Google has today announced that its suite of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools – G Suite – will now be called Google Workspace. The rechristening is not entirely surprising, as Google has lately been on a renaming spree, giving old apps a makeover and launching them with the Google brand attached to their very name, with the most recent examples being Google Meet and Google Chat. But Google is not just renaming G Suite to Google Workspace, the company is also introducing new icons for the services that come bundled with it such as Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar and Meet. And yes, all the new icons follow the same color scheme that is now an integral part of Google’s design philosophy. 

Just to remove any doubts early on, if you’re an existing G Suite customer, you don’t need to take any action, as all Google Workspace-related aesthetic and functional changes will reflect automatically for you. Aside from fresh iconography and brand identity overhaul, Google is also adding some new features to its productivity suite. To start, users can now create a document and then collaborate on it with guests in a Google Chat room. Here’s how the new feature looks in action: 

Another useful feature is that users will now be able to see the preview of a linked Docs, Sheets or Slides file without having to open it in a separate tab. This is definitely a useful addition and reduces the friction of switching between multiple tabs or windows. Here’s how the file preview feature looks:

Additionally, when users mention someone with an “@” prefix ina conversation, they’ll see a small window that shows the contact details of that person and some actionable suggestions such as adding them to Contacts, dropping them an email or reaching out to them via chat or a video call. 

Google has also announced that it will roll out Meet picture-in-picture to Docs, Sheets, and Slides for Google Workspace subscribers in the coming months. What this means is you can keep working on your project without missing the action in your ongoing video call. Here’s how the picture-in-picture view of Google Meet looks in action:

Additionally, Google is now offering more affordable plans for its cloud-based productivity and collaboration suite for small businesses depending on their requirements and scale. The fresh Google Workspace tiers now include Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, and Enterprise. Google says that the Business Starter, Business Standard, and Business Plus plans are only available for companies that have less than 300 users. You can compare the new Google Workspace editions here.

Source: Google Cloud

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