Google tweaks around with Maps’s navigation UI

Left: Current UI | Right: New UI

Google is constantly changing up its user interface for its apps as its design language changes. One of its latest things is introducing rounder elements to its apps. Google Maps is the newest app to get this treatment. We see the round elements are more or less equal sizes now. Also, the up arrow has been replaced by a draggable slider and the bottom info bar has rounded corners. As Android Police points out, these aren’t major changes but could be the start of a major redesign heading our way soon.

Microsoft announces Professional Program in AI

After the recent news of a massive reorganization at Microsoft putting cloud and AI at the forefront of the company's business, Microsoft has announed it is offering public courses to build AI Skills.

Microsoft Professional Program in AI was announced, a learning track open to the public that provides real-world experience to improve AI and data skills in the workplace. As AI becomes more and more prevalent in businesses across sectors, the program will help to improve core competencies within identified gaps in AI learning.

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Google Play Books adds ‘Smart Resume’ feature for audiobooks

It seems like a no-brainer that any audiobook or podcast app should have a way for users to stop on a certain chapter or part and have the app pick it up where you left off. But that was missing from Google Play Books until recently, that is. The app now has what Google calls Smart Resume. The social giant calls it this way because it’ll actually rewind to the start of a sentence or word to help remind you where you were the last time you listened to your audiobook.

This update also introduces bookmarks, letting you mark important or favorite parts, and with Google Assistant integration the audiobook feature can be integrated into the new Routines feature. This means, you just need to add Google Play Books to your morning routine or work commute routine and it’ll cue it up for you. The update also brings the ability to speed up or slow down playback.

Source: SlashGear

Google experiment shows fine art matches to your color palette of choice

Google’s Art & Culture Experiments caught headlines recently when its viral selfie feature let you match a photo of your face with your long-lost twin in the world of the arts (you might have seen tons of these on your social media timelines). But that isn’t the only experiment Google is running. This new one called Art Palette will appeal to creatives or even just art enthusiasts. It lets you take any color combination and match these with artwork taken from Google’s institutional partners that include museums from all over the world. Google’s engineers made use of a color analysis algorithm on thousands of pieces of art to get the five hues that define them. Google’s reason for creating this feature is to help “creative experts in art, design, and beyond to make informed choices regarding color palettes, understanding the context and history behind each one.”

To use the feature, you just need to upload an image or take a photo with your phone and Art Palette will analyze the image for you to find paintings and sculptures that match. You can also opt to do the search with a colour palette, using the colour picker within the app.

Source: Fast Co.Design