Google often go through a process of reviewing services they offer. History has shown us that the Mountain View based company is definitely not shy when it comes to making the big and sometimes controversial decisions about axing a particular offering if they see fit. After having first gone down the route of ending support for exchange based synchronization, the company have now announced that they will be sending their popular Google Reader RSS aggregation tool into oblivion.
Google has just announced that Andy Rubin, chief of the search company's Android mobile platform, is stepping down from his role, with Chrome and Apps Vice President Sundar Pichai taking his place. Rubin has been at the helm of Android since the company acquired it way back in 2005, and has helped it become one the most widely-used mobile OS in the world. Pichai will take the reigns at Android, but will also continue his role as VP of Chrome and Apps for the foreseeable future.
In a year which will almost certainly see the introduction of two next-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft, it's hard to believe that both may well be outshone by a pair of spectacles. Google Glass is, as we know, a great deal more than just a pair of spectacles though, and having demonstrated on numerous occasions just how far the technology has come along in the past year, the Big G has also confirmed that, although not immediately, the wearable tech will eventually be compatible with traditional prescription lenses.
Google Glass got a rare public outing at South By Southwest today, with the wearable computer getting some stage time in order to give the tech-loving audience a peak at where the product is heading.
Just when you think that Google couldn't get any more off the wall, they somehow manage to surprise you. With Google Glass in the pipeline, self-driving cars on the roads and a spring in their step, the boffins at Google just don't seem to stop trying to change the world, one gadget at a time. Or should that be, one step at a time?
The excitement and anticipation surrounding Google Glass seems to be growing by the day, and considering the seemingly endless array of possibilities the wearable tech could bring, it's hardly surprising. As we continue to laugh at the entertaining sketch of how a typical guy might utilize the new technologies at his disposal, the rather more serious folks at Duke University are developing an app for Glass which learns how your friends dress, helping you pick them out in a crowded place.
As well as establishing a vast inventory of impressive Web-based apps, Google has also developed a great number of mobile apps for smartphone and tablet users. While Android, being its own outlet, is naturally favored when it comes to priority and overall feature set of any given app, the search giant does eventually treat iOS users to some of its better apps. It should come as little surprise, then, that the Mountain View-based company has ported its Field Trip app through to those on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
When you're the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for one of the richest and most successful technology companies in the world, chances are that you've forged yourself a pretty successful career and people will listen to what you have to say. Technology lovers will be more than familiar with Phil Schiller - who fills the marketing SVP role nicely at Apple - due to his numerous appearances on stage during product keynotes, but he has now taken to his Twitter timeline to share the latest developments in mobile security.
It has now been a year since the old Android Market was rebranded as the much more all-encompassing Google Play Store, and to commemorate the occasion, the Big G is running a whole week of deals for its users.
If you had any doubt about the existence or the availability of Google Play Store gift cards, then the company themselves have dropped one of the biggest hints yet that their arrival is extremely imminent. We've been hearing about the gift cards for quite some time now, with various logs showing up in certain retail databases, but Google has updated one of their own support pages with extensive information about the cards and the balance of individual Play accounts.

