Stay up to date on news from Google headquarters. Be the first to learn about plans for Android, Google Plus, Google Apps, and more!
Speaking at the Dive into Mobile conference (wrap-up to follow), Google Chairman Erich Schmidt said that Android activations are now running at a staggering 1.5 million a day. This is up from the 1.3m a day reported last September.
From 9to5Toys.com:
Tiger Direct slashes the price of the original 1080P smartphone, the Droid DNA. We reviewed the DNA and loved loved loved its amazing 5-inch 1080P display.
Google Fiber’s 1Gbps Internet service, billed on launch as “100 times faster than broadband”, has already been beaten by Japanese ISP Nuro, reports Engadget. Not only is this twice as fast as Google Fiber, it’s also twice as fast as most local-area Ethernet connections. Japanese subscribers can get the service for 4,980 Yen ($51) a month.
Google just released the mother-load of information on Google Glass including an API, hardware specs (yuk yuk) and FAQs and much more. Developers, Dive in.
Wow Google Glass is finally shipping?! Like imminently based on this email? http://t.co/jTmhpuvtRs
— Brian Klug (@nerdtalker) April 15, 2013
It appears that Google Glass Explorers should soon be getting their Glass units. AnandTech’s Brian Klug got the following announcement.
A veteran of Japan’s Tsunami/Earthquake, Philippine Floods, and other events, Google today deployed its person finder tool for people who may be looking for loved ones in Boston or who want to tell loved ones their situation. Links:
Some new stuff from Canary build this morning above on left (compared to stable on right). Notice the Apps shortcut icon which can be removed by unchecking the “Show Apps shortcut” icon (below) in the dropdown menu.
This is interesting especially as Google appears to be ready to push an Apps button to its iconic search page. Will Chrome apps finally get their day in the sun?
Expand
Expanding
Close
via mobda.com
Sources from within are saying that Samsung prototyped an all metal Galaxy S IV, but because of worries with possible production delays, it was never used. The metal Galaxy S IV was met with open arms at the company says SamMobile, and was the first choice, but Samsung didn’t want to risk delays, according a report by SamMobile
Of course, the HTC One being all-metal phone is ‘worrisome’ to Samsung, according to the report, and is unsure if the Galaxy S IV measures up in terms of build quality to the One. While the report isn’t confirmed by Samsung, SamMobile is known to be very reliable. There is a possibility a holiday edition of the Galaxy S IV in metal could launch, but theres no guarantee.
In the same report, SamMobile is also saying that they’ve got the specs for the Galaxy Note II’s successor. The report claims that the Note III will sport a 6″ inch 1080P AMOLED display, 0.2″ inches bigger than the previous report of 5.8″ inches. Other specs include an Exynos 5 Octa-core processor, also found on the Galaxy S IV. The kicker here is that the report says the Note III will support LTE and the Octa-core processor, whereas the Galaxy S IV only supports LTE on the quad-core model.
Finally, SamMobile expects to see a 13MP camera with the “latest version of Android”. Samsung could have one of the first Android 5.0 devices out on the market, assuming Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie is announced at Google I/O and the Note III launches sometime after that.
It’s unlikely the Note III will launch encased in a metal body, but if the report is to be believed, it may not be so far-fetched after all.
Like many people, I was intrigued by the recent edict from a Seattle bar banning the not-yet-for-sale, action-cam-equipped Google Glass wearable computer, citing privacy concerns. However, while this article originally intended to highlight other potential locations and situations where Glass will be frowned upon, after speaking with a few colleagues, it became clear that the video- and photo-capturing headset will be unwelcome in many more venues than it is allowed. And that spells trouble for Glass adoption, especially as some folks are hoping to rely on Glass — eventually — as their primary pair of spectacles.
When nearly anyone has the capability to very discreetly begin capturing footage of his/her surroundings, concerns are bound to pile up. It’s not just bars which have privacy issues to consider — nearly any other establishment that caters to patrons has a responsibility to make sure its customers are not videotaping each other. In other words, the entire service industry is going to end up banning Glass and products like it; expect No Recording signs to begin cropping up all over the country.
But it’s not just retail and service locations that will be affected, as corporate America is also rightfully sensitive about cameras at the workplace. How’s this for irony: it’s almost certain that Google itself will ban the majority of employees from using Glass at work, due to the many sensitive projects in development at any given time.
Airports? Can’t really see Glass welcome at establishments touting such tight security. Colleges, high schools, etc? Almost certain bans, but for a different reason — instant access to information makes cheating beyond trivial. Will you be able to play pro sports with Glass? Compete in grandmaster chess tournaments? Drive a car? Fly a plane? Pilot a boat?
These are questions that nearly every business, organization, and venue are going to have to answer for themselves, both in America and worldwide, and much sooner than they’d probably prefer to. Progress is coming soon, though, and this time the leap is forward enough to have major societal implications.
[Image courtesy of ZDNet]
Eric Schmidt and Google Ideas’ Jared Cohen (author of Children of Jihad) have penned a book about how technology will profoundly affect the lives of everyone in the coming years. It gets some pretty impressive reviews from some pretty impressive people, below. You can pre-order it for shipping now April 23rd from Amazon for $18
Expand
Expanding
Close
One of the benefits of having a removable back plate and battery is that you can do crazy things like add more than 3X the 2100mAh battery size for those extended outings. It just so happens Amazon currently has this 7,000mAh add on for $34 in a variety of colors (Black, White, Blue).
This is the same amount of battery you’ll find in a Typical tablet and as you can see in the video above, pushes the S3 to 4+ days of battery life. On the downside, you now have a brick in your pocket.
Update: Google has confirmed to us that it has not acquired Behavio, but rather just picked up some talent from the company that will now be joining GOOG.
Behavio, a software company that uses sensors in mobile devices to compile data how users live and interact with one another, announced today (via TheVerge) that it has joined Google. The company will work on building its platform at Google while shutting down its current closed alpha and continuing to run its open source Funf project for Android that allows developers to take advantage of the technology. No word on whether or not Google has big plans for the technology or if the move was simply an “acquhire,” but Behavio’s statement noted it “couldn’t be happier to be able to continue building out our vision within Google.”
Behavio doesn’t just use traditional sensors in smartphones to learn more about its users, the software also utilizes data such as if a phone is turned on or off, what apps are installed on a device, or if a phone is currently charging or not.
There were no financial details disclosed in Behavio’s press release, and Google is yet to make an official announcement. Below is an interesting interview with Behavio co-founder from Nadav Aharony where he explains how the software works and the MIT project where Behavio was first developed:
Expand
Expanding
Close
Pebble, the E-Ink smart-watch for iPhones and Android devices which raised over 10 million dollars on Kickstarter is about to get a lot of new features. Today, Pebble announced that the watch SDK is being released today. The SDK will allow developers to create custom watch faces, alerts and new apps.
At the moment, there’s less than 10 available watch faces and only one app, but expect those numbers to grow dramatically now that developers can get their hands on a public SDK.
Expand
Expanding
Close
From 9to5Toys.com:
We don’t normally see Google Chromebooks on sale but today at Staples, HP’s version is a whopping $75 off putting it near the price of the much smaller ARM Samsung 550s.
Not only is the HP Pavilion 14-c01us Chromebook more expensive, it’s also heavier than Samsung’s offering at 4lbs compared to 2.5lbs. Battery life is unfortunately the same story with an approximate 4.25 hours quoted compared to the 6.5 hours Samsung’s Chromebook offers. If you can get past that, the new HP device packs in a 14-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit (1,366-by-768-pixel), 1.1GHz Intel Celeron 847 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB SATA SSD, HDMI, USB 2.0, as well as an Ethernet port.
Staples is offering the HP Pavilion Intel Celeron 847 14″ Chromebook for $330. Enter the coupon code: 45582 and get an additional $75 off at checkout making the total only $255 before tax with free shipping. (Expiring Soon)
Update: Throw in another $50 via rebate to get it down to $205.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiqbNxRurFA
Earlier today we told you that Facebook had updated its Messenger app for Android with the new “Chat Heads” feature from its Facebook Home platform. Today also marks the official launch of Facebook Home for the initial list of supported devices and now the app is finally live on Google Play and available to download.
Facebook Home is the mobile experience that puts your friends at the heart of your phone. From the moment you turn it on, you see a steady stream of friends’ posts and photos on your home screen. Upfront notifications and quick access to your essentials mean you’ll never miss a moment. And when you download Facebook Messenger, you can keep chatting with friends when you’re using other apps.
In addition to the new HTC First, Facebook Home is currently supported on the HTC One X, One X+, Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, and eventually the HTC One and the Galaxy S4.
You can learn more about Facebook Home from our coverage of the launch event here and check out a gallery of screenshots below:
Expand
Expanding
Close
A 9to5Google reader, today, sent in a screenshot of a new Google homepage layout that the company is testing. It is unclear how spread the testing is of this homepage, but it’s no secret that Google tests new page layouts with small numbers of users. These test layouts sometimes never even get rolled out to the complete user base.
Notably, the new layout sports a button to quickly access Google’s various web applications.That new apps button appears to replace the top bar with the most commonly used Google services (like Mail, YouTube, and Drive).
Google began testing this new layout in February, but the appearance of testing in April could point to this new design still being under consideration or could point to extended testing.
Thanks, Tony!
Google has been hiring a group of individuals on one year contracts to help the Glass explorers with their upcoming Glasswear we’ve learned. The employees would be based in New York or San Francisco but travel to events throughout the US and eventually overseas. These people will also be manning the retail presence that Google hopes to have in New York, San Francisco and possibly LA by the end of the year.
Glass explorer editions are to begin shipping next month after an initial run of a few thousand.
Google today is launching a new feature for Google account holders that will allow them decide how they want Google to handle their data when they die. The feature, dubbed “Inactive Account Manager”, will allow you to specify when you want your data to be deleted or select a trusted friend to handle the data for you:
For example, you can choose to have your data deleted — after three, six, nine or 12 months of inactivity. Or you can select trusted contacts to receive data from some or all of the following services: +1s; Blogger; Contacts and Circles; Drive; Gmail; Google+ Profiles, Pages and Streams; Picasa Web Albums; Google Voice and YouTube. Before our systems take any action, we’ll first warn you by sending a text message to your cellphone and email to the secondary address you’ve provided.
You can access the Inactive Account Manager now to select how to want messages for Gmail and data for a number of other Google applications to be stored when you pass or your accounts become inactive.
Google announced on its YouTube Creators blog last night that it is starting a new beta test for creators that will allow them to link a Google+ account to their YouTube channel.
Other benefits of linking your YouTube channel to Google+: YouTube will allow you to “Choose any name for your channel and page.” That also includes the opportunity to rename your channel if that’s something you might be interested in. You’ll also now have access to a few new features including “live broadcasts via Hangouts”, a YouTube tab displayed on your Google+ page, and better video sharing features.
Google warned that there might be some issues with the beta for third-party tools:
– Certain mobile apps and third party tools may require a bit more effort to work with YouTube channels linked to Google+ pages. Just make sure you’re using the most recent YouTube app on Android and iOS. And if necessary, setup login credentials for these apps.
To try out the beta, you’ll need a Google+ account on the same Google account you use for your YouTube channel. From there you can activate the feature through YouTube’s advanced account settings. Full instructions from Google below:
Expand
Expanding
Close
Starting today, Google is rolling out its Map Maker service in the UK, allowing Google Maps users in the United Kingdom the ability to join the over 40,000 other people around the globe making contributions to improve the Google Maps experience:
Now it’s your turn to help, whether marking the trails through Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, adding all your favorite shops in London’s Soho Square, or improving driving directions to St Ives in Cornwall. Drawing from your knowledge about world famous tourist destinations or the streets of your hometown, you can now use Google Map Maker to make the map of the United Kingdom (along with Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey) more comprehensive and accurate than ever before. Once approved, these improvements will appear across Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for Mobile.
Google is encouraging users in the UK to submit contributions through Map Maker and also invited them to check out its “community of mappers” and the “Map Maker Help Center” for additional information.
In an ongoing case in which Apple and Google’s Motorola have accused each other of infringing various mobile related patents since 2010, U.S. District Judge Robert Scola said in an order yesterday that the two companies have no interest in reaching a settlement. Bloomberg reports Scola said in his order that both companies are using the litigation as a “business strategy that appears to have no end”:
“The parties have no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute; they instead are using this and similar litigation worldwide as a business strategy that appears to have no end,” U.S. District Judge Robert Scola in Miami said in an order dated yesterday. “That is not a proper use of this court.”
“Without a hint of irony, the parties now ask the court to mop up a mess they made by holding a hearing to reduce the size and complexity of the case,” he wrote. “The court declines this invitation.”
The result is Apple and Google will now have a four month period to narrow their claims related to the case that now includes over 180 claims for 12 patents. Bloomberg notes that Scola said the case currently includes “disputes over the meaning of more than 100 terms,” and that the case would be put on hold until the disputes are resolved if the two companies are unable to come up with a solution before the four month timeframe expires…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Back in early February, European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia confirmed Google had handed in a proposal settlement in the ongoing antirust investigation into whether some of Google’s practices with its search and ad businesses create unfair competition and abuse the company’s dominance. Today Reuters reports that Google has not submitted an official offer of concessions to the Commission:
“In the last few weeks, the Commission completed its preliminary assessment formally setting out its concerns. On this basis, Google then made a formal submission of commitments to the Commission,” said Antoine Colombani, the Commission’s spokesman on competition policy.
“We are now preparing the launch of a market test to seek feedback from market players, including complainants, on these commitment proposals,” he said.
One thing conveniently left out of the report: at this point we do not know what the commitments Google has made and how they might reflect the user experience for customers.
When we heard reports late last month that Google might be planning to assemble its Google Glass headsets in the US, we also heard the company was preparing to make a ‘few thousand’ units of its Explorer Edition for contest winners and others receiving the opportunity to purchase the $1500 hardware. Today we get a bit of an update with Google confirming at its “Glass Collective” event that Glass will ship within the next month (via TechCrunch).
It’s not too surprising given Google I/O is set to take place next month starting May 15, but Google also announced today that it will be offering seed funding to developers within the Glass ecosystem through a new fund dubbed “Glass Collective”:
Here at Google Ventures, my partners and I thought the potential for Glass was significant enough to invite our friends at Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to join us in exploring this big opportunity. We’ve formed the Glass Collective, an investment syndicate between our three firms, to provide seed funding to entrepreneurs in the Glass ecosystem to help jumpstart their ideas.
Google will start its seed investments in the US and along with its Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and KPCB, will be reviewing applications for Glass ideas submitted to the various firms involved.
We have been seeing more leaks surrounding Google’s much rumored unified chat service that most are calling “Babel”. On Monday we got a look at some pretty legit looking screenshots of Babel inside of Gmail that apparently came straight from a Google engineer testing the service, and today we get even more details about Babel.
A new report from Droid-life claims to have additional details about the service including a feature list from sources close to the project.
Google Babel as a product is a collaboration of work by the Google+, Android, Chrome and Apps teams. Through their combined efforts, as was previously reported by us, we’ll see this unified service launch in Gmail and as Android, iOS, and Chrome apps. What’s particularly interesting, is that Google is talking about the iOS app as being the first time they have built a “first class iOS experience” when it comes to a messaging service.
On top of a “first class iOS experience,” the report also says that Google Voice will eventually be integrated alongside Talk, Hangouts, and Messenger, but not initially at launch. Other features apparently coming to the yet to launch service include: notification syncing across devices, an updated messaging UI, group conversations, 800+ emoji, and some other expected features. Head below for the full list:
