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There’s a little more in store next month for Wallet and Pay.

What you need to know

• Google Wallet’s latest updates include the addition of real-time train status alerts for users who’ve added their tickets.
• Users will receive notifications if their train is “On Time,” “Delayed,” and more; however, this is restricted to those in India and Canada (for now).
• Google also teased I/O 2025, stating there’s more to come for Wallet and Pay during the event.
• Google I/O 2025 is slated for May 20 at 10 am PT.

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Google’s Wallet app is having an eventful week as the company details what’s new and an important feature that’ll catch your eye.

Google Wallet’s developer blog postedthe latest changelogthis week, which includes a real-time status update addition (via9to5Google). Currently rolling out are several status updates for trains. Google clarifies that users will only see these real-time updates if they’ve saved their ticket to Wallet.

More importantly, this is only arriving for users in India and Canada for Indian Railways and Via Rail, respectively.

The patch notes state users will receive alerts on their phones with information like “On Time,” “Delayed,” and more regarding where their train is. It seems Google Wallet will provide the time your train is expected to arrive at the station when delivering any of these real-time updates.

Additionally, adding a ticket will show the time you’re expected to depart from your station and your estimated time of arrival for your destination.

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More in store for Wallet

(Image credit: 9to5Google)

Another noteworthy addition is the ability to add Loyalty and Gift card passes to your Wallet via its homepage on the web. Essentially, this is an integration of Google’sLoyalty Program. Meanwhile, parents/guardians in “select” countries can now give their child’s account permission to add event tickets, generic passes, and more to Wallet. This feature for kids wasoriginally announcedin March, stating those in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Spain, and Poland will receive it first.

Lastly, the company slipped in a little teaser for its upcomingI/O 2025event in May. Google says users can expect to “hear about all the changes” coming to Wallet and Pay from May 21 to May 22.

Google’s I/O conference is expected to start on May 20 this year at 10 am PT. We’re expecting quite a bit, such as Android 16, Android XR, Wear OS 6, and maybe even teasers for next-gen Pixel products.Live Updatesare a key aspect expected to arrive in Android 16 this year, which, according to Google, will roll out much earlier in Q2 2025. That release window seems within reach as Android 16 achieved a major milestone:Platform Stability.

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In short, this means developers are given one final chance to clean up their apps to avoid any conflicts when the upgrade is released. Android 16 Beta also showcased Google’s work to improve the accessibility side of its software, as it includes Auracast support for hearing aids.

Windows 11 Insiders can soon try out the new Text Extractor option in the updated Snipping Tool’s capture bar.

Snipping tool capture toolbar with the cursor hovering over the new “Text Extractor” tool.

According to yesterday’sWindows Insider blog post, Microsoft is currently testing a new version of the Snipping Tool in Windows 11, which is now available to Windows Insiders on both Canary and Dev Channels. This new version (11.2503.27.0) is getting built-in Text Extraction.

Text Extraction is a feature that uses OCR to “extract” text from an image and convert it into, well, text. Instead of typing up entire paragraphs or pages by hand, you can simply let the Snipping Tool handle it—and it’s much faster than doing it by hand. Like, near-instantaneous.

The Snipping Tool has actually had Text Extraction for a while now, but you had to first snap a screenshot and then open the screenshot for editing within the Snipping Tool before you could access the Text Extraction feature.

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Snipping tool Text Extractor tool with highlighted text to be copied to clipboard.

With this update, Text Extraction has been made available directly in the capture bar, allowing you to select any region of your screen and instantly extract all the text within, which gets copied to your clipboard. There are also a few options you can play around with, like automatic removal of line breaks from the copied text.

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It’s a welcome new feature as it lets you skip all the extra steps of creating a screenshot file and having to open it for editing within the Snipping Tool. If you’ve been using the text extraction feature in PowerToys, you may be able to give that up once this hits the stable version of Windows for all. When will that happen? We don’t know yet.

The extra layer of security you must have!

Just having a password set on your PC in Windows 11 isn’t a sure way to stop hackers from physically gaining access to your PC — yes, it can be bypassed. But there is another security measure you can take.

For an extra layer of protection, you can turn a humble USB drive into a secure key that will lock and unlock your PC, making it much harder for intruders to gain access. Here’s how…

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What to do…

Windows 11 has a facility to set up a secure USB key. But I prefer to use the free third-party app USB Raptor, which gives me a little more control over how my key works.

• Get a USB flash drive without any files loaded on it. I’m using theSanDisk 16GB Ultra Fit, which cost me $9 on Amazon.
• Download and installUSB Raptorand launch the app. It will launch in configuration mode with three steps to complete to set up your secure key.
• Step 1: Choose an encryption password and write it down somewhere so you don’t forget it.
• Step 2: Plug in your USB flash drive and choose the correct drive letter it was allocated. Now clickCreate k3y file.
• Step 3: Before you enable USB Raptor, you’ll want to create a backdoor login in case you lose your key.

USB Raptor launches a three step configuration process. 

Create a backdoor login

• In the top-right corner of the app click in the box next toAdvanced configuration.
• Click onLock featuresin the top menu. Navigate down toBackdoor access.
• Now clickGenerate RUID file. This will create a file on your desktop that will allow you to bypass the lockscreen if you forget your password and the USB key is removed from your PC.

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Creating the RUID file for backdoor access in USB Raptor. Pro tip: If you’re not keen on using USB Raptor, there are numerous other security apps to choose from. Two others include Predator and Rohos Logon Key Free. While some of what you can do in these apps is free you will have to pay to unlock a full suite of features.>>>Replacement battery for Sony DCR-PC1000E

More things to note:

• Be sure to label your USB flash drive security key so that you never mix it up with other drives you own.
• Use a USB drive with a fast read/write speed to make your login quicker.
• Before you create a key, back up your data to ensure you don’t lose it.

If you’ve followed the steps above, you should now have a secure key that will make your PC more secure — as well as backdoor access in case anything goes wrong. If you don’t want to use your key, simply deactivate it in the app.

Ina poston Microsoft’s Support blog, the company warns that typing in a recent version of classic Outlook can lead to highCPU usage. The issue could cause CPU usage to spike by up to 50%, and the company recommends switching to the Microsoft 365 Apps update channel as a temporary workaround.

The problems occur when composing an email in Version 2406 (Build 17726.20126) on the Current Channel, Monthly Enterprise Channel, orInsider Channels. Affected users report CPU usage increases between 20% and 50%, which can also raise power consumption. Microsoft says the Outlook team is investigating and will provide further updates as they become available.

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Microsoft also suggests a workaround that involves switching to the Semi-Annual Channel, where the issue has not been detected. The affected users say that possible solutions, such as turning off add-ins, graphics acceleration, and spell-check, did not fix the problem. The software giant provides a guide with the necessary steps to switch to a different channel to avoid these problems. You can also use the registry command to switch to the Semi-Annual Channel by opening the Command prompt window as an administrator > paste reg add HKLMSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftoffice16.0commonofficeupdate /v updatebranch /t REG_SZ /d SemiAnnual > press Enter> add the registry key > choose File > Office Account > Update Options > Update Now. Once you complete these steps, the process should begin.

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Even high-end systems aren’t immune. Some users with Intel Core i9-14900HX processors report CPU temperatures hitting 95 degrees Celsius, with nothing more than a ‘New Message’ window open. These reports go back as far as November of last year, but we hope a permanent solution is found soon since an overheated CPU can cause all sorts of issues, such as crashes and freezes. These problems can be devastating when working on important projects since you risk losing your work unless you create a backup.

Country-coded URLs are being phased out.

What you need to know

• Google is moving to the google.com domain for Search around the world.
• Previously, Google used country-coded domains for regions outside the U.S.
• The experience of using Google Search won’t change, as Google has been using physical location to localize Search since 2017.

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Google has long used country-coded domains for non-U.S. regions, like google.co.uk for the United Kingdom or google.ng for Nigeria. For a while, these country-specific URLs were crucial in providing locally-relevant results in response to user queries.

However, since 2017, Google has been using your real-time location to provide relevant results — making the country codes redundant. As such, the companyannouncedtoday, April 15 that it is phasing out country code top-level domain names (ccTLD).

Beginning now, Google will be moving country-specificSearchdomains to the main google.com URL. The process will be part of a gradual rollout lasting “over the coming months.”

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The change is intended to streamline the experience of using Google Search regardless of your country or location, per the company. Search itself isn’t changing, but as part of the switch, users may have to enter some of their preferences again for the new domain.

As has been the case since 2017, Google will use your physical location to localize your search results. For instance, if you’re living in the U.S., you will get the Search experience for France if you travel to Paris. When you go back, you’ll automatically be switched to the U.S. experience again.

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“It’s important to note that while this update will change what people see in their browser address bar, it won’t affect the way Search works, nor will it change how we handle obligations under national laws,” the company said in the blog post.