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Microsoft’s ‘Mimicker Alarm’ Garage Project helps you start your day with mini games

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 21 2016 - 8:11 am PT
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Microsoft is back with another Garage Project (cute and novel apps made for iOS and Android phones), and this time it’s an alarm clock called Mimicker Alarm. At first glance, the style of this app looks eerily similar to that of the stock Android Clock app, but a deeper dive shows us that there’s a little more to it. Microsoft wants you to actually wake up when your alarm goes off, and to help you do that the company makes you play mini games powered by its Project Oxford machine learning APIs…


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Google blocked more than 17M fake ‘software system warning’ ads, 12.5M misleading medicinal ads in 2015

Avatar for Cam Bunton Jan 21 2016 - 6:51 am PT
1 Comment

Google has published a blog post revealing just how many bad ads it removed from the web in 2015. Spoiler: they removed a lot.

There can be all kinds of bad ads, whether they’re ads which falsely claim to help weight loss, or phishing sites that trick unassuming web users to submit personal information. Thanks to a team of some 1,000 employees, and some clever computer algorithms, the company was able to remove a ton of ads and ban a huge number of misbehaving advertisers…


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Deal: USB-C cables w/ Prime shipping: 6.6-ft for $7, 9.9-ft for $8, wall chargers + more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 19 2016 - 1:33 pm PT
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Choetech via Amazon offers its 6.6-ft USB 2.0 Type A to Type C cable for $8.99, but when you use the code L3JGFC9V the price drops down to $6.99. Similarly, the company offers its 9.9-ft USB 2.0 Type A to Type C cable for $9.99, but when you use the code WTZ35GDZ the price drops down to $7.99. Both of these deals are $2 off the regular sale prices and the lowest we’ve seen them sold for at Amazon…


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Google’s doodle honors Martin Luther King Jr.

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 18 2016 - 1:24 pm PT
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Unsurprisingly, Google’s Doodle for today honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You can find the logo on the Google homepage, and clicking the logo does a quick search for “Martin Luther King Jr. Day”. The search page shows a smaller version of the logo in the top left corner, and you can find a full-resolution version over at Google’s blog post for today.

Said post reads:

Today’s doodle honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister, community activist, philosopher and humanitarian. His leadership of the American Civil Rights movement,Nobel Peace Prize for non-violent civil disobedience in the face of racial injustice, and eventual martyrdom for the cause, cements his place as a hero for peace and justice worldwide.

As per Google’s Doodles site, the reach of today’s logo is unsurprisingly restricted to the United States. Many of those residing in the US of A—especially grade school and college students, as well as government employees—are probably enjoying this federal holiday off, so you might actually have time to read about some of the logos Google has put up on its homepage on this day in the past.

Deal: 2nd gen. Moto X (unlocked) $243 shipped, 2nd gen. Moto G w/ free dock $100 shipped

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 18 2016 - 12:59 pm PT
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Best Buy offers the 2nd generation Moto X 16GB (unlocked) smartphone in black for $242.99 shipped, which is $57 below its retail price and the lowest price we could find for a brand new model. If you’re looking for its cheaper little brother, though, B&H offers the 2nd generation Moto G 8GB (unlocked) smartphone in black for $99.99 shipped w/ a free Belkin PowerHouse microUSB dock. That’s a savings of $95 compared to what these items would cost at retail…


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It takes four weeks to learn how not to drive one of Google’s self-driving cars

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jan 14 2016 - 7:50 am PT
2 Comments

Medium’s tech hub editor-in-chief Steven Levy provides an interesting behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be a test-(non)driver of one of Google’s self-driving cars. Among the more surprising facts is that there’s a four-week full-time course to qualify to sit behind the wheel of one of the company’s testbed Lexus cars – with additional training needed for the cute prototype cars with only emergency controls.

There’s an abbreviated version for those who will only be sitting in the cars on the company’s private test facility. If you fancy the job, the most reliable way to apply, says Levy, is to be friends with an existing driver. If you can’t swing that, there’s always the option of applying to be a professional pedestrian …


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Google thinks we can end global poverty in 15 years, is inviting tech entrepreneurs to figure out how

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jan 14 2016 - 5:24 am PT
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Google has never been a company to shy away from the big challenges in life, whether it’s creating self-driving cars, beaming the Internet from balloons, making human skin or abolishing death. Its latest example is a summit at the company’s Campus London space to try to figure out how world poverty could be eradicated within 15 years.

While it may sound a huge challenge, much progress has already been made. In 1990, the United Nations set a goal of halving global poverty levels by 2015, and the goal was actually reached five years early in 2010. Google now wants to complete the job – starting with an afternoon’s worth of ideas from tech entrepreneurs.

Google for Entrepreneurs is co-hosting a Tech Against Poverty summit on January 22 from 1pm to 6pm at Campus London, a Google shared office space specifically created for start-ups. Its partner in the event is Dreamstake, a support and investor platform for start-ups.

Google and Dreamstake want to test the hypothesis that the start-up culture will have a major positive impact on the poorest communities in the world. The event is open to Scientists, inventors, engineers, artists, thinkers and doers, and hopes to create some effective new thoughts in this space, with Google for Entrepreneurs actioning any ideas they see as innovating and taking a step closer to solving the problem.

The event is free, and you can register to participate at Dreamstake’s Solve for X website.

Future versions of Chrome will have Chromecast support built-in

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 13 2016 - 2:57 pm PT
2 Comments

As of today, the ability to cast content to your Chromecast from the desktop comes in the form of a Chrome extension called Google Cast. As of the latest beta build of Chrome, though, you can now cast content from the web without said extension installed. All you have to do is right-click the content and use the “Cast…” menu…


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Report: Google’s ‘X’ lab renewing focus with project evaluation team & a buttery smooth logo

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jan 13 2016 - 9:32 am PT
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Google’s secretive Google X division is getting a new focus at the company that includes rebranding and a new logo, Recode reports.

Among the changes for Google X, according to the report, is a rebranding to simply “X” and the new butter-like yellow logo pictured above. But perhaps more importantly, behind the scenes there will also be a renewed focus including a team put in place specifically to “steer moonshots through the life-or-death throes.”
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Here’s a first look at the logo for Google’s forthcoming Project Aura

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 13 2016 - 9:06 am PT
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Update: The first business card for a Project Aura team member has popped up on Instagram.

We know that Project Aura is the successor to Glass — or at least a project that’s being built by some of the same people that built Glass — but now we have our first look at the logo that Google designed for this new venture. A person familiar with the project tells us that the logo is meant to resemble a new wearable device that wraps around the head…


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Opinion: 8 reasons Chromebooks are beating iPads in education, and what Apple could do about it

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jan 13 2016 - 6:59 am PT
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Apple for a time led the tech market in education, even making education-specific Mac models. More recently, the company made a big push on iPads, signing a $30M deal (that would eventually have been worth a quarter of a billion dollars) in 2013 to equip every student in the LA Unified School District with an iPad.

If that program had succeeded, it would have created a template for rolling out similar ones across the whole of the USA. Instead, it failed catastrophically, and it now appears that Chromebooks are winning where iPads have failed.

CNBC reported last month that Chromebooks now make up more than half of all devices in U.S. classrooms, while Apple’s share of classroom purchases more than halved between 2012 and 2015. Why is that, and what – if anything – can Apple do to reverse the trend … ?


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YouTube launches new tailored home pages in Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Avatar for Cam Bunton Jan 13 2016 - 3:59 am PT
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Google has announced that YouTube watchers in Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will start seeing a new homepage from this week. While YouTube has been available in Nepali, Sinhalese and Urdu for a while, the new pages have tailored content specific to those three countries. They also have country-specific domains.

Most-watched videos like Nai Nabhannu La 3 in Nepal, the Coke Studio channel in Pakistan and the Amazing Sri Lankan Spiderman will now show up in the top content for their respective countries, making them even easier to find.

With more local content finding their way to their viewers’ home-pages, YouTube hopes it will help inspire more local creators to get involved, and help them get discovered more easily.

While Google is keen to advertise its ‘tailored’ new home pages, there is a more interesting sub-plot here. YouTube has been banned in Pakistan since 2012, a ban which was re-inforced last February when the government said it would remain banned indefinitely. At the time, a Pakistan official said that “no tool or solution has been found which can totally block offensive content, that is why YouTube remains blocked and it will remain so indefinitely.”

With a dedicated Pakistan home page, perhaps Google is hoping it can persuade the government to lift the ban.

Google self-driving cars would have caused 10 accidents in 2015 without test drivers taking control

Avatar for Fred Lambert Jan 12 2016 - 4:43 pm PT
6 Comments

Google published today its annual report on disengagements of autonomous mode for its self-driving car program (SDC), which is required by California’s DMV. The report details events where Google’s test drivers have taken control over the car’s autonomous system, whether it’d be because of a shutdown due to technology failure or for safety reasons.

After having driven over 1.3 million miles in autonomous mode, Google’s self-driving cars were involved in 17 reported accidents, but the company prides itself of not having been at fault in any of them. But with today’s report, we learn the self-driving cars would have caused 10 accidents during the past year if test drivers wouldn’t have disengaged the system and taken controls.
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Google self-driving car lead dismissive of Tesla-like iterative autonomy approach in first public comments

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 12 2016 - 3:18 pm PT
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In his very first public comments, John Krafcik, chief executive of Google’s self-driving car division (which is still within Google[X] at the time of this writing), reiterated Google’s focus on achieving full autonomy in contrast to the incremental approach being taken by just about every other company pursuing the technology…


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LG sends out invites for its Mobile World Congress event on February 21st

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 12 2016 - 2:15 pm PT
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Mobile World Congress is still more than a month away, but that’s not keeping LG from sending out invitations to its upcoming press event in Barcelona. The company’s keynote is scheduled for February 21st, according to the invite, at 14:00 local time. Beyond that, though, there’s not much to learn here. The invite shows what looks to be a jack-in-the-box along with the slogan “Play begins.”…
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9to5Toys Last Call: LG G Flex 2 (unlocked) $190, USB-C cables from $8, Samsung 850 EVO SSD $290, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 12 2016 - 9:18 am PT
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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Last Call Updates:

LG and Google’s Nexus 5X gets a permanent $30 price cut

LG G Flex 2 (unlocked) 4G LTE w/ curved OLED: $190 shipped (Reg. $250) | eBay

Googler-approved iOrange-E USB Type-C cables from $8 Prime shipped

Samsung 850 EVO 1TB 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drive: $290 shipped (Reg. $350+)

View-Master Virtual Reality Starter Pack for iPhone/Android: $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $30)

Quick Review: SoundPEATS’ Q9A Bluetooth earbuds offer solid value at less than $20, exclusive discount

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Motorola Nexus 6 factory unlocked 32GB in blue/white: $250 shipped (Reg. $330)

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/686917589210148865 align=’center’]

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

FitBit’s Charge HR fitness tracker available for just $110 shipped (Reg. $150)

WD My Book 5TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive: $110 shipped (Reg. $140)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

This new touchscreen Smart Remote controls your devices just by pointing at them

Report: Amazon planning to launch smaller, more portable version of its Echo speaker

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/685497066211176448 align=’center’]

Report: Ford planning separate autonomous car unit, intends to use Google’s self-driving software

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 11 2016 - 11:43 am PT
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According to a report today out of The Wall Street Journal, Ford, as part of its plan to reinvent itself, is planning to create a separate business unit dedicated to its ambitions in autonomous cars for “ride-sharing and fleets.” Of course the company is seeking partnerships in this space, and it just so happens that, just as was reported by Yahoo Autos a few weeks ago, Alphabet Inc.’s Google is a big part of this move…


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: View-Master VR $20, PNY 128GB MicroSDXC $35, Verizon Moto E (2015) $40, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 11 2016 - 9:29 am PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

View-Master VR Starter Pack for iPhone/Android: $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $30)

PNY High Performance 128GB High Speed MicroSDXC: $35 shipped (Reg. $80) | Amazon

Verizon Wireless Prepaid Moto E 4G w/ 8 GB flash: $40 shipped (Reg. $70) | eBay

Anker Tech Prime shipped: 13,000mAh Dual-USB Power Bank $25, Wireless Network Camera $60, LED Desk Lamp $26, more

WD My Book 5TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive: $110 shipped (Reg. $140)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

FitBit’s Charge HR fitness tracker available for just $110 shipped (Reg. $150)

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Add Bluetooth capabilities + a dual-port USB charger to your car for $16 (Reg. $28)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Segway and Intel got together to create a futuristic robot butler

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/685497066211176448 align=’center’]

Google’s Ubiquity developer summit kicks off at 10 AM PT, tune in here [Updated]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 11 2016 - 8:39 am PT
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Update: You can now view full video from the Ubiquity dev summit on YouTube here.

As we told you a couple of weeks ago, Google’s Ubiquity internet of things-focused dev summit is kicking off today at around 10 AM PT. Google has several technologies including Brillo and Weave that are geared for this trend in computing (which we will surely hear about), but the official schedule mentions everything from Chromecast to CloudSpin to Android Auto…
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December’s self-driving car report from Google details rain encounters, zero new accidents

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 8 2016 - 4:07 pm PT
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Google has been releasing monthly reports about its self-driving car program for quite some time now, and now December’s report has hit the interwebs. This report was delayed due to the holidays (they usually hit around the 1st of the month), and it also just so happens to be one of the most bare-bones we’ve seen so far. The company does note what they’re doing to combat the rain in California (say what?), though…


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Google Now’s new weather cards are colorful and way more useful (Update)

Avatar for Cam Bunton Jan 8 2016 - 6:22 am PT
3 Comments

Update: Google has officially announced the refresh, as well as the ability to add and save multiple locations.

It seems Google is testing a new version of its weather cards in Google Now. Rather than seeing the usual, plain white Material-designed card that we’re used to seeing, some users are noticing a brand new richer design. The cards are colorful, and have far more functionality…


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