Google’s flagship event, Google Cloud Next, is always filled with product updates and announcements across its suite of products. This year’s event was no different. Here are the updates coming to Google Workspace soon–from automatic video framing to several new integrations.
Google Meet
January 2022 saw the roll-out of companion mode in Google Meet, which lets you use the chat function, raise your hand, create and interact with polls, share your screen, and access host controls from your computer browser. In early 2023, you’ll be able to launch companion mode on your phone.
Google is also introducing meeting room check-in, letting online attendees know who is in the physical room by displaying their names alongside the room in Meet (available early 2023).
While we wait for these, this year, there will be automatic video framing that centres participants in their video tile before joining a meeting and lets them manually reframe at any time. As well as automatic meeting transcriptions that will transcribe video meetings and place the content into a Google Doc for later reference.
Google Slides
When presenting online, the audience doesn’t typically look at the speaker. Soon, this won't be an issue with Speaker Spotlight, which will place your video feed directly in your content (private preview begins in late 2022). You can also now control Slides directly within Meet so that presenters can see their audience and content simultaneously.
Google Chat
Google is rolling out custom emojis and inline threaded conversations in Google Chat to enable people to express themselves more authentically and go deeper into specific conversations.
In early 2023, we’ll also see the introduction of broadcast-only spaces in Google Chat to make it easier for leaders to make broad announcements and maintain connections across their organisations.
And just like Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Google is rolling-out Data loss prevention (DLP) for Chat that will let organisations create custom policies to help prevent sensitive information leaks in real time.
Google Workspace Integrations
APIs for Meet and Chat will allow third-party developers to add functions like creating or starting meetings or initiating messages directly from their apps. Asana and LumApps are the launch partners for this feature.
Early 2023 will also see a new add-on SDK for Meet that will let developers embed apps directly into Meet, with video feeds appearing as a grid at the right. Figma is one of Google’s first launch partners enabling users to collaborate on Figma design and FigJam digital whiteboards directly in Google Meet.
Finally, the new AppSheet and Google Chat integration will enable people to create and interact with custom AppSheet apps within Chat. Google’s no-code tool allows those without coding experience to build mobile and web applications quickly.
We hope you enjoyed this year’s Cloud Next as much as we did! If anything here caught your eye, or you’d like to learn more about Google Workspace and its benefits, contact us today!
