It turns out that his hobby 9to5Mac.com blog was always his favorite and in 2011 he went full time adding his Fortune Google followers to 9to5Google.com and adding the style and commerce component 9to5Toys.com gear and deals site. In 2013, Weintraub bought one of the Tesla’s first Model S EVs off the assembly line and so began his love affair with the Electric Vehicle and green energy which in 2014 turned into electrek.co.
In 2018, DroneDJ was born to cover the burgeoning world of drones and UAV’s led by China’s DJI.
From 1997-2007, Weintraub was a Global IT director and Web Developer for a number of companies with stints at multimedia and branding agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Madrid and London before becoming a publisher/blogger.
Seth received a bachelors degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California with a minor in Multimedia and Creative Technology in 1997. In 2004, he received a Masters from NYU’s Tisch School of the Art’s ITP program.
Hobbies: Weintraub is a licensed single engine private pilot, certified open water scuba diver and spent over a year traveling to 60 cities in 23 countries. Whatever free time exists is now guaranteed to his lovely wife and two amazing sons.
If you’ve ever had 30 Chrome tabs open and can’t figure out which one is playing some audio (guilty), François Beaufort has some good news. The Google Chrome Team is working on identifying tabs that play audio to exclude them from the list of tabs to discard when memory runs out.
In a first step, they’ve added a small indicator on top of the tab favicon to tell when a tab is actually playing audio.
Youtube video work only if you joined the HTML5 trial at www.youtube.com/html5
LG announced “the world’s smalled wireless charger” today. It’s hiding behind that white phone above. The Qi-enabled charger will charge any Qi-enabled device from LG and others.
At only 6.9cm in diameter, the WCP-300 is designed with portability in mind. Despite its di-minutive size, the charging area is 1.7 times wider than that of LG’s previous generation wireless charger. The new model is compatible with a standard 5-pin micro-USB charger, providing the highest level of charging performance and user convenience.
The WCP-300 employs electromagnetic induction technology and is Qi certified by the Wireless Power Consortium. Electromagnetic induction produces a magnetic field that in turn generates an electric current to charge the batteries in devices placed on the charging pad. Certification ensures that the WCP-300 is compatible with all smart-phones that support the Qi standard.
“Wireless charging is the holy grail of smartphone user convenience,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “With the WCP-300, LG was able to deliver both portability with top-class charging capabilities in a device no larger than a typical beverage coaster.”
It looks like some Android folks made their way to Barcelona. It is good to see Duarte being as colorful and optimistic as his clothing. Expand Expanding Close
After lots of leaks, rumors and outright company forecasts, Samsung today announced the Galaxy Note 8.0, an 8-inch iPad Mini competitor. The 1280×800 pixel display will have a slightly better PPI of 189 than the Mini and match camera specs and a quad core processor. Samsung’s Note 8.0 will also double up the Mini with 2GB of RAM and add an S-Pen for those who need/want it as well as expandable storage via the Micro-SD card slot. Just like the Galaxy Tab 7 2 it has an IR blaster with a rebranded Peel station navigation. On the down side, it won’t have LTE (only HSPA+) and it will run a slightly out-dated 4.1.2 version of Android Jelly Bean. It also weighs almost an ounce more than the iPad Mini.
Oh and it can make calls like a huge phone.
Will this go head to head against the Mini? My gut reaction is no. Samsung’s Touchwiz overlay and pen will keep these out of the hands of mainstream users. No price or launch date is yet planned but the specs tell me (720P TFT display) that Samsung is aiming for a low price. I’d expect to see this at $250 in the US probably just after it launches in the 2nd quarter in a number of Asian and EU territories.
Vanity Fair today posts the first renderings of Google’s first ‘from scratch’ building dubbed Bay View which it is building on land it leased from NASA in 2008 for 40 years and which overlooks San Francisco Bay. The project is designed by Architecture firm NBBJ.
The more you look at the complex, however, the more intriguing it is. The new campus, which the company is calling Bay View, consists of nine roughly similar structures, most of which will be four stories high, and all of which are shaped like rectangles that have been bent in the middle. The bent rectangles are arranged to form large and small courtyards, and several of the buildings have green roofs. All of the structures are connected by bridges, one of which will bring people directly to one of the green roofs that has been done up with an outdoor café and gathering space. And cars, the bane of almost every suburban office complex, including the Googleplex, are hidden away.
The project was actually announced in 2011 but the press release no longer lives on the company website. From the *ahem* Google cache:
We are thrilled to announce that NBBJ has been selected to design a new 1.1 million square foot facility for Google in Mountain View, California. The scope of work includes integrated new construction, interiors and workplace design. This will be Google’s first build-to-suit new construction project. Both Google and NBBJ have high expectations for sustainability and healthy, creative work environments. Together, we will explore innovative materials and processes for construction.
It’s been a few hours since the Chromebook Pixel was announced and I’ve been gauging reactions from around the web.
To be blunt it isn’t good at all.
The things that made the leaked video seem fake are the same things people are complaining about. The weird 2560×1700 3:2ish pixel display, the square edges and Steve Jobs non-approved vertical touch interface for Chrome.
The new information today doesn’t make it any more enticing. The $1300-1450 price tag is a killer for a platform that recently found its sweet spot with $200-$250 Chromebooks from Acer and Samsung. I mean, you can buy 2 Samsung and 4 Acer Chromebooks for the price of one Pixel…without LTE. The specs, for a clearly high end computer aren’t inspiring either.
USB2 (where do they even find a MoBo chipset that doesn’t have USB3?) Only 5 hours of battery life (save $1050 and get 6.5 hours with the ARM-powered Samsung)? 4 GB RAM (I have a lot of tabs!)? Even 32/64 GB SSD? These are not super-impressive specs, especially not for a high end $1300 flagship machine.
The Verge went hands-on with Glass and came away with a very positive experience. We liked the early prototype and the news that it will go retail by the end of the year. And, when we say “retail,” we mean this.
In a sign of how acute the challenge is for Google, the company is negotiating with Warby Parker, an e-commerce start-up company that sells trendy eyeglasses, to help it design more fashionable frames, according to two people briefed on the negotiations who were not authorized to speak publicly because the partnership has not been made official. Google and Warby Parker declined to comment.
It is pretty clear that Google will need some serious design effort to get these things to go mainstream.
Google Inc. has developed the first touchscreen laptops powered by its Chrome operating system to be sold later this year, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Internet giant tries to go toe-to-toe with Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system.
Interestingly, the new Chrome devices also would compete with devices powered by Google’s other operating system, called Android, which took the smartphone and tablet market by storm in recent years, propelling Google as a force in mobile-device software.
Google just posted this cool video to give potential users a more realistic ‘view’ of what the Google Glass can now do (the previous video, below, was was more a vision of the prototype). It is part of an updated Google Glass website that shows functions of Glass and how spoken commands control it.
Google is also sponsoring an ‘If I had Glass‘ contest to get the $1,500 Glass…
We’re looking for bold, creative individuals who want to join us and be a part of shaping the future of Glass. We’d love to make everyone an Explorer, but we’re starting off a bit smaller. We’re still in the early stages, and while we can’t promise everything will be perfect, we can promise it will be exciting.
We just got back from a number of briefings by HTC and the carriers following the One announcement. The big news is obviously the ultra-pixel camera that is really just 4 megapixels (think small file sizes) but also higher color per pixel and Zoe software. Other interesting notes include the super heavy Sense overlay with BlinkFeeds.
Honestly, this looks like an amazing device, but I’m not giving up my Nexus 4 until I have some time to check out the effects of the overlay. A video is below. Hopefully, we’ll go hands on before the late March launch.
Google Inc. has been developing plans to launch retail stores in the U.S., said people familiar with the matter, in another sign the company is studyingApple Inc.’s playbook for building a consumer-electronics brand.
The stores would likely sell Google-branded hardware, these people said. But it isn’t clear when or where any stores would open, and one of the people said the Internet giant might not move forward with the plan this year.
Nor is there a link to the source. But the story would seem to back up our scoop. Expand Expanding Close
This thing has the same specs as a laptop ‘shrunk’ to ‘phone’ size.
LG just announced its 2013 flagship phone the Optimus G Pro that was leaked last month. The ‘Pro’ stands for huge and fast here, with the first Qualcomm 600 quad core processor running at 1.7GHz. The screen bests even the Samsung Note II phablet screen with a 1080p IPS (not OLED) over 5.5 inches—which is going to look marvelous at 400ppi. Cameras? Yes. There is a 13.0 around back and a 2.1 up front that is HD for video conferencing. Also: 2GB RAM, huge 3,140mAh battery, and Android 4.2—all coming in under 9.4mm thin.
No word yet on when we can grab one stateside.
Optimus G Pro Key Specifications:
• Chipset: 1.7GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm? Snapdragon™ 600 Processor
• RAM: 2GB DDR
• Memory: 32GB / microSD (up to 32GB)
• Display: 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels / 400ppi)
• Camera: Rear 13.0MP with LED Flash / Front 2.1MP
• OS: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
• Battery: 3,140mAh (removable / wireless charging capable)
• Size: 150.2 x 76.1 x 9.4mm
An extremely reliable source has confirmed to us that Google is in the process of building stand-alone retail stores in the U.S. and hopes to have the first flagship Google Stores open for the holidays in major metropolitan areas.
The mission of the stores is to get new Google Nexus, Chrome, and especially upcoming products into the hands of prospective customers. Google feels right now that many potential customers need to get hands-on experience with its products before they are willing to purchase. Google competitors Apple and Microsoft both have retail outlets where customers can try before they buy. Google’s retail move won’t be an entirely new area, however.
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Google Chrome pop-up stores
Google currently has Chrome Store-within-a-store models in hundreds of Best Buys in the U.S. and 50 PCWorld/Dixon’s in the U.K. These stores have Google trained employees who demonstrate the value of Chromebooks and can answer the multitude of questions people have before making a purchase. Our source told us the new Google Stores would be a much broader play. The Chrome SIS employees don’t have sales targets, and they are there mostly for educating. Best Buy and Dixen’s also handle product and monetary transactions, not Google.
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Google and Virgin also ran a limited test run of Kiosks in five major Airports, including this one at SFO (Image Scott Beale)
My understanding is that these new stores will operate independently and make direct sales to customers from Google like the Nexus online store does currently. It might also make sense for Google to sell its apparel and other Google-branded merchandise in these stores as well, but that’s speculation on my part.
The decision to open stores, I’m told, came when drawing up plans to take the Google Glass to the public. The leadership thought consumers would need to try Google Glass first hand to make a purchase. Without being able to use them first hand, few non-techies would be interested in buying Google’s glasses (which will retail from between $500 to $1,000). From there, the decision to sell other Google-branded products made sense.
Along with Glass, Google will have an opportunity to demonstrate other upcoming and Google X projects like driverless cars and mini-drone delivery systems at its stores.
There are small bits of anecdotal evidence that Google is looking into retail. It is hiring folks to develop Point of Sale systems, for instance. We’re told, however, that most of the ramping up of these stores will be done by an outside agency.
“I don’t think we would have been nearly as successful with iPad if it weren’t for our stores. It gives Apple an incredible competitive advantage. Others have found out it’s not so easy to replicate. We’re going to continue to invest like crazy. The average store last year was over 50 million in revenue.”
Google may now understand that if it wants to roll out a new product category like Google Glass, it is going to have to dive into retail. Expand Expanding Close
What’s interesting here is that we don’t know if this huge eye is referring to the 1080p display or the incredible camera…but, if we squint OUR irises enough, we see a white phone of some sort in there that looksvaguelyfamiliar.
HTC has an event in exactly seven days and we’ll be on hand. What’s on order? No one knows for sure, but @evleaks, a notorious leaker of fine products, today tweeted the image to your right.
This is the same product we’ve seen a few times before with the codename “M7“. It appears it is a new design, and we’re definitely feeling some white iPhone 5 inspiration.
The M7 will likely also be announced at MWC in Barcelona, and it will be HTC’s flagship device running a 5-inch 1080p display similar to the Droid DNA (which we are still missing). Other rumored specs include a 13-megapixel camera and quad-core processor.
We don’t have any word on carriers, but we’d be willing to bet that AT&T, which lined up quick for the One X, will be onboard. T-Mobile might even join the fun. Verizon may take a pass since it is already slangin’ the DNA, and Sprint will likely do an EVO 2013 in short order.
Come back next week on Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. EST as we cover the event live.
Google had their Solvefor(x) conference last week hosting 50 experienced entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists from around the world.
We heard 18 technology moonshot proposals, which you can watch on SolveforX.com. Make sure to catch Danielle Fong, whose creativity, courage and persistence shine through as she describes her potentially game changing idea for renewable energy storage. Take a look at Peter Diamandis and Eric Andersonbdescribing their new asteroid mining company, Planetary Resources—exactly the kind of moonshot thinking that Solve for X was created to celebrate. Watch Flaminia Catteruccia suggest an ingenious shift in our approach to stopping the spread of Malaria, and check out Keith Black’s proposal to diagnose Alzheimer’s 20 years before any symptoms appear using a test that could be included in a routine eye exam.
Google X labs are where moonshots like Google Glass and Driveless cars (and a bunch of stuff we don’t know about) are coming from. As of Today, there are some excellent updates on the solveforx.com site:
Submit moonshots: Whether it’s an early idea, something you’re already working on, a proposal you’d like to see others work on, or a moonshot idea from someone else that you’d like to promote, we’d like to hear from you—pleasesubmit those moonshot videos. Read more about what qualifies as a moonshot.
Join and declare your X: We’ve added community areas and we hope you will join and create a profile declaring your X. Your “X” is something you are passionate about working on or solving in the world like learning access or robotics or climate change or raising happy kids. You can watch, share and rate moonshots. Search to find moonshot proposals that match your interests and join the innovation conversation.
Check out even more moonshot ideas: Several new partners have joined Solve for X to amplify moonshot ideas, including X PRIZE, GE FOCUS FORWARD, TED, MIT Technology Review, Singularity University, and ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination. Talks from their events and programs that are aligned with the moonshot ethos (huge problem, radical solution, breakthrough technology) are now cross-linked and hosted on SolveforX.com. Some of our favorites are The Invisible Bicycle Helmet, The Music Man, Solar Roadways, Bio-Integrated Electronics, Simple Designs, Slingshot and Gulf Oil Cleanup X PRIZE Winning Team Vor-Tek. Take a moment to watch them!
The 1-minute-long ad focuses on Google Now and the many ways it’s usable from around the world, like Apple often does with Siri in commercials, such as planning trips, checking weather, finding a restaurant, language translations, and even Hangout video chats, but the ad notably features all of these Google Now functions on the Nexus 4.
Besides some S-Pen touchups to Paul Rudd’s face done by Seth Rogen and a brief video chat with LeBron James and Bob Odenkirk, you don’t really get to see much of the technology at play here. We’re not sure this is going to win any awards, but it is amusing.
$299 is such a good price for this high-end phone. By comparison, the Nexus 4 is the same price as Apple’s 32GB iPod touch. Oh, and it is back in stock in both 8GB and 16GB varieties and should ship in “1-2 weeks”. As we’ve said before, these won’t last very long so jump on now.
