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Rolling Stone magazine is making some of its archived issues available in the Google Play Newsstand app, with three or four major stories from each issue available for free. The move is being made in partnership with Google as a means of promoting the app, reports Fast Company.

Google Play’s global head of marketing Brian Irving says he views the Rolling Stone partnership as a way to demonstrate the possibilities of Google Play’s Newsstand, which he argues is better suited for content discovery than Apple’s Newsstand, due to features like customizable themes and key word searches.

Gus Wenner, son of Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, said there was enormous interest in archived stories when properly promoted …
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Chrome Beta for Android updated w/ pull-to-refresh, performance improvements

Chance Miller Jan 28 2015 - 6:19 pm PT

Google announced this evening in a blog post that Chrome 41 Beta for Android is now available. The update is rolling out to users via the Play Store now, according to the company, and bumps the app to version 41.0.2272.34.

While relatively minor, the update does add the ability to pull-to-refresh “most” webpages, a feature that will make the web browsing experience a bit more seamless and similar what users are used to in other apps.

Google defends itself, says it fought WikiLeaks gag orders

Stephen Hall Jan 28 2015 - 12:29 pm PT

We told you earlier this week about a letter sent from WikiLeaks to Google, asking why it took so long for the Mountain View company to notify them of federal warrants for their personal data. Google apparently stood up against the gag orders preventing them from doing so (via The Washington Post), saying it “challenged the secrecy from the beginning.”

Google Play Store saw 60% more downloads than iOS App Store, though Apple made more money

Ben Lovejoy Jan 28 2015 - 7:34 am PT

Android apps from the Google Play Store were 60% higher than those from the iOS App Store, reports mobile analytics firm App Annie in its 2014 retrospective. Total Android downloads will be higher when other app stores are figured in.

Recent data from AppFigures also showed that the Play Store now has more apps and more developers than iOS. iOS apps did, though, make more money, the data showing that Apple’s app downloads generated around 70% more revenue.

App Annie’s data, which is generated by analytics from more than 700,000 apps, showed that just three countries generated more app revenue than the rest of the world combined–the USA, Japan and Korea–while the so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, China and India) were not surprisingly the fastest-growing regions.

Google adds new Street View imagery of Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa

Chance Miller Jan 27 2015 - 7:06 pm PT

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1422413696276!6m8!1m7!1sS6MvpZwWN03vSEO4uV8KzA!2m2!1d45.394028!2d-75.691904!3f88.79!4f11.010000000000005!5f0.7820865974627469&w=704&h=400]

Google is always expanding the imagery available in its Street View feature in Maps, and this evening the company has announced in a blog post that it has added new data from the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa. The city is set to kick off its annular Winterlude Festival next week, which is a three-week long event that hosts a variety of games, shows, and activities.

Google exec chairman Eric Schmidt says can easily name his hero: Steve Jobs

Ben Lovejoy Jan 27 2015 - 6:17 am PT

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFBXT9D00kM&start=2224]

Asked at a tech conference to name his hero, Google exec chairman Eric Schmidt told interviewer Sal Khan (of Khan Academy) that the answer came immediately to mind.

For me, it’s easy: Steve Jobs […] When I look at what he achieved in terms of impact on society, we could all aspire to be a small percentage of Steve.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Club of California’s Silicon Valley event , Schmidt said that while the competition between Google and Apple had not always made things easy, it worked out because they shared a mutual respect. Jobs was, he said, an exceptional person, and they are always worth spending time with “because there’s a good chance they’ll change the world.”

Schmidt served on Apple’s board from 2006 to 2009, at which point he resigned due to increasing competition between the two companies.

Why a Google MVNO is exactly what the US wireless industry needs

Chance Miller Jan 26 2015 - 3:40 pm PT

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Earlier this month, reports emerged claiming that Google was planning to launch its own wireless network called, at least in its developmental stage, Nova. The reports claimed that Google would partner with Sprint and T-Mobile for the network, notably without any contribution from the two biggest United State carriers, AT&T and Verizon.

Google opens up Crisis Response Map for Blizzard of 2015

Seth Weintraub Jan 26 2015 - 2:20 pm PT

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As it does for other Global emergencies, Google has opened up its Crises Map to consolidate all kinds of geo-info for folks in the Northeast and their loved-ones to get the latest info on the Blizzard of 2015.

When a disaster strikes, the Google Crisis Response team assesses the severity and scope of the disaster, and the relevance of our tools for the situation to determine whether and how to respond.

Stay safe out there!

[tweet https://twitter.com/googlecr/status/559829052648079360]

[tweet https://twitter.com/google/status/559864986269646848]

Five teams awarded $5.25 million for Google Lunar Xprize milestone accomplishments

Stephen Hall Jan 26 2015 - 11:38 am PT

The Google Lunar Xprize contest has the final goal of taking a robot to the moon, but it’s not just going to lay out the entire $30 million in prizes on one day. Today, Google and Xprize announced five companies that are sharing a total of $5.25 million for reaching milestones in three categories of achievement.

Google interrogated over relinquished emails and private data of three WikiLeaks staffers

Stephen Hall Jan 26 2015 - 10:21 am PT

Three years ago, Google, under a secret search warrant from a federal judge, shared the emails and personal data of three WikiLeaks staffers with the US government reports The Guardian. Google was unable to say anything to the group about it doing so until Christmas Eve of 2014, at which point the company told the activist publisher of secret information that it had complied with a Justice Department order from 2012. WikiLeaks wants to know why it took so long.

Official NFL YouTube channel launches w/ highlight reels, video in Google Search ahead of Super Bowl XLIX

Stephen Hall Jan 26 2015 - 7:43 am PT

Google and the NFL have struck a deal—just in time for the Super Bowl—to bring a plethora of in-game footage to YouTube, and the Mountain View company says that it’s also putting some of that content directly in Google search results. This doesn’t mean you’ll be able to stream any entire games, but you will be able to catch some of the most important moments. Google says that “no way he caught that” plays from Odell Beckham Jr. will definitely be showing up on YouTube at one point or another.

It’s pretty simple: On any screen you watch YouTube, NFL’s YouTube channel will bring you the sights and sounds this week in Arizona, from pre-game analysis to the highlights that everyone will be talking about. After the Super Bowl, don’t let the worst Monday of the year get you down. NFL’s YouTube channel will post more videos all through the offseason.

Highlights from Super Bowl XLIX will be the first content to hit the channel, but Google says that the NFL will be posting plenty of content through the offseason. You’ll be able to pick up right where you left off at the beginning of the 2015-2016 season, when you can expect the channel to blow up with all kinds of new videos and analysis. And, as a bonus, Google says that it’s making it super easy to find this content; all you have to do is search for the name of your favorite team in a Google search.

Rumored fingerprint reader in Nexus 6 was real until Apple killed it, reveals former Motorola CEO

Ben Lovejoy Jan 26 2015 - 5:35 am PT

The recessed Motorola logo was originally going to be a fingerprint sensor

The fingerprint reader widely rumored before the launch of the Nexus 6 was indeed part of the plan, confirmed former Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside. Speaking to the Telegraph, Woodside said that the dimple on the back of the handset was originally intended to be a fingerprint reader, but they were stymied by Apple’s purchase of biometrics company AuthenTec back in 2012.

Indeed, the 6-inch Nexus 6, he can now admit, was stymied by just one of those big players. A dimple on the back that helps users hold the device should, in fact, have been rather more sophisticated. “The secret behind that is that it was supposed to be fingerprint recognition, and Apple bought the best supplier. So the second best supplier was the only one available to everyone else in the industry and they weren’t there yet,” says Woodside.

It’s believed a fingerprint reader was included in internal prototypes, before it was abandoned. Woodside’s comments provide the explanation, Motorola originally intending to buy or license the sensor from AuthenTec. Motorola of course pioneered the smartphone fingerprint reader with the “Atrix” in 2012.

Google potentially working w/ BLOCKS smartwatch team to build cross platform Project Ara modules

Stephen Hall Jan 23 2015 - 9:50 am PT

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The BLOCKS smartwatch platform was unveiled a few months ago, and it’s still very much in development. But the company building the modular wrist-worn computer recently had a chance to sit down with the Project Ara team at Google, and it seems that the Mountain View corporation might be interested in working with the team to bring the best of the market’s modular devices together in harmony.

Motorola says Lollipop now rolling out to Moto G in US and India

Stephen Hall Jan 23 2015 - 6:55 am PT

Motorola this morning has taken to Google+ to say that Android 5.0 Lollipop is rolling out to the Moto G in the United States and India. Specifically, the update is today hitting the 2nd generation Moto G in the states and both 1st and 2nd generation devices in India.

#Lollipop is rolling out in phases to #MotoG (2nd Gen) in US & #MotoG (1st & 2nd Gen) in India. Look for the notification on your device to update!

This official announcement comes a couple months after Motorola began soak testing the update for the 2nd generation Moto G, and about a month after the update started rolling out to the Google Play Edition of the device.

Talking Schmidt: the Internet will disappear

Ben Lovejoy Jan 23 2015 - 6:29 am PT

Asked at the World Economic Forum to predict the future of the web, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt said that “the Internet will disappear.”

The somewhat surprising prediction isn’t quite as crazy as it sounds. What he means is that the Internet of Things will become so ubiquitous, that much of our interaction with the web will be invisible.

“There will be so many IP addresses…so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with that you won’t even sense it,” he explained. “It will be part of your presence all the time. Imagine you walk into a room, and the room is dynamic. And with your permission and all of that, you are interacting with the things going on in the room. A highly personalized, highly interactive and very, very interesting world emerges.”

It’s clearly hyperbole: none of us are going to stop viewing webpages anytime soon. And as Gizmodo wryly insinuates, that “with your permission” part is far from certain when a company makes its money from the data rather than the devices. But there’s certainly a core truth here: with more and more smart devices, we won’t need to interact with them so directly.

Google is, though, not taking its dominant position for granted. Schmidt said that at a time when new apps can spring out of nowhere and become billion dollar businesses, “all bets are off.”

Check out some other Talking Schmidt quotes.

Google Play services ceasing in Crimea on 1st February, AdSense & AdWord blocks underway

Ben Lovejoy Jan 23 2015 - 4:26 am PT

Google’s Moscow offices

Google has started to block AdSense and Adwords accounts in Crimea, and Google Play services will cease on 1st February, reports TechCrunch. The moves are being made in order to comply with sanctions on the Crimea region of the Ukraine imposed by the US Government.

Free services, like search, maps and gmail are all expected to remain unaffected, but all services involving payment to or from Google will cease, said Russian site Lenta.ru.

“Google’s prohibited from providing paid services in the Crimea,” a source at Google told Lenta.ru. “In addition, Google cannot make payments to anyone in the Crimea. It is now technically impossible, as almost all international banks have ceased to make payments.”

The US joined the EU in imposing economic sanctions in protest at Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, which legally remains part of the Ukraine. TechCrunch notes that the political conflict could escalate, with the possibility that Russian government may retaliate by blocking the sale of US imports into Russia–an important market for many US companies, including Google.

Apple terminated its own agreements with app developers in the region earlier this week, and has announced that all sales of Apple products and services will cease as of 1st February. Other companies are similarly ceasing business in the region, including both Steam and PayPal.

Google trying to regain search marketshare from Yahoo w/ new messages for Firefox users

Chance Miller Jan 22 2015 - 1:37 pm PT

Late last year, Mozilla announced a joint five-year partnership with Yahoo that saw the default search engine in Firefox change from Google to Yahoo. It seemed unlikely at the time that Google would notice too big of a loss from that deal, but following contrary reports from earlier this month, Search Engine Land has also noticed that the company has started trying to convince Firefox users to switch to Google Search.

Opinion: Can Google woo businesses while seemingly suffering from ‘Product ADD’?

Ben Lovejoy Jan 22 2015 - 6:54 am PT

Two of the biggest tech companies in the world–Google and Apple–couldn’t be more different in their philosophies. Apple has always believed in doing a very few things very well, famously saying no to a thousand things for every time it says yes. Google, in contrast, has tried to do– well, almost everything, including things well in the realms of science fiction.

Steve Jobs and Larry Page spoke about this difference shortly before Jobs died, with the Apple co-founder urging Page to “figure out what Google wants to be when it grows up.” Jobs expressed the view that, without focus, Google was in danger of turning into the next Microsoft, creating a large number of ok products but none of them with any wow factor …
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Google silently stops selling Play Edition HTC One (M8), the last remaining GPE device

Chance Miller Jan 21 2015 - 2:38 pm PT

Google has been killing of Google Play Edition devices left and right over the past year and today, the final one has been given the axe. As noticeable on the homepage of the Play Store, the Google Play Edition HTC One M8 is no longer available for purchase. The device was listed at $699 and released last year.

Google reportedly planning to launch its own wireless network

Chance Miller Jan 21 2015 - 1:05 pm PT

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A new report from The Information claims that Google is preparing to sell cellular plans directly to customers. The report, citing “three people with knowledge of the plans,” says that Google will sell customers the service and manage their calls and data, much like other U.S. carriers:
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Google changes its mind and signs student privacy pledge, says reaffirms existing promises

Ben Lovejoy Jan 21 2015 - 4:04 am PT

Google has changed its mind and signed the student privacy pledge endorsed by President Obama last week, reports the WSJ. The pledge commits companies not to sell student data or use targeted ads on education products.

A total of 75 companies signed the pledge last week, including other tech giants like Apple and Microsoft, but Google declined, saying that it already had these commitments in place. Google’s change of heart may have been influenced by Obama’s statement that he would ensure parents were aware of companies that had not signed-up …
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SpaceX officially announces Google investment leading billion dollar financing round

Jordan Kahn Jan 20 2015 - 1:39 pm PT

After reports this week that Google was close to making an investment in SpaceX, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s privately funded company working to make advancements in space travel, the companies today have made an official announcement.

Google is leading a billion dollar financing round with Fidelity giving the two companies collectively almost 10% of SpaceX:
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Google’s Field Trip app updated with Material Design

Stephen Hall Jan 20 2015 - 11:03 am PT