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LG joins Google and Samsung in committing to monthly security updates following Stagefright discovery

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 7 2015 - 7:05 am PT
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The major Android manufacturers seem to at last be getting serious about security. Following the recent discovery of the Stagefright vulnerability, Google announced that it would commit to issuing monthly security updates to Nexus devices for at least three years. Samsung yesterday said that it too would do the same, though without stating how long it would continue to support older devices. LG has now joined in, reports Wired.

LG will be providing security updates on a monthly basis which carriers will then be able to make available to customers immediately.

Other manufacturers have also responded quickly to Stagefright, with HTC, Sony and Android One among the groups to be issuing patches … 
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Tesla hired Chris Evans from Google’s Project Zero to lead the company’s security team

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Aug 6 2015 - 8:39 pm PT
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From Electrek:

Chris Evans was until recently the head of Google’s Project Zero, a team of hackers employed full-time by Google to find zero-day vulnerabilities on not only their own products, but any software that could affect Google’s users. Today, Evans announced that he will soon join Tesla Motors to lead its security team. 


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Google and MIT have created an algorithm that brings amazing obstruction-free photography [Video]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 6 2015 - 1:36 pm PT
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When you’re taking a picture, it’s not rare for obstructions like fences and reflections to make the resulting image less than ideal. Given a few frames, though, shouldn’t it be possible to do some post-processing and eliminate these problems? That’s what Google and MIT have demonstrated in a paper entitled “A Computational Approach for Obstruction-Free Photography”. It’s fascinating stuff.

If you’re taking a picture in a window, it’s pretty common that a reflection of inside the room or car could obstruct what would otherwise be a really nice looking photo. And that’s what this algorithm seems to focus on most. The team demoes several examples of taking several frames, and actually separating the obstructing reflection, leaving a clear image of the background.

It seems to work well with photos taken through fences and other situations too, the end result providing an image of the background as well as a fairly accurate representation of what the obstruction looks like by itself. This could have plenty of applications for everyday smartphone photography, but perhaps for forensic research as well. You’ll just have to watch it for yourself. Hopefully, this tech isn’t far from being added to the Camera app.

HBO Now has now made its way to Chromecast

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 6 2015 - 8:54 am PT
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Update: The HBO Now APK with Chromecast support is now available to download. It should be rolling out over the next several hours on the Play Store.

Yes, it’s true. Following the service’s introduction on Android and some of Amazon’s platforms a few weeks ago, Google has announced today that HBO is now rolling out support for Chromecast as well.
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Huawei Nexus prototype allegedly appears in sketchy leak

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 6 2015 - 3:52 am PT
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We’ve been hearing rumors for some time now that Google will partner with Huawei on its next flagship Nexus device. It may seem like a strange choice of manufacturer, but with its influence in China, Google sees a strong opportunity to piggy-back Huawei’s Chinese success and get its own services adopted there.

We’re supposedly expecting a device with a 5.7-inch QHD screen and Snapdragon 820 processor to be launched alongside a smaller LG-made device (refreshed Nexus 5 perhaps) sometime later this year. Today, a fresh leak has been published showing little detail, but what could be a prototype of the Huawei-made Pure Google device.

If you check out a few of the snapshot images originally taken from a blurry, unclear video, you’ll notice that the design is fairly similar to another Huawei smartphone. Although there are differences, you’ll see much of the design language is the same as the Huawei Ascend Mate 7:

The arrangement of the camera, fingerprint sensor and LED flash units is very similar in both. However, you’ll notice the camera on the supposed Nexus device is round, rather than square (matching the leaked LG Nexus cases). The LED flash is a long pill-shaped component rather than square, but the fingerprint sensor is much the same. Take a look at the original video leaked originally by Steve Hemmerstoffer:

Since the device isn’t powered on at all in the video, it’s hard to say with any certainty whether or not this really is the Nexus being leaked. Or even, if it’s a working prototype. For all we know, it could just be a tested physical dummy unit of a device Huawei is working on. Although, if it is genuine and this is the finished product, let me be the first to say that I’d love that all-black finish on a Nexus device. So dark, and stealthy.

Google posts LMY48I factory images with Stagefright fixes for Nexus devices

Avatar for Chance Miller Aug 5 2015 - 7:41 pm PT
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Earlier today, Google announced that it would soon begin improving its security efforts for its Nexus line of devices by rolling out monthly security updates. To go along with that, Google this evening has posted new factory images for seven Nexus devices. The factory images all appear to address the recent security bug that saw “Stagefright” exploited, as well as other fixes.


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Google Slides presentations can now be shared over Hangouts video call

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 5 2015 - 7:38 pm PT
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Google has announced today that, thanks to a recent update to Google Slides, users can now quickly and easily share their presentations over Hangouts video call.

Google Slides helps you share your big ideas with the world, but sometimes presenting these ideas can be challenging. In June, Slides added support for Chromecast and Airplay, which made it easier to project your slides on the big screen. Now there’s another new way to share your work: easy presenting to Hangouts video calls. Teammates, partners, clients and classmates can see your ideas, even if they’re on the other side of the planet.

As you can see in the below video, all you need to get started is an Android phone or tablet. Tapping the play button along the top bar of the app will let you present to a new video call or one that’s already ongoing.

Google has begun development of its new four-acre campus in Boulder, Colorado

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 5 2015 - 3:47 pm PT
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Google has many satellite offices around the world that give it a diverse talent base that may not want, or may not be able, to move to Mountain View to work out of its headquarters. One of those satellite offices is located in the affluent town of Boulder, Colorado, which straddles the Rocky Mountains making it ideal for people who like outdoor activities including hiking and skiing. Earlier this week the company broke ground on a new 330,000 square foot campus to replace its current setup in the town of employees working out of what used to be a Circuit City (remember those?).


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Google releases first Creator Preview version of YouTube Gaming for Android

Avatar for Chance Miller Aug 5 2015 - 3:07 pm PT
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Earlier this year Google unveiled its new YouTube Gaming service to rival Amazon-owned video game streaming site Twitch after several months of speculation. Today, Google has released the version of the YouTube Gaming app for Android, albeit in an early “Creator Preview” form. The changelog of the app reveals that the app is capable of many of the features previously announced.


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: HTC One M9 (unlocked) $380, Galaxy Note 4 (unlocked) $370, Acer Chromebook $270, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 5 2015 - 1:02 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Refurb HTC One M9 32GB flash 4G LTE (unlocked): $380 shipped (Reg. $500+) | eBay

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB (unlocked): $370 shipped (Reg. $700) | eBay

Acer 15-inch Chromebook 1.5GHz/4GB/32GB SSD: $270 shipped (Reg. $350)

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked): $480 shipped (Reg. $800) | eBay

ASUS ZenWatch now just $130 shipped from Best Buy (Reg. $200) | eBay

More new gear from today:

The Lexus Hoverboard is here: watch as it flies around a skatepark and over water

  • Games/Apps: Aspyr Mac sale – Beyond Earth $20, Metro Redux (PS4/Xbox One) $20, more
  • Daily Deals: Logitech Harmony Keyboard $70, JBL Clip Portable Bluetooth Speakers $30, more
  • PreSonus Ceres 3.5-inch Powered Speakers w/ Bluetooth streaming $100 shipped (Reg. $230)

More deals still alive:

Two Philips Hue connected light bulbs (multiple styles) for $100 shipped (~$120 value)

New products & more:

Xbox One announces new Halo 5 Limited Edition Console, DVR functionality, games and more at Gamescon 15

Epson’s new EcoTank printers have enough ink for “two years” right out of the box

 

With new Report Editor, analyze data using charts and tables directly within AdWords

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 5 2015 - 11:09 am PT
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Many of us are visual learners, and by visualizing data you may be able to notice trends that you otherwise wouldn’t have by just looking at the numbers written out. Google understands this, and is making it possible to quickly visualize data from its AdWords online advertising service through a simple drag-and-drop tool available soon from directly within AdWords itself — yes, no more needing to download your data and explore it elsewhere.


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Google opens up data on site search performance with new Analytics developer API

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 5 2015 - 10:15 am PT
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Have you ever wondered what the most commonly searched terms which lead to your site appearing in Google’s results are? Or maybe the top queries on mobile that lead to your site appearing in results? Well, Google has offered a Search Analytics Report in the Google Search Console for some time which provides this exact kind of data (where have you been?), and now it has created an API developers can use to play around with this data in their own apps.

It’s called the Search Analytics API and with it, developers get access to all the data on traffic that has come to them through search, and can sort it by parameters like country to gain insights into, for example, what are the top queries in India that lead to visitors.

The potential here is for developers to create graphical user interfaces to this data, so less tech savvy individuals would gain the ability to sift through their search data without needing prior knowledge on how to use an API.

Google announces Fiber coming to San Antonio, the ‘largest Fiber city to date’

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 5 2015 - 10:06 am PT
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Google has announced today that the company is bringing its Fiber Internet service to San Antonio, the second city in Texas to get the service and the company’s “largest Fiber city to date”:

Fast growing cities need Internet speeds that can keep up with their progress. For the 1.4 million residents of San Antonio, one of the biggest and fastest growing cities in the country, this is truer than ever. Which is why, today, we’re proud to announce that Google Fiber is coming to San Antonio—the largest Fiber city to date.

Rollout of Fiber even in the Austin area — which has been an official Fiber city for quite a while — has been very slow, and Google says that it is only just now entering the “design phase” of building out Fiber in the San Antonio area. It’s going to be a while before residential customers can actually get on board.

Most recently, Google announced  that it is launching a program to bring completely free internet access to public and affordable housing residents in four of its Google Fiber markets — part of President Barack Obama’s ConnectHome initiative. San Antonio was recently selected for ConnectHome as well.

Google will now walk advertisers through how to bid based on their objectives

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 5 2015 - 9:52 am PT
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Google has a lot of data on how different decisions made throughout the creation of an AdWords display marketing campaign can lead to a lot of different end results. Now it wants to use that insight to help marketers make the right decisions to reach their objectives, be it a transaction or even just an engagement with their website, and has created a step-by-step solution to do just that.

The new tool for display ads, live now in AdWords, takes marketers through the whole ad campaign creation process based on what they want to result to be. For example, someone who just wants people to visit their website may not realize that they can pay just for each click they get, rather than every single impression. Someone who wants to optimize for the amount of times their advertisement is simply seen, though, will probably want to pay for viewable impressions, or those ad placements guaranteed to be visible on the page (i.e. not needing the user to scroll to see them). Using the new setup flow, advertisers can also input their website URL and have Google choose keywords they may want their ad to appear against in search results.

There are a lot of small decisions like these that advertisers have to consider when creating a new campaign, and a lot of ways to make a mistake that impacts the results. So this new tool simply makes it a lot easier to not mess up. It’s important for Google, too, because a low return on investment for an advertiser is a negative experience that may lead them to not using AdWords again.

Report: Android device fragmentation has increased 28% over last year

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 5 2015 - 9:40 am PT
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Android is notorious in the developer community for its rampant fragmentation. Developing an app for Google’s platform means wrestling to make the app work optimally on the ecosystem of thousands of devices in different shapes and sizes. And according to a new report out today giving us a look at the state of Android fragmentation as of this month, August 2015, there’s both some bad and good news: There are more devices than ever before, but fewer users that are spread out across different operating system versions.


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Google bought 28% of patents offered to it in anti-troll initiative, paid average of $150k

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 5 2015 - 5:23 am PT
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Google has announced the results of an experimental initiative to buy tech patents and license them at fair rates in order to prevent them falling into the hands of patent trolls. The company revealed that it bought 28% of the “relevant” patents offered to it, paying a median price of around $150k, reports IEEE Spectrum.

Google’s senior product licensing manager Kurt Brasch said that the company was “very, very happy” with the program, with the number of submissions substantially higher than expected…
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Language annotation platform Genius launches Android app

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 4 2015 - 2:53 pm PT
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Language annotation platform Genius, formally known as Rap Genius, has launched an Android version of its mobile app (Play Store link). Genius originally launched as a music annotation service popular in the rap community, but has since expanded to cover basically the whole human corpus with vertical sections for annotations on poems, books, and more.


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Google’s Project Tango tablet now available in South Korea and Canada, other countries on August 26

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 4 2015 - 12:53 pm PT
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Starting today, the Project Tango Development Kit tablet is available to purchase in the Google Store — beyond the United States — for developers in South Korea and Canada. And on August 26th, it’ll be available in quite a few more places: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Galaxy S6 (unlocked) $480, Aukey 12000mAh power bank $10, ASUS ZenWatch $130, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 4 2015 - 12:47 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked): $480 shipped (Reg. $800) | eBay

Power banks w/ Prime shipping: KMASHI 15000mAh Dual USB $14 (Orig. $20), Aukey 12000mAh $10 (Orig. $22), more

ASUS ZenWatch now just $130 shipped from Best Buy (Reg. $200) | eBay

 

Headphones: SoundPEATS Bluetooth 4.1 in-ears $20 (Reg. $26), Sennheiser HD280 + HD439 $100 (~$200 value), more

More new gear from today:

Two Philips Hue connected light bulbs (multiple styles) for $100 shipped (~$120 value)

More deals still alive:

Pre-pay for 3 months of Sling TV and receive a $50 Best Buy credit towards the purchase of eligible streaming devices

New products & more:

The new off-road nipi cooler uses renewable power to keep your devices charged and your beer cold

ECOXGEAR’s new rugged Bluetooth speakers and power banks are waterproof and solar powered

T-Mobile officially becomes #3 US carrier, Sprint CEO says company ‘now focused on customers, not rankings’

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 4 2015 - 10:26 am PT
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In case you didn’t notice (which is basically no one at this point, thanks to the more-than-loud John Legere), T-Mobile has tried to be as disruptive as possible over the last couple years. And now, Sprint, which has long been the third-largest mobile carrier in the United States, is admitting defeat. It seems T-Mobile’s tactics are working, and Sprint’s first fiscal quarter report released today shows that its 56.8 million subscribers are just shy of the 58.9 million that T-Mobile reported it had last month.
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Disney just released an official Disneyland app for Android

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 4 2015 - 8:58 am PT
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Not quite in time for the influx of visitors that surely happened earlier this summer, Disney has now released an official Disneyland app for Android. As you might expect, the app is intended to basically be your companion during your visit, allowing you to do everything from buy your tickets in advance to browse detailed maps of the park…
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Chrome Beta 45 for Android brings Custom Tabs, updated bookmarks interface, more

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 3 2015 - 10:04 pm PT
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Chrome Beta version 45 for Android is rolling out today (Play Store link) and includes some nice interface tweaks as well as one addition that was previously announced at Google’s I/O developer conference back in May. Chrome Beta is a build of the Chrome browser which includes features and changes that are almost, but not quite, ready for use by the masses. Showing up in the Beta build of the browser is a good indicator that a feature or adjustment will soon reach those masses, so it’s always interesting to see what’s been added.


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Find opportunities to learn computer science with Google’s new online portal

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 3 2015 - 2:29 pm PT
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Many job openings in the field of computer science go unfilled — not for lack of quality applicants, but due to a lack of any applicants at all. This is a big problem for technology companies, Google included, because it means they have to compete for the few candidates there are with large compensation packages and cushy benefits like on-site masseuses and shuttles to take employees to and from work (both benefits that Google offers). Google in particular has been working hard both to get more people into computer science and also increase the diversity of those going into the field, and today it rolled out an online destination where anyone can go to find computer science learning opportunities.

The new portal, which can be found on the Google for Education website (click here), aims to increase exposure to all kinds of opportunities for one to gain computer science skills — be it through online games, grants, summer camps, etc —  by collecting them in one place and allowing anyone to then sort them by age and region for the highest relevance to ones needs. Google notes in its blog post about the portal that encouragement and exposure can have a direct impact on a child’s interest in pursuing computer science education, and that goes especially for girls. This development is aimed particularly at students, but anyone interested in the field can take advantage of it.

“CS is much more than computer programming and coding— it’s a gateway to creativity and innovation not just in technology but in fields as diverse as music, sports, the arts, and health,” said Google in its blog post about the portal.

9to5Toys Lunch Break: SanDisk 128GB Ultra Fit Flash Drive $30, ASUS ZenWatch $130, Fire TV Stick $25, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 3 2015 - 12:43 pm PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Amazon Gold Box – up to 60% off SSDs, USB Flash Drives, Portable Storage and much more:

ASUS ZenWatch now just $130 shipped from Best Buy (Reg. $200) | eBay

Amazon Fire TV Stick media streamer w/ voice search for $25 (Reg. $39)

Pre-pay for 3 months of Sling TV and receive a $50 Best Buy credit towards the purchase of eligible streaming devices

Team 17 announces a pair of new Worms games coming to iOS, Xbox One and PC

Logitech $20 off $49: MX Master Wireless Mouse $80 shipped (Reg. $100), gaming accessories, more

More new gear from today:

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drive: $150 shipped (Reg. $180+)

More deals still alive:

Free PS Plus Games for August: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Limbo, more

Free Xbox Live Gold Games for August: Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes, more

New products & more:

Amazon’s Dash Replenishment Service is here and Prime members can order today

Olio announces new Gold and Rose Gold options for its luxury smartwatch