Google Adds Q&A And Laser Pointer Features To Slides Apps
Google has declared a big update to its web-based Google Slides with the overview of a new Q&A feature presently available on the Google Slides website, and for iOS and Android devices that will permit the audience to ask questions during the presentation. Additionally, the audience can vote on which question they would like answered the most.
The update also contains more presentation options for iOS, like the ability to present directly to a Hangout call. Google Slides also now includes a laser pointer tool for those of you who like presenting from your computer.
Google’s productivity suite, regularly mentioned to as Google Docs, contains several individual applications for specific purposes. These include Google Sheets (the spreadsheet manager), Google Docs (the word processor), Google Slides (presentations) and Google Keep (on the face of it, note taking, but many more utilities). A few of these applications are directly compatible with their corresponding applications in the Microsoft Office suite. Of the Google applications, Slides is frequently overlooked as simply an application for showing presentations and normally using the Chromecast application to put these onto a projector. However, Google Slides – like Microsoft’s PowerPoint – is a very beneficial tool for business professionals and educators who need to be able to show slides on a big screen when talking to an audience.
"With a simple link displayed on a Slides presentation, audience members can submit questions from their phones, laptops, and tablets -- and vote on those they want to be answered the most," says Michael Frederick, Google Slides engineer in a blog post.
Google claims Slides Q&A makes it simple for presenters to interact with their audience without having to concern about moderators or mics. Slides also help them get their great ideas and stories on screen, without having to worry about wires or set up stress.
Google has similarly added two new features to Slide. Slide users can now show their slides to a Hangout right from their iPhones or iPads. This means with just tablet or phone and the Slides app, we can present to any screen using Chromecast, AirPlay or Hangouts.
Google first tested the new feature during a presentation by Google Science Fair winner Shree Bose. Her talk, which occurred at the company's New York office, produced some 170 questions from 200 middle-school students.