Google experiments with e-books designed for your phone

E-books are just digital recreations of what you can get on paper. Wouldn’t it be better if they took advantage of internet-connected mobile devices to tell new stories? Google, at least, wants to give this a shot. It just launched Editions At Play, an experiment in making e-books that rely on the dynamic qualities of the mobile web to do what you can’t in print. One book (Reif Larsen’s Entrances & Exits, above) sets stories inside Google Street View locations that you can explore. Others create portals full of animation and sound, degrade the text alongside a character’s mind or let you flip between two sides of the same tale.

Don’t expect a big Edition At Play library, at least not at first. Only two short books are available right now, with two more due this spring. Google is even soliciting ideas to help get the concept off the ground. You won’t see these internet-savvy titles taking over regular e-book stores any time soon. Still, this is promising stuff — it shows how literature can stay relevant in an era when you can easily read on your phone instead of pulling out a paperback.

Source: Editions At Play, Google Australia Blog

White House, Google partner to bring Google Fiber to public housing for free

On Monday, Alphabet’s Q4 2015 results showed that Other Bets weren’t profitable and the holding company was still leaning on other businesses to generate big revenue. The reason for Other Bets’ struggles could be because the cost of expanding Google Fiber and actually giving away its services for free, albeit the latter is for a good cause. A partnership between Google and ConnectHome, an initiative overseen by the White House and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will be bringing Google Fiber’s gigabit internet service to residents in public housing properties throughout the United States.

The program is launching first in West Bluff, a housing complex in Kansas City. All one hundred homes have been wired with Google Fiber and families living there can sign up to get free gigabit internet access. Families needing equipment like a Chromebook can make purchases through ConnectHome’s partners and get special discounts. Partners also exist to teach families how to use computers.

Google is actively working to activate Google Fiber in nine additional public housing properties in Kansas City’s metropolitan area.

Here’s part of the official announcement:

For low income families, access to the Internet can mean the difference between thriving or falling behind. It can mean more children using computers in after-school programs and STEM classes, more students going online to finish their homework, more people taking advantage of resources like Khan Academy, and more families learning basic computer skills that help them be more connected.

The overall plan is to give all public housing properties in Google Fiber-ready cities free access to the service, but Google also wants computer labs and digital literacy instructors to benefit. So the two latter types of places will also get free gigabit internet access. Google is doing all of this because of broadband’s price in the United States and the lagging of it behind other countries.

Source: Google

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Google’s self-driving cars hit the rainy streets of Washington state

Google is expanding its self-driving car test to the rainy and hilly city of Kirkland, Washington. In fact, citizens of the Seattle suburb have probably already noticed one of the company’s Lexus RX450h SUV driving around over the past few weeks mapping the roads. The rest of the fleet of autonomous vehicles will be hitting the road next month.

Google says that Kirkland is an ideal place for wet weather and hilly road practice. The inclines can be used to test the vehicles’ sensors on different angles and inclines. Also, this is the opportunity to drop the cars in a different environment with a driving style that’s probably different than cities the vehicle is currently being tested in, Austin, Texas and Mountain View, California.

Kirkland Mayor, Amy Walen said of the cars’ imminent arrival, “we’re thrilled to have the cars here as they do more testing. It’s a great fit.”

Google’s new head of search is an AI research leader

There’s a changing of the guard underway at Google… and it could have big ramifications for how the company tackles its main business. Senior VP of search (and early employee) Amit Singhal is retiring on February 26th, and he’s being replaced by John Giannandrea, the VP who leads the company’s artificial intelligence and research work. In the process, Google is folding its research division into search — it’s now an integral part of how Google operates.

The shift isn’t surprising. Google has been big on AI for a while, whether it’s defeating board game champions, developing image recognition or building self-driving cars. It’s only logical that the company would want someone who understands that technology to occupy a key role. Also, it’s not as if the competition is standing still. Apple, Facebook and Microsoft are all adopting AI to various degrees, so it makes sense to promote someone who can keep Google competitive on that front. Giannandrea hasn’t said just what he’ll do in his new role, but it’s entirely possible that AI will power more of your web searches.

Via: Recode

Source: Amit Singhal (Google+)

Google rolling out free gigabit internet in public housing

Google started its gigabit Fiber program in Kansas City and now some of the area’s low-income residents will be first to get the service for free. The company is now hooking up homes in Fiber neighborhoods as part of its pledge to the White House’s ConnectHome initiative. The program will help school-age kids study using the internet so they have the same opportunities as kids from more well-off families. “We’ve wired 100 homes with Fiber, and families can sign up today to access the Internet at up to 1,000 Mbps,” said Google Fiber VP Dennis Kish in a blog post.

“The U.S. has some of the most expensive broadband in the world, while lagging far behind other countries in Internet speeds. And for families in affordable housing, cost can be one of the biggest barriers to getting online. [The program] can mean more children using computers in after-school programs and STEM classes, more students going online to finish their homework [and] more people taking advantage of resources like Khan Academy,” Kish explained.

The program can mean more children using computers in after-school programs and STEM classes and more students going online to finish their homework.

Google isn’t the only company participating in ConnectHome — Sprint, for instance, is also offering free wireless broadband, and Seattle’s Liberty Broadband offers basic internet for $10 per month. Comcast, meanwhile, has its own Essentials program with 10Mbps internet at $10 a month as well. Google’s is far and away the fastest, but the “selective” rollout will be much more limited than the 500,000 homes on Comcast’s service.

However, Google promised to connect up to 1,300 homes in Kansas City, and plans to roll out the free service to low-income families in current and future Fiber cities (it’s in nine locations right now). The search giant is working with local government to determine which families in those areas will get the service, and will reveal more details in the coming months.

Source: Google

Google Play Music’s podcast interface is already showing up for some users

We’ve been waiting a long time for Google to launch podcast compatibility. Just yesterday we reported that an all-new podcast platform would make way to Play Music by the end of the month. Based on a new report, the latest update of Play Music already implements some elements and functionality for podcast support.

Now that Google has already begun preparing Play Music for podcast support, we can pretty much confirm that it’s not far off. In matter of fact, if you look closer into the interface of Play Music version 6.3, you’ll actually find a podcast icon in the app’s side menu. When you click it, two tabs show up, one reading ‘Featured’ and the other reading ‘Your Podcasts.’ Both look the same as nearly every other aspect in Play Music’s interface including your playlists and some of the free stations. Its layout is the same card view that shows cover art and a small description of each listing.

If you go a little further, clicking on the podcast will give you all sorts of details. Users can subscribe to the podcast, view/add the latest episodes, and choose to get notified of new releases. Just like the main podcast menu, the ‘Now Playing’ screen looks nearly identical to playing any regular song in Play Music. Here you’ll find quick control that allow users to skip forward and rewind backward up to thirty seconds when a podcast is in play.

From what we have seen, Play Music’s podcast integration will satisfy some users, but not those looking for some more advanced features. Hopefully we’ll see more features added with time. Feel free to drop a comment below letting us know your thoughts.

Via: Android Police

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