2013

LG's Google TVs to get Jelly Bean update in Q3

Google TV, the ambitious living room operating system often maligned as slow to update, difficult to use, and less focused than alternatives like Roku or standard Smart TV suites, will finally get a major operating system upgrade later this year.

LG announced today at Google I/O that its Google TVs will get the update to Android version 4.2.2, aka Jelly Bean, in the third quarter. LG is the only manufacturer still selling actual televisions with Google TV built-in, although a few set-top boxes are available, too. LG's models, including the 2013 GA7900 and GA6400 and the … Read more

Google's Page wants a tech Burning Man

Google CEO Larry Page wants a tech version of the Burning Man temporary community and art event.

Page, speaking Wednesday at the Google I/O developers conference, said that societal laws and regulations aren't changing enough to keep up with advancements in technology, and there aren't mechanisms that allow for experimentation. Because of that, he would like a small part of the world outside of normal society where people can experiment and try new things.

"There are many, many exciting and important things we can do but we can't do because they're illegal or not … Read more

Google CEO Page: Glass production numbers TBD

When it comes to Google Glass, it's a brave new future loaded with possibilities for Larry Page. But Google's chief executive told attendees at the company's big developer confab Wednesday that it was still too early to gauge consumers' reaction once the products go on sale.

"I don't know what the production numbers will be," Page said during a Q&A session following nearly three hours of presentations at the company's the annual developer conference in San Francisco. He described Glass as "a new category" with no parallel to existing … Read more

Google's Page: We should be building great things that don't exist

The technology industry should be moving faster to address opportunities instead of constantly battling each other, Google's chief executive said Wednesday.

Instead of "building great things that don't exist," some companies focus too much on negativity and one-upping each other, Larry Page said at the Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco.

"Every story I read about Google is us versus some other company or some stupid thing," Page said. "Being negative is not how we make progress. The most important things are not zero sum. There is a lot of opportunity … Read more

Google revamps Maps with 3D, cards, social search

Google says it has rebuilt Google Maps for the Web with a new version that's more immersive and social.

The new version takes a page from Google's mobile efforts by putting the search box inside the map and making use of cards -- Google's take on interactive information widgets.

"It's simple and powerful. The map is the user interface," Google's Bernhard Seefeld told attendees at the company's annual developers conference, where the new Web service was unveiled.

When users click on locations, information about those areas appears on cards. Information can include … Read more

Google previews next version of Maps for Android, iOS

Google Maps for mobile is getting some new tricks.

Coming to an updated version of the service for Android and iOS is deeper integration with reviews company Zagat (which Google acquired), built-in offers from participating businesses, an "explore" feature, and dynamic re-routing during navigation if there are accidents in the way.

Google also said it's built a standalone Maps app for tablets, which it plans to launch this summer.

The changes were unveiled during the company's keynote at I/O, Google's annual developers conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Alongside the preview, Google introduced a … Read more

Google+ Hangouts gets private chats, history, and an app

Google's Hangouts group chat feature is now a little more useful, with one-on-one conversations, a way to look back at chat history, and a standalone app for people who want to use Hangouts as a general communications tool.

New in the chat service, which is a headlining feature of Google's Google+ social network, is a way to do one-on-one chats with people during a group chat. Google is calling the new feature facetoface, and hopes it will get more people to use Google+ instead of jumping to another communication service.

Google has also added a way to go … Read more

Mercedes-Benz integrates Google Maps features

Mercedes-Benz announced it would demonstrate Google local search, Street View, and traffic integrated into the dashboard of one of its vehicles during Google I/O. These features will be introduced soon as part of Mercedes-Benz's DriveStyle app.

Local search will let drivers enter any term to begin a search, resulting in a list of nearby place names. Each entry can be selected as a destination for navigation. The Street View feature will let the driver see a 360-degree view of any destination, as long as Google has covered it.

Traffic data is similar to what can be found on … Read more

Google+ gives photo lovers what Facebook doesn't

SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook has been the photo king since 2008, but Google just put the social network on notice.

Changes to the Google+ social network -- announced Wednesday at the Google I/O conference at the Moscone Center West here, and launching Wednesday as well -- include a new interface, some new Hangouts features, and most impressively, a series of automatic filters and hashtags for your photos. "Automatic filters," though, doesn't really do justice to how comprehensive they can be.

"Quite a lot [of the new automation] depends on the Knowledge Graph," said Dave … Read more