Google has been introducing services and tools over the years that offer valuable help to the public. Apart from emailing and searching, Google offers many ingenious tools and features designed to make our life more fascinating and to make us more knowledgeable. Two of these tools are Google Helpouts and the revamped Google Maps.

Google Helpouts

How does the idea of an online personal SAT tutor sound? What about a chemistry Helpout before the finals? Google Helpouts is a video tutoring marketplace that allows experts to share their knowledge and skills with those that seek them out. Launched in November 2013, Google Helpouts lets experts – teachers, chefs, plumbers and everything else in between – provide one-to-one Helpout sessions. Some Helpouts are free, other cost up to $120 an hour.

The one-to-one model used ensures the user gets the expert’s full attention, making learning and problem solving practically foolproof. This paid advice service by Google makes it possible to find an expert to help you with virtually anything, whether that’s understanding the reason for your cat’s weird coughing to troubleshooting your bathroom leak. Google Helpouts runs a money-back guarantee for Helpouts that, well, didn’t help out much.

This is especially useful for students, because Google Helpouts can offer solutions on many levels. Assistance in many fields is available, to help students figure out how to use complex math formulas, improve reading efficiency, or take better lecture notes. With the help of experts, any issue becomes solvable.

The fact that Helpouts is a service globally available that can be solicited almost instantly makes this new Google service stand out. How many times have you wished an expert could be within reach to help you on the spot? Well, now it’s possible.

The New Google Maps

Learning about your travel destination, whether it’s 2 miles away or across an ocean, is now a complete experience with the new Google Maps and its advanced features. The new version of Google’s mapping program makes visually visiting and learning about unknown destinations easy and enjoyable.

Whereas previously it was only possible to obtain fundamental information when planning a journey from destination A to destination B, the new integrated technologies now make it possible to plan a journey that also includes airplane flights and combine it with public transit and other forms of transport to have the most complete itinerary.

Also, you are now able to plan a journey that has more than one set destination, allowing you to find the quickest and most traffic-free way to do your chores and then arrive at your desired destination. It’s a tool that many people are already using daily as it saves time and frustration and helps avoid being stuck in traffic jams.

A complete visual experience for Google Map users

A new image carousel at the bottom of the page allows the user to have a sneak peek into their destination, whether that’s a sushi restaurant or a new pop-up gallery.  Even if you’re not planning to visit a place, Google still offers you a visual tour to cities big and small around the world, unveiling fascinating new aspects of the world’s urban tribes.

The advanced but still user-friendly new Google Maps service makes journey planning to campus and across the Pacific equally easy. Efficiency and real-life integration seem to be two things Google has perfectly mastered, and it has never been more evident than it is with Helpouts and the new Google Maps services.