It’s New Year’s Eve and folks are either getting ready to go out and party or assembling a junk food fest to sit on the couch and gorge the night away, but it’s guaranteed that almost everyone will have their eyes locked on Time Square’s Ball when the clock strikes midnight. Instead of watching this year’s countdown on television, however, just use an Android smartphone.
The Times Square Official New Year’s Eve Ball App is the official app to celebrate New Year’s Eve live from New York City, as the app’s description indicates, and it’s free. The main features include the ability to watch the co-hosted official show live, opening ceremonies, musical performances, celebrity appearances, hourly countdowns, and the midnight Ball Drop.
Users can also submit images and then vote on friends’ photos to possibly be selected for display on the Toshiba Vision Screen beneath the New Year’s Eve Ball, and they have access to tidbits related to history, news, weather, photos, map, and event schedule. The app also offers New Year’s Eve eCards and the ability to customize the Toshiba Countdown Clock with a personal photo and time zone.
It is New Year’s Eve (for some still, anyway), and Google has created yet another Doodle on the homepage to look back at the most noteworthy Google Doodles of 2012.
Many of the year’s most talked about Doodles are re-imagined in Google’s latest masterpiece above. Visit www.google.com to browse the other notables. Google also posted a link on the homepage to Zeitgeist 2012, so Web surfers can “watch and remember the biggest moments of 2012.”
A new report by The Next Web this afternoon claimed Google gave its employees the choice of a Samsung Chromebook, Motorola Razr M, or Nexus 7 for Christmas.
So, why those devices? Well, the Chromebook sports Google’s latest Chrome OS, the Razr M is by Motorola, which Google acquired earlier this year, and the Nexus 7 is Google’s very own Asus-made Android tablet.
The Internet giant treated Googlers with a customized Galaxy Nexus for the holiday season last year, but they will apparently not get the latest Nexus smartphone in their stockings this year. As 9to5Google previously reported on numerous occasions, the popular LG Nexus 4 is plagued by supply issues.
Leaked images of the Galaxy Nexus surfaced on Google+ last year, but things are quiet so far about this year’s gifts. We’ll keep you updated when images begin to surface. In the meantime, check out 9to5Google’s reviews on the Chromebook, Razr M, and Nexus 7.
Why, hello Flipboard. Android tablets welcome you with open arms.
Flipboard, as anyone with access to the Internet may know, is a magazine-format, news aggregation app originally designed for Apple’s iPad in 2010. The brains behind the service announced in May 2012 that an Android version was around the corner, and then they launched Flipboard on Android smartphones and Android devices with seven-inch screens just a few weeks later.
Owners of these devices, along with anyone who owns a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Tab series, Nexus 10, or any other seven-inch or larger tablet that runs Android, can now also update to the new tablet edition of Flipboard.
Flipboard announced the launch today on its Newsroom website and provided additional details on features:
For this tablet edition of Flipboard, page layouts have been optimized for a variety of screen sizes and aspect ratios. Taking advantage of the wider screen of the larger Android devices, readers can save more of their favorite sections as tiles and can see larger story excerpts as they flip through their magazine. And having worked with Samsung over the last year, Flipboard is optimized for Samsung’s tablet devices.
Google is honoring the 200th anniversary of folk tales by Brothers Grimm with one of its famous interactive Google Doodles on the homepage.
The Doodle allows web visitors to toggle between storyboards of the classic “Little Red Riding Hood” tale, as retold by Jacob Grimm and his younger brother Wilhelm Grimm, known as the Brothers Grimm, in the 19th century.
The Brothers Grimm are some of the most iconic storytellers of European folk tales, as their work, which often featured darker themes, main-streamed local tales such as “Cinderella”, The Frog Prince”, “Hansel and Gretel”, “Rapunzel”, “Rumpelstiltskin”, and “Snow White”. Their first narrative collection, dubbed “Children’s and Household Tales” published in 1812.
Once the beautifully designed Google Doodle finishes its animated display on the homepage, visitors can then click the magnifying glass icon on the right to Google search “Brothers Grimm” and learn more about the celebrated duo.
So, check out the Doodle in the video above, browse through the screen captures after the break, or just go to www.Google.com.
NORAD, the self-touted official Santa Tracker, went with Bing Maps instead of Google Earth this holiday season, but Google isn’t getting left in the dust, as the folks in Mountain View launched its own count down to Christmas Eve with Google Santa Tracker.
According to the official Google blog, a team of dedicated Google Maps engineers developed an algorithm to track Santa’s annual trip around the world this Christmas:
On his sleigh, arguably the fastest airborne vehicle in the world, Santa whips from city to city delivering presents to millions of homes. You’ll be able to follow him on Google Maps and Google Earth, and get his stats starting at 2:00 a.m. PST Christmas Eve at google.com/santatracker.
Facebook just announced an update to Facebook for Android and iOS that helps users discover new places their friends like.
The latest version of the popular app features a refreshed Nearby tab, which, according to a post on the Facebook Newsroom website, now shows recommendations from friends:
From the app menu, open the tab to find local spots your friends have recommended, checked into, or liked. If you’re looking for a place to eat, choose a category like Restaurants to see what’s nearby. When you find a place that looks interesting, tap to see info like friends who’ve been there and business hours.
The new Facebook for Android and iOS further allows users to share their own opinions by rating or recommending places. Facebook warned the update is an early release, however, and “there’s lots more to do.” So, results will improve the more people use Nearby.
“We also plan to add places info from third party services in the near future,” Facebook explained.
Google just announced it would expand Fiber to five more areas, otherwise known as “fiberhoods,” around Kansas City in 2013.
Google charges $70 a month for its Fiber Internet service that offers speeds of 1Gbps downstream. Googler Rachel Hack gave more details on the speedy service today via the Google Fiber blog, and she noted the new fiberhoods include Piper Schools, Delaware Ridge, Painted Hills, Open Door, and Arrowhead:
In 2013, we’re going to hit the ground running, finishing installations in Dub’s Dread, and then quickly moving on to five more fiberhoods. Based on pre-registration results, the next fiberhoods on the list are Piper Schools, Delaware Ridge, Painted Hills, Open Door and Arrowhead.
Those who want Google Fiber in one of the newly announced areas must select their service plan by a specific deadline: Jan. 31, 2013 for Piper Schools, Feb. 14, 2013 for Delaware Ridge, Feb. 28, 2013 for Painted Hills, Feb. 28, 2013 for Open Door, and March 7, 2013 for Arrowhead.
Everyone finds a holiday angle during this time of year, and after launching 18 new features, dubbed as “treats” wrapped together “in one holiday package,” Google+ is one of the many.
On the mobile side, according to the official Gplusproject blog, Google+ announced it added new Android features that include on-the-go profile editing , streamlined ways to author content, a notice when there’s new content to read, and the ability to subscribe to mobile notifications from favorite circles and interact with Google+ Communities. Google+ also launched full-sized backups of photos, with up to 5GB free (turn on Instant Upload to start), and photospheres now appear in the mobile stream (Android 4.2 required to snap 360-degree panoramas, but Froyo or later users can enjoy them now).
As for connecting, Google+ pushed out extra features to make event planning easier that include the ability to message specific guests, view opened invitations, and invite people through Google+ by sending an event URL via email or IM. Guests can also now RSVP with the number of people they want to bring, and a new duplication feature allows event makers to copy their original event as Google+ pulls all the important details.
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt sat down with The Economist’s Daniel Franklin on Dec. 6, as part of the executive’s ongoing media tour, to discuss everything from driverless cars and the mobile landscape to user data and “magical journalism devices.”
One of the more notable tidbits (at 25:40) regards why Marissa Mayer and other Googlers really left Google to become CEOs of Yahoo and other competing companies such AOL and Facebook. Schmidt suggested they were unable to move up the corporate ladder so they ultimately moved on:
“Well, in each case, they became—let’s see—CEOs of important and powerful companies. And that position has been occupied by Larry and myself, so I think perhaps they wanted a career path that wasn’t in front of them. Each of them is fantastic. And if you look, each of them sort of trained at Google —independently strong, they’ll make a good showing.”
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt sat down with Bloomberg to talk Android vs. Apple, and the former CEO seems to think Android is leading over Apple at a rate similar to Microsoft’s growth in desktop software during the 90s.
“This is a huge platform change; this is of the scale of 20 years ago — Microsoft versus Apple,” said Schmidt to Bloomberg. “We’re winning that war pretty clearly now.”
During Schmidt’s hour-long interview with Bloomberg (see video above), he discussed—aside from Apple—everything from economic growth in the United States and China and tax shelters to Google+ and spectrum sharing. Schmidt is a member of a White House advisory group and supports a proposal that urges federal agencies and commercial users to share airwaves.
PureGear makes a bevy of highly rated products for mobile devices, and we at 9to5Google decided to test out some of its more popular cases and accessories for the Samsung Galaxy S III and subsequently help last-minute holiday shoppers with a few stocking stuffer ideas.
Also, 9to5Google is giving away two PureGear Slim Shell cases ($24.99 value each) in black and white/clear. So, check out the review roundup below, leave a comment, and we will contact the winners in 9to5Forums.
Google CEO Larry Page has been quiet since he stepped out of the spotlight last summer due to an unspecified voice problem, but in recent months, like in today’s Fortune, he is beginning to speak up again.
He sat down recently and gave his second, as Fortune coined it, “wide-ranging conversation with a print publication since becoming CEO of Google in April 2011.” Page talked about everything from Apple and driverless cars to Android and how his company is only at 1 percent of where it should be.
While discussing Google’s impact on the world, Page specifically mentioned feeling a “deep sense of responsibility to try and move things along.” Here’s the excerpt:
How long do you see yourself being CEO?
I don’t know. It seems impossible to predict. But like I said I’m motivated to make Google into something even more amazing and have a really tremendous positive impact on the world ultimately.
We’re still 1 percent to where we should be. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to try to move things along. Not enough people are focused on big change. Part of what I’m trying to do is take Google as a case study and really scale our ambition such that we are able to cause more positive change in the world and more technological change. I have a deep feeling that we are not even close to where we should be.
In regards to driverless cars, Page imagined a future when autonomous vehicles could park themselves or even pick up drivers like some sort of space-age valet service:
What else would change [in a world with self-driving cars]? Would we not have streetlights? Would the cities be different? Do you have a vision for what could happen?
It’s very hard to predict entirely. I think that, you know, one of the issues we face here is parking. I’m getting quotes [for] the cost for us to build a parking lot structure [of] $40,000 per space. It’s all concrete and steel. Do you really want to use all your concrete and steel to build parking lots? It seems pretty stupid. If we have automated cars, or even if we have some fraction of automated cars, we’ll save hundreds of millions of dollars on parking, just at Google. When you think about your experience, the car can drop you at the front door to the building you work at and then it goes and parks itself. Whenever you need it, your phone notices that you’re walking out of the building, and your car’s there immediately by the time you get downstairs.
As for Android, Page talked about how Google made bets “really early on on Android.” He also detailed where Android is in terms of impact and monetization:
For a long time, Google was organized on a 70-20-10 model, with 70 percent of effort going to search and ads, 20 to apps, [and 10 to completely new projects]. Does that still apply?
Yeah. We still think about that. I think we’re in a bit of a unique point in the history of Google, where we have a number of things that are kind of in the 20 on the way to the 70. So where would you put Android? It’s probably in the 70 in terms of impact — the monetization is at an early stage
Google just revealed more than 1,000 schools have adopted Chromebooks in classrooms, and it is now working with DonorsChoose.org to “help budget-strapped classrooms across the country.”
DonorsChoose is an online charity that, as Google coined it, connects public school classroom to donors, and the Google partnership will subsequently allow teachers to request the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook at a discount price of $99. The special price is only for the holiday season and includes hardware, management, and support.
If you’re a full-time public school teacher in the U.S., visit DonorsChoose.org and follow the instructions to take advantage of this opportunity by December 21, 2012. Your request will be posted on DonorsChoose.org where anyone can make a donation to support your classroom. When you reach your funding goal, you’ll receive your Chromebooks from Lakeshore Learning, DonorsChoose.org’s exclusive fulfillment partner for this program.
Developer Rockstar Games just announced the release date for Android’s “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 10th Anniversary Edition” would see a slight delay.
Rockstar Games pushed out Vice City for iOS on Dec. 5, but the Android version was notably absent. A new update on Rockstar Games’ blog, however, just revealed the game could launch by the end of next week:
Due to unforeseen technical issues, the Android release of Vice City will be slightly delayed. Our goal is to get this out for Android by the end of next week. Our apologies for the delay to all our fans on Android devices and please stay tuned for updates.
Google Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra, who is also known as the man behind Google+, admitted at the SMX Social Media Marketing conference last night that “his boss” asked him to stop tweeting on Twitter.
Many reports assumed Google CEO Larry Page is the boss in question and further surmised that the above tweet is probably the reason behind his request. Gundotra’s tweet occurred around the same time Microsoft landed a strategic mobile partnership with Nokia that would replace Symbian with the Windows Phone operating system. The timing led to speculation that the tweet was a dig at both companies.
The Next Web published a transcript of Gundotra’s explanation:
No, actually I was asked not to do that by my boss. I tweeted a tweet about two companies that went viral, went very very viral and made a lot of headline news. And honestly, I didn’t anticipate that my comments would be interpreted in the way they were interpreted.
I thought I was speaking to a relatively small number of people who followed me, a developer-oriented group, and instead it went mainstream. And so, uhm, I’ve curtailed my usage since then.
Google-acquired Snapseed, a popular photo-editing app for iOS, just unveiled an Android version, while its App Store counterpart pushed out an update and went free in celebration of the launch.
Version 1.5 of Snapseed for iOS is now free, rather than $4.99, and it comes with a fresh icon, built-in Google+ sharing, a new Retrolux film-style filter, and an updated Frames filter.
As for the new Android flavor, its Google Play link isn’t live yet. A few reports suggested that it offers all the same features and tricks as the iOS iteration, however. TechCrunch got a couple of screenshots, though, as seen above.
Google just updated the Google Search app for Android today, and the most notable new feature is very Passbook-eque, as it can now pull up boarding passes via email and use QR codes for checking into airport terminals.
The check-in feature will apparently launch shortly for United Airlines, with more to come soon. Meanwhile, the updated app also includes more recommendations for things nearby, as well as weather data, summaries for walking and biking activity, etc. It even features new voice actions for posting to Google+, finding music, or scanning barcodes.
According to Google on the official Android blog, the update is especially useful when traveling during the holiday season:
Before you even leave your house, Google Now will tell you what the weather will be like at your destination (just in time to make sure you remember to pack those mittens). At the airport, your boarding pass is automatically pulled up, helping you breeze through to the gate (launching shortly for United Airlines, with more to come). And once you’ve arrived at your destination, Google Now can help you uncover some great activities, by showing you events happening around you, suggesting websites for you to explore as you research things to do, or allowing you to learn more about specific pieces while you’re at a museum (using Google Goggles).
The update is available now for devices running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean or up. Check out the full changelog from Google Play below:
Visible Measures: The Top 10 Most Viral Tech Ads of 2012
Google and Samsung grabbed six out of 10 spots in a new top 10 list by video analytics firm Visible Measures that named the most viral tech ads of 2012.
Visible Measures compiled the list using its “True Reach methodology,” which appears to simply count views. Samsung debuted at No. 1 with over 71 million views for “Galaxy S III”. Visible Measures called the video “a satirical campaign mocking Apple and its fans.” Meanwhile, Google scored roughly 21 million views at No. 5 for its “Project Glass” teaser ad.
According Visible Measures, Samsung generated over 240 million views from campaign launches in 2012:
[For Samsung—] A 580% increase over 2011, and averaged 9.2 million views per campaign, a jump of nearly 400%. Google and Microsoft also saw triple digit increases in overall brand performance in video in 2012.
Apple, LG, Microsoft, Intel/Toshiba also made the cut. The entire list is above, and the Google and Samsung videos are embedded below.
“Bad” is the main word that stands out in the latest post by Google on the official AdSense blog, and the Internet giant repeats it that exact amount of times, too. But, why? Invalid activity, that’s why.
Google wants its publishing partners to keep AdSense strong, and, as it stated, that means “keeping good publishers’ accounts in good standing, while also protecting advertisers and users from fraudulent activity.” So, Google is making changes and adding tools to pinpoint bad actors (a.k.a. inactive/fraudulent publishers), stop bad ads, prevent bad clicks, and keep bad sites and bad traffic out of the network.
The video above gives a brief summary of what Google is talking about, while it’s blog post further details all the changes, which include:
— Considering tenure more actively when responding to detected invalid activity.
— Allotting publishers tools to submit more informative appeals via a new form.
— Providing more details on invalid activity’s causes via an email or a notification.
Google Play services is a new platform that provides developers with improved integration for Google products. The latest version of the platform includes two new APIs, and the most notable one is an anticipated upgrade for Maps.
According to the announcing blog post, the new Google Maps Android API allows developers to “bring many of the recent features of Google Maps for Android to your Android apps.” The API is available supports Froyo devices and up:
The new API uses vector-based maps that support 2D and 3D views, and allow users to tilt and rotate the map with simple gestures. Along with the layers you’ve come to know from Google Maps such as satellite, hybrid, terrain and traffic, the new API lets you include indoor maps for many major airports and shopping centers in your app.
Google further launched Photo Sphere mode in the Camera for Android 4.2, which allows users to create panoramas, and now it is releasing new APIs that enable “developers, businesses, and photographers to explore new uses of Photo Sphere for work and for play.”
Photo Sphere is now an open format, too, so users can create and access it via the web and mobile devices. Go to the Android Developers blog for more information on either API key.
Verizon just revealed the Droid Razr HD and Droid Razr Maxx HD would soon upgrade to Android’s latest operating system, Jelly Bean, starting next week in phases.
Check out Verizon’s page for more details on next week’s rollout.
Duke Nukem 3D is free today on the Amazon Appstore for Android as one of the online retailer’s Daily Deal specials. The action game normally goes for 95 cents, and it has nearly a 4-star rating or Google Play based on over 5,000 reviews. Folks can even receive a complimentary $1 Amazon MP3 Credit with this download. One claim per Amazon account, however, until Dec. 31.
Google+ Vice President of Product Bradley Horowitz sat down with Business Insider at its Ignition conference today to discuss Google+ numbers and diss Facebook’s latest ad scheme.
The numbers haven’t changed (400 million registered users, with 100 million visitors coming back at least once a month), but the most interesting tidbit from Horowitz concerns his opinion on Facebook integrating ads into the news feed.
He used the metaphor of a guy with a sandwich board running in between an intimate conversation between a man and his daughter, an obvious allusion to the ads and promoted brands you see in your Facebook news feed.
Instead, Horowitz said it’s much more useful (and less annoying) to users to show social recommendations instead of ads. For example, if you search for a product in Google –– say a microwave –– you can see which one your Google+ contacts recommend.
