Windows 10: Google taking charge of RCS messaging rollout

Brink · Jun 17, 2019

We’ve been hearing about RCS, the replacement for SMS texting, for over a year now, but actually using the next-generation service has been nearly impossible due to complicated carrier and phone maker politics. But now Google is taking over: later this month, Android users in the UK and France will be able to opt in to RCS Chat services provided directly by Google instead of waiting for their carrier to support it.

That seems like yet another minor status check-in on the service meant to replace SMS, but in fact it’s a huge shift in strategy: as Google rolls this offering out to more countries, it should eventually mean that RCS will become universally available for all Android users.

For the first time in years, Google will directly offer a better default texting experience to Android users instead of waiting for cellphone carriers to do it. It’s not quite the Google equivalent of an iMessage service for Android users, but it’s close. Not knowing when or if RCS Chat would be available for your phone was RCS’s second biggest problem, and Google is fixing it.

RCS’s biggest problem is that messages are still not end-to-end encrypted. iMessage, WhatsApp, and Signal are secured in that way, and even Facebook has said it will make all its apps encrypted by default. Google’s chat solution is increasingly looking out of touch — even immoral.

But there is hope on that front as well. The product management director overseeing Android Messages, Sanaz Ahari, assures me that Google recognizes the need for private chat within RCS and is working on it. Here’s her full statement:
"We fundamentally believe that communication, especially messaging, is highly personal and users have a right to privacy for their communications. And we’re fully committed to finding a solution for our users."
What it means to you should be simple: if you have an Android phone, the timeline for when the RCS switch will be available has become shorter. Google says that it will release the services to more countries “throughout the year,” but wouldn’t commit to saying that it would be available in all regions by the end of the year. However, as Ahari puts it, the goal is “a great, simple user experience that just works for every Android user.”

As with all things related to Google’s messaging strategy in general, and Rich Communication Services (RCS) specifically, none of this is happening with the speed or clarity I’d like. But it’s happening, finally, and there are a lot of details to go through if you want to fully understand how it will work and what it means...
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Read more: Google is finally taking charge of the RCS rollout - The Verge

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Brink · Jun 17, 2019

Google updates Test My Site and RCS Business Messaging

It’s been twelve years since the dawn of the mobile era—a span where we’ve witnessed what can seem like a lifetime’s worth of digital innovation and new platforms. Apps. Voice-activated assistants. AR. VR. It’s an age of digital plenty, and one that can make it easy to forget a plain truth: the mobile web is still the most widely used platform.

Because mobile is where most people turn when they want to know, go, do or buy, it’s important to deliver the kind of mobile experience that people expect today: one that’s fast, engaging and doesn’t get in the way of what they want to accomplish. And because Google is deeply invested in the success of marketers and brands, we never stop looking for ways to develop and support new tools and innovations that can move the industry forward.

With this in mind, today we're introducing two new updates: a top-to-bottom rebuild of Test My Site, and more availability and growth of Rich Communications Services (RCS) Business Messaging.

Test My Site

One of the mobile era’s clearest lessons has been that the foundation for any great mobile experience is a fast mobile experience. How important is a fast mobile experience? According to SOASTA’s The State of Online Retail Performance, a one-second delay in mobile load times can impact conversion rate by up to 20%. That’s why in 2016 we created Test My Site, a tool for businesses to check the speed of individual mobile pages and get a few recommended fixes.

But moving at the speed of mobile means making the adjustments needed to continuously improve.

So with the new Test My Site, businesses can now see:

The speed of both their entire site and of individual pages

Whether their site/page speed is faster or slower compared to the prior month

Whether their site speed/page speed ranks Fast, Average, or Slow

How their site speed compares to others in the industry

The potential impact of site speed on revenue

A detailed list of recommended fixes to increase speed on up to 5 pages on their site

A complete report to share with their team

With the new Test My Site, businesses have a single destination to measure, benchmark and take action on mobile site speed—the first step toward a great mobile experience.

RCS Business Messaging

Messaging is another area where businesses can improve the mobile experience. SMS, the format millions of businesses rely on today to reach mobile consumers, is limited to 160 characters and very few images and interactions.

RCS upgrades SMS with branding, business verification, rich media, suggested replies and actions, and analytics. One of the traditional tradeoffs for rich messaging experiences has been slower loading, but with RCS, businesses can deliver fast, branded, interactive experiences right to a mobile phone’s default messaging app. Google is partnering with the mobile industry to modernize mobile messaging and deliver better consumer experiences with RCS. To learn more about RCS Business Messaging, visit our website.

Brands are already using RCS in a variety of ways, from promoting deals of the day to letting customers refill prescriptions or check their account balances, all within the native messaging experience on Android. For example, with Overstock, customers can get purchase, shipping and delivery confirmation as well as the option to rate a purchase after delivery or connect directly with customer service. With Citi, select U.S. credit card and retail bank customers can quickly check their balance, see a short history of recent transactions and more. With Walgreens, patients receive prescription refill reminders and notifications for when orders are ready for pick up. And with Broxel, people can pay their utility bills, check their account balances, send funds or connect directly with customer service. DPD customers will soon be able to use RCS to get package delivery notifications with the option to update their drop off locations. And Vaillant customers will be able to change appointments, provide feedback, and connect with a live agent. All of these brands will enhance the customer's experience on mobile using RCS.

In addition, many more brands in Europe will bring RCS experiences to their customers in the coming months.

A lot has changed over the last 12 years, but one thing that hasn’t changed is mobile’s unmatched capacity to drive business growth. With Test My Site and RCS Business Messaging, businesses have two powerful tools to deliver the kinds of experiences necessary to drive that growth—at the speed of mobile.
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Source: Two tools to build a better mobile experience

Brink · Jun 17, 2019

Spelling and grammar improvements in Google Docs for G Suite

Quick launch summary

Earlier this year we introduced a BETA for new grammar suggestions in Google Docs. Now we’re making this feature available for G Suite Basic, Business, and Enterprise users.

The new features enhance existing spell check functions and highlight possible grammatical errors in your text. We’re also introducing a revamped interface for reviewing spelling and grammar suggestions which makes it faster and easier to spot and correct errors in your text.

Some improvements you’ll see are:

Grammar

Possible grammar corrections will be underlined in blue. To see a suggested correction or dismiss the alert, simply right-click.

You will also see possible grammar errors when running a spelling and grammar check through the Tools menu.

New language review interface

You can easily review all language suggestions for your document with the updated spelling and grammar check tool. Access it through the “Tools” menu or right-click on a suggestion and select “Review more suggestions” — you’ll see each suggestion and actions to correct any errors.

To learn more about how we’re using machine learning to recognize errors and suggest corrections to improve your writing, see here.

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 5, 2019.

Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 5, 2019.

G Suite editions

Available to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, and G Suite for Education.

Not Available to G Suite Enterprise for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits.

On/off by default?

This feature will be ON by default.
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Source: G Suite Updates Blog: Spelling and grammar improvements in Docs for Enterprise

Brink · Jun 17, 2019

Google adding more options to right click context menu in Gmail

What’s changing

We’re adding more options to the right-click context menu in Gmail.

New menu options in Gmail with conversation mode on

New menu options in Gmail with conversation mode off[

Who’s impacted

All end users

Why you’d use it

With these new options, you can take even more actions, directly from a message, in your inbox such as:

Reply to, or forward, an email in one click from the main page

Search for all emails from a sender

Search for all emails with the same subject (if conversation view is turned off)

Open multiple emails in multiple new windows at the same time

Easily add a label or move an email

How to get started

Admins: No action necessary.

End users: The context menu can be opened by:

Right-click

Ctrl+click on Mac keyboards

The menu key on Windows keyboards.

Availability

Rollout details

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 11, 2019

Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on February 22, 2019

G Suite editions

Available to all G Suite editions

On/off by default?

This feature will be ON by default.

Click to expand...

Source: G Suite Updates Blog: Easily take action in Gmail with new right-click context menu options

Windows 10: Google taking charge of RCS messaging rollout

Google taking charge of RCS messaging rollout

Google taking charge of RCS messaging rollout

Google taking charge of RCS messaging rollout

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