Google

A new rumor originating from AndroidPolice that seems to have some pretty solid evidence backing it up shows that Google might be working a slick new redesign for Android’s stock icons. The site posted the image above showing what appears to be redesigned icons for most of the core preloaded Android apps including Play Music, Books, Movies, and Games, alongside Google+, Calendar, People, Chrome, YouTube, Maps, Gmail, Hangouts, Camera, and the Play Store. As noted in the report, the icons to seem to more closely resemble the icons Google uses on the web for these services, which would make sense if Google aims to have a familiar look and feel across devices.
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Not enough space?

Google owns the biggest building by square footage in New York City, the 111 Eighth Avenue building previously owned by the Port Authority and one of the most wired buildings in the world. Google finalized the $1.9B purchase at the end of 2010 and has continued to also occupy office space in the Chelsea Market building across the street.

The WSJ reports (paywall) Google now…

wants to expand further in the city, launching a search for enough space to hold more than 3,000 employees, according to several real-estate executives familiar with the hunt.

The Internet firm has been in discussions with several landlords about leasing at much as 600,000 square feet in Manhattan—about half the size of the Chrysler Building. A space that large would represent a roughly 80% expansion for the company, which first established a small outpost in New York in 2000.

What’s interesting about this expansion plan is that Google hasn’t even filled out its Chelsea offices, still leasing many offices out to other companies and data centers that signed leases before the 2010 purchase.

Just a couple of weeks ago we reported that Google Now would soon add the ability to remind you when to pay your bills. Now, Android Police has discovered hints at yet another new feature potentially on its way to Google Now. According to the report, Google Now will soon be able to remember where you parked your car and help you locate it. The feature will recognize when you stop your car and get out, save the location, and present you with a Card showing you exactly where your car is.

The Card will be able to navigate you back to the location of your car, and should Google give you an incorrect location, there is a button below the map that offers the ability to correct Google. Based on the information available Android Police created the above mock-up, which shows how far away your car is, when you parked it, and of course, where you parked. In addition to information obtained from other sources, there are several hints that corroborate this report in the code of the most recent Google Search.

The report gives this rumor an 8/10 as a confidence rating, with it losing points due to “the unpredictable nature of pre-release features, and the fact that while there is teardown-based evidence for this, it is rather scant.” Nevertheless, it does seem likely that this feature is currently being developed by Google and does exist.

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After screenshots landed on Geek.com of a redesigned Gmail app that was reportedly in testing, we felt confident enough to report on additional details we received from sources about a “Google 2.0” redesign in the works. We also noted that Google was planning similar redesigns for some of its other apps that would make them more scalable for wearables and introduce additional gesture and voice features. Backing up our report, today,Geek posted another set of screenshots showing what is is apparently a similar redesign for Google’s Calendar app. 
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The Chromecast homescreen could in future emulate the MyCastScreen app

Reddit user asjmcguire has spotted code in a recent Chromecast update suggesting that the standby screen which currently displays only a clock and images chosen by Google could in future be rather more useful.

The code appears to allow for future support of weather and a slideshow of user-defined photos. If Google does indeed implement this, we can see the possibility of expanding it into a complete personalized dashboard, with information pulled from your Google Calendar and Google Now feed, and perhaps user-selected news sources. Come down in the morning, switch on your TV and see at-a-glance all the info you might want to start your day … 
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We’ve seen Google Glass be adopted in places such as operating rooms, football fields, basketball courts, and by the New York City Police Department. But this latest use case pushes the boundaries of Glass to an entirely new level. According to a new report out of VentureBeat, the U.S. Air Force’s “BATMAN” research team is currently beta-testing the use of Glass on the battle field at its Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. 

According to the report, one of the things the research team likes the most is the ability for the device to “access information very quickly.” Other things the team is fond of “are its low power, its low footprint, it sits totally above the eyes, and doesn’t block images or hinder vision,”

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Registration for Google’s I/O developer’s conference, originally due to open today, has been pushed back by a week, now opening on 15th April.

Google hasn’t offered any explanation, though its brief statement suggests that a problem in the registration process has been spotted at the last minute … 
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After first blocking Twitter across the nation, Turkey officials began blocking YouTube last week as well, after Google failed to comply with the prime minister’s request to delete all videos that it deemed critical of government officials. According to a report from the Hurriyet Daily News, YouTube is now taking legal action against the country. The company has reportedly filed a complaint with Turkey’s Constitutional Court protesting the block. Google is also appealing the reinstatement of the ban and is suing to cancel the decision all together.

In a statement to Engadget, YouTube acknowledged that it was taking legal action to restore access to its service in the country and said that it is “obviously very disappointing” that censorship is still taking place in the world today. It didn’t have any further details to share about the court battles, though. Seeing that Twitter successfully won its battle with Turkish officials, however, it seems likely that YouTube will be able to do the same.

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Android Police is reporting that Google is planning a new feature, known as Hera, for the next major version of Android. Hera is reportedly the company’s latest attempt to unify the experience that users have within all major Google services, including Android, Chrome, and Search on Android-powered devices. Hera looks to be based on a special Chromium build that is meant to run on Android and execute certain tasks though the web, as opposed to within an app.

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For years now companies have been claiming to that they make the perfect set-top box, with Amazon being the most recent to do so with its FireTV. Notably missing from this arm’s race, however, has been Google. The company was one of the first to offer a set-top box OS with Google TV, but the idea quickly failed and was never widely adopted. Over the past year, reports have started to emerge claiming that Google is plaining a reentrance into the set-top box market with an Android-powered set-top box. The Verge has now published an extensive report on Android TV, with screenshots of the actual interface and much more.

The report, which cites internal Google documents, claims that the idea is far along in development with major app providers already building for the platform as we speak. While Google TV was also based off of Android, this new revision is entirely rebuilt and is something very different. “Android TV is an entertainment interface, not a computing platform,” writes Google. “It’s all about finding and enjoying content with the least amount of friction.” It will be “cinematic, fun, fluid, and fast.”

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Last October, Billboard reported that YouTube was planning to launch a music streaming service in late 2013 or early 2014. This evening, however, Billboard has published another report claiming that YouTube’s music streaming platform has been delayed until the second quarter of this year or beyond. According to the report, which cites “an executive briefed on YouTube’s plans”, YouTube is approaching this service with a “get it right” attitude.

The company wants to launch the first version of the service in an incredibly polished form that will help it stand out against competitors like Spotify and Rdio, which have been around for a while and have had several iterations of improvements. “They feel that there’s just too much scrutiny of this product, and that they need to get it right out of the gate,” said a senior label executive speaking to Billboard. This, of course, contradicts the strategy of YouTube’s parent company, Google, which launches services left and right in beta form, many of which get shut down relatively quickly.

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Apps have been adding support for Google’s $35 Chromecast everyday recently, with the likes of Vudu, JW Player, and BT Sport all joining the club. This evening, two new music services have added Chromecast support to their apps. Joining Pandora and Rdio, Rhapsody and Napster have both just announced Chromecast support for their Android apps.

Both apps received updates via the Play Store today that added the ability to Cast music to your Chromecast. After updating, you should see a new Cast icon within the apps. Tap the icon and the app will connect to your Chromecast and start playing music over whatever Google’s dongle is connected to.

Both services say that their iOS apps will receive Chromecast support later this month, but for now, both the Rhapsody and Napster updates are available on the Play Store.

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q1JzJadgHY]

Ahead of the first Ara Development Conference on 15 & 16 April, Google has released a teaser video showing a few glimpses into the project to create a phone with swappable modules, allowing customers to configure a phone to order and update individual components at a later date … 
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In December, Google announced a new feature that further integrated Android apps into its Search products by showing links directly to apps in search results. For instance, if you searched for a movie to see, you had the option of opening the results in the IMDB app if you already had it installed on your phone. Basically, if you had an app installed all you had to do was click “Open in app” on the search results page and you’d go right to the relevant app. If a search included relevant apps from inside Google Play, you’d be able to quickly go to the Play Store and download it.

Today, Google has announced that it is further expanding this feature to support even more apps. Starting today, you have the ability to directly from search results into the following apps:

500px, AOL, BigOven, Bleacher Report, Booking.com, Eventbrite, Glassdoor, Goodreads, Huffington Post, Merriam-Webster, Pinterest, Realtor.com, Seeking Alpha, TalkAndroid, TheFreeDictionary, The Journal, TripAdvisor, Tumblr, Urbanspoon, Wattpad, Yellow Pages, Zagat, Zappos and Zillow.

The feature is being updated over the air, meaning that no app update is required and you should start to see changes in these search results very soon.

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Hot on the heels of adding an activity feed to the web version of the Play Store, Google is now quietly rolling out a new “People” section to the Play Store app on Android. While the activity feed on the mobile app simply shows you what you’ve recently reviewed, rated, and purchased, the People section shows you what other users have recently been into.

The People feed is integrated heavily with Google+ and allows you to quickly follow users and view the their full profile. The feed shows what others have reviewed, +1’d, or shared. It includes apps, music, movies, and anything else available on the Play Store.

The People feed is rolling out now to the Play Store app. The interface is accessible via the sidebar and should appear on its own.

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google has been working for the past year to register the word “Glass” as a trademark in the United States. The company successfully received a trademark for the “Google Glass” name, but so far, has been unsuccessful to its attempts to trade the single word “Glass.”

According to the report, Google first submitted its application to trademark “Glass” with the classic, futuristic font last year. Shortly thereafter, Google heard back from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and was informed that the word could not be trademarked. One of the reasons cited by the office was that the trademark was too similar to other existing and pending computer software trademarks. This could lead to consumer confusion, according to the examiner.

The trademark examiner also claimed that the word “Glass”, even when written in its classic font, is “merely descriptive.” According to federal law, words that describe a product cannot be trademarked. “Google, like many businesses, takes routine steps to protect and register its trademarks,” a Google spokesman said.

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via Google

According to a new report from The Information, Google has been exploring the possibility of providing its own wireless network in cities where Fiber, its ultra high-speed broadband service, exists.

After thrusting itself into competition with U.S. cable operators, Google is inching closer to competing with wireless carriers, too.

Google executives in recent months discussed their hope to offer a full-fledged wireless service in markets where it offers Google Fiber Internet and TV service, according to two people who have discussed the matter with Google. Such an offering would mean Google customers in places like Kansas City, Mo. could get voice and Internet access through their mobile devices wherever they go.

While the report seems to be vague on specifics, it suggests that a potential Google-operated wireless provider could use WiFi access spots built on Google Fiber’s gigabit broadband and rely on another wireless provider in the area to provide service to cover the gaps.
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