As reported on Engadget. BY JON FINGAS Now that Google has offered a preview of Glass’ SDK and opened the Mirror API toall developers, it has a strong incentive to get its eyewear in the hands of app writers. Accordingly, the crew in Mountain View is now inviting developers to buy Glass’ Explorer Edition; you’ll find one such invitation pictured above. We’ve asked Google about the scale of the expanded Explorer program, and we’ll let you know if it…
As reported on Engadget. BY TIMOTHY J. SEPPALA CheapCast is a great way to get some of Chromecast’s functionality for free, sure, but it’s been lacking a few of the Google dongle’s features since the app launched. If you’ve been hankering to beam browser tabs to your TV (via an HDMI-or-WiFi-connected mobile device, of course), CheapCast’s latest update enables just that.Android Police notes that this seemingly only works with tabs and not fullscreen casting, while DRM’d services like Netflix and Google Play Movies “actually…
As reported on The Verge. By Casey Newton Thinking about making the switch from from iPhone to Android? “Many” of Eric Schmidt’s friends are, he says — and so he wrote them a 900-word guide to walk them through the process. Google’s executive chairman took to Google+ today to share tips and best practices for abandoning Apple’s ecosystem in favor of Google’s. “Many of my iPhone friends are converting to Android,” Schmidt writes. “The latest high-end phones from…
As reported on Engadget. By Matt Brian Google’s desire to integrate social features into its mobile OS will soon see it useGoogle+ profile photos to identify Android callers. The new feature comes as an update to the new caller ID service in Android 4.4 KitKat, allowing the company to automatically match phone numbers from incoming and outgoing calls with names and profile photos associated with a registered account. Google staffer Attila Bodisnotes that the feature will be enabled…
As reported on TechCrunch. by Jon Evans Dear Google: What’s wrong? I ask because last weekend, while in San Francisco, I asked Google Maps for “hot chocolate mission” — and was promptly directed to an ARCO station in Fremont, 40 miles away. Similarly, last month I searched for “coffee” while in the Embarcadero Center, one of the denser coffee hotspots in America, and was sent to a Starbucks more than two miles away. And it hasn’t…
As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lai Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, was at the Chinese University of Hong Kong earlier today to launch a local entrepreneurship program with the institute. As a man who believes in free and open internet to aid startups and innovation, the exec was happy to give an update on North Korea and Myanmar since he last visited there to promote better web access. For the former, Schmidt joked that no one called him back since…
As reported on Engadget. By Sharif Sakr Gone are the days when you needed to visit a Google office in person to pick up a pair of Explorer Edition spectacles. Following the recent expansion of the wearable project, which allowed existing owners to invite up to three friends or relatives to take that $1,500 step into the future, it’s been possible for new customers to have their glasses shipped to them, just like any commercial product. What hasn’tchanged, however, is…
As reported on The Verge. By Jacob Kastrenakes Classical music doesn’t have a need for modern technology. Instruments have been built for centuries, scores print just fine on paper, and concert seating gives patrons a good enough perspective on the orchestra as it is. But while classical music may not need technology, Cynthia Turner, a conductor and a professor at Cornell, is trying to turn many of those assumptions on their head using Google Glass. “It…
As reported on The Verge. By Russell Brandom Users raised hell when Instagram made a similar move, so why didn’t Google learn its lesson? On Friday, anyone signed into a Google account was greeted with a banner across the top of the page announcing the company’s terms of service had changed. Google was clearing the path for Facebook-style advertising, announcing any “shared endorsement” would be fair game to be used in promoted content. It’s a familiar playbook,…
As reported on The Verge. By Russell Brandom In May, Google launched the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab with hardware from the Canadian quantum computing company D-Wave and technical expertise from NASA. It was an ambitious open research project aimed at exploring both the capabilities of quantum computer architecture and the mysteries of space exploration — but in the months since, they’ve stayed quiet about exactly what kind of work they’ve been doing there. OPERATED AT NEAR-ABSOLUTE-ZERO TEMPERATURES…