Skip to main content

Google

5,692 'Google' stories January 2009 - January 2016
See All Stories

Stay up to date on news from Google headquarters. Be the first to learn about plans for Android, Google Plus, Google Apps, and more!

9to5Toys Lunch Break: ASUS ZenWatch $100, Droid Turbo 2 BOGO 1/2 off, QuickCharge 2.0 deals, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 28 2016 - 11:09 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:

Asus ZenWatch Android Wear smartwatch: $100 shipped (Reg. $200) | Amazon (ships in 2-4 weeks)

Buy a Droid Turbo 2 and get a second Turbo 2 or Maxx 2 50% off at Verizon.com

Moto X Pure Edition designed by Jonathan Adler is now $399 (Reg $474) | Motorola

Buy a Moto G (16GB) and get two free shells | Motorola

Order Moto 360 (2nd gen) with a metal band and get a leather band free | Motorola

Quick Charge 2.0 power bank 15600mAh: $21.99 Prime shipped w/ code Z9646RFC (Reg. $32) | Amazon

Quick Charge 2.0 Car Charger-CHOE Car Charger: $5.99 Prime shipped w/ code 725N2G9D (Reg. $14) | Amazon

Grab Amazon’s best-selling iPhone and Android Virtual Reality kit for $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $40)

Acer 15.6″ Chromebook w/ 4GB RAM, and 16GB SSD (Refurb): $175 (Orig. $280)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

 

Daily Deals: Samsung 40-inch 4K 120MR Smart LED UHDTV $450, GoPro HERO4 Silver Edition Camera $300, more

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/692745367566356480 align=’center’]

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Nexus Deals: 6P from $450 (Reg. $500), 5X w/ $20 Gift Card $300 (Reg. $350)

Samsung D3 Station 4TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive $100 shipped (Reg. $130+)

Game pre-orders for Amazon Prime members –Zelda, Far Cry Primal, FFXV: $48 ea (Reg. $60)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Aereo’s founder is returning with a new ISP that beams gigabit speeds into your home

This German eBike blends a minimalist design with serious battery power

You have to see NERF’s new Crossbow and Zombie Brainsaw that are coming out this fall

Upcoming 2016 LEGO sets focus on Marvel, Star Wars and City collections

Razor introduces two new electric-powered products at Toy Fair 2016

Four mysterious cities getting Google’s self-driving cars, Ann Arbor a likely candidate

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 28 2016 - 9:50 am PT
1 Comment

Google’s self-driving car project first came to Austin, Texas in July of last year, marking its first expansion outside of Google’s hometown of Mountain View, California. It was a logical next step, considering Austin’s forward-thinking political culture and unique environmental challenges (“pedicabs, pickup trucks, and everything in between,” Google said). Now, it appears—thanks to some recently-published FCC documents (via Mark Harris)—that Google has plans to bring the self-driving car program to four more mysterious cities…


Expand
Expanding
Close

EC says Google’s $185M tax deal with UK government may be illegal, likely to be investigated

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jan 28 2016 - 5:19 am PT
0 Comments

The European Commission says that the £130M ($185M) tax deal struck between Google and the UK government may amount to “illegal state aid” by offering the company better terms than those available to smaller businesses.

Google first came under fire for its tax arrangements in the UK in early 2013, when it was accused of funneling profits from UK Adword sales through Ireland, resulting in the company paying just £6M ($8.5M) tax on a turnover of £395M ($565M). In the new deal, it agreed to change its accounting practices to pay more tax in the UK, and to pay a lump sum in back tax …


Expand
Expanding
Close

9to5Toys Lunch Break: USB Power Banks from $9, HTC products up to 30% off, Nexus 6P from $450, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 26 2016 - 9:58 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:

USB Power: Anker Astro E5 16,000mAh Dual-Port $25 (Reg. $40), KMASHI 10,000mAh $9, more

HTC offering 15% off on purchases over $150, 20% off $500, and 30% off $650

Nexus Deals: 6P from $450 (Reg. $500), 5X w/ $20 Gift Card $300 (Reg. $350)

VIZIO Refurb 120Hz Smart HDTVs: 48-inch $300 (Orig. $500), 50-inch $330 (Orig. $500), more

Networking: Motorola SB6183 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem + NETGEAR Router: $100 ($160 value), more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Ooma Telo VoIP Home Phone System (Refurb.) $60 shipped (Orig. $130)

Add some comfort to your workspace w/ today’s 3M sale at Amazon: dual monitor mount $184, much more

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Media: new Blu-rays $10 – Jurassic World, Minions, more + BOGO offer

Game pre-orders for Amazon Prime members –Zelda, Far Cry Primal, FFXV: $48 ea (Reg. $60)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

It took a year of planning and 18,000 pieces to create this custom LEGO Arkham Asylum build

Fender brings its big name into the world of headphones with new Pro In-ear Monitors

Waze unveils new Transport SDK, partnering with popular apps like Lyft to offer smart integration

Avatar for Thor Schroeder Jan 26 2016 - 9:37 am PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

Waze is already the go-to app for real-time traffic updates, and today they’ve upped their game. Waze has officially announced its Transport SDK, which will give partners the ability to implement some of Waze’s features into their own applications. There will be no need to switch out of an app just to see a road block two miles ahead in the not-so-distant future.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Play Games announces automatic sign-in, no longer requires a Google+ account

Avatar for Abner Li Jan 25 2016 - 8:43 am PT
0 Comments

Over the weekend, Google announced changes to Play Games permissions that are mostly meant for developers, but regular users who game on Android will also see a benefit. Players no longer need their Google accounts upgraded to Google+ to use Play Games and can now automatically be signed-in with a standard Google account.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Daimler CEO was surprised by Google’s car effort and progress after a visit to Silicon Valley

Avatar for Fred Lambert Jan 25 2016 - 6:40 am PT
0 Comments

Daimler CEO and chairman of the board Dieter Zetsche is returning home from a trip to Silicon Valley where he met directly with several companies, but without naming them specifically. Though he didn’t disclose the companies he met with, Zetsche commented on the car industry effort of some Silicon Valley-based tech firms, namely Apple and Google.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Job listings seemingly confirm Google is working on its own VR hardware

Avatar for Cam Bunton Jan 25 2016 - 5:38 am PT
3 Comments

Two weeks ago, a report claimed that Google is forming its own VR division, with Clay Bavor (former VP of Gmail and Drive) in charge of the new focus on virtual reality. Now, two job listings have shown up indicating Google isn’t just really interested in VR as a concept, it wants to build its own hardware too.

Google has posted VR job listings for a Hardware Engineering Technical Lead Manager as well as a PCB Layout Engineer. Both of these job listings specifically mention Virtual Reality in the main job roles, and also mention consumer devices, suggesting Google wants to launch its own VR hardware for the general consumer.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google gains more VR personnel as Vine head Jason Toff leaves Twitter

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 24 2016 - 10:02 pm PT
0 Comments

Just a couple of days ago we told you that Scott Broock from Joust joined Google as YouTube’s “VR Evangelist,” and now it appears the Mountain View company has nabbed even more personnel to help push its virtual reality efforts forward. Jason Toff, general manager of Vine and director of product at Twitter, announced that he has joined Google to “work on VR.” It’s not yet clear exactly what his role will be, though…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Glass social media finally goes dead as Enterprise Edition rollout widens

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 24 2016 - 8:02 pm PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image

The Google Glass social media accounts—including Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and others—have finally been shut down after many months of continued #throughGlass postings and “Happy [insert holiday]!” images. This doesn’t come as much surprise as plans to bring Glass to the consumer market (at least by that name) have long been abandoned, but multiple people familiar with the matter say that Glass: Enterprise Edition is only just now starting to see wider adoption…


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google brings in Scott Broock from Jaunt to be YouTube’s Global VR Evangelist

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 22 2016 - 12:14 pm PT
0 Comments

Google has even more planned for virtual reality than just giving Cardboard it its own leadership and division. Scott Broock, coming over from virtual reality startup Jaunt, has joined the YouTube team as the company’s Global VR Evangelist (via Re/code). It’s not exactly clear what that means yet (we’ve reached out to Google for comment; no response yet), but he’s probably in charge of getting people to make VR content for the video service…


Expand
Expanding
Close

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Nexus Player $50, free Kelly Clarkson album, 1TB SSD $290, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 22 2016 - 10:04 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:

Google Nexus Player media player black: $50 shipped (Reg. $100) | Best Buy

Google Play offers downloads of Kelly Clarkson’s Piece by Piece album for free

Samsung 850 EVO 1TB 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drive: $290 shipped (Reg. $329+)

Several refurbished 12-inch MacBook w/ Retina display models are now available from Apple

Apple 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro w/ Force Touch (newest) 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB $1,250 shipped (Reg. $1,499)

Apple 12″ Retina MacBook 1.2Ghz/8GB/512GB: $1,290 shipped (Reg. $1,599)

Pay What You Want: The 2016 Mac Bundle ~12

Anker USB Power: Aukey & Anker USB QuickCharge 2.0 chargers from $6 Prime shipped, more

Tronsmart QuickCharge 2.0 Wall Charger: $6 shipped w/ code HOMECHAR (Reg. $15) | Amazon

Spigen Hybrid/Wallet/Thin Fit Nexus 6 cases: $3.50 shipped (Reg. $6.49 and up)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Games/Apps: Mortal Kombat X from $25, Batman Arkham Knight from $15, iOS freebies, more

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Throw one hell of a Super Bowl party w/ this Samsung 60″ Smart 3D 4K UHDTV: $998 shipped (Orig. $1,800)

LG 60-inch Smart 2160p 4K UHDTV w/ webOS 2.0: $899 shipped (Reg, $1,200)

Game pre-orders for Amazon Prime members – Final Fantasy XV, more: $48 ea (Reg. $60)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Exploding Kittens: the “most-funded game in Kickstarter history” comes to iOS w/ special launch offer

Brinks has a new solar-powered deadbolt that is iOS-connected w/ HomeKit on the way

 

Google rolling out HTTPS cached website pages for HTTPS-enabled sites

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 22 2016 - 9:00 am PT
0 Comments

HTTPS has become the rule, rather than the exception to the rule, in recent years. And in an effort to usher in the encrypted and more-secure communication protocol, Google announced last month that it would begin prioritizing HTTPS sites over HTTP sites when indexing the web. Unsurprisingly, Google is also slowly-but-surely making sure all of its own web properties use HTTPS over standard HTTP. Google’s cached pages available on the search site are now part of the club…


Expand
Expanding
Close

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Samsung 60″ 4K UHDTV $998, QuickCharge 2.0 chargers from $6, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 21 2016 - 10:53 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:

Last Call Updates:

Motorola Moto X Pure 4G 16GB w/ free $50 BB gift card: $400 shipped

Throw one hell of a Super Bowl party w/ this Samsung 60″ Smart 3D 4K UHDTV: $998 shipped (Orig. $1,800)

Anker USB Power: Aukey & Anker USB QuickCharge 2.0 chargers from $6 Prime shipped, more

Tronsmart QuickCharge 2.0 Wall Charger: $6 shipped w/ code HOMECHAR (Reg. $15) | Amazon

Apple 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro w/ Force Touch (newest) 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB $1,250 shipped (Reg. $1,499)

Apple 12″ Retina MacBook 1.2Ghz/8GB/512GB: $1,290 shipped (Reg. $1,599)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

GoPro HERO3 White bundle for $159 shipped (Orig. $300 value)

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Spigen Hybrid/Wallet/Thin Fit Nexus 6 cases: $3.50 shipped (Reg. $6.49 and up)

LG G4 w/ 32GB flash GSM 4G LTE (unlocked): $340 shipped (Reg. $600) | eBay

Game pre-orders for Amazon Prime members – Final Fantasy XV, more: $48 ea (Reg. $60)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Leica’s new X-U action camera makes your GoPro look like a child’s toy

The first Amazon Dash Replenishment devices are now available for order

Low-end ZenFone 3 possibly spotted on GFXBench, ZenFone Zoom now up for pre-order

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 21 2016 - 9:56 am PT
0 Comments

If you’re looking for the specs of the highest-end (and likely most popular) ASUS ZenFone 3, I don’t have anything for you. But a couple new benchmarks appeared on GFXBench recently, and they might be showcasing some specs for two of the upcoming phone’s lower-end variants. The model numbers are ASUS Z010DD and ASUS Z012D, and they seem to be closer to the budget realm rather than being this year’s refresh of the 4GB RAM beast that we saw last year with the ZenFone 2…


Expand
Expanding
Close

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
0 Comments

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…


Expand
Expanding
Close

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…


Expand
Expanding
Close

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
0 Comments

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…


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google’s doodle honors Martin Luther King Jr.

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 18 2016 - 1:24 pm PT
0 Comments

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
0 Comments

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…


Expand
Expanding
Close