Skip to main content

Google

5,707 'Google' stories January 2009 - February 2015
See All Stories

Stay up to date on news from Google headquarters. Be the first to learn about plans for Android, Google Plus, Google Apps, and more!

Google’s Lunar XPrize competition will come down to 500-metre moon race between two robots

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Feb 25 2015 - 5:12 am PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

The two competing lunar robots, Astrobotic top, Hakuto bottom

Google’s Lunar XPrize competition, to be the first team to take a robot to the moon, looks like it will come down to a head-to-head race between two competing robots–one American, one Japanese.

While five teams were awarded prizes for achieving key milestones along the way to the final goal, two of the robots appear set to get there first, jointly commissioning the same SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to carry them to the moon in the second half of 2016, with a race across the lunar surface determining the winner … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Nexus 6 now available on Amazon with Prime shipping

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 23 2015 - 5:16 pm PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

The often hard to come by Nexus 6 is now available directly from Amazon. Previously only available via third-party retailers on the site, which often increased prices due to availability, the Nexus 6 is now available on Amazon and ships directly from the site’s warehouses. Before tonight, the Nexus 6 was only available from Motorola and Google Play.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google opens invite-based Inbox app to Google Apps for Work users

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Feb 23 2015 - 9:20 am PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

Just days after Google’s Sundar Pichai announced the company’s new Inbox email app would arrive for Google Apps customers soon, today an invite system is launching to allow for exactly that.

Like the invite system that is currently being used to allow new users to download the Inbox email app, Google is today allowing Google Apps for Work admins to request service access for their users. Google said it will let in only select users that request access as it works to get feedback from early adopters and improve the experience: 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Judge dismisses class-action anti-trust suit against Google over Android & Search practices

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 20 2015 - 5:58 pm PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

Last May, Google was hit with an class-action anti-trust lawsuit over several of its Android and Search practices. The case centered around the idea that Google was forcing Android handset manufacturers to make its search engine the default on all their devices, as well as pre-load apps such as YouTube. These practices, in turn, drove up the price of Android devices. Reuters reports this evening, however, that a federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit due to a lack of evidence from the plaintiffs.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google agrees to Italian regulatory checks following data collection privacy investigation

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 20 2015 - 1:59 pm PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

Last year, the Italian government gave Google 18 months to reform its tata collection policies and change the way it stores and treats that user data. The Wall Street Journal reports today that Google has now agreed to allow the Italian government to perform spot checks at its Mountain View headquarters. The regulator will get quarterly updates from Google and have the ability to send someone  to Mountain View for “on-the-spot checks.”


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google shuffling engineers on Glass project, ‘new team’ developing next version under leadership change

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 20 2015 - 9:54 am PT
1 Comment

A lot of movement has been happening on the Glass team this month in Mountain View. In January, the project graduated out of the company’s Google[x] experimental projects lab and into the hands of ex-iPod-head Tony Fadell—although still being lead more directly by Google’s Head of Glass Ivy Ross. But with this change, it appears as if Google is doing—as is fairly common at the company—a bit of shuffling in the engineers who are working on the project…


Expand
Expanding
Close

Sundar Pichai says Google Apps Inbox support coming “imminently”

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 20 2015 - 6:28 am PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

Yesterday, Google announced that it was expanding support for Inbox to iPad, Safari, and Firefox users, but curiously left out from the expansion was Google Apps for Business and Education users. In a tweet recently, however, Google’s Senior Vice President of Android, Chrome, and Apps Sundar Pichai said that Inbox support will begin to roll out to Apps users “imminently.”


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Google introduces new carousel interface in mobile search results

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 19 2015 - 4:27 pm PT
0 Comments

Google today, in a post on its Inside Search blog, has revealed a new interface for browsing news on its mobile website. Starting now, when you search for a topic, you’ll see a “carousel” of recent articles regarding your query that you can horizontally scroll through. The carousel contains articles from a single source of information.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Google Docs for Android updated w/ Office Compatibility Mode improvements, more

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 18 2015 - 1:48 pm PT
0 Comments

Google today has started rolling out an update to the Google Docs app on Android with a few new enhancements. First off, the update adds support for selecting, cutting, copying, and pasting text, images, tables, and charts in Office Compatibility Mode. The update also adds the ability to insert links into Google documents.

From the Google Apps blog:

A new version of the Google Docs Android app is now available on Google Play. New features include:

  • Support for selecting, cutting, copying and pasting text along with images, tables, and charts in Office Compatibility Mode
  • Ability to insert links in Google documents

The update is available now via the Play Store, although it is a staged rollout and may take a little while to hit your device.


Expand
Expanding
Close

FBI wants more ‘remote access’ search freedom, but Google doesn’t approve

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 18 2015 - 1:17 pm PT
0 Comments

The US government is seeking to have more regulatory control over the digital realm, and many tech companies are taking a stand. Google is definitely one of those, taking to its Public Policy Blog today to tell the world about proposed changes to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41, a procedural rule that sets limits on search warrants. The Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure, at the request of the Department of Justice, is proposing a big change to this rule, and Google says it could be a “monumental” threat to constitutional rights.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google reportedly working on new ‘Tablescape’ social network for sharing food pics

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 18 2015 - 11:04 am PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

Google is working on a new social network community called Tablescape for sharing photos of food, according to a new report from Android Police with additional information from El Androide Libre. The service is somewhat of an extension of Google+, but with heavy optimization for users looking to share and browse photos of food.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google kicks off annual Science Fair w/ $100k in scholarships & grants up for grabs

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 18 2015 - 10:04 am PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAVIkr7HRMk

Google today has kicked off its fifth annual Science Fair in conjunction with LEGO Education, National Geographic, Scientific America, and Virgin Galactic. Starting today and running through May 18th, students between the ages of 13 and 18 can submit projects to Google across a variety of scientific fields for a chance to win one of a handful of prizes. Possible topics include biology, computer science, anthropology, and any other scientific field.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Play Music for iOS updated w/ Material Design, first ever iPad version

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 17 2015 - 11:40 am PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

Google this afternoon has begun rolling out a major update to the Play Music app on iOS. The update packs a handful of new features and enhancements, including a totally refreshed Material Design interface, and for the first time, an iPad optimized interface, as well.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Google Glass: ‘We always thought it would flop’

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 17 2015 - 9:50 am PT
18 Comments

As Apple prepares to bring its new smartwatch to the market, an extensive profile of Jony Ive from The New Yorker (you can find more over at 9to5Mac) has revealed how the Cupertino company sees Google Glass. But it wasn’t Ive, Apple’s design head, that made the comments. Rather, Apple CEO Tim Cook was very straightforward in saying that Google’s head-mounted display was putting a wearable in “the wrong place,” and that “glasses were not a smart move.”
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google removes Sparrow email client from iOS and Mac App Stores

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 17 2015 - 8:35 am PT
1 Comment
Site default logo image

Google acquired the popular email client Sparrow back in 2012 and announced that the entire team would be joining Google to work on Gmail. Since that acquisition, Sparrow apps received only a handful of updates and have been seemingly neglected in favor of Google’s new Inbox initiative. Over the past few days, however, Sparrow appears to have received the final nail in its coffin as it has been removed from both the Mac App Store and iOS App Store (via TechCrunch).


Expand
Expanding
Close

AT&T launching GigaPower in Kansas City, exactly matching Google Fiber speed and price

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 16 2015 - 12:55 pm PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

Google Fiber has been instigating the growth of fiber Internet in the United States for a few years, and now AT&T is feeling the heat more than ever. Announced at midnight last night, AT&T said it’s finally ready to start selling fiber Internet services in Kansas City and its surrounding areas (via The Kansas City Star). The company finished the rollout of 1Gbps “GigaPower” service in Austin late last year, and now it seems it’s finally time for AT&T to live up to its promise to bring the service to other cities around the country…


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google adds two-week grace period to Project Zero bug squashing initiative

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 16 2015 - 8:39 am PT
0 Comments

Google announced its Project Zero initiative in the middle part of last year, and now the Mountain View company is making some amendments to the rules for disclosure of bugs it finds in vendors’ software. There has been a 90-day deadline in place since the launch of the program, and that seems to be working well according to a post on the Project Zero blog, but the company says that it has taken into consideration “external feedback around some of the corner cases” and made some changes.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google’s ‘Helpouts’ mobile apps are no longer available for download

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 13 2015 - 8:31 am PT
2 Comments

Google has today pulled the mobile apps for its Helpouts service from the Play Store and the App Store (via TechCrunch), less than a year after they launched. The service, which allows you to offer on-demand real help to others in live time for a price (or for free), is seemingly no longer available on mobile despite the fact that the apps only launched in April of 2014.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Google launches Android WebView beta channel for developers

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Feb 13 2015 - 7:55 am PT
0 Comments

Google today announced that it’s launching a beta channel or Android WebView, the API many apps use to display webpages. Google noted that with Android 5.0 Lollipop, it now “has the ability to update WebView independently.” It will begin to allow developers to use the new beta channel for testing the latest updates to WebView starting today:

WebView updates bring numerous bug fixes, new web platform APIs and updates from Chromium. If you’re making use of the WebView in your app, becoming a beta channel tester will give you an early start with new APIs as well as the chance to test your app before the WebView rolls out to your users.

Developers interested in becoming beta testers can join the community here in order to sign up for the program and install the WebView beta from Google Play.

9to5Toys Last Call: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 $65, unlocked Galaxy Note 3 $300, free streaming stick w/ Sling TV, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 12 2015 - 10:16 am PT
0 Comments

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 SM-T2105 Galaxy Tab 3 7” Kids 8 GB flash storage (yellow/orange): $65 shipped (Reg. $230)

Samsung N9000 Galaxy Note 3 32 GB factory unlocked for GSM networks: $300 shipped (Reg. $500)

Get a free Fire TV/Roku streaming stick or 50% off Fire TV/Roku 3 when you sign up for Sling TV

PNY Turbo 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive: $35 shipped (Reg. $70)

Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR (refurb) w/ 18-55mm Lens Kit $336 shipped (orig. $599)

Valentine’s Day Roundup: ProFlowers 30% off, Gap/Timbuk2/J.Crew up to 40% off, more

More new gear from today:

More deals still alive:

New products & more:

Site default logo image

Google Japan choir of 300 Android smartphones and tablets sings a hymn (Video)

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Feb 12 2015 - 5:44 am PT
0 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7lKihNI-K4]

File this one under ‘only in Japan.’ Google has posted a video to its Asia Pacific Blog of its Tokyo team connecting 300 Android smartphones and tablets in order to have them sing a hymn. The obvious thing to do, really.

300 different Androidify characters singing the same song using only the device speakers. We call it “Android Chorus”

The result is, says Google, just another illustration of how Android is about being together not the same. Ookay …

Site default logo image

Google patents the craziest wearable yet: keeps you clear of friends if you smell …

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Feb 12 2015 - 4:37 am PT
3 Comments

Android Wear may not have been the success Google had hoped, and Google Glass may be “paused,” but it seems the company has another idea for a wearable up its sleeve–literally. If you’ve hit the gym hard and not had time for a shower, or are just sweating from rushing around the city, Google has a plan to ensure you don’t bump into any of your friends or colleagues while you’re a smelly, sweaty mess.

The NY Daily News reports that the company has been granted a patent for a portable fan attached to your body which detects exertion and sprays a fragrance to reduce body odor. Just in case that doesn’t do the trick, it connects to social networks to find out where your friends and contacts are, and provides a route to your destination that ensures you don’t run into any of them along the way.

A device is provided which includes an activity sensor, a communication portion, and a route suggesting portion. The activity sensor can detect physical activity of a user of a device. The communication portion may provide access one or more social networks via a communication network, in which the device may communicate with a social network of contacts. The route suggesting portion may provide an alternate route to travel such that the predicted odor may not offend others that are socially connected to the user and that travel the same routes as the user.

Google CFO Patrick Pichette recently talked of the need to make tough decisions to cancel projects; we suspect this one may not be too tough a call …

Evidence of a Chromebook Pixel 2 codenamed “Samus” appears

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 11 2015 - 4:46 pm PT
6 Comments
Site default logo image

1st Gen Chromebook Pixel

According to a bug reported spotted in the Chromium project issue tracker, Google is currently working on a second-generation Chromebook Pixel. Noticed by OMG Chrome, a Google employee recently filed a bug report associated with the Samus development board, which at this point, is unreleased to the public. The original Chromebook Pixel was codenamed the Link within Google’s headquarters.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Google powering Mountain View HQ from wind power as of next year

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Feb 11 2015 - 7:48 am PT
0 Comments

Google has announced that it will be powering its Mountain View headquarters with wind power from 2016–or, more precisely, that it will be purchasing enough wind-generated electricity to cover the power used by its HQ.

The agreement with NextEra Energy Resources will help to repower an iconic Bay Area wind farm at California’s Altamont Pass with new turbines that will pour 43 MW of electricity onto the grid starting in 2016 […]

Even though the electrons follow an untraceable path through the California electricity grid, we can be sure that we’re offsetting the electrical consumption of our North Bayshore headquarters with the renewable energy from the new turbines.

Google has been a carbon-neutral company since 2007, and already uses renewable energy to power its data centers (winning praise from Greenpeace), but this is the first time the company has made a direct commitment regarding its offices. Google also runs a free electric shuttle bus service for local residents.

Google shared the news the day after Apple announced that it is building a solar farm to offset all its California operations, including its new campus building currently under construction.