Google

Oh em gee . . . mail! Google's email client is making moves and taking action with new features that you won't be able to live without. Power emessagers will soon be able to check into their flights, RSVP for events, review movies, and send money right from Gmail.

Google is launching all sorts of new shenanigans at this week's Google I/O developer conference, but these super-useful Gmail additions might be some of the best features unveiled at I/O so far.

Gmail's US users will be able to send money and make payments from their inbox via Google Wallet. No need to set up complicated money transfers or PayPal accounts to pay back friends and family — just hover over the paperclip attachment button, click the dollar sign, enter an amount, and swoosh! The money is now on its way and you've repaid your debts like a Lannister. Sending money is free if your bank account is linked to Google Wallet, but credit/debit card transactions will cost you 2.9 percent. Over 18 years old? You'll get the feature in the coming months.

Sorting through email is about to get much more efficient. If you're a developer and can't wait to get a hold of the new features, head over to developers.google.com/gmail/schemas.

Google finally has a solution for those multiplatform relationships (you know, if he's an Android and she's an iOS or vice versa), and it's called Hangouts. The video chatting feature for Google+ is now a standalone app for Android and iOS and as an extension for Chrome.

How is the Hangouts app, introduced at today's Google I/O conference, about to change the way we communicate? By eliminating the barriers between different mobile platforms that prevent texters on different types of devices from sending video, photos, and — most importantly — Emoji. Hangouts is a messaging app that streamlines conversation between multiple people, enabling one-on-one or group chatting across both iPhone and Android devices.

You can invite up to 10 friends to a video call and "hang out" on a computer or a smartphone. Conversations, shared photos, and video call history are kept in the cloud, so you always have access to those threads even if you lose your device.

Synchronicity is definitely one of Hangouts' best features. Once you get a notification for a new message on one device, that alert will be silenced across your computer or other devices. There's even a snooze option when you need some peace and quiet from notifications. Download Hangouts and see how Google's new app bridges the multiplatform divide!

Google Maps, with over one billion monthly active users, has become such an essential part of getting from point A to point B. That's why when we heard Google was preparing to announce some major changes to Google Maps at this week's I/O conference . . . we were a little bit nervous.

But the search-company-turned-Internet-giant has only improved one of its best products with a beautiful new interface and more personalized search. At today's keynote, we listened to Bernhard Seefeld, product management director of Google Maps, discuss and demo the new features.

Here's why we're loving the next generation of Google Maps:

1. It looks great — The map itself is more textured, more shaded, and more colored than before, so you can really see elevation and environmental differences around the world. Blues and greens are richer, more vivid, and easier to see.
2. It's immersive — The search bar is now tucked away in the upper left-hand corner, which allows the map to be as full-screen and immersive as possible.
3. It gets smarter with time — Personalization is the name of the game when it comes to the latest iteration of Google Maps. You set standard locations, like home and work, but it's the personal landmarks that make the map useful. These landmarks are restaurants or other places you frequent. Maps can suggest similar places to you and get better at recommendations over time.
4. It's more interactive — Search results appear right on the map, instead of in a list. Results are fully labeled with the type of business (restaurant? park?), its name, and a summary of what it is. Click to expand even more information, like operating hours, contact information, Zagat ratings, and more.
5. It really gives you the sense of a place — Using 3D mapping technology and user-generated photos, the new Maps shows you what a place actually looks like from the ground, not just an aerial view.

Like what you see? Request an invite to the new Google Maps.

Talk to Google like it's your best friend. Really, the search giant insists that with its improved conversational search functions, demoed at Google I/O on Wednesday, you'll be able to speak commands not just from your mobile device with the Google Search app, but also from Chrome on desktops, using less-robotic speech and receiving spoken responses from Google.

During the live demo, we watched Johanna Wright, vice president of Mobile, ask Google a series of questions about an upcoming trip to beach town Santa Cruz, CA, getting decidedly more human and conversational with each question. After asking Google for attractions and restaurants in Santa Cruz, when Johanna said, "How far is it from here?," the result that populated was directions from our location in San Francisco to Santa Cruz, showing the search algorithm's progression from understanding strict computer speak to more casual conversation using predictions to determine which locations the user is referring to.

Google Now, the personalized search function that might know you better than you know yourself, also received an update today in the form of reminders, public transit cards, and entertainment cards that populate based on your past preferences. These reminders will appear within your Now account based on when you've set a need for them. For example, a reminder to leave to catch a taxi may appear two hours before a scheduled flight. Just like a web search, Google says many of these notations can be made with your voice commands.

Big changes are on the way for the Google+ platform, which is rolling out a redesign and new social engagement features over the next week. Unveiled at this morning's Google I/O conference in San Francisco, the new Google+ will deliver a modernized stream and new social discovery experience to its 190 million active "Plus-ers."

For current Google+ users, the changes are certainly something to be excited about. Streams are about to become more dynamic and beautiful, and Google is getting smarter about helping you discover more content you'd be interested in based on what type of content you're posting. Plus, the platform is introducing powerful photo editing and photo storage tools to manage your media.

Even if you're not on Google+, take notice because the platform is playing an increasingly important role in search, website log-ins, and other Google products like Maps and Gmail.

See how Google's relatively new social network is about to look totally different (in a good way) after the break.

Make room on your home screen for one more monthly music subscription service, this one backed by the power of the Google Play store and your own music library. Google Play Music All Access, announced Wednesday at Google I/O 2013, is the tech company's take on the growing popularity of services like Rdio and Spotify, which give customers instant access to millions of songs based on monthly subscription models.

What sets Play Music All Access (a name not for the easily tongue tied) apart from the others? For starters, users can access their Google Play Music locker — their personal music collection of up to 20,000 songs — in addition to Google's catalog of millions of licensed songs all within one service.

Read on for how much Google's music streaming will cost you per month.

The Landsat satellite program has been snapping images from space since 1972, giving our earthbound eyes a macro perspective of what's happening all around the globe. The Google Earth Engine is now compiling 30 years of incredible satellite imagery into one interactive time-lapse that reveals dramatic urbanization, deforestation, and global change.

And, well, since this is the Internet, those time-lapses are also available as Google-powered GIFs.

Each view is built from millions of 1.7-Terapixel images (that's a trillion pixels and over 909 terabytes of data, guys) at 30-meter resolution. One frame reflects an entire year's worth of Landsat data from the archives, and choosing which images to use in the time-lapses was no easy task. The project — which was a collaboration between the US Geological Survey, NASA, and TIME — required sifting through more than two million images to find pictures without clouds.

Once the images were compiled, the CREATE lab at Carnegie Mellon University turned the views of the retreat of Alaska's Columbia Glacier, the urbanization of Las Vegas, the deforestation of the Amazon, and more into zoomable, browsable animations built for the web. You, of course, get to enjoy the fruits of their labor and watch the planet change right before your eyes. Compare and contrast these phenomenal pictures of Earth through time, then find out more about NASA's ongoing Landsat mission to send more Earth-observing satellites into space.

After rolling unwillingly out of bed, what's the first thing you check on your phone? The weather? The score to the Warriors game? The day's agenda? For all of the essential info you need right when you wake up, there's an app for that: Google Search (free) for iOS with Google Now.

Google Now is a hyper-personalized, location-based search feature that answers questions before you even think to ask them. Only Android devices were compatible with Google Now — until today's Google Search push for iPhone and iPad, that is.

We know what you iDevice users are thinking: mobile Safari already comes with Google search built in. Why would an iPhone need another search app with voice activation, especially when it's already got Siri? Get Google Now and you'll see. Discover why this know-it-all app will replace Siri and mobile Safari search on your smartphone.

Google is, slowly but surely, building up its Google Plus social network, having just introduced larger cover images on profiles, built-in photo editing tools for mobile, and (our personal fave) Harry Potter-style animated GIFs as avatars this year. Last December, the search giant unveiled Communities, a forum-like feature where Google Plus users can join groups based on their hobbies and interests.

Communities act as a home base for people who find common ground on, for example, an obsession with Doctor Who. Group members can video chat face-to-face in Hangouts, plan events, share interesting links, or participate in discussions. There's no shortage of geeky communities on Google Plus (including our own page) — join fellow meme-obsessed, space-enthusiast, cat-loving, photography fanatics after the break.