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

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 …
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LG and Google are purportedly working together to release a revamped version of the Nexus 5 for 2015. We’ve already seen a number of supposed specifications, a case leak and a detailed 3D render based on detailed schematics. But we hadn’t seen any real evidence of the device being real. Until now.
Yesterday the well-known leaker, Steve Hemmerstoffer teamed up with uSwitch to leak digital renders of the purported upcoming LG-made Nexus. Today, the two are back with their first look at what could be this year’s flagship Nexus device. As rumored multiple times, this device is expected to be manufactured by Huawei, one of China’s biggest Android OEMs.
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The beginning of a new school year is almost here and with it many stores have begun to fill their aisles with supplies and pepper the media with advertisements to get kids, and their parents, in the door. Many students can’t afford to get everything they may need, however, which could start the year off on a wrong, anxious foot. Google, in partnership with Volunteers of America Operation Backpack, is using its Google Express same-day delivery service to give away 10,000 backpacks full of supplies to disadvantaged children.
Operation Backpack® provides new backpacks and school supplies to disadvantaged kids, giving them a sense of confidence in knowing that their education is important and that somebody believes in them.
Here’s how it works: Spend at least $50 on Google Express between now and the 17th of this month, and Google will donate a backpack to Volunteers of America Operation Backpack, up to 10,000 backpacks. The website isn’t specific as to whether or not the $50 has to be in one transaction, but I assume so. And since there’s just a limit on the maximum amount of backpacks they’ll donate, you should be able to make multiple $50 orders and have a backpack donated each time until they hit that limit.
Google Express is Google’s same-day delivery service for getting everything from electronics to fruits and vegetables delivered right to your door within hours. It’s the same idea as the popular Instacart delivery service, except that Instacart delivers a more limited selection of items — mainly food and healthcare products. Express, like Instacart, procures its inventory from local stores which vary depending on the city you’re in, and you can either pay $5 for delivery, or a $95 annual membership fee to get unlimited free deliveries on orders of at least $15 in value. Google Express is only available in a few major US cities right now, though:
Like every other US carrier, Sprint has been working diligently to release a patch to the Stagefright vulnerability in Android to its lineup of phones, and today HTC One M8 owners get the fix.
The release notes for the update only list a “Patch for critical security vulnerability (‘Stagefright’)” as being included in this update, so don’t expect anything else.
Stagefright is a vulnerability spotted in Android’s default MMS behavior that makes delivering and executing code on an Android-powered smartphone as simple as delivering a rich text message. Android has the ability to fetch the contents of a message before the user even opens it (this functionality itself is called “Stagefright” in Android), and most messaging apps previously didn’t prevent this from happening because, why not? Pre-fetching contents would be ideal as it means the user doesn’t have to wait for something to download when they tap and open a message.
Unfortunately, however, it’s also an easy way for bad guys to gain control of your phone. Google’s default text messaging app on Android, Messages, as well as its Hangouts messaging app, have both received updates to solve this from happening. Other popular messaging apps have followed suite, but Google’s vulnerability patch means that more apps won’t need to do the same.
Since this is a carrier update it’s being rolled out in stages, so it could be a few days before you see it hit your device. You should receive a notification when it’s available, otherwise you can manually check by visiting Settings > About phone > System updates.

Engadget noticed that Google’s Project Ara team had posted a confusing series of tweets about its Project Ara modular smartphone, making it unclear how the company now plans to proceed.
After a long period of radio silence following a photo posted from Google I/O back in May, the project’s Twitter account posted first that it had some updates to share, then that there would be a “market pilot re-route” but “don’t worry, #ProjectAra isn’t going anywhere, #just recalculating” …
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OnePlus One users running OxygenOS can now download the security patches to deal with the Stagefright vulnerability. OnePlus One announced in a blog post this morning that Oxygen OS 1.0.2 is now available to download, and fixes what some dubbed the worst Android vulnerability in the mobile device era. Customers are advised to ensure they back up all their data before flashing. Those using OxygenOS already won’t need to reset their devices.

For the past few weeks, rumors have surfaced suggestion Google will partner with two manufacturers this year for its Nexus phones. We’re purportedly going to see a smaller device made by LG and a larger model made by Huawei. Today we get our first look at some detailed 3D renders designed using hardware schematics sent to case-makers.
Google has today completed its roll-out of Google Play services version 7.8, the package of app tools and APIs that Google manages and which make it stand out from those who use the open source version of Android to create their own mobile platforms. With version 7.8 comes some new technology that will make it easier for developers to recognize when you’re smiling into your Android device’s camera.
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Chromebook for Work is Google’s lineup of premium Chrome OS-powered laptops which it promotes as easy to deploy, highly secure, and ready to run legacy Window applications through OS virtualization. Today the company announced that Dell will begin selling a new one of these business-ready Chromebooks starting September 17th, called the Dell Chromebook 13.
The Chromebook 13 is, like the rest of the Chromebook for Work line, packing a serious punch for a computer running such a lightweight operating system. It has a 13.3″ full HD touchscreen display (1920×1080), a 5th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, a backlit keyboard and glass touchpad, and a palmrest made out of magnesium alloy. The laptop is quoted for 12 hours of battery life, although these ratings are usually generous. The starting price will be $399 when it goes on sale, with no more detail on upgrade options or variants. “Enterprise class performance at an economical price point,” Google says in its blog post.
Chrome OS certainly does hold a lot of promise for IT departments frustrated with the current solutions out there, namely Windows and all the tumult going on at Microsoft over the company’s strategy for the operating system going forward. Google’s operating system was built at a much later time, and without the baggage of years and years of developing and supporting software meant for a place and time that has since passed. In my day-to-day there are rarely more than a few edge case applications and tools I need a full-on desktop computer for, so the ability of Chrome OS to virtualize Windows and run its applications is just icing on the cake of an OS which recognizes that many business-related programs can run in the web and be almost indistinguishable from their desktop equivalents — especially with Chrome OS’s ability to run web apps as individual windowed apps.
Samsung has today announced at its Unpacked event the latest in the Galaxy line of smartphones. The Korean company introduced the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, as well as a larger S6 Edge called — yes, it’s a bit of a mouthful — the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+…
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In case you’re out of the loop, Samsung is announcing a couple of new devices at its Unpacked event today. Based on the leaks we’ve been seeing over the last couple of months, it looks like the Korean company is set to unveil its S Pen-sporting Samsung Galaxy Note 5, as well as a bigger “plus” version of the Galaxy S6 Edge. Follow below for the livestream…
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Google’s Android security lead Adrian Ludwig has posted a detailed description of the security update recently issued by Google for Nexus devices. The update was designed to address the Stagefright vulnerability which has been described as the “worst Android vulnerability in the mobile OS history.”
On August 5, 2015, we released an over-the-air (OTA) update for Nexus 4/5/6/7/9/10 and Nexus Player devices that includes several security fixes. The patches for these fixes have also been released to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) source repository. These issues are categorized and provided in decreasing order of severity. We have also provided an assessment of each issue, given the information we have at the time of the publication of this bulletin …
As the changes from Google’s Alphabet restructure continue to emerge, it today was revealed that Niantic Labs, the team behind popular Ingress augmented reality game, will be spun off as its own independent company. In addition to creating Ingress, Niantic Labs also created Field Trip, which will also stick around when the company breaks off from Google.
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In many ways, the LG G4c is a mini version of the LG G4. Sadly, unlike Sony’s Compact series smartphones, it’s not a small phone with flagship specs. It’s less powerful, has a lower resolution screen and a smaller battery than the high-end G4. But all of that is reflected in the price difference. We’ve unboxed the device and filmed a brief comparison between the G4c and the LG G4…
Yesterday we wrote about three new Android apps to come out of Google’s Creative Lab, which at the time we had trouble making sense of as at first glance since they all seemed like trivial products without clear meaning. Now their existence makes more sense with the launch of a new community gallery of apps called Android Experiments.
The 3rd generation Moto X, also known as Moto X Style, also known as (officially, in the United States) Moto X Pure Edition, is set to become available for purchase in the US on September 3rd.
The phone, announced a couple of weeks ago alongside the Moto X Play, packs a 5.7-inch Quad HD display, a Snapdragon 808, 3 GB of RAM, 4G LTE, a beastly 21-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel front cam, and a 3,000 mAh battery.
Moto X Style, known as the “Pure Edition” stateside, will cost $399 for the base model. The Moto X Play will be available in 55 countries starting August (but, unfortunately, this doesn’t include the United States).
https://twitter.com/Motorola/status/631502920295534592
Are you one of the many diehard SoundCloud users and wish you could easily stream those tunes to your TV? You’re in luck, as the public version of SoundCloud in Google Play has just received an update with support for Google Cast, letting you stream all of the best remixes and indie tracks straight to your living room entertainment set up.
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OnePlus is just having too much fun marketing the OnePlus 2. In their latest stunt, the company invited the public to a special launch of the device at colette Paris. “We’ll be there from 11:00 am until the OnePlus 2 is sold out. It’s a very limited stock sale, so be sure to come early,” the company said. More than 200 people came out, according to a post on the company’s forum. It seems OnePlus really meant it when they said “very limited stock sale,” though…
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If you bought a Nexus 6 from Google during your Project Fi setup process, you may be surprised to know that the company will replace that device once for a fee of just $100. That means, if you dropped your phone and damaged it somehow, all you need to do is make a quick call to Project Fi customer support and they’ll arrange the replacement (via Android Central).
It’s pretty straight-forward, and given the no-questions-asked policy, you can literally swap your Nexus 6 for any reason within the first 12 months of ownership. If you manage to avoid any serious damage to your Nexus and it’s getting a little worn and old, you can ring up and swap for a fresh, shiny new one, as long as you’ve owned it for less than a year.
Of course, if a handset goes faulty during regular warranty period, your usual warranty terms apply. This hidden perk is more of an insurance policy against accidental damage, or things not normally covered by the product warranty. If your screen cracks on your Project Fi-powered Nexus, you know now that you don’t have to spend a fortune on getting your display replaced, or having to make do with a terrible backup phone.
The Life Sciences group at Google, previously under the umbrella of the company’s experimental X lab, seems to now be holding its own under the newly-formed Alphabet parent company. It’s something that somehow went under the radar with Larry Page’s announcement of Alphabet, but it’s definitely notable. It’s yet another graduation from the skunkworks lab, and it’s recognition that the group is worthy of being its own company…
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