Following an announcement at Google I/O earlier this year, the collection of 3D objects available in Search is expanding. Available now, a bunch of athletes from the Olympics can now be viewed in 3D through Search, and Google is even advertising them in Discover.
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The 2020 Summer Olympic Games are barely a year away, and preparations are well underway for the host city of Tokyo, Japan. This week, Samsung has officially announced an “Olympic Games Edition” of the Galaxy S10+ for Tokyo 2020.
After rumors first popped up just two weeks ago, Samsung has today officially announced the Olympic Games Edition of its flagship Samsung Galaxy S7 edge smartphone.
Google is constantly on a quest to add new, interesting visual tours to its popular Maps service, and its latest addition will help give you a taste of the Olympic venues ahead of this year’s competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
You may have already noticed, but Google’s latest Olympic-related doodle on the homepage is an interactive HTML5 game that celebrates hurdle races. Users can notably pair a USB-powered gamepad, keyboard, or mouse to control the game’s runner and to help him conquer the track’s hurdles.
Google revealed in a Google+ post today (screenshot below) that the doodle “makes use of the brand-new Gamepad API, which uses JavaScript to read the state of any gamepad controller attached to your computer, and which was just added to Chrome last week.”
Check it out: Google.com
Samsung has been sued by 18 Olympic athletes over a Facebook app called “Samsung Olympic Genome Project”. The app allows users to play a “six degrees of separation” game using FB profile data and a database of 3,000 athletes while displaying ads for Samsung’s Galaxy products. Bloomberg reports:
Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) was sued by a group of 18 Olympic athletes who claim the “Samsung Olympic Genome Project” application for Facebook uses their names and images without their permission… The athletes, including swimmer Mark Spitz, diver Greg Louganis, and track and field star Jackie Joyner-Kersee, said in a complaint filed yesterday in state court in Los Angeles that Samsung uses their names and images to create the impression that they endorse its products.
Samsung’s statement (via HollywoodReporter):
“Samsung is disappointed by the lawsuit filed around the US Olympic Genome project. The Genome Project is a unique program that benefits Team USA by connecting fans and US Olympians. We have collaborated closely on this program with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) over the past year and followed USOC procedures in communicating with the athletes. Athletes have had the opportunity to voice their opinions on the program and to control their participation. Samsung will continue to support Team USA and the spirit of the Olympics in our efforts.”
With the 2012 Summer Olympics in London set to kick off in the coming months, official sponsor of the games Coca-Cola teamed with producer Mark Ronson to create an Android app called “Coca-Cola Olympic Games My Beat Maker.” As you might imagine, the app allows you to create your own beats, but it does so by letting you chop up the official Coca-Cola anthem for the London 2012 Olympic Games—”Anywhere in the World” by Ronson featuring Katy B.
My Beat Maker uses amazing technology to detect the movements of your phone and transform them into music so you can make your own beats!… Bust out your own loops and beats based on the official Coca-Cola® anthem for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Mark Ronson featuring Katy B’s Anywhere in the World, just from the motion of your phone.