Fitbit Public Preview adds food & water logging, more as app redesign comes to free users
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California bill puts new guardrails on local AI developers, which is most of them
AI companies in California are getting a tighter leash with a new open-ended bill that aims to add some restraints to how the new business model category can operate in the state. The bill affects a large majority of AI development companies.
Expand Expanding CloseAndroid 7.1 hits the Galaxy Nexus and 2013 Moto X via CyanogenMod and Unlegacy ROMs
When a company says that they are going to stop supporting a phone, what they usually mean is they will no longer push firmware updates to the handset. When this happens, the only chance customers have to ever run the latest build of Android is if developers build a custom ROM for it. In the case of the Galaxy Nexus and the 2013 Moto X, Android 7.1 Nougat is now available thanks to the CyanogenMod and Unlegacy Android communities.
As battle between Google and the EU continues, the search giant may face a record €3 billion fine
We had heard that the EU was planning to levy a substantial fine on Google for its alleged favoring of its own services in search over those belonging to competitors last year already, and the Telegraph is reporting that the European Commission is now estimating a hefty €3 billion ($3.4b) tag…
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Mountain View planning office releases latest renders of Google’s tent-like campus expansion
Google’s expansion plans for its Mountain View HQ have been progressing rather slowly, but the company has now given the go-ahead for local planning officials to release the renders of the structures it hopes to build next to its existing Googleplex head office.
The company originally submitted plans for a combination of one dome-like structure and a second building looking like a giant tent. As BizJournals now reports, the latest version appears to have abandoned the dome in favor of a lower-profile structure designed to blend into the local environment (more images below).
Once the campus is complete, you’ll be able to take a walk through it …
YouTube purchases 553,000-square-foot office park for $215 million in San Bruno
Silicon Valley Business Journal reports that YouTube has acquired a massive new office park near its current San Bruno headquarters. The Bayhill Office Center comes in at 553,328-square-feet and consists of five buildings. YouTube paid $215 million for it, which comes out to around $388 per square foot. Youtube acquired the space from Hudson Pacific Properties, which purchased it from Blackstone Equity Office just last year.
California DMV wants to ban Google’s proposal for self-driving cars without manual driving controls
Google’s vision of self-driving cars whose interiors have no driving controls could be thwarted in its home state of California. Automotive News reports that the California Department of Motor Vehicles wants to impose legislation that would require all autonomous vehicles to have both driving controls and a specially-licensed driver behind the wheel.
While Google’s primary test fleet of self-driving cars have manual controls, these are only intended for development purposes. The next-generation prototypes (shown above) have no controls …
Opinion: Now is the perfect time for another Samsung Galaxy Nexus
This year, Google is rumored to be partnering with a Chinese manufacturer for the first time on its Nexus lineup. The Huawei Nexus isn’t just an experiment, or giving a new OEM a chance at making a device. If rumors are correct, the partnership was chosen because of Huawei’s influence in China. Google’s Play Services are limited in China, in that they’re basically non-existent. But still, as a consumer, I can’t help but feel this year should have been Samsung’s year, and next year definitely should be…
Google moving towards wider production of its electric self-driving cars, making a ‘few hundred’
When Google originally showcased the newer low-speed “cute-mobile” self-driving car, it mentioned a goal of having about 100 of them on the road for testing within a couple years. Now, as the company is bringing its low-speed electric prototypes to Austin a year later, Sarah Hunter, head of policy for Google [X], has revealed that the company is expanding production of the cars (via The Guardian). Hunter says that Google is now producing at least a “few hundred” and hints at a potential future of mass-production…
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Google’s new futuristic campus hits roadblock with LinkedIn awarded key Mountain View real estate
In a move that could reportedly threaten Google’s campus expansion plans on its home turf in Mountain View, California, BizJournals reports that LinkedIn has won a bid for valuable real estate that Google was hoping it to use for a previously announced futuristic campus:
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Google powering Mountain View HQ from wind power as of next year
Google has announced that it will be powering its Mountain View headquarters with wind power from 2016–or, more precisely, that it will be purchasing enough wind-generated electricity to cover the power used by its HQ.
The agreement with NextEra Energy Resources will help to repower an iconic Bay Area wind farm at California’s Altamont Pass with new turbines that will pour 43 MW of electricity onto the grid starting in 2016 […]
Even though the electrons follow an untraceable path through the California electricity grid, we can be sure that we’re offsetting the electrical consumption of our North Bayshore headquarters with the renewable energy from the new turbines.
Google has been a carbon-neutral company since 2007, and already uses renewable energy to power its data centers (winning praise from Greenpeace), but this is the first time the company has made a direct commitment regarding its offices. Google also runs a free electric shuttle bus service for local residents.
Google shared the news the day after Apple announced that it is building a solar farm to offset all its California operations, including its new campus building currently under construction.
Contract drivers for Silicon Valley tech companies vote to unionize in quest for better conditions
Contract workers driving shuttle buses for a range of Silicon Valley companies have voted to unionize, reports USA Today.
A majority of the 120 full-time and part-time drivers who transport those companies’ employees have signed authorization cards with the union, said Rome Aloise, International vice president and secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 853.
The drivers are employed by South San Francisco-based Compass Transportation, which has contracts with Apple and the other firms to transport its workers to and from work.
Although the hourly rates for the drivers range from $18-20, they argue that high living costs make it difficult to live close to work, and working further out does not allow them to return home between split shifts in the morning and evening–meaning they are effectively at work for far longer than their paid hours.
William Gould, a professor at Stanford Law School said: “These workers, as a practical matter, have to wait in certain areas to do their work (and) they are not compensated for that wait.”
Facebook shuttle bus drivers joined the Teamsters union in November. Although Google is not specifically named by the Teamsters, it’s believed that Google drivers will also be invited to vote on joining a union.
Google has faced criticism over its impact on the housing market in San Francisco as a result of well-paid employees being able to buy and rent property in the area, partly as a result of the wifi-equipped shuttle buses–with protestors blocking the buses. The company responded by donating $6.8M to a program offering free transit to low income kids, and funding four electric shuttle buses for use by the local community in Mountain View.
Photo: wired.com
Google Shopping Express becomes true Amazon Prime competitor w/ $95/year memberships, new cities & more merchants
Google announced today that its rebranding its Google Shopping Express service while expanding the same day delivery service to new markets and merchants. While announcing the new shorter “Google Express” name, Google announced that the service is now available in Chicago, Boston, and Washington D.C. After first rolling out the service a year ago, it’s now accessible to more than 7 million people.
Google also noted some of the big merchants it’s added support for in recent months, including alcohol delivery in the Bay Area, making for a total of 16 new shopping options through Express:
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Google invests $145 million in new 82MW Southern California solar power plant
Google has agreed to invest $145 million in a 82MW solar power plant project in Kern County, California. Set on top of a former gas and oil field, the 737-acre facility will be loaded with over 248,000 SunEdison mono-crystalline solar PV modules. Once up and running, the Regulus power plant will crank out enough energy to power more than 10,000 homes.
Six reasons why Google’s autonomous car director thinks public sale is still five years away
Google’s self-driving cars may have notched up 700,000 accident-free miles without anyone needing to press the big red Stop button, but project director Chris Urmson’s personal deadline to have the cars on sale to the public is still five years away, reports the MIT’s Technology Review.
Most tech-heads know that the cars rely on inch-perfect modelling of the specific streets they will use, the cars unable to drive anywhere else, but the piece revealed that this is just one of the challenges ahead …
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California governor signs bill requiring all smartphones to have remote killswitches by July 2015
As we’ve previously covered, the state of California has been in the process of passing a bill that would require all smartphones sold within the state to come with a remote killswitch option to deter thieves. The bill was passed by the state legislature earlier this year, and today it was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, as noted by CNET.
The law goes into effect in July 2015, and will require all smartphones sold within the state to include an option for remotely disabling a stolen device. Google has already plans to meet the requirements of this law with its upcoming Android L release, but now such features will be required by law on all future Android, Windows Phone, and other handsets by default, meaning OEMs distributing older versions of Android will need to find a new solution.
Jawbone UP activity tracker finds a new application – as an earthquake tracker
Activity trackers can be a good way to monitor not only exercise but also sleep patterns – and now Jawbone’s UP device seems to have found a third application, as an earthquake tracker. The above graph shows the moment at which the magnitude 6 earthquake hit Napa, California, at around 3.20am …
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Google’s autonomous car without steering wheel or pedals to get steering wheel & pedals …
When Google showed off its built-from-scratch self-driving car with no steering-wheel or pedals, the world’s press weren’t the only people watching: California’s DMV also had its eye on the vehicle.
A new rule taking effect in California from 16th September says that self-driving cars are only legal on public roads if a driver is able to take “immediate physical control,” reports the WSJ. That means that Google is going to have to make a couple of small adjustments to the cars: fitting that missing steering-wheel and pedals.
[Google] said it plans to comply with the California rule by building a small, temporary steering wheel and pedal system that drivers can use during testing.
“With these additions, our safety drivers can test the self-driving features, while having the ability to take control of the vehicle if necessary,” Google spokeswoman Courtney Hohne said.
The company will initially be testing the fleet of 100 prototype vehicles on private roads.
Google had also wanted to test other types of autonomous vehicles, including motorcycles, but the DMV refused permission. California DMV official Bernard Soriano did, however, state that they are drafting rules that allow members of the public to operate driverless cars within a couple of years – and by that time, no steering-wheel or pedals will be required.
Only a handful of US states allow driverless cars on the road at present, but others are likely to follow California’s lead, and other countries likewise.
Samsung managers apologize for poor results, handing back 25 percent of their bonuses
Reuters reports that almost 200 Samsung managers have “voluntarily” handed back a quarter of their first-half bonuses in anticipation of what is expected to be the company’s worst quarterly profit for two years.
The decision to return some of the bonus was partly a gesture to demonstrate that managers are taking responsibility for the earnings decline, and partly a way to show that management will work harder, the source told Reuters on Friday, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Google services again facing outages in China after brief restoration this morning
Earlier today, access to Google’s variety of web services was finally restored in China, after weeks of them being offline. This evening, however, Reuters reports that once again, the Mountain View company’s services are being disrupted in China. This includes tools such as Google Search, Maps, Gmail, advertising services, and more.
Goldman Sachs taking legal action against Google to retrieve a misaddressed email [Update: Google complied]
Image via Reuters
Update: The WSJ reports that Google agreed to block access to the email, and advised that it had not been read
According to a new report from Reuters, investment banking firm Goldman Sachs is taking legal action against Google over an email that it accidentally sent to the wrong address. The report claims that a Goldman Sachs employee was sending an email, but instead of putting the correct @gs.com ending, the employee put @gmail.com, which in turn caused the email to be sent to a total stranger.
Celebrate San Francisco with 20 free tracks from Google Play
Amid protests, Google tries to make nice with the city of San Francisco both with a showing of local bands and some San Francisco related tracks (20) on Google Play available for free. Rumor has it there will also be lots of San Francisco beers at the event this evening.
Canadian court orders Google to remove company from web search results
A recent ruling by the European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) ordered Google to remove old web search results that could possibly have a negative impact on a person’s reputation. Often referred to as “the right to be forgotten,” individuals are able to request that “outdated or irrelevant” information about them be purged from the web, but what about non-living entities? Taking its cues from this controversial ruling, a Canadian court has ruled that Google must remove search results for a company’s rival — not only in Canada but around the world.
Satirical Conan video suggests Google’s self-driving car has a few bugs
[protected-iframe id=”e03354dba6c1b69417ffc4c258ab9702-22427743-8994189″ info=”http://teamcoco.com/embed/v/82656″ width=”640″ height=”415″ frameborder=”0″]
After Google demonstrated a prototype of a purpose-built self-driving car, Conan made a few edits …
Google wanted to show what an autonomous car might look like without any manual driving controls, and to see what people made of it. What Conan made of it was this one-minute amusing video.
The reality, of course, is that Google’s self-driving cars have clocked up 700,000 accident-free miles without anyone having had to use the emergency stop button.
The DMV is looking at the issue of how driving infringements by autonomous vehicles might be handled, and California is close to issuing the cars with driver’s licences.
Google Shopping Express’ overnight delivery now available throughout Northern California
Google Shopping Express is now overnighting purchases in Northern California. Starting today, East Bay residents in Berkeley, Concord, Danville, Dublin, Fremont, Oakland, Pleasanton, Richmond and Walnut Creek can take advantage of the search giant’s slick delivery service. Further expanding its operations, the company says that in the next few months it plans to bring Google Shopping Express’ overnight service to the California-Oregon border, Fresno and Visalia.