Yesterday was Earth Day and Google announced its biggest renewable energy purchase ever and today as an encore the company is looking to get into the home utility business. The Mountain View software giant has announced a $250 million partnership with solar cell manufacturer SunPower Corporation ($100 million from Google and $150 million from SunPower) that will see the two companies leasing solar panels to American households.
If it feels like a lot of major corporations are going green, it could have something to do with today being Earth Day and of course Google is joining in on the eco-friendly festivities. Sure, the company is fighting poachers and helping nonprofit organizations, but what about its own backyard? Earlier today, the folks in Mountain View announced a new deal with MidAmerican Energy that will supply its Iowa data center with up to 407 megawatts of 100 percent renewable wind energy.
History has taught us that manufacturers typically don’t discuss hardware sales and shipments publicly, but some firms will occasionally issue press releases sharing statistics when boasting about success. However, the folks at Motorola Mobility have taken a much more casual approach to outlining its figures. Today, the soon to be Lenovo-owned company tweeted that it shipped 6.5 million devices globally during Q1 of 2014.
Yesterday, Google’s newly acquired thermostat system made an appearance on a Play Store support page. This led many to believe that the search giant would soon offer its smart climate controller at its online marketplace, alongside its other in-house products. Today, the company has made things official and the Nest Thermostat is now available from Google Play for $250 with an estimated 1-2 day warehouse departure.
T-Mobile recently dropped BlackBerry devices from its catalog and in an effort to motivate its customers to do the same, the magenta-hued carry is offering gift cards of up to $200 to subscribers who JUMP from the fallen platform to a new Samsung device. Now if Samsung devices aren’t your bag, T-Mobile is also offering a gift card of up to $100 when you make the switch to from BlackBerry to any other smartphone.
If you happened to pick up a Moto X from the Sprint-fueled MVNO Republic Wireless, your device’s Android 4.4.2 update is rolling out today. Members of the carrier’s forums have confirmed that the 349.3MB update is in the wild and that it includes a new dialer and an updated Hangouts app — not the new one though. The software push appears to be over-the-air, but trying to manually update your device through its settings menu probably won’t hurt.
If you happen to pull down this new OS, be sure to let us know how it’s treating you and your Moto X.
Today being Earth Day, Google has placed the spotlight on Sabita Malla, a senior research officer at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) who spends her days in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park fighting to protect Bengal tigers and rhinos from poachers. Aided by Glass, Malla tracks and monitors these endangered creatures using Google’s famed wearable to take pictures, notes and measurements — something she originally did with a pencil and paper.
If you don’t like the idea of waiting for new Nexus tablets to materialize, Sony’s new Xperia Z2 is now available to pre-order from the company’s web store and will go on sale on May 4th. For $500, this waterproof slab ships with 16GB of storage, however if that’s not enough, you can opt for a 32GB model for an additional $100.
Today, Google announced that Hangouts 2.1 will be releasing for Android later this week and that users will be treated to a nice list of improvements. The most notable being that SMS and Hangout conversations with the same user will now be merged. Meaning that if you start a conversation with someone over SMS through Hangouts and later resume talking with them through the app’s instant message setup, both chats will be merged into a single log.
Google is currently developing a process that will make it easier for Gmail users to encrypt their emails, according to Venture Beat’s unnamed sources. For over 20 years, Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) has been an encryption standard, but the platform hasn’t always been the most user-friendly. This, along with growing concerns over unwanted internet surveillance has prompted Google to task its engineers with making PGP easier to use.
When Google set out to make its first Nexus handset, the company decided to tap HTC, but over four years and several purebred Android devices later the two tech titans have yet to rekindle their partnership. However, things could possibly be changing, according to a report from DigiTimes. At some point during the third quarter of the year, Google will reportedly announce an 8-inch HTC-made Nexus tablet.
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore.When you can order pizza from Domino’s using Google Wallet, that’s convenient! The world famous pizza chain recently updated its Android app with support for Google’s payment system, making it even easier to complete orders from your smartphone. In celebration of this new collaboration, Domino’s customers who place an online order of $10 or more using the company’s Android app and pay with Google Wallet will receive a free order of the pizzeria’s Specialty Chicken, now through June 15th.
Google has yet to formally announce Android 4.4.3, but it’s definitely out there. In fact, the Play Store has revealed that Google’s Edu Device Setup application is already listing support for the unannounced Android build. Not exactly for Joe Q. Public, this particular app is used to help set up tablets purchased through Google Apps for Education.
Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD is a prime example of solid hardware being weighed down by bulky software, but there appears to be a resolution in the works. The CyanogenMod community has just released a new set of nightly builds for the 2012 Kindle Fire HD (7 and 8.9-inch models). Currently pushing experimental status, improved stable builds are expected to land soon.
If listening to tunes on your Chromebook is a daily activity, you’ll be happy to know that the process just became more refined. Thanks to a recent Chrome OS dev update, owners of Google’s internet-fueled notebooks can now control the volume of their music by using the device’s arrow keys. It’s a modest addition for sure, but it’ll most likely make life a little easier for people who struggle with their Chromebook’s trackpad.
Here’s an overview of the keyboard shortcuts for this new feature :
Since you’ll probably be queueing up new playlists this weekend, allow us to make a suggestion. Nas’ “The World is Yours” is currently free from the Play Store. You’re welcome.
What happens when you take Google’s motion mapping phone, Project Tango and pair it with SPHERES robots in a zero gravity environment? You get something really cool. The folks from Mountain View recently teamed up with NASA to test how Project Tango’s 3D environment sensors would act in a near real life space scenario.
Here’s a quick deal for our friends across the pond. From now until July 15th, Google is offering a £4.99 Play Store movie rental credit to UK residents who set up a new Chromecast. Since some of the movies in the UK Play Store are less than the promotion’s offering, it’s quite possible that you’ll have something leftover towards your next rental.
If you recently purchased Google’s entertainment dongle and you’re planning your next movie night, head on over to the Chromecast set up page to take advantage of this offer.
The XE16 update recently hit Glass and in wake of this major software push, Google has tossed out a life preserver to those who dare to tinker. Most likely as a safety precaution, the company has released a new factory image for Glass just in case your adventurous habits transform the expensive wearable into a $1,500 paperweight.
After listening to user feedback, Beats Electronics has released an update for its Beats Music app for Android. The 6.9MB download brings a new widget, refined social media tools, improved offline play and a standard group of undocumented fixes. While these enhancements may not be enough to lure some folks away from other music streaming services, they’re definitely a step in the right direction.
Here’s a look at version 1.0.8’s complete changelog:
If you’re a Beats Music subscriber ready to get your groove on, dance on over to the Play Store and pull down this update.
The 8GB variant of the Moto G is now available to buy from Republic Wireless for $149 without a contract. The North Carolina-based MVNO’s “hybrid calling” service is a mashup of VOIP calls via WiFi and roaming powered by Sprint’s CDMA network. If 8GB of storage isn’t enough to support your arsenal of apps, the carrier is also pushing the 16GB Moto G for an additional $30.
What’s cooler than using Google Glass to plan your next vacation? How about saving lives? Firefighters in Amsterdam are in the process of reviewing Google’s famous wearable tech for use on the job. A crew recently put together a concept video showing examples of Glass being used to check safety equipment, identify a vehicle involved in an auto accident and the process of guiding a fireman through using the jaws of life.
Google’s updating spree continues with a new software push for Android’s stock Calendar app. A modest update, version 201308023 adds location autocomplete from Google Maps when adding a new event to Calendar. While this new feature will likely save you a few seconds at a time, it’s the little things that count.
Recently, a few screenshots of what was rumored to be a redesigned Calendar app hit the web, so perhaps this small update is just an appetizer before Google serves up the main course. Head on over to the Play Store to download this new update.
Although most human eyes struggle to see them clearly, Google has developed a software that can crack most CAPTCHAs. In a paper published earlier this week, Google researchers from its Street View and CAPTCHA teams discuss a new algorithm capable of solving the company’s jumbled text security puzzles with an accuracy rate of 99.8 percent.
The LG G3 will launch sometime this summer with a gold color option, according to The Verge. While LG has yet to confirm or deny these claims, the company did confirm that its next flagship phone will have a 2,560 x 1,440 display, something that lines up with recent rumors surrounding this unannounced device. While we’ve yet to see an actual shot of the handset, its design is said to be similar to the recently outed LG isai FL.
Lastly, a purported picture of the G3’s retail packaging has hit the web, adding support to rumors of the device sporting a gold hue.
