Google

Google’s Chrome browser and Chrome OS had another banner year in 2013 and with the Chromebook continuing to grow in popularity, 2014 looks to be even better. There’s little question that along with the growth of the Chromebook, Chrome as a web-browser continues to delight users the world over. With a bevy of new features and improvements in 2013, Google has its work cut out to improve on it next year. So without further delay, let’s take a look at the year’s top Chrome and Chrome OS stories of 2013 as determined by the number of pageviews each story incurred:

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While the world may be looking at Samsung with loving eyes thanks to the wild success of the Galaxy line, I wouldn’t call 2013 the year of the Samsung. Instead, I’m prepared to give that title to the folks at Motorola with a dose of LG on the side. There’s little question that Motorola roared back this year with the Moto X and the Moto G just boosted their game at the very end of the year. That’s not to say LG didn’t have a great year, but with the success and great reviews of the Nexus 5 comes disappointing sales of their flagship the LG G2.

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Google Play is giving away free music with its December Deals, offering a mix of free downloads and free streaming. The tracks appear to be updated weekly, so there should be time to grab more next week.

It’s looking like the freebies may be US-only, however: when you visit the same page in the UK, you get the same promise in the header, but the listed tracks (which number five rather than ten) come up at their normal price … 
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As 2013 wraps up, we’ve seen a variety of different year-end info graphs and data, most of which comes from Google itself, such as the top search terms. This afternoon, Dow Jones has released an info graphic displaying the most talked about companies in 2013.

Google was able to narrowly beat out Apple this year. Google received 123,769 media mentions this year, while Apple received 120,451 mentions, up from 114,954 in 2012. Google saw its biggest spike in mentions came in May, which as we all know, is when Google I/O took place. Other notable technology companies include Microsoft, who received 84,174 mentions and IBM, who came in with 48,734 mentions.

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As we look to the end of 2013 and turn around to see the Google of the last year, we know it’s been a good year. Forget concerns over Google’s purchase of Boston Dynamic’s Robotic program and the joke notion that Google and Skynet will eventually be one. This is a company that surpassed the 1,000 share price in the stock market and brought Google Glass to market as a new form of wearable technology. With these stories and more in mind, let’s take a look at the top 5 Google stories on 9to5Google in 2013. These stories were selected in order by the amount of traffic they had in a single 24 hour period and don’t necessarily reflect the importance of the story itself. In other words, these are the stories you read the most over the course of this year.

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Earlier this month, ClockworkMod developer Koushik Dutta made his AllCast app available in beta to people willing to provide feedback on the app. This morning, however, Dutta released the app to the Play Store, making it available to everyone. AllCast is free to download, although there is a $4.99 premium option available to remove ads, splashscreens, and the limit on video length.

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Christmas is just two days away and with plenty of unsuspecting kids (and parents) awaiting new smartphones and tablets Disney is taking the opportunity to knock down app prices. For a limited time, numerous Disney apps within the Play Store are on sale for $0.49 and below.

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To say that 2013 has been an interesting year in the world of Android would be putting it mildly, but has it really been a banner year? The release of Android-oriented products like Google Glass, Google Hangouts/revamp of Google+ and the beginnings of Google Retail led the way for a whole new approach for Google to take on the competition.

As we look back at the Android-based smartphones that launched in 2013, there isn’t any one handset that truly stands out as a market revolution. Instead, 2013 saw improvements and innovation on existing brands and lines that were already incredibly popular. For example, the Galaxy S 4 which kicks off our list below didn’t really raise the bar over the Galaxy S III in a truly big way, but it did improve on an already market-leading experience from the Galaxy S III.

So without further adieu, here are the 9to5Google’s top Android smartphone picks for 2013:
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The Google+ AutoAwesome feature is one of the best features the search engine giant added to its “don’t call it a social” social network this year. Now, to make for a fitting end to 2013 Google is creating your very own “Year In Review.”

Google’s Vic Gundotra highlights that the creation of the video is dependent “on a lot of factors (the quality of your pictures, if our algorithms believe we can auto create a high quality movie for you, etc).” The videos will be rolling out to everyone over the next week but don’t be too upset if Google+ doesn’t believe it can’t create a video for you.

Google’s Lead Product Manager at Google Photos, Anil Sabharwal shared his very own video of 2013 and it’s quite cheerful:

#AutoAwesome storytelling

This time of year we reconnect with loved ones, and we reflect on the moments that really matter. Photos and videos help preserve these moments, and when you save them to Google+,#AutoAwesome can bring your story to life in meaningful, magical ways. #AutoAwesome can, for example:

– Transform a game of dress-up into a delightful animation (http://goo.gl/aJzYUj), or
– Create a highlight reel for a recent family wedding (http://goo.gl/Th3wE0), or
– Display an entire cliff diving sequence in a single image (http://goo.gl/b6weQ6), or
– Add falling snow to your favorite winter photograph (http://goo.gl/9gdPrC)

In all cases these gifted items appear in your account automatically, so as long as you’re backing things up to Google+, you’ll get notified whenever an awesome (and private) version is ready to share.

Of course: many people have been saving and sharing their photos and videos on Google+ all year long. And for those select users we’ve got one more holiday gift: an #AutoAwesome year in review(I’ve attached mine as an example). You’ll get notified in the next week or so if you have one of these movies waiting for you.

Most importantly we want to say thank you. It’s your support and enthusiasm that make Google+ so special. And we’ll keep working to help you tell your story. #googleplusupdate #year2013

A big round of applause to the folks at Oppo and Cyanogen Inc as the Oppo N1 becomes the first Google-approved CyanogenMod phone. The announcement came yesterday via Google Groups as the device was certified to have passed through Google’s CTS and CDD certification programs which is a major milestone for everyone working on this project.

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A pithy quote from a Google engineer working on Android on the day the iPhone was launched has been doing the rounds today.

As a consumer I was blown away. I wanted one immediately. But as a Google engineer, I thought ‘We’re going to have to start over.

The quote, attributed to Google engineer Chris DeSalvo, appears in Chapter 2 of Fred Vogelstein’s Dogfight: How Apple and Google went to war and started a revolution. It suggests that Google had to abandon a Blackberry-style smartphone in favor of a touchscreen one in direct response to the iPhone. This is seemingly supported by Android boss Andy Rubin reportedly saying in response to the webcast of the iPhone launch: “Holy crap, I guess we’re not going to ship that phone.”

There’s just one small problem with this version of events – it may not be entirely accurate … 
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Google’s Chromium Blog just announced intentions of the search engine giant to knock out toolbars and “multipurpose extensions” out of the Chrome Web Store. The update to the policy is basically summed up as: “extensions in the Chrome Web Store must have a single purpose that is narrow and easy-to-understand.” That sounds simple enough, no?

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Just a few weeks after the device went up for sale, Motorola has announced that Android 4.4.2 is now rolling out to the Moto G. The update brings all of the KitKat features we’ve come to know and love. One of the biggest selling points of KitKat is the improved performance on lower-end devices that don’t have as much power under the hood. Given that the Moto G is own the lower-end of the totem pole, KitKat should drastically improve the performance of the device, not that it was bad before. 
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARjczjvVDz8&w=640&h=420]

There’s little question the White House is one of the most familiar buildings the world over and they always go the extra mile decorating for the holiday season. That’s why it’s so notable that the White House just held a streaming Google+ Hangout to show off some of the decor that has the White House looking all festive for the first family and tourists alike.

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Earlier this year, Google launched Zagat for iPhone and iPod touch. The application is Google’s form of allowing users to discover new places, such as restaurants, across many cities in the United States. Today, Google has updated the application with support for the iPad’s larger display. Also in the mix is support for ratings and reviews for shops and restaurants. Support for Charleston, South Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee has also been added. The 2.0 update is free on the App Store.

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From 9to5Mac:

Chalk up another Google app for iOS update as the app goes all iOS 7-fied as the official app finally receives the treatment. It takes a few seconds to notice the changes as I almost missed the full screen front page that now omits the signal, battery and carrier label. Overall, the update introduces:

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Cyanogen Inc, the parent company of the Android-famous CyanogenMod has raised an additional $22 million dollars in Series B funding. The money comes on top of the $7 million the company raised earlier this year as it announced three months ago it had incorporated.

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According to source code discovered by the unofficial Google System Blog, Google Play Music users will soon get the ability to upload music directly to the service from directly within their browser. As of right now, in order to upload files to the service, you have to download Google’s Music Manager app and select which files you would like to upload.

The source code discovered reads  “Drag songs or folders here to add music to your library. Or, if you prefer, select from your computer.” Google already allows users to drag and drop files to nearly all of its other online services, so it makes sense that Play Music would be next in line to receive the feature.

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When Google announced Glass, people instantly became worried about the privacy implications that came with it. One of the biggest questions surrounded the potential to use the device for some sort of facial recognition. Google quickly confirmed that it would not allow such apps to be officially installed on the device, but as we all know,  there are multiple ways to install an app to Glass and Google can’t stop everything.

Forbes reports on a new app, dubbed FaceRec, that will collect and catalog images of faces a user sees throughout the day. In addition to faces, the app will also work with things like computer screens and license plates. The app will integrate the image data collected with location coordinates to create a map. This will allow users to go back and see exactly who they saw and where they saw them. 

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Google has once again refreshed its free Google Play Music playlist for its December Deals offering with new music for you to grab. This week’s artist once again includes an interesting range of performers including Nine Inch Nails, Stevie Wonder, 2Pac, and Amy Winehouse.

What’s more is the playlist leads with Taylor Swift and follows with Kanye West, the two of which famously made headlines together following the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when Kanye unapologetically interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech.

At any rate, go ahead and grab 10 tracks while Google’s picking up the tab!
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