Outlook on the web can import GDrive files and Facebook photos
Microsoft is showing its Outlook.com users some love by adding both Facebook and Google Drive integration. If you use Outlook on iOS or Android, you probably already know that you can link it with your GDrive account. Now that the feature’s finally available for the service’s web version, you can open file attachments and even edit the document right within its interface. All you need to do is click on the attachment icon and type in your Google log-in. The process is pretty much the same if you want to email your Facebook photos.
Say, you want to email snapshots from a party to a friend who doesn’t really use the social network. Just click on the attachment icon and log in. Once you’re done setting things up, you can browse both photos you uploaded and pictures of you other people uploaded within Outlook.com. From there, you can choose the ones you want to share with someone else. Finally, Microsoft made it easy to look for attachments within lengthy email threads. If you need to find something buried deep within piles of emails from your workmates, simply click on the new drop-down menu next to the subject line to see all the attachments in that conversation.
Source: Microsoft
B&O Play speakers get Google Cast multiroom support
In its battle to cover consumers’ homes with connected speakers, B&O recently began outfitting its gear with Google Cast functionality. Operating like a Chromecast does on your TV, the company’s speakers can directly pull music from the streaming service you’re using instead of either your smartphone or tablet. That’s on top of its existing AirPlay, DNLA and Bluetooth support. After initially allowing owners to Cast their music to individual speakers, B&O confirmed today that the technology has been opened up to work seamlessly with the other B&O speakers in their multiroom setup.
While Sonos is seen as the go-to brand for multiroom speakers, Google Cast has slowly gained the support of other popular speaker makers. Harmon Kardon, Vizio and Philips are all utilizing the standard, giving Google’s streaming technology a much needed boost. Sonos, on the other hand, has gone the other way, opening up to support control directly through Spotify and the Amazon Echo. B&O says both the Beoplay A6 and second-generation Beoplay A9 are already compatible, while its soundbar and other networked speakers will gain multiroom support via a software update.
Google’s latest virtual tour takes you inside 10 Downing Street
A few years ago, Google was allowed access to London’s famed Downing Street to look upon the iconic black door of Number 10. And now, the search giant has been welcomed inside so we may all roam the gaff of post-Brexit hot potato winner and current Prime Minister Theresa May. As Wired notes, this isn’t the first time rooms in the residence have been papped in 360 degrees, with Eye Revolution holding that honour. More than a simple addition to Street View, though, Google’s Arts and Culture division has given Number 10 the virtual tour treatment.
Google already expanded its archives with thousands of natural history exhibits earlier this week, and like those, the Number 10 tour is an educational experience. Two special exhibits are featured: One offering a brief history of two 20th century PMs, Winston Churchill and Harold Wilson, while another elaborates on some of the more important rooms within the residence. Google recommends you load up the Arts and Culture app and stick your smartphone in a Cardboard viewer for the best experience, which includes audio descriptions.
Alternatively, you can simply nose around various luxuriously furnished rooms or relax in the garden by way of Street View. Unfortunately, you can only ogle a fraction of the Prime Minister’s labyrinthine abode, which boasts around 100 rooms — we’re not getting a Cribs level of access here, in other words. Still, considering Theresa May wants to rifle though all our browsing histories, it’s nice to be invited in for a cup of tea and a jammy scone.
Via: Wired, The Telegraph
Source: Google (1), (2)
Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is now a virtual reality music video
We’ve all heard the dramatic faux-opera that is Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody — but have you ever wondered what a song like that might look like? The folks at Google did. In a new collaboration with Queen and Enosis VR, artists and developers at Google have created The Bohemian Rhapsody Experience — a virtual reality experiment created to take viewers on “a journey through frontman Freddie Mercury’s subconscious mind.” That’s a fancy way of saying they turned the iconic song into a 360-degree virtual reality music video.
The video itself is viewable only through the Bohemian Rhapsody Experience, but it can be seen in a basic 360-degree mode, or in stereoscopic 3D using Google Cardboard. The app takes viewers on a tour of a surreal mindscape of shapes, sound and animation — first leading them through a dreamlike mishmash of images that seems to represent Mercury’s mind, then onto the stage of a Queen Concert, complete with an animated band and then, after a brief stop in the underworld, into outer space for a neon-light finale. It’s gorgeous, and thanks to a spatial audio mix, fairly immersive.
It sounds like a project that came out of left field, but to folks familiar with the band’s lead guitarist, it makes a lot of sense. In addition to being a world-class guitarist and holding a PHD in astronomy, Brian May is also the director of the London Stereoscopic Company, where he maintains resources on streo photographs and helped create the OWL Virtual Reality Kit — a collapsible VR viewer in the vein of Google Cardboard. You can find that over on his company’s website. Just want the Bohemian Rhapsody app? The iOS version isn’t ready quiet yet, but Android users can head on over to Google Play.
Via: Verge
Source: YouTube, The Bohemian Rhapsody Experience
Google commits to zero-waste data centers
So much of the world runs on Google, be it Docs, Gmail, YouTube or just search. But few of us know that much of what keeps the whole thing chugging along is the company’s data centers, located all around the globe. And, as you might expect, it takes a lot of power and resources to do all that data churn, which is potentially quite wasteful. Thankfully, however, the search giant has committed to a new initiative called Zero Waste to Landfills so that all of the waste from those data centers will be reused or diverted to a more sustainable route.
Already, six of Google’s data centers have achieved a 100 percent diversion rate, and globally about 86 percent of the waste is being treated sustainably. According to the company, its data center in Mayes County, Oklahoma was the first to achieve the Zero Waste to Landfill goal. Google was able to do this by finding projects that do double duty, extend the life of existing infrastructure and adapting to the ever-changing world of waste operations. For example, around 52 percent of components in machine upgrades in 2015 were refurbished.
Google’s sustainability efforts doesn’t just stop at its servers either. According to Jim Miller, vice president of global operations at Google, the company is also trying a zero waste approach to food served in its kitchens too, such as serving baked goods made with the discarded parts of a coffee plant. “It is certainly a challenge to change in the way we make things and use them, but it’s not impossible,” says Miller in a blog post.
Of course, Google is not the only Silicon Valley company making a commitment to a greener planet. Apple has reported that all of its data centers around the world already run on 100 percent clean energy, and it also has a goal of 100 percent renewable energy across its offices. 93 percent of its energy in 2015 came from renewable energy, from initiatives such as a 32-megawatt solar project spread across its Singapore facilities.
Source: Google (1), (2)
Google will resize email to fit your phone’s screen
Sure, you can open elaborately-crafted email using Gmail on your phone, but that doesn’t mean you want to. Most web-based messages are formatted for the desktop, and Gmail doesn’t tweak them to fit the confines of a mobile screen. Mercifully, you won’t have to squint quite so much in the days ahead: Google is introducing support for responsive design in Gmail before the end of September. If a message supports the adaptive technology, Google’s email app will automatically resize it to help you read the contents and tap links. You won’t notice the upgrade with every message, but it should give you more incentive to deal with a message right away instead of waiting until you’re at your computer.
Source: Official Gmail Blog
Adblock Plus’ ad network is off to a rough start
When Adblock Plus unveiled its own ad network in a bid to make money from toned-down ads, it raised more than a few eyebrows… including those of its supposed ad partners. While the company said that its Acceptable Ads Platform would supply ads from Google and AppNexus, it turns out that it was merely relying on a go-between company (ComboTag) to get those ads. It hadn’t asked the underlying ad providers about a deal — and now, they want out. Both Google and AppNexus are ending their associations with ComboTag, leaving Adblock Plus without much of a leg to stand on.
Google’s senior VP for ads, Sridhar Ramaswamy, says that his company was caught off-guard by the Adblock Plus announcement. It’s “uncomfortable” watching Adblock Plus transition from purely blocking ads to pushing them, he says, and it would be preferable if the industry simply created less intrusive ads that people didn’t want to block. In a statement to Business Insider, a Google spokesperson added that it had “no knowledge of, or involvement in” the deal between ComboTag and Adblock Plus’ parent company Eyeo. When we reached out to Google ourselves, it outlined in no uncertain terms that “this is not a business we want to be part of.” You can read the full statement below.
“We were surprised by the announcement and learned of it when we were contacted by press. We have no involvement in their program and this is not a business we want to be part of. We are moving to terminate ComboTag’s AdX account. Ad blocking is a symptom of bad ads online and that’s why we believe the industry needs to align around a standard–backed by data and insights from conversations with real consumers–for what constitutes a better ads experience online.”
AppNexus isn’t being diplomatic, either. It’s not only severing ties with Adblock Plus, but insists that it doesn’t work with companies so “fundamentally harmful” to the ad business. Adblock effectively sets up “toll booths on a public road,” taking ad money that should be going straight to the publishers.
Both an Adblock Plus spokesperson and ComboTag CEO Guy Tytunovich insisted in statements that the program would still include Google and AppNexus ads. However, it’s not clear that either was aware of the planned departures at the time they issued those statements. They’ll likely have to change their tune before long — they can’t force Google or AppNexus to supply ads for a program they view as shady.
Source: Business Insider, Ad Age
EU digital rules promise 5G, free WiFi and tougher copyright
The European Union isn’t done stepping up its digital initiatives. Officials have outlined proposed policies that are focused on dramatically increasing access to both the internet and the content you’ll find on it. Most of the proposals will be helpful, although not everyone is a fan — there are copyright changes that are rubbing Google the wrong way.
To start, the EU wants to “fully deploy” 5G mobile networks across its member countries by 2025. You’d theoretically get gigabit-class data across the continent. And you might not have to be picky about using it when traveling, either. While the EU has had to shelve its most recent free roaming plan, it still wants to “abolish” roaming charges. You should see a refined take on its plan next week.
However, you might not even have to depend on cellular data to get online. The proposal would also offer free wireless internet access (presumably, over WiFi) in the “main centers of public life” of every EU town by 2020. You wouldn’t get blanket coverage, but this would be particularly crucial in rural areas where cellular networks are spotty or non-existent, and local organizations don’t always have the means to offer free WiFi hotspots. If a €120 million ($135 million) grant receives approval, communities would have access to the funds before the end of 2017.
The EU is committed to its promises of erasing borders for media services, too. It wants to make content accessible across the Union, so you wouldn’t be limited to material offered in your home country. You could watch German Netflix shows while you’re visiting France, for example. You could also buy pay-TV movies and similar material from other countries, some of which might well be less expensive than it is at home. Broadcasters would still have control over whether or not their content is available in other countries.
It’s in the copyright space where things get tricky. The proposal would require better data sharing and transparency for creators, but it would also give press publishers rights that ensure they get a “fair share” of revenues for material they post online. Sound familiar? It should — it’s similar to laws in Germany and Spain that ask search engines like Google to pay up when they show an article snippet in their results. The EU contends that this is necessary to make sure writers are “paid fairly,” but Google unsurprisingly objects. It believes that the German and Spanish laws “failed,” and that these demands for payment ultimately hurt publishers by giving web users fewer reasons to click through to an article.
Moreover, the regulation might be bad news for YouTube. The proposal would require that services offering user-uploaded content take “appropriate and proportionate” steps to protect copyright. While this does include “content recognition technologies” (possibly a reference to YouTube’s Content ID), Google is worried that the measure would require screening content before it goes public, which would demand far more work. Google policy lead Caroline Atkinson claims that it would lead to an internet where every upload would have to be “cleared by lawyers.”
The proposal needs to clear both the European Parliament and individual governments to go forward. It may take a long time before the initiative takes effect, and that’s assuming there are no significant changes. If it does, though, Europe could have a very different digital landscape within the next decade. It would definitely be more connected, but there’s a concern that Google and others like it might scale back their European presence rather than make the effort to comply with new copyright laws.
Via: Ars Technica, Bloomberg, New York Times
Source: European Commission (1), (2)
Google Fiber TV finally gets an interface overhaul
While Alphabet ponders switching its high-speed Google Fiber service to wireless, those subscribers already on the bandwagon are getting the biggest update to their TV box since the network went live in 2012. As Google’s Fiber team notes today, the Fiber TV interface has been redesigned to add more helpful information, a reorganized DVR and new recommendation functions.
The new look and feel includes Rotten Tomatoes ratings in the program descriptions, better show and movie thumbnails to streamline casual browsing and a Smart Search feature that allows for searching by titles, actors, sports teams and other criteria. And, to finally bring Fiber TV up to the contemporary standards, the service can now recommend movies and TV shows based on the shows you currently watch. So if you’ve been binging on all that Walking Dead, don’t be surprised if George Romero flicks start popping up in your recommendations.
The update starts rolling out to Fiber TV subscribers today, although Google’s blog post does mention it could take a couple weeks to reach all current customers.
Source: Google Fiber Blog
Google offers $350,000 in prizes if you can hack a Nexus
Google has set aside at least $350,000 for its Project Zero Prize contest, and to win part of that sweet, sweet prize pot, you’ll have to hack a Nexus 6P and a 5X. You’ll have to do so only knowing the devices’ phone numbers and associated email addresses. Plus, the vulnerability you exploit must be able to remotely execute codes on both phones just by opening an email or a text message. The big G says it hopes to discover new bugs from the contest. But since it’s more than just a bug bounty program, it will also use your entries to take a closer look at how exploits work, as well as to gather info on how to protect its devices from similar vulnerabilities.
You may want to read the contest mechanics soon if you plan to participate, because it looks like only the first person who submits a particular bug can use it. If you get top prize once the contest ends in six months’ time, you can take home $200,000. You’ll get $100,000 for second prize, and at least $50,000 for third, which is still not bad at all.
Via: CNET
Source: Google
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