Google

Google is getting ready to push out the latest update for Google Glass—numbered XE 20.1—and with it is coming some pretty major changes to how contacts are handled, notably allowing users to access all contacts by voice via Google Contacts. Also included in this update is the ability to actually choose which method you would like to use when sending a contact a message—Hangouts, email, or SMS.

Your entire phone address book is now available on Glass thanks to Google Contacts. You can access 20 of your most recent and starred contacts by voice and the rest are just a swipe away. Starring a contact is really easy. Just find them in your phone and click the star. If the star is filled in, then the contact has been favorited.

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A new law signed into action in Delaware recently deals with how to handle a deceased person’s online data on sites such as Google and Facebook. Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed into law a new bill that gives estate attorneys and other fiduciaries more control over and access to their deceased customers’ data. Executors authorized to take control of a person’s will also are included in the new law and have the ability to transfer email and data to another family member, but is not required by the law to do so.

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Popular file sharing service MediaFire announced a major update to its Android app this afternoon, bumping it to version 2.0. The update adds a variety of new features and enhancements, both visually and feature-wise. Overall, the interface looks much cleaner in version 2.0 than it did in earlier versions. The overall navigation process remains the same for the most part, but icons, menus, text, and other visuals have been modernized quite a bit.

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People who have asked Google to remove links to news stories under the controversial European ‘right to be forgotten‘ ruling are once again finding the move counter-productive. The BBC News site has posted links to stories removed from Google’s search, bringing back into the spotlight stories that are in some cases more than a decade old.

The BBC posted links to all 12 of the stories removed from Google’s search results. They range from the serious – three men accused of possessing bomb-making equipment in Ireland – to the ridiculous, a dispute over a lost dog … 
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A new patent granted to Google last week (via Glass Almanac) depicts a hardware revision that may become part of future iterations of Google Glass, and it looks like the Mountain View company is attempting to tackle the social stigma that comes with wearing a pair of glasses fitted with an external prism and projector. The patent, labeled as D710,928 on the patent and trademark office website, is described as simply a “wearable display device” and features a set of images showing what looks like a normal pair of glasses with a transparent display on the inside.

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[tweet https://twitter.com/ASUS/status/501668895074181120/]

ASUS has officially confirmed that it will be unveiling its Android Wear smartwatch at the IFA next month, with a teaser tweet showing a smartwatch face displaying the quote “Time has been transformed and we have changed” … 
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We’ve been hearing rumors of a YouTube streaming music service for quite a while, but now Android Police has published a report detailing Google’s streaming music plans. The report claims that Google will soon launch a new service called YouTube Music Key, as well as rebrand Google Play Music All Access to Google Play Music Key.

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A few months ago, reports started circulating that Mozilla was developing its own streaming stick to compete with the Chromecast. The device was reportedly going to be marketed as a more open alternative to Google’s offering, but despite these reports, Mozilla today added Chromcast support to its Firefox browser on Android. For the time being, you must be running the nightly build of Firefox to use it, however.

You can download the nightly build of Firefox for Android from this page. Once you get the APK installed, Mozilla offers a test video casting page for users to visit. If a Chromecast icon appears on that page and your device offers the ability to cast the video, then you’re good to go.

Download the Firefox nightly APK here to get going.

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According to a report from The Information, Google is working on new features that would help it better cater to children by legally allowing them to use its services. The report notes that Google currently requires users to share their age when signing up for its services on desktop, but that it’s considering also bringing that requirement to Android in addition to other kid-focused features.
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Google has acquired Jetpac, a city guide application for iPhone, the app’s developers announced today (via The Next Web). The free app (and others by the Jetpac team) will be removed from the App Store in the coming days, and the service that powers it will be shut down on September 15th.

Google hasn’t said exactly what it plans to do with the company’s technology, which automatically scans users’ photos to detect local points of interest like coffee shops or “hipster hangouts.” The service featuerd data for over 6,000 cities, according to the App Store description.  It seems logical, however, that Google would attempt to integrate these features with Google Maps or a location-based Google Now feature.

You can grab the Jetpac app for free on the iTunes Store, though it won’t be very useful beyond its mid-September shutdown.

Android Wear is definitely getting a lot of attention over in Mountain View, and the company behind what has easily become the current top-dog smartwatch platform is now trying to make it even more clear why you need Android on your wrist. The LG G Watch and the Samsung Galaxy Gear are already out and making waves in the industry, and with the Moto 360 not far off—and presumably the competition as well–it seems as if Google is now ready to make sure you’re aware of all the great things Wear can do for you.

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A0c6djpd8E]

We’ve known since June that Barnes & Noble’s next Nook ebook reader would be a co-branded Galaxy Tab 4, set to be launched on Wednesday. Digital Reader notes that the company has now emailed out a 30-second teaser video, showing reactions to the device – including one from Grumpy Cat … 
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LG’s G Watch and Samsung’s Gear Live

When Google unveiled Android Wear, it said that ASUS was among the partners signed up to release a wearable device, but since then, both companies have been quiet on the matter. In June, rumors started circulating that ASUS was working on a smartwatch that would be low-cost and appealing to consumers. Now, according to quotes from Focus Taiwan, ASUS may launch its Android Wear device as soon as next month at IFA next month.

ASUS CEO Jerry Shen told an investors’ conference Tuesday that his company could debut its smartwatch as early as September at the IFA electronics trade show in Germany, with aggressive marketing efforts to promote the device.

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Samsung and Apple will largely own the smartwatch market between them, predicts Jackdaw Research chief analyst Jan Dawson in a report being issued later today and seen by Re/code.

Dawson said that new players should “stay out of the market,” and existing players should scale back their plans.

“We do not recommend that existing vendors should maintain current levels of investment when market growth and the overall revenue opportunity remain poor,” Dawson said. “It is unlikely that more than one or two small vendors will be able to make a sustainable business out of smartwatches in the face of competition from Samsung and […] Apple” …

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Chinese company Lenovo, which is in the process of buying the Motorola brand from Google, has reported a 23 percent year-on-year increase in first-quarter profits to $214M, reports Reuters. The company also said that worldwide phone sales were up 39 percent, in line with recent IDC numbers.

While Lenovo recently became the market leader within China, CEO Yang Yuanqing said that the company will in future be focusing on more profitable overseas markets … 
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6YXllIqD_E]

Small businesses looking to take occasional card payments without paying monthly fees now have a third option as Amazon has launched Local Register to compete with Square and PayPal Here – as we predicted last month over on 9to5Mac. The $10 card-reader is currently only compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S3, S4 and S5, along with the Kindle Fire HD and HDX tablets, but more devices are expected to be added.

Amazon is undercutting both competitor services with a flat fee of 2.5 percent per transaction (vs 2.7 percent for PayPal Here and 2.75 percent for Square). Not enough? Amazon is sweetening the deal with a special introductory rate of 1.75 percent until the end of 2015, and will also credit the $10 cost of the cardreader in full against transaction fees … 
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Just a few weeks ahead of IFA in Berlin, an alleged image of Samsung’s virtually reality headset has been leaked. According to The Verge, Samsung is set to unveil this headset, alongside the Galaxy Note 4, at its Unpacked event in Berlin next month. The report claims that the headset, codenamed Project Moonlight, is similar to Google Cardboard in how it allows you to pair it with a smartphone display to transport you “into an immersive world” with its lenses.

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Like it always does during the first half of a new month, Google this evening updated its Android Distribution data to reflect a 7 day period ending on August 12th. The data shows the most recent version of Android, KitKat, reach an all-time usage high at 20.9 percent, up from 17.9 percent this time last month. Jelly Bean continued its steady decline, falling from 56.5 percent to 54.2 percent.

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