Google

1,026 'Google' stories August 2010 - July 2014

Apple Maps senior engineering manager leaves role for job at Uber

Zac Hall Jul 8 2014 - 8:31 am PT

Chris Blumenberg, a senior engineering manager at Apple who manages the Maps Apps and Frameworks team, has left the Cupertino, California company for a new role at Uber, The Information reports. Blumenberg’s time spent at Apple dates back over 14 years according to his LinkedIn profile, and his past experience includes building the original Maps app for iPhone as well as porting the Safari web browser to iOS.

Uber, of course, is a relatively new transportation company founded in 2009 which offers pickups in various cities which can be arranged by a mobile application. Interestingly, Google has in part backed Uber through its Ventures arm investing in the startup with $250 million last fall and adding Uber integration into its the Google Maps app earlier this year. Uber is also a partner for Google’s self-driving car program.

As you may recall, Apple first introduced its in-house Maps data in 2012, which was met with enough user complaints to prompt a publicly posted apology from Apple CEO Tim Cook, as it began the process of moving away from relying on Google’s mapping data.

Google Play Music for iOS updated w/ gapless playback, ability to download subscribed playlists, more

Chance Miller Jul 7 2014 - 11:28 am PT

5 Comments

Google this afternoon started rolling out an update to its Play Music app on iOS with a handful of new features. The update bumps the app to version 1.3.0.2190. Firstly, the update finally adds support for gapless playback, which means that there is no pause between the end of one song and the beginning of another. The update also adds the ability to download subscribed playlists in one tap, allowing you to listen to them without a data connection.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google’s co-founders on how the company differs from Apple

Ben Lovejoy Jul 7 2014 - 6:59 am PT

7 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M&start=1500]

In a ‘fireside chat’ with leading venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin discuss everything from the moment they nearly sold the company to why they are cautious about moving into health technology. One interesting angle for Apple fans was how the two contrasted their approach to that of Apple.

Brin, who runs Google X, said that the experimental wing of the company was about making a number of bets and hoping that some of them paid off.

From my perspective – running Google X – that’s my job, is to invest in a number of opportunities, each one of which may be a big bet. […]

If you look at the self-driving cars, for example, I hope that that could really transform transportation around the world [but] it’s got many technical and policy risks. But if you are willing to make a number of bets like that, you’ve got to hope that some of them will pay off.

Page contrasted this approach with Apple, which focuses on a very small number of products.

I would always have this debate, actually, with Steve Jobs. He’d be like, ‘You guys are doing too much stuff.’ And I’d be like, ‘Yeah that’s true.’ And he was right, in some sense. But I think the answer to that – which I only came to recently, as we were talking about this stuff – is that if you’re doing things that are highly interrelated […] at some point, they have to get integrated.

Another difference between the two companies, say Page and Brin, is in their view of technology in the health sector. Apple’s long-awaited iWatch is of course believed to be equipped with multiple health and fitness sensors, and the Health app is a key feature of iOS 8. Google says that while it does have some health-related ambitions – such as glucose-reading contact lenses – it views the field with considerable caution.

Generally, health is just so heavily regulated. It’s just a painful business to be in. It’s just not necessarily how I want to spend my time. Even though we do have some health projects, and we’ll be doing that to a certain extent. But I think the regulatory burden in the U.S. is so high that think it would dissuade a lot of entrepreneurs.

You can watch the complete interview in the video above.

Android Wear gives us a glimpse at what home automation with an iWatch should look like

Stephen Hall Jul 3 2014 - 4:39 pm PT

8 Comments

Home automation, a category more broadly referred to as the “internet of things,” is almost surely going to be a large and growing market in the coming years. And while Apple’s recently announced entry is the forthcoming HomeKit platform, Google has yet to announce anything exactly equivalent. At I/O 2014, however, Google did announce its plan for Nest, and shed much more light on its Android Wear smartwatch operating system.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Microsoft reportedly working on iOS-compatible fitness band for Q4 release

Mike Beasley Jul 2 2014 - 5:45 pm PT

1 Comment

Photo: in.com

Microsoft is planning its own entry into the wearable market, but won’t make it exclusive to Windows devices, according to a report from Paul Thurrott. The device won’t be a watch, but a simple fitness band that can sync with multiple smartphone platforms, including Windows, iOS, and Android.

The company is said to be aiming for a Q4 release with pricing similar to that of Samsung’s Galaxy Gear. No word yet on whether the hardware will work with Apple’s own Health software or will require an app created by Microsoft.

Wall Street ranks Apple world’s most respected company, analysts raise target share prices

Ben Lovejoy Jul 2 2014 - 4:52 am PT

7 Comments

Barron’s reports that institutional investors have returned Apple to its number one slot in its annual ranking of the world’s most respected companies, after it was beaten last year by Berkshire Hathaway.

Apple topped this year’s ranking by scoring 3.94, giving it a wide margin of victory. Berkshire scored 3.58, and the mean was 2.37. Apple received the highest number of Highly Respect votes …

Expand
Expanding
Close

How many apps do you use a month? Study shows the average is 26 [Poll]

Ben Lovejoy Jul 2 2014 - 4:03 am PT

6 Comments

A Nielsen study (via TechCrunch) reveals that while we all spend much longer using mobile apps than we did two years ago, and we may have many more apps installed on our phones, the average number of apps we actually interact with in any given month hasn’t changed nearly as much.

While time spent using mobile apps climbed from 18h 18m in 2011 to 30h 15m by the end of last year, the total number of apps actually used only increased from 23.3 to 26.8. So we’re spending more time using pretty much the same number of apps …
Expand
Expanding
Close

CarPlay coming to 2015 Audi models in Europe, North American cars in 2016

Mark Gurman Jun 30 2014 - 9:34 am PT

4 Comments

Following up on its announcement that it will support CarPlay in its cars beginning in 2015, Audi has provided more details about the rollout. According to the luxury car-maker, iOS CarPlay support will arrive in models for Europe in 2015, while North American models will see the software in center consoles in early 2016. Audi has also detailed how the functionality with be integrated:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple said to be working on ‘mainstream’ Smart Home hardware

Mark Gurman Jun 26 2014 - 6:47 am PT

42 Comments

With iPhones in pockets, Macs on desks, iPads in bags, and iWatches soon coming to the wrist, Apple is said to be eyeing another category for continued growth: Smart Home hardware. The Cupertino-company is said to have assembled a team to work on various hardware products for the home that deeply integrate with the existing array of Apple devices on the market…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google’s numbers show iOS generates 4x more average revenue per user than Android

Ben Lovejoy Jun 26 2014 - 3:49 am PT

7 Comments

It’s long been known that iOS users are more profitable for developers than Android users, but figures released by Google at the Google I/O conference and crunched by Benedict Evans provide some hard data on just how big that gap is.

Google Android users in total are spending around half as much on apps on more than twice the user base, and hence app ARPU on Android is roughly a quarter of iOS.

The key reason, of course, is that Apple makes only high-end devices that attract people with a decent amount of disposable income, while Android spans everything from cheap-and-cheerful devices offered exclusively in developing countries all the way through to high-end phones like the Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8).

Evans makes the point that we don’t actually have any data on the app and media spend of owners of premium Android handsets, and that may actually be similar to iOS users – but given that they represent a tiny minority of Android users, it’s a stat that would be interesting but not terribly relevant.

Google Drive 3.1 for iOS released with activity stream, sharing enhancements, more

Zac Hall Jun 25 2014 - 12:25 pm PT

0 Comments

In addition to previewing the next version of Android dubbed “L”, Android Auto, Android TV, new Chromecast features, and more, Google released an updated version of Google Drive for iPhone and iPad. The new version brings enhances to file sharing giving users the ability to allow files or folders to be viewed, commented, or edited by anyone with a link. The update also adds a new incoming view for seeing files that have been shared as well as an activity stream for seeing changes you and others make to files and folders in one place.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tune in live to Google’s I/O press event live stream

Stephen Hall Jun 25 2014 - 8:50 am PT

15 Comments

Google I/O starts today, and as per usual, the company is kicking things off with a huge 2-hour press event set to start at 9 AM PT. The event is said to be bringing a multitude of new products and service announcements, rumored to include the “L” version of Android, Android Wear smartwatches, a new line of “Android Silver” smartphones, a second-generation Chromebook Pixel, an “Android TV” set-top box, Project Tango tablets, and Google Glass announcements.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Nest Protect goes back on sale for $99 as company touts safety data

Mike Beasley Jun 16 2014 - 10:18 pm PT

8 Comments

Earlier this year, 440,000 Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detectors were recalled following the discovery of a critical safety flaw that could accidentally deactive the system. Today, Nest has put the Protect back on sale at a reduced price of $99—previously $129. However, the “wave” feature that allowed the user to disable the alarm with a hand gesture has been removed.

In the blog post announcing the return of the Protect, the company boasted some of its safety statistics and recounted the story of one Nest Protect user who was alerted to the presence of carbon monoxide in his home by the device, which saved his life. Nest’s Doug Sweeny writes:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple: We’ll ‘soon’ begin encrypting iCloud email in transit between providers

Mark Gurman Jun 13 2014 - 1:58 pm PT

13 Comments

Following the publication of an NPR article detailing the security of major email services, Apple has informed the network that it is working on an update to its iCloud Mail service that encrypts emails in transit from other providers. As of right now, iCloud emails are solely encrypted in transit from one iCloud email account to another, but an email sent from iCloud to Gmail or Yahoo (as examples) or vice versa is not currently encrypted. This is what will change:

Apple encrypts e-mail from its customers to iCloud. However, Apple is one of the few global email providers based in the U.S. that is not encrypting any of its customers’ email in transit between providers. After we published, the company told us this would soon change. This affects users of me.com and mac.com email addresses.

The enhancement will come into effect “soon,” but Apple is not more specific than that on the timeframe. While the quote above oddly does not specify icloud.com addresses, that newer Apple email domain likely falls into the same category as me.com and mac.com. The lack of end-to-end iCloud Mail encryption with Gmail, for example, is shown on Google’s data protection transparency website:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Beats Music on Android gets first feature update post-Apple acquisition announcement

Chance Miller Jun 12 2014 - 6:36 pm PT

4 Comments

When Apple announced its $3 billion acquisition of Beats last month, the company said it had no intentions of killing off the Android version of the app, with Tim Cook saying “It’s all about the music.” This evening, Beats announced a hefty update to its streaming app on Android. The update bumps the app to version 1.1 and includes a variety of features and changes that users have been calling for since the initial release. This is the first feature update the app has gotten since Apple announced it will acquired the company.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple’s HomeKit partner Honeywell launches Lyric smart thermostat Nest competitor

Zac Hall Jun 10 2014 - 7:57 am PT

23 Comments

With Apple stepping into the home automation arena by way of offering closer device integration through its new HomeKit API announced alongside iOS 8, just about every appliance in the home is potential for being refreshed and gaining deeper connectivity with our iPhones and iPads. Honeywell, a launch partner for Apple’s new home automation development tools, is today announcing its new Lyric smart thermostat to compete against similar offerings from competitors like the now Google-owned Nest.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Smartphone maker Xiaomi continues to grow, outsells Apple in China during Q1 2014

Chance Miller Jun 5 2014 - 7:36 am PT

3 Comments

A new video out of Bloomberg details just exactly how a once unknown Chinese phone company has able to leapfrog the household names in technology and become the sixth largest mobile handset company in the world, and the third largest in China. Xiaomi was founded back in 2010 and went the total opposite direction in terms of strategy from Apple and Samsung. Making Android powered devices, Xiaomi has focused devices with high build quality and excellent performance.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Opinion: Has Apple finally promoted iCloud from a hobby to a serious service?

Ben Lovejoy Jun 4 2014 - 6:55 am PT

76 Comments

I wrote a piece last month arguing that it was time for Apple to up its iCloud game, showing that the company is serious about cloud storage by focusing more on fast, reliable syncing, and by matching the functionality, storage capacities, and pricing of Google Drive.

In the WWDC keynote, Apple did exactly that. MobileMe may not, in Steve Jobs’ words, have been Apple’s finest hour, but it did at least include iDisk – an online drive we could access directly to store anything we liked – not just documents created in Apple’s own apps. It’s been a long time coming, but iDisk is finally back in the form of iCloud Drive.

The new iCloud pricing, too, looks set to be exactly what I asked for – comparable to Google Drive…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple replaces Google with Bing search in OS X Yosemite’s redesigned Spotlight?

Jordan Kahn Jun 2 2014 - 4:14 pm PT

22 Comments

One big change for Apple with the unveiling of OS X Yosemite today is Bing web searches in the completely revamped Spotlight feature. Spotlight, which allows users to look up anything locally on their Mac as well as perform web searches, received a redesigned user experience in Yosemite, but it might have also received a switch to Bing from Google search.

To be fair, the “web search” feature of spotlight prior to Yosemite actually just defaults to the default search engine in your browser of choice. If that happens to be Safari or Chrome like it is for most users, that meant Spotlight would typically send users to a Google search results page if they hadn’t changed their default preference. Now, Apple is listing Bing searches– but not Google– as a feature of Spotlight regardless of the default option (pictured above). We’ve yet to confirm that Bing is the only web search option for Spotlight in OS X Yosemite, as we’ve not yet been able to get the new Spotlight web search feature to work properly in the first beta.

While Spotlight is going to use Bing, Apple’s revamped search bar in Safari still uses Google as does iOS 8. Its easy to imagine Apple is only continuing to use Google search in Safari due to contractual agreements, but it’s harder to imagine it just decided to use Bing for Spotlight with no plans to possibly use it in its other products down the road.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Play Music iOS app updated with editable playlists and more

Ben Lovejoy May 30 2014 - 6:26 am PT

0 Comments

The iOS version of the Google Play Music app has been updated, allowing you to edit playlists directly in the app rather than having to login to the website to do it.

Google has also introduced a few more goodies: Shuffle Artist, which does exactly what the name suggests, and a filter to show only the music you’ve actually downloaded – handy when you want to narrow your selection to your favourites.

Google Play Music is a free download from iTunes.

Apple’s home automation system will be less of a hub, more of a ‘made for iPhone’ program

Mike Beasley May 29 2014 - 2:55 pm PT

9 Comments

Acquiring the Nest Learning Thermostat was Google’s big step into home automation

As first reported on Monday, Apple is said to be preparing a home automation system for debut at WWDC next week. While this was the first anyone had heard of any such plans, several different sources have quickly come together to give an idea of how an “Apple Smart Home” will likely function.

On Monday, as noted above, the Financial Times first reported that Apple’s new program would not consist of a group of first-party automated appliances or other devices connected to an iPhone. Instead, the program will work similarly to Apple’s existing “Made for iPhone” program. Essentially the only role Apple will play is to grant special branding to compliant devices.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google: Digital Creative Agency Fred & Farid replaces Macs w/ Chromebooks

Jordan Kahn May 29 2014 - 11:10 am PT

6 Comments

Google loves to highlight its work getting Chromebooks into the hands of business customers and a lot of the time that also means a switch from Windows and Microsoft Office products to Chrome OS and Google Apps. It’s not as often, however, that we hear about companies that decide to replace their Macs with Chromebooks. Today Google published a guest blog post from CIO of digital creative group Fred & Farid Group about the company’s decision to do exactly that, replace Macs with Chromebooks for around 60 percent of its employees:

Macs are a popular choice among the creative team. But I soon realized not everyone needs a Mac, especially the 60 percent of our employees who work in office roles like marketing, sales, IT, and administration. We recently rolled out 10 Samsung Chromebooks in a small pilot and plan to have 200 employees on Chromebooks by the end of the year. Our decision to adopt Chromebooks wasn’t based solely on price — though we expect to save a significant amount compared to deploying Macs — but also a desire to have faster collaboration. When you have a Chromebook, you think less about downloading stuff to your hard drive and more about sharing information in the cloud. With Google Drive, we’re able to store, sync and share all our important files easily, whether it’s when we’re on our Chromebooks or on our phones and tablets on the go.

Like with those switching from Windows, relying on mostly Google Apps is one of the reasons the company decided Macs weren’t necessary for many of its employees: We use Google Hangouts for all our voice communications — we don’t even have phone lines in our offices anymore. In the Paris office alone, we conduct more than 50 Hangouts each day. Of course, we also use Drive for document sharing and Calendar for scheduling.

More on the Google Enterprise Blog here.

Adobe Revel now gives users 2 GB of free storage for photo uploads

Benjamin Mayo May 27 2014 - 9:48 am PT

0 Comments

Alongside a minor update to the app, Adobe Revel has changed their business model slightly. Before, free accounts were limited to uploading just 50 photos every month. Going forward, free accounts get 2 GB of fixed storage for uploads.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Google-owned VirusTotal releases Mac-compatible version of malware detection app

Mike Beasley May 26 2014 - 4:25 pm PT

7 Comments

Google-owned VirusTotal today released a version of the VirusTotal uploader application (via The Next Web) compatible with Mac OS X. Previously the software was only available for Windows-based machines.

VirusTotal Uploader works in conjunction with the VirusTotal web service to check files and links for malware. Google hopes that the release of the software for the Mac will help users more easily detect attacks on Apple’s platform. From the VirusTotal blog:

Expand
Expanding
Close