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Longtime Search SVP Amit Singhal leaving Google after 15 years, head of AI taking over

Avatar for Abner Li Feb 3 2016 - 9:41 am PT
3 Comments

Google’s longtime Senior Vice President of Search Amit Singhal is leaving the company after 15 years. In a Google+ post, he said that February 26th would be the last day and that he would be looking into philanthropy in the future. Re/Code is reporting that the Search will be merged with the company’s other artificial intelligence and machine learning efforts.


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‘Cardboard++’ might be Google’s internal name for a Cardboard & Project Tango smashup

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 3 2016 - 9:10 am PT
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Update 2: People familiar with the matter have said that this isn’t an internal codename for a future project, but rather just referencing the concept of iterative “++” in programming.

Update: Taylor’s LinkedIn profile has been updated to redact mentions of Cardboard++: “In January I began working with the Cardboard team.” Previous version can be seen in a screenshot below.

We know that VR has become much more central to Google’s ambitions lately, but what exactly might the company be working on? According to some evidence scattered across the web, one project in the works might be called “Cardboard++,” a collaboration between the Project Tango augmented reality team and the Cardboard virtual reality team…


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Google engineer’s testing of USB-C cables ends as bad cable fries his Chromebook & test kit

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Feb 3 2016 - 7:19 am PT
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Update: Leung has resumed testing with a repaired test device, but for now can only weed out bad cables for now as he still doesn’t have a working Chromebook.

Google engineer Benson Leung was doing a great job at distinguishing the good, the bad and the ugly where USB Type-C cables are concerned, exposing ones that failed to meet the proper specs as well as others that were just plain dangerous.

Unfortunately his testing has now come to an abrupt end as one particularly bad cable resulted in significant damage to both his Chromebook Pixel and the USB PD sniffer devices he was using …


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Ultra-secure Turing Phone inexplicably ditches Android for Sailfish OS

Avatar for Cam Bunton Feb 2 2016 - 1:17 pm PT
2 Comments

Tech companies make baffling decisions all the time, it’s not a rare occurrence. In most cases, while we’re scratching our heads, we can normally sort-of see a reason or some kind of logic behind those moves. Whether it’s OnePlus’ unusual marketing strategies, Google launching the Pixel C without multi-window multitasking or HTC’s decision to launch an iPhone clone. In the case of Turing Robotics, I’m stumped…


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Opinion: Three months later, is the Nexus 6P still the best Android phone?

Avatar for Edoardo Maggio Feb 2 2016 - 1:05 pm PT
9 Comments
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One of Google’s latest slogans created to showcase the essence of Android in a nutshell spells: “Be together, not the same.” It is both a testament to the company’s general embracement of diversity and arguably one of the most precise ways to describe the OS as a whole. Fans, however, have long had trouble trying to identify the ‘ultimate’ Android device, despite the sea of devices whose supposed heterogeneity should guarantee a perfect match for everyone.

In an endless fight among the various OEMs to come out at the top of the critics’ — as well as the fans’ — rankings, one trend has notoriously stood out. People love Android devices because of the software (specifically its flexibility), and in spite of the countless efforts made by manufacturers to tweak and enhance the OS in order to make it better, the pure, unadulterated experience offered by Google has long been preferred by virtually every enthusiast.

Be it because of its simplicity and cleanliness, dedication to Google’s brand, or the sheer fact that updates are not hampered by carriers and other third parties, stock Android has always had the upper hand over UXs such as Samsung’s TouchWiz or HTC’s Sense — at least to those who even know what “TouchWiz” is. To this day, the problem with Google’s vanilla OS still resides almost solely in the hardware it runs on.


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References to ‘S7 Edge’ appear on Samsung’s website more than two weeks early

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 2 2016 - 11:04 am PT
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Over the weekend, press renders of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge leaked via Evan Blass, leaving not much to the imagination for the Korean company’s upcoming Mobile World Congress press conference. Now, the S7 Edge has been outed even more, with references to the unannounced device appearing on one page of Samsung’s own website…


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PSA: ZenFone Zoom is now available for $399

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 2 2016 - 8:52 am PT
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It wasn’t until just recently that the ZenFone Zoom, which ASUS showed off at CES more than a year ago, finally went up for pre-order. Now, you can buy the phone outright in all its leather-backed glory over at B&H for $399 shipped. The main feature that sets this phone apart is its camera with optical zoom, allowing the lenses within to actually move forward and backward physically to offer up to 3x zoom without losing any image quality.


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Google’s self-driving cars drive three million miles a day, without leaving the lab

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Feb 2 2016 - 4:08 am PT
1 Comment

Google’s self-driving cars have notched up almost 1.5 million miles in autonomous mode since the project began in 2009 – but they drive twice as many miles every single day in the lab. Google’s latest monthly report reveals that every software change is tested by using it to simulate driving the entire driving history of the fleet, autonomous and manual.

One benefit of teaching a computer to drive is that it has great memory and recall. With our simulator, we’re able to call upon the millions of miles we’ve already driven and drive those miles again with the updated software. For example, to make left turns at an intersection more comfortable for our passengers, we modified our software to adjust the angle at which our cars would travel. To test this change, we then rerun our entire driving history of 2+ million miles with the new turning pattern to ensure that it doesn’t just make our car better at left turns, but that the changes creates a better driving experience overall …


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Report: Google using solar-powered drones to test delivering 5G data speeds from the sky

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 1 2016 - 4:44 pm PT
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According to a report from The Guardian, Google is currently in the process of testing solar-powered drones at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The company is reportedly testing the possibility of using these solar-powered drones to deliver high-speed internet from the air. Google, of course, also has its Project Loon effort, which uses high-alitude balloons to beam down internet service to the areas below. It’s unclear, at this point, if the two efforts are related or will be used in different scenarios.


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Alphabet has surpassed Apple to become the most valuable company in the world

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 1 2016 - 2:08 pm PT
2 Comments

Alphabet’s just-released Q4 earnings has seen its stock price rise in after hours trading, resulting in the Mountain View-based company passing Apple to become the most valuable company in the world. The company’s market capitalization was $517.6 billion at close, and while the price is still fluctuating after hours, Alphabet’s market cap will be over $540 billion tomorrow if these prices hold…


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Alphabet stock soars again: Q4 2015 earnings show $21.3 billion revenue [Livestream]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 1 2016 - 1:23 pm PT
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Alphabet has today posted its Q4 2015 earnings and fiscal year 2015 results. The company reports revenue of $21.3 billion, which is up 18%. Net income for Q4 2015 was $3.97 billion. Meanwhile, both Alphabet Class A stock and Class C stock is soaring in after-hours trading, briefly giving Alphabet the top spot as most valuable company in the world.

 
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Glimpses of more Material Design spotted in upcoming version of Chrome

Avatar for Edoardo Maggio Feb 1 2016 - 12:09 pm PT
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Material Design has undoubtedly been Google’s most significant effort in showing its renewed commitment towards design.
Despite being born on (and around) the web, however, it took almost a year and a half for Google to finally start updating its beloved Chrome browser to the new language.

As first spotted by The Next Web, a few screenshots posted within a recently-filed Google Code request show that the yet to be released version 50 of Chrome OS is being tweaked to reflect the changes, taking a few steps further from what we saw with v48…
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Chromecast w/ free $10 GC $35, SanDisk 32GB USB-C flash drive $34, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 1 2016 - 11:52 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:

Streaming Media Players: Chromecast (2nd gen) w/ free $10 Gift Card $35, Fire TV Stick w/ Voice Remote $40 (Reg. $50)

SanDisk 32GB USB-C Flash Drive for Chromebook & more: $34 Prime shipped (Reg. $50)

Time to chuck your cable bill, Mohu Leaf Paper-Thin Indoor HDTV Antenna is $24 today

JayBird Freedom Sweatproof Bluetooth Earbuds: $30, 66 Audio BTS+ Bluetooth Sports Headphones: $37 shipped

Best USB/Jump Start batteries for your car from Bestek, Aukey, more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Prep for Valentine’s Day w/ these gift card deals: Applebee’s $50 for $40, Regal Movies $25 for $20, more

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/694211128591777792 align=’center’]

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

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

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

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Build your own 1:5000-scale New York City with this incredible Kickstarter project

The CrossOver from NextDesk turns nearly any setup into a motorized standing desk

Google said to desire a more Apple-like experience with Nexus line, but how far can it go?

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Feb 1 2016 - 10:44 am PT
0 Comments
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A report today is saying that Google wants to become more like Apple in its Nexus lineup of phones and tablets – that is to say it wants more control over the marketing and building of its products. But can Google build up its hardware engineering at the same time without alienating its hardware/carrier partners and even Apple? …
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Samsung reportedly has a 360° video rig called the Gear 360 coming at MWC

Avatar for Stephen Hall Feb 1 2016 - 9:28 am PT
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Update: SamMobile has uncovered some source code on Samsung’s event page which seems to hint at the presence of 360-degree video, although in reality, that could mean anything. It’s definitely vague, but worth noting nonetheless.

Google unveiled its Jump camera rig for 360 degree video at Google I/O 2015, and now it appears Samsung has something related up its sleeve for Mobile World Congress later this month. According to a report this morning from SamMobile, the previously-rumored Gear 360 camera rig is real, and it’s coming at Mobile World Congress alongside the new lineup of Galaxy phones…
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG G4 w/ leather $340, ZeroLemon 10,000mAh solar charger $18, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 29 2016 - 12:00 pm 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:

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

ZeroLemon solar-powered SolarJuice 10,000mAh charger: $17.99 Prime shipped w/ code 43876GNC (Reg. $37) | Amazon (must choose ZeroLemon Direct)

Daily Deals: LG 55-inch 120Hz 1080p Smart HDTV $490, Car FM Transmitter w/ Bluetooth $11, more

1080p 60Hz LED HDTVs — LG 49-inch: $300 (Reg. $400), RCA 46-inch: $250 (Reg. $300)

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

Samsung 850 EVO 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drives: 1TB $289 (Reg. $325+), 2TB $586 (Reg. $618+)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Mohu over-the-air HDTV antennas (open-box): Leaf 50 Ultimate $30 shipped (Reg. $40), more

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

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

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

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

Pay What You Want: The 2016 Mac Bundle ~12

Work Faster & Smarter on Your Mac with 12 Apps to Clear Your Hard Drive, Enhance Audio, Track Device Activity & More

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Fluance mixes mid-century design with Bluetooth technology in its new Hi-Fi system

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

‘Project Watch’ & ‘Gcam’ projects detailed on new Alphabet X site, Project Aura now official

Avatar for Stephen Hall Jan 29 2016 - 8:40 am PT
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We told you a couple of weeks ago about how Google[x] recently got a new coat of paint (now under the Alphabet umbrella and simply known as “X”), and now that coat of paint has hit the web. The site has a brand new design, a new logo, and within you’ll find a rundown the group’s newly refocused mission. Additionally, the new Graduated Projects page seems to mention some projects we’re familiar with and some that we haven’t heard of previously…
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Google responds to Project Loon objections, tells FCC balloons are safe & legal

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jan 29 2016 - 4:27 am PT
0 Comments
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It’s two-and-a-half years since Google first shared details of Project Loon, a series of high-altitude balloons designed to provide wireless Internet access to developing countries where infrastructure is scarce. As testing expands, and we’ve learned more about the project’s progress, the FCC has started to receive objections from those concerned that the long-range microwave transmissions might pose health risks or interfere with other wireless operations.

Google has this week written to the FCC to argue that the balloons are both safe and legal …


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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…


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