Google are making some big'ish changes to Google Apps for....

[edutech4schools]

Just had this emailed to me. I have picked out the most interesting. Sorry if its already been posted.

 

Edit Microsoft Office files in Chrome and ChromeOSPosted: 25 Jun 2014 01:29 PM PDT

Google Apps users can now edit Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files directly from Google Drive, Gmail and the new Docs, Sheets and Slides home screens, without needing Microsoft Office. For ChromeOS users, there's nothing to install, it just works. Chrome users for Mac and Windows can install the “Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides” extension and you’re good to go.

 

Release track:

 

Rapid release and Scheduled release

 

Unlimit your business with Google Drive for WorkPosted: 25 Jun 2014 11:48 AM PDT

Today at Google I/O we announced Google Drive for Work—a new premium offering for businesses that includes unlimited storage, advanced audit reporting and new security controls.

 

Key features:

 

• unlimited storage for all employees, including files up to 5 TB in size
   
  
• new audit reporting so admins can see activity like moving, deleting or sharing files within or outside the company, plus an audit API that makes this data available to developers
   
  
• new security controls so admins can set sync client, offline, Drive app and add-on settings at the Organizational Unit (OU)-level
   
  
• includes Google Apps Vault, which has been expanded to provide search for all content stored in Drive
  

 

We’re also happy to announce that all files uploaded to Google Drive will now be encrypted for all users (consumer and Google Apps alike) -- so your content is encrypted not only from your device to Google and in transit between Google data centers, but also at rest on Google servers.

 

 

Google Drive for Work is now available for new and existing Google Apps for Business customers for $10/user/month, under a new SKU called Google Apps Unlimited.

 

 

 

Activity view, link sharing and more in the new Google Drive mobile appsPosted: 25 Jun 2014 01:59 PM PDT

The Google Drive mobile apps for Android and iOS now have a cleaner design, more responsive animations, and faster background syncing. Sharing your files is also simpler and faster. Key features include:

 

• Activity view: a stream of changes to your files and folders, accessible through the details panel
   
  
• Link sharing: easily share files and folders directly from the mobile app using a link
  

The new version of the app is available now on Android and iOS. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information: Get the Google Drive app on Google Play

 

Get the Google Drive app in the App Store

 

Introducing Google Apps Vault for DrivePosted: 25 Jun 2014 12:15 PM PDT

Vault’s robust functionality now includes another data source—Drive—so that organizations can find even more business-critical content. Vault for Drive comes at no additional cost for Vault customers and works with existing Drive content in users’ accounts. Postini customers transitioning to Vault will also be able to use Vault for Drive at no additional cost once the transition is complete.

 

With Vault for Drive, organizations can search for specific users’ Drive files (including both Google documents and other stored files), preview search results in Vault to make sure customers find just what they need and create copies of search results and export them for future use.

 

Setting retention policies, creating holds, and conducting domain-wide searches for Drive content are not available at this time.

 

Release track:

 

Rapid release and Scheduled release

 

 

Integration of Quickoffice into Google Sheets mobile apps for Android and iOS Posted: 25 Jun 2014 01:15 PM PDT Quickoffice will be integrated into the Google Sheets app, allowing for seamless editing of Microsoft Excel files. This is available now on Android and is coming soon on iOS. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release (Note: the update will gradually roll out to users over the coming days) For more information: Google Drive blog postHelp Center articleGet the Google Sheets app on Google Play Get the Google Sheets app in the App Store whatsnew.googleapps.com Get these product update alerts by email Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Integration of Quickoffice into Google Docs mobile apps for Android and iOS Posted: 25 Jun 2014 01:55 PM PDT Quickoffice will be integrated into the Google Docs app, allowing for seamless editing of Microsoft Word files. This is available now on Android and is coming soon on iOS. Release track: Rapid release and Scheduled release (Note: the update will gradually roll out to users over the coming days) For more information: Google Drive blog postHelp Center articleGet the Google Docs app on Google Play Get the Google Docs app in the App Store

 

Restore a user's Google Drive filesPosted: 25 Jun 2014 01:48 PM PDT

Admins can now restore a given user’s deleted Google Drive files for a specified date range. This helps ensure that, if a user accidentally deletes important files, those files are not permanently lost. The feature pertains to files that have been emptied from the Trash only. Files still in the Trash can be easily recovered by the user.

 

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

 

For more information:

 

https://support.google.com/a/answer/6052340

 

Better document and image viewing experience in Gmail and Google DrivePosted: 25 Jun 2014 01:44 PM PDT

We've launched a new version of the UI for viewing documents and images in Gmail and Google Drive to give more focus to the content itself. The tool bar has moved to the top (and disappears when not in use) and the document/image frame is now wider, giving users a more streamlined experience.

 

Release track:

 

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks (for Gmail only, changes in Drive will launch to all tracks today)

[uke]

We just went if Office 365 because Google did not support editing Office documents. Wish we had known about this several months ago!

[edutech4schools]

Not able to install the Office edit extension. Anyone else tried?

 

http://goo.gl/4rs8ts

[Arthur]

Not able to install the Office edit extension. Anyone else tried?

Works fine for me when I just tried it.

 

I also installed it at home last night and didn't have any issues.

[rdk]

For me the extension installed OK, but I don't think it'll work until the new Drive is rolled out to our domain, which it hasn't yet. The documentation not very clear on this.

[edutech4schools]

For my personal Google account the extension is not even listed but I can edit word docs using my phone with drive.

[DevilsAdvocate]

This is a pretty big deal for us. Our sponsor uses Google Apps and want us to do the same, however I've resisted due to the inability to directly edit Office documents and pursued Office 365 (at extra cost) for our mobile devices and such. Excellent news!

[gshaw]

Interesting development, I wonder if this might force Microsoft's hand to make the Office mobile apps free on all plans?

[edutech4schools]

Interesting development, I wonder if this might force Microsoft's hand to make the Office mobile apps free on all plans?

 

MS will need to draw a line at some point. Google will just keep adding free content as it's revenues are advert based and MS has to make money selling stuff.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Interesting development, I wonder if this might force Microsoft's hand to make the Office mobile apps free on all plans?

 

MS will need to draw a line at some point. Google will just keep adding free content as it's revenues are advert based and MS has to make money selling stuff.

[edutech4schools]

Another handy update for Google domain admins I noticed is the ability to easily transfer documents when deleting a user from the domain.

 

Google Apps update alerts: Transfer ownership of Drive files before deleting a user