Safely tour Marseille’s back streets after dark with Google Night Walk
The streets of Marseille are beautiful, but have something of a reputation for being a bit stabby. Fear for your safety shouldn’t prevent you from seeing the sights, which is why Google and Radio Grenouille have teamed up to create Night Walk. Combining high-res Street View shots with audio from the city, you’ll now be able to wander the back alleys of the Cours Julien with the warming gallic tones of Christophe Perruchi by your side.
[Thanks, Daniel]
Google’s Project Loon balloon goes around the world in just 22 days
One of Project Loon’s hot air balloons just completed a journey ’round the world, but unlike Vernes’ Phileas Fogg who took 80 days to do so, Google’s creation took but a mere 22 days. That far exceeds Mountain View’s expectations (the team thought it would take around 33 days), all thanks to data collected by previous test flights. You see, the folks behind the project make sure to assess and use those findings to continue improving their balloons. In fact, this model (called Ibis-167), which had to brave particularly strong winds, might not have made it if not for the changes the team made.
The team writes on the project’s Google+ page:
Since last June, we’ve been using the wind data we’ve collected during flights to refine our prediction models and are now able to forecast balloon trajectories twice as far in advance. In addition, the pump that moves air in or out of the balloon has become three times more efficient, making it possible to change altitudes more rapidly to quickly catch winds going in different directions. There were times, for example, when this balloon could have been pulled into the polar vortex – large, powerful wind currents that whip around in a circle near the stratosphere in the polar region – but these improvements enabled us to maneuver around it and stay on course.
Project Loon is one of Google X Lab’s (the company’s more adventurous outfit also responsible for Glass) brainchild, which hopes to offer hot air balloon-powered internet connection someday. Until then, the team will continue doing more test flights — the Ibis-167 is already on its second journey, clocking the project’s 311,000th mile — to ensure the hardiness of their balloons.
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Google
Via: CNET
Source: Project Loon
Here’s another peek at Google’s build-your-own-smartphone project
Project Ara has only exploded in prominence since Google unloaded Motorola earlier this year, and now we’re getting yet another peek at the work in progress. The Phonebloks team just released a video showing off the progress Google and its partners have made on those modular smartphones, and things are coming along just as quick as you’d expect.
While this is ostensibly a video meet-and-greet with some of the folks working for the cause, there are still some tantalizing parts to gaze upon. We’re given a quick look at how component modules like processors and cameras are held in place by electropermanent magnets — they slide into place easily, and are locked and unlocked with a quick burst of voltage that’ll ultimately be controlled with an app. For a few brief moments, we also get a look at the three different endoskeletons that those parts pop into side by side… if only in render form. The mainstream medium model is the one that’s been getting all the attention lately, but the phablet-sized endo looks like it’ll support 9 modules on its rear and the mini model that could sell for about $50 can handle at least 6. Not enough Ara meat for you? Never fear: the first Ara Developer Conference will take place on April 15, so expect most of the project’s secrets to be spilled very shortly.
Filed under: Mobile
Source: YouTube
Google to launch wireless network with help of Verizon, report claims
Google has reached out to Verizon in an effort to help create a wireless network on the back of Google Fiber, says The Information. After also discussing the plans with Sprint, Google is said to have backed away from the carrier once SoftBank acquisitions took place. As it appears, Google could become a mobile virtual network operation (MVNO) .
From the sounds of it, Google would like to build out a wireless network in markets; users may potentially connect via Wi-Fi access points whenever in range of the Fiber network. If no access points are available then the devices would connect to the carrier’s network.
As of today, Google Fiber networks are found in Kansas City, Missouri and Provo, Utah. Down the road, Google plans to expand to Austin, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia; Portland, Oregon; San Jose, California; and more. There’s obviously a lot that must be done before this builds into something that can compete on a national level, but if anyone can do it, it’s Google.
The post Google to launch wireless network with help of Verizon, report claims appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google reportedly wants to offer mobile phone service in Fiber areas
Many see Google Fiber as an attempt to disrupt the stagnant world of internet service providers, and it now sounds like Google wants to shake up the wireless industry, too. Sources for The Information claim that the search firm wants to offer mobile phone service in Fiber areas. It’s not yet clear how this would work, but Google reportedly told Verizon in January that it would like to become an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) piggybacking on Big Red’s network. None of the companies involved are commenting on the rumor, and there are no guarantees that Google’s dreams will become reality. We certainly wouldn’t count on Verizon’s cooperation given its vehement opposition to the net neutrality principles that Larry Page and crew hold dear. However, Google is the sort of company that’s willing to supply internet access by any means necessary — if it’s really bent on offering phone service, it’ll find a way.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Internet, Mobile, Google, Verizon
Source: The Information
A new Gmail experience could be coming soon
Gmail designed has evolved over the years and it seems Google is about to take the design and feature-set of the popular email service to the next level. On the horizon is potentially more tabs, a new pin system, and the ability to temporarily quiet an email.
In addition to the Social, Promotions, Forums, and Updates tabs Gmail currently includes, the updated version is going to include Travel, Purchases, and Finance, which falls incidentally into the speculation that Google Now could start tracking your credit cars and financial information.
In addition, there’s also a pinned feature that will allow you to pin an email to the top of your inbox – very useful for marking an important email to come back to it later.
Whilst the leak screenshot isn’t potentially what Gmail will end up looking like, it does give a taste as to the direction Google are heading, and hopefully we’ll see some of the new features integrated into our Gmail clients soon.
[Via Geek]
The post A new Gmail experience could be coming soon appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Explore the ancient temples of Angkor Wat through Google Street View
After touring the canals of Venice and braving the Polar Bear capital of the world, you can now visit the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat in Cambodia… virtually, that is. The armchair adventurer’s best friend, Google Street View, now touts around 90,000 panoramic images of the vast 12th century Khmer wonder. Google took photos of Angkor Wat’s glorious temples, sculptures and wall carvings, using both its Street View cars and its 40-pound backpacks called Trekkers, which Hawaii’s local government recently used to capture its beaches on film. To make the experience even fuller, Google’s also adding 300 exhibits of various Angkor Wat-related artworks to its virtual museum. Obviously, there’s nothing quite like admiring the complex’s architecture in person, but hey, this could be good enough for folks who can’t pack up and travel the world.
Source: Google Maps, Street View
Facebook Messenger for Android lets you pin chats right to your home screen
Facebook’s big-spending CEO presumably has a grand plan for Messenger, now that he’s gone to such great lengths to own WhatsApp. For the time being though, his company is continuing to focus on subtle but useful changes to its homemade apps, with the Android version of Messenger just receiving an update to version 4.0. In line with the last week’s iOS update, one of biggest new features is the ability to bunch your friends into groups and then pin these gatherings to a dedicated Groups tab, so you can quickly bombard the right people all at once. Unlike iOS, however, you can now also add a shortcut to any group or conversation directly from your Android home screen, letting you open up a floating chat head with a single tap, with no need to navigate through the app. That’s the sort of convenience that reminds us why a dedicated Facebook phone was always so unnecessary.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Source: Google Play Store
Comic Book Wednesdays come to Google Play with single issues from DC
Google Play Books and DC Entertainment are showing off their super friendship once again, but, this time, for readers who’d rather consume comics in bite-sized portions. As of today, you can grab single issues from the publisher directly from Mountain View’s media market. To celebrate, there’s even a sale on the likes of Aquaman and Adventure Comics for $0.99 an issue, while a handful of others including Batman and Green Arrow are under $3 apiece. As the senior vice president of DC’s Vertigo label has told CNET, its Google customers were happy but kept asking for single issues. As a result, the outfit beefed up its back-end to accommodate the weekly storefront schedule, and now you should have new issues 52 times a year. See? Further proof that if you really want a company to do something, all you have to do is ask politely.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Google
Source: CNET
Google infuses Play Newsstand, Movies & TV and Keep apps for Android with new features
While Microsoft was busy announcing its updated mobile platform (among other things) today, Google spent its time pushing updates for its Play Newsstand, Movies & TV and Keep apps for Android. Newsstand’s update, in particular, makes it easier to discover more things to read. New tabs on the “Read now” menu provide instant access to sections like business, entertainment and sports, while the My News and My Magazines pages have been combined to form a 2-in-1 destination called My Library.
The Play Movies & TV app, on the other hand, now has a navigation bar that bundles Settings and Help & Feedback within a slide-out window, as well as a Google account switcher on top. Android Central also noticed that you can now slide a finger on the screen to rewind or go forward either continuously (if you don’t lift your finger till you get to the part you want) or in 10-second intervals. Finally, Google’s Keep note-taking app can now return image-only entries when you do a search, since it finally parse text written on photos like Evernote does. It also has a new Trash view that gives you access to deleted entries for up to seven days (after which, they’re gone forever), and it now automatically moves checked entries to the bottom of lists. These updates should hit your Android phones and tablets soon enough, if they haven’t yet.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Google
Via: Android Central (1), (2)
Source: Google Play Newsstand, Google Play Movies & TV, Google+, Google Keep
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