google atap Stories July 13, 2020
The Google Pixel 4 gave ATAP-created hardware its widest launch yet. Besides Soli, recent products include the Jacquard-powered Adidas GMR insole, Levi’s Trucker Jackets, and the YSL backpack. A deep dive today reveals what else the Advanced Technologies and Projects group is working on and its new direction.
google atap Stories April 28, 2020
[Update: ATAP] Google assembles 49,000 face shields to help its local community
Personal protective equipment is in short supply across the US as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Google today helped its local community by donating 49,000 face shields that it designed and assembled.
google atap Stories March 10, 2020
After several weeks of teasing, Google’s next Jacquard-powered product launched today with Adidas GMR. It’s billed as a way to “use your real-world soccer skills to raise your digital game.”
google atap Stories March 7, 2020
Google yesterday teased nearly everything about its upcoming collaboration with Adidas and EA Sports except for the actual functionality. The Google Jacquard product has now fully leaked as smart Adidas insoles that track you on the soccer pitch and integrate with the FIFA Mobile game.
google atap Stories March 6, 2020
Last month, Google ATAP teased its next Jacquard-infused piece of clothing as a collaboration with Adidas and EA Sports. A new teaser suggests that Google is working on shoes with touch-sensitive insoles.
google atap Stories February 26, 2020
Last September, Google announced the second generation of Jacquard’s fabric input technology. ATAP is now teasing its next Jacquard-powered product as a collaboration with Adidas and EA Sports.
google atap Stories September 30, 2019
Levi’s and Google have today announced the latest additions to the Jacquard-enabled smart jacket lineup. These new jackets are available in two new styles (for both men and women), they bring the latest version of Google ATAP’s Jacquard tech we saw on the Cit-E backpack, and they’re available at more accessible prices than ever…
google atap Stories September 12, 2019
Last week, Saint Laurent teased the Cit-e Backpack with Jacquard built into the left strap. Google is now detailing two upgrades to the wearable platform, including a smaller Jacquard Tag and new app experience with Assistant integration. expand full story
google atap Stories September 5, 2019
Google and Yves Saint Laurent just announced the second entry in the Google ATAP Jacquard lineup, and this time it’s a backpack. I have mixed feelings about the Cit-E, but I think they can be summed up this way: The form factor is far more practical despite the product being less accessible…
google atap Stories September 4, 2019
The first Jacquard product launched two years ago this month with the Levi’s Trucker jacket. Google has now partnered with fashion brand Saint Laurent to create the second in the form of the “Cite-e Backpack” that features the fabric input technology.
google atap Stories May 27, 2019
You probably missed it, but back in April, Google’s hardware division very quietly mentioned that it created a new product. In announcing an exhibit at a Milan design conference, the company briefly detailed a “specially-made wristband that measures biological responses.”
Especially following the emergence of a mysterious “wireless device” from Made by Google last week, we can’t help but explore the natural question: Could this Google health band become an actual product?
google atap Stories April 19, 2019
Google’s Project Jacquard is still alive and well, controls entire TED talk presentation
Do you remember Project Jacquard? Well, the smart-jacket that Google made in collaboration with Levi’s has now returned, this time packing in the ability to connect to the cloud and control things from the cuff of your jacket.
google atap Stories January 1, 2019
The Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group is responsible for experimental initiatives inside Google. With Project Soli, the company set out to create a radar-based input method that provides the tactile feedback of interacting with your fingers. The FCC on Monday approved a waiver for Soli’s higher-than-normal frequencies, thus permitting certification and allowing Google to continue Soli as intended.
google atap Stories December 10, 2018
Google’s Jacquard smart jacket can now remind you not to leave your phone behind
It has been a long time since our very own Stephen Hall went hands-on with Google’s Project Jacquard smart denim jacket. Now, it has added the ability to alert you if you get too far away from your phone.
google atap Stories May 14, 2018
Google is today rolling out version 1.2 of its Jacquard app, bringing some really powerful new features to the company’s smart jacket. The jacket now has expanded functionality surrounding rideshare services, Bose headphones, and your current location… expand full story
google atap Stories December 15, 2017
Google and Levi’s Jacquard-enabled jacket only just became available for the average consumer at the end of September, but Google is now pushing out its first substantial app update. It adds a couple of interesting, albeit minor, new abilities to the capacitive-fabric-bearing garment.
google atap Stories November 8, 2017
I’ve been waiting a really long time to write this review. Google announced Project Jacquard, its high-tech fabric initiative, all the way back at Google I/O 2015. And I was that guy when I snapped spy photos of the Jacquard booth the morning of — several hours before ATAP took the stage. During their event, they also announced they were working with San Francisco-based Levi’s to launch the first consumer product with the tech. Now, that product is available for anyone to buy.
google atap Stories September 27, 2017
Google and Levi’s sold just 3 Jacquard-enabled jackets in the first 2 hours of sales in LA
Today was the official retail launch day for the Levi’s Commuter Trucker jacket with Jacquard fabric (yep that’s pretty much the official name), a product we’ve known about since May 2016. According to someone who was at the LA location this morning, sales are off to an unsurprisingly slow start…
google atap Stories September 26, 2017
Yesterday, Google’s Advanced Technology and Project group and Levi’s finally announced retail availability for their Jacquard-powered Trucker Jacket. However, the woven fiber technology launching on Wednesday has a very significant limitation in how many times it can be washed.
google atap Stories September 25, 2017
Google first showed off what was then called Project-Jacquard over two years ago at Google I/O 2015. At SXSW earlier this year, we got a look at how Jacquard works and the Trucker Jacket that Levi planned to sell with the technology built-in. Then, this morning, we finally got word that Levi would begin to sell the jacket starting next week with a $350 price tag.
Do you plan on purchasing the Levi Trucker Jacket despite its $350 price tag?
Google ATAP first showed off the Jacquard fabric at Google I/O 2015, and at that time mentioned it was working with renowned San Francisco-based company Levi’s to produce some real products with the technology built-in. Now, more than two years later, the time has finally come. Google ATAP and Levi’s are launching their Trucker jacket with Jacquard built-in and it’ll be available on September 27th…
google atap Stories November 10, 2016
Google cancelled Project Ara — the smartphone project that hoped to bring modular to the masses — a couple of months ago, but that has left a lot of longtime fans of the project (myself included, obviously) wondering about what the device could have been. Now, thanks to Nick Gray at Phandroid, we’re starting to learn a bit more about one of the many Ara concepts…
google atap Stories September 1, 2016
Despite a detailed plan put forward at I/O this May, Reuters is reporting that Google is shelving plans to directly make and release a Project Ara device. While the technology could be licensed and released with other partners, Ara no longer fits into Google’s broader hardware strategy.
google atap Stories May 27, 2016
Google gave us a rare update on Project Ara almost exactly a week ago, showing off the latest prototype of the device and giving us an update on when we should expect it to launch. The company said that a new Project Ara development kit is coming this fall, and that the consumer modular phone is scheduled to launch next year. While those promises may or may not prove to have weight, it’s still good to see the company making some steps forward.
And now Dave Hakkens, the creator of Phonebloks (the project that first inspired Project Ara and other modular phones), has come out with his two cents on the latest Ara update…
google atap Stories May 21, 2016
At Google I/O 2016, the Mountain View company decided — although admittedly not an entirely new theme — that it would be a good idea to spread its announcements across three days. The keynote showed off Google’s vision for the future: virtual reality, its new AI and machine learning initiatives, Google Home hardware to take advantage of them, and a few sprinkles of Android Wear 2.0 goodness. The second day saw the announcement of the Play Store coming to Chrome OS.
But the third day was ATAP day, admittedly my favorite day of Google I/O. Last year the Advanced Technologies and Projects group at Google showed off Project Jacquard, Project Soli, some more details on Project Ara, and more. And then the company went silent. For pretty much an entire year.
Maybe that’s a good thing, as Google tends to show its projects and technologies off a little early in general. It’s not exactly out of Google’s character to show a product or service, say that it’s coming in 6 months, it not arrive for 12 months or 18 months, and then the final product share hardly any resemblance to what was originally announced. Admittedly that’s happening with some of ATAP’s projects either way (I’m looking at you, Ara), but at least it’s not a constant barrage of teases and false hope.
Anyway, Google ATAP finally came out of hiding on the third day of I/O yesterday, and with it came updates on Project Jacquard, Project Soli, Project Ara, and Spotlight Stories. Jacquard brought the announcement of the first retail product based on the tech, Ara brought a little update on how progress is coming including the most current prototype device with new module connectors (and promise of a dev kit coming soon), and the Spotlight Stories mention came with some progress in VR storytelling. All cool stuff.
But Soli is what makes my jaw drop.
google atap Stories May 20, 2016
After a long wait, Project Ara is now closer to real product with a consumer product finally coming next year. In addition to a new developer kit launching this year, ATAP announced many partnerships with companies to make modules. Google believes that Ara will be the future of computing and is now its own division.
Following the first Project Jacquard consumer product, ATAP is making a smartwatch with Project Soli built-in. Soli is a gesture recognition technology based on radar that can sense fine hand movements.
At last year’s Google I/O, the Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP) announced several interesting projects. Since then, ATAP head Regina Dugan departed for Facebook and the group was moved under Google’s new hardware division. This year, Project Jacquard — sensors embedded in fabrics — is announcing its first consumer product with Levi’s…
google atap Stories May 16, 2016
Google I/O is right around the corner, and this year’s a bit different. Google’s holding the event closer to home — at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. And everything’s happening outside in the cool breeze of the Bay Area. This is different scenery than the last several years that have at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, and we’re hoping that this means the event itself is going to have some fresh scenery as well.
Among many other things, this year looks like it’s going to be heavy on virtual reality, with a little bit of Android N, Chrome OS, Project Tango, ATAP, and messaging sprinkled in for good measure…
google atap Stories April 28, 2016
A recent Lenovo reshuffle saw long time Motorola head Rick Osterloh leave Motorola. Now, Google (via Re/Code) has confirmed that it just hired Osterloh to lead a new hardware division that encompasses such product lines as Nexus, ATAP, and even Google Glass…
google atap Stories April 13, 2016
In a surprising hire, Facebook has poached ATAP head Regina Dugan from Google (via The Verge). The Advanced Technologies and Projects group originated at Motorola, but was integrated into Google before the Lenovo sale. Dugan will have a similar role at Facebook leading a new hardware group called Building 8.
google atap Stories December 22, 2015
It’s a little over two years since Motorola launched Spotlight Player, an app that could be used to view a 360-degree interactive animation. Initially limited to the Moto X before being rolled out to other Android devices, you move your smartphone up, down, left and right to choose which part of the scene to view – and can also view through Google Cardboard.
Google held onto the team when it sold Motorola to Lenovo, and it has now launched Special Delivery, a holiday-themed Spotlight Story from Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace & Gromit. While you have to pay for some stories, this one is free as a holiday gift from Google …
google atap Stories May 29, 2015
Smart Lock Passwords is cool, but Google Project Abacus puts us closer to a password-free world
Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group has been on a tear at I/O these past two days, demoing lots of new and interesting innovations that may one day hit production and make all of our lives much, much better. One of such projects is Project Abacus, which is seeking to all but eliminate the use of passwords for authentication.
Put simply, our smartphones can collect a lot of information about how we go about our day – how fast we walk, how well we type using our phone’s keyboard, how we talk – and the ATAP group thinks that using this data for authentication is 10x safer than fingerprints, and 100x safer than 4 digit PIN codes. They think that because, well, they’ve gathered lots of data on it – the company has been running trials of Project Abacus since last year in partnership with 33 universities and in total has collected 40 terabytes of data across 28 different states. They did not, however, say how much more secure they are than old-fashioned email and password combinations.
While Abacus runs in the background on your phone and collects data about you, it is constantly calculating a trust score that is basically a score of how confident it is that you are who you say you are, the owner of the phone. When you launch an app, take Netflix, if Abacus can successfully verify your identity, you’ll be logged in automatically. If it is unable to get a high trust score for you, Abacus will revert back to asking for a password. ATAP also says that different apps could theoretically require different trust scores – a banking app would most certainly want a higher trust score than that of a game.
Project Abacus doesn’t totally eliminate passwords but it’s one step closer, and makes total elimination of them a logical conclusion. And anything that will further mitigate the risk of intruders accessing my digital life is fine by me. When the world is putting this much energy into obfuscating away old-fashioned passwords (don’t forget Smart Lock Passwords) you know their time is up. A world that runs on these highly secure trust scores is on the horizon, I can feel it.
ATAP’s Project Soli and Project Jacquard are two of the more exciting announcements to come out of Google I/O, and while Soli didn’t have any impressive demos on the show floor, Google’s advanced technology and projects group had some touch-able fabric out for us to give Project Jacquard a test run. So we did, and we grabbed a quick video… expand full story
google atap Stories May 28, 2015
Update: They’re official.
We’re at Google I/O 2015, and just made our way to the press lounge. On the way up, we stopped by the ATAP booth and snapped some spy pictures leading up to the keynote. Apparently, ATAP is working on a couple of new projects: Soli and Jacquard. Let’s see what we can find out before they’re officially announced in the coming hours…
google atap Stories January 30, 2015
Google has announced that Project Tango, the 3D mapping tech currently formerly in development in the company’s Advanced Technology and Projects division is moving on to a home of its own.
The Google+ post announcing the change didn’t provide specifics about where exactly the Tango tech will be moving, but it seems the company is pleased with the progress it’s made so far and is willing to invest some additional resources to continue the work.
google atap Stories January 14, 2015
The second developer conference for Google’s Project Ara is happening today, and the ATAP team took some time this morning to show the world the second iteration of the modular smartphone—dubbed Spiral 2. While the hardware for the updated prototype is said to be complete at this point, the firmware still needs a bit work, as mentioned on stage by ATAP’s Paul Eremenko. But that aside, this new version continues to usher in the Project Ara mentality that consumers should be free to use hardware (much like we use software) to build a phone based on their needs—not the needs a company has determined they likely have.
google atap Stories December 9, 2014
Project Ara is still slowly but surely making its way toward being a commercial product, and today one of the mysteries of the device–how people will buy and sell various interchangeable hardware modules–has been answered. Globant, a company focused on delivering “innovative software” has announced that they’ve partnered with Google’s Advanced Technology & Projects (ATAP) group on the development of a marketplace made specifically for Project Ara.
google atap Stories July 2, 2014
Back at Google I/O, Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects team showed off the first booting prototype Project Ara device and teased that the first units would be available to developers later this year. Today, Google announced that 100 members of its Ara Scouts program will soon be the recipients of the first Project Ara devices. In a post announcing the closure of the Ara Scouts program, Google said that the lucky 100 people were chosen based on how often they participated in the Scouts program.
google atap Stories April 4, 2014
Ahead of the first Ara Development Conference on 15 & 16 April, Google has released a teaser video showing a few glimpses into the project to create a phone with swappable modules, allowing customers to configure a phone to order and update individual components at a later date … expand full story
google atap Stories February 26, 2014
Project Ara, the modular phone project announced by Motorola’s ATAP team last year, will be getting its own developer conference this April. Google announced the event on the Project Ara website (via AndroidPolice) and noted that a live stream with “interactive Q&A capability” will be available online for those that can’t attend. The conference will take place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View and Google says there will be a limited number of attendees. The event will focus heavily on a new Ara Module Developers’ Kit that will be released online in early April: expand full story
