Category: Google

Android Wear Smartwatches are Now Compatible with the iPhone

Finishing the day off with some good news for iPhone users – Android Wear will finally support Apple’s smartphones. In an official blog post, Google announced that they will be rolling out Android Wear for iOS.

Starting today, the LG Watch Urbane will work with iPhones and all upcoming Android smartwatches, by Motorola, Asus and Huawei, will be also iOS compatible. By this, we’re assuming Google was hinting at the upcoming Moto 360 (Gen 2), Asus ZenWatch 2 and Huawei Watch.

With a smartwatch one doesn’t have to constantly be on their phones in order to check the time, reply to emails, take calls, respond to text messages etc, instead all these activities can be completed by a few glances and voice notes.

Android Wear for iOS is rolling out today. Just pair your iPhone (iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, or 6 Plus running iOS 8.2+) with an Android Wear watch to bring simple and helpful information right to your wrist.

We’re a fan of cross-compatibility – if we would like to pair an Apple product with a Google product, their interactivity should be easy and seamless. For iPhone users, up until now, the only choice of a smartwatch was the Apple Watch, which has received mixed reviews. On the other hand, Android watches are cheaper and in some cases, more readily available. With this move, Google gives (nearly) everyone the option to buy and use Android watches.

It’s now your turn, Apple.

August 31, 2015
Reports Suggest Google’s Android Pay Might Release This Week

Apart from its burgers and fries, McDonald’s is also known for being quite tech savvy. They have free Wi-Fi, complimentary iPads and were even one of Apple Pay’s first few partners. Now, recent information also suggests that the McDonald’s is preparing employees to be ready for the new Android Pay system.

The exact date of release, that has been indicated by a leaked memo is said to be on the 26th of August 2015. The Android Pay was announced at Google’s I/O developer conference in May and is said to launch in the United States first.

Android Pay relieves users from the hassle of carrying cards and the payment is done at merchants’ contactless terminals. Simply unlock the device and as soon as you place it near the machine’s NFC reader, a card interface will pop up automatically. Fingerprint scanning isn’t a must. Pick from the virtual cards to complete your payment. With this, you are done. Payment confirmation and transaction details will be received on your smartphone. There is no need to call up Android Pay and put in a separate PIN or password to authenticate payments. Android Pay deals with all by integrating with the security of the operating system.

The Android Pay has the same results as Apple Pay – you can swipe your phone instead of using cash or cards. Further reports also suggest that the new Android Pay will run on the Android KitKat or above.

However, Google has not made any official statement about the release of their new feature.

August 24, 2015
Upcoming Android Devices Will Come With Less Google Bloatware

We had earlier reported about how Samsung was planning to introduce apps to delete bloatware in China. It has now been reported that Android users all around the world will soon be getting less bloatware on their phones. Therefore apps like – Google+, Google Play Games, Google Play Books and Google Newsstand will not come pre-installed.

Some new devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 already doesn’t have Google+ pre-installed. The problem of bloatware did upset many customers and perhaps even companies that decided to use Android as their operating system. Hence, if a company wanted to make an Android handset with the Gmail app, it would also necessarily have to pre-install Google+ and Google Newsstand on it.

However, this new report does not mean that the pre-installed apps are soon to become redundant; they will be available on Google Play Store for those who want them and will be regularly updated too. This new move seems to give users a chance to choose what they do with their storage and companies a chance to provide more storage space and memory to the users.

Source

August 22, 2015
Report : Google India Takes a Stand Against Net Neutrality

According to various news reports, Google could be lobbying against net neutrality in India, as it has been asking the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) to support zero rating plans.

The zero rating plans allow people to use certain web services for free, this basically also allows telecom operators to selectively offer its users access to certain applications/websites without incurring any data charges. Therefore, any telecom company that signs up for this plan would have to pay the telecom provider a large sum of money in order to make their apps and services free for users.

Early this year, Airtel had decided to offer its own Airtel Zero plan in India. This plan was said to be in violation of net neutrality. Very recently though, MediaNama reported an email exchange between Google and the IAMAI, which suggested that Google was trying to push for the removal of zero rating plans from the IAMAI’s submission to the Department of Telecom. Google has further argued that there was no unanimity among internet companies on this issue and therefore, should be removed.

In the recent past, Google has been a part of the zero rated plan, but has put it on hold to provide free data to end users in India. Some companies have still not responded to the net neutrality debate in India, however, Facebook is reported to have taken a stand supporting zero rating.

Let us know your comments on the zero rating plans and net neutrality.

Source

August 21, 2015
Here’s the 16 Year Old Who’s Challenging Google Search

16 year old, Anmol Tukrel is an Indian-origin Canadian citizen who is now challenging the Google search engine. He has designed a personalised search engine that he claims is 47 percent more accurate than Google and is 21 percent more accurate, on an average.

This search engine was created as part of a project for the Google Science Fair, which is a global online competition open to students aged 13 to 18 years. He said that he took a few months and approximately 60 hours to code the engine. This is what he told Times of India:

“I thought I would do something in the personalized search space. It was the most genius thing ever. But when I realised Google already does it, I tried taking it to the next level.”

Tukrel’s development is also said to be the only computer with around 1GB of free storage space, a python-language development environment, a spreadsheet program and an access to Google and New York Times. Reports also suggest that, in order to test the accuracy of his search engine, he limited the search quest to this year’s articles from New York Times.

This development is also said to take into account location or browsing history, but also tries to understand context and meaning.

So, does India already have the next Google CEO in the making?

August 21, 2015
Top 5 Features of Android Marshmallow
Three days ago, Google announced the sweet its Android OS was named after; Marshmallow. Now that it’s out in the open, let’s take a look at 5 noteworthy features it has:
1. App Permissions : You’re the Boss
This feature has gotten a makeover and Google will now allow users to take a call on which permissions they want to allow or revoke, based on the usage of these functions. Unlike right now, where you don’t have a choice but to agree to all app permissions on first install or updates, in Android M, you will get a notification asking you to allow an app to use a specific function.

Google helps to give permission in parameters like, location, camera, contacts etc. So if you’re using WhatsApp and you want to send a voice message, the App Permissions tab will pop up, asking you for permission to use the microphone. You can also revoke the permission later if you so wish. This is exactly the way Apple handles it on iOS.

2. Better Web Experience: Custom Chrome Tabs

The web browsing experience has been further enhanced with Chrome Custom tabs, a new feature, that will let you include webviews within a particular app, without switching to the Chrome browser on your phone. Features such as automatic sign-in, saved passwords, autofill etc., will work on the apps seamlessly. The Chrome Custom tab also blends with the colours and fonts of the app it is being opened with to make it more seamless than it already is.

3. App Linking

Known as Intents, Android currently supports the app linking system, which lets you open a web link in a web browser or app. Before, if you had a Twitter link in, say your inbox and you clicked on it, you got a prompt asking if you want to open the link in your browser or within the Twitter app, which is installed on your phone.

So now, Android M will first let developers add an auto-verify feature within their code, which will, in turn, help open the link within the respective app (provided the app is installed on your phone). Instead of giving you the option. Don’t worry about the security because it is only after post-authentication and verification, that this feature will follow through.

4. Android Pay

With this feature, all you need to do is unlock your phone, keep it near and NFC (near-field communication) terminal and voila, your payment is done. You don’t even have to open the app for this because payments are done by using NFC and host card emulation techniques for smooth tap-to-pay services.

Worried about security again? Google claims that once you share your credit card details, it creates a virtual account number. So, your real card number isn’t actually shared with the store you’ve shopped from.

5. Power management

Since battery is a perpetual problem, Android M will feature something called ‘Doze’ that will optimally manage the background processes.The OS keeps a watch on the motion detection sensor and if it sees no activity for a while, it shuts down some processes. However, alarms and high priority notifications can still be activated on this mode. Confident about this feature, Google claims that it helped the Nexus 9 to increase its stand by time by almost double, as compared to Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Although those were just top 5, features like the standardised finger support and the USB Type-C for charging support, will just make your life easier. You can authorise an Android Pay transaction, unlock your device or make Play Store purchases, all with the sensor. Similarly, a USB Type-C has a bi-directional port which you can use to charge the phone along with another device.
August 21, 2015
Google Reveals Why We Won’t Get to See Project Ara This Year

We told you that Google’s Project Ara had been delayed and now we know why. It turns out that the futuristic phone failed its drop test and caused the the Project Ara team to rework the phone’s current model, completely.

They themselves tweeted explaining why the delay was caused saying that the phone wasn’t fairing well, when dropped. This can pose to be a huge problem when phones today are made durable, at least for typical falls. Google will now have to see how to fix the Project Ara jigsaw, without it falling apart.

Project Ara’s creators now say they’re “testing a signature experience” to attach its modules. It’s not easy to put together a phone that allows you to interchange its core components and we hope that the team can demonstrate its revised design as soon as they’re done with finding the missing link.

August 20, 2015
Google Partners With TP-LINK To Create A New Generation of Wi-Fi Routers

Google has created a new Wi-Fi router called OnHub that promises to “end your Wi-Fi headaches for good.”

This router has been designed in partnership with TP-LINK and features:

“a unique antenna design and smart software” that “keeps working in the background, automatically adjusting OnHub to avoid interference and keep your network at peak performance.”

It also has the ability to scan available airwaves and find the best congestion while allowing you to prioritize some devices in a way that you can pick certain apps over others that are running in the background.

Reports also suggest, that OnHub can be managed via a smartphone app and can also tell you how much bandwidth your devices are using, allows you to run a network check and in case there is a problem with your network, it offers you suggestions to help.

One can order the OnHub router on Amazon, however it will be available at select retail stores in the coming weeks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=32&v=HNnfHP7VDP8

August 19, 2015
Google to Make Us Wait Another Year For Project Ara

One of the most futuristic innovations till date, Project Ara, set tongues wagging all across the world due to its sheer concept. The fact that one could have a smartphone with detachable components that can be replaced, seemed novel and right out of a sic-fi movie. However, once Google took this initiative under its belt, there was no looking back.

Although, we were all waiting for this lego like phone to hit the markets starting in Puerto Rico, this year, it looks like we are going to have to wait at least another year. A launch Puerto Rico might not happen at all. Reports suggest that the prototyping phase of the phone has taken longer than was expected and Google is now looking at locations in the United States to launch the phone.

August 18, 2015
Google Hangouts Breaks Free from Gmail, Gets its Own Website

The successful Google Hangouts has now been given its very own space by Google. As of last evening, the messaging service will not be restricted to just Google+ and Gmail. You can just go to hangouts.google.com to start talking.

The site puts Hangouts’ three key features — instant messaging, voice calls, and video chats — front and center, with big buttons to start up each of them. Thus, this change is going to allow every type of user to be on hangout in comparison to just those, who were always on Gmail and could hence use the facility.

It is natural for Google to have invested their time into giving Hangouts its own web service and a modern design. There are a large number of people using Google accounts and it only made sense for the company to pick up on that and make it easier and convenient for everybody, just like Facebook did, by separating its messenger.

The Verge stated that the Hangouts app has been overhauled on both iOS and Android, bringing it up to date with Google’s Material Design style and making the service a bit easier to use. So now, anyone can use Hangouts in any manner they wish, without its strings being attached to Gmail or Google+.

August 18, 2015
Leaked: Google’s New Nexus 5 Built By LG

Google stopped selling its 2014 Nexus Flagship earlier this year, and all tech fanatics are now looking forward to the possibility of a new and improved version of the Nexus 5 releasing. A rumour of course, stated that Google along with its partners LG and Huawei were working on producing two new Nexus phones this year.

A photo leaked via twitter showed us what could possibly be a peak at the new Nexus 5. The picture simply shows the back of the device that has a red circle at the end, which is probably the LG logo suggesting that it isn’t a Huawei collaboration, this time. Also can be seen, is a camera lens and similar sized circle that looks like a fingerprint scanner.

https://twitter.com/MKBHD/status/633092867670544384/photo/1

Renders also showed the rumoured Huawei Nexus 6, that was leaked around the same time. If these rumours are to be believed, then this new upcoming Nexus could actually prove as a boon for not just just Google in its forbidden territory, China, but will also help Huawei to establish a hold in the United States.

There are no official statements issued by either of the companies as of now, and report suggested that the phones are likely to hit the market, this fall. Watch this space for more updates.

August 17, 2015
Google Ventures’ New Startup Netbit Set To Launch a Smartphone in Early September

Netbit, initially a software firm, started by ex-Google and HTC employees is now aspiring to unveil a premium smartphone on the 1st of September 2015. This company is backed by Google Ventures and is headed by Tom Moss and Mike Chan, ex-Google employees who were part of the core-Android team at Google. The design chief of Netbit is an ex-HTC employee named Scott Croyle, who was an important part of the industrial design team behind the HTC One and the M8.

This startup aims to create a smartphone priced between $300 to $400, which is approximately between Rs.20,000 to 26,000. Reports suggest that it is looking to offer a phone that will gradually improve over time by adding cloud storage that immediately offers the user a limitless storage system.

The company is also planning on changing, or perhaps tweaking the Android core a little bit, in order to offer better experience. The phone will be compatible with all Google Apps and as of now, all we can do is wait and see whether this American startup does as well as other Chinese startups such as, the currently trending OnePlus and Xiaomi.

August 12, 2015
Google and BMW Tussle Over Domain Name Alphabet.com

Reports suggest that Google’s new parent company, Alphabet might have encountered an issue with German automaker BMW. Apparently, BMW also owns the same name and the domain as Alphabet.com and does not plan to sell it to Google anytime soon.

Image Source: New York Times

Yesterday Google had announced its administrative restructuring by launching Alphabet as a parent company above all other companies owned by Google. This move is said to have been designed, so as to, separate the core products from the far reaching projects such as Fiber, Calico etc. Alphabet was launched along with its domain name as abc.xyz.

Reports also suggest that BMW is looking into whether Google’s Alphabet has infringed on its trademark or not. However, no legal action has been announced just yet.

Alphabet.com has been down due to increased traffic while it has been noted that BMW isn’t the only company with Alphabet as its trademark. Reuters has reported over a hundred companies in the Unites States with the same trademark.

While it has been suggested that it is necessary for companies to own the .com domain, it is not important for finding a company’s online presence. Larry Page has stated earlier, that Alphabet won’t be introducing products under its own name and that it wouldn’t be a public facing name like Google. So this might not be a huge problem for the new Alphabet, after all.

August 12, 2015
China Blocks Alphabet Within Hours Of its Announcement

Yesterday was dedicated to Google’s new parent company, Alphabet, and the new CEO of Google, Indian-born resident of US, Sundar Pichai. The social media feeds have been trending with these two names in countries all over the world. Well, all but one.

China, the country made infamous on the grounds of not allowing its citizens access to sites like Google and Facebook, banned Google’s new Alphabet website in less than 24 hours of the announcement. China has one of the most sophisticated Internet censorship systems in the world, named as the ‘Great Firewall’. This has blocked the website that only contains Google’s co-founder Larry Page’s letter and a link to Google’s existing investor relation page. Though, this is not a new story. Google withdrew from China in 2010 over censorship issues where China drew the last ball when Beijing blocked Google’s widely used Gmail service last year.

The latest news on Google Inc. is that it has renamed itself as Alphabet, an umbrella company that owns Google and the other companies that Google owned. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will run Alphabet as CEO and President, respectively, while Sundar Pichai will be the new CEO of Google.

In an official blog post, former Google CEO Larry Page claimed that the major restructuring is to make “things cleaner and more accountable.” The official Google announcement on its blog, suggest that there will be a new placeholder site called abc.xyz. However, the entire list of companies that come under Alphabet is unclear.

August 12, 2015
5 Facts About Google CEO Sundar Pichai that Ought to Inspire You

While every Indian is ecstatic at the thought of Sundar Pichai becoming the newly appointed CEO of Google, how much do we really know about the whizkid who made it to the top ranks of the $66-billion revenue, $16-billion profit, company?

Here are a few things we should know about the Indian who made it to the top, for the sake of making our morning a little inspiring.

1. He was born in Chennai and did his schooling in PSBB Jawahar Vidyalay. He belonged to a modest family where his dad managed a warehouse that made electric components. It is from there that Pichai developed an inclination towards technology and went on to pursue an undergraduate degree in metallurgical engineering from IIT Kharagpur.

Source: www.bloomberg.com Pichai with his parents in 1997

2. Pichai also has an MS degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School of Business (where he was awarded the Siebel scholar and the Palmer scholar). So he was always at the top of his class and continues to be so, even to this day. He’s only 43, after all.

3. While work politics play a huge role in most offices, and ego clashes occur on a regular basis, the reason that Pichai stood out so much is due to his simplicity and his ability to create brilliant teams. Caesar Sengupta, a Vice President at Google who worked with Pichai for eight years said, “I would challenge you to find anyone at Google who doesn’t like Sundar or who thinks Sundar is a jerk.” How many of us can find one person like that at our respective workplaces?

4. Pichai made a breakthrough in Google after he was given the opportunity to handle Toolbar. Although he joined in 2004, he created a lot of revenue for the company as the toolbar was a huge success and made Google come up with its own Browser in 2008.

5. Lastly, Pichai almost left Google in 2011 to become the Product Head at Twitter. However, his work and reputation had reached such heights that Google offered him a whooping 50 million dollars to stay back in the company. Naturally, he declined Twitter’s offer and look where he is today!

Source: free-stock-illustration.com
Sundar Pichai with his wife, Anjali Pichai

Pichai is a family man with a wife and two children and enjoys playing chess in his free time. He isn’t known to be a workaholic and is popular for his impeccable work ethics. While we as Indians, feel extremely proud of his accomplishment, let’s be inspired by his success. Don’t you think?

August 11, 2015