[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uZVqPuq81c]
Google plans to make a “special announcement about Google Fiber and the next chapter of the Internet” at 12 p.m. EST.
The company revealed earlier this week that it would launch the “100 times faster than broadband” Internet service today in Kansas City.
You may already be aware that Google search provides a calculator that offers answers to queries, such as 2+2 directly, from the main search results page. As pointed out by a reader, Google recently updated the calculator search functionality, and it now provides a full HTML5 scientific calculator for these types of search queries. The features work with voice—except for on mobile devices, as they do not have access to the full scientific calculator presented on desktops.
Earlier this month, Google started to roll out a similar widget on its search page for unit conversions, like inches to centimeters. Now, unit conversion queries are presented with the live unit conversion tool (pictured below) that allows you to switch between units of measurements for temperature, length, mass, speed, digital storage, and much more.
We knew the U.S.-made streaming device would ship sometime in July to those who preordered, but today Nexus Q is officially in stock on the Google Play store. It is shipping in “3-5 business days” to U.S. customers. Nexus 7 certainly had a good start. It sold out at several retailers, but many are skeptical the $299 media streamer will do as well.
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The Google Play store abruptly removed the Galaxy Nexus earlier this week for unknown reasons, but Google just confirmed that it pulled the device from the Android marketplace due to Judge Lucy Koh’s recent decision to not lift the injunction against the smartphone.
The device will continue sales on Google Play next week, according to ABC News, with Jelly Bean preloaded as the operating system to solve the contending issues within the dispute:
Google confirmed to ABC News that the Galaxy Nexus had been pulled from its Google Play store as a result of the judge’s decision, but said it would begin selling the device again next week running the latest version of Android — Android 4.1, known as Jelly Bean. The updated version of Android would address the issues in dispute, Google said.
The Galaxy Nexus is currently listed on Google Play as “coming soon,” and visitors have the option to receive an email notification for when the smartphone becomes available.
Update: As The Verge reports, this afternoon the Court of Appeals has suspended the ban on the Galaxy Nexus until a formal response is given from Apple. From there, the Court will decide if the ban should go in effect or not.
In a story detailing some recent updates to the two-year-old GoogleEDU program, The Wall Street Journal noted today that last year saw roughly 11,000 Google employees enrolled in the program’s classes as Google “cut classes that didn’t work and retooled others.” That is about one-third of the 33,100 Google employees worldwide.
“What’s important is that it aligns with our overall business strategy,” says Karen May, Google’s vice president of leadership and talent, who has led the revamping of GoogleEDU.
As part of the revamping of the program, the report described how Google is using data analytics and other methods to suggest new courses to employees:
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHkhp6BwnGo&feature=player_embedded]
The video above is a quality demonstration of voice searches on Android Jelly Bean.
Jean-Louis Nguyen posted the video, titled “How to impress your friends (or annoy your iOS counterparts): 40+ voice searches thrown at Google on Jelly Bean,” on Google+ yesterday.
“I never make videos, but felt compelled to share the many new voice capabilities on +Android, some of which were not demoed on stage during Google #io12. You may be surprised by some answers, notably those provided by the Knowledge Graph,” Nguyen wrote.
As highlighted on the official Google Analytics blog, the company is today announcing the addition of mobile app analytics for three main areas: Acquisition and new users, Engagement (retention, crashes, conversions), and Outcome (app sales and in-app purchases).
New and active users – measure the number of new and active users who launch your app everyday and analyze your most valuable segments.
App versions – keep track of the distribution of active users over the older and newer versions of your app so you know what to support.
Device overview – check out the top mobile devices and OS versions that your app runs on, and optimize the experience for each device.
User behavior – assess how loyal your users are, how frequently they use the app, and the engagement level of each loyalty group.
Engagement flow – visually see the screens, actions and paths users take to move throughout your application in order to optimize usage.
In-App purchases – if you sell virtual or tangible goods in your app, you can measure the number of purchases and the revenue generated.
In addition to the inclusion of the new Mobile App Analytics reports that can be seen in the screenshots above, Google is also rolling out a new Google Analytics Android app (images above via AnalyticsTalk.) If you are interested in checking out the new Mobile App Analytics and app, Google said it would roll out to select whitelisted users. You can sign up to become part of the beta here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpEGuSwv1fY&feature=player_embedded&start=585]
Above is the full Google I/O session for Google Wallet Cloud APIs, and perhaps the most notable announcement comes at 9:45 seconds of the video when Google introduces a new “Save to Wallet” API that will initially roll out to select partners. Coming to offers and payment cards first, the new feature will allow consumers to save coupons and deals or load a payment cards directly from a merchant’s website to Google Wallet. Check out the video for all the details.
Google just announced at its second day of Google I/O that Chromebooks and Chromebox would come to 100 Best Buy stores in the United States and Dixon’s stores in the United Kingdom. Google’s Chromebook website already has a “Buy In Store” option, which will allow you to locate a Best Buy location near you that is stocking the Chromebooks. Google also promised more retailers and more OEMs would get their hands on Chromebooks before the 2012 holiday season. Lucky, I/O attendees were given a free Chromebox, which means we will soon have a hands-on for you.
[tweet https://twitter.com/googlechrome/status/218399112062701568]
We all know Google I/O is just around the corner with yet another Nexus tablet leak today and news of some fresh Google TV products hitting the market soon. We will be on hand this week with live coverage of the event, and Google will make things even easier this year thanks to a new blogging tool it is unleashing specifically for the conference. As noted on Google’s developers website, you can now create your own embeddable Google I/O keynote live blogging gadget that will pull the event’s live video stream, and then it will post from your Google+ account:
Google wants to stop YouTube-MP3.org from ripping audio within YouTube’s videos.
TorrentFreak obtained a June 8-dated letter where the Mountain View, Calif.-based Company threatened to take legal action against the conversion website, which, according to Google’s numbers, rakes 1.3-million daily visitors.
Google’s video-sharing platform is free and provides content that is embeddable or accessible through its API, while YouTube-MP3.org is free, pulls audio from YouTube videos, and then converts those files into downloadable MP3s. Apparently, despite the API that gives developers access to many features, pirating any sound directly violates YouTube’s Terms of Service agreement.
The leaked letter addresses the website’s owner, Philip. In the warning, YouTube’s Associate Product Counsel Harris Cohen cited the platform’s terms for API, where he maintained that separating, isolating, or modifying “the audio or video components of any YouTube audiovisual content made available through the YouTube API” is strictly prohibited.
Cohen threatened “legal consequences” for YouTube-Mp3.org, and he gave the website a week to comply. TorrentFreak spoke with Philip, who said YouTube does not want to negotiate. He also mentioned Google immediately blocked his website’s servers from accessing YouTube.
Google just revealed a backpack-like Street View capture device called “Trekker” that snaps images in areas impossible to navigate by vehicle (above).
“It’s 40 pounds and includes two batteries that’ll last you all day. It’s Android-powered…. We intend to take it to National Parks, the Grand Canyon, castles, etc.,”explained Google’s Engineering Director of Street View Luc Vincent at the “Next Dimension” Google Maps event in San Francisco.
The director further said street level data “could be” useful for users, and then he showed off an original Street View van (below). It is a Chevy Astro and definitely does not compare to newer Street View cars.
It is worth mentioning that Google announced it drove over 5 million unique miles to collect 20 petabytes of imagery for Street View.
More information about today’s event as at the Official Google Blog.
Google sought consumer feedback on its highly anticipated Google Glasses product today while set up in a street fair booth in the San Francisco area.
According to GottaBeMobile’s Xavier Lanier, who also posted the picture above, the Google Research booth on Union Street screened “qualified” passerbys with an insights survey:
I found the Google booth to be out of place amongst the other booths, most of which were selling handicrafts and food. I asked a Google employee what the booth was all about and she said they had something to show people that hadn’t been released yet. I asked to see it, but was told I couldn’t see it unless I “qualified.”
Outside the booth is a table where research candidates are screened with a survey. The Google Docs survey, which can be completed on either a Google-supplied MacBook Pro or Vizio Android tablet, is designed to identify physically active smartphone users that are parents and at least somewhat interested in new technology products. The survey is also used to screen for those who actively use social media.
Everyone knows online advertising is a tricky business, but Google launched a new report today that hopes to uncloak some of the mystery behind the plug-medium that keeps everyone guessing.
In a DoubleClick blog post today, Google’s Director of Product Management and Display Advertising Jonathan Bellack announced the death of the 468×60 banner ad, which now only garners 3 percent of Google’s ad impressions. The classic ad-type is a standard across most blogs and websites, but its low success rate is just another indication of how touchy advertising on the Web is for publishers.
Google, through its buyout of DoubleClick, unveiled the “Display Business Trends: Publisher Edition” report today to help publishers finally determine what works and doesn’t work in the world of Internet-based advertising. Bellack explained:
The Publisher Edition will be the first in a series of publications looking at aggregated global data from across our display advertising solutions. We’re doing this to generate metrics that will answer a few of of the most common questions we hear from our partners, and put some data behind long-held industry assumptions. […] These metrics are a beginning: they give a snapshot of what’s happening in an ever-changing industry. We hope this sparks conversations across the marketplace about the trends driving these metrics, and how publishers can best capitalize on them to grow their businesses bigger, faster.
Google will also hold a DoubleClick “Insights” event on June 5, where it plans to live-stream discussions on the future of buying and selling ads online. Those who are interested can register online. Oh, and the full Display Business Trends report is available for download here (PDF).
Google just unveiled a new feature in Google Play for in-app billing: Subscriptions.
In-app billing launched in Google’s marketplace a year ago to allow developers more opportunities for earning cash with apps. Approximately 23 of the 24 top-grossing apps now take advantage of Google’s money-making service, and Ibrahim Elbouchikhi, Google Play’s product manager, even told 9to5Google in a public statement that the total revenue produced from in-app purchases surpasses revenue from traditional app purchases. The executive further noted the feature is an extreme success, especially because it gives developers multiple monetizing options through “try-and-buy, virtual goods, upgrades, and other popular business models.”
Now, developers have another business model option thanks to today’s newly-announced in-app subscription feature within in-app billing. The feature is quite self-explanatory—users can purchase subscriptions to any type of extra content from an app using any Android device. Some examples of in-app subscription could apply to bonus game levels/maps or and recurring services like journals and magazines. The ability to sell monthly or annual subscriptions in any app is effective immediately, while users can also start buying right away.
“While making it easy for developers to offer a great purchasing experience, our subscriptions are also designed for flexibility,” Elbouchikhi explained. “Developers can use them to monetize premium dynamic content such as journals and magazines, but they can also use them to sell access to bundled products, game levels, music and video content, value-added services, or any other digital content.”
Badoo is a social discovery website founded in 2006 that is managed out of SoHo, London and quickly reaching its 148 million user, but today it announced a very pivotal hire.
Google’s Product Management Director of Search Products and Local Business Products Benjamin Ling is leaving the search engine to become Badoo’s Chief Operating Officer. He will help Badoo expand across mobile and Web platforms, which is essential since the website is widely revered as one of Europe’s leading Internet firms.
“One of the things that attracted me to Badoo is its mainstream appeal. Badoo is putting the ‘social’ back into social networking, and it’s doing it on a massive scale. To me, that’s a thrilling opportunity,” announced Ling.
Ling’s new gig starts May 2012 in London, where he will oversee corporate matters, product, business operations, engineering, and partnerships.
Google offers a variety of services, but its technical support is—well—lacking.
Until now, that is. The ever-popular search engine just debuted 24/7 technical support for Google Play users only. The most interesting part is that Google will now call you to provide answers. That’s right, no more are the days of automated support lines and endless waiting. Just fill out a form on the website, submit the form, and then wait for the phone to ring.
Unfortunately, Android devs are out of luck. They need to use ‘ole Help Center if questions should arise.
Check it out: Google Support
Google TV just announced on its official Google+ page that it will hold a live Hangout tomorrow at 11 a.m. PST to hear fans’ feedback about the service. So, make sure to set alarm clocks!
[youtube=http://youtu.be/-sSsRIhVYB4]
Many Google Glasses parody videos are swirling around the Web, but two Israeli-based filmmakers decided to up the ante with a take on “Battlefield 5.”
Nadav Pessach and Uzi Mor created the video above and hosted it on the “There is a Canal” YouTube channel. It features “Battlefield 5” in a much-idealized version of how some gamers expect Project Glass to one-day change the gaming industry. The Battlefield franchise is a series of FPS video games developed by the Swedish company EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts.
Google’s rumored alternative to Dropbox just got a name confirmation while suggesting third-party integration.
The Verge reported that online computing graphic tool Lucidchart implemented a link for integrating Google Drive to its control panel for automatic synchronizing to the cloud. The link quickly disappeared, but the leaked screen capture above seems to verify Google Drive’s name and a taste of what it can do.
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Somebody (Thomas Hawk – Flickr) with a real camera was on the scene last night to capture Project Glass’ prototypes sitting on Google Co-founder Sergey Brin’s dome.
Another close-up is below (via The Verge).
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Besides the Scobelizer spotting Google Glasses on co-founder Sergey Brin (above), we are hearing some additional information about the project. First, the brand was changed from “Project Wingfront,” which was the name of the project in the [x] labs. As it graduated to public knowledge, Google needed a more general-purpose name. I am told this decision was made in the past month.
Additionally, my understanding is that there has been a lot of strife in the Wingfront group over the past few months. Product people complain that they need time to iterate and perfect the experience, while management wants to get these into the outside world as soon as possible. Some strong tensions in the group are getting even more heated as more people are brought in.
The glasses shown off in the video and on the Plus page is only one of many prototypes worn in the [x] labs. I am told that there are clip-on models that attach to normal glasses, as well as ones built into full-fledge sunglasses that I previously detailed (here and here).
But most importantly, when can we buy these things?
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Google today revealed what we have been talking about for months (here and here): Google Glasses. The project is called “Project Glass,” and now there is even a Plus page on it.
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I probably do not have to say this, but TAKE MY MONEY!!!!
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According to recent reports, Google’s Drive is coming any day now. Dropbox, not wanting to lose an opportunity to get in under the wire, is doubling its referral bonuses. Instead of the normal 250MB, users can now get 500MB per referral for a maximum of 16GB of free space (both referrer and referee). If you are a pro/paid user, your maximum referral limit is 32GB of free space.
