Google Workspace Updates: July 2014

Support for dual screens in Chromebox for meetings devices

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

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

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Domains using Chromebox for meetings devices will be able to simply plug in a second display to their Chromebox’s display port and that display will behave as a secondary display. During a video call, this will allow participants to see the audience and the projected presentation at the same time. Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

Enterprise blog post

Using dual displays

Remotely manage Chromebox video meetings

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

Enterprise blog post

Remotely manage video calls

Manage Chromebox for meetings devices

Admins can now better manage video calls in Chromebox for meetings devices right from the Google Apps Admin console, with options like remotely starting, muting and hanging up a meeting. Meeting participants are still in full control of the device in their conference room, even if the video call is started remotely. For example, meetings are muted by default, but participants can unmute the microphone using the remote control if they need to be heard. They can also end the call or perform any other task available on the device. Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

Enterprise blog post

Remotely manage video calls

Manage Chromebox for meetings devices

Eject guests from a Hangouts video call

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/6187009#eject

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

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Hangouts participants will now have the ability to remove other participants from a Hangouts video call. This is only available to people from the same domain as the Hangout creator. For example, if a person creates a Hangouts video call from Calendar, people in their same domain will be able to eject others from the call. Any participants from outside the domain will not have this ability. Ejected participants will not be able to re-join the call unless explicitly re-invited from within the video call.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

Enhanced reliability and support for Hangouts

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

Enterprise blog post

Google Apps SLA

Hangouts is now covered under the same Terms of Service that support our other Google Apps for Business products, like Gmail and Google Drive. That means that customers receive 24x7 phone support and 99.9% guaranteed uptime as well as ISO27001, SSAE 16/ISAE 4302 and SOC 2 certification. Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release For more information:

Enterprise blog post

Google Apps SLA

Hangouts video calls for all

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Start Hangout video calls with up to 15 participants
Include any external guests who have a Google account
Add, change or join a video call in a Google Calendar entry (coming soon)
Join or start a Hangout by URL or at g.co/hangout/ (and g.co/present/ to just present)

Please note that people without a Google+ profile will not be able to use Hangout apps other than screen share and chat, nor invite Google+ circles to a Hangout video call.

This enhancement will be supported in a coming version of the Android and iOS Hangout apps.

Release track:

Hangouts features (launching today) - Rapid release and Scheduled release
Calendar features (coming soon) - Rapid release, followed by Scheduled release two weeks later

For more information:

Note: this launch only applies to Google Apps for Business, Education, and Government editions

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With today’s launch, people using Google Apps with access to Google Talk or Google Hangouts chat will now have the ability to create and join Hangout video calls for up to 15 participants. Participants will no longer need to ensure Google+ premium services are enabled, nor have a Google+ profile. Features such as sharing one’s screen to a team or automatically adding a Hangout to any Calendar event will also be available. Before a Google+ profile is created, a Hangouts participant will be able to:

Start Hangout video calls with up to 15 participants
Include any external guests who have a Google account
Add, change or join a video call in a Google Calendar entry (coming soon)
Join or start a Hangout by URL or at g.co/hangout/ (and g.co/present/ to just present)

Please note that people without a Google+ profile will not be able to use Hangout apps other than screen share and chat, nor invite Google+ circles to a Hangout video call.

This enhancement will be supported in a coming version of the Android and iOS Hangout apps.

Release track:

Hangouts features (launching today) - Rapid release and Scheduled release
Calendar features (coming soon) - Rapid release, followed by Scheduled release two weeks later

For more information:

Using Suggested Edits between Microsoft® Word and Google Docs

Friday, July 25, 2014

We know that some of you work with people who still use Word, so starting today any tracked changes in a .docx file will be automatically carried over to Docs as Suggested Edits. Once you’ve imported your changes, you can begin immediately collaborating with your colleagues in real-time.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Enterprise blog post

Help Center

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

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A few weeks ago we launched Suggested Edits in Google Docs--a way to make edits that can be accepted or rejected by the owner of the document.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Enterprise blog post

New version of Gmail iOS app

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Save attachments directly to Google Drive so you can access them anywhere while saving space and bandwidth on your device
Insert Google Drive files directly into messages
New account management options to choose which accounts you want to have visible in Gmail without removing accounts from your device.
Change your profile picture (in Settings)

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Gmail blog post

Get the Gmail iOS app in the App Store

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

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A new version of the Gmail iOS app is now available in the App Store. The launch includes:

Save attachments directly to Google Drive so you can access them anywhere while saving space and bandwidth on your device
Insert Google Drive files directly into messages
New account management options to choose which accounts you want to have visible in Gmail without removing accounts from your device.
Change your profile picture (in Settings)

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Gmail blog post

SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) available on Chromebooks

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Configure SAML Single Sign-On for Chrome Devices

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

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Many organizations already use single sign-on (SSO) for Google Apps. Today, we are launching SAML-based SSO login for Chromebooks and Chromeboxes as well. Using the Admin console, admins can begin evaluating and slowly rolling out this capability across their organizations by setting just one policy.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Updated version of Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook®

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook calendar migrations now uses the latest Google Calendar API (version 3 )
Calendar migrations now recognize more time zones
Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook can now get the sender's email address from the message's internet headers even if it's missing from the sender field in Outlook
Several bug fixes

Release Track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

See what's new in this release for more details
Get the latest version from the download page. Existing installs will auto-update in the coming weeks
Learn more about Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook

Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook® v3.0 is now available with the following new features:

Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook calendar migrations now uses the latest Google Calendar API (version 3 )
Calendar migrations now recognize more time zones
Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook can now get the sender's email address from the message's internet headers even if it's missing from the sender field in Outlook
Several bug fixes

Release Track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

See what's new in this release for more details
Get the latest version from the download page. Existing installs will auto-update in the coming weeks
Learn more about Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook

Chrome users no longer need Hangouts video plugin

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Following this update, when users try to start a video call for the first time, they’ll see a message underneath the address bar asking for permission to access their computer’s mic and camera. If they want to change their choice later, they can change it from the address bar in Chrome.

We recommend users familiarize themselves with this change before seeing the prompt.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Help Center

G+ post

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

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A few weeks ago we announced automatic support for Hangouts video calls in Chrome without the need for the Hangouts video plugin. Starting tomorrow, we are happy to announce that we are rolling this out gradually to all Google Apps users.

Following this update, when users try to start a video call for the first time, they’ll see a message underneath the address bar asking for permission to access their computer’s mic and camera. If they want to change their choice later, they can change it from the address bar in Chrome.

We recommend users familiarize themselves with this change before seeing the prompt.

Release track:
Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Help Center

Sort and use filter views in Google Sheets without edit access

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

For more information:

G+ post

This feature will allow those with view only access to sort and use filter views in Google Sheets. Users will also now be able to link to specific filter views to share with others and change the range of the filter view without needing to delete and then re-create it.

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

For more information:

G+ post

Get the most out of Gmail with the new setup gadget

Friday, July 18, 2014

The setup gadget is hidden once the person completes all actions, dismisses the gadget or after two weeks. It can be relaunched from Settings.

Release track:

Rapid release (rolled out gradually over the next week), with Scheduled release coming two weeks later

For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/6010214

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

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Gmail now has a setup gadget to help people new to Gmail get started. This gadget is customized for Google Apps and helps people set up their Gmail account with actions like adding a profile picture and creating an email signature, and teaches them to use features like undo send and creating an auto-responder.

The setup gadget is hidden once the person completes all actions, dismisses the gadget or after two weeks. It can be relaunched from Settings.

Release track:

Rapid release (rolled out gradually over the next week), with Scheduled release coming two weeks later

For more information:

Changes to legacy Google Drive URLs

Thursday, July 17, 2014

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 Drive to remind them of this change.

The launch of the new home screens for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides on the web to rapid release domains will be complete on July 18, and we’ll start the launch to scheduled release domains on July 22nd. The change to legacy Google Drive urls will come a couple of weeks later to rapid release domains, followed by scheduled release domains two weeks later.

For more information:

More on the new home screens for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Currently, there are two urls one can use to reach Google Drive--docs.google.com and drive.google.com. In line with the new Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides home screens we announced recently, we’ll be redirecting docs.google.com to point to the new Google Docs home screen, where you can see a list of your most recent Google Docs files. Of course, 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 Drive to remind them of this change.

For more information:

More on the new home screens for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

New ‘User Security Management’ privilege for delegated admins

Thursday, July 17, 2014

To that end, we have created a new privilege called ‘User Security Management’ that allows delegated admins to perform the following actions for a specific user:

Enforce or disable 2-step verification for a given user
Disable a user's Login Challenge for 10 minutes
Retrieve/revoke application specific passwords
Retrieve/revoke 3-legged OAuth (3LO) tokens

In the past, delegated admins with any existing role with the ‘Users’ privilege were already able to disable 2-step verification for individual users. With this launch, these delegated admins will automatically get ‘User Security Management’ privileges to ensure they continue to have access to disable 2-step verification.

If an admin creates a new custom role, he/she will have the ability to selectively enable ‘Users’ or ‘User Security Management’ or both privileges going forward.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/1219251#user_security

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

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Currently there are a number of user security management features that are available only to super admins. To increase flexibility, our goal is to provide granular privileges so that some of these security features can be delegated to non-super admins.

To that end, we have created a new privilege called ‘User Security Management’ that allows delegated admins to perform the following actions for a specific user:

Enforce or disable 2-step verification for a given user
Disable a user's Login Challenge for 10 minutes
Retrieve/revoke application specific passwords
Retrieve/revoke 3-legged OAuth (3LO) tokens

If an admin creates a new custom role, he/she will have the ability to selectively enable ‘Users’ or ‘User Security Management’ or both privileges going forward.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

Search delegated contacts

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

To save users time when locating specific delegated contacts, we’ve now added search functionality. Delegates can search delegator contacts by selecting the delegator contact group in the navigation pane, and then searching.

Note that delegator contacts will not show up in the autocomplete drop down, or in searches when the delegator group is not selected.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/2590392?hl=en

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Contacts delegation allows enterprise users to delegate full access to the contacts in their “My Contacts” group without granting access to their mail or anything else in their accounts. This is a common delegation practice between some executive users and their assistants and may be used in any situation where a user wishes to share all of his or her contacts with another user.

Note that delegator contacts will not show up in the autocomplete drop down, or in searches when the delegator group is not selected.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/2590392?hl=en

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Richer profile information with extended user attributes in Admin console

Friday, July 11, 2014

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/179832

https://support.google.com/a/answer/33310

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When adding users to a domain in the Admin console, admins will now have the option to add and manage contact information on user profiles like secondary email address, as well as phone and address information. Admins will also be able to add employee details like Employee ID, Employee Type, Title, Manager, Department and Cost Center. The data entered is visible on user profiles in the Admin console and in Gmail contacts.

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release

For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/179832

https://support.google.com/a/answer/33310

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Browser upgrade notifications in Gmail

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Chrome (current version 35.x)

we will start showing the upgrade browser banner on v33.x and older, and will show the banner on versions two revisions behind the current stable build moving forward

Firefox (current version 30.x)

we will start showing the upgrade browser banner on v28.x and older, and will show the banner on versions two revisions behind the current stable build moving forward

Safari (current version 7.x)

we will start showing the upgrade browser banner on v5.x and older, and will show the banner on versions two revisions behind the current stable build moving forward

Internet Explorer (current version 11.x)

no change

For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/33864?hl=en

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Google’s long-standing browser support policy states that we support the current and previous major releases for modern browsers. In line with that policy, we will be making the following updates to our browser upgrade notifications in Gmail in the coming weeks:

Chrome (current version 35.x)

we will start showing the upgrade browser banner on v33.x and older, and will show the banner on versions two revisions behind the current stable build moving forward

Firefox (current version 30.x)

we will start showing the upgrade browser banner on v28.x and older, and will show the banner on versions two revisions behind the current stable build moving forward

Safari (current version 7.x)

we will start showing the upgrade browser banner on v5.x and older, and will show the banner on versions two revisions behind the current stable build moving forward

Internet Explorer (current version 11.x)

no change

For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/33864?hl=en

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New version of the Gmail Android app

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Insert Google Drive files directly into messages
Improved autocomplete: start typing in the To, Cc or Bcc field and you'll now get better suggestions, faster
Improved formatting support when restoring saved drafts

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release (Note: these features will be rolling out over the next few days)

For more information:

Google+ Post

Get the Gmail Android app on Google Play

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A new version of the Gmail Android app is coming to Google Play. The launch includes:

Insert Google Drive files directly into messages
Improved autocomplete: start typing in the To, Cc or Bcc field and you'll now get better suggestions, faster
Improved formatting support when restoring saved drafts

Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release (Note: these features will be rolling out over the next few days)

For more information:

Google+ Post

Get the Gmail Android app on Google Play

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Transfer ownership of Drive files before deleting a user

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Rapid release and Scheduled release (Note: this feature will be rolled out gradually) For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/33314

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To help prevent the accidental deletion of Drive files when deleting a user, admins will now be prompted to optionally transfer ownership of any files owned by the user. Admins can choose to transfer all files the user owns or only shared files they own. If the user is deleted without transferring the user’s Drive files, Google deletes the files the user owned within five days. Release track:

Rapid release and Scheduled release (Note: this feature will be rolled out gradually) For more information:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/33314

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Thirteen new UI languages in Gmail

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

For more information:

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/17091?hl=en

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We’ve added thirteen new languages to the Gmail general settings language drop down, allowing users to view the Gmail UI in these new languages: Afrikaans, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Chinese (Hong Kong), French (Canada), Galician, Georgian, Khmer, Lao, Mongolian, Nepali, Sinhala, Zulu

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

For more information:

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/17091?hl=en

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Reset image in Google Docs, Slides, and Drawings

Monday, July 7, 2014

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

For more information:

https://plus.google.com/+GoogleDrive/posts/acCDweSyKrA

https://support.google.com/docs/answer/4600160

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This feature provides the ability to reset the properties and formatting of an image in Google Docs, Slides, and Drawings after edits have been made to it. This is useful for restarting an image editing attempt if unhappy with the first try.

Release track:

Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

For more information:

https://plus.google.com/+GoogleDrive/posts/acCDweSyKrA

https://support.google.com/docs/answer/4600160

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Useful Links

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.

______________

Updates

New version of Google Drive viewer

Support for dual screens in Chromebox for meetings devices

Remotely manage Chromebox video meetings

Eject guests from a Hangouts video call

Enhanced reliability and support for Hangouts

Hangouts video calls for all

Using Suggested Edits between Microsoft® Word and Google Docs

New version of Gmail iOS app

SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) available on Chromebooks

Updated version of Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook®

Chrome users no longer need Hangouts video plugin

Sort and use filter views in Google Sheets without edit access

Get the most out of Gmail with the new setup gadget

Changes to legacy Google Drive URLs

New ‘User Security Management’ privilege for delegated admins

Search delegated contacts

Richer profile information with extended user attributes in Admin console

Browser upgrade notifications in Gmail

New version of the Gmail Android app

Transfer ownership of Drive files before deleting a user

Thirteen new UI languages in Gmail

Reset image in Google Docs, Slides, and Drawings

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