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Google may have ditched its Daydream VR platform but it's still holding on to augmented reality, at least without the headset. Google recently released WebXR, short for Extended Reality, experiments that showcased more practical uses for AR on your phone but most of its AR experiences really revolved around entertaining or sometimes educational experiences instead. Google's mobile Search, in particular, has been putting virtual objects in the real world via your phone's screen, and its latest trick is to call forth Japan's most iconic characters, wherever you are in the world.

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Depending on how you look at it, Facebook may have surpassed Google in being the poster child for harvesting personal data on the Internet. Considering how much of people's online lives and information it has in its possession, the social media giant regularly gets pushed, mostly through laws and regulations, to take certain steps to secure and unlock users' information. Part of that is allowing users to move their data outside of Facebook and a new export tool will let them do just that to transfer their posts to other online services.

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A Google Photos update this week added a Documents tab to assist in the process of finding documents in one's photo collection. This might not seem all that important if you believe you've never used your smartphone or smart device camera to "scan" a document before. Why would you? As some users are finding out, they've captured far more personal, private, or otherwise important information via casual smartphone snap than they initially believed.

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It would appear that Google has a new way to share files in the mix with Android. Per the latest version of Google Play Services and some creative work looking at the code for the system, Nearby Share with "everyone mode" is nearly ready for the pubic. This update would add "Everyone" to device visibility right next to "Contacts" and "Hidden" in Nearby Share.

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This week Microsoft's bringing Xbox Cloud Gaming to a variety of machines in a limited Beta. Information comes from Catherine Gluckstein, VP and Head of Product, Cloud Gaming at Microsoft, who announced this new limited beta release. According to Gluckstein, there'll be a limited beta in Chrome and Edge browsers, to start - so it'll roll with as wide a variety of devices as possible right from the get-go.

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Thanks to its history, lineage, and convention, the Android mobile platform is closer to desktop operating systems compared to something like iOS or even the augmented iPadOS. Many of the conventions and features people enjoy on desktops are sometimes available on Android, though it often requires OEMs or third-party apps to implement them. Sometimes, however, Google itself eventually gives in and makes those features available for all Android users, like two that may be coming in Android 12 that will give users access to a "Recycle Bin" and get apps translated even if the developers didn't provide any translations themselves.

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Google has quietly rolled out a new search shortcut for desktop users that is deceptively useful during the workday. As of now, users can press a single key on Google's search results page to pull back open the search field, updating the search term without ever lifting a hand to use the mouse or trackpad.

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Project Zero is a security research team at Google that spends time discussing and evaluating vulnerability disclosure policies and the consequence of those policies for users, vendors, security researchers, and software security. The team says it wants to be a group of researchers that benefits everyone working across the ecosystem to help make zero-day attacks more difficult. Project Zero has issued a summary of changes that will impact 2021.

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A lot of people these days live in their web browsers. In addition to the usual culprits of social media, news, and cat videos (which never go out of fashion), browsers today enable a treasure trove of apps, from online office suites to advanced note-taking apps to, well, even games. Web browsers have pretty much become operating systems and, just like operating systems, keeping productive in those environments can sometimes be a challenge, which is why Chrome is introducing new features to keep the browser in check when you need to be in the zone.

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Google Earth is adding a mesmerizing timelapse feature, showing the changes of our planet over time in what Google says is its biggest update since 2017. Timelapse in Google Earth pulls together a total of 24 million satellite images of the planet taken over the past 37 years, unlocking an unprecedented perspective of the changes those decades have wrought.

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The Web has definitely become a very different place compared to just a few years ago. Security has always been a consideration but never has it been more critical than these days when more people work at home with less than secure Internet connections. That same change in work situations has bumped up the need for WebRTC, a technology that already existed long before video conferencing was hip. Addressing both those concerns, Google is releasing Chrome 90 in an attempt to make working for home more secure and less stressful.

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Google is adding four new Assistant features, aiming to streamline how its AI interacts with the smart home, helps with takeout orders, and even helps hunt down a lost device. A new "Hey Google, find my phone" feature works with all Nest smart speakers and smart displays - including the most recent Nest Hub 2nd Generation - to track iPhones and Android devices.

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