After all the wait, we’ve finally gotten definitive word from Verizon: The LTE Galaxy Nexus, which will be the first ICS phone sold in the US, will go on sale tomorrow for $299 with a two year service plan from Verizon.
Furthermore, the hold up was in fact the 4.0.2 update which we told you about hours ago.
Google’s Vic Gundotra just announced on his Google+ page a host of new Hangouts features meant to “go beyond the status update”. In short, you can now hangout on any post (an invitation will be added to the comments), call any phone number in the world and conference in anyone (free outbound calls to US and Canada, international calling rates are “super, super low”) and initiate a hangout session from the official Google+ app for Android or iPhone by tapping the new hangout icon.
The executive also shared an interesting milestone for Hangouts on Air, saying “hundreds of people” whitelisted as part of their trial now have the ability to broadcast their hangouts to the world. “Our goal is to enable this for everyone on the planet”, Gundotra noted. Initiating a Hangout session from your phone requires a new Google+ app, which will be available in Android Market within a few days, Google said (“coming soon” to the App Store).
Verizon hasn’t been saying much about the release date of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. There seems like there has been too many rumored dates to count, and as time ticks by we’re starting to think the Galaxy Nexus launch in the US is going to happen next year — but luckily that’s not the case. In an official statement, Verizon confirmed with Android and Me that the Galaxy Nexus is still on track to launch this year.
The Galaxy Nexus is still on track to launch this year. We will definitely send a press release to announce availability. Feel free to visit www.verizonwireless.com/galaxynexus to sign up for email alerts to be one of the first to know.
Also adding more fuel to the fire, a mysterious package from Verizon is on the way to our reviewer and will arrive Friday. They won’t say what it is, but you obviously know what we’re hoping for. We’ll keep you posted on the latest.
In July Google launched an experimental Hotel Finder tool, which allows users to search specifically for the most relevant hotel related results. The service allows users to find places to stay in select areas, get price comparisons in one convenient location, and compile a shortlist of potential destinations. According to Search Engine Land, Google is now testing rather large “Comparison ads” at the top of hotel related search results that display links to the Hotel Finder tool. The move apparently has the hotel industry concerned… Expand Expanding Close
Android and Mereports on a secret Google project aimed at adding a little conversational flare to Android Voice Actions. Dubbed Project Majel after Majel Barrett-Roddenberry – the voice of Star Trek‘s Federation Computer – it’s thought to be motivated by the success Apple’s seen with its clever marketing of the voice-controlled digital assistant Siri that debuted as an iPhone 4S exclusive on October 4.
According to the blog:
Majel is an evolution of Google’s Voice Actions that is currently available on most Android phones with the addition of natural language processing. Where Voice Actions required you to issue specific commands like ‘send text to…’ or ‘navigate to…’ Majel will allow you to perform actions in your natural language similar to how Siri functions.
Google is apparently working on Majel at clandestine Google X, the company’s top-secret lab headed by Sergey Brin. Majel should debut for Google search queries first. It’s unknown at this stage whether the technology incorporates some of the artificial intelligence traits exhibited in Apple’s Siri. Expand Expanding Close
You might be familiar with Big Nerd Ranch from their iOS development programs detailed on 9to5Mac, but you might not know the guys and gals at the Nerd Ranch also run an Android Bootcamp. Well, your first introduction to the program could be this Thursday, December 15 when the instructors of the course will be holding an open Q&A with those interested in learning more about Android development.
To join the conversation, tune in on the Big Nerd Ranch Facebook wall or tweet questions with #BigDroidRanch. One participant will get a $750 credit to attend the Big Nerd Ranch in January when the next Android Bootcamp begins. You can start tweeting and posting your questions now and instructors will be live on Thursday at 3-5 p.m. ET to answer them. If you’re interested getting into Android development, swing by the their website to read more about the program. Expand Expanding Close
Last week startup Clever Sense launched their local recommendations app called Alfred on the Android Market. Previously only available as an iOS app, the service uses a proprietary engine to make recommendations for nightlife, food, and other local attractions without requiring the user to enter a search query. Today, Clever Sense has announced on their website that they have been acquired by Google and their team will be joining Google’s to further develop the recommendation tech built into Alfred.
As for what might possibly come of the acquisition in terms of Google services, Clever Sense CEO Babak Pahlavan makes a point of mentioning “Google helps local businesses connect with potential customers and its worldwide presence can bring the value of Clever Sense to a much larger audience.” Perhaps Google services like Offers and Places will benefit, but the company has yet to make an official statement.
Below are the important bits from Clever Sense’s statement: Expand Expanding Close
Getting the user interface of a mobile application right down to the pixel level is a daunting task which often requires a lot of testing. To help Android developers get a better feel of what their designs will look like on an actual device, Adobe introduced a tool aptly named the Android Design Preview Tool. It takes some pain out of UI work by mirroring your desktop to your Android device, which helps mitigate guesstimating the appearance of the user interface elements and avoid wasting time compiling a build and syncing it to the device in order to test out each tweak. The new tool joins Adobe’s suite of Android utilities comprised of the Android Asset Studio and UI Prototyping Stencils.
Google has kept it promise and released an updated Street View imagery documenting the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that had partially destroyed or completelly wiped out large parts of Northeastern Japan. The search company described in a blog post how starting inland and venturing out toward the coast “you’ll see the idyllic countryside change dramatically, becoming cluttered with mountains of rubble and debris as you get closer to the ocean”.
They also added a timestamp to the bottom left corner of each image helping you to contextualize what you’re seeing. This new timestamp feature is now available on Street View imagery worldwide, Google noted. The street-level imagery of the affected areas are truly shocking to those of us lucky enough not to experience a natural disaster of such magnitude.
As people were sifting through wreckage caused by the devastating quake-tsunami combination, Google sent out Street View cars to capture the 360-degree panoramic imagery of the scene some nine months later. An even more horrifying depiction can be found at Google’s newly set up site called Build the Memory that has the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos.
An installation like the thing depicted above, we imagine, is definitely something CNN’s Wolf Blitzer would die to use on the set of The Situation Room, his evening newscast. To mapping aficionados, it’s an absolute dream come true. Too bad this monstrosity won’t be coming to your retailer any time soon. Stemming from Google’s Liquid Galaxy project from 2009, what began as a typical 20 percent project has turned into a 40-square meter display consisting of 48 screens that render high-resolution Google Earth content in all its glory.
It serves almost a hundred million pixels, insane! And how do you control this blown up display with so high pixel count? Using four separate multitouch screens to pinch and zoom your way around, that’s how. Combined, Google explains in a blog post, the 48 screens create a stunning effect due to the sheer size of the viewable area and the fact that life-like satellite imagery is being rendered in incredibly high fidelity. If you’ve ever seen Google Earth running on a 50-inch plasma television, you’ll know what we mean.
“We believe this to be the largest screen showing Google Earth to date”, the company wrote in the post. These are not your ma and pa’s maps, folks, though you can always try out a pedestrian version by loading this KML file in Google Earth on your computer and pretending you were at an NSA briefing in the White House situation room. Oh yes, Google will be open sourcing the Liquid Galaxy project soon and releasing the graphical interface “over the next few months”.
Verizon has still yet to announce a release date for the highly anticipated Galaxy Nexus, but apparently a Best Buy store didn’t get that memo. A user posted the following on the Android Centralforums:
Went to best buy at 9am in olathe kansas got one all activated everything works fine there was even a post it not that said 12-11
only problem was the best buy computer didn’t have a valid ski, they couldn’t ring it up the manager looked in the system for like 60 min and confirmed it was available today
ended up having the ppm override the system and selling it to me. in the end. i got one me and my buddy.
Hit up your local store to see if you can get lucky! Check out the box after the break:
The founders of Google — Larry Page, and Sergey Brin — are offering NASA $33 million to restore their Hangar One. Hangar One was once the building that housed NASA planes, and is currently in really bad shape and needs to be restored to protect the environment. How nice of Google, but there’s a catch. Mercury Newsreports:
Without a covering, the hangar’s frame and foundation will be exposed to the elements. That’s a problem because there are toxic materials in the soil underneath the hangar that could leach out because of rain exposure, Siegel said. Additionally, the Navy has set up some $12 million worth of scaffolding to remove the hangar’s skin. If supporters are able to put a new covering on the hangar right after that process ends, that scaffolding can be left in place. If not, it will have to be removed and then replaced later at a cost of some $1 million to $2 million more, Siegel said.
The Google founders want to use 2/3 of the NASA hangar to house their 11 jets, one of which is currently being sold. The deal hasn’t yet gone through, and still needs approval from necessary NASA/Navy boards. If approved, the restoration project will begin next summer. Expand Expanding Close
Coby Electronics, the maker of cheap Android tablets and other electronics, has announced five new Android tablets that will run the new Ice Cream Sandwich. The tablet will come in five different screen variants: 7-inch MID7042 (4:3 aspect ratio), 8-inch MID8042 (4:3 aspect ratio), 9-inch MID9042 (4:3 aspect ratio), 9.7-inch MID9742 (4:3 aspect ratio), and a 10-inch MID1042 (4:3 aspect ratio). The tablets will be landing in the first quarter of 2012, after seeing a debut — presumably with a ton of other Android tablets — at CES 2012.
All five variants will pack a 1 GHz RM Cortex A8 processor and multi-touch capacitive touch screen underneath.Other specs include 1GB of RAM, expandable memory up 32 GB, Wi-Fi, and 1080P HD playback. There’s no word on if this device will actually have the Android Market pre-loaded or what the actual price will be. We’ve posted the full press release after the break. (via AndroidCentral)
Have you ever been curious to find out who spends the most money advertising on Google Search? AdAgehas put together a list of Google’s top ad-spot buyers. If you’re a frequent Google Search-er you’re probably familiar with a lot of them, and probably have clicked on their ads before.
The media company IAC has earned the top-spot, spending $174,000 from January 2011 – September 2011. IAC owns popular online media properties like Match.com, Dictionary.com, Excite, and more. Amazon holds the second spot, with $118,000 spent within the same time period. It’s worth noting, pointed out by AdAge, that the fourth quarter is typically the most busiest time for advertising. These numbers will be much higher for 2011 as a whole.
Search still proves to be Google’s number one source of income. You might be thinking Android would, with 500,000 activations a day, but you have to remember Google makes Android open-source for all to use. All Android does for Google is draw traffic to their web products, which in turn could drive revenue through ads — Search being an example. Curious to see who else made the list? Check it out after the break.
Silicon Filtergrabbed some pertinent quotes from Marissa Mayer’s interview today at LeWeb on Mobile, Local, Social (SoLoMo). We’ll have the video up when it becomes available. Notables:
Google+ was a pleasant surprise. Comparing to the low bar set by past efforts, we’ll give this one a “#obvious tag.
“We save two years, every day, of idle time using Google Maps and Navigation.”
Google+ Check-In Deals Coming Next Week (goodnight FourSquare?)
On the location space in general, there is still a lot of competition
Android is a vehicle for delivering Google services
Google has just pushed out an update to their Google+ Android app, bringing it up to date with the iOS app that was recently updated with full resolution photo uploads, enhanced search features, and +1s for photos. On top of those features, the Android app also received +1s for comments, typing and online indicators for Messenger convos, video support for Instant Upload, and the ability to start conversations by typing a phone number.
Another new addition is the ability to open links to posts and profiles within the app and there is also the usual “stability improvements and bug fixes”. As always, you can grab it from the Market here. Google also updated the Google Goggles and Google Maps Android apps today.
AllThingsD’s review columnist Walt Mossberg has graced us with his Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime review this evening, giving the device a pretty high score. Mossberg, a renowned reviewer, calls the Prime the best Android tablet he has tested. Mossberg compliments the Prime on its fast quad-core Tegra 3 processor and keyboard dock which can be purchased separately.
Just as Joanna Stern from The Vergesaid, Mossberg isn’t too happy with the software on the Prime. He calls it sluggish and not as complete as the iPad. For his final words, Mossberg says the iPad is still the best tablet out there, but if you’re interested in Android and a physical keyboard this tablet is for you. Be sure to read his full review.
I still believe the iPad 2 is the best overall tablet available. However, if you’re looking for a model using Google’s Android interface and are yearning for a well-designed, easily integrated keyboard solution, or want to play more power-hungry games, the Transformer Prime is a good choice, as long as you can tolerate its software limitations.
The Prime launches in the United States on December 15th. The 32GB model will be available for $499, and the optional keyboard dock will be available for $149. We look forward to getting our hands on this!
Google has just pushed out an update to the Google+ iOS app compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, bringing it up to version 1.0.7.2940 and introducing a few new features including full resolution photo uploads, search, and photo +1. Also included are the usual bug fixes and performance enhancements. As always, you can grab the update from the App Store now or download the free app if you haven’t already. Expand Expanding Close
Mark Zuckerberg gives us a look into what he really thinks about Google+ in a small clip from this one-hour special on Facebook’s creator aired by the BBC (via TNW). When asked if Google+ is a threat or if he ‘takes it seriously’, Zuckerberg responded (skip to 54:32):
Yeah Google’s a great company, and I think we want to look at and learn from everything that they do. But at the same time, people have shared a lot on Facebook and have already told a lot of their life story on Facebook. And we think that we have by far better tools for doing that.
Every 14 days, Google publishes an updated pie-chart laying out all of the details about what Android versions are most prominent. Yesterday’s chart reveals that Android 2.3, or Gingerbread, now makes up 50.6% of Android’s user base, followed by Android 2.2, Froyo which has 35.3%. Interestingly, there are still close to 12% of users on lower levels of Android. Where the shocker really comes in to play is the percentage of users that are rocking Honeycomb, the Android version exclusive to tablets.
Figures also updated by Google’s team, was a pie-chart showing different screen sizes that feature Android. The chart showed that 3.1% of all Android devices are tablets with a 7-inch or larger screen. If all 200M Android devices are still active and represented here, that means that 6.2M Android Tablets are in the market.
Confirming our report from last night, Google has toldThe Verge that they have no affiliation whatsoever with Carrier IQ, but rather the OEMs of Android handsets do.
We do not have an affiliation with CarrierIQ. Android is an open source effort and we do not control how carriers or OEMs customize their devices.
Carrier IQ news has blown up this afternoon, after being found on numerous handsets currently offered on the market. While Verizon has said that Carrier IQ can’t be found on their devices, Apple, RIM, Nokia, Windows Mobile, and most Android devices do have the tracking software. For now, if you’re Android device is affected you can install CyanogenMod or just wait for all of this to blow over after an update, in a few days.
In a move that should make producers and video enthusiasts jump with joy, Google has finally rolled out an improved analytics feature on YouTube, allowing anyone to retrieve detailed reports and see who is watching their videos. The new capability goes beyond the existing Insight feature, which provides only basic analytics.
According to a post at the official YouTube blog, some of the features include a quick overview of how your videos have been doing in terms of view count, more detailed statistics, audience builders that let you discover which videos are driving the most views and subscriptions and audience retention, basically the ability to see “how far viewers are watching through your video”.
You can filter reports by a number of criteria, see line charts, download reports and analyze key metrics in different ways. The new tools should help anyone, especially YouTube’s content partners that share ad revenue with Google, make the most of their videos. The new Analytics feature will be released to everyone on a modern browser over the course of the day, Google said. More information is available in a support document here.
