Microsoft’s on fire recently with the addition of some super-useful features thanks to its artificial intelligence assistant Copilot, and it looks like OneDrive is finally getting a much-needed AI boost. Soon, you’ll be able to search through your files without having to open them to find the relevant info simply by asking Copilot the question you want answered.
Say you’re looking for a specific figure or quote but you have too many files to start searching, or you’re like me and don’t organize anything into folders at all (oops). Instead of opening every document and scanning through to find the specific bit of info you’re looking for, you’ll be able to pull up Copilot and tell it what you want to find. You could ask it to find a specific bit of info from a lecture presentation, or group project, and Copilot will go through the files and provide the relevant answers.
According to MSPoweruser, this feature will work across multiple file types including DOC, DOCX, PDF, TXT, and more, so you won’t be restricted to just Word documents.
The feature is included in Microsoft’s 365 roadmap, due to be released to users sometime in May 2024. Hopefully, we’ll see this trickle down to Microsoft’s free Office for Web suite (formerly known as Office Online) which includes an in-browser version of Microsoft Word and 5GB of OneDrive cloud storage.
A win for the unorganized girlies
This feature alone is enough to entice me away from Google Drive just for the convenience alone. There’s nothing worse than having to crawl through your folders and files to find something you’re looking for.
I would have appreciated this feature when I was at university, especially with how many notes and textbooks I had scattered around my school One Drive account. By bringing Copilot into the mix, I could have found whatever I was looking for so much faster and saved myself from a fair amount of panic.
If you work in an industry where you’re constantly dealing with new documents with critical information every day, or a student consistently downloading research papers or textbooks, this new addition to Copilot's nifty AI-powered skill set is well worth keeping an eye out for.
While I am disappointed this feature will be locked behind the Microsoft 365 subscription, it’s not surprising – Microsoft is investing a lot of time and money into Copilot, so it makes sense that it would use its more advanced features to encourage people to pay to subscribe to Microsoft 365. However, there’s a danger that if it paywalls all the most exciting features, Copilot could struggle to be as popular as it deserves to be. Microsoft won’t want another Clippy or Cortana on its hands.
Final Cut Pro is one of the best video-editing apps you can get for both Mac and iPad, and now Apple says that a range of improvements are coming to both platforms later in November. These include new features that will streamline editing, tune up the timeline, add new in-app content, and more.
Starting with the Mac, Apple says its update focuses on “simplifying complex edits and turbocharged export speeds.” For instance, Final Cut Pro for Mac now automatically scrolls the timeline to keep up with the current playhead position while a video is playing. You can also zoom the timeline in or out during playback to suit your needs.
Clips can be assigned colors and roles to help differentiate them at a glance, which should mean less time wasted hunting for the specific clip you need. These clips can be highlighted by role with the timeline index, too.
Apple is also bringing out improved organization tools. You'll be able to quickly clean up your timeline and combine groups of connected clips into a more coherent single storyline.
The Mac tweaks are rounded off by faster exporting made possible by the media engines inside the latest Mac chips. And thanks to those Apple silicon chips, Final Cut Pro will be able to offer better object tracking for things like faces found in your clips.
What's new for the iPad?
(Image credit: Apple)
The iPad version of Final Cut Pro is also in line for a few upgrades, with one of the more notable relating to voiceover work. Soon, you will be able to record audio directly onto the timeline as it is playing, or select the moment you want recording to begin and use a countdown to perfectly time your voiceover.
Elsewhere, camera stabilization can be manually enabled or disabled according to your needs, and Apple has added several new color-grading presets, titles and generators to quickly change the look of your footage.
Like on the Mac, iPad users will benefit from the introduction of connected clips and a slate of organizational tools. And you can export your work to Final Cut Pro for Mac in order to use a few more advanced features.
Apple hasn’t said exactly when this update is coming, other than to note it will be available later this month. The update will be free if you’ve already paid for Final Cut Pro.
Google has been busy injecting AI-powered features into all of its services this year, and some of the most promising are in Google Maps. Well, this week those features – including the long-awaited Immersive View for Routes – are going to start rolling out on your Android or iOS phone, alongside some new tricks.
The biggest news is the rollout of Immersive View for Routes in 15 cities, starting this week. The feature combines Street view, aerial imagery, and live information like weather and traffic to give you an aerial, photo-realistic preview of your planned Google Maps route – so we're excited to take it for a spin soon.
Google's machine learning algorithms are also improving other parts of the Google Maps experience, including its Search function and the AR-powered 'Lens in Maps' feature, which overlays useful labels on buildings you're pointing at with your phone's camera.
In short, whether you're a lost pedestrian or an electric car driver, Google Maps is about to get even more useful. Here are the five main AI-powered updates that are coming and when they're expected to roll out.
1. Immersive View for Routes is finally rolling out
Rolling out this week on Android and iOS in 15 cities
Google Maps' Immersive View has had a frustratingly slow rollout since it was announced back in May 2022, but the feature is starting to become more widely available – and the more recent Immersive View for Routes will be rolling out on Android and iOS in 15 cities this week.
If you haven't tried it, Immersive View combines Street View, satellite, and live data to create a real-time aerial view of famous landmarks in supported cities. In May, Google announced Immersive View for Routes, which gives you the same impressive visuals for any routes that you're planning, making it much more useful.
Well, this week the feature is finally rolling out in the 15 cities Google mentioned back in May: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo and Venice.
(Image credit: Google)
It isn't yet clear if this will be available for every route you plan in Google Maps in those cities, or select parts of the city. But to use it, all you'll need to do is tap the Immersive View for Routes card in the bottom-left corner of any route you have planned in the Maps app.
With simulated weather and traffic conditions (the latter being predicted based on historical data) overlaid on top of the 3D view, it should give you a good idea of whether that bike ride route is looking like a good one today.
2. Maps Search is getting more helpful
Photo-first results roll out this week in the US, UK and more
Thematic results rolls out this week globally on Android and iOS
Considering Google is still the king of search, Google Maps' search function isn't quite as powerful as it could be – but that's about to change this week.
Google says it sees millions of broader searches in Google Maps, like “animal latte art” or simply “things to do around me”, so it's bringing a couple of updates to help with those. The first is photo-first results for searches, which will come from an AI-powered analysis of billions of photos shared by Maps users.
(Image credit: Google)
Rather than simply showing you cafes with 'animal latte art' in their name or reviews, it'll use this image analysis to give you a list of photo-based results, too. Pick your favorite from the images and it'll give you more info and directions. This feature is rolling out this week in the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan.
The other update, rolling out globally on Android and iOS this week, will help answer those broader 'things to do' searches. Rather than a long list of results, you'll now see themes appear in Google Maps search results (like 'art exhibitions' or 'anime'), which promises to make it more like a Maps-based Time Out guide.
3. Google Maps' AR mode spreads its wings
Lens in Maps comes to over 50 new cities this week
Did you know that Maps has a built-in Google Lens feature that can label things around you using your phone's camera? This used to be called 'Search with Live View', but Google now calls it 'Lens in Maps' – and this week the feature's coming to over 50 new cities.
(Image credit: Google)
If you're feeling completely bamboozled in a new area, it's a handy feature – just tap the 'Lens' icon in the Google Maps search bar on Android or iOS. That opens a live camera view, so you can spin around and see what Google Maps has labeled in your immediate surroundings, like restaurants, ATMs, stations, or landmarks.
This AR-powered feature (which sounds ideal for some AR glasses, like Google's rumored Project Iris revival) is coming to dozens of new cities including Austin, Las Vegas, Rome, São Paulo, and Taipei. So look out for it on your next holiday.
4. Driving navigation will soon get clearer
improved navigation coming in “the coming months” to 12 countries
If you regularly use Google Maps as your in-car sat-nav, you'll be pleased to hear that some navigation improvements are coming down the road – well, in the “coming months” at least.
Google says these improvements will include “improved lane details” (like the below) to help you know exactly when to get off the highway, along with some more realistic buildings to help you pinpoint exactly where you are.
(Image credit: Google)
In the US, you'll also soon see HOV (High-occupancy vehicle lanes) on your route, while in Europe 20 new countries will soon get Google's AI-powered speed limit information.
These Maps navigation improvements for drivers will be rolling out in the “coming months” in 12 countries, including the US, Canada, France, and Germany. That timeframe can mean a wait of 3-6 months, but it's something to look out for.
Later this week on Android and iOS, Google says its charging station information on Maps will now include whether a charger is compatible with your car and how fast the chargers are, too.
(Image credit: Google)
Perhaps most impressively, Maps will also show when the charger was last used – which will help you decide whether it's likely to be one of the many that's currently not working.
Google says that 25% of EV chargers in the US are down at any given time, so this feature promises to be a potentially big time-saver (and stress reducer).
Google is working on giving Gmail users the opportunity to react to emails with a single emoji on iOS and Android phones.
Rumors regarding emoji reactions on Gmail have been circulating for several weeks although, outside of a few screenshots, we hadn’t seen it in action until recently. Industry insider AssembleDebug managed to get the feature working on their Android device and shared their findings on TheSpAndroid blog.
According to the report, a new button will appear “to the right of the email” next to the three-dot menu. Tapping it opens a small menu where you pick from five default emojis: a sparkling heart, a party popper, a thumbs up, a laughing face, the praying hands (which people use to say thank you), as well as your run-of-the-mill smiley face. Once selected, that emoji appears in a reaction bar below the message, as you see in messaging platforms.
(Image credit: AssembleDebug/TheSpAndroid)
TheSpAndroid states there will be two other places “from where you can react on an email”. There will be an Add Reaction option in the three-dot menu plus an extra button at the bottom of an email next to Reply, Reply All, and Forward.
This feature will reportedly work on email threads that include multiple people. They explain that “it may be possible to react just by tapping” emojis somebody else added previously. Of course, users will be able to send any emoji they want by tapping the Plus symbol in the small window that pops up. You’ll have the full library at your disposal.
(Image credit: AssembleDebug/TheSPAndroid)
Limitations
As fun as this update may sound, there are several limitations present with one in particular that could potentially ruin the experience.
If other people don’t use the official mobile app, they’ll receive the emoji reactions in separate emails. Imagine sending an email out to a group of people and getting spammed with multiple “emails of emoji reactions”. Not fun. It's important to note that the browser version of Gmail may not have the new emoji support.
It looks like Google is aware of the spam problem as users won’t be allowed to react to emails sent to a large group. So there is some mitigation, but it probably won't be enough to stop the spam. Also, you won’t be able to send emojis to encrypted emails or any received via BCC. The limit for reactions is capped at 20 for one person. In a group, the limit is bumped up to 50 for all.
It’s unknown when this update will roll out. However, AssembleDebug claims it will most likely happen sometime this month and “in batches.” If this comes true, we hope Google quickly releases a version for browsers soon after or installs extra preventative measures to slow down the spam.
Gmail is a widely used service, but you might find its security capabilities rather lacking. For more options, be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best secure email providers for 2023.
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