Google Chrome remote desktop app

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMm8PVVKmh4R7Hw9hDZNCDjEms8_l05hMovsG6_YlhB42YgQWAYxGQW99VimI-fn-7-5Zr1GcK0MZCN3drj8vL_aoCMEOWOo4whDY0FmmdE6ngozT_ktTg34SP_h5t8F-cVYl1pqoGqM/s1600/google_chrome_header_contentfullwidth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMm8PVVKmh4R7Hw9hDZNCDjEms8_l05hMovsG6_YlhB42YgQWAYxGQW99VimI-fn-7-5Zr1GcK0MZCN3drj8vL_aoCMEOWOo4whDY0FmmdE6ngozT_ktTg34SP_h5t8F-cVYl1pqoGqM/s1600/google_chrome_header_contentfullwidth.jpg" /></span></a></div> <div style="border: 0px; line-height: 12px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google added a remote desktop extension to its Chrome web store a while back, but its getting more useful with the release of Chrome Remote Desktop for Android. This app works like any number of other remote access solutions, except with much less setup and a fairly basic feature set.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; line-height: 12px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To enable remote access through Chrome, you need to add the extension on a computer and enable remote access. You don't have to actually keep a browser window open, but a process will run in the background. A PIN code is used to secure your computer, but you also need to be logged into the correct Google account in the Android app.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; line-height: 12px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cursor is controlled by dragging anywhere on the screen. If you're zoomed in, the view slides with the cursor when it nears the edge of the screen. The zoom level can also be changed with the usual multitouch gestures. There's no direct tapping interaction with Chrome Remote Desktop—you're always relying on the cursor. As such, Windows 8 moders apps can be a bit tedious.</span></div> <span style="border: 0px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/2014/04/17/google-chrome-remote-desktop-app-lets-you-control-your-pc-with-your-smartphone/#ixzz2z8Ub9YMg</span></span>

Google Chrome remote desktop app

Google added a remote desktop extension to its Chrome web store a while back, but its getting more useful with the release of Chrome Remo...

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Lenovo : Google buys 5.94% stake

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-R-BzpmKyyTONHwX1KVd3nkal6UUnr6ajXpXGTBjjM2LxZ-lPX6x0ITHVVXfzeHyrnSi3Z0dtKKZ8G04THrVzRjbagbQNUiRWazdhraNyQy0AZQkL5TpdCumxUl4hp9BaAkmfJVr1tw/s1600/google.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-R-BzpmKyyTONHwX1KVd3nkal6UUnr6ajXpXGTBjjM2LxZ-lPX6x0ITHVVXfzeHyrnSi3Z0dtKKZ8G04THrVzRjbagbQNUiRWazdhraNyQy0AZQkL5TpdCumxUl4hp9BaAkmfJVr1tw/s1600/google.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div> <h3 style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Google has bought a 5.94 per cent stake in Lenovo for $US750 million ($A839.30 million) while also agreeing to sell handset maker Motorola to the Chinese technology giant.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The US internet firm acquired 618.3 million shares in the PC maker at $1.213 each when Lenovo bought Motorola for $US2.91 billion last Thursday, according to Dow Jones Newswires.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The deal provides Lenovo with footholds in smartphone and tablet markets where it is eager to gain traction.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">It also came just a week after the Chinese firm said it will buy IBM's low-end server business for $US2.3 billion, giving it a platform to compete in that sector with US giants Dell and Hewlett-Packard.</span></h3>

Lenovo : Google buys 5.94% stake

Google has bought a 5.94 per cent stake in Lenovo for $US750 million ($A839.30 million) while also agreeing to sell handset maker Motorol...

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Google unveils corporate videoconferencing product

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSFbNacjVWBVm_76aUGM4IyHuzEfZWtTGYrmPqEzF9ih7sDDiUjWplCS1aw_brN6n4zN__OSZN_-t-xFNlRC4DioAmu6v9U__wqi9ZsCfHSW7V4EZKelXBC94BEt6kzDrVSA7gznAMwU/s1600/chromebox-videoconferencing-070213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSFbNacjVWBVm_76aUGM4IyHuzEfZWtTGYrmPqEzF9ih7sDDiUjWplCS1aw_brN6n4zN__OSZN_-t-xFNlRC4DioAmu6v9U__wqi9ZsCfHSW7V4EZKelXBC94BEt6kzDrVSA7gznAMwU/s1600/chromebox-videoconferencing-070213.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Chromebox</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="background-color: white; color: #3c3d3d; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Google unveiled a videoconferencing system for businesses on Thursday, the Internet search company's latest effort generate revenue from corporate customers.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #3c3d3d; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Google said it was partnering with Asus, Hewlett-Packard and Dell to offer a specialised version of its Chromebox PC that comes with videoconferencing gear, including a video camera and speakers.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #3c3d3d; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first Chromebox for meetings to be available is made by Asus and goes on sale in the US on Thursday for $999, Google said. Customers can also pay a $250 annual service and management fee, though the first year is included in the product's sales price. // <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chromebox-for-meetings-google-unveils-corporate-videoconferencing-product/450439-11.html">ibnlive.in.com</a></span></div>

Google unveils corporate videoconferencing product

Chromebox Google unveiled a videoconferencing system for businesses on Thursday, the Internet search company's latest effort genera...

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iOS : Google Maps Will Alert You to Faster Routes

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcSPc51fJlymbIWzMkwZ33BG9wX67F1cdU6-lvnp1bqDUjdSA_AfB1mN8vWE8ZibWgPnmJP9viYEN5mlLotpGRWjG9gTX0BvkaB-Xiu5j_vk1ftht6_zRNKsdWY85L1Y9NiF8Mi03ZbQ/s1600/google-maps-reroute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcSPc51fJlymbIWzMkwZ33BG9wX67F1cdU6-lvnp1bqDUjdSA_AfB1mN8vWE8ZibWgPnmJP9viYEN5mlLotpGRWjG9gTX0BvkaB-Xiu5j_vk1ftht6_zRNKsdWY85L1Y9NiF8Mi03ZbQ/s1600/google-maps-reroute.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Google Maps</span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We can pretty much all agree that being stuck in traffic sucks, right? Well, we have some good news. Google wants to help you outsmart gridlock, and save some time on the roads with a useful new Maps feature for iOS.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Web giant this week rolled out an update to <a data-ls-seen="1" href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id585027354" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Maps for iOS</a>, which will give you more information about traffic right when you need it, allowing you to avoid a dreaded bumper-to-bumper situation. When you're in Navigation mode, the app will now alert you when a faster route to your destination is available.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The app may tell you, for instance, that there's traffic up ahead, and you can save 10 minutes by taking a different way. From there, you'll have the option to reroute, or you can select "no, thanks" to continue on your potentially not-so-merry way.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The feature is, of course, only available in areas where navigation is supported. The update brings the iOS version of the app up to speed with its Android equivalent, which received the same feature last month.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The latest feature comes after Google back in August added real-time incident reports from its newly acquired crowd-sourced traffic app Waze to its Maps apps. This means that when Waze users report accidents, construction, road closures, and other incidents, the information now appears in the Google Maps apps for Android and iOS. // <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2430316,00.asp">PCMag</a></span></div>

iOS : Google Maps Will Alert You to Faster Routes

Google Maps We can pretty much all agree that being stuck in traffic sucks, right? Well, we have some good news. Google wants to help y...

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Google apologizes for naming Berlin 'Adolf-Hitler-Platz' on map

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEZwkzqtVovt_ZrhCDsku-yMv25DbtSn-Da9X0gkMf9cwZT6S-8QW1waB0mT93dB3Ohj7R4VLj-6Je3BgyXfakKhJILclu9b2C5kexTpveNDULr3TXaPkUnZ7ONYZr6fgrieNcFReew64/s1600/google-data_center-google_glass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="461" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEZwkzqtVovt_ZrhCDsku-yMv25DbtSn-Da9X0gkMf9cwZT6S-8QW1waB0mT93dB3Ohj7R4VLj-6Je3BgyXfakKhJILclu9b2C5kexTpveNDULr3TXaPkUnZ7ONYZr6fgrieNcFReew64/s1600/google-data_center-google_glass.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Google</span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Google has reportedly apologized for accidentally naming a Berlin intersection as 'Adolf-Hitler-Platz' on its mapping service.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Google spokeswoman Lena Wagner said that the company quickly took down the erroneous name and renamed the intersection with its proper name, Theodor-Heuss-Platz, named after West Germany's first post-World War II president.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">According to Fox News, the search giant said that it wasn't clear how the error occurred on Google Maps but apologised for the mistake.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The report said that a lot of streets and squares were named after Hitler during his 1933-1945 dictatorship, and the Berlin intersection sits on what the Nazis envisioned as the capital's main east-west axis for a redesign of the city that was never completed.</span></div>

Google apologizes for naming Berlin 'Adolf-Hitler-Platz' on map

Google Google has reportedly apologized for accidentally naming a Berlin intersection as 'Adolf-Hitler-Platz' on its mapping se...

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What Google Glass Apps Will Actually Look Like

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiynDlIVDbcp6XEdy8SU8ozmg0ChXBIxPuqHYKraq5gm2gkzqrIgDDzZ57MUyXs49Cs-_7gjrN7OZknShBVQRE6dV9D9N7JG-QYWL5dd33Y19QpNInt7lQpmxweSmFCijORRH0gTZh5Q0M/s1600/Google_glass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiynDlIVDbcp6XEdy8SU8ozmg0ChXBIxPuqHYKraq5gm2gkzqrIgDDzZ57MUyXs49Cs-_7gjrN7OZknShBVQRE6dV9D9N7JG-QYWL5dd33Y19QpNInt7lQpmxweSmFCijORRH0gTZh5Q0M/s1600/Google_glass.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28.5px; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">We’ve seen plenty of photos of people wearing Glass</span></i></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28.5px; margin-bottom: 1em;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One thing I’ve noticed in the various pieces about Glass is the difficulty that many writers have expressing what the software — or as Google calls it, “Glassware” — is actually like to use.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28.5px; margin-bottom: 1em;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take, for instance, Honan’s description of some of the more exciting third-party apps that have come to Glass so far:</span></div> <blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.25; margin-bottom: 1em;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Strava cycling app, for example, really shows off the promise of Glass by combining location tracking with updates that let you keep your eyes on the road and hands on the handlebars. So too does AllTheCooks, which lets you create and follow recipes without taking your eyes and hands away from sharp knives and hot ovens.</span></div> </blockquote> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28.5px; margin-bottom: 1em;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While that does a great job of getting me excited for the possibilities of what Glass <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">can</em> do, it doesn’t really tell you what the experience will look like.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28.5px; margin-bottom: 1em;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since I didn’t get an offer from Google to join its $US1,500 “Explorer” program, I haven’t had a chance to use the device in person. So to get an actual idea of what apps will be like when I finally get my hands on one, I went straight to the source: <a href="https://developers.google.com/glass/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;">Google’s documentation for developers</a> looking to make apps for the platform. // <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com.au/what-google-glass-apps-will-look-like-2014-1">Business Insider</a></span></div>

What Google Glass Apps Will Actually Look Like

We’ve seen plenty of photos of people wearing Glass One thing I’ve noticed in the various pieces about Glass is the difficulty that man...

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Glass: Show me what's next for Google

<div class="cnet-image-div image-LARGE2 float-none" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; float: none; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin: 10px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 610px;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="cnet-image" height="405" src="http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/05/01/google-glass-pickup-may-2013-03257_1_610x405.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="610" /></span><div class="image-caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.133em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The anticipated 2014 public availability of Google Glass has the potential to change not just the world of Internet-connected wearables, but Google itself.</span></div> <span class="image-credit" style="border: 0px; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.133em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Credit: James Martin/CNET)</span></span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December 2014 is a year away. Barring unforeseen complications, Google Glass will have gone public by then and just might have forever altered its maker in the process.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The story of how Glass could change Google begins back on June 27, 2012. Sergey Brin and his cohorts, in what we now know is Google's X division, pulled off the preposterous, dangerous, and wildly successful extreme sports debut of Glass at the end of its annual developer conference keynote.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The headset didn't ship until almost a year after making a splash at Google I/O. If you shelled out the $1,500 for the Explorer Edition of the headset, you had to visit Google in person to pick it up. Google has never said why it's taking such a cautious approach, but you could argue that the Glass team knew it had something unusual and controversial on its hands -- and knew Glass needed to handled with kid gloves to make it work.It wasn't the first time that Glass had been seen in public, but it suddenly shot the Internet-enabled headset into public consciousness. After Google teased the public with Glass' skydiving debut, the company then proceeded with a caution that extends to this day.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Slow and steady Glass development</b><br />Fast forward to today, <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/google-glass/" section="luke_topic" style="border: 0px; color: #2964bf; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Google Glass</a> has progressed at a slow and steady pace. Gone are the days of tossing a smartphone like the G1 into the world and praying to the gods of free-market capitalism that it will succeed or die a Randian death. Google has matured as a company, as evidenced by its measured approach to Glass.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are several thousand Google Glass testers, mostly in the United States, who are wearing, testing, and writing apps for the <a href="http://www.cnet.com/android-atlas/" section="luke_topic" style="border: 0px; color: #2964bf; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Android</a>-powered headset. Glass receives a monthly firmware update that adds small but important features such as voice command support for navigation and music. Rarely are there big, world-shattering updates.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last month saw the debut of the <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57613010-93/google-glass-throws-open-its-doors-to-developers/" style="border: 0px; color: #2964bf; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Glass Development Kit preview</a>, finally giving Explorer Edition owners access to most of the hardware APIs (application programming interfaces) so that they could build more interactive apps. Even in its preview form, the GDK was a major piece that allowed developers to build Glassware apps closer to the quality of apps we've become accustomed to on our smartphones.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also know that Google is inviting more people to purchase Glass, distributing a slightly-updated Explorer Edition headset to current Glass owners for free, and building some accessories such as eye shields and mono earbuds.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google representatives have acknowledged that Glass' battery life needs work, probably the most common complaint about Glass. The only thing that looks more ridiculous than an Internet-enabled headset is one tethered to a battery pack.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But given Google's recent successes with Android, polishing the mobile operating system and the devices that it powers, Google has proven that it can put together compelling hardware powered by a modern version of Android that doesn't make you want to rip your hair -- or Larry Page's -- out by the roots.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Convincing the public</b><br />Getting all the development factors lined up is, in some ways, easier than what must follow: selling Glass to a curious but skeptical public. Alreadybanned in some places, and its wearers tagged with the subtly derogatory "Glassholes," a downside to Google debuting Glass in such a public manner is that people have had a lot of time to criticize the concept.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's likely a time frame for Glass' public release could be revealed at next spring's Google developer conference, Google I/O. Google might even have the Explorer Edition follow-up headsets as their giveaway.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google has seen success in giving away new, high-profile hardware at Google I/O, as developers crow and help build interest in the new hardware, a paradigm that fits Glass perfectly. A late summer or early fall release wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility as an I/O announcement.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57616264-93/ok-glass-show-me-whats-next-for-google/">CNET</a></span></i></div>

Glass: Show me what's next for Google

The anticipated 2014 public availability of Google Glass has the potential to change not just the world of Internet-connected wearables, b...

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Siri to Google : The voice-controlled personal assistant battle is getting hotter

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKEivL3hm7PuLs9e4Tx88yUGDHkMIVaePwGVx17n7B67jKCpIlN7manEJAHhZpcHNXkdPUZDo1Xzhm5ZLTkFaqwa4EnJLUfa1Z7SlZTzPBnOIil2Jp1-5pp337svrkXf8BSQrAaxoxLw/s1600/siri-voice-assistant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKEivL3hm7PuLs9e4Tx88yUGDHkMIVaePwGVx17n7B67jKCpIlN7manEJAHhZpcHNXkdPUZDo1Xzhm5ZLTkFaqwa4EnJLUfa1Z7SlZTzPBnOIil2Jp1-5pp337svrkXf8BSQrAaxoxLw/s400/siri-voice-assistant.jpg" width="400" /></span></i></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><i>Siri is improving but Google Now is catching up in the battle of voice assistant</i>s.</span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Google and Apple are leaving no stones unturned to make sure that the smartphone will be smarter in the near future. And a key factor in gauging the how smart is the smartphone is the voice-controlled personal assistant.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Both Apple and Google are injecting hundreds of millions of dollars in funds to develop their respective personal assistant software - Siri and Google Now. Which means, in the future you'll be able to tell Siri/Google Now to book a seat on a flight or fix an appointment with your doctor, and not just engage the personal assistant in rudimentary conversations to kill time.</span></span></div> <div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other words, it will be a clash of tech titans in terms of voice-controlled assistants. Both Google and Apple want to make sure that the personal assistant will understand clearly what the humans are saying, then search for the best answers to their queries, and filter the choices. In fact, both the companies have created teams to achieve these goals.</span></div> <div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While Google and Apple are making giant strides, the former might have an edge as it already has a powerful search engine with an algorithm in place determining the best search results. Google envisions a Google Now that will mimic the mainframe of Star Trek's Starship Enterprise. Yes, perhaps it cannot teleport users anywhere, but Google is determined in revolutionizing how users interact with their mobile devices.</span></div> <div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The reason we feel pretty good in terms of competition is because what we're seeing and everything we're building today is built on top of the foundation of core web search rankings," <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/10537562/Google-and-Apple-gear-up-for-next-mobile-battle.html" rel="nofollow" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">said</a> Google engineering director Scott Huffman. <span style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"It does feel like a bit of a race. For us the race part often has a lot to do with talent, a little more than finding a start-up with a magic idea that we have to buy before anyone else. It's more about the engineering talent in this being in a lot of demand."</span></span></div> <div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Huffman might be hinting at how Apple might utilize the technology of Topsy acquired, which Apple for $200 million. The latter has the technology that can help Apple determine trends and patterns on Twitter, something that can help Siri understand queries better.</span></div> <div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.techtimes.com/articles/2299/20131227/siri-versus-google-now-voice-controlled-personal-assistant-battle-getting-hotter.htm">Tech Time</a></span></i></div>

Siri to Google : The voice-controlled personal assistant battle is getting hotter

Siri is improving but Google Now is catching up in the battle of voice assistant s. Google and Apple are leaving no stones unturned to ...

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LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition is a slightly larger, slightly better Nexus 7

<img alt="G Pad" class="attachment-full wp-post-image" height="353" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/gp-640x353.jpg" style="border-style: none; color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;" width="640" /><br /> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/lg" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">LG</a> G Pad 8.3 from Google Play has (as the name suggests) an 8.3-inch screen that clocks in at 1920×1200. So it’s the same resolution as the Nexus 7 2013, but a little larger. For some people, the Nexus 7 is simply too small to be the ideal tablet. All things considered, an 8-9 inch tablet is a really great size. This way Google can cater to those people with stock Android and not have to develop new hardware for the Nexus program.Google has been rapidly expanding the selection of Android devices it sells in the Play Store this year, and one of the recent additions might seem odd at first glance. The Google Play Edition LG G Pad 8.3 is only a little larger than the 2013 Nexus 7, but it starts at $350. However it fills a niche, and <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/google" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">Google</a> is all about niches these days.</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The rest of the hardware is similarly impressive. The G Pad has a quad-core <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/Qualcomm" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">Qualcomm</a>Snapdragon 600 at 1.7GHz per core, 2GB of RAM, and a 4600mAh battery. The battery is quite a bit larger than the Nexus 7′s 3950mAh unit, which is a happy side effect of the larger chassis size. It’s only slightly heavier than the Nexus 7, though. While the G Pad 8.3 only has 16GB of internal storage, it includes a microSD card slot, something that is lacking on the Nexus devices, much to the displeasure of a vocal subset of Android fans.</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/GP2.png" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="G Pad 8.3" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-172570" height="300" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/GP2-300x300.png" style="border-style: none; float: right; padding-left: 10px;" width="300" /></a>When the G Pad 8.3 came out recently, the<a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2426455,00.asp" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">consensus was clear</a>. It had very good hardware, but the software was a bit of a mess. By keeping LG from poking around too much with the UI and features of the software, the Google Play Edition tablet could rectify the one major problem facing the device. This tablet runs <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/android" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">Android</a> 4.4 KitKat, and should stay up to date much better than other devices.</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> In the past, when Google talked about Android, it was talking about a version of the platform that almost no one would ever see. OEMs skin and modify devices along with their carrier partners, which weakens Google’s control over Android. A Google Play phone or tablet provides a stock Android experience that is heavily influenced by Google. While the OEM still builds the update, there is virtually no change to the code beyond optimization for the hardware, and certainly no carrier bloatware. The result is more premium hardware that offers a pure Android experience in a variety of styles and form factors — something for everyone.</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <i>Via: <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/172567-lg-g-pad-8-3-google-play-edition-is-a-slightly-larger-slightly-better-nexus-7">ExtremeTech</a></i></div> <div> <br /></div>

LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition is a slightly larger, slightly better Nexus 7

The  LG  G Pad 8.3 from Google Play has (as the name suggests) an 8.3-inch screen that clocks in at 1920×1200. So it’s the same resolution...

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Google and Facebook write your end-of-year cards for you

<div class="cnet-image-div image-REGULAR float-none" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; float: none; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin: 10px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 518px;"> <img alt="With its auto-awesome feature, Google+ creates a movie with musical accompaniment out of what it deems to be your best photos and videos of 2013." class="cnet-image" height="282" src="http://asset3.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/12/23/GooglePlus-autoawesome-year.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="518" /><div class="image-caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.133em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> With its auto-awesome feature, Google+ creates a movie with musical accompaniment out of what it deems to be your best photos and videos of 2013.</div> </div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> If you're one of the countless people who feels guilty about failing to send end-of-year letters to your friends and family, perhaps it's time to let Google or Facebook do the work for you.</div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Both companies have released tools that compile what they judge to be your top moments of the year for easy sharing with your social contacts. Of the two, the Google+ auto-awesome movie is more interesting -- at least if you actually have some photos and videos uploaded onto Google+ -- since it builds something new rather than just repackaging some highlights from the year's posts.</div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Google packages what it deems to be your best Google+ photos and videos of 2013 into an embedded YouTube video. You can see ones that are public or from your contacts with aGoogle+ search for #year2013. The results show animated GIFs of the videos, but clicking on a post takes you to a movie version with Ken Burns-esque photo zooming and the cheerful music.</div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president of engineering, announced the feature on Monday.</div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> nd Google gave itself a little marketing present with the feature. At the end of the movie, viewers see a Google+ plug including the suggestion: "Give the gift of awesome photos. Help your friends install the Google+ app and turn on auto backup."</div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Google's auto-awesome feature examines photos that people have uploaded then takes actions like combining a group of them into an animation. More recently, Google's auto-awesome feature took a seasonal turn by adding falling snowflakes to snowy scenes and making Christmas-tree photos twinkle.</div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Facebook described its feature this way: "Your year in review is a collection of your biggest moments on Facebook from this year, including life events, popular posts you've shared and posts your friends have tagged you in," Facebook explained. Facebook also amasses yourfriends' top moments into another year in review that you can browse.</div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> It's cleverly convenient, though the Google and Facebook highlight selections may not agree with your own. But let's be honest here -- who these days actually writes and sends real holiday letters to all their friends and relations? Surely only a tiny fraction of people, and for the rest, a Google+ slideshow or Facebook page could be a convenient way to share a year's worth of shots.</div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Just don't be fooled into expecting that people will see any kind of personal touch in your year-in-review page. It's a nice idea, but both the Facebook and Google features have a very mechanical, algorithmic feel.</div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <i>Via: <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57616240-93/google-and-facebook-write-your-end-of-year-cards-for-you/">CNET</a></i></div>

Google and Facebook write your end-of-year cards for you

With its auto-awesome feature, Google+ creates a movie with musical accompaniment out of what it deems to be your best photos and videos o...

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Google seeks protecting Android from 'Rockstar' group's patent lawsuits

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxM9zhRQ6EgEnXTPM8fN2ivyff0Rdb18u0S3C2yawyexFE2SEKVjuH6oFhBJ_Si6Q6tC2I7C9-40Juxg7z8UXbIEJ8CeKuqm1tPiDNAh9R1BgU3SvhDoE6fVkOrzXoIw2xwDGlB_-7EIY/s1600/nexus-5-graffiti.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nexus </i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxM9zhRQ6EgEnXTPM8fN2ivyff0Rdb18u0S3C2yawyexFE2SEKVjuH6oFhBJ_Si6Q6tC2I7C9-40Juxg7z8UXbIEJ8CeKuqm1tPiDNAh9R1BgU3SvhDoE6fVkOrzXoIw2xwDGlB_-7EIY/s1600/nexus-5-graffiti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Google isn't about to remain idle while the Apple- and Microsoft-led "Rockstar" patent group sues numerous Android partners. The search giant has quietly filed a declaratory judgment complaint asking a San Jose court to rule that the company (and therefore, the Android ecosystem) doesn't infringe seven of Rockstar's patents. As <em>GigaOM</em> <a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/12/24/google-sues-to-protect-android-device-makers-from-apple-backed-patent-hell/" style="color: #3399cc; text-decoration: none;">notes</a>, Google isn't mincing words -- the firm accuses Rockstar of "placing a cloud" over Android and harassing a large part of the technology industry. The legal action doesn't necessarily amount to fighting fire with fire, though. Declaratory judgment complaints frequently represent attempts to <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/14/new-york-times-opinionlab-sue-lodsys-seeking-declaratory-judgem/" style="color: #3399cc; text-decoration: none;">score an early victory</a>, rather than the first line of defense; Google likely has more up its sleeve if this tactic doesn't work.</span></div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; text-align: justify;"> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/193573584" style="color: #3399cc; text-decoration: none;" title="View Google Dec Action vs Rockstar on Scribd"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Google Dec Action vs Rockstar</span></a></div> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> <iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="undefined" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="465" id="doc_49572" scrolling="no" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/193573584/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe></div> </span></div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source : <a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/12/24/google-sues-to-protect-android-device-makers-from-apple-backed-patent-hell/" style="background-color: white; color: #3399cc; line-height: 16px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">GigaOM</a></span></div> <div style="color: #333333; line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Via : <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/25/google-seeks-judgment-protecting-android-from-rockstar/">Enagdget</a></span></div>

Google seeks protecting Android from 'Rockstar' group's patent lawsuits

Nexus  Google isn't about to remain idle while the Apple- and Microsoft-led "Rockstar" patent group sues numerous Andro...

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iPhone forced Google to start over with Android?

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJtfn600MDRsC_6KqeqZ8_3hi0yqVGQf1lmnYWZhMI33ychTMSL6AOg5cAXUMN0Yfz9wPbCQpgrDzRashX9oXuDeVVc5XP3MGLqsJmGai-7sb7Gc8w_vLCdpXAIZMyVfm8AhM7vuou-8H/s320/htc-dream.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><i>HTC </i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJtfn600MDRsC_6KqeqZ8_3hi0yqVGQf1lmnYWZhMI33ychTMSL6AOg5cAXUMN0Yfz9wPbCQpgrDzRashX9oXuDeVVc5XP3MGLqsJmGai-7sb7Gc8w_vLCdpXAIZMyVfm8AhM7vuou-8H/s1600/htc-dream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387737315038_1539" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After a story in <em>The Atlantic</em> on Thursday stirred the iPhone vs Android rivalry waters, revealing that <a data-rapid_p="11" href="http://bgr.com/2013/12/19/original-iphone-android-story/" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387737315038_1544" style="color: #324fe1; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="How the original iPhone forced Google to completely rebuild Android">Google engineers were completely surprised by Steve Jobs’ original iPhone announcement in early 2007</a>, deciding to ditch a BlackBerry-like prototype in favor of what was to become the HTC G1/Dream, <em>OSNews</em> (via <em>9to5mac</em>) provided a comment made on the site on the same matter in mid July 2012 by former Android engineer Dianne Hackborn that disputes these events in a similar story that appeared on the website last year.<span id="more-2187787"></span></span></div> <div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387737315038_1529" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">According to Hackborn, the decision to ditch Sooner in favor of Dream was made before the iPhone announcement and was “not such a huge upheaval,” as Google engineers were developing both products in parallel. “I don’t recall the exact dates, but I believe the decision to drop Sooner was well before the iPhone announcement,” Hackborn wrote, “though we continued to use it for quite a while internally for development, since it was the only semi-stable hardware platform we had.”</span></div> <div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387737315038_1556" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As Hackborn puts it, Sooner was the “risk-free” development device for Android OS, while Dream was a device for the future. The engineer further said that the differences in schedule were also caused by the fact that Sooner was based on an existing HTC device, while the Dream was a “completely new” handset “with a lot of things that had never been shipped before, at least by HTC (new Qualcomm chipset, sensors, touch screen, the hinge design, etc).” In the same comment, Hackborn also revealed Google spent a lot of time developing and stabilizing Android for the Dream, trying to make sure everything would work as expected when the device was to hit stores. “At the time we shipped the device, we even felt like we had to assume that what we shipped on the ROM was it, and we would never be able to deliver an update to it,” Hackborn added.</span></div> <div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387737315038_1580" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the other hand, The Atlantic quoted several Google engineers working on the project including former Android head Andy Rubin, with all of them suggesting that the iPhone announcement made them realize the Sooner prototype would not measure up to the first iOS device, and convinced them to focus on launching a different first Android device than they had originally planned. //<i><b> bgr.com</b></i></span></div>

iPhone forced Google to start over with Android?

HTC  After a story in  The Atlantic  on Thursday stirred the iPhone vs Android rivalry waters, revealing that  Google engineers were ...

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Google could launch ‘Nexus TV’ Android set-top next year, says report

<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://itrumors.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/09de4-goo.png"><img alt="" border="0" height="208" src="http://itrumors.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/09de4-goo.png?w=320&h=208" width="320" /></a></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Google could launch ‘Nexus TV’ Android</i></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span> <div id="paragraph0"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Google isn’t giving up its living room ambitions. The company is said to be working on a “Nexus TV” device that will run Android, stream video from services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, and play a selection of video games. The rumor comes from <i>The Information</i>‘s Amir Efrati, who cites an anonymous Google employee. The device is said to be ready for launch as soon as the first half of next year, according to the report.</span></div> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span> <div> <span style="font-size: small;"><span id="more-34" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></div> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span> <div id="paragraph1"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Rumors of a Google-made Android set top box go back to July of this year, when <i>The Wall Street Journal</i> reported that such a device was demoed by Andy Rubin behind closed doors at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Sources told the paper at the time that the box included a Kinect-like motion sensor and could be controlled with an Android smartphone. Today’s report from <i>The Information</i> corroborates these details (though a motion sensor is not mentioned), and adds that a purpose-built touchpad remote could be included with the set-top box. Google reportedly showed off a version of the box to developers as recently as this fall.</span></div> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span> <div id="paragraph2"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It’s said that the device will not support live broadcast, which would mean Google could avoid the hassle of trying to bring traditional content providers on board. That’s a task that’s so far proved impossible for other companies: Intel abandoned its efforts to launch an internet set-top box after failing to secure such deals, and it’s rumored that an Apple television device has been delayed for similar reasons. If the Nexus TV reports are accurate, Google seems to be pursuing a similar strategy as Amazon, which is rumored to have a set-top box of its own set for next year.</span></div> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span> <div id="paragraph3"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Google has launched a number of products to attempt to gain a foothold in the living room, starting with the ill-fated (but still living) Google TV operating system that manufacturers built into smart TVs and other devices. It later announced the expensive Nexus Q (which never officially went on sale), and this year it began selling a small HDMI dongle called the Chromecast, which streams from just a few services and costs $35. The latter has seen some success, but it’s a device with a simple feature set. A fully-fledged Nexus TV set-top box that runs Android would be in a different category — though today’s report suggests it will be “aggressively priced.”</span></div> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span> <div id="paragraph3"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Via: <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/6/5183372/google-nexus-tv-set-top-box-rumored-for-2014">The Verge</a></i></span></div>

Google could launch ‘Nexus TV’ Android set-top next year, says report

Google could launch ‘Nexus TV’ Android Google isn’t giving up its living room ambitions. The company is said to be working on...

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Google starts over, sculpture on the moon and more

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhh80WGOVFfj53fjYUZjvQsM5_r_eL4F91De_-ypUWiaegwN3TfdXR971hHaga0o_XcYtpfDLhSVlxAFnTXhqHZdrildxdw28x_CaWD2xtnqX1pJynpZb2Tyl9vYC_6e2v_akL-rMQjrv9/s320/iphone.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>iPhone</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhh80WGOVFfj53fjYUZjvQsM5_r_eL4F91De_-ypUWiaegwN3TfdXR971hHaga0o_XcYtpfDLhSVlxAFnTXhqHZdrildxdw28x_CaWD2xtnqX1pJynpZb2Tyl9vYC_6e2v_akL-rMQjrv9/s1600/iphone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Back in 2005, Google had tasked teams of engineers with developing a secret mobile product that would position it to better compete with Microsoft. When 2007 rolled around, teams had worked 40- to 80- hour weeks for almost a year in an effort to revolutionize mobile phones. However, Apple was first out of the gate, revealing the iPhone on January 9th and forcing Google to rethink all the work that had been done. Fred Vogelstein recounts the outfit's post-iPhone Android development and a touchscreen Dream device built to make up for iOS shortcomings.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; line-height: 24px; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/19/this-100-year-old-deal-birthed-the-modern-phone-system-and-its-all-about-to-end/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost" style="text-decoration: none;"><strong>This 100-year-old deal birthed the modern phone system. And it's all about to end.</strong></a><br />(3,426 words)<br />by Brian Fung, Washington Post</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A hundred years ago this week, The Klingsbury Commitment kept AT&T from being another broken-up monopoly that fell under the US anti-trust laws of the early 20th century. Brian Fung takes a look at the letter (one of the first successful PR campaigns) that maintained the company's hold on telecommunications and the monopoly's ultimate fall.</span></div></td></tr><tr><td><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong><a href="http://qz.com/158373/envia-the-mysterious-story-of-the-battery-startup-that-promised-gm-a-200-mile-electric-car/" style="text-decoration: none;">The mysterious story of the battery startup </a></strong><strong><a href="http://qz.com/158373/envia-the-mysterious-story-of-the-battery-startup-that-promised-gm-a-200-mile-electric-car/" style="text-decoration: none;">that promised GM a 200-mile electric car</a></strong> (7,490 words)</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">by Steve LeVine,<em> Quartz</em></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">200 mile range in an electric car? Well, Envia Systems certainly thought it possible and it struck a deal with GM to power vehicles like the Chevy Volt. One year later, the deal is void, the startup is being accused of misrepresenting its wares and two execs are battling each other in civil suits. So, what went wrong?</span></div><div style="margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div><div class="pocket-btn"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Via :<a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/21/recommended-reading-google-starts-over/"> Engadget</a></span></i></div></td><td valign="top"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/12/sculpture_on_the_moon_paul_van_hoeydonck_s_fallen_astronaut.html" style="text-decoration: none;">The Sculpture on the Moon</a></strong> (7,060 words)<br />by Corey S. Powell and Laurie Gwen Shapiro, <em>Slate</em></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Paul van Hoerydonck is the only artist to have a sculpture on the moon.<em>Slate's </em>Corey S. Powell and Laurie Gwen Shapiro tell the story of <em>Fallen Astronaut</em>and the Apollo 15 mission that placed the 3-inch aluminum figure in a small dusty crater in 1971.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table>

Google starts over, sculpture on the moon and more

iPhone Back in 2005, Google had tasked teams of engineers with developing a secret mobile product that would position it to better compete w...

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How to Install the Google Experience Launcher now

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNOrU129bmmkXqorgzROiTIYp9xdXg8TKUX635e-C6lVc7XNrglYftssEA7FaiquatYxpqE0HcMjrRSJHk1ziof2zQKiXfP6JD50HrpUqogz-gLl7LfzSoTHLmamxW_3Ofwf9vD-MPrXlO/s1600/AndroidPIT-Experience-Launcher1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNOrU129bmmkXqorgzROiTIYp9xdXg8TKUX635e-C6lVc7XNrglYftssEA7FaiquatYxpqE0HcMjrRSJHk1ziof2zQKiXfP6JD50HrpUqogz-gLl7LfzSoTHLmamxW_3Ofwf9vD-MPrXlO/s320/AndroidPIT-Experience-Launcher1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><section class="mainArticleContent" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.4rem; margin-top: 1.4rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Google Experience Launcher, aka Google Search Launcher, gives you voice search capabilities without having to tap a button. Just say ''Ok, Google'' from any home screen and Google will look it up for you. Google Now can now be found as a home screen as well as via the old swipe up gesture. There's other changes to screen management and settings but you can discover those for yourself. It'll all add to the experience.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.4rem; margin-top: 1.4rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, just download the following three APKs to your device (or PC, in which case you'll need to transfer them to your phone with a USB cable):</span></div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.4rem; margin-top: 1.4rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://files.androidpit.info/content/APK/KitKat/PrebuiltGmsCore.apk" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">PreBuiltGmsCore</a> (Google Play Services 4.0)<br /><a href="http://files.androidpit.info/content/APK/KitKat/Velvet.apk" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Velvet</a> (Google Search)<br /><a href="http://files.androidpit.info/content/APK/KitKat/GoogleHome.apk" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">GoogleHome</a> (Google Launcher)</span></div><figure style="border: 0px; margin: 1.8rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="AndroidPIT Experience Launcher2" src="http://fs02.androidpit.info/userfiles/4774964/image/AndroidPIT-Experience-Launcher2.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.7s ease; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><figcaption style="margin-bottom: 1.4rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Download the three APKs, and install each one. / © AndroidPIT/Google</span></figcaption></figure><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.4rem; margin-top: 1.4rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once you've downloaded the three components, just install them in turn and you should be all set up with the Google Experience Launcher on your device. If your first experience with the Experience Launcher is a force close of the voice search, don't despair, all you need to do is change your default language for search, do a search and then change your voice search settings straight back to your original language. That's it.</span></div><figure style="border: 0px; margin: 1.8rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="AndroidPIT Experience Launcher3" src="http://fs01.androidpit.info/userfiles/4774964/image/AndroidPIT-Experience-Launcher3.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.7s ease; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><figcaption style="margin-bottom: 1.4rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Google search permissions and the new Settings. / © AndroidPIT/Google</span></figcaption></figure><figure style="border: 0px; margin: 1.8rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="AndroidPIT Experience Launcher4" src="http://fs02.androidpit.info/userfiles/4774964/image/AndroidPIT-Experience-Launcher4.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.7s ease; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><figcaption style="margin-bottom: 1.4rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Google Experience Launcher tutorial upon first launch. / © AndroidPIT/Google</span></figcaption></figure><figure style="border: 0px; margin: 1.8rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="AndroidPIT Experience Launcher5" src="http://fs01.androidpit.info/userfiles/4774964/image/AndroidPIT-Experience-Launcher5.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.7s ease; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><figcaption style="margin-bottom: 1.4rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A long press brings up new options and Google Now lives on a home screen. / © AndroidPIT/Google</span></figcaption></figure><figure style="border: 0px; margin: 1.8rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="AndroidPIT Experience Launcher6" src="http://fs02.androidpit.info/userfiles/4774964/image/AndroidPIT-Experience-Launcher6.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.7s ease; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><figcaption style="margin-bottom: 1.4rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The new Holo design (left). Don't forget to set Google Search launcher as default. / © AndroidPIT/Google</span></figcaption></figure><figure style="border: 0px; margin: 1.8rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="AndroidPIT Experience Launcher7" src="http://fs01.androidpit.info/userfiles/4774964/image/AndroidPIT-Experience-Launcher7.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.7s ease; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><figcaption style="margin-bottom: 1.4rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If voice search crashes on your first try, just go into settings and Voice. / © AndroidPIT/Google</span></figcaption></figure><figure style="border: 0px; margin: 1.8rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="AndroidPIT Experience Launcher8" src="http://fs02.androidpit.info/userfiles/4774964/image/AndroidPIT-Experience-Launcher8.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.7s ease; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><figcaption style="margin-bottom: 1.4rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Change your language to something else, do a voice search, then change it back to your original language. And that's it, welcome to the Google Experience Launcher with voice search. / © AndroidPIT/Google</span></figcaption></figure><h2 style="border: 0px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.2; margin: 2.8rem 0px 1.4rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">[Update: 12:30 PM 01.11.13 Berlin time]</span></h2><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.4rem; margin-top: 1.4rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The force close of voice search will need to be dealt with again every time you reboot your phone (via the same method). If this is too much for you and <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">you have root access</strong> on your device, you can complete the following fix pulled from <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=46993343&postcount=59" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">XDA Developers</a> to permanently solve the voice search crash issue.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.4rem; margin-top: 1.4rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Download the libgoogle_recognizer_ini_I.zip from the XDA link above and extract the ZIP file. Move the ZIP file to /system/lib on your device and the next time you try voice search the force close you get should be the final crash you'll see.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.4rem; margin-top: 1.4rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have you got the Google Experience Launcher on your device already? What other features have you found?</span></div></section><footer id="articleFooter" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; margin: 2rem 0px;"><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.4rem; margin-top: 1.4rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Source:</b> <a href="http://phandroid.com/2013/10/31/download-and-install-the-new-google-experience-launcher/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Phandroid</a>, <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=46993343&postcount=59" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">XDA Developers</a></span></div></footer>

How to Install the Google Experience Launcher now

The Google Experience Launcher, aka Google Search Launcher, gives you voice search capabilities without having to tap a button. Just say ...

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Privacy Policy : Spain Fines Google $1.23M

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="intellitxt" name="intellitxt"></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Google has been slapped with a fine for breaking Spanish data protection laws with its privacy policy.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) said that Google does not provide enough details about its data collection, and imposed a €900,000 ($1.23M) punishment.<br /> That's $400,000 each for three separate violations of the Organic Act on Data Protection (LOPD) — collecting information, sharing data, and not properly informing users. The AEPD called Google's privacy rules "indeterminate and unclear."<br /> A new Google privacy policy <a class="" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401022,00.asp">went into effect</a> on March 1, 2012. It consolidated about 70 cross-site guidelines into one, but also switched to one profile for users across all services, rather separate logins for applications like YouTube, Search, and Blogger. It's that account consolidation bit that has privacy advocates up in arms.<br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFSQjvbKj5HfydgBkuKISoIVHGLtLZbFLOH-cBuji-hiVsTMytSyAUFZIm75ZkLdgVpzMB_Lf64djNqlF5n2tddgScgOLVHBMiKDdI90bbEoatAA6vE0LgluizuxufugHsC8nePQS-5F2/s1600/google-search.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFSQjvbKj5HfydgBkuKISoIVHGLtLZbFLOH-cBuji-hiVsTMytSyAUFZIm75ZkLdgVpzMB_Lf64djNqlF5n2tddgScgOLVHBMiKDdI90bbEoatAA6vE0LgluizuxufugHsC8nePQS-5F2/s1600/google-search.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Google Search</i></b></td></tr></tbody></table>The AEPD's action means that the California-based tech company must comply with Spanish data protection law and correct its practices ASAP.<br /> A Google spokeswoman told PCMag that the company will be examining the Spanish watchdog's report to determine next steps.<br /> "We've engaged fully with the Spanish DPA throughout this process to explain our privacy policy and how it allows us to create simpler, more effective services, and we'll continue to do so," she said in a statement.<br /> Dutch and French officials have also spoken out against Google's practices. Late last month, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) <a class="" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2427792,00.asp">accused the search giant</a> of not adequately informing users about which personal data it collects and combines, and for what purpose.<br /><i>Source : <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2428617,00.asp">PCMag.com </a></i></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

Privacy Policy : Spain Fines Google $1.23M

Google has been slapped with a fine for breaking Spanish data protection laws with its privacy policy. The Spanish Data Protection Agency (...

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Google fined by Spanish data protection authority

<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spain’s data protection authority has fined Google €900,000 (US$1.2 million) and ordered the company to fall in line with the country’s data protection rules without delay.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEZwkzqtVovt_ZrhCDsku-yMv25DbtSn-Da9X0gkMf9cwZT6S-8QW1waB0mT93dB3Ohj7R4VLj-6Je3BgyXfakKhJILclu9b2C5kexTpveNDULr3TXaPkUnZ7ONYZr6fgrieNcFReew64/s1600/google-data_center-google_glass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEZwkzqtVovt_ZrhCDsku-yMv25DbtSn-Da9X0gkMf9cwZT6S-8QW1waB0mT93dB3Ohj7R4VLj-6Je3BgyXfakKhJILclu9b2C5kexTpveNDULr3TXaPkUnZ7ONYZr6fgrieNcFReew64/s320/google-data_center-google_glass.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Google</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD), said Thursday that Google does not provide users enough information about the personal information it collects, and the purposes it uses it for. It also objects to Google combining data gathered from its various services in violation of local laws.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Internet company does not, for example, inform Gmail users that the content of mails and attached files are filtered to insert tailored advertising, AEPD said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Google is also said to keep the data for periods longer than permitted under local data laws. The company was fined €300,000 for each of three violations, AEPD said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">”The combination of data collected through different services widely exceeds the reasonable expectations of the majority of users, who are not aware of it and lose control of their own personal information,” AEPD said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Google modified its privacy policy in March 2012, giving it the right to use personal data collected from one service on its other services as well, triggering criticism from privacy experts.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The investigation carried out by the AEPD has shown that Google illegally collects and processes personal information of both authenticated users, who have logged in with their Google accounts, and non-authenticated users, as well as “passive users” who have not requested Google’s services but access Web pages that include elements managed by the Internet company, the data protection authority said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">”Google collects personal information through nearly a hundred of services and products offered in Spain, in many cases not providing adequate information about what data is collected, what data is used for what purposes and without obtaining a valid consent of the data subjects,” AEPD said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via : <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2082320/google-fined-by-spanish-data-protection-authority-over-privacy-policy.html">PCWorld</a></span></i></div>

Google fined by Spanish data protection authority

Spain’s data protection authority has fined Google €900,000 (US$1.2 million) and ordered the company to fall in line with the country’s data...

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Google expand Chromecast in 2014 ?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooupiqhZh6Gl3buXyjeAvE4RgaJXtZAEbeu284tnU8oLzZxzJshBlWN50aBmdZj-FesNpSFusQaWUmVFX1G-EQzKQyp4e0zIuU0AAXqqwxsfulnG43fr7U0U7LGacMRTnyTsXe5VgzU6N/s1600/chromecast_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooupiqhZh6Gl3buXyjeAvE4RgaJXtZAEbeu284tnU8oLzZxzJshBlWN50aBmdZj-FesNpSFusQaWUmVFX1G-EQzKQyp4e0zIuU0AAXqqwxsfulnG43fr7U0U7LGacMRTnyTsXe5VgzU6N/s640/chromecast_1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The search giant is planning to bring its streaming dongle to a number of international markets, according to Google's product management VP Mario Queiroz in <a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/12/13/chromecast-in-2014-an-open-sdk-big-international-plans-and-maybe-even-new-devices/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(33, 155, 214); background-color: whitesmoke; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">an interview with <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gigaom</em></a>. He added that people will be "pleasantly surprised" by the scope of the expansion.</span></div><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The idea is to persuade app publishers around the world to make their apps Chromecast-compatible, so that users will be able to access more content using the device.</span></div><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"There will be an expectation from consumers that any and every app will be 'castable,'" Queiroz said.</span></div><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To that end, an open SDK will be launched during 2014. Right now a preview is available to developers, but it's not yet possible to distribute apps with the functionality.</span></div><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-12/15/chromecast">Wired UK</a></span></i></div>

Google expand Chromecast in 2014 ?

The search giant is planning to bring its streaming dongle to a number of international markets, according to Google's product managemen...

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Turn Off Gmail’s Auto Image Loading to Keep Email Snoops at Bay

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVIVUn3uNmsCQgDxy0Q2l0CtHOy8qIl5H7_mgcTZVdq0skV6VBfU409MT9KlCGw4Q4SxDam6mNKbF3dsKoDVBbjJgWJ49rx6IS5EuhvACMJjh4h050RnJrQ3ny_-RwJkPsT392eoguDBMG/s1600/Turn+Off+Gmail%E2%80%99s+Auto+Image+Loading+to+Keep+Email+Snoops+at+Bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVIVUn3uNmsCQgDxy0Q2l0CtHOy8qIl5H7_mgcTZVdq0skV6VBfU409MT9KlCGw4Q4SxDam6mNKbF3dsKoDVBbjJgWJ49rx6IS5EuhvACMJjh4h050RnJrQ3ny_-RwJkPsT392eoguDBMG/s640/Turn+Off+Gmail%E2%80%99s+Auto+Image+Loading+to+Keep+Email+Snoops+at+Bay.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Gmail</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gmail recently announced a change to the way it handles images in your emails by default. You used to have to opt in to see images embedded in your incoming messages by clicking a “Display images below” or “Always display images from (address)” link at the top of each message. Now, all images in your messages will load automatically.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Google is hyping the enhanced security of this new way of doing things, primarily because all emailed images will now be cached on the company’s own servers. That means that when they’re opened, only Google will be able to see your IP address and device details, not some potential spammer or nefarious e-buddy. It also means that Google is now copying every image sent through Gmail to its own servers.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some argue that this new “cache and load” approach will <a href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/12/gmail-blows-up-e-mail-marketing-by-caching-all-images-on-google-servers/" style="margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">help keep you from being tracked</a> by marketers. Others argue that it will <a href="http://www.wired.com/business/2013/12/gmail-spying-explained/" style="margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">allow marketers to track your habits</a> even more effectively, in some cases letting them know when you’ve opened and read their messages.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Either way, there are clear benefits to the old way of opting in to view messages. You can decide what to open on a case-by-case basis, and it’ll make your inbox load a lot faster. It won’t keep all those images off Google’s servers, though. It’ll just hide them by default.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To switch back to “opt-in” images, just open the full-browser version of Gmail and do this:</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Click on the Gear icon and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />2. In the “General” tab, scroll down to “External content.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />3. Click the radio button next to “Ask before displaying external content.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/12/prevent-gmail-from-loading-images-by-default/screen-shot-2013-12-13-at-4-08-20-pm/" rel="attachment wp-att-272951" style="margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-272951" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="150" src="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/2013/12/Screen-shot-2013-12-13-at-4.08.20-PM-660x150.png" style="border: none; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px;" title="Screen shot 2013-12-13 at 4.08.20 PM" width="660" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding: 0px;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Note: If you want to switch back to showing images by default, just choose the button next to “Always display external content (such as images) sent by trusted senders.”</span></em></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></em></span><br /><div style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Homepage Image: Mario Antonio Pena Zapatería/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/99058495@N00/2342164735/" style="margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Flickr</a></span></em></div><div style="margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/12/turn-gmail-auto-image-loading-off/">Wired</a></span></i></div>

Turn Off Gmail’s Auto Image Loading to Keep Email Snoops at Bay

Gmail Gmail recently announced a change to the way it handles images in your emails by default. You used to have to opt in to see images emb...

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Canadian government Google for 'anti-competitive acts'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJSdAiCAurs-VqDgAUWr_v8nFPYWvIQ0o-VdF8VnH9YPbWle1s9K4oL-xtQl40hzAn_SdeXFMjAmz7yJUqOXPSyGfNmHpbWwtzImZ2kOLm90Zl9OelsGm44hkXUye6CJiH2amD0pcH-Fz/s1600/google.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJSdAiCAurs-VqDgAUWr_v8nFPYWvIQ0o-VdF8VnH9YPbWle1s9K4oL-xtQl40hzAn_SdeXFMjAmz7yJUqOXPSyGfNmHpbWwtzImZ2kOLm90Zl9OelsGm44hkXUye6CJiH2amD0pcH-Fz/s1600/google.JPG" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Google may be in hot water with the Canadian Competition Bureau. The bureau announced it would be investigating the company in May, but more recent reports suggest it's not too happy with what the investigation has turned up.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Documents filed to the Federal Court of Canada describe Google as controlling at least one market related to search and advertising, potentially raising anti-trust concerns. The documents also suggest Google may have engaged in a number of anti-competitive acts by manipulating search results to favor their own products, or preventing data export from the company's AdWords platform. If the acts are found to be anti-competitive, it would mean a violation of Canadian anti-trust laws, and potentially grave consequences for the search giant.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This isn't the first time Google has faced regulatory scrutiny over its ad and search practices. In January of 2013, the company reached a settlement over similar claims by the US's Federal Trade Commission, which resulted in minor shifts in company practices. Those shifts were enough to halt ongoing suits in the international trade commission, although competitors like Yelp called the settlement "a missed opportunity." Judging by today's news, it seems as if Canada may not be satisfied either.</span><br /><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/13/google-inc-abusive-competition-bureau/?__lsa=77bb-a18f">Financial Post</a></span></i><br /><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via : <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/15/5210582/canadian-government-investigates-google-for-anti-competitive-acts">The Verge</a></span></i>

Canadian government Google for 'anti-competitive acts'

Google may be in hot water with the Canadian Competition Bureau. The bureau announced it would be investigating the company in May, but more...

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