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Aclima, a startup which builds an end-to-end hardware and software solution for detecting and analyzing the health and state of varying environmental surroundings (i.e. indoors where carbon dioxide can build in meeting rooms, outdoors where vehicles can release significant carbon monoxide), has announced a new partnership with Google which will see its sensors make their way onto Google Street View cars in the San Francisco Bay Area. Street View cars are the vehicles through which Google collects street-level imagery for its Maps street view product.

The ultimate goal for Aclima with partnerships including this one is to make data on air quality as easily accessible as the weather so that communities can better understand how air pollutants in their area are affecting human health and climate change, and start a dialog on improving local air quality.

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The confluence of several different events – the great shift to mobile computing where there’s little screen real-estate, a spurning of display ads, to name just two – is causing content creators and consumers alike to rethink how today’s media gets funded. Sites like Patreon and Kickstarter remove the middle-man from the funding process for projects which require lots of upfront investment and see slow development times by allowing anyone to contribute any amount of money they want to a project’s development.

Google last year threw its own hat into the crowdfunding space with the soft launch of Contributor, a way through which consumers can pay a monthly recurring donation to fund the sites they visit while seeing less ads. Now anyone in the United States can actually use it starting today.
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Google announced today that it’s now allowing Android users to send messages via third-party services like WhatsApp and Viber using its “OK Google” voice control feature:
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Motorola has officially unveiled the Moto X Style, its top-of-the-line offering for those looking for a good-looking powerhouse. The company also unveiled a second Moto X called the Moto X Play, which is more rugged and offers better battery, but is less powerful in terms of tech specs.
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According to a report from The Information, Google has made efforts in recent months to purchase the Impossible Foods startup. For those unfamiliar, Impossible Foods has been developing a cheeseburger made entirely out of plants, but that tastes and looks like one made out of ground beef.

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As the Google Chrome web browser and web-based Chrome OS operating system continue on their ever quickening path towards divergence and feature parity with the native Android smartphone operating system, all of which are overseen by Google CEO Larry Page’s number two, Sundar Pichai, Chrome for Android is getting some new functionality that brings it closer to what developers can get out of native apps.

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The great unraveling of Google+ as a fiber connecting all of Google’s products continues. Who’s disbanding this time? Well, basically all of the Google ecosystem.

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It looks like this could very well be the much-anticipated OnePlus 2 that is set to be announced later today. These images perfectly match what we saw from Chinese telecoms regulator TENAA last week. Head below for the full gallery…
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Google announced today that it is updating its AdSense user consent policy to comply with requests from European Union data protection authorities. The updated user consent policy strengthens the requirement that publishes with audiences in the EU obtain permission from readers before collecting usage data and accessing cookies. Google says the updated user consent policy follows its own approach to comply with privacy laws. The company outlines the updated user consent policy for website and app publishers with EU readers and users:
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Motorola has at least a few major announcements scheduled for tomorrow, but it looks like there aren’t going to be many surprises when it comes to the new Moto G. We’ve seen almost a dozen leaks already (including renders, more renders, real photos, more real photos, and even more real photos), but now we have what is essentially a full reveal. The packaging is in another language, but this unboxing is probably the clearest look we’ve had yet at what the company is going to be showing off tomorrow…
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Samsung’s Galaxy S6, much like previous generations of the S line, is sure to see a few variants to appeal to various segments of the market. The Korean company first launched the outdoors-friendly Galaxy S6 Active on AT&T (check out our full review), and now it looks like we might see a Galaxy S6 Mini at some point down the line as well (via PhoneArena)…
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Mobile security researchers at Zimperium say that they have discovered the “worst Android vulnerability in the mobile OS history” – and it can infect your smartphone simply by receiving an MMS message. Unlike most malware, it is not necessary to open the message in order for your phone to be compromised, reports NPR.

“This happens even before the sound that you’ve received a message has even occurred,” says Joshua Drake, security researcher with Zimperium and co-author of Android Hacker’s Handbook. “That’s what makes it so dangerous. [It] could be absolutely silent. You may not even see anything.”

Once the MMS has been received, it activates code which gives the attacker complete control of your Android device – everything from copying data to taking over the microphone and camera … 
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Acer did something a little unusual last month when it announced an all-in-one Chromebase desktop with a touchscreen. It’s the first of its kind, and the company hopes it can bring something unique to the market. I’ve been testing it for the past week and, although it’s clearly not an input replacement for the mouse and keyboard, it actually has its uses.

The entire 21.5-inch 1080p panel has a layer of touch sensors over the top of it. It’s ten-point multitouch, and can be used to do all manner of things. It’s mostly intuitive too. There’s little unusual or unfamiliar if you’ve been using touchscreen smartphones for any length of time.
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Nest founder and former Apple iPod lead designer Tony Fadell has intimated in a BBC interview that the decision to make an early version of Google Glass available for public sale may have been a mistake.

He said that while Google has always launched beta versions of its products and gathered feedback from users, there was a very big difference between software and hardware.

If you are only doing services based on electrons, you can iterate quickly, test it, and modify it and get it right. But when you are dealing with actual atoms – hardware – and you have to get manufacturing lines and it takes a year or more to develop that product, you better understand what it is and what it’s trying to do and specifically what it’s not going to do.

Customers have to spend money to buy those atoms. They want something that delivers value or you end up with a real disappointment and you can spoil the market.

He was, however, “very bullish” about the product, and believes it has a big future … 
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Dmail is a Chrome extension which allows you to un-send, or revoke any emails you send through your Gmail account. The service was launched by the same brainiacs that brought us the Delicious social bookmarking tool.

Self-destructing email isn’t exactly a new thing. Google itself rolled out a feature that lets you un-send a message once you’ve sent it. The only issue with Google’s built-in service however, is that you only have 30 seconds to change your mind about sending an email to someone. Dmail lets you revoke emails whenever you like. I took it for a quick spin to see what it’s like, and I have to say, it’s an incredibly convenient way to make all your outgoing communication more secure. It also happens to be ridiculously easy to use.

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Following the VidCon keynote address by Susan Wojcicki earlier this evening, the YouTube CEO took a couple of minutes to sit with BroadbandTV CEO Shahrzad Rafati in a fireside chat and answer questions submitted by the community to social networks including Twitter and Instagram. Of note were comments on the yet-to-be released video subscription service, the way in which YouTube measures success, and Wojcicki’s opinion on YouTube stars experimenting with other platforms like Vine and linear TV.

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