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Re/code today reports that Silicon Valley icon and longtime Google advisor Bill “The Coach” Campbell has passed away at age 75 after a long battle with cancer. The unfortunate news comes from “many prominent tech players,” following earlier unconfirmed reports. Campbell was a mentor to many tech leaders, including Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, and Jeff Bezos.

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Android N is on its way, and as each new Developer Preview is released, we get a clearer picture of what Google has in mind for its next (and future) versions of Android. One major, albeit fairly inconspicuous drive is one towards a mobile-based VR platform, but one that everyone can access. Within Android N, we finally see some actual evidence that — at its inner most core — going forward the smartphone platform is going to be built for Virtual Reality.

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A few months ago Google launched a free high-speed public WiFi network in Mumbai Central Station, and now the company announced that similar networks are coming to nine more train stations across India.

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Huawei has today introduced a VR headset for its flagship smartphones (via Weibo). And, as you can tell, it looks a lot like Samsung’s Gear VR headset. This comes hot on the heels of the Chinese company’s introduction of its latest P9 and P9 Plus smartphones, and you might guess, this headset is fully compatible with them. It also works with Huawei’s previously-launched Mate 8…

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We’ve recently argued that the Galaxy S7 edge may represent the culmination of the “Smartphone 1.0 era”. It won’t please everyone about everything — and no such thing will likely ever exist — but it’s indubitable how all of the cornerstones of a modern smartphone have been tackled cleverly by the Korean giant, and all its positives can even justify its hefty price tag. Actually delivering something that steps up the game in a significant way, in fact, looks like a very tough challenge. Perhaps we will have to wait until true, Project Ara-like modular smartphones show up before radically rethinking the way we look at hardware, but the software roadmap seems to be getting clearer, with a future studded with bots.

Microsoft is betting big on them as a major part of the future of computing, and so is Facebook. There is a case that could be made for them to become the new apps — and this certainly is how these two firms are pitching the concept. Chances are that Google will follow sooner than later, and I think that if the general idea of bots we have been so far given remains valid, the owning of a platform as popular as Android may leave the Mountain View behemoth with quite an interesting card up its sleeve, which could give them a notable lead in the upcoming war for bots dominance, were they to play it cleverly…

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Almost two years ago, evidence of a custom Moto Maker-like service for creating custom cases for Nexus phones surfaced supposedly called “Google Workshop”. Today, Google has finally made the long-awaited custom case product official. You can now order a customized “Live Case,” which is notably the same moniker Google used for the special lineup of Skrillex cases launched last year…

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There has been quite a bit of press surrounding the behind-the-scenes aspect of Alphabet companies over recent weeks, mainly centered around Nest and Tony Fadell. Earlier today, it was reported that Fadell appeared at Google’s all-hands meeting two-weeks ago to address the stream of negative press. In addition to Fadell defending Nest, Re/code now reports that executive Sergey Brin also defended the company’s life science unit, Verily, at the meeting.

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In a post on its Research Blog, Google today announced that it is making some significant improvements to TensorFlow. For those unfamiliar, TensorFlow is the company’s open source machine learning software that powers things like Google Translate and many Photos features. Today, Google revealed that it is adding the ability for TensorFlow to run across multiple machines at the same time with distributed computing support.

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Following a number of recent controversies surrounding smart-home accessory maker Nest, Recode reports that CEO Tony Fadell defended the company while addressing the reports at a recent Google meeting.

First acquired by Google, Nest is now under Alphabet, the same parent company as Google following a restructuring last year.

At the weekly Google meeting, Fadell reportedly addressed recent reports of troubles on the Nest team that followed comments from Dropcam’s former CEO Greg Duffy regarding Fadell’s brash management style. Those comments led to a public response from Fadell and a number of mainstream media outlets picking up the story, while a report last week from Recode added that the company was under-performing financially and that its future at Google could be in jeopardy.

Here’s an excerpt from Fadell’s talk with Googlers addressing the reports:

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Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, has announced $20M in funding spread across 30 non-profits that are developing technology to assist disabled people. The projects range from 3D-printed prosthetic limbs through smartglasses for the blind to a low-cost way to convert standard wheelchairs into powered ones.

We’re supporting forward-thinking nonprofits with big ideas that use technology to expand opportunity and independence for people with disabilities. As part of the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities, we awarded 29 amazing grantees with $20 million in grants to help address accessibility challenges all over the world—and now, we’re helping them bring their projects to life … 

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Truly autonomous vehicles are poised to be an exciting technology, but as with any other technology, there are always regulatory hurdles to be cleared. As first spotted by public records sleuth Mark Harris, a bill working its way through the California legislature would require the state’s DMV to effectively legalize Google’s ambitions of having a driverless fleet of self-driving Koala cars…
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After first planning to launch the app during Google I/O 2015 and changing its mind at the last minute, Google has finally launched Voice Access in beta, a new accessibility app that allows users to control their phone using their voice. With Voice Access, you can use a wide variety of voice commands like “open Chrome” to bring up the browser or “go home” to go to the home screen…

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The major US record labels are still unhappy with the current state of their deals for YouTube royalties, leading the industry’s trade group to file a complaint as contracts with the streaming service are set to expire this year. Recode spoke with head of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Cary Sherman who represents the labels and explained why the music industry thinks the deals and negotiations with YouTube are unfair and hurting the industry and artists.

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