Chance currently writes for both 9to5Google and 9to5Mac, in addition to 9to5Toys. He has previously written for several other online publications. He uses a Nexus 5, iPhone 5s, iPad Air, Hackintosh, and Macbook Air.
According to a report from The Daily Dot, Google is preparing to relaunch the live streaming platform aspect of YouTube with a renewed focus on gaming. YouTube is reportedly looking to take on popular streaming service Twitch and focus on esports and gaming with the refreshed YouTube Live. Google infamously attempted to acquire Twitch last year, but failed as Amazon ended up buying the platform.
According to a new report from Re/code, Google is soon planning to launch a service that will allow Gmail users to manage, pay, and receive all their bills directly within Gmail. The service is dubbed Pony Express right now, although it’s unclear if that’s a codename or what Google actually plans to call the service.
More than 4 months after the update started rolling out to Nexus devices, AT&T has finally announced this morning that it is pushing Android 5.0 Lollipop to its Galaxy Note 4 variant. Earlier this month, Sprint also began rolling out Lollipop to its Note 4 model. The update for AT&T users comes in at 1.16GB and is based on Android 5.0.1.
Google this evening appears to have started sending out Google I/O 2015 ticket invites. The company last year started a new random registration process, allowing the pubic to sign-up for a chance to purchase tickets. The same process was used this year and the lucky winners are quickly being notified…
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HTC revealed its 2015 smartphone flagship, the One M9, at Mobile World Congress earlier this month. The device was met with a seemingly ‘meh’ reaction at the time, with HTC fans complaining that the device was too similar to its predecessor and worrying about the use of the over-heating Snapdragon 810. This evening, reviews for the HTC One M9 have officially started popping up around the web and they give us a much more in-depth look at what the company has to offer as we head into 2015…
Google appears to have started rolling out a new device security feature called on-body detection. Basically, this feature uses your device’s accelerometer to figure out if your phone is in your hand or in your pocket. If the feature detects that your phone is not in one of those two locations, it will automatically lock. Ideally, this means that if you forget your phone or leave it sitting on a table somewhere, it will lock and prevent nefarious thieves from gaining access (via Android Police).
Google has revealed that it is rolling out a new ad delivery process to its Fiber TV service in Kansas City. The company says the new ad-targeting process is similar to what it already does on mobile devices. Normally, television ads are sold based on entire markets, not the individual user. With this new ad-targeting method, however, local Kansas City advertisers will be able to target specific users with their advertisements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybg5klCxQGA&
To combat the hype surrounding Apple’s “Spring Forward” event last week, Google shared a new ad focused on the variety of Android Wear devices available. The ad came in at only 18 seconds, though, and left out some variations. This evening, however, the company has uploaded an extended 1 minute version of the ad to YouTube.
Software engineering firm ELEKS has today revealed a new app that will allow Android Wear users to control their Tesla car straight from their wrist. The app, the idea for which was spawned after they released an app for the Apple Watch, allows users to easily see the charge status of their car. This is such an important feature, ELEKS claims, that the developers made the Android Wear watch face for the app a charging screen.
The Wall Street Journal today published a report highlighting an investigation done by the Federal Trade Commission that began in early 2013. The investigation centered around how Google skewed search results in an effort to promote its own services over competitors. Google, according to the FTC report, was accused of boosting its services for shopping, travel, and local businesses.
Android 5.1 was officially announced earlier this month, with rollouts gradually occurring for Nexus devices since then. Today, T-Mobile has joined in and started rolling out Android 5.1 to its Nexus 6 variant. The update carries the build number LMY47M and is unique to devices with T-Mobile SIM cards inside.
Google’s self-driving car initiative may not be as far off as many might think. During a talk at the TED conference in Vancouver, Google’s head of self-driving cars Chris Urmson said that his team is working to launch the technology onto the market by 2020 (that year may sound familiar if you’ve followed the Apple Car rumors). The executive said that he has an 11-year-old son that could be eligible to get his license in 4 and a half years, although he hopes that won’t be needed thanks to the availability of self-driving cars. “My team and I are committed to making sure that doesn’t happen,” Urmson said (via Re/Code).
According to several users on the Chromecast Subreddit, and corroborated by TechCrunch, you can now play and pause video content on the Chromecast with your TV remote. This feature makes it significantly easier to control your content without having to use your smartphone for everything.
Google today, in a post on its Webmaster Central Blog, has reveled that it will soon launch a ranking adjustment to search results to better address sites that “maximize their search footprint without adding clear, unique value.” This problem occurs when a user searches for a topic and sees a page of results all from the same website, which Google says creates for a frustrating user experience.
As reported on by The Next Web, Google at South by Southwest this weekend gave an interesting look at its plans for Google Now. Aparna Chennapragada, Google Now’s Director of Product Management, discussed Google’s personalized predictive data service and revealed some details regarding the future of the product. Chennapragada revealed that the company soon plans to launch an open API for Google Now that will allow third-party services to integrate it into their apps.
After officially becoming available last Thursday, Verizon’s Nexus 6 variant has started arriving on customer doorsteps today. The device was originally slated to ship or arrive on March 18th for customers who pre-ordered. Many customers report that their phone’s tracking initially showed an arrival date of the 17th, so today’s arrival is a nice surprise for many (via Droid Life).
Google today has announced a new partnership with Routehappy that adds more detailed information to Google’s Flight service. As part of the partnership, Google Flights will show what Routehappy calls “Happiness Factors,” which include things such as legroom availability, in-seat power, and WiFi.
Routehappy calls the information it sources “Flightpad” and claims that it is the most comprehensive and accurate database for flight information.
Routehappy researches and verifies flight amenities by aircraft, cabin, schedule, and route on a constant basis from hundreds of disparate sources to create Flightpad, the most comprehensive, accurate comparable product attribute dataset for flights worldwide. Flightmatch is a set of powerful and intelligent algorithms that dynamically match and score Happiness Factors, duration, and ratings for billions of possible flight combinations
The information will start to appear now in Google Flights results. You can view them yourself on the Google Flights site now.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Google’s Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette is retiring from the company. Pichette joined Google as CFO and a senior vice president in August of 2008. Prior to joining Google, Pichette worked at Bell Canada for seven years and also was also a partner at McKinsey & Company.
After making Android 5.1 official earlier this evening, Google has now started posting factory images of the latest version of its operating system to the Android Developers website. Android 5.1 factory images for the Nexus 5, Nexus 10, and 2012 WiFi Nexus 7 are now available to download.
According to a new report out of Reuters, former Google executive Michelle Lee will become the head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The position, the U.S. Senate says, has been vacant for more than two years. President Barack Obama was responsible for choosing Michelle Lee to head the patent office, with his choice also having been recently approved by the full Senate.
Google today has made Android 5.1 Lollipop official. The update, available previously only on select Android One devices, brings a host of enhancements and changes to the operating system. A report earlier this week stated that the update would be made official this week, and it looks like that has now happened…
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Google rolled out an update to the Drive Android app earlier this week, and as usual, what it touted in the change log wasn’t all that changed. Android Police has dug deeper into the APK update file and noticed some changes that hint at major new features coming to the app. First off, it appears that Google Drive will take over the task of backing up photos and videos for users, a responsibility that has been held by Google+ since its inception.
Samsung’s S6 marketing so far
According to a report from Business Insider, Samsung Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer Todd Pendleton has left the company. Pendleton notified colleagues of his departure, effective in April, earlier this week. Neither Samsung nor Pendleton have offered a statement on the shake-up, and details regarding reasoning are sparse at this point.
Samsung unveiled the Galxay S6 and S6 Edge earlier this week at Mobile World Congress, and immediately all major United States carriers announced plans to offer both devices, but without any pre-order or launch information. Today, however, Verizon has announced that it will open pre-orders for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge on April 1st.