Google has updated its Trends pages with a mesmerizing, constantly-updating visualization of trending searches …
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New Google Trends page offers mesmerizing view of trending searches
Author
Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer who started his career on PC World and has written for dozens of computer and technology magazines, as well as numerous national newspapers, business and in-flight magazines. He has also written two novels.
He thinks wires are evil and had a custom desk made to hide them, known as the OC Desk for obvious reasons.
He considers 1000 miles a good distance for a cycle ride, and Chernobyl a suitable tourist destination. What can we say, he’s that kind of chap.
He speaks fluent English but only broken American, so please forgive any Anglicised spelling in his posts.
Samsung officially announces the S4 Zoom, the camera that thinks it’s a smartphone
Most people have stopped carrying compact cameras, considering the one built into their smartphone good enough for the job. But there are those who ask a little more of their cameras, for whom carrying two gadgets is a necessary evil. It’s those people Samsung is targeting with a device we first mentioned last month, the Galaxy S4 Zoom: a compact camera on the front, an Android handset on the back. This one seems to address the major issue we had with our original Galaxy Camera review: its really large, heavy size and inability to make calls…
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Google Glass teardown: “It’s surprisingly simple”
What’s the first thing you do when you’ve just picked up your $1500 Google Glass headset? If you’re Scott Torborg and Star Simpsons, it’s apparently to reach for the spudges and screwdrivers …
We eagerly brought Glass back to the lab to begin the dissection. Speculation reigned: what if the entire body of Glass is potted with epoxy requiring strong solvents to access? Which part is the battery in? How hackable is this thing? Where are the sensors? Any extra hardware features yet to be unlocked by future software updates? But first, where to even begin opening it?
With no idea of what lay ahead, we started by removing the titanium frame from the pod that holds all the good stuff …
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Google partners with HP to push Apps to small-medium businesses in blow to Microsoft
Google has partnered with HP, the world’s largest PC manufacturer, to promote Google Apps to small businesses, reports AllThingsD.
HP has become a Google Apps reseller and will package management tools with its PCs, printers and other IT gear.
Although more than five million businesses use Google Docs, Microsoft Office remains the default solution, with many either unaware of Google Apps or unsure of how to use them. But if you buy a PC and it comes with Google Apps pre-installed, you’re much more likely to give it a try …
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Reductive, geometric, front-facing: a look at Google’s design principles
Roger Oddone, a senior graphical designer at Google, has provided a rare look behind the scenes at Google’s design principles, putting the company’s Visual Assets Guidelines online (via Gizmodo). The aim of the documents is to create a …
solid, yet flexible, set of guidelines that have been helping Google’s designers and vendors to produce high-quality work that helps strengthen Google’s identity …
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Fun Google Doodle for children’s book author & illustrator Maurice Sendak
Google has a fun doodle today to celebrate what would have been the 85th birthday of the author and illustrator of the best-selling children’s book Where the Wild Things Are …
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PRISM update: how both the claims and the denials may be true
The NSA’s $2b data centre in Bluffdale, Utah (source: businessweek.com)
Security researchers examining the PRISM denials made by the companies alleged to be providing data to the NSA say that the language used is suspiciously similar. The emphasis is ours:
Google: First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers.
Apple: “We do not provide any government agency with direct access to our servers, and any government agency requesting customer data must get a court order.”
Facebook: Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers.
The fact that the exact same phrase has been used seems unlikely to be a coincidence. One security researcher I spoke to said the wording only eliminated the NSA pulling data from the servers; it did not mean the companies were not pushing the data to the NSA. If the NSA obtained a secret court order requiring the companies to hand over the data, then of course statements that they only provide data when required to do so by law would also be true …
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Google testing new web search feature: In-depth articles
Search Engine Land has an interesting snippit on a new web-search feature Google appears to be testing: in-depth articles. Embedded in the existing search results is a box-out with links to particularly detailed articles, in this case restaurant reviews in a search for Mexican restaurants …
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BMW adds Samsung S Voice support to iDrive console in 2014 model cars
BMW has announced that it is adding Samsung S Voice support to the iDrive console on its 2014 model cars, along with a range of other enhancements. The car-maker is also adding support for Apple’s equivalent iPhone service, Siri.
With BMW offering its own voice-control functions, things could get confusing, so you can choose whether you want to talk to the car or your phone by either a single-press or press-and-hold of the steering-wheel button …
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$12B wiped off Samsung’s market value as Galaxy estimates drop and Apple competition heats up
Samsung appears to be experiencing a taste of those stock market jitters that seems to defy logic, with it’s market value reduced by $12b – 6 percent of its value – in a single day’s trading, reports Reuters.
The share slide of more than 6 percent comes after it recently introduced two stripped-down versions of the S4, fanning worries that profit margins for its mobile business will suffer. It also follows a report that arch-rival Apple will begin a trade-in program for iPhones.
The new stripped-down S4 models will help it widen its lead in the global smartphone market and fend off Chinese competitors, but some fear that the South Korean tech giant is trading in profits for volume …
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Google and other tech companies deny PRISM surveillance claims, NSA says claims ‘inaccurate’ and not used domestically
Claims made by The Washington Post that the National Security Agency was tapping into the servers of nine tech companies for details of user activity have been denied by Google and most of the other companies alleged to be involved.
Google cares deeply about the security of our users’ data. We disclose user data to government in accordance with the law, and we review all such requests carefully. From time to time, people allege that we have created a government ‘back door’ into our systems, but Google does not have a ‘back door’ for the government to access private user data.
Similar denial statements have been issued by Apple, Dropbox, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook.
The Post published slides from what it said was a Powerpoint presentation detailing the top-secret program, in which it was implied that the companies listed were knowing participants …
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Samsung’s S4 wireless charging kit now available in the US – but you may not want it …
DroidLife spotted that Samsung has added the Galaxy S4 wireless charging kit to the US store. To charge your S4 without being reduced to anything as crude as wires, you’ll need to replace the backplate of your phone with the Wireless Charging Cover for $39.99, plus buy the Wireless Charging Pad (or any other Qi charger) for $49.99.
The charging cover is, however, thicker than the standard one, which means it may not fit any existing cases or docks you have …
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More than half of U.S. smartphone owners use YouTube app
YouTube owner Google reports (via Bloomberg) that more than half of all U.S. smartphone owners have used the YouTube app, and that a quarter of traffic comes from phones and tablets.
Google tripled its ad sales on mobile devices in the last six months, reaching an estimated $350m a year – around 2.5% of Google’s income.
Google Glass before Google Glass
Google may be the first company to attempt to turn augmented reality eyewear into a mass-market product, but the concept itself is nothing new. The Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara has collected together more than 30 prototypes of augmented and virtual reality headsets, and Engadget has a comprehensive set of photos which make fascinating viewing.
We’re sharing a few of them below the break, from the crude to the close-to-Glass-like …
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HTC One Mini appears confirmed by leaked photos
We said a month ago that HTC was reportedly working on a smaller version of the HTC One, codenamed the M4. This story today appears confirmed, with leaked photos appearing on the Estonian site Forte, repeating the same specs we reported: a 720p display, 2Gb RAM, 16Gb storage and 4MP ‘Ultrapixel’ camera. More photos (which we’ve cleaned up a little as the originals were rather dark) after the break …
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Sky+ Android app gets update with keyword search, on-demand listings and download-to-box
UK TV network Sky has updated its Android app to add keyword search, on-demand listings and the ability to tell your Sky+HD box to download a programme direct from the app (via Engadget).
The previous version allowed text searches on titles only; the new version allows searches on any field (for example, cast members) and partial searches, so you don’t have to get an exact match to find something. When you find something you want to watch, the app can tell your Sky box to download it, but only when your phone is connected to the same wifi network as the box.
You can download the free updated app from the Google Play store.
FreedomPop promises 200 mins of voice calls and unlimited texts on its free plan
FreedomPop, a data-only carrier attempting to make the freemium model work for mobile service, plans to add voice calls and texts to its free 4G data plan. The service will arrive first on select Android devices this summer:
FreedomPop, today announced the first-ever completely free mobile service with free voice, free text and free data. FreedomPop’s ground breaking service will give users a guaranteed 500 MBs of 4G data for free, unlimited texting, and 200 free anytime voice minutes each month. In addition, FreedomPop users will enjoy free unlimited calls to each other. The FreedomPop service will be available on several popular Android phones later this summer and will be the first-ever all-data devices running 100 percent VoIP over cellular networks.
Please buy Windows 8 tablets, pleads Microsoft – have Office 2013 for free
Two days after cutting the cost of putting Windows 8 RT on a tablet, Microsoft has announced that Office 2013 will now be included free of charge on all 7- and 8-inch Windows 8 tablets, reports The Verge from Computex.
Microsoft has revealed that future 7- and 8-inch Windows 8 tablets will ship with a free copy of Office 2013. Speaking at Computex on Wednesday, Windows CFO Tami Reller revealed plans for Office Home and Student 2013 to be bundled with “small” Windows 8 tablets. It’s up to OEMs to bundle the software, which includes access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
Windows 8 tablets are struggling to compete with Android and iOS, with Microsoft’s own Surface tablets believed to have less than a 1 percent market share.
HTC’s Chief Operating Officer is latest senior departure
A couple of weeks after we reported on five senior departures from HTC, Business Week reports that the company’s COO Matthew Costello has also gone.
Chief Operating Officer Matthew Costello stepped down after less than three years at Taiwan’s biggest smartphone maker amid slumping sales that have pushed down shares 76 percent in the past two years …
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Microsoft attempts to prop up Windows 8 RT tablets with price-cuts
Microsoft has announced an unspecified cut in the price it charges to manufacturers to install Windows 8 RT on small tablets.
The move would enable manufacturers to either increase profits, making it more appealing for them to support the struggling platform, or to cut prices in an attempt to boost consumer demand.
Microsoft has declined to comment on sales figures for its own Surface tablets, but they have been estimated at 1.5 million, giving it less than a 1 percent share of the market.
The ultimate admission of failure for FaceBook Home …
First, there were the poor reviews. Then there were order cancellations for the HTC first. And now, in the final admission of failure for Facebook-skinned phones, TechCrunch reports that even Facebook itself is advising that the front-end can be switched off …
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ASUS announces a tablet, a phablet and … something very odd
ASUS announced a bunch of new products at Computex (via Engadget), with the relevant ones for us being a tablet, a phablet and … well, this.
The Transformer Book Trio is a weird hybrid laptop and tablet. Nothing especially odd there, you may think: it’s just an Android tablet with a detachable keyboard. Except in this case there’s a Windows 8 notebook housed in that keyboard, enabling the device to run both systems. Why Trio rather than Duo? It also comes with a dock housing a 750Gb hard drive and connectivity for an external monitor, which ASUS reckons makes it qualify as a desktop PC too …
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Intel processor in 10-inch Galaxy Tab 3 ‘confirmed’
Reuters reports a source confirming earlier reports that the next 10-inch Galaxy Tab 3 has an Intel Clover Trail+ processor in place of its own ARM chip.
Samsung Electronics has chosen an Intel Corp processor to power a new version of one of its top-tier Android tablets, a source with knowledge of the plans told Reuters, in a major victory for the U.S. chipmaker, which is struggling to find its footing in the mobile market.
While it seems an odd decision, the not-always-reliable Korea Times makes reference to possible yield issues with Samsung’s own ARM-based Exynos chips.
“Samsung wants to secure as many processors as possible at better pricing. That’s why Samsung Electronics has recently been diversifying its procurement channel in processor chips as a strategy to stabilize production yields of its in-house Exynos-branded processors,” he added.
Intel is keen to establish a decent foothold in the mobile market as the market shifts away from its traditional stronghold in desktop and laptop PCs to tablets, phablets and phones, and may well be offering Samsung a loss-leader deal to help it achieve this.
Acer announces $400 Haswell-powered AIO machine – running Android
It might look a little like Windows 8, but that’s Android
The blurring of the line between PCs and tablets looks set to be accelerated after Acer announced an All-In-One (AIO) PC powered by a 3GHz Core i5 Haswell processor, but running Android instead of Windows.
Choosing Android over Windows reduces costs not just by saving the licence fee to Microsoft but also by allowing significantly lower specs: the machine will come with just 1Gb RAM, for example …
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