Google tests converting websites so they load 4x faster over slow connections
Android users in Indonesia navigating on slow connections will soon be served streamlined versions of websites that load four times faster and consume 80 percent less data than normal versions.
Here’s how it works: when detecting a 2G or other slow connection, Google will automatically serve a stripped down version of the website that the user requests. This process is called “transcoding” and happens on the fly, without requiring any modification from the website’s behalf.
The approach resembles a bit what Opera Mini does with its data compression service. But Google goes deeper by optimizing the websites and stripping off non-essential content. Ads are also removed, though Google will preserve ads from its own AdSense and a few other networks.
Not every website can be transcoded; large sites, like video sites, any site that uses cookies, and any site that is “technically challenging” are excluded.
Webmasters can opt out from the program, and users can click on a link at the top of the page to get the regular version.
Google claims that transcoding speeds up page loading by up to four times, reduces data consumption by 80 percent, and increases page views by 50 percent. After all, users will browse a whole lot more if the experience is faster and smoother.
Google will begin field testing the feature later this month in Indonesia, for users running Chrome or the Android browser on Android 2.3 or higher. Only mobile users using slow connections will see the optimized pages.
There’s no information on the program expanding to other markets for now. Would you be interested in something like this in your own country?
Your free Android apps talk to thousands of ad sites
If you’ve used ad-sponsored Android apps, you’ve probably wondered where those ads are coming from, and whether or not there’s anything to be worried about. According to French researchers, you have a reason to be cautious. They’ve found a way to automatically scan Android apps for connections to advertising and user tracking sites, and some of those programs are more than a little dodgy. A selection of 2,000 free Google Play apps connected to a whopping 250,000 sites spread over 2,000 domains. Most of them talk to only a handful of sites (Google’s ad services dominate the top 10), but 10 percent connect to 500 or more — one egregious offender links to over 2,000 sites. Only 30 percent of the apps talked to user tracking sites, but some of those were communicating with 800 or more addresses.
The actual danger to your phone isn’t likely to be high. Only a small slice of those apps appeared to connect to suspicious sites, and many of the rest come from developers that Google holds in high esteem. Also, the researchers were using a phone running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, so their experience might be different than what you’d get running the latest version of Lollipop. Still, the issue is that you rarely know which ad and tracker sites are involved, and there’s no easy way to block the connections you don’t want. While this study doesn’t mean that you should ditch ad-backed apps entirely, it does serve as a friendly reminder that you should be careful before grabbing them.
[Image credit: Family O’Abe, Flickr]
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: ArXiv.org
Android Authority this week: May 3, 2015
Android fans, this week brought us the much anticipated LG G4. Featuring a striking leather outfit, a vibrant display, and a top-notch camera, LG’s device shapes up to be one of the top smartphones of the year and go head to head with Samsung’s Galaxy S6. In other news, Microsoft announced that Android apps will be able to run on Windows devices with just a few modifications; an intriguing rumor surfaced about a possible Xperia P successor; the divorce between Cyanogen and OnePlus was all but made official; Google made it possible to control tons of apps with voice commands; and we’ve got a glimpse of the upcoming Oppo R7.
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Inside AA HQ
The month that just ended brought as a ton of stuff to talk about in our world of Android. We’ve got new devices like the Huawei P8, LG G4, Xperia Z4, and Xiaomi Mi 4i. And we got some cool developments straight out of Google HQ, like Project Fi and Google Now’s brand new abilities.
The month of May shapes up to be just exciting. On the new device front, we have Oppo’s R7 and the release of the Zenfone 2 in North America. But what we’re really excited about is, of course, Google I/O, scheduled for May 28-29. Will we see a preview of the next version of Android? Will we see new devices? What surprises does Google have in store? Frankly, we can’t wait to find out!
This week we’re giving away another Galaxy S6 Edge, the hottest Android device of the moment. And it’s really easy to get your sweepstakes tickets: just go here and follow the instructions!
Android Authority Podcast
The stuff you shouldn’t miss
- Opinion: Nirave looks at Nokia’s chances to re-become a phone superpower
- Tech talk: Gary interviews ARM’s Cortex A-72 technical lead
- Feature: The EU is charging Google over anti-trust accusations. But do they have a point?
- Opinion: Matthew explains why he prefers the Galaxy S6 over the LG G4/
- Opinion: While Andrew actually likes the LG G4 better
- Versus: Edge or no Edge? That is the question
- Feature focus: Josh takes the LG G4 for a camera spin
Top news of the week
And here are the top news in the Android world this week:
Cyanogen is done with OnePlus
LG G4 is here
- LG G4 officially announced: what you need to know
- LG G4 first look and hands-on preview
- LG G4 vs Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge quick look
- LG G4 vs iPhone 6 – quick comparison
- Spec-sheet skirmish: LG G4 vs the competition
- LG G4 – Top Features
A wild Xperia P2 rumor appears
Google app updates
- You can also set alarms, reminders, and send notes to your phone from Google Search
- Quick reply functionality comes to the Google Messenger app in new update
- Google releases new Password Alert Chrome extension to help keep your account safe
- Google rolls out custom voice actions to make talking to your apps much easier
Oppo R7 peak
Windows 7 wants some Android love
Sound off
We always want to hear your feedback. Whether it’s criticism or praise, feel free to tell us what you think about Android Authority’s content, design, and community. Comment here or get in touch with us on our social channels:
Happy Sunday!
New in the Google app: more Now cards from your Android apps
According to Google Inside Search, Now cards are about to come even better. Earlier this year, Google started displaying cards from some apps. Soon, with the help of 70 new partners, including Spotify, ABC News, Feedly, and Walgreens, cards based on these apps will begin to appear in Now.
Google gives a few examples of how this works. First, if you rent a Zipcar, you can keep track of your return time and receive directions to the drop-off location via Now cards. With Spotify, cards can recommend playlists and stations from the app, TuneIn, or YouTube, based on your preferences. In addition, cards can provide breaking news, package arrival reminders, fitness goals, and even allow you to play your bill (with OpenTable and, potentially, other apps).
Be sure to update to the latest versions of the Google app and your other apps in order for this feature to work. Google adds to look for Now cards for these apps over the next few weeks and that more apps and increased functionality are arriving.
The post New in the Google app: more Now cards from your Android apps appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google+ opens a Twitter account
Yeah, we don’t really get it either.
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Source: @GooglePlus (Twitter)
Will the birth of Project Fi bring the death of Google Voice?
The dream mobile carrier plan has finally come. Google’s Project Fi gives everyone (or those with a Nexus 6) an affordable option for their monthly smartphone service. I often dreamed that Google would do this and they finally came through. However, you might not be too excited if you’re a Google Voice user.
Based on Google’s support page, Google Voice and Project Fi don’t seem to work well together. When switching carriers, Google Voice users are used to just asking for whatever number is given to them because it really doesn’t matter since they have a Google Voice number. Once a number is given to them, they simply forward the new carrier number to their Google Voice number. Unfortunately things aren’t going to work that way with Project Fi.
If you decide to have Google assign you a new number, like you’re used to, your Google Voice number will be “released and you won’t be able to get it back.” On the flip side, if you want to use your Google Voice number with Project Fi, you will lose pretty much everything you love about Google Voice. You will no longer be able to “make or receive phone calls or access voicemail using Google Talk, Google Voice apps, or Obihai devices.” You also won’t be able to send or receive text messages on the web, nor will you be able to utilize spam filtering, call recording, call switch, conference calling on the fly, caller ID (incoming), and outgoing caller ID (anonymous Caller ID). Now if there is any good news out of this, it is that your voicemail greeting, voicemails, call history, as well as your SMS history will still be transfered to Project Fi, assuming you have rolled your Google Voice number into Hangouts.
So what if you still want to keep your Google Voice number and use Project Fi? Google’s answer is to transfer it to a different Google Voice account (Gmail address) or another carrier before you sign up for Project Fi. Assuming you transfer your Google Voice number to another Gmail account, can you still use Google Voice and Project Fi together like you normally do with other carrier phones? Google isn’t clear on this. If you have transferred your Google Voice number to another Gmail account, I guess in theory, it’s possible that you could still transfer your new Project Fi number to that Google Voice number, but we aren’t sure if Google will allow that. On top of that, you will now have a brand new Gmail address to fiddle with, which might not be the best option. I should also note that if you transfer your Google Voice number to another Gmail account, you will lose all your SMS and Hangouts history. The other option would be to open a brand new (or use another) Gmail account for Project Fi and continue to keep your Google Voice number with your existing Gmail account. Again, you have to fiddle with another Gmail account, and if Google doesn’t let you transfer the calls, than what good did that do for you?
I guess the bottom line is that Google is allowing users to keep their Google Voice number, but it appears that it’s not going to play nice with Project Fi. You have to wonder if Google will eventually phase out Voice? This very well could happen, but probably not in the near future. Project Fi is only available on the Nexus 6, and probably won’t be available beyond upcoming Nexus phones to be announced later this year. If Google ever does plan on making Project Fi a serious carrier option, it very well could be the end of Voice. If you look at Google’s perspective, there can’t be that many Voice users, so it’s not a big deal to them.
As a Google Voice user, I won’t be jumping on Project Fi anytime soon until I see what the experiences are like for other Google Voice users. If you want to see Google’s support information regarding Google Voice and Project Fi, check out their support page here.
Come comment on this article: Will the birth of Project Fi bring the death of Google Voice?
Video: new Chrome task scheduler promises to make scrolling much smoother
Sub-par scrolling has long been an issue on Chrome for Android, one that can affect even the latest devices with extensive memory and processing power. The good news is Google is working to solve the issue. In March, the Chromium team announced it would adopt Pointer Events, which should help reduce lag when scrolling, and now a revamped task scheduler promises to further increase smoothness.
According to Google’s Chromium blog, the improved task scheduler has actually been added to version 41 of Chrome for Android beta (with the most recent available version being 43).
First up, here’s what difference the improved task scheduling can make, in this video from Google:
So, how does this magic work? Put simply, Chrome now prioritizes urgent tasks, like drawing the graphics for the screen when you are scrolling up and down a website.
Before, Chrome would simply execute tasks in the order of their appearance, without prioritizing urgent tasks. That’s a safe and simple system, but the big downside was that executing urgent tasks with a delay would create visible lag when scrolling.
As Google puts it, “performance isn’t just about doing things faster – it’s also about doing things smarter.” With that said, it remains to be seen if this is really and completely going to fix scrolling on Chrome.
Users of Chrome beta, have you noticed any improvements in the latest versions?
Google Nexus 10 is receiving Android 5.1.1 via OTA update
We only just announced that Google has made available the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop factory images for you to flash to your 2012 or 2013 Nexus 7 tablet and for your Nexus 10 Android tablet, but some Nexus 10 users are already receiving the OTA update on their devices.
The OTA, or Over The Air, update is a small one, with users reporting just 13.9 MB to download.
The update, which should bring your device to build# LMY47V, is slowly rolling out for all users, but our Nexus 10 has not seen it yet, at least at the time of writing. We are still awaiting the full changelog of updates in Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, for now we are expecting little more than performance and stability improvements, and a smattering of bug squashes, which is exactly what the update page captured below states.
Google’s Nexus 10 was a welcome tablet in its time, and still holds its own for day to day tasks. It is almost scary to think that it is a nearly three year old Android tablet, we hope yours has served you well, and with this update, we hope it continues to have a place in your life.
This OTA marks the Nexus 10 as one of the first Nexus devices to receive Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. With the other factory images available, we expect to see the update hit other Nexus devices soon. However, with some still awaiting the Android 5.1 release, like all the Nexus 9 owners out there, I wouldn’t advise mashing on the Check for Update button just yet.
Any Nexus 10 owners out there seeing the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop update already?
Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 Android 5.1.1 factory images are live
Google has released factory images for the latest version of Android for both (WiFi only) versions of the Nexus 7 and the Nexus 10. The image brings the tablets up to Android 5.1.1, bringing a few bug fixes and performance enhancements, but no new features, unfortunately. The OTA updates for these tablets should start hitting devices relatively soon.
Funnily enough, Google has updated these older tablets to the latest and greatest of Android, but the newly announced Nexus 9 is still on Android 5.0.1. Android updates have always been a pain point, but the Nexus devices were supposed to be immune to the bogged down update process OEMs and carriers subject their devices to. Hopefully Google (or HTC) does something to get the Nexus 9 up to speed.
Hit the link below for the updates. If you need help flashing a factory image, we’ve got a handy guide to get you started.
source: Factory Images
Come comment on this article: Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 Android 5.1.1 factory images are live
Ford explains why Sync supports Apple and Google car apps
With both Apple and Google wrangling to become the infotainment center of your next new car, Ford will be choosing neither. Or both, depending on how you look at it. During an interview with Re/code, Ford CEO Mark Fields provided some details on how his company will be leveraging its in-house designed Sync system to act as middleman between smart devices and vehicles.
Like many other carmakers, Ford will equally support both Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto services, but Sync is still the primary system. The reason is simple, Ford CTO Raj Nair explained to Re/code, “We want to make sure you are not pushed into a decision on a $40,000 car based on your $200 smartphone.” And since neither Apple’s or Google’s offerings can do everything that the other can, Sync will be able to leverage the features of either regardless which OS drivers use. As such, Ford is touting a high level of flexibility with Sync — like letting drivers navigate with Google Maps through their phone but still play Sirius stations using the in-dash receiver.
When the Sync 3 platform debuts this summer, it promises a better touchscreen than its predecessor, new apps and the ability for future updates to occur over Wi-Fi, not just via the OBD-II port or USB. Ford is also working on adding cellular capabilities to its vehicles, and has its own tech for btoh semi- and fully-autonomous driving, though there’s no word on when those features will actually roll out.
[Image credit: Andrew A. Nelles/Associated Press]
Filed under: Displays, GPS, Transportation, Internet, Apple, Google
Source: Re/Code
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