Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp for $19 billion has taught us a lot of things, and while the focus has been mainly upon the breathtaking sums of money involved in this particular transaction, WhatsApp's swift 5-year rise, and the dogged, determined nature of one Brian Acton, the acquisition has made apparent the fact that Facebook is up there with the big boys when it comes to spending. Indeed, hitherto, it has been Google stumping up the cash to acquire large firms such as Motorola, and intriguingly, Fortune is reporting that the search giant once placed $10 billion on the table in an offer to buy WhatsApp out.
Google's I/O conference is one that many technology fans like to keep an eye out for. Similar to Apple's WWDC, Google I/O is where the search giant and Android maker shows off what it has been working on and sets forth its plans for where it expects its products to go during the proceeding twelve months. It also offers a chance for developers to get together and trade war stories while getting the skinny from Google's in-house engineering teams.
Google Glass is likely to find itself living in some pretty niche situations rather than being something we all wear while walking down the street, and one of the places we'd expect to see Glass take the driving seat is in the medical world. Surgeons in operating theaters are particularly keen on leveraging the power and features of Google's wearable technology so that they can improve the level of care they give to their patients.
Samsung is one of the most prolific carriers of Google's Android. Save a couple of half-hearted Windows Phone efforts over the past couple of years, the Korean company has consistently churned out swathes of smartphones running the ubiquitous software, and considering how many hundreds of millions of handsets out there are on Android, the $50 million Google paid to acquire Android nearly a decade ago looks a shrewd bit of business. But it has now emerged that in actual fact, Andy Rubin, one of the founding members of the Android team, actually pitched the product to the Galaxy maker out in Seoul, a proposition that Samsung unequivocally - and perhaps, regrettably - baulked at.
Virgin Atlantic check-in clerks at London's Heathrow Airport have been given the opportunity to utilize the powers of Google Glass at work on a six-week trial basis. It is hoped that the wearable tech may help make the process of checking in more streamlined for both customers and agents alike, with various information regarding flights, delays, weather and gate changes available to attendants at-a-glance.
The Google Admin app, which offers easy management of Google Apps domains in one place, has been available on Android for over nine months, with no real sign of a version for iOS. Today, however, the search giant has come through with the corresponding edition for iPhone, iPad and touch users, packing most of the same features right off the bat. Details, as well as the direct download link for the app, can be found after the break.
Certain high-profile devices, particularly in the Android community, tend to have their own range of unique, exclusive features. When the Nexus 5 finally arrived late last year, users found that it contained a special custom launcher, known at the time as the Google Experience Launcher. It has since been re-branded as the Google Now Launcher, and although the Big G has reserved this implementation for its flagship smartphone, there is a way you can have this feature up and running on your non-Nexus 5 Android device.
Only two days ago, Google officially released one of their most not-so-secret products in recent months, a red Nexus 5. Unlike most releases from Google, this one didn't come as much of a surprise. The red Nexus 5 had been leaked so much that it almost felt like Google were purely putting us out of our misery by officially announcing it. But announce it they did, and order it I did. I've personally held off from purchasing the Nexus 5 up until this point because it just wasn't popping enough for me. The introduction of this color certainly fixes that.
Google Glass has been a hot topic in the blogosphere for the best part of a year now, and although not deemed ready for consumers just yet, it's worth remembering that the product is being developed with more than just the end-user market in mind. In fact, as per a report over at VentureBeat, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) is currently assessing ways in which the face computer could be used in the ongoing effort to combat crime, and if this is indeed the case, one can envisage law enforcement agencies across the world following suit as Glass becomes more popular.
The Google Nexus 5 launched towards the close of last year, and many lauded the fact that Google - with a little assistance from LG - had managed to pack so much solid hardware into a relatively cheap handset. Available in black and (sort of) white, we've been hearing for a while that the release of a red version was imminent, and today, the alternative color configuration has gone live over at the Play Store. It's just as vibrant as the leaks had indicated, and will certainly stand out among the crowd.
