Google Search now connects you with plumbers, electricians, house cleaners and locksmiths

Google is at hand’s reach whenever you need help for anything, but so far looking for home services has involved multiple steps. The Search Giant is now making it easier on home service workers and customers to get in touch with each other.

Google is testing a new feature in which certain search queries offer results with a list of people qualified to take care of your needs. That would include electricians, plumbers, house cleaners, locksmiths and handymen.

When people in supported areas search for something like “clogged toilet”, dirty house or “lock repair”, there will now be more than just links to a bunch of websites showing you how to take care of business yourself. Results will include names, ratings, phone numbers and an option to “Send request”. All of this will be accessible straight from Google’s Search results; no need to browse around.

And no need to worry about quality or security – these servicemen would pay to be ranked higher in the list, but that’s only after having been screened and qualified by Google. All businesses would have to go through license, procedure and background checks, as well as mystery shopping.

When users in supported areas search for something like “clogged toilet”, “dirty house” or “lock repair”, there will now be more than just links to a bunch of websites showing you how to take care of business yourself. Results will include business names, ratings, phone numbers and an option to “Send request”. All of this will be accessible straight from Google’s Search results; no need to browse around.

Want in? Sadly, Google is not making a widespread release of this feature just yet. It is only available for people in (and around) San Francisco. The rest of us will have to wait and continue making full searches for all our needs. If you are in the San Francisco area, the feature should be available since Friday, August 28th. Go test it! Let’s hope this comes to other markets soon enough!

Google Play Services 8.1 update comes with Android Pay, but you can’t use it yet

Rumors recently suggested that Android Pay was to launch this past Wednesday. Obviously, this turned out to be a false alarm, but at the very least we can assume Google’s new contact-less payment service is well on its way and coming soon.

How do we know? Well, aside from the rumors and expected launch window, a new update to the Google Play Services app (version 8.1) contains evidence of Android Pay support. Those who have updated the app noticed there was a new option under the “Tap and pay” options, which would allow users to select between Google Wallet and Android Pay.

The only problem is this feature has to be turned on by Google before it becomes accessible. Those who selected Android Pay saw no application for the service, and upon returning to the Settings app to check on the matter, they would notice the option to select Android Pay was gone. Sadly, the excitement only lasts some minutes.

I tested the whole process myself and had the same experience. Android Pay appeared as an option. I came back to the settings a minute later and it was gone.

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What is Android Pay?

Are you a bit behind the times on Google’s upcoming Android Pay? Let’s get you caught up. Android Pay is a new NFC payments solution from Google. It was announced at Google IO 2015 and will allow you to pay for all your goods by simply tapping your phone on the POS system.

But wait – didn’t Google Wallet already do this? Yes, it did. Android Pay is a bit different, though. For starters, this is not just another app; the functionality will be built right into the operating system. It’s also much simpler to use, as it doesn’t come with all the confusion that Google Wallet was characterized for (due to its multiple services and functions). It also supports fingerprint readers and other security measures at a system level. This is pretty much Google Wallet, but condensed into a single purpose and refined.

Download the APK

Not seeing the update yet? If you really want to get Google Play Services 8.1, you can grab it straight from the link below.

Download the Google Play Services 8.1 APK file!

Google Maps as art: a splattering of color changes the world we live in

It’s said that there is beauty in the world around us: all we need is but to open our eyes and see it. Google is interested in helping us see that world with greater detail and clarify than ever before thanks to apps like Maps and Earth. Thanks to some creative use of coloring, Sean Utter has now created an entirely new vision of the world we live in.

The premise is quite simple: by taking existing images from Google Maps and playing with the colors and saturation, Utter has created something that is part art and part quiz (namely in trying to guess where some of the images depict).

By taking a stroll over to Utter’s website, you can find a seemingly endless streaming series of pictures, which he explains as follows: The site “generates a random map every 4 seconds. Each element of the map is a random color and is randomly turned on or off. The geographic location is randomly chosen from 26 predetermined cities and the zoom level is random.”

Perhaps even better, the project seems to be fully sanctioned by Google, as the Android creator has even taken to Twitter to announce the news:

Take a look at some of the randomly generated pics we witnessed:

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As cool as this is, we can’t help but lament the timing; had this project been posted just a few months earlier, perhaps there would have been some retro game action to hunt for, or at the very least, some anti-Apple propaganda.

Report: A major change in YouTube is about to arrive, with paywall in-tow

YouTube is firmly embedded in the internet culture as a type of defacto new television network. With over a billion subscribers, the Google-owned website is host to an untold amount of user generated content as well as more professional projects, and even major movie and music features. The media monolith is, and has always been, free of charge. In more recent times, advertising has popped up in various places with the most notifiable being that which precedes the video(s) you want to watch.

The Verge is reporting that multiply sources have revealed Google is going to be fundamentally altering the way that content is presented on YouTube. One is a formal roll-out of Music Key, a subscription-based service that entered beta testing last year, and a second service that pertains to “premium content creators.” As The Verge puts it, “taken together, YouTube will be a mix of free, ad-supported content and premium videos that sit behind a paywall.” and quotes an unnamed music industry source as describing it as “strange on top of strange.”

There seems to be a bit of mixed sentiment with respect to Music Key, as some appear worried that Google’s lack of pushing Google Play Music will be carried over to YouTube, and thus recording artists and the corporations that represent them may very well end up getting less than they bargained for.

In examining the other service, The Verge notes that “the unnamed subscription service is aimed at YouTube’s most popular creators and their audiences, and will offer ad-free videos and the ability to save videos offline, as well as access to premium content behind a paywall” with the rather ominous follow-up that “if all goes well, there may be more category-specific subscription services on the platform…[such as] subscriptions targeted at children’s programming or gamers in the future.”

The road paved with good intentions

Personally, I have grown quite tired of the endless, relentless multitude of advertising that graces the likes of videos I watch, many of which aren’t even “premium content” at that. While I can deal with some pre-advertising nonsense, the ones that don’t allow you to skip and last 20+ seconds truly grate after the third or forth one in a single sitting.

Google may be eventually seeking to introduce a paywall to YouTube content for kids as well in the future.

Likewise, even some longer videos now have “sponsored breaks” where the stream is arbitrarily paused and interrupted with a “word from our sponsors” (so to speak) and then the video resumes; it is absolutely nonsensical in the times when this happens just seconds before the video finishes. And of course, all this on top of whatever in-video advertising the actual content creator places.

YouTube didn’t always use to be this way. Once upon a time, the content that was being created totally devoid of this sponsored advertising, and you could watch your content in comfort. Of course as Google seeks to increase its profitability, a popular service like this becomes a great target for testing out a terrific business model. While it’s great that these new paid products might allow for greater revenue for those creating them in the first place, ultimately the one who really wins big is -as always- Google.

Profit picture

While the advertising element and now potential paywall may seem as an affront to the free model YouTube has employed for years now, it’s important to consider that it’s not actually making a profit. According to a story from The Wall Street Journal earlier this year:

The online-video unit posted revenue of about $4 billion in 2014, up from $3 billion a year earlier, according to two people familiar with its financials, as advertiser-friendly moves enticed some big brands to spend more. But while YouTube accounted for about 6% of Google’s overall sales last year, it didn’t contribute to earnings. After paying for content, and the equipment to deliver speedy videos, YouTube’s bottom line is ‘roughly break-even,’ according to a person with knowledge of the figure.

Suffice to say, running an operation like YouTube is hardly a low-cost proposition. The sheer costs related to infrastructure such as servers, bandwidth, maintenance, and salaries comes into play. So too, does the actual money Google has to pay out to the content creators themselves; some are earning millions upon millions. And just think of what kind of bandwidth is needed should several dozen million people be watching any given Psy video simultaneously. Then of course, there is the whole matter of Google itself wanting to make a profit.

The Wall Street Journal

As the above graphic indicates however, 2015 has seen a small decrease in YouTube streaming, whereas Facebook has garnished quite a boost. (Note however this graph specifically mentions desktop viewing experiences however).

On the fence or taking up offense?

Suffice to say that these changes are set to introduce some major polarization into the way YouTube works and the way that users and viewers, in turn, use it. While Google clearly has the most ubiquitous video viewing site on the internet now, there is always an opportunity for someone to come and steal its thunder.

The new reported changes could literally break YouTube as we know it, or make it better than ever.

Personally, I would be more than willing to pay a flat fee (as much as $9.99 per month) for the sole ability to watch all content absolutely free of the relentless advertising onslaught that accompanies it. Perhaps I’m in the minority here, but having lived through the transitional period of the early days of commercial internet in 1993 to that what exists now, I’d certainly part with a pay-off if it meant being able to enjoy things as they once were so long ago.

What do you think? Is the potential for a payment-based YouTube a great idea? Do you think it is a sign of what Google has become? Will it spur an upstart rival to possibly dethrone it? Leave us your comments below!

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Report: The LG Nexus 5 2015 will be announced on September 29th

The LG Nexus 5 2015 has been the subject of many leaks and rumours over the last few weeks, though it appears the end is in sight. A new report from a Korean media outlet has suggested that the LG Nexus 5 2015 will be announced on September 29th meaning we would only have one month to wait if this turns out to be true. Naturally, we hope it is true, but we likely won’t get confirmation until the device is actually announced – Google is good that way.

We’re expecting that the release of the LG Nexus 5 2015 will coincide with the release of Android Marshmallow, however it’s interesting that the other Nexus smartphone expected to be released, the Huawei Nexus 6, wasn’t given a mention at all. Having said that, this is allegedly the same source that correctly predicted the arrival of the Nexus 5 in 2014, so there’s that going for it. Ultimately, we’re going to have to wait until September 29th comes around before we know whether this is true or not, so get comfy while we wait this one out.

What do you think about the LG Nexus 5 2015 being released on September 29th?

Source: MK Post via TalkAndroid

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