Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac. He covers Google for 9to5Google.com, the best gadgets and deals on 9to5Toys.com, and delivers a weekly roundup of EV and solar news on Electrek.co. Sometimes he makes weird electronic music as one half of Makamachine.
Contact Jordan with news tips and long-winded complaints:
Google announced today that it’s teamed up with Oxford University to collaborate on artificial intelligence related projects through its Google DeepMind team. The partnership will see researchers from Dark Blue Labs and other experts in various artificial intelligence technologies like natural language understanding and computer vision systems join Google’s DeepMind team:
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Yahoo updated its Yahoo Mail mobile apps today bringing new travel and event notifications to the app for Android.
For travel, the app’s “Today” view will now display information on flights including when flights are cancelled or delayed, and users will be able to “get directions to the airport, call the airline to rebook your flight or go directly to the airline website” in a single tap.
“And once you land at your destination, you’ll receive suggestions for the top restaurants and attractions in the area, with reviews and pictures from Yelp.”
The updated Yahoo Mail app also provides notifications for events in the Today view from Evite, Eventbrite, and Ticketmaster, event information, and the ability to view and share directions.
Yahoo also said the update includes “the latest headlines with News notifications” that can be switched off in Settings. All of the new features are available in the U.S. only.
The updated Yahoo Mail app for Android is available on Google Play now.
Google announced today that it’s updating Google Earth for Android with several new features including new 3D rendering technology, faster updates, and the ability to “open KML files from Google Drive directly from the Earth app.”
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Following several rumors of a possible November 3rd release for Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google today confirmed the release date in a note to developers (via AndroidPolice).
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As part of its Garage project that sees employees working on projects during spare time, Microsoft today is releasing two new Android apps and an experimental Bing app for Android Wear devices.
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Much like Apple recently published a guide for switching from an Android to iPhone, Google now has an official webpage for switchers detailing steps users can take to migrate content and data from an iPhone or iPad to an Android device. Google’s Matias Duarte shared the newly published guide which, much like Apple’s guide, offers instructions for transferring photos, music, & contacts, and setting up services like email and messaging.
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Google today announced it’s offering an enhanced two-step verification service that utilizes a physical USB key for users that are particularly concerned about security. The feature currently works in Chrome and is free to Google users, but Google notes it’s supporting the open Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) protocol from the FIDO Alliance, which will allow other login systems to support the standard:
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Alongside Android 5.0 Lollipop announcements and the new Nexus 6 smartphone, Google has officially announced the much rumoured Nexus 9 tablet. The device is made by HTC, features an 8.9-inch display, and Google also has a companion keyboard folio (pictured below) that attaches magnetically to the Nexus 9:
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Google’s beta release of Chrome 39 is now rolling out to users through Google Play, bringing with it a number of performance improvements, bug fixes and other tweaks.
While Google didn’t disclose much in the way of new features for the release (as usual), users have noticed a new Reader Mode (pictured above via AndroidPolice), that strips away UI elements from the page to let users focus only on the text of a webpage. Also spotted in the release is a still experimental “windowed mode” accessible only on the Android L preview.
The Chrome Team is excited to announce the beta release of Chrome 39 for Android. Chrome 39.0.2171.25 will be available in Google Play over the next few hours. This release contains lots of bug fixes and performance improvements. A partial list of changes in this build are available in the Git log
As always, the latest beta release for Chrome is available through Google Play.
Google just announced some enhancements and new features rolling out to its Google Classroom service today including much improved controls for teachers. Google Classroom, a platform for teachers to plan lessons, assignments, and work alongside students in real-time, was announced earlier this year and first opened to all Apps for Education users in August.
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Update: Resolved.
Google Drive is currently experiencing a service disruption for many users. Google first confirmed the problem earlier this morning noting that it’s “investigating reports of an issue with Google Drive.” Users trying to access various Google Drive services might receive a “500 errors and latency,” according to Google’s App Status Dashboard.
Google’s latest update on the outage through its Google Apps status website said the company is continuing to investigate and will provide an update later today with more information on the issue.
The service isn’t down for everyone, but we’ll update here when Google resolves the problem or provides any further updates. You can check the status of Google Apps through its Apps Status Dashboard here.
Following a number of leaks for an upcoming new DROID device from Verizon, we’ve now received word that Verizon has scheduled an Oct. 28 press event specifically to unveil its latest DROID product. While we know that the event will focus on the latest DROID device from the carrier, we can only assume it’s the DROID Turbo leaked through official Verizon channels in recent weeks (pictured above).
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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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Samsung’s official launch of its new Galaxy Note 4 kicked off in Korea late last month, but now an unlocked variant of the device is available in the US through Amazon. The sales come ahead of the device officially shipping through carrier partners in the US later this month.
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Autodesk today released a new version of its popular Sketchbook painting and drawing app that introduces a single app for both tablets and smartphones alongside new features. Launching today on both iOS and Android the new SketchBook app has a streamlined UI and a number of new features and improvements over previous versions of the app. The company highlighted a few of the new features:
-Layer blending modes including glow and soft glow
-Selection tools for manipulating, transforming, and drawing within specific parts of the image
-All new brushes, including a set of synthetic and smudge brushes (a top community-requested addition)
-Dynamic flood fill tools with solid, linear and radial gradients
-A completely redesigned and customizable UI including the combined Brush and Color Puck enhancements
-An enhanced gallery for an easy way to view, organize and manage sketches
-Optimized for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iOS8
Autodesk notes the app is compatible with most stylus products including the new Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus 2 and Pencil by FiftyThree.
The app is free to download and includes a $3.99 in-app purchase to unlock full features. Autodesk also has memberships for those that want to purchase access to all Pro features on all platforms (iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac). The company also plans to release additional paid content packs in the future.
The new Sketchbook Android app is available on Google Play now.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2csTY_5KbY&list=UUqqzJUfJ_ofn8ZmL7dBdUwg]
According to a new report from The Information, Google is considering a feature that would allow users to trial Android apps without having to commit to a full download. The idea is the feature could save users time, battery and data-usage and as a result encourage them to try and ultimately download more apps from Google Play:
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Samsung announced today that its recently unveiled Galaxy Note Edge smartphone will launch first in Japan by the end of this month. Samsung kicked off preorders for the device today through carrier partners KDDI and NTT DoCoMo and said the limited edition Note variant will ship by the end of October. It’s hasn’t yet, however, confirmed availability for other markets.
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AndroidPolice has posted renders that it says are based on a split-screen multitasking mode that Google has been experimenting with for Android. It’s a feature Samsung has implemented into its own version of Android and used as a selling point in marketing over the competition. It’s also something that Apple is experimenting with for iPad.
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Following earlier reports detailing Samsung’s plans for a new “Galaxy A” series of three smartphones, the often reliable SamMobile today offered more details on two of the devices. According to the report, the Galaxy A5 (a 5-inch device that just leaked in renders the other day) will arrive as soon as November with an announcement taking place later this month. The device will reportedly cost $400-$500.
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Elliptic Labs is showing off a new “Multi Layer Interaction” feature for its touchless gesturing tech allowing devices to display different content depending on the location and distance of the user’s hand.
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After previously announcing image editing features including cropping and borders for Docs, Slides and other Google Drive apps, Google today announced new options for images in Slides. Now, in addition to cropping and adding borders to images, you can now access recolor, transparency, brightness, and contract settings.
You can now select “Image options…” from the toolbar, format menu, or right-click menu, where you can adjust the opacity, brightness, and contrast of an image, or recolor it to match the theme of your presentation.
Google provided the examples above and below showing off some of the new image editing options. We imagine it wont be long before these features make their way to Docs and the other Google Drive apps that support images.
Along with a number of announcements landing today during Adobe’s MAX conference, the company has quietly released an Adobe Creative Cloud app for Android in preview mode. The app, which works with the free 2GB Creative Cloud membership in addition to paid subscriptions, allows users to manage their Creative Cloud accounts by browsing and previewing files stored in the cloud service. The app was previously available for iOS users and sports a similar design.
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According to leaked documents spotted by GForGames, Samsung is planning a December release for its new Gear VR virtual reality headset that pairs with the recently launched Galaxy Note 4. The document, which we haven’t been able to verify as authentic, also claims that the headset will arrive for 200,000 Won in Korea. That’s under $200 in USD (approximately $187).
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Netflix has announced that it’s rolling out an improved search experience for Android users on both smartphones and tablets. Borrowing from its apps on other platforms and the web, the Android app now has much more visual search results with cover art rather than a hard to search through list of text.
Netflix notes that the design has “already has proven successful on game consoles, smart TVs and the website.”
As seen in the screenshot above, presenting the results in a grid of cover art allows the user to see more results at once on touch screen devices such as mobile phones and tablets. This visual presentation reduces the cognitive load, making it easier to find what you’re looking for. After tapping on a particular video, users can add it to “My List”, start playback on the device, or use Chromecast or AirPlay to watch the video on a big screen.
The Netflix for Android app is available on Google Play now.