Google has a history of taking parts of its own build of Android available for everyone, and when the Google Now Launcher made an appearance on the latest Nexus 5 smartphone everyone began hoping that it would make the leap to the Play Store sooner rather than later. Today, that's exactly what has happened. Unfortunately though, it's not quite available for everyone.
The Advanced Technologies and Projects (ATAP) team over at Google has today unveiled Project Tango, an innovative new piece of smartphone technology that offers genuine 3D motion tracking to mobile devices. The ambitious development, which project lead Johnny Chung Lee describes as being part of a goal "to give mobile devices a human scale understanding of space and motion," looks very exciting indeed, and with seemingly no boundaries as to where this technology could go and how it may eventually be used, a prototype kit has already been prepped for intrigued developers. Further details, including a demonstration video, can be seen after the fold.
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 still very much in its infancy, but that hasn't stopped plenty of people from getting excited about the first wearable technology that lives on your face. Google Glass Explorers were the first to get the opportunity to buy Glass, and with that program constantly opening up to more and more people, there has inevitably been one or two flash-points in which those donning Google's eyewear have found themselves singled out. Google's set about making sure Glass wearers don't make themselves easy targets for such things, and it's posted a handy list of Do's and Don'ts for people to follow.
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.
Flappy Bird was recently pulled from the App Store and Google Play Store at the height of its popularity by developer Dong Nguyen, and although his reasons for removing the app appear to have been well-intended, folks have sought to cash in on the title's fame in a variety of ways.
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.
Although company executives and CEOs spend most of their public speaking time discussing affairs concerning their own business and products, it's always interesting to hear what the big names have to say about rivals. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked whether the ongoing Mac vs. Windows PC battle was in any way similar to the the rivalry between iOS and Android. This analogy is frequently used by commentators and tech fans alike, after all, but Cook completely disagrees that the two famous rivalries are comparable, and here's why.
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.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak may no longer work at Apple, but he has acquired something of a reputation for scrutinizing products released by the company he helped to build - and not always in a good way. But while the Cupertino outfit can usually take on board the musings of the Woz with an element of seriousness, his latest suggestion will perhaps go down as the most bizarre idea Apple has ever heard. For Wozniak believes that Apple could benefit from creating a smartphone running on - wait for it - Google's very own Android OS, and while Woz's position as a co-founder means that whatever he says re Apple is going to make the headlines, it's quite staggering that he would make such a suggestion.
