14 DAY TRIAL // Google has launched a new way to keep your memories close to you – Google+ Stories and Movies.
“A suitcase full of dirty clothes. A sad-looking house plant. And 437 photos and videos on your phone, tablet and camera. This is the typically messy scene after a vacation. And although we can’t do your laundry (thanks but no thanks), or run your errands (well, maybe a few), we’d still like to help. Enter Google+ Stories, which can automatically weave your photos, videos and the places you visited into a beautiful travelogue,” starts off a rather funny blog post signed by Google’s Director of Product Management Anil Sabharwal.
The new tool will sift through all your photos on its own, search for the best shots, and try to figure out where you were by detecting popular landmarks. In this manner, Google takes off your workload and enables you to relive your favorite holiday moments in an instant.
Stories will be made available both on the web and Android later this week, while the iOS app should be done soon, too.
“When it’s less about travel, and more about today's events (like a birthday party, or baby’s first steps), Google+ Movies can produce a highlight reel of your photos and videos automatically—including effects, transitions and a soundtrack. Today we’re bringing Movies to Android, iOS and the web, so lots more people will receive these video vignettes,” Sabharwal writes.
Google users who already have a lot of photographs online, when the service is launched, some stories could already be put together for you.
In order to take advantage of the new feature, you can back up your photos and videos to Google+ and let Auto Awesome work for you. Notifications will be pushed to your phone and Google account when a story or movie is ready for you.
Stories basically puts your pictures in a timeline and, just like in other programs that deal with photos in Google, this one will look for smiles to make sure you only remember the good memories.
Vic Gundotra, the former Google+ chief, who announced he was stepping back from the company just a few weeks ago, is praising the Google+ team for the job it did. “I love Google+ Stories. When software can automatically weave my photos, videos and places I’ve been into a beautiful travelogue, that’s a plus,” Gundotra says.