Google Drive is a powerhouse of a file storage system. It makes it easy to save documents and other data that can be transferred to other Google apps as well. Fortunately, Google makes it easy to access Drive straight from your desktop – whether Mac or PC.
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Neverware makes Chromium OS, the open-source version of Chrome OS, easy to install on any PC or Mac. Unsurprisingly, it has gained traction with budget-strapped schools that have aging laptops laying around. While schools have to pay a license fee, it is free to download for everyone else and an update today adds a new dual-booting capability.
Developer of the popular PC game MapleStory has long had a mobile version of the game, Pocket MapleStory, but up until now there has only been a Korean version and a soft launch in select countries. Today the game officially comes to all users worldwide with a localized version for English players.
The mobile version of the game packs in the full side-scrolling MMORPG desktop experience including all 1,500 different quests, real-time online multiplayer functionality, and rich, colorful environments.
Available now, the side-scrolling action that fans have adored for more than 10 years on the PC now gives players the chance to explore the vast and colorful universe of Maple World on mobile devices. Pocket MapleStory has already garnered more than seven million downloads in Asia and has been the number one free game on both the App Store and Google Play in Korea and Taiwan. The game had also ranked first and second in free game category on the App Store in China and Japan respectively… In honor of the worldwide launch, there will be two launch events for fans to earn additional in-game rewards.
Android users are getting the game first with a release on Google Play for free, but with in-app purchases available for items and character customizations.
Developer NEXON Korea noted in its press release that the game already has “more than seven million downloads in Asia and has been the number one free game on both the App Store and Google Play in Korea and Taiwan.” The game is yet to get a worldwide release on iOS, but it will come to all users on the platform later this year.
Pocket MapleStory is available for Android users now on Google Play.
Better late than never – PC gamers will be happy to know that Android version 2.0.7 of the popular Steam social network and game distribution store brings with it a complete redesign of the app to follow Google’s Material Design guidelines.
As always, you won’t be doing any gaming from this app as Steam doesn’t sell mobile games and won’t stream desktop games to mobile devices, but you can do just about everything else; purchase games, message friends, access the Steam Guard authenticator, and more. We’ll keep you posted if we notice any other major changes.
For reference, here’s a taste of what the app looked like prior to this update:
If you’ve had any doubts about how far Android has come since 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, let these two (horrifying) screenshots serve as a reminder.
The update hasn’t propagated across Google Play yet, but if you head over to APK Mirror you can download it now (click here).
Google today released its Chrome Remote Desktop app for iOS after a release on Android devices last year.
The app, available for both iPhone and iPad, allows users to remotely access their computer via the Chrome Remote Desktop app available in the Chrome Web Store.
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Google announced today that it’s releasing a new Chrome extension called Application Launcher for Drive that allows users to open files directly from its Google Drive service in compatible apps on a Mac or PC. The extension adds an “Open With” option that will let users launch files in apps like, for example, Mac OS X’s Preview app or third-party editing apps like those from Adobe and Microsoft.
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The profile of Chromebooks is likely to get a boost after the world’s largest PC manufacturer, Lenovo, announced its first Chromebooks aimed at the consumer market. Pricing starts at $279.
Lenovo, best known for its Windows laptops, launched its first Chromebook in January – but that one was pitched at the education market, selling in bulk to schools and colleges. This is the first time it has pitched a Chromebook directly at consumers – something which may worry Microsoft. Lenovo has 18.6 percent of the PC market, ahead of HP, Dell and Acer …
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNBBijn4JuY]
Google announced today on Google+ that it’s releasing a new extension for Chrome that will enable hands-free activation of the voice search features it rolled out earlier this year. Google announced the conversational voice search features for Chrome back in May and has been updating it on various platforms since, but previously users had to actually click a microphone icon to activate voice search on the desktop.
Now, like on Android 4.4 devices and within the Google Now mobile apps, using the extension users will be able to simply say “OK Google” to initiate a search:
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Last month we reported that Google’s slick new “Google+ Photos” app that launched exclusively on the Chromebook Pixel could possibly be making its way to Mac & PC. The proof came from a newly posted listing on the Chrome Web Store that made references to auto-uploading features specifically for OS X and Windows. Unfortunately, launching the app would give users a “not supported on this platform” error message. While Google has yet to officially launch the Mac and PC versions of the Chrome app, there is a way to bypass the error message and enable the app now.
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According to a report from Nikkei (via Reuters), Microsoft has signed up Japan-based game developer Klab Inc to bring some of its console and PC games to the iPhone and Android devices. There aren’t many other details, but the report claims Microsoft’s next title to arrive on smartphones will be a free-to-play version of Age of the Empires:
Microsoft’s “Age of the Empires” will be available as a free-to-play game worldwide on smartphones by the end of the fiscal year 2013 and other titles will follow, the report said.
KLab is behind a few titles already on the App Store and Google Play, including Arcadia, Gigabot Wars, Eternal Uprising, and Lord of the Dragons.
It actually wouldn’t be the first game that Microsoft has published for smartphones as it recently brought its previously Windows Phone only title “Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin” to the App Store for both iPhone and iPad.