No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA

Google has been testing a new version of reCAPTCHA that makes it easier for users to prove that they're actually human and not bots. The new reCAPTCHA no longer uses a CAPTCHA, so you no longer have to deal with blurry house number images or squiggly words from scanned books.

Here's the new version:

"On websites using this new API, a significant number of users will be able to securely and easily verify they're human without actually having to solve a CAPTCHA. Instead, with just a single click, they'll confirm they are not a robot."



So instead of solving CAPTCHAS with distorted text you can just click a box. But how does this work? Google uses some sophisticated risk analysis algorithms that "actively consider a user's entire engagement with the CAPTCHA — before, during, and after — to determine whether that user is a human." If the risk analysis engine can't confidently predict whether a user is a human or a bot, you'll see a regular CAPTCHA.

Google also tests other simplified CAPTCHAs that are better suited for mobile devices. For example, one of the CAPTCHAs asks you to select images that show a cat.

Edit Office Gmail Attachments in Google Drive Apps

Gmail now lets you edit Microsoft Office attachments with a single click: mouse over an attachment and click "Edit with Google Docs" for Word documents, "Edit with Google Slides" for PowerPoint presentations or "Edit with Google Sheets" for Excel spreadsheets. "You can then start editing and enjoying the full benefits of a single document to keep track of, access from anywhere, and full revision history," informs Google.

When you click a Gmail attachment, Google lets you preview its content inside Gmail. You can also save the file to Google Drive, but it's not converted automatically to a format that can be edited by Google's apps.



Google now supports "15 new Office formats - including presentation show files (PPS, PPSX), macro-enabled files, and template files - all with improved charts, images, and tables support." If you'd like to edit the files without converting them to Google's formats, you can use this Chrome extension.

Moving Files between your Android and Desktop Gets Easier with AirDroid 3

The AirDroid app is probably the easiest way to manage your Android phone from your Mac or Windows PC. It lets you quickly transfer files between your phone and your computer, or from one Android phone to another, without requiring any USB cables.

The newest version of AirDroid – version 3.0 – is even better.

Earlier, if you had to transfer a file from the computer to your Android phone via AirDroid, you had to open a special web page in your web browser, authenticate the connection and only then were you allowed to download or upload files.

Now AirDroid has released dedicated clients (software program) for both Windows and Mac that mostly bypasses the need for a web browser. Once you have installed the AirDroid software on your computer, you can simply drag one or more files to the desktop app and the files are instantly transferred to your Android device. It just works.

The transfer happens extremely fast if your computer and your phone are connected to the same WiFi network. However, if one of your devices is not on LAN, you can still send your files via the cloud. The files stay in the cloud for a week before they are permanently deleted.

You can view your phone call logs and also reply to SMS messages from the computer. It is however not possible to initiate phone calls from the desktop. And certain old features, like the ability to capture remote screenshots and photographs using your phone’s camera, still require the web browser.

AirDroid app on Android sports a clean look though its not Material Design

AirDroid 3 is not available in the Google Play store yet but you can head over to beta.airdroid.com to download the Android app and the desktop clients that available for both Mac and Windows.

You’ll need to sideload the apk files and that essentially means letting your Android phone to install apps outside the apps store.

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The story, Moving Files between your Android and Desktop Gets Easier with AirDroid 3 , was originally published at Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal on 03/12/2014 under Android, Apple Mac, Software.