Skip to main content

Google

5,708 'Google' stories January 2009 - August 2015
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!

Opinion: Sadly, I still don’t have a reason to wear my Android Wear smartwatch

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 25 2015 - 8:34 am PT
2 Comments

You can ask just about anyone: For quite some time, I thought wearables were on the brink of taking over our lives. And they may still be, but it seems to me that my internal excitement may have been premature. Google Glass fueled most of my anticipation, but smartwatches were definitely an area that intrigued me too. I told myself that all wearables needed was for Apple to make an entrance, and then platforms like Android Wear and Pebble would become quickly ubiquitous.

It may be too early to tell, but that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening — at least not yet. And while ASUS, LG, Huawei, and Motorola have some revamped hardware entries coming very soon, I’m just not that excited anymore. Why? Mostly because I just don’t have a compelling need for wearables in their current form. I have Google Glass and I have an LG G Watch R, but neither have become anything close to a daily driver for me. I still have no reason to use Android Wear.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google has an ironic way for you to transfer your data to their cloud

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 24 2015 - 11:23 am PT
0 Comments

Google has its own enterprise-grade cloud storage offering which competes with the likes of Amazon and Microsoft for storing data from big Internet players like Snapchat and Netflix. Now you can send your data to their cloud in the most literal, or most lazy, way ever before possible.


Expand
Expanding
Close

BlackBerry Passport ‘Silver Edition’ w/ Android Lollipop purportedly caught on camera [Video]

Avatar for Stephen Hall Aug 24 2015 - 8:55 am PT
0 Comments

Evan Blass — otherwise known as Evleaks — shared with us an image last week showing what looks to be some silver variant of the much-rumored BlackBerry Passport running Android Lollipop. Tech blog 4GNews then went on just before the weekend to share images of what it called Passport Silver Edition. It turns out those images were from Dudu Rocha Tec., an Android-related Brazilian YouTube channel, and now we have a look at what is likely the much-rumored BlackBerry device in its full glory…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Maps for Android update makes it easier to access Street View

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 21 2015 - 1:52 pm PT
0 Comments

If you’re like me, you sometimes use the Street View feature of Google Maps to see a place you’re about to visit and what its surrounding area looks like. Maybe you’re apartment hunting and want to see if the neighborhood looks safe. Regardless of why you do it, Google understands us and has made this previewing a tad easier.

Google Maps version 9.13.0 for Android places a thumbnail preview of a location in the bottom left corner of the screen for inputted addresses and places for which you’ve pressed and held on the map. It looks like this:

Tapping one of these previews brings up your standard Street View:

This version is available from Google Play, and an APK can be downloaded from APKMirror.

Google Docs & Sheets for Android learn a few new useful tricks

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 20 2015 - 8:27 am PT
0 Comments

Update: This post has been updated to include an APKMirror link to the Docs update which includes Print Layout.

Google Docs and Sheets, two of products that make up Google’s suite of online productivity tools, have received some small updates on Android that will come in handy for mobile warriors (sorry, had to say it).

Let’s start with Docs. Now from the overflow menu of a document you’ll find a new Print Layout option that, when selected, will show you a fully paginated (each page labeled with its order in the document), read-only version of your document. This is what your document will look like printed on paper. Print Layout will continue to update in real-time as collaborators make changes. The ability to edit from within the Print Layout view will come in the future.

The other new updates today come for Google Sheets. The first is a new “intuitive keyboard functionality.” Now when you tap a cell in a Sheets spreadsheet, either the alphabetic or numeric will open depending on which type of characters are in the cell. Tap a cell with only numbers in it, Sheets will open the numeric keypad so you don’t have to make another tap to switch to it. Nice touch.

The final update to hit Sheets is autofill. As you can see in the GIF above, autofill makes it easy to complete a pattern without the tedium of going cell-by-cell and doing it yourself. Select the data you want to repeat and drag to the cells you’d like to repeat it in, and Sheets will fill in the cells using the pattern of your selected data.

The latter two updates for Sheets can be found in the latest update to the app for Android in Google Play, while an APK download of Docs including Print Layout can be found on APKMirror.

Verizon’s HTC One M9 is receiving Android 5.1 tomorrow

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 19 2015 - 7:58 pm PT
0 Comments

Good news for owners of the HTC One M9 on Verizon: Tomorrow the Taiwanese company is pushing Android Lollipop 5.1 to the flagship device. The news comes straight from Mo Versi, HTC’s VP of Product Management:

[tweet https://twitter.com/moversi/status/634105557234769920 align=’center’]

The update includes all the standard bug fixes and operating systems improvements that are baked into 5.1 — like improved Quick Settings and the new Device Protection tool — as well as a patch for the nasty Stagefright exploit. The 3 and 7 bands have also been activated, useful for when you find yourself roaming internationally.

Keep in mind that just because it begins rolling out over-the-air tomorrow, that doesn’t mean you’ll receive it right away. It could take a few days, and just to be sure the update hasn’t reached your device yet you can check for it manually by visiting Settings > About phone > System updates.

Evan Blass shares new GIF showing Blackberry Venice in all its glory

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 19 2015 - 4:07 pm PT
1 Comment

After sharing this morning a render of the slide-out keyboard on what is ostensibly an Android-powered BlackBerry Venice, a device which the Ontario-based company has teased but made no mention of what OS its powered by, respected leaker Evan Blass is back with more goodies for the BB faithful. This time he has tweeted out a short video that shows off a render of the smartphone from all angles, with dramatic transitions and animations in tow.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Project Ara was delayed in part due to electropermanent magnets not holding together well (Updated)

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 19 2015 - 12:22 pm PT
0 Comments

Update: Project Ara has just tweeted that the strength of the magnetic forces holding together the Ara phone modules is not, in fact, a problem — apparently that was a joke. We’ve since heard that the strength of the magnetic fields produced by the magnets being used is approximately 30 Newton-meters, more than enough strength to hold a 30 gram electronic module in place. The comments about building a better attachment/detachment solution still seem to be true, however, with the tweet also saying that, “We have been configuring a new solution. It’s better too.” The team is also working on improved camera and battery modules.

Google’s Project Ara, the name of the modular smartphone system the company is building that would enable anyone to put together a phone on their own, has run into problems that have impacted its public test roll-out. The team behind it has been cheeky and somewhat coy in explaining why it has delayed a test launch of the unique system, but a concise message posted to Twitter today might at least partly explain the delay.


Expand
Expanding
Close

AdSense v3.0 for Android receives Material Design treatment

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 19 2015 - 11:06 am PT
0 Comments

AdSense, Google’s publisher ad network used by millions of websites across the web, has just seen its Android app brought up to the company’s Material design language standards.

The app itself is mostly read-only, meaning you can quickly see data on your performance like how much money you’ve made from your ad placements over different time periods, but you cannot create new ads to place on your site from within the app. That would be cumbersome from a mobile device, though, as it requires copying and pasting HTML code into your site’s backend.

AdSense 3.0 also brings with it a new logo the company unveiled back in June. It looks like this:

And for the curious, here’s what the app looked like before today’s update:

The update hasn’t propagated completely in Google Play yet, but it’s available as a direct download through APKMirror right now.

Google and Intel combine 3D technologies to demo the ultimate augmented reality smartphone

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 19 2015 - 4:39 am PT
0 Comments

Google and Intel have developed what looks like the ultimate augmented reality smartphone, combining Google’s Project Tango tech to map and track 3D environments with Intel’s RealSense camera sensor, which isolates and scans 3D objects within those environments.

Engadget reports that the two companies have so far produced a developer prototype of the smartphone, with a consumer device expected to be released further down the line. While there will doubtless be serious applications for the technology, it’s augmented reality gaming that is likely to get the most attention … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Android-powered BlackBerry Venice render leaks, keyboard exposed

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 19 2015 - 1:23 am PT
1 Comment

BlackBerry has been rumored to be working on an Android phone for quite some time. In fact, almost as soon as its CEO John Chen teased the portrait slider dubbed ‘Venice’, it was predicted it might run Google’s operating. We’ve seen a leaked render showing the front of the device with what looks like stock Android. We’ve even seen slides showing off some of the BlackBerry-inspired user interface elements. What we haven’t seen yet is that ever-elusive keyboard.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Android Auto updated with fresh home screen UI

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 18 2015 - 2:05 pm PT
0 Comments

Google pushed an update to its Android Auto app today refreshing the home screen to bring bigger, easier to see cards, particularly when using navigation and playing music. Previously, all stacked cards were of equal height. Now, the top activity card is double the height of any of the cards below. Being bigger not only makes them easier to see, but also easier to interact with on the touch screen.

As well as the updated user interface, there are a few bug fixes and performance improvements. You can download the fresh update right now from the Google Play Store. It’s a free update and requires Android 5.0 or later to work. Obviously, you’ll also need a car with a compatible built-in system, or a compatible after-market system.

You can find out more about Android Auto, including compatible vehicles, over at android.com/auto.

Project Ara delayed until 2016, looking for new locations in US

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 17 2015 - 12:58 pm PT
0 Comments

The Project Ara team just announced through its Twitter account that its modular smartphone won’t hit the public until next year. It had initially planned to get a test launch up and running towards the end of this year, but it seems Google has come up against some stumbling blocks. As it explained on Twitter, chief stumbling block was not being able to predict the number of variations possible. It stated there were far more iterations than they’d originally thought.

Just before announcing the delay, the company stated that it’s looking for new locations to test the product in the U.S:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google announces Android M’s full name: Marshmallow

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 17 2015 - 10:21 am PT
0 Comments

Android M’s software features have already been announced, but what hasn’t been announced is what the ‘M’ stands for. In our early poll, you decided Marshmallow was the most likely choice, and that’s what Google’s gone with. Earlier today, Jeff Sharkey shared a photo of the covered statue on Google Plus, and now the tarp is off! It’s our favorite green robot clutching on to a Marshmallow.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Verizon’s Samsung Galaxy S4 receives Stagefright patch, other fixes

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 17 2015 - 9:47 am PT
0 Comments

Stagefright isn’t totally a solved issue just yet, but device manufacturers and carriers have continued work on rolling out a patch that mitigates the OS vulnerability until another one of Google’s monthly security updates. Today we get an update for Verizon’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 which includes that patch and then some.

The update, rolling out over-the-air (OTA) and first spotted by Android Police, includes nothing new at all but quite a few fixes for software bugs to go along with addressing the Stagefright vulnerability. Device carriers and manufacturers that make them have felt almost unanimously responsible for rolling out fixes for the issue due to its sheer potential for damage and ease of exploitation, to name just two reasons.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy S4 on Verizon, expect to receive a notification when the update hits your device, sometime within the next few days. You can also check for it manually by visiting Settings > About phone > System updates.


Google’s Project Sunroof automates much of the solar purchasing process

Avatar for Tom Maxwell Aug 17 2015 - 9:32 am PT
1 Comment

Google today used a YouTube video to announce Project Sunroof, a website through which it is automating much of the process of researching and then purchasing solar panels for the home.

The gist of it is that while the cost of solar energy has been falling dramatically over the past few years, thanks in part to subsidies and economies of scale, the actual process of determining whether solar panels are right for you — logistically and economically speaking — is still complicated. Google is (still) a very data-driven company, though, and thinks that it can use data to provide just the right insights and information consumers are in need of, tailored specifically to each individual household.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Roundup: 5 best affordable to premium Chromebooks out right now

Avatar for Cam Bunton Aug 17 2015 - 9:16 am PT
0 Comments

Chromebooks are only four years old as a computing category, but they’ve helped give a new lease on life to a flagging PC industry in this ‘Post PC’ world. They’re almost always inexpensive and low maintenance, thanks to being almost entirely browser based. But now, four years later, there are so many options on the market, it’s hard to know what to buy. Here’s our guide on the best Google-powered notebooks out there…


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google X robotics expert speaks out on the decline of women in tech from 35% to 26% (Video)

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 17 2015 - 4:57 am PT
0 Comments

If we want to understand why the percentage of women in working in the tech sector has dropped from 35% in 1990 to just 26% today, asking some women in tech for their thoughts on the issue seems like a smart thing to do. Re/code is doing just that, in a new video series entitled The 26%: Women Speak Out on Tech’s Diversity Crisis, and a Google X robotics expert was first in line … 
Expand
Expanding
Close