Élyse Betters, Author at 9to5Google - Page 13 of 34

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A closer look at the Samsung Galaxy Camera for AT&T (Video)

Élyse Betters Oct 4 2012 - 5:52 pm PT

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjZ2keI_tss&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

AT&T announced earlier this afternoon that it would debut the Samsung Galaxy Camera on its 4G network soon, but I was able to get a closer look at the point-and-shoot at a media event in New York City this evening.

The Android-powered Galaxy Camera combines Google’s Jelly Bean OS with a 16-megapixel camera and 4.8-inch 1,280-by-720-pixel display, and it certainly is a beauty. But, wow, she is certainly big. It is hard not to notice the sheer size and weight of this device; however, its glitz and glam easily take center stage.

Most of the bulk is due to a pop-up flash, zoom lens, shutter release, built-in Wi-Fi radio, and 3G/4G support, while a quick 1.4GHz quad-core processor makes Jelly Bean feel like, well, butter. The camera function and preloaded apps launch like a charm, as well.

The Galaxy Camera is essentially an Android smartphone without the phone, but apps like Skype would allow users to take advantage of the camera’s microphone and speaker. It will certainly be interesting to see how the market receives this Frankenstein-like device. I, for one, am itching to buy it.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Camera at IFA 2012 in August, and it will supposedly hit shelves sometime this month for an unknown price.

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Hands-on with AT&T’s Sony Xperia TL (Gallery)

Élyse Betters Oct 4 2012 - 5:30 pm PT

Sony’s latest flagship smartphone, the Xperia TL, is landing on AT&T in the United States, but I was able to get a brief hands-on with the LTE Android device at a media event in New York City tonight.

The 4.55-inch smartphone, with a matte plastic back and 720p HD Reality display, certainly looks like a high-end device, but it simply does not stand out from the competition. Its 1.5GHz dual-core S4 keeps the user-experience brisk, and the arch-like curve fits well in the hand, but the materials feel a little cheap.

AT&T did a good job at pre-loading many of its apps, and Sony even added a few of its own too, such as Media, Album, and Walkman, but overall the Ice Cream Sandwich OS felt a bit outdated. Sony, however, promised a Jelly Bean upgrade “soon.” Yeah, not too specific. James Bond’s official smartphone is slated for a holiday release, though, so pricing and additional details are bound to come down the pipeline in the coming weeks.

The Xperia TL originally unveiled at IFA 2012 in August, and it packs, aside from the specs above, a 13-megapixel camera, 1080p HD video recording, and one-touch enabled NFC.

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Samsung Galaxy Camera to debut on AT&T’s 4G network

Élyse Betters Oct 4 2012 - 12:39 pm PT

Samsung and AT&T just revealed the Samsung Galaxy Camera would debut on AT&T’s 4G network.

AT&T noted its network would allow Galaxy Camera users to share and connect while on the go, but there is no direct mention of LTE. The carrier called the point-and-shoot “4G-connected,” however, so the Jelly Bean-powered device will likely support HSPA+. There is no specific information regarding pricing or availability either, but the camera will go on sale in the “coming weeks.”

The Galaxy Camera unveiled at the Samsung Unpacked event in August, and it packs a 4.8-inch HD Super Clear LCD screen, 21x optical zoom lens, 16MP BSI CMOS sensor, and a quad-core 1 GHz processor. A few of the software highlights, aside from access to Google Play, include: Samsung’s AllShare Play for remote access to the camera over the same Wi-Fi connection; Buddy Photo Share for instant face tagging; and Share Shot for auto-sending of images to other Samsung devices.

Get more details in the press release below.

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Snapseed for Android shows up in Google Exec’s Google Plus

Élyse Betters Oct 4 2012 - 11:10 am PT

What’s this? A cliché shot of an airplane’s wing taken by the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Google. Not quite, look again:

Vic Gundotra shared the majestic photo, as first noted by #googleplusupdate, to his Google+ profile via Snapseed. As far as the public knows, Snapseed, despite Google buying its developer last month, is an iOS-only app.

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Nissan unveils self-driving ‘NSC-2015’ concept car that responds to Galaxy S III [Video]

Élyse Betters Oct 4 2012 - 10:26 am PT

[youtube=http://youtu.be/kflTwjGkPkc?t=2m14s]

Uh-oh, Google better step on the pedal: Automaker Nissan recently unveiled a self-driving car at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies tradeshow in Tokyo.

The concept car, dubbed “NSC-2015, can park or drive up to a passenger when commanded by a smartphone. In the Nissan press video above, a demonstration at CEATEC 2012 shows the modified Nissan Leaf responding to an Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S III.

Nissan specifically said the car could search for an empty space and park itself after a driver has left the vehicle and then the driver could later summon the car with just a simple smartphone tap.

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Samsung website lists upcoming Jelly Bean updates for US devices

Élyse Betters Oct 4 2012 - 8:38 am PT

Samsung has website with a straightforward list of its U.S. devices that have received or are expected to get an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update. The handy resource will refresh with current data “as updates are confirmed or released.”

Check it out:

Samsung FAQ | Cell Phones: Will my Samsung device receive an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean?

[via AndroidGuys]

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Google and AAP reach agreement on 7-year copyright dispute

Élyse Betters Oct 4 2012 - 8:08 am PT

Google and the Association of American Publishers just announced a settlement agreement for a 7-year-old litigation that will further provide access to copyrighted content digitized by Google for its Library Project.

Google started to scan and digitize library books in 2002 for its Book Search service founded in 2004 that allows users to download public domain books and snippets of copyrighted books. The Association of American Publishers filed a lawsuit against Google in 2005 for copyright infringement over the unauthorized snippets.

The Association sought an injunctive relief, but Google maintained the scanned book snippets were fair use. Both parties reportedly began negotiations to settle in 2006. However, in 2011, a supervising judge ruled to reject a major settlement proposal between them. Any news about close talks has since been quiet until today’s announcement about a finalized agreement.

The finalized agreement effectively ends the 2005 copyright infringement lawsuit; and the settlement is between the parties, so the court does not have to approve terms. The publisher plaintiffs include McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, Penguin Group, John Wiley & Sons, and Simon & Schuster. Although the companies’ statement does not reveal whether Google infringed, they said the settlement “acknowledged the rights and interests of copyright-holders.”

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AT&T announces ICS update for Pantech Burst and Element

Élyse Betters Oct 4 2012 - 7:06 am PT

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is now available to AT&T’s Pantech Burst and Pantech Element.

AT&T revealed the announcement this morning for the lower-end LTE-powered smartphone and tablet on its consumer blog, where the carrier further explained the mobile OS would add a bevy of new features to the dual-core processor devices.

A few of the software features include:

With this update, Pantech Element customers will have resizable widgets and an updated Setup Wizard with additional training information. Android 4.0 will provide support for Burst users with Native Sync for AT&T Address Book, as well as expanded camera options such as Self-Mode and Panorama Capture. Also featured is the new Recent Apps button, which lets users move directly from one task to another using the list in the System Bar.

Download the ICS update:

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LG unveils ICS-powered LG Optimus G for AT&T and Sprint networks [Gallery]

Élyse Betters Oct 3 2012 - 2:08 pm PT

LG just announced its “PC-like” LG Optimus G coming to the United States on AT&T and Sprint networks.

The 8.4-mm thin, LTE-capable smartphone runs Ice Cream Sandwich, and it packs Qualcomm’s 1.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage memory, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 2100 mAh Li-Polymer battery. Oh, and the LG Optimus G boasts a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display.

AT&T’s variant has an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, but Sprint will only offer a 13-megapixel camera. Software features range from a QSlide Function for showing two different screens simultaneously to taking brief notes on captured documents or photos via QuickMemo.

Unfortunately, there are no additional details regarding color options, pricing, or availability. So, check out the press releases below and keep checking back for more.

A gallery is below, too.

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Google patent filing illustrates Google Glass-like smart watch

Élyse Betters Oct 3 2012 - 12:59 pm PT

Another day, another patent filing. Better yet—another watch patent.

Between the Pebble, Sony, Nike, and even Apple’s spin on the wearable Nano, there are plenty of smart watches going around these days. Google—however—wants to kick it up a notch. A new patent surfaced recently that depicts a Mountain View-branded wristwatch with Google Glass-like capabilities.

The timepiece, according to design filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, features a transparent display that doubles as a second screen when flipped up from the base. The displays give access to Google apps, such as Gmail and Maps, and they provide real-time data for directions, notifications, products, etc.

Yes, this also means Google would have another platform for serving up ads. Enter the Google Glass similarities. The patent filing indicated the smart watch could track users’ surroundings, and it would then offer related products, points of interest, information, or practically anything else aggregated and related to the watch’s GPS coordinates.

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Google reveals plans to sell web content with Google Wallet

Élyse Betters Oct 2 2012 - 11:33 am PT

Google reportedly published and then removed a rough draft on its Google Commerce blog about it soon allowing Google Wallet users to purchase Web content, but 9to5Google was able to grab a cached version of the deleted post.

“Today we are announcing Google Wallet for web content – an experiment designed to help content creators bring more of this high-quality content to the web,” announced the company in the draft. “Google Wallet has several interesting features that help your readers feel comfortable buying your web content.”

A few of the features include:

Buy web pages individually —Users can buy what they desire with prices ranging from 25 cents to 99 cents.
Instant Refund if they don’t like the content — Available within 30 minutes of purchasing, but Google is keeping a close eye to prevent excessive refunding.
Long preview content — Search engines rank articles based on the free preview content, so users should make long previews to rank well.
Rich obfuscated content —Users can show what is available for purchase in an obfuscated version of the page.
Single secure payment method — Allows users to buy web content with the same Google Wallet account linked across all Google products.
Provide perpetual access — Content belongs to a user for forever once bought, and Google even provides an archive service to support perpetual access if website expires.
Compatible with ads — Allows ads to run alongside preview content, so users can get an ad impression without relying on folks to buy the content.

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Pew: Android soars to 48 percent of US adult tablet ownership in 2012, pushes Apple down to 52 percent

Élyse Betters Oct 2 2012 - 8:45 am PT

A new survey by research organization Pew Internet & American Life Project depicts how Android rose from 15 percent in 2011 to 48 percent in 2012, in terms of U.S. adult tablet ownership, due to the higher-priced iPads steadily losing traction.

Pew’s Journalism website elaborated:

Over the last year, tablet ownership has steadily increased from 11% of U.S. adults in July of 2011 to 18% in January of 2012, according to PEJ data. Currently, 22% own a tablet and another 3% regularly use a tablet owned by someone else in the home. This number is very close to new data, released here for the first time, conducted in a separate survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project on July 16 through August 7 2012 that found 25% of all U.S. adults have a tablet computer.

The growth in tablet adoption is likely related to the advent of the lower-priced tablets in late 2011. Overall, about two-thirds of tablet-owning adults, 68%, got their tablet in the last year, including 32% in 2012 alone. That has lessened Apple’s dominance in the market. Now, just over half, 52%, of tablet owners report owning an iPad, compared with 81% in the survey a year ago.

Android-based devices are now at 48 percent overall: approximately 21 percent own the Android-forked Kindle Fire, 8 percent own the Samsung Galaxy, and the remaining is a mix. It is worth noting Android would only hold 27 percent without the $199 Kindle Fire.

The survey did not include Google’s Nexus 7 or Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, however, as they were not yet introduced. The final numbers also mirror world sales data, according to Pew, which place the iPad at 61 percent and Android at 31 percent.

Check out Pew for more related information on smartphone ownership and operating system loyalty.

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People power: Gmail goes live in Iran after one-week block

Élyse Betters Oct 1 2012 - 12:57 pm PT

Theocratic countries have blocked Google’s products left and right, but a new report from Reuters today indicated Iran is lifting its one-week-old block on Gmail due to a flurry of official complaints.

According to Reuters:

Iranian authorities have reopened access to Google Inc’s email service a week after blocking it, a government official and Iranians said on Monday.

Iran maintains one of the world’s largest Internet filters, blocking access to tens of thousands of websites on the grounds that they are criminal or immoral, but the block on Gmail had even prompted complaints in parliament.

Gmail reportedly went live again for Iranians Sunday night, after an official announced on Sept. 23 that Iran would block YouTube throughout the country “until further notice.” Committee Member Mohammad Reza Aghamiri told the Mehr news agency that Gmail’s ban was an ” unintended consequence” of trying to block YouTube. Various local news agencies attributed the banning of YouTube to a controversial anti-Islam film posted on Google’s video-sharing platform.

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YouTube to live stream Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, also adds 22 AOL-curated channels

Élyse Betters Oct 1 2012 - 9:39 am PT

YouTube is continuing its dominance in the online video space today by announcing plans to live stream the 2012 Presidential and Vice Presidential debates and launch AOL’s entire original video content library through 22 curated channels.

Woah. Google launched the YouTube Elections Hub in August as a complete video resource for all-things political until the U.S. Election Day on Nov. 6. The Hub features videos from politicians, parties, and well-known media, as well as shared coverage with live and on-demand content from ABC News, Al Jazeera English, BuzzFeed, Larry King, The New York Times, Phil DeFranco, Univision, and the Wall Street Journal.

Now, according to the official YouTube blog, Google announced the Hub would broadcast the four general election debates starting Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. EST:

Throughout the month of October, President Barack Obama and Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney will go head-to-head in a series of highly-anticipated general election debates. This year, for the first time, you can watch the debates live and in full on the YouTube Elections Hub, via our partners at ABC News, who will be live streaming all four debates on the ABC News YouTube channel. No matter where you are in the world or how you’ll be accessing the internet, you’ll be able to watch the most important events of the 2012 election on YouTube.

YouTube will also post highlight clips at YouTube.com/politics after the debate for the busy folks unable to tune-in live.

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AT&T bulks 4G LTE roster with James Bond’s Sony Xperia TL

Élyse Betters Oct 1 2012 - 8:06 am PT

AT&T started October with a bang by confirming plans to offer its version of the IFA 2012-unveiled Sony Xperia T, the Sony Xperia TL.

The black Xperia TL features a 4.55-inch 720p display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 13-megapixel camera, 1080p HD video recording, and one-touch enabled NFC. AT&T further noted support includes 4G LTE connectivity, and the smartphone would launch with Android 4.0.4 preloaded. An update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will hit soon after. Aside from a brief notice about the upcoming James Bond “Skyfall” flick apparently slated to feature the Xperia TL, there are no additional details available.

Oh, and 9to5Google asked reps if NFC capability hints that Google Wallet is on board. We will update with more information if confirmed.

Check out the full press release below.

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Google’s Market cap passes Microsoft for the first time in history, closes $19B in 10 months

Élyse Betters Oct 1 2012 - 6:58 am PT

: GOOG

: MSFT

Google’s Market cap passed Microsoft this morning for the first time, as first noted by a Bloomberg news tweet.

[tweet https://twitter.com/BloombergNews/statuses/252764243567464450]

Google trailed Microsoft by $19 billion earlier this year. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company closed the Market cap gap in just 10 months, however, forcing the once-goliath Microsoft to now walk in the footpaths of Google and Apple as the world’s most valuable tech companies.

Check out the fight in realtime:

Microsoft currently boasts a $3 billion lead over Google, according to Business Insider, which cited Yahoo Finance, but their points are bound to sway if Google continues to swell.

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Google merges Trends with Insights for Search to create ‘single powerful tool’

Élyse Betters Sep 27 2012 - 10:50 am PT

Google just combined Trends and Insights for Search into one product.

According to Google Support:

We have launched a new version of Google Trends, bringing the great functionality of both Google Insights and Google Trends into one. Following the release of the revamped of hot trends and the special olympics addition, this release should make it even easier for you to tell stories about search and explore what people are interested in around the world.

As these product are now one, Insights for Search is being deprecated. We are working hard to make sure that any URLs you might have stored for Insights/Trends will be gracefully handled by the new united site.

Google Trends previously detailed how often a particular term is Google searched relative to the total volume of searches conducted across the world; where as Google Insights for Search provided, well, insights into those search terms. Unlike Trends, Insights for Search also provided a visual graph.

Now, both products have been folded and redesigned into a fancy new tool:

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Samsung issues ‘Save the Date’ for ‘The Next Big Thing’ in NYC on Oct. 24

Élyse Betters Sep 27 2012 - 9:52 am PT

Samsung just sent preliminary press invites to “The Next Big Thing” for Oct. 24 in New York City.

Judging by the stylus featured on the above “Save the Date,” and after noting Samsung’s recent announcement about the Galaxy Note 2 launching stateside “by mid-November” with five major carriers, we have a pretty good idea as to what is coming.

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Animated doodle celebrates Google’s 14th birthday [Gallery]

Élyse Betters Sep 27 2012 - 6:52 am PT

14 Years (before/after)

Google is wishing itself “Happy Birthday” today with an animated doodle of a cake on its homepage.

The animation shows a chocolate cake with 14 candles, and it eventually reveals the company’s colorful name beneath the frosting. Upon clicking the doodle, users simply search for the word “Google”.

Check out more birthday doodles in the gallery below, courtesy of SearchEngineLand.

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Judge orders arrest of Google executive in Brazil for refusal to remove YouTube videos attacking politician [Video]

Élyse Betters Sep 25 2012 - 12:32 pm PT

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slpMH253Osc&feature=player_embedded]

A Brazilian court just ordered the arrest of Google’s President of Operations in Brazil due to YouTube videos that allegedly contain “disparaging remarks” about a mayoral candidate.

According to a report by the Associated Press, Judge Flavio Peren ordered Google last week to remove two potentially libelous videos against running politician Alcides Bernal. Google reportedly refused, so Peren issued an arrest warrant for Google executive Fabio Jose Silva Coelho. He also ordered a statewide, 24-hour block of Google and its video sharing website.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is supposedly appealing the decision, claiming it is not responsible for the content posted on YouTube.

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Google launches alpha browser speed test RobotHornet, asks for community participation

Élyse Betters Sep 25 2012 - 8:22 am PT

Google is now dabbling in a world beyond JavaScript with its newly unveiled RoboHornet.

The browser benchmark attempts to test and tackle more than just a browser’s JavaScript speed; and as an open-source project at GitHub, Google is inviting others to get involved. CNET first reported the story:

There are plenty of JavaScript speed tests, Google’s new Octane among them, and for good reason: the programming language is used to turn static Web pages into interactive Web apps. But there’s more to fast browsing, and Google hopes others will get involved to flesh out RoboHornet with a full suite of tests.

RoboHornet includes all aspects of a browser’s performance and other important matters for web developers, such as layout performance and localStorage, but it is still in an early alpha state.

“[…] That’s where you come in,” announced RoboHornet leader Alex Komoroske in a Google+ post. “It’s up to you and to propose and vote for performance issues you care about, helping shape the future of the benchmark and effectively defining the areas that browser vendors will invest in making run faster.”

Google engineer Paul Irish further detailed on his blog how RoboHornet plans to test many browser facets.

“These days, our performance bottlenecks are oftentimes DOM, <canvas> API methods, SVG. Those are our priorities,” explained Irish. “So we wanted to solve that with RoboHornet.”

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Barnes & Noble announces Nook Video with HBO, Warner, Disney and more content partnerships

Élyse Betters Sep 25 2012 - 7:10 am PT

Barnes & Noble just unveiled Nook Video; a digital service touting content deals with major studios like HBO, Sony, Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, and Viacom.

The Android-powered eReader hopes to bulk its catalog of movies, classic films, and original TV show offerings with the new service and subsequent partnerships. A few of the more notable titles coming to Nook Video include: Disney-Pixar’s “Brave” and “Toy Story 3,”Marvel’s “The Avengers,” “21 Jump Street,” “Awkward,” “The Artist,” “Breaking Bad,” “Dora the Explorer”, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “Spartacus,” “Magic City,” “The Walking Dead,” “True Blood,” “Game of Thrones,” “Harry Potter movies,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Hangover,” and etc.

Nook Video arrives in the United States this fall, with a “holiday” release for the United Kingdom, and its premiere content will be available to non-Barnes & Noble devices via upcoming Nook Video apps. The complimentary apps will further allow users to switch video playback between connected devices.

Get the full press release below.

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Netflix update makes Android app UI more tablet-like for smartphones [Video]

Élyse Betters Sep 24 2012 - 9:13 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoTGW8QMuPA&feature=player_embedded]

Netflix just announced a new user-interface experience for Android smartphones.

“Compared to the previous version, the new Netflix experience on Android phones is much more immersive,” explained Netflix on its official blog. “It is much closer to the Netflix experience on tablets, which got a major upgrade late last year.”

The updated app now shows more titles and galleries, bringing it up to par with the tablet version, and it features a new browse row at the top of the screen that lets users continue watching content previously started. Just tap the browse menu to access genre lists.

The Instant Queue, which is available in select regions, is now on the Home screen under the Top 10 list, and a new experience area further below displays several rows filled with personalized recommendations. Tap on any title to view more information or double-tap to start instant playback.

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Google VP says Nik Software expertise going to Google+, will continue to develop software

Élyse Betters Sep 21 2012 - 10:29 am PT

Google bought the makers of popular iOS app Snapseed earlier this week, Nik Software; and as 9to5Google predicted, Google Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra just confirmed the technology is going toward Google+.

According to the executive’s announcement on his Google+ profile:

Earlier this week I proudly welcomed +Nik Software to Google. They’ve been making pictures more awesome for 17 years, and we’re excited to bring Nik’s expertise to the entire Google+ community!

Gundotra further said Google would continue to offer and strengthen Nik tools and plug-ins. The company’s most notable product, Snapseed for iOS, is similar to Facebook’s Instagram. It is a photography app that launched on Apple’s iPad in June 2011. Snapseed won “iPad App of the Year” soon after it landed in the App Store, and then it arrived on the iPhone in August 2011 and Mac OS just four months later.

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