Jordan Kahn

As noted by Google’s Vic Gundotra on Google+ today, the company will be hosting a live broadcast tomorrow morning to share “a few updates” on Google+. It looks like “A Morning with Google+” will be to announce some updates and hopefully new features for Google+, but the event has of course lead to speculation that we could possibly get a Nexus 5 or Kitkat announcement as well. Either way, we’ll be covering the event and bringing you the latest updates when it all kicks off tomorrow morning at 9:30AM Pacific, 12:30 PM ET. 
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Samsung today announced that it’s beginning to roll out its Premium Suite–which includes compatibility with Galaxy Gear, Android 4.3 and a few other new features– to a number of its most popular devices. Receiving the update starting today and in the coming days/weeks depending on your carrier is the Samsung Galaxy S 4, Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III.

On top of Android 4.3 and Gear support, the update brings a few new software features unveiled on the S4 and Note 3:

The update brings the flagship experiences introduced on the Galaxy S 4 to the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III including updated Easy Mode, Multi Window™, advanced camera options, and additional features with new functionality.

Also of note, from 9to5Toys: The Galaxy Gear is currently $20 off through eBay.

Samsung also noted that the Galaxy S 4 Active, Galaxy S 4 mini and Galaxy Mega will receive the Premium Suite update in the coming months. If you’re curious when you’ll receive the update, expected launch dates for the Premium Suite for U.S. carriers leaked out a few days via AndroidPolice:
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First we got an official look at the Nexus 5 when Google itself leaked images of the device prematurely on Google Play earlier this month. Those images were quickly followed with a high-quality press shot for Canadian carrier Telus. In case you needed more proof that Google’s Nexus 5 announcement is right around the corner, today often reliable leaker @Evleaks posted the press shot above that seems to lineup with the previous leaks. Google has been rumored to announce the device sometime towards the end of the month, so we’d expect it to send out invites for a Nexus related event any day now. 
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When reports emerged that a massive floating building in San Francisco Bay could possibly belong to Google, it wasn’t long before the original rumor was shot down. While it might not be the floating data center reported in the original story, CBS followed up with a report claiming that the barge would actually be a floating Google Glass showroom that Google could move from city to city to show of its new wearable and distinguish itself from the typical retail experience. Lending more weight to that theory over the data center rumor is the fact that another similar mystery barge has recently been spotted in Portland Harbor in Maine.

Portland Press Herald reported last week that a four-story structure is currently docked on a barge at Portland Harbor. The marina owner and workers aren’t talking about who the client is, but they did confirm that Maine will not be the structure’s final destination. At the time the report, like the original report about the barge in San Fran, speculated it could be Google’s floating data center detailed in a patent from 2009.

If these buildings are indeed floating Google Glass retail stores and not data centers like CBS claimed, it would make sense for Google to have a store on either side of the country to move to cities along the coasts. The structure certainly look quite similar to the floating building spotted in San Francisco.
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Update: CBS San Francisco reckons it’s actually going to be a floating Glass showroom:

There has, of course, been speculation about the barge’s purpose, much of it centering on the belief that it’s a water-based data center for Google.

KPIX 5 has learned that Google is actually building a floating marketing center, a kind of giant Apple store, if you will — but for Google Glass, the cutting-edge wearable computer the company has under development.

Although Google wouldn’t respond to requests for comment for this story, sources close to the project told KPIX 5 that Google hopes to tow the completed structure from Treasure Island across the Bay to San Francisco’s Fort Mason, where it would be anchored and open to the public.

It looks big for a store, but it could make sense as Google’s first full retail presence.

Original story:

According to a new report from Cnet, something big is currently under construction in San Francisco Bay and evidence shows that it could possibly be a new Google project. The four story floating structure hasn’t been officially linked to Google, but Cnet has discovered some evidence that Google could be working on a secret data center related project in the building.

Perhaps more persuasive is that in 2009, Google was granted a patent for a “water-based data center,” defined as a “system [that] includes a floating platform-mounted computer data center comprising a plurality of computing units, a sea-based electrical generator in electrical connection with the plurality of computing units, and one or more sea-water cooling units for providing cooling to the…computing units.”

The patent, however, isn’t the only evidence linking Google to the project. Cnet also notes that the contact for the company that is leasing the location has ties to Google: 
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The Moto X has already received price drops down from $199 to $99 or less through Amazon, BestBuy, and elsewhere, but today the AT&T version of the device gets its first price drop for purchases through MotoMaker. Now available for $99 from MotoMaker.com (or $149 for the 32GB model), this is the first time you can get the device for this cheap and still take advantage of the over 2000 customization features available through the MotoMaker ordering tool. MotoMaker is still for the time being exclusive to AT&T, so this is the only way to pick up the Moto X on contract and customize the colors of the device. The other guys still only carry the white and black models of Moto X. 
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Google announced today on its Google Commerce blog that it’s rolling out a new tool that will allow any business in the U.S. to create a Google Offer and display the promotions or coupons to user directly through Google Maps. Google first announced back in July that it was rolling out Google Offers to user searching for places on Google Maps for iOS and Android and on the across the web, but at the time only announced select retail partners. With Google’s updated tool rolling out over the next week all business in the U.S. can now easily create Offers that are displayed on Google Maps:

With this launch, your offer can reach customers on Google Maps when they are searching for places nearby or looking for local businesses like yours. Your business will be prominently displayed with a blue tag icon next to it, alerting customers to your offer.

Once a customer saves your offer, we’ll bring them to your door by sharing an offer reminder when they are near your store. We can help remind them when your offer is expiring too, through email and mobile alerts. Just create the offer; we’ll take care of the rest.

Google notes that businesses will “only pay when a customer saves your offer, and you keep the full value of the sales you make.” You can learn more on the Google Commerce blog here.

While the app has already been available for iOS since first launching back in August and also on Android with a soft launches in China, Australia, and New Zealand, today the app has finally arrived for all Android users through Google Play.

The app is now available for free on Google Play, and like the iOS version the Android version of Plants vs Zombies 2 moves the franchise to the freemium model with extra content available to purchase through in-app purchases. There’s also exclusive offers for in-app purhcases in the app offering up to 65% off some items to celebrate the launch of the app on Android.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpBvWWsas8U&start=92]

We’ve been seeing more and more leaks for the now confirmed LG G Flex smartphone, which will be the company’s first to sport a top-to-bottom curved display and compete with Samsung’s upcoming curved Galaxy Round device. Today we get perhaps our best look at the device with Argentinian news site Telefe Noticias posting a hands on video with the device and TheVerge obtaining a few high quality shots from the publication.

A few hardware features confirmed from the hands-on: The display apparently measures 6-inches diagonally, while the device also features buttons mounted on the rear of the device like’s LG’s new flagship G2.

The device is expected to launch in South Korea in the coming weeks, but there’s no word on availability for the rest of the world. LG hasn’t confirmed that the device in the video above is the real deal, telling TheVerge it’s “unsure of the device’s veracity and would have to contact the company’s Argentinian office to confirm if it is “the real thing.” Head below for more high quality images:
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Google announced today on its Gmail blog that it is adding handwriting input functionality into Gmail and Google Docs for those that find it easier to draw characters than use a traditional keyboard. Both Gmail and Google Docs within Drive will allow users to draw single or multiple characters using a mouse cursor or their finger on a trackpad:

Gmail and Docs offer wide language support, however in some cases using the keyboard is less than ideal. Whether you’re a student trying to include a foreign phrase in your paper or an international consultant hoping to begin your message with a friendly local greeting, now you’ll be able to use your own handwriting to input words directly into Gmail and Google Docs

The feature is first rolling out for more than 20 languages in Google Docs and over 50 languages in Gmail, including many of the most requested languages for handwriting input such as Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, and Russian.

Here’s how to enable it:
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Google announced today on its Enterprise blog that the U.S. Army is the latest to go Google with a new program currently rolling out Google Apps and services to over 50k members of the Army and Department of Defense.

According to Google, driving the U.S. Army’s decision to adopt Google Apps is the ability to reduce IT costs and also run Apps on multiple platforms and operating systems through the Army’s existing security and authentication requirements. Another big motivator was the added advantage of Google’s mobile apps:
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A new report out today from French publication L’Expansion claims that Google has acquired 5-year-old startup FlexyCore, the company behind DroidBooster and other tools used to improve performance on Android devices for users, OEMs, and carriers. According to the report, which was later confirmed by Google in a statement to GigaOM, Google has been integrating the FlexyCore team into its Android projects over the last year and just completed the purchase worth approximately 21.3 million earlier this month.

“The FlexyCore team has strong expertise in building software to optimize Android device performance, and we think they’d be a great fit with our team.”

The Droid Booster app, made to optimize java code performance on Android devices, was previously distributed through Google Play but has since been removed. 
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After the BBM apps prematurely started rolling out for iPhone and Android and were abruptly pulled late last month, BlackBerry finally confirmed today that it’s officially kicking off the roll out of the apps. In a blog post, the company announced that the BBM apps will be available for both iPhone and Android within the next few hours through the App Store, Google Play, and Samsung’s App Store:

The demand for BBM on Android and BBM on iPhone continues to be amazing. About six million people signed up for information about BBM at BBM.com. As you know, in just seven hours, about one million Android users were using the unreleased version of BBM for Android. What you don’t know is that more than one million people have found creative ways to “side load” BBM on their iPhone. This is incredible.

While the app is available to download starting today, it will utilize a staggered rollout that will see users reserving a spot in line by entering their email address. BlackBerry says users that signed up previously through its website can start using the app immediately, but we’ll have to wait to see how many people sign up today in order to estimate how long the queue will be. 
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After rolling out a new Live TV streaming feature to its U-verse iPhone and iPad apps earlier this month, AT&T announced today that it’s expanding the feature to Android  devices and other users through Uverse.com. The feature, which brings over 100 live TV channels at home and 20 channels outside of the house for U-verse subscribers, comes to the U-verse Android app alongside a new version of the app for Androdi tablets.

AT&T’s press release says the service is now available on over 30 Android devices and the updated U-verse app for Android is available on Google Play now. The updated app also includes “new ratings-based Parental Controls” and more:
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When Google rolled out a big new update for iOS on Friday, it introduced incoming and outgoing voice calls through Google Voice and number of other new features for the app. Android users made it clear that they weren’t exactly happy that they didn’t receive an update, but since Google’s Vic Gundotra responded with a hint that a new Android version of Hangouts is on the way.

In a comment responding to complaints from Android users on Google+, Gundotra hints at upcoming announcements for Android saying, “I promise you will be happy soon.”

He also asked Android users to not get upset when the company releases iOS products and urged Android and iOS users to get along with each other. “There are a lot of them. And they are good people.”

Gundotra’s full comment is below:
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An interesting story from Ars Techinca examines the state of Android as an open source project and how Google is attempting to better control fragmentation of the platform. According to the report, Google is moving to help maintain its control over the platform from competing companies like Amazon and others that are using Android but forgoing Google’s services. The result, according to the report, is Google will bring more aspects of Android out of the Android Open Source Project and designate them Google services:

Google has always given itself some protection against alternative versions of Android. What many people think of as “Android” actually falls into two categories: the open parts from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which are the foundation of Android, and the closed source parts, which are all the Google-branded apps. While Google will never go the entire way and completely close Android, the company seems to be doing everything it can to give itself leverage over the existing open source project.

Google search has long been a victim of moving away from AOSP, and the recent introduction of Google Play Music means Google is no longer updating its AOSP music app either. Ars notes that Calendar is the most recent app to move to closed source, while the Google Keyboard and Camera appear are moving in the same direction. The screenshots above show AOSP versions of the app mentioned above vs Google’s latest closed source versions. You’ll notice that Google tends to abandon the AOSP versions of the apps once relaunching them under the closed sourced Google services banner.

What does this mean for Android going forward? Google is making life much harder for Amazon and other third-party manufacturers that want to build a competing version of Android without Google’s services…
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