Google

1,026 'Google' stories August 2010 - March 2015

Apple, Google & other large tech companies urge the White House & Congress not to renew the Patriot Act

Ben Lovejoy Mar 26 2015 - 4:14 am PT

Apple is one of ten tech giants to once again call on the US Government not to reauthorize the Patriot Act in its current form. The Act expires on 1st June unless it is renewed by Congress. Apple was joined by AOL, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo.

In an open letter to President Obama, NSA Director Admiral Rogers and other prominent government figures, the companies urge Congress to end the bulk collection of communications metadata–the logs that determine how and when ordinary citizens contact each other.

The letter says that mass surveillance must end, and that a revised bill must contain mechanisms to ensure that future government surveillance is both transparent and accountable …
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google’s iOS app Field Trip now features notable women from history

Ben Lovejoy Mar 23 2015 - 6:19 am PT

3 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXxfhBbt3eY]

Google’s iOS app Field Trip, a cool background app that alerts you to interesting things around you as you travel, now features notable women from history. If you check the Spark: Women on the Map option in the app, it will point out sites where women have played an important role in our past.

Google worked with gender equality campaign group SPARK to add the feature, reports TNW, after it pointed out to Google that its doodles featured women only 17% of the time. Google has also promised to do better there.

Field Trip so far features only 100 women, but anyone can nominate someone they feel should be included, suggesting that it may quickly grow.

Belkin and Google debut USB-C cables, including low-priced Ethernet, DisplayPort, HDMI and micro-USB adapters

Jeremy Horwitz Mar 11 2015 - 12:26 pm PT

36 Comments

Coinciding with today’s announcement of the dual USB-C port-equipped Chromebook Pixel 2 laptop, Google and Belkin today announced separate collections of new USB-C cables and adapters. These new options go well beyond Apple’s upcoming USB-C accessory lineup for the 12″ MacBook, while also including some familiar options at lower-than-Apple prices. They’re amongst the first USB-C accessories to be announced by major manufacturers, as inexpensive USB-C cables from smaller companies are beginning to make their way onto Amazon for pre-order…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Watch predicted to take 55% of the 2015 global smartwatch market with 15.4M units shipped

Zac Hall Mar 5 2015 - 9:56 am PT

14 Comments

Research firm Strategy Analytics released its latest report today forecasting global Apple Watch sales and smartwatch marketshare for 2015. The firm’s predictions put Apple’s anticipated global smartwatch marketshare at more than half with 54.8% reached in 2015. Notably, that forecasted percentage is versus all other smartwatches combined competing with the Apple Watch.

While the report predicts that Apple will take the overwhelming majority of smartwatch sales this year, it predicts a relatively conservative number of units shipped globally in 2015 at 15.4 million. That forecast still beats the collective “other” group with a 12.7 million units shipped globally predicted.

To be clear, the firm is predicting that the as-of-yet unreleased Apple Watch will outsell the existing smartwatch market in 2015…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Gmail for iOS updated w/ share sheet support, ability to archive & reply to email via notifications

Chance Miller Mar 5 2015 - 9:16 am PT

1 Comment

Google this morning has released a major update for Gmail on iOS. The update bumps the app to version 4.0 and packs a handful of new features. First off, Gmail on iOS now supports the ability to archive and reply to messages directly from a notification, a feature many have been requesting since iOS 8 launched.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google said to be planning iOS support for Android Wear, could debut at I/O conference

Mike Beasley Mar 3 2015 - 10:22 pm PT

10 Comments

Last month a developer managed to hack together a solution that enabled iPhone users to see their notifications on Google’s Android-powered wearable operating system, but at the moment there is no official way to use the two competing platforms together. That could change at Google’s annual I/O conference later this year, if new rumors are to be believed.

According to French tech blog 01Net, Google is developing an update to Android Wear that would enable it work with Apple’s iOS devices…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Microsoft continues its iOS app acquisition spree with Prismatic, a news reader startup that Apple eyed

Zac Hall Mar 2 2015 - 9:14 am PT

3 Comments

Since Satya Nadella took the reins from Steve Ballmer just over a year ago, Microsoft has been on an aggressive acquisition spree of cross platform apps and services. Most recently, the company bought the iOS email app Acompli then relaunched it as Outlook for iOS. Microsoft also bought Sunrise, the popular calendar software with an iOS app.

Aside from Microsoft and Apple, other interested buyers include or included Facebook, Google, and Yahoo (anyone missing?). Competing with Apple’s TestFlight acquisition last year, Microsoft even bought the beta distribution service Hockeyapp at the end of last year.

Adding to its list of recent mobile app acquisitions, TechCrunch reports that Microsoft is now eyeing Prismatic, a social recommendation network with apps for both iOS and Android. Prismatic describes itself as a personalized and social news reader.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Maps for iOS adds POI quick facts, upcoming events for select venues, more

Zac Hall Feb 27 2015 - 8:28 am PT

4 Comments

: POI quick facts

: Upcoming events

Google is packing even more useful information into the latest version of its Maps app for iOS. Google Maps 4.3.0 for iPhone and iPad adds several contextual data points to locations like nearby businesses for address searches, quick facts for notable locations, and even event information for select venues.
Expand
Expanding
Close

YouTube Kids iOS app arrives w/ family-focused content & parental controls

Jordan Kahn Feb 23 2015 - 7:05 am PT

1 Comment

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUmMAAPX6E8]

Google just announced that its new YouTube Kids app is available for both iOS and Android devices starting today. The new app for kids is the first of its kind for Google, but the launch follows reports that Google was preparing kid-friendly versions of YouTube, Chrome, Search and other apps.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Opinion: What we can expect from an Apple Car if it really goes on sale in 2020

Ben Lovejoy Feb 20 2015 - 6:39 am PT

78 Comments

What a difference a couple of weeks can make. We knew on February 5th that Apple was offering quarter-million dollar signing bonuses to Tesla engineers to persuade them to jump ship, but the idea that the company planned to make a car was just a vague rumor. Fast-forward a fortnight and it’s now being treated as established fact.

Our own exclusive reporting on the sheer range of automotive hires by Apple makes it clear that the company is, at the very least, seriously investigating the possibility, with a 1,000-strong team reportedly approved by Tim Cook. And while we need to bear in mind the cautionary note in Seth Weintraub’s piece that there’s a big difference between an R&D project and a real, live product, at this stage an Apple car seems more likely than not.

But if Bloomberg is right that Apple plans to launch a car by 2020, I think it’s important to recognize what form that car will and won’t take (spoiler: it won’t look like the above) …
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Maps Connect gains new languages as it expands to Canada, France & Germany

Ben Lovejoy Feb 20 2015 - 3:59 am PT

1 Comment

The Apple Maps Connect service, which allows small businesses to add their listings to the Apple Maps database, has been expanded to Canada, France and Germany. The service has also gained two new language options, French and German, to correspond with the regional expansion.

Apple first launched Maps Connect in the U.S. last October, enabling businesses to edit or add listings, as well as set up indoor mapping within selected areas. Entries made by businesses typically show up in Apple Maps around a week later. The international rollout began last month with the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Singapore.

Apple switched from Google Maps to its own mapping service on iCloud.com in December. Apple-leased camera cars have been spotted recently, with some suggesting that they are being used to add Street View style images to Apple Maps, while others believe they are part of the Apple Car project.

Apple tops the list of the world’s most admired companies for 8th year running

Ben Lovejoy Feb 19 2015 - 7:40 am PT

9 Comments

Apple has topped the list of Fortune‘s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies for the 8th consecutive year, with Google taking the number two slot occupied last year by Amazon, while investment company Berkshire Hathaway moved up one slot into third place.

Apple received the top score in all nine categories of innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness (was never going to be too much doubt about that one), long-term investment value, quality of products and global competitiveness …
Expand
Expanding
Close

Inbox by Gmail iOS app now has full iPad version, still requires invite at present

Ben Lovejoy Feb 19 2015 - 4:41 am PT

8 Comments

Inbox by Gmail, which Google appears to view as a replacement for the popular email client Sparrow, has been very quietly updated, notes TechCrunch, to include a native build for iPad. The app is currently only available in some countries (including the U.S.), and neither the App Store description nor What’s New entry mention the iPad build.

The app, which our hands-on last October described as “a marriage between Gmail and Google Now,” has tended to polarise views, some loving it, others hating it–with very few falling between the two …
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google removes Sparrow email client from iOS & Mac App Stores following Inbox launch

Chance Miller Feb 17 2015 - 8:38 am PT

7 Comments

Google acquired the popular email client Sparrow back in 2012 and announced that the entire team would be joining Google to work on Gmail. Since that acquisition, Sparrow apps received only a handful of updates and have been seemingly neglected in favor of Google’s new Inbox initiative. Over the past few days, however, Sparrow appears to have received the final nail in its coffin as it has been removed from both the Mac App Store and iOS App Store (via TechCrunch).

Expand
Expanding
Close

Mattel plans to release its new Google Cardboard-based VR toy on iOS by end of the year

Jordan Kahn Feb 13 2015 - 6:45 am PT

5 Comments

Google and Mattel are holding a press event today to announce a new product that merges Google’s experimental Cardboard virtual reality platform with Mattel’s classic View-Master toy. Also announced at the event: Mattel plans to bring the new View-Master toy and with it Google’s Cardboard platform to the iPhone by the end of the year.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tim Cook only CEO taking part in today’s White House cybersecurity summit

Ben Lovejoy Feb 13 2015 - 4:55 am PT

7 Comments

We learned earlier this week that Tim Cook would be speaking at a White House cybersecurity summit today, and it now appears he will be the only tech CEO to do so. USNews is reporting that CEOs of other top tech companies all declined President Obama’s invitation, sending lower-ranking execs in their place.

Unlike Apple’s Cook, other top executives at key Silicon Valley companies declined invitations to the summit. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer and Google’s Larry Page will not attend amid the ongoing concerns about government surveillance. Facebook spokesman Jay Nancarrow said Zuckerberg is unavailable to attend and that Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan will speak during a panel at the event.

It’s believed other CEOs consider refusing to take part to be the best way to express their objections to increased government surveillance of electronic communications, while Cook takes the opposite view: that it is important to speak up in defence of user privacy …
Expand
Expanding
Close

iOS 8.3 brings wireless CarPlay, improved Google login, new Emojis, China Apple Pay

Mark Gurman Feb 9 2015 - 11:03 am PT

29 Comments

Earlier today, Apple seeded the first iOS 8.3 build to developers alongside Xcode 6.3 beta with Swift 1.2. Readers have discovered that the new operating system brings a new wireless CarPlay feature to the iPhone. This means that users can now wirelessly connect their iPhone to the car to bring an iOS-like experience the dashboard. Previously, users would have to connect their iPhone to the car via a USB Lightning cable. We first reported in March 2014 that Apple has been working on wireless CarPlay. It’s yet to be seen how long the wireless CarPlay rollout takes and which cars support it in the future. The new update also, like with OS X 10.10.3, brings easier Google login functionality for users with two-factor accounts:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Camera-equipped minivan leased to Apple spotted in Bay Area may point to Street View-style mapping system

Mike Beasley Feb 3 2015 - 9:15 pm PT

43 Comments

Apple may be preparing a big update to its Maps application for iOS and OS X. San Francisco’s KPIX reported earlier today that a Dodge Caravan sporting an impressive array of cameras has been spotted roaming the area. The California DMV confirmed that the vehicle (seen in the photos above and below, via Claycord) was leased to Apple.

The CBS affiliate reached out to technology analyst Rob Enderle for his thoughts on what this might be. Enderle said that this van simply has too many cameras (a whopping twelve of them) to be a mapping car—though he failed to note that Google uses even more cameras on its own Street View cars.

Video and more photos after the break…

Android won the download race last year, but iOS made the money, app analytics show

Ben Lovejoy Jan 28 2015 - 7:25 am PT

9 Comments

The difference between Android and iOS hardware–Android having the market share, Apple making most of the profits–was mirrored in last year’s app downloads, reports mobile analytics firm App Annie. Its 2014 retrospective revealed that the Google Play Store saw 60% more downloads than the iOS App Store, but iOS apps made around 70% more money.

Re/code notes that this reflects data recently shared by Ustwogames for its best-selling Monument Valley game, which showed that of the $5.8M revenue generated by the game, 81.7% of it came from the iOS app.

App Annie’s data, which is generated by analytics from more than 700,000 apps, showed that just three countries generated more app revenue than the rest of the world combined–the USA, Japan and Korea–while the so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, China and India) were not surprisingly the fastest-growing regions.

Apple recently announced that developers last year earned over $10B from the App Store, with a further $500M spent in the first week of this year. The company recently increased European app prices to reflect recent currency movements.

Pandora for iPhone redesigned, adds mini-player and notifications

Mark Gurman Jan 26 2015 - 3:15 pm PT

4 Comments

The Pandora iPhone and iPod touch app today received a thorough redesign that is slightly more starker and in line with the iOS 7/iOS 8 design style. The update formats the app for iPhone 6/iPhone 6 Plus’s higher-resolution display and adds various new mini-player and notifications features:

• With the new Personalization Icon, the Thumb History for your favorite stations is at your fingertips.
• Accidentally thumbed a song up or down – now you can un-thumb simply by re-tapping the Thumb Icon.
• We’ve included a new Mini-Player so you can control your music while you browse your track history.
• Stay in the loop when new music is added to your favorite stations and much more with our redesigned Notification & Activity Feed.

Pandora is free on iTunes.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple’s purchase of AuthenTec cost the Nexus 6 its fingerprint reader, reveals former Motorola CEO

Ben Lovejoy Jan 26 2015 - 5:35 am PT

14 Comments

The recessed Motorola logo was originally slated to be a fingerprint sensor

When Apple bought AuthenTec back in 2012, it did more than grab the best fingerprint technology available for itself – it also stopped Google including a fingerprint sensor in the Nexus 6, revealed former Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside. Speaking to the Telegraph, Woodside said that the dimple on the back of the handset was originally intended to be a fingerprint reader.

Indeed, the 6-inch Nexus 6, he can now admit, was stymied by just one of those big players. A dimple on the back that helps users hold the device should, in fact, have been rather more sophisticated. “The secret behind that is that it was supposed to be fingerprint recognition, and Apple bought the best supplier. So the second best supplier was the only one available to everyone else in the industry and they weren’t there yet,” says Woodside.

A fingerprint scanner had been widely rumored prior to the launch of the Android smartphone originally code-named Shamu, and it’s believed one was included in internal prototypes, before it was abandoned. Woodside’s comments provide the explanation, Motorola originally intending to buy or license the sensor from AuthenTec.

You can now unlock Google Docs, Slides and Sheets for iOS with Touch ID

Zac Hall Jan 21 2015 - 11:23 am PT

6 Comments

Google is on a roll this week with updating its iOS apps. Yesterday we saw Chrome for iPhone and iPad pick up a big update bringing Material Design to the browser and adopting Handoff support with OS X Yosemite. Following Chrome’s release, Google today shared new versions of its Docs, Slides, and Sheets apps for iPhone and iPad taking advantage of another Apple technology: Touch ID.

Beginning with Docs version 1.2.6448, Slides version 1.0.5754, and Sheets version 1.1.7297, iPhone and iPad users can now lock and unlock each app using the Touch ID fingerprint scanner as an alternative to the passcode lock screen.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Chrome for iOS gets Material redesign, OS X Handoff support, iOS 8/iPhone 6 optimizations

Jordan Kahn Jan 20 2015 - 10:02 am PT

36 Comments

Google is today rolling out Chrome 40 for iOS and with it introducing a redesigned UI, OS X Handoff support, and optimizations for iOS 8 and the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Expand
Expanding
Close