How Google Glass UI Works

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Building New Experiences with Glass

Timothy Jordan gave developers at SXSW in Austin, TX a sneak peek at the Google Mirror API, which is what they'll use to build services for Glass. With the presentation, we set out to help developers and entrepreneurs start imagining what they could do on Glass.

Source

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Google Discontinuing Selected Services Including Reader

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Google reported QE December 2012 financial results on earnings on January 22 

A Second Spring of Cleaning

(Official Google Blog) We’re living in a new kind of computing environment. Everyone has a device, sometimes multiple devices. It’s been a long time since we have had this rate of change—it probably hasn’t happened since the birth of personal computing 40 years ago. To make the most of these opportunities, we need to focus—otherwise we spread ourselves too thin and lack impact. So today we’re announcing some more closures, bringing the total to 70 features or services closed since our spring cleaning began in 2011:

• Apps Script will be deprecating the GUI Builder and five UiApp widgets in order to focus efforts on Html Service. The rest of the Ui Service will not be affected. The GUI Builder will continue to be available until September 16, 2013. For more information see our post on the Google Apps Developer Blog.
• CalDAV API will become available for whitelisted developers, and will be shut down for other developers on September 16, 2013. Most developers’ use cases are handled well by Google Calendar API, which we recommend using instead. If you’re a developer and the Calendar API won’t work for you, please fill out this form to tell us about your use case and request access to whitelisted-only CalDAV API.
• Google Building Maker helped people to make three-dimensional building models for Google Earth and Maps. It will be retired on June 1, but users are still able to access and export their models from the 3D Warehouse. We’ll continue to expand the availability of comprehensive and accurate new 3D imagery on Google Earth, and people can still use Google Map Maker to add building information such as outlines and heights to Google Maps.
• Google Cloud Connect is a plug-in to help people work in the cloud by automatically saving Microsoft Office files from Windows PCs in Google Drive. But installing Google Drive on your desktop achieves the same thing more effectively - and Drive works not only on Windows, but also on Mac, Android and iOS devices. Existing users will no longer be able to use Cloud Connect as of April 30.
• We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.
• Beginning next week, we're ending support for the Google Voice App for Blackberry. For Blackberry users who want to continue using Google Voice, we recommend they use our HTML5 app, which is more secure and easier for us to keep up to date. Our HTML5 site is compatible with users with Blackberry version 6 and newer.
• We’re deprecating our Search API for Shopping, which has enabled developers to create shopping apps based on Google’s Product Search data. While we believe in the value this offering provided, we’re shifting our focus to concentrate on creating a better shopping experience for users through Google Shopping. We’ll shut the API down completely on September 16, 2013.
• Beginning today we’ll no longer sell or provide updates for Snapseed Desktop for Macintosh and Windows. Existing customers will continue to be able to download the software and can contact us for support. We’ll continue to offer the Snapseed mobile app on iOS and Android for free.

Source

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Google: Women in Technology

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Google reported QE December 2012 financial results on earnings on January 22 

Voices of Women in Technology

(Official Google Blog) A diverse workforce is critical in helping us build products that can help people change the world. That includes diversity of all life experiences, including gender.

Women were some of the first programmers and continue to make a major impact on the programming world today. We think it’s important to highlight the great work women are doing in computer science, to help provide role models for young women thinking about careers in computing.

As part of International Women’s Day, and as one of our contributions to the celebration, we’re proud to support Voices Global Conference, presented by Global Tech Women. As part of this 24-hour live streamed event, Google will provide more than a dozen hours of free talks featuring women working in computer science, beginning today. To access the full schedule and our ongoing broadcasts, see our section on the Voices website, which will be updated throughout the day.

Read more.

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Visit David Dyer at Seeking Alpha: Financial & Technology Stocks Investing!

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Visit David Dyer at Seeking Alpha

● Financial and Technology Stocks Investing! ●

● Banking, Economy, Markets, Technology ●

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Google Science Fair 2013 - It's your turn to change the world

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Google Science Fair 2013

Google Science Fair 2013
Looking for the next generation of scientists and engineers to change the world

The Google Science Fair is an online science competition open to students ages 13-18 from around the globe. We're looking for ideas that will change the world.

Google Science Fair

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Introducing the New Acer Chromebook

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Acer C7 Chromebook

Creating a better, simpler computer and making it available for everyone is at the core of the Chromebook vision. It’s exciting to see people using Chromebooks as the perfect additional computer in the home, and we continue to work with our partners to make them easy-to-use and more affordable. Today, we’re delighted that our partner Acer is introducing a new addition to the Chromebook family: the new Acer C7 Chromebook.

The new Acer C7 Chromebook delivers a hassle-free computing experience with speed, built-in security and the simplicity of automatic updates. It features a full-size keyboard, fully clickable trackpad, an extra bright 11.6-inch display and over 3.5 hours of battery life. Powered by an Intel Core processor, the Acer Chromebook is fast - boots up in 18 seconds, resumes instantly and high-definition videos play smoothly (yes, videos like Gangnam Style in 1080p, in case you’re one of the few left who hasn’t seen it). You can easily store your stuff on the Chromebook or in the cloud, with a 320GB hard drive and 100GB of free storage on Google Drive.

As you’d expect from a Chromebook, it’s easy to share with others around the home. Moms, dads, siblings or even your roommate can all have separate accounts and simply log in to get things done. And because Chromebooks bring you the best of Google, if you use products like Gmail, Drive, Maps, YouTube and Google+, your stuff is always available and everything just works.

The Acer Chromebook is available for $199 in the U.S. on Google Play, BestBuy.com and Best Buy stores. In the U.K., it’s available on Google Play, Amazon UK, PC World and Currys. We’re working hard to bring it to more countries soon.

Together with Acer, it’s great to welcome the newest addition to the Chromebook family. We hope it will make a great additional computer for your family, too. New Chromebooks, for everyone. Posted by Sundar Pichai, SVP, Chrome & Apps.

The New Acer Chromebook

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Google Earnings Review: Hopeful Signs in a Multi-Screen World

Google reported QE December 2012 financial results on January 22

Google earnings showed hopeful signs this quarter, after the fundamentals were negatively impacted in 2012 with the acquisition and merger of Motorola. GAAP earnings per share were $8.22 and matched the prior year QE December 2011, but were short of the QE March 2012 record of $8.75. However, Non-GAAP earnings per share of $10.65 and cash flow per share of $13.94 were all-time highs.

Google sees the world as a global cloud plus a multi-screen environment from the user side. People now have a variety of devices to connect to the Internet and use more than one device per day. These can be a smartphone, tablet, notebook, desktop, etc. Google plans on being on your screen, your window to the Internet and the global cloud, via their products, regardless of device. Google would also like to build your device.



There is still some damage to repair in the earnings per share growth rate. The revenue growth rate continues healthy, but needs an assist from gross margin for the bottom line.



The reversal of the downtrend in gross margin (56.91%) is the most positive metric for this quarter. Operating and net margins responded accordingly. Last quarter, gross margin reached an abysmal and multi-year, if not all-time, low of 53.52%.



Revenues rose to an all-time high of $14.42 billion, powered by record regional revenues across the board: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Rest of the World. Operating income inched up to an all-time high of $3.39 billion. Net income of $2.886 billion just missed the record high of $2.890 billion in the QE March 2012.



"We ended 2012 with a strong quarter," said Larry Page, CEO of Google. "Revenues were up 36% year on year, and 8% quarter on quarter. And we hit $50 billion in revenues for the first time last year – not a bad achievement in just a decade and a half. In today's multi-screen world we face tremendous opportunities as a technology company focused on user benefit. It's an incredibly exciting time to be at Google."

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Google Zeitgeist 2012: Year In Review

GOOG!

As 2012 comes to a close, it's time for our 12th annual Year-End Zeitgeist - an in-depth look at the "spirit of the times" as seen through the billions of searches on Google over the past year.

On our 2012 Zeitgeist website, you can explore the most popular and hottest trending search terms from around the world. This year’s site is our most global to date, with a total of 838 lists from 55 countries. We’ve also added a number of new features, including an interactive map that shows where and when some of the hottest terms spiked around the world, and a Google Zeitgeist Android app coming out later today (with an iOS version coming soon too).

For a round-the-globe tour through 2012, take a look at our video:

So what kinds of things were top of mind this year? While there are perennial themes - "what is love?" topped the list in 10 countries - it’s the unusual and surprising that caught our attention in 2012.

Global superstar Whitney Houston topped many countries’ lists as well as three of our overall trending lists - her unexpected death surprising fans around the world. From Korea, YouTube sensation PSY’s “Gangnam Style” signature dance took the world by storm, landing him the #1 spot in many countries and making his song the second most trending query of 2012. (PSY’s video became the #1 most watched in YouTube history - stay tuned for YouTube’s Rewind for more.)

Then there was the superhuman. Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner’s epic free fall jump made him the #6 globally trending person of the year, while the 2012 Olympics and its various athletes made it into almost every country’s top trends. And NBA player Jeremy Lin also rose on the charts this year, making him the #1 trending athlete globally.

People researched a breadth of other topics, too. Web users took a serious interest in threats to the open Internet, with proposals like SOPA and ACTA both finding their way to the top of many countries’ lists. The U.S. elections brought attention to the candidates and issues, not least the presidential campaigns’ most notorious political gaffes. And while it might not be surprising to see that tragic natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy ranked highly (#3 on the global trending list), it is reassuring to find searches like [donate to Sandy] spiking as well.

We hope you enjoy exploring what people around the world were searching for in 2012. It’s quite a snapshot of what makes us human: a blend of guilty pleasures and higher pursuits. Posted by Amit Singhal, SVP & Google Fellow

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Google Earnings Review: Profitability Weakens Again

Google reported QE September 2012 financial results on October 18

I repeat, this isn't the Google that Granny used to talk about. Things have changed significantly. That is, Google fundamentals have changed with the acquisition and merger of Motorola in Q2 2012 (Fundamentals Change With Motorola Acquisition). Motorola is negatively affecting financial performance. Google's core business is not as profitable and therefore is also negatively affecting financial performance.



Both the revenue mix and margin mix have changed and hence the uncertainty about Google's operations. This will continue negatively impacting the bottom line, net income and earnings per share, at least for the short-term. The top line revenues surge upwards with no positive bottom line impact. The long-term impact is the uncertainty.

The 3rd and 4th calendar quarters can be the strongest for Google on an annual cyclical basis. The solid gains in net income and earnings per share were not reported year over year as expected. That leaves next quarter, the Holiday Q4, for a rebound. Holiday Q4 should be stronger than the current Q3, but the annual surge in earnings per share may not follow suit.



Revenue growth, year over year, had previously slowed but the Motorola acquisition reversed the trend significantly to the upside. Yet this has not mattered with regards to net income nor earnings per share. Consolidated margins decreased significantly, caused mostly by Motorola but to some extent by core operations. Net income and operating income continue decreasing on record revenues, the result of the gross profit margin, then operating margin, then net margin dropping to multi-year lows.



And finally we arrive at the earnings per share and ultimately GOOG stock prospects. The race and goal is to become the Anti-Apple with integration across software and hardware while continuing as an advertising company. Whether this can in fact be done, how long it will take, and if Apple's profitability levels can be reached are the 3 questions and uncertainties.



“We had a strong quarter. Revenue was up 45 percent year-on-year, and, at just fourteen years old, we cleared our first $14 billion revenue quarter,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “I am also really excited about the progress we’re making creating a beautifully simple, intuitive Google experience across all devices.”

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Google: Significant Motorola Restructuring Costs Ahead

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Google Warns of More Motorola Cuts, Revises Up Third-Quarter Bill

(Reuters) Google Inc revised up the bill for job cuts at its money-losing Motorola Mobility mobile phone unit in the third quarter and warned of further restructuring that may result in "significant" additional charges.

"Google raised its estimates for severance-related charges 9 percent to $300 million from $275 million and warned it faced another $40 million in other costs in the quarter to quit facilities and markets.

"Motorola has continued to refine its planned restructuring actions and now expects to broaden those actions to include additional geographic regions outside of the U.S.," the company said in a statement.

Read more

Google Warns of 'Significant' Motorola Charges

(CNBC) Google said planned job cuts at its Motorola Mobility mobile phone unit will cost about $340 million in severance and other costs in the third quarter and it warned of further restructuring that may result in "significant" charges.

"Motorola has continued to refine its planned restructuring actions and now expects to broaden those actions to include additional geographic regions outside of the U.S.," the company said in a statement.

Google plans to shrink Motorola's operations in Asia by exiting unprofitable markets, abandoning low-end devices and focusing on a few models instead of dozens, the New York Times had reported earlier.

"Motorola continues to evaluate its plans and further restructuring actions may occur, which may cause Google to incur additional restructuring charges, some of which may be significant," the company said.

The Internet search giant said in August that it would cut 20 percent of the workforce at Motorola Mobility, which it bought for $12.5 billion last year, as it moves to make more smartphones and fewer simple mobiles.

By pairing Motorola's smartphone business with its Android software, Google may have a better chance of mounting a direct challenge to Apple's popular iPhone.

Read more

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Google Closes at All-Time High $749.38!

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Google

Google Closes at $749.38

GOOG daily chart for 2012

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Google Web Lab: Magic of the Internet

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Google WebLab

Web Lab: The Magic of the Internet, Brought to Life

Launching in beta, Web Lab is a set of five physical installations housed in the Science Museum in London. You can interact with them in person at the museum, or from anywhere in the world at chromeweblab.com. By opening up the museum experience to the world online, Web Lab doesn’t play by the usual rules - a visitor’s location and museum opening hours no longer matter.

Each of the five experiments - Universal Orchestra, Data Tracer, Sketchbots, Teleporter and Lab Tag Explorer - showcases a modern web technology found in Chrome to explore a particular theme in computer science. For example, the Universal Orchestra experiment uses WebSockets to demonstrate real time collaboration as people from around the world make music together on custom-built robotic instruments housed in the Science Museum.

Please join us online or at the Science Museum in London (entry is free), and let us know what you think. True to its name, the year-long exhibition is a working lab, and we’ll continue to tinker with it based on your feedback.

Web Lab: The Magic of the Internet, Brought to Life

Enter Web Lab, a series of interactive Chrome Experiments made by Google that bring the extraordinary workings of the internet to life.

A first-of-its-kind web-based exhibition live from the Science Museum in London and open to the world online at chromeweblab.com

Worldwide visitors both online and in-museum are able to make music with people across the world; trace routes across the internet's vast network and discover where images are stored; watch their portrait being processed and drawn by a robot; and travel instantly to far away places.

See the magic of the web come to life at chromeweblab.com



Official Google Blog: Web Lab: The Magic of the Internet, Brought to Life

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Visit OspreyFlyer.com *Banking, Economy, Markets, Technology*

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OspreyFlyer.com

Visit OspreyFlyer.com

● Banking, Economy, Markets, Technology ●

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Building the Google Search Engine of the Future

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Google Search

Explore Lists and Collections with Google Search

Larry Page once described the perfect search engine as understanding exactly what you mean and giving you back exactly what you want. It’s very much like the computer I dreamt about as a child growing up in India, glued to our black-and-white TV for every episode of Star Trek. I imagined a future where a starship computer would be able to answer any question I might ask, instantly. Today, we’re closer to that dream than I ever thought possible during my working life—and here are some of the latest steps we’re taking today to make search even more intelligent:

1. Understanding the World

In May we launched the Knowledge Graph, our database of more than 500 million real-world people, places and things with 3.5 billion attributes and connections among them. The feedback has been phenomenally positive and we want to extend this feature to people outside the U.S. So starting today, you’ll see Knowledge Graph results across every English-speaking country in the world. If you’re in Australia and search for [chiefs], you’ll get the rugby team—its players, results and history.

We’ll also use this intelligence to help you find the right result more quickly when your search may have different meanings. For example, if you search for [rio], you might be interested in the Brazilian city, the recent animated movie or the casino in Vegas. Thanks to the Knowledge Graph, we can now give you these different suggestions of real-world entities in the search box as you type.

Finally, the best answer to your question is not always a single entity, but a list or group of connected things. It’s quite challenging to pull these lists automatically from the web. But we’re now beginning to do just that. So when you search for [california lighthouses], [hurricanes in 2008] or [famous female astronomers], we’ll show you a list of these things across the top of the page. And by combining our Knowledge Graph with the collective wisdom of the web, we can even provide more subjective lists like [best action movies of the 2000s] or [things to do in paris]. If you click on an item, you can then explore the result more deeply on the web.

2. Putting Your Info at Your Fingertips

Sometimes the best answer to your question isn’t available on the public web—it may be contained somewhere else, such as in your email. We think you shouldn’t have to be your own mini-search engine to find the most useful information—it should just work. A search is a search, and we want our results to be truly universal. So we’re developing a way to find this information for you that’s useful and unobtrusive, and we’d love your feedback. Starting today, we’re opening up a limited trial where you can sign up to get information from your Gmail right from the search box.

So if you’re planning a biking trip to Tahoe, you might see relevant emails from friends about the best bike trails, or great places to eat on the right hand side of the results page. If it looks relevant you can then expand the box to read the emails.

We’re working on some even more useful features. For example, if you search for [my flights] we will organize flight confirmation emails for any upcoming trips in a beautifully easy-to-read way right on the search results page.

3. Understanding Your Intent

Often the most natural way to ask a question is by asking aloud. So we’ve combined our speech recognition expertise, understanding of language and the Knowledge Graph so that Voice Search can better interpret your questions and sometimes speak the answers back as full sentences. This has been available on Android for a few weeks and people love it. It’ll soon be available on your iPhone or iPad (iOS version 4.2+).

You just need to tap the microphone icon and ask your question, the same way you’d ask a friend. For example, ask “What movies are playing this weekend?” and you’ll see your words streamed back to you quickly as you speak. Then Google will show you a list of the latest movies in theaters near you, with schedules and even trailers. It works for everything from celebrity factoids to the height of Kilamanjaro and more. When Google can supply a direct answer to your question, you’ll get a spoken response too.

These are baby steps, but important ones on our way to building the search engine of the future—one that is much more intelligent and useful than it was just a few years ago. It’s a very exciting time to be working in this field.



Official Google Blog: Building the search engine of the future, one baby step at a time

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Google Earnings Review: Fundamentals Change With Motorola Acquisition

Google reported QE June 2012 financial results on Thursday, July 19

Google fundamentals have changed with the acquisition and merger of Motorola. CEO Larry Page immediately started talking about "Google Standalone", because Motorola is affecting performance negatively. That's fine, but the consolidated financial results, including Motorola, are what will prevail long-term, good or bad, and are reflected in the charts below.

Both the revenue mix and margin mix have changed. That is and will continue affecting the bottom line and earnings per share. Short-term this is a negative impact. The long-term impact is the uncertainty. One thing is certain: this is no longer the Google that Granny used to talk about.

The performance dip from the prior quarter is not surprising, Google reported all-time highs for total revenues, net income, and earnings per share last quarter. The 3rd and 4th calendar quarters are generally the strongest for Google on an annual cyclical basis. Solid gains were reported year over year and that's what counts for Google in QE June 2012.

Revenue growth, year over year, had slowed the past 2 quarters, but the $1.25 billion added by Motorola reversed the trend. Consolidated margins decreased significantly, also caused by Motorola. Operating income dipped last quarter on record revenues, the result of the gross profit margin dropping to a 7-quarter low and operating margin dipping to near a multi-year low. That was without and excluding Motorola. Now that downside margin pressure is significantly increased with Motorola.

Metric, QoQ Change, YoY Change
Total Assets: $86.05 billion, +12%, +33%
Total Revenues: $12.21 billion, +15%, +35%
Net Income: $2.79 billion, -4%, +11%
Earnings per Share: $8.42, -4%, +10%















"Google standalone had a strong quarter with 21% year-on-year revenue growth, and we launched a bunch of exciting new products at I/O – in particular the Nexus 7 tablet, which has received rave reviews," said Larry Page, CEO of Google. "This quarter is also special because Motorola is now part of the Google family, and we’re excited about the potential to build great devices for users."

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Google Unveils Glass: Augmented Reality Glasses

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Google Glass

Google Unveils Google Glass Explorer Edition at I/O

Google's Sergey Brin reveals video-capturing, augmented reality glasses at Google I/O in San Francisco. The Google Glass Explorer Edition will be available via pre-order for conference attendees, cost $1,500, and ship in early 2013.



Project Glass: Skydiving Demo at Google I/O 2012

At Google I/O 2012, the Project Glass team took product demoing to a new level. Come with us and see how we spent the weeks leading up to the Google I/O demo ... living in the moment, doing Hangouts in Air, and freefalling with Glass.



Official Google Blog: Project Glass demo: Hangouts IN Air

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Google Launches Nexus 7: Powerful, Portable Tablet

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Google Nexus 7 Tablet

Nexus 7: Powerful, Portable and Designed for Google Play

All of this great Google Play content comes to life on Nexus 7, a powerful new tablet with a vibrant, 7” 1280x800 HD display. The Tegra-3 chipset, with a quad-core CPU and 12-core GPU, makes everything, including games, extremely fast. And best of all, it’s only 340 grams, lighter than most tablets out there.

Nexus 7 was built to bring you the best of Google in the palm of your hand. Hang out with up to 10 friends on Google+ using the front-facing camera, browse the web blazingly fast with Chrome and, of course, crank through your emails with Gmail.

Nexus 7 comes preloaded with some great entertainment, including the movie "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," the book “The Bourne Dominion,” magazines like Condé Nast Traveler and Popular Science, and songs from bands like Coldplay and the Rolling Stones.

We’ve also included a $25 credit to purchase your favorite movies, books and more from Google Play, for a limited time. Nexus 7 is available for preorder today from Google Play in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, and starts at $199 in the U.S. It will start shipping mid-July.

Google Play

Official Google Blog: Android @ I/O: The Playground Is Open

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Google Updates Hot Searches List

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Google Hot Searches

Google Is Reporting: Find Out What People Are Searching For With The Updated Hot Searches List

People turn to search when they’re looking for answers and information, and sometimes what they want to know is on other people’s minds as well. You can learn a lot about what’s happening around the country or catch wind of a breaking news story by looking at what others are searching for.

With Hot Searches in Google Trends, you can see a list of the fastest rising search terms in the U.S. for a snapshot of what’s on the public’s collective mind. To create the Hot Searches list which is updated on an hourly basis, an algorithm analyzes millions of searches in the U.S. and determines which queries are being searched much more than usual.

Now, Hot Searches has gotten a refresh that makes the list of searches more visual, groups related rising search terms together and lets you see more information about those searches.

With rich images and links to related news articles, you can glance at the list and instantly get an idea of why these topics are particularly hot at the moment and click to find out more about them. Unlike the previous version of Hot Searches, which always provided 20 daily results, the new page introduces a filtering system that helps us make sure that the list includes only the truly hottest news stories of the day. Also, when a few of the fastest rising search terms refer to the same news story, such as [tony awards 2012] and [audra mcdonald], they’re now aggregated into one entry, which lists all the “Related searches” that go along with the main story. Lastly, the new list also provides an indication of how many searches have been conducted for each topic in the 24 hour period when it was trending.

To find out what the hottest searches are today, whether it’s a celebrity engagement, a sports-related shakeup or news about your favorite TV series, check out the updated Hot Searches list in Google Trends. Posted by Nimrod Tamir, Google Trends Team

Find out what people are searching for with the updated Hot Searches list

Google Hot Searches

Google Trends

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Explore Historic Sites With Google World Wonders Project

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Google World Wonders Project

Google Is Reporting: Explore Historic Sites With the World Wonders Project

I’ve always been fascinated by famous historic and cultural sites from around the world. When I was a child, flipping through encyclopedias while researching for school projects, the thought of exploring these sites was a distant dream. With the new Google World Wonders Project, that dream is now a little closer for students and others around the globe.

The World Wonders Project enables you to discover 132 historic sites from 18 countries, including Stonehenge, the archaeological areas of Pompeii and the ancient Kyoto temples. In addition to man-made sites, you can explore natural places: wander the sandy dunes of Australia’s Shark Bay or gaze up at the rock domes of Yosemite National Park in California.

World Wonders Project by Google From the archaeological areas of Pompeii to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Google's World Wonders Project aims to bring to life the wonders of the modern and ancient world. Together with partners including UNESCO, the World Monument Fund and Cyark, the World Wonders Project is preserving the world heritage sites for future generations.

World Wonders uses Street View technology to take you on a virtual trip to each iconic site. Most could not be filmed by car, so we used camera-carrying trikes to pedal our way close enough. The site also includes 3D models and YouTube videos of the historical places, so you can dig in and get more information and a broader view of each site. We also partnered with several prestigious organizations, including UNESCO, the World Monuments Fund, Getty Images and Ourplace, who provided official information and photographs for many of the sites.

We hope World Wonders will prove to be a valuable educational resource for students and scholars. A selection of educational packages are available to download for classroom use; you can also share the site content with friends.

World Wonders is part of our commitment to preserving culture online and making it accessible to everyone. Under the auspices of the Google Cultural Institute, we’re publishing high resolution images of the Dead Sea Scrolls, digitizing the archives of famous figures such as Nelson Mandela and presenting thousands of artworks through the Art Project.

Find out more about the project on the World Wonders YouTube channel, and start exploring at www.google.com/worldwonders. Posted by Melanie Blaschke, Product Marketing Manager, World Wonders Project

Explore Historic Sites With the World Wonders Project

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Google and Samsung Announce New Chromebook, First Chromebox

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Google and Samsung Chromebox and Chromebook

Google Is Reporting: Next Step in the Chrome OS Journey

A year ago we introduced a new model of computing with the launch of Chromebooks. We’ve heard from many of you who’ve enjoyed the speed, simplicity and security of your Chromebooks at home, at school or at work. (Thanks for all the wonderful feedback and stories!) Today, we wanted to share some developments with you—new hardware, a major software update and many more robust apps—as we continue on our journey to make computers much better.

Next-generation devices Our partner Samsung has just announced a new Chromebook and the industry’s first Chromebox. Like its predecessor, the newest Chromebook is a fast and portable laptop for everyday users. The Chromebox is a compact, powerful and versatile desktop perfect for the home or office.

Chromebook: The (Always) New Computer The Chromebook is a new, faster computer that starts in seconds, offers thousands of apps, and keeps getting better and better with free, automatic updates.

Speed Speed is integral to the Chrome experience. The new Chromebook and Chromebox, based on Intel Core processors, are nearly three times as fast as the first-generation Chromebooks. And support for hardware-accelerated graphics, a built-from-scratch multi-touch trackpad and an open-source firmware stack provide a much faster and more responsive computing experience. The new Chromebook boots in less than seven seconds and resumes instantly. With the Chromebox, you can be on a video conference while continuing to play your favorite role-playing game on the side.

An App-Centric User Interface With the new user interface you can easily find and launch apps, and use them alongside your browser or other apps. You can pin commonly-used apps for quick access, display multiple windows side-by-side or experience your favorite apps in full-screen mode without any distractions.

Be Much More Productive...Or Not Get more stuff done, online or offline: With the built-in ability to view Microsoft Office files and dozens of the most common file formats, you can access all your content without the hassle of installing additional software. Google Drive makes it easy to create, store and share with just one click. Drive will be seamlessly integrated with the File Manager and support offline access with the next release of Chrome OS in six weeks. With Google Docs offline support (rolling out over the next few weeks), you can keep working on your documents even when offline and seamlessly sync back up when you re-connect. In addition, there are hundreds of offline-capable web apps in the Chrome Web Store. Have more fun: The revamped media player and a built-in photo editor and uploader enable you to easily play and manage your personal media collections. Through the Chrome Web Store, you can access entertainment apps such as Google Play, Netflix, Kindle Cloud Reader and Pandora, and thousands of games including popular games like Angry Birds and console titles such as Bastion. Carry your other computers...inside your Chromebook: With Chrome Remote Desktop Beta, you can now securely connect to your PC or Mac from your Chromebook or Chromebox. With the underlying VP8 technology, it’s almost like you’re in front of your other computers in real time.

The (Always) New Computer We’ve released eight stable updates over the past year, adding a number of major features and hundreds of improvements to all Chromebooks through our seamless auto-update mechanism. There’s a lot more on the way, so all you need to do is sit back and enjoy the benefits of the (always) new computer. For those who want to try the Chromebook and Chromebox first-hand, we’re expanding the Chrome Zone experience centers. In the U.S., Chromebooks will be available to try out in select Best Buy stores in the coming weeks. In the U.K., they’re now available in a growing list of PC World and Currys stores. Starting today, you can get the new Chromebook and Chromebox from our online retail partners in the U.S. and U.K., and in other select countries over the coming weeks.

Next Step in the Chrome OS Journey

GOOG!