Fitbit Public Preview adds food & water logging, more as app redesign comes to free users
Latest
Check who can see your Android phone’s location
In recent Android versions, safety and privacy have been forefront in the majority of changes made, though are still ways that others can see your Android device’s location without acting in a malicious way. This guide will bring you through several location-sharing features and how to configure or disable them entirely, letting you take control of who can see your Android phone’s location.
Expand Expanding Close
Google Pay is now available in Germany
Google has officially announced that Google Pay is now available in Germany. There are currently 4 banks that support the service, although the list is certain to grow in the coming months: Wirecard, Comdirect, Commerzbank, and N26.
Report: Google will show off plans to tap Tango for interior 3D mapping & VR apps at I/O
Google is planning on tapping into its Project Tango technology to offer superior interior 3D mapping of buildings and a new revenue stream through virtual reality apps using the platform, Bloomberg reports.
Google’s Eddystone beacons updated to support private and secure interaction
Bluetooth beacons usually only broadcast public one-way signals. By allowing secure and private communication with users, the Eddystone-EID opens up a variety of new use cases for beacons. Along with the new secure open beacon format, Google is announcing a number of new hardware partners that will make compatible devices.
Google and NetHope launch Project Reconnect, making 25,000 Chromebooks available to Syrian refugees in Germany
Google has announced a new philanthropic partnership with NetHope aiming to help Syrian refugees in Germany get reconnected by making 25,000 Chromebooks available to nonprofits. The goal — as described on the Project Reconnect home page — is “to help refugees as they strive to rebuild their lives, by facilitating access to education and information resources on the web.”
Huawei Watch gets extended warranty, goes on sale in German Google Store
I already love the Huawei Watch (and so does Dom), and now I think I love it even more. Today, the Chinese OEM has announced that new buyers of company’s Android Wear smartwatch are getting an extended manufacturer’s warranty. Originally just 12 months, the Huawei Watch is now eligible for an additional 12 months of coverage if you buy direct from Huawei…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Google Search has new context-based storm-preparedness recommendations
Google puts a lot of effort into making the world’s knowledge organized and accessible, and in particular it has a record through its Crisis Response project of making certain information more accessible during times of disaster. Today it released a blog post detailing how it’s doing more to help people be prepared.
Huawei invites for September 2nd event in Berlin hint at mystery ‘S’ model
Huawei has started sending out invitations to an event on September 2nd in Berlin, Germany. The invites fit in perfectly with previous speculation that the Chinese manufacturer would use IFA as its platform to launch a new smartphone. What’s interesting about these invites is that they seemingly hint at the name of the upcoming device.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Google’s Eddystone beacon format and Nearby API will make communication between devices easier
Google has just announced a new beacon technology called Eddystone along with APIs that will together make it easier for devices in close proximity to communicate. Essentially, these technologies will make it as easy for devices to communicate as it is to turn to a person next to you and talk in the real world.
Local advertisers can now display places ratings in their AdWords ads
In a world where we’re increasingly reliant on our phones to navigate the world, online reviews can make or break local businesses. Lawsuits regarding negative reviews show up in the news at least a couple times every year, and these review pages are increasingly becoming the battleground where individuals protest against businesses partaking in practices they disagree with. On the other hand, however, a good rating online can entrench and create a moat around a business for years to come. That’s why Google now allows advertisers to include their Google reviews in their AdWords ads.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Google begins monthly updates for driverless car project, reporting accidents
Google has launched a new website that will offer monthly updates on its driverless car project including reporting accidents the vehicles have been involved in.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Amazon pre-orders at €599 suggest flagship-level price for LG G Flex 2
LG announced several features of its new G Flex 2 smartphone at CES 2015 last week, including a full HD 5.5-inch dynamically curved P-OLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor with Octa-Core 64-bit capable CPUs, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with dual LED flash, 3,000 mAh battery and Android Lollipop. But one important piece of information that LG has withheld to this point is how much the G Flex 2 will cost…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Google News withdrawal from Spain bites traffic to newspaper sites, traffic down 10-15%
Spanish newspaper websites have seen their web traffic drop by an average of 10-15% after a law they lobbied for drove Google News out of the country. The figures were shared with GigaOM by web analytics company Chartbeat, which tracks around 50 Spanish news sites.
The law required Google to pay a fee for every story excerpt it displayed in search results, leading to the company – which generates no income from the ad-free Google News service – to close the service in Spain. Publishers clearly realized the implications right away, making a forlorn plea for the Spanish government to somehow ‘force’ Google to re-open the service …
Expand
Expanding
Close
German media powerhouse Axel Springer says uncle, allows Google to display news story snippets in search results
Google has been locked in a nasty battle with a group of German publishers for several years, with the troop complaining that the tech company’s web search results were making their online articles available to the public. But after two weeks of restricted access to Google News results, major news publisher Axel Springer has changed its mind.
Google’s Open Roberta project is teaching Germany’s youth how to program robots
Google recently launched a new program called “Open Roberta,” a cloud-based platform that helps teachers and students in Germany learn to program small robots. In terms of hardware, the search company’s new project uses LEGO MINDSTORMS kits that feature unique hardware and software to develop simple programmable robots.
German publishing syndicate now allowing Google to display news excerpts in search results (update)
As a result of an ongoing legal battle, Google recently changed the way it displays search results for news stories from select European publishers. A syndicate known as VG Media is claiming that Google’s search engine is letting people bypass their sites’ paywalls, and is demanding compensation for lost revenue. In an effort to smooth things over, Google removed text previews and thumbnail images from its search results for select publishers involved in this claim, but it appears that VG Media has had a change of heart.
Google no longer displaying news article excerpts in German search results
Photo: http://www.corporateofficeheadquarters.com
After receiving a lot of pressure from a group German publishers, Google is changing the way its search engine handles news articles. The company is now removing excerpts and image thumbnails from its web search results for sites like bild.de, bunte.de or hoerzu.de and replacing them with headlines and story links.
Google warned to change its user data profiling policies in Germany
Google is in hot water in Germany, with the Hamburg Data Protection Authority warning the company that its user profiling practices violate the Telemedia Act and Federal Data Protection Act. A continuation of the search giant’s ongoing problems in Europe, the German regulatory organization is stating that spreading a person’s information across multiple services such as Gmail, Maps and YouTube is unnecessary and a violation of the country’s privacy laws.
Google expands local inventory ads to UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia & desktop users
Google just announced that it’s expanding its local inventory ads first launched for users in the US last fall to more countries starting today. The ads, which promote items from local nearby retailers to shoppers on Google, are now available in the UK, Germany, Australia, Japan, and France.
Google said today that it will also start showing the ads to desktop users:
We have also expanded support for store-only products and campaigns to desktop devices, enabling retailers to promote stores to the right customers at the right time. For example, you can prioritize showing local products to get shoppers in your doors during the weeks and days leading up to the holidays. As items go out of stock online and last-minute shipping costs increase, retailers who can provide cost-effective, quick in-store purchase options stand out in the crowd
Retailers can get an overview on the program here and users will in the countries above should start to see the local “in store” ads appear in search results.
Reminder: Moto X for AT&T, Moto X Pure Edition and Moto Hint earbud on pre-order today, Moto 360 back on sale
Just a reminder that two of recently-announced Moto X handsets go on pre-order at 11am CT today, the AT&T version and the unlocked, off-contract Pure Edition. Joining them are the Moto Hint wireless earbud and a rapid charger.
Moto X for AT&T – Order the AT&T version of the new Moto X starting on Tuesday.
Moto X – Pure Edition – The off-contract Moto X is available SIM unlocked and with an unlockable bootloader for $499.99 USD.
Moto Hint – Our discreet wireless earbud gives you complete control of your phone and allows you to access everything you need by just using your voice. It will be available for $149.99 USD.
Motorola Turbo Charger – Our fastest charger ever takes just 15 minutes on the latest Moto phones to get up to 8 more hours of battery life. It will be available for $34.99 USD.
The company also said that its Moto 360 smartwatch will be back on sale today, though in limited quantities. The watch first went on sale on 5th September and sold out the same day.
Availability of the Moto X in other markets has not yet been announced, but Motorola says the handset is “coming soon” in the UK, France and Germany.
Google Play offers discount on Nexus 5 + LG G Watch bundle in GB, IE, FR, DE, AU, KR, JP
Google is offering a new bundle through Google Play in some countries that offers a discounted price for customers that purchase both a Nexus 5 and LG G Watch. Discounts vary with local currencies, but discounts general range from $100 in Australia to £60 in the UK.
We reached out to Google to find out where exactly the deal is available, and it offered up a full list of countries: GB, IE, FR, DE, AU, KR, JP.
You can head over to Google Play now if you’re in a participating country to take advantage of the deal.
Samsung announces Galaxy Tab Active, ideal for watching movies in the bath …
Granted that isn’t Samsung’s official reason for launching the ruggedized version of the Galaxy Tab, which is both water and dust resistant, and protected against 1.2 metre drops. Samsung says that the Galaxy Tab Active is likely to appeal to business users who need to use tablets in places like construction sites and transport depots.
Along with the protective casing, the device has what is described as a tougher C-Pen stylus. You might wonder how many Galaxy Tab variants are needed, but the company says that it consulted with Fortune 500 companies to determine what was needed from a professional tablet …
Expand
Expanding
Close
German regulator won’t pursue publisher complaints against Google
Today, a German regulator said that it will not pursue complaints brought against Google from a group of publishers that are displeased with the company’s search engine providing full access to their online news articles. A troop of media outlets including Axel Springer SE and Burda joined forces to form a group called VG Media to request that Google compensate them for making their web content viewable to the public.
ASUS reportedly aiming to launch budget-friendly Android Wear smartwatch at IFA
LG’s G Watch and Samsung’s Gear Live
When Google unveiled Android Wear, it said that ASUS was among the partners signed up to release a wearable device, but since then, both companies have been quiet on the matter. In June, rumors started circulating that ASUS was working on a smartwatch that would be low-cost and appealing to consumers. Now, according to quotes from Focus Taiwan, ASUS may launch its Android Wear device as soon as next month at IFA next month.
ASUS CEO Jerry Shen told an investors’ conference Tuesday that his company could debut its smartwatch as early as September at the IFA electronics trade show in Germany, with aggressive marketing efforts to promote the device.