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Alphabet’s Access unit gets profiled, reportedly getting a rebrand as Google unifies several projects

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 30 2015 - 12:11 pm PT
4 Comments

Craig Barrat was previously Google’s SVP of “access and energy,” but now he leads an Alphabet unit as CEO. That unit is called Access and Energy, and includes Google’s Fiber division as well as several other access and energy-related products (as Google’s Ruth Porat noted in its Q3 2015 earnings call). Now, thanks to an extensive profile of Access today out of Re/code, we have a little bit more of an idea of exactly which projects fall under this group…
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Google hires Tesla’s Autopilot Engineering Manager and former SpaceX Director of Flight Software

Avatar for Fred Lambert Nov 30 2015 - 8:34 am PT
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Update: A source close to the company tells us Rose is not working on Google’s car project. We are also hearing that he might have been let go at Tesla.

Robert Rose has an impressive resumé as a software engineer. He worked at HP while completing his MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Oregon State University. He then developed award-winning PSP games at Sony such as Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Resistance: Retribution.

In 2009, he moved to California to be the lead software engineer for SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 and Dragon flight. He quickly became Director of Flight Software, a position he held until July 2014. After a brief stint at machine learning firm Vicarious, he joined Tesla last May to lead the Autopilot team into the release of v7.0 update, which enabled ‘Autosteer’ and ‘Auto Lane Change’.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Rose left Tesla right after the release of the Autopilot in October and a month later, we learn that he joined Google.
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Talking Schmidt: The new Raspberry Pi is just $5 because of the Alphabet Inc. chairman

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 27 2015 - 2:27 pm PT
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Raspberry Pi Zero launched today, touted as “the $5 computer,” and it turns out (via The Wall Street Journal), that its existence — or at least its announcement today, before the launch of a more expensive Raspberry Pi — is partly thanks the words of none other than ex-Google CEO and now Alphabet Inc. chairman Eric Schmidt…
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Black Friday: Kindle price cuts, Nexus 5X $299, Nexus 9 $199, Galaxy S6 Edge $460, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 27 2015 - 1:16 pm PT
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Black Friday is upon us, and that means deals galore. As we mentioned in our gameplan for Apple buyers, though, the biggest “don’t” of Black Friday is to actually go to a physical store. To keep you in the comfort of your home today, we’ve pulled together all of the best deals for Google and Android fans — and all it takes is clicking a few buttons to have these products at your doorstep in a matter of days. Keep reading for the best Google-y Black Friday deals of 2015…
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Google Glass 2.0 could be a funky-looking flexible device with images viewable by both eyes (but probably not)

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Nov 27 2015 - 5:45 am PT
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Google seems to be keeping its options open on what the next generation of Google Glass may look like. We’ve previously seen a larger prism reportedly destined for the Enterprise Edition, and last week heard that the company is working on two audio-based models without a screen via Project Aura.

A Google patent granted this week now shows two different approaches to a flexible version of the wearable (see below for the second one), worn over only one ear, and with the option of a display viewable by both eyes … 
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Google’s accelerated mobile pages launch early next year, more partners announced

Avatar for Abner Li Nov 25 2015 - 7:43 pm PT
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The AMP Project — to speed up and improve mobile web pages — is picking up steam since its announcement six weeks ago, and now we know that it’s expected to launch in an official capacity early next year. A bevy of new media organizations and ad tech companies have announced their support and commitment to the open source project, as well.


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Google’s latest FCC filing hints at more extensive Project Loon testing in the U.S.

Avatar for Chance Miller Nov 25 2015 - 4:21 pm PT
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According to a recent filing with the FCC, Google is looking to test something with experimental radios that use a wireless spectrum in all 50 states and in Puerto Rico. The details on these tests are incredibly sparse at this point, but Google wants to start the process on January 1st and test for 24 months (via BI).


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Galaxy S6 Edge $460, Samsung Gear Live $79, Black Friday deals

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 25 2015 - 12:48 pm 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.

Heads up! During Black Friday/Cyber Monday you’re going to have to follow us on Twitter to get the best deals since many sell out too quickly to post.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge 32 GB (unlocked): $460 shipped (Reg. $600) | eBay

Deal: Samsung’s Android Wear-powered Gear Live is now just $79

ASUS Chromebox 1.7GHz/4GB/16GB: $199 or $175 w/ Visa Checkout (Reg. $230)

ASUS Chromebook 1.8GHz/2GB/16GB: $210 or $190 w/ Visa Checkout (w/ code VCOBF15) (Reg. $250)

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7-Inch Tablet (16 GB): $230 shipped (Reg. $300) | Amazon

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (7-Inch, Black): $120 shipped (Reg. $180) | Amazon

9to5Google Gift Guides: Stephen and Cam’s favorite Chrome and Android-powered products

Cyber Monday Ad Roundup: What to expect from Target, Best Buy, Walmart and others

Amazon releases its Cyber Monday strategy with rotating deals every five minutes

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Free downloads via Amazon: dozens of songs, movies, TV episodes, apps and eBooks

BLACK FRIDAY AD LEAKS & NEWS:

google-chromecast-2

Best of Black Friday – Streaming Media Players: Apple TV 64GB $180, Roku SE $20, 2-Pack Chromecast (2nd gen) $50, more

Best of Black Friday – Smart Home: Nest Thermostat $250 + $50 GC, Philips Hue kit $130

Best of Black Friday – HDTVs: 40-inch from $149, Samsung 55-inch Smart $580 (Reg. $1,200), more

Best of Black Friday – iPads, Tablets and e-readers: iPad Air 2 from $360, Amazon Fire $35 (Reg. $50), more

Best of Black Friday – Games: Xbox One/PS4 console bundles, deep discounts on games, more

Best of Black Friday – wearables: Fitbit Flex $59/Charge $90/more, $100 off Apple Watch, Android smartwatches, more

Best Buy’s Black Friday ad brings deals on Apple Watch, Macs, HDTVs, games & more!

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Pebble Time iOS/Android Smartwatch: $130 shipped (Reg. $200)

Apple AirPort Extreme 802.11ac Wireless Router (refurbished): $100 shipped (Orig. $199)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Unboxing and Review: Star Wars Battlefront limited edition PS4 is out of this galaxy [Video]

Mohu launches a “high-end” speaker with built-in Android display, save 10%

Stephen’s 9to5Google Gift Guide: These are the Chrome & Android products you should buy

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 25 2015 - 12:15 pm PT
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If you’re looking to buy some Google-y phones and tablets and laptops and smartwatches for your loved ones this holiday season, look no further. We’ve had our hands on most Android phones, Android Wear smartwatches, and Chromebooks to come out over the last 12 months, and now it’s time to decide which are the best of the best. Read on…
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Opinion: LG V10 is a dual-screened, tri-camera beast of a phone, but is that what you want?

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 25 2015 - 8:55 am PT
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I used a Nexus 5X throughout most of October (and was very frustrated with it), but earlier this week the LG V10 showed up at my doorstep — and I just had to give it a shot for a couple weeks. Although my opinion may be skewed thanks to my less than joyful experience with the 5X, I actually found the LG V10 to be a contender for best handset I’ve used this year. It’s huge and heavy, yes, but at least for me, it’s more than feature-complete enough. And it’s especially great when you ditch LG’s software…
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Google gives more examples of ‘right to be forgotten’ acceptances & refusals

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Nov 25 2015 - 4:09 am PT
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Google has today updated its Transparency Report with more examples of ‘right to be forgotten‘ requests it has received, stating in each case whether it accepted or rejected the request. This follows other examples last year of easy and difficult cases.

The cases make it clear that Google has to balance fairness to the individual against the wider public interest. For example, while it might agree to remove decades-old information about private individuals, it refused to do so for a public figure in Hungary.

A high ranking public official asked us to remove recent articles discussing a decades-old criminal conviction. We did not remove the articles from search results … 


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Whoops! Google claims ‘bug’ was pushing down competitor search results from Yelp and TripAdvisor

Avatar for Cam Bunton Nov 25 2015 - 2:50 am PT
1 Comment

Over the weekend, executives from Yelp and TripAdvisor noticed that Google was pushing restaurant, or POI results from its services down in favor of its own. Neither of the popular location information services was particularly pleased to see it happening, but Google claims it was due to a “bug” and that it will be fixed…just as soon as possible!


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Huawei Watch gets a new watch face, optimizations, more (but no Android Wear 6.0 yet)

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 24 2015 - 3:07 pm PT
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I’m in agreement with most that the Huawei Watch is one of the best Android Wear smartwatches of the year (and thereby one of the best smartwatches of the year, period), and now it’s getting a little better. According to a post on the Huawei Community blog, the device is now getting a minor maintenance release with optimizations all-around a new watch face, and a new app…
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Nexus 6P owners on Australian Telstra now receiving OTA fix for 4G issues

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 24 2015 - 11:47 am PT
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Owners of the recently-released Nexus 6P on Australian carrier Telstra have been complaining of sporadic 4G issues since the phone first launched, and now it appears (via Ausdroid) that these users are receiving an OTA update to fix these issues.

The update comes in at a solid 71.1 MB and specifically mentions improving “4G network connectivity for your Nexus 6P.” The build number is MMB29N, and the Android security patch level is still at November 1, 2015. Reports from Twitter suggest that the problems are indeed resolved.

You can download the OTA update directly from Google’s servers by clicking the link below, and info on how to install it can be found in our guide.

Google keeps the Star Wars goodies coming, with Google Cardboard VR on the way

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Nov 24 2015 - 4:48 am PT
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Google’s partnership with Lucasfilm and Disney to promote the new Star Wars movie has already seen everything from themed backgrounds in Gmail to an X-Wing marking your position in Google Maps, but the company is not done yet.

Searching for ‘a long time ago in a galaxy far far away’ leads to a great Easter egg, where the results are shown Star Wars intro style. It’s not just a dumb graphic, it’s the real search results, and each is clickable.

And there are Google Cardboard VR experiences (and custom viewers) coming soon … 
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Get a closer look at Alphabet Life Sciences’ ‘capicola’ health tracker in FCC photos [Gallery]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 23 2015 - 11:02 am PT
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The then-under-Google X Life Sciences team made its “capicola” health tracker official in an interview with Bloomberg earlier this year, but until now we’ve only seen one stock image of the device. Andy Conrad, head of the life sciences team, was quoted at the time as saying that this device is to be used primarily for medical purposes, such as prescribed to patients or used in clinical trials. Now, we have another look at the device — which has the FCC ID A4R-CAP1 — in a little more detail…
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Google receives 2M takedown requests a day for pirated content, up from 1M last year

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Nov 23 2015 - 4:49 am PT
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The latest numbers in Google’s transparency report show that the search giant currently receives more than 65 million requests a month to remove links to pirated content – which works out at 2M per day, or 1,500 per minute.

That’s a doubling in number in a little over a year, the company reporting that takedown requests hit 1M in August 2014. Go back to 2011, and the numbers were measured in the mere hundreds.

Google introduced a new automated system last year designed to help fight piracy … 
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Google once built Star Trek Communicator-like wearable lapel pin

Avatar for Cam Bunton Nov 23 2015 - 3:06 am PT
1 Comment

In an exclusive interview with TIME, Google’s chief software engineer Amit Singhal revealed that the company once developed a wearable product which works in a similar manner to the Communicator pin badges worn by the Enterprise crew in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Bluetooth-connected lapel pin could be activated by a single tap and had a built-in microphone…


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Google Handwriting Input app update brings five new languages including Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Urdu and Burmese

Avatar for Cam Bunton Nov 21 2015 - 6:50 am PT
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Google has updated its Handwriting Input app to include five new languages. Now, customers who speak Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hebrew and Burmese will be able to scribble words on to the input pad, instead of having to tap or swipe across the virtual QWERTY keyboard. By adding these five new languages, Google’s handwriting recognition tool now supports 82 languages from across the globe.

What’s great about the tool from Google is that, even if you have untidy handwriting, the software still seems to do a good job recognizing your scrawling and changing it in to text on screen. In most cases, it seems to understand what I’m trying to write, even though my scribbles aren’t the most legible. Google describes it as such:

Google Handwriting Input allows you to handwrite text on your phone or tablet in 87 languages. It supports printed and cursive writing, with or without a stylus. Google Handwriting Input also supports hundreds of emojis, so you can express yourself in any Android app.

Key features:
• A useful complement to touchscreen typing or voice input
• A fun way to enter emojis by drawing
• Useful for languages that can be challenging to type on a standard keyboard
• Works across your Android phones and tablets running Android 4.0.3 and up
• If you claim your handwriting is terrible, try it out and see if it can convince you otherwise

Google Handwriting Input version 1.5.1 is available to download for free from the Google Play Store and is compatible with any Android device running Android 4.0.3 or later.

Children too trusting of Google and YouTube, unable to identify paid ads, says UK govt report

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Nov 20 2015 - 4:56 am PT
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A report by the UK’s telecoms and Internet watchdog Ofcom says that children are too trusting of what they find on the web, a surprisingly high percentage of them taking search results on trust, and unable to identify paid ads.

One in five online 12-15s (19%) believe information returned by a search engine such as Google or Bing must be true, yet only a third of 12-15s (31%) are able to identify paid-for adverts in these results.

The report found that the position was even worse with YouTube … 
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Google combines its cloud businesses, puts VMWare co-founder at the helm

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 19 2015 - 2:13 pm PT
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Sundar Pichai has taken to the Google for Work blog today to announce that Diane Greene, co-founder of VMWare, is taking lead of a newly-organized group at Google that combines the company’s cloud businesses. Besides the obvious Google Cloud Platform, this move pulls in Google for Work and Google Apps to make one integrated team…
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: USB DVD drive $20, Verizon 1GB of data free, Nexus 5 (new) $200, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 19 2015 - 1:48 pm 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.

Heads up! During Black Friday/Cyber Monday you’re going to have to follow us on Twitter to get the best deals since many sell out too quickly to post.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Tech Components and Accessories up to 60% off: LG Ultra Slim Portable DVD Rewriter $20, much more

Verizon launches its Thanksgetting freebies promotion: 1GB of data, $5 iTunes credit, more

Expansys pre-Black Friday deals: Nexus 5 $200 (Reg. $350), Chromebooks $120, more

7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 tablet: w/ FreedomPop: $55 shipped (Reg. $140+) | FreedomPop

Ultimate Ears (UE) BOOM Smart Portable Bluetooth Speaker: $100 shipped (Orig. $200)

Amazon’s Black Friday deals go live later this week w/ mobile shoppers getting extra perks

Top 5 ways to score the year’s best online Black Friday deals

10 can’t-miss deals for the holiday season: HDTVs, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6s, more

 

Giveaway: mophie juice pack reserve battery case for iPhone 6/s (multiple winners)

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/667440584332812288 align=’center’]

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Sony MDRX950BT Extra Bass Bluetooth Headphones: $98 shipped (Reg. $150+)

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/667354257641861120 align=’center’]

BLACK FRIDAY AD LEAKS & NEWS:

google-chromecast-2

Best of Black Friday – Streaming Media Players: Apple TV 64GB $180, Roku SE $20, 2-Pack Chromecast (2nd gen) $50, more

Best of Black Friday – Smart Home: Nest Thermostat $250 + $50 GC, Philips Hue kit $130

Best of Black Friday – HDTVs: 40-inch from $149, Samsung 55-inch Smart $580 (Reg. $1,200), more

Best of Black Friday – iPads, Tablets and e-readers: iPad Air 2 from $360, Amazon Fire $35 (Reg. $50), more

Best of Black Friday – Games: Xbox One/PS4 console bundles, deep discounts on games, more

Best of Black Friday – wearables: Fitbit Flex $59/Charge $90/more, $100 off Apple Watch, Android smartwatches, more

Best Buy’s Black Friday ad brings deals on Apple Watch, Macs, HDTVs, games & more!

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Choice of JBL Clip or Micro Bluetooth Speakers in multiple colors for $25 shipped (Reg. $40)

SanDisk Connect 32GB Wi-Fi Flash Drive for iOS/Android: $30 Prime shipped (Reg. $40)

T-Mobile is discounting iPhone 6s/Plus by $100 when bought on an installment plan or outright

Huge savings on pre-owned Apple Watches, deals from as low as $261 shipped

Apple iPod Touch 5th gen 16-64GB sizes, multiple colors: $149-$199 shipped

Apple Magic Mouse 2 (open-box): $68 shipped (Reg. $80)

Apple iPad Mini 2, space gray or silver: $199 shipped ($70 off)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

GENII’s CAST streaming box skirts copyright rules to beam your content to friends

Pryme Vessyl skips the 8-cup rule for a user specific iPhone-connected recommendation

 

PSA: Android Studio 1.5 now available in the stable channel

Avatar for Stephen Hall Nov 19 2015 - 10:57 am PT
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Android Studio 1.0

Last week we told you that Android Studio 1.5 became available in the beta release channel, and now Google has announced that it’s being pushed out to everyone. This release is “focused on delivering more stability,” Google says. Most of the upgrades here are under the hood.

Here’s a rundown of some of the bug fixes in this version:

  • You can now use short names when code-completing custom views
  • New memory profiler feature: detect some of the most known causes of leaked activities
  • Several new lint checks

You can check for updates within the app, or head over to the Android Studio site to grab a fresh version if you need it. Android Studio comes with the Studio IDE, the SDK tools, and the Android 6.0 platform and emulator.