will allow the application of color, width, and line styles to cell borders in a selection.

When the cursor is in a table, the border styling toolbar will appear, allowing the editor to select border styles for a selection of cells or the individual cell containing the cursor.

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

For more information:

https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3508928

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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What's New in Google Apps newsletter - July 2014

Monday, August 4, 2014

Check out this month's "What's New in Google Apps" newsletter for a roundup of all Apps launches from July 2014.

Newsletter Archive & Localized Versions (coming soon for July issue)

Note: all launches are applicable to all Google Apps editions unless otherwise noted

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Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

In the Google Cloud Community, connect with Googlers and other Google Workspace admins like yourself. Participate in product discussions, check out the Community Articles, and learn tips and tricks that will make your work and life easier. Be the first to know what's happening with Google Workspace.

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Learn about more Google Workspace launches

On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

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Updates

New available contacts tab for Hangouts in Gmail

Changes to legacy Google Drive URLs

Quickly find and insert special characters into Google Docs, Slides, and Drawings

New Google Slides, Docs, and Sheets apps for iOS

View event support in Google Drive audit logs

Copy and paste charts within Google Sheets

Chart trendlines now available in Google Sheets

Classroom now available to Google Apps for Education

Optimize the experience working with Office files on your Chromebook

New bulk mail filter in Gmail Spam settings

Support for third-party internationalized email addresses in Gmail

Video call links in Calendar events for all Apps customers

Table cell border styling in Google Docs

What's New in Google Apps newsletter - July 2014

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