Tag Archives: google technology

Google Glass Now Welcoming Developers

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googleglasspicGoogle recently revealed its new Glass Development Kit at a Glass hackathon event. The event was designated to welcome developers to start creating new apps for its Google Glass technology. The development kit will provide developers with access to elements of Glass that were previously unavailable. Developers will now be able to create Glass apps that will be able to work offline, in total real time, and still make use of the Google Glass GPS and hardware.

Google’s senior developer advocate addressed the group present at the event, sharing that even though Google hasn’t made it easier to install apps on Glass, statistics have shown that around 83 percent of all Glass owners have at least one app installed. Having access to the be able to use on a daily basis for work or personal endeavors. Previously, developers were only allowed to develop Glass apps with the Mirror API, which didn’t have as many programming options available.

There were also several companies present at the Glass hackathon event. The goal was to provide a demo for some of the apps that they had built with early access to the new development kit. One Glass app known as Word Lens allows for users to translate printed words as they view them, replacing them with words from the targeted language. Although the app wasn’t perfect and may not work with all fonts, it demonstrated the amount of potential and array of options that are available to those who are utilizing Glass and also making use of the new development kit in the future. Glass owners will be able to install new apps created from the development kit as early as today.

Google Glass Apps Reveal Analytics, Faxes Instantly

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googleglassA Wichita mobile and web developer has found a new functionality for Google Glass; the ability to fax. Although Chad Smith develops apps on a regular basis, he claims that he found some particular humor in developing an app for Google Glass that would allow individuals to fax more easily from the device. He uses it regularly at work. Smith initially believed Glass to be quite limited and viewed it as a high-end camera, driving him to develop apps that would make the device more useful and provide it with more functionality.

In regards to faxing, Smith uses a virtual fax number that allows him to receive a document from his doctor’s office. He can then read each page of the fax by using Google Glass or he can choose to take a picture of the documents with the device and then send them to another fax number, making the faxing experience far more convenient and efficient than it would be normally. However, Smith has also developed many other apps that allow him to improve the efficiency and experience that he has while using Google Glass.

One app allows him to check some of the most important statistics associated with Google Analytics, such as the amount of page views or visitors per day. This can be crucial since he needs to review data for clients sites on a regular basis while he is in meetings. An app for Google AdSense allows for Smith to check the amount of income that has been earned from ads being featured on clients websites. Additionally, an app developed for Whois Lookup ensures that he is able to check whether domain names are available and whether or not they can be purchased immediately; a function that is very important to many clients that he meets with for work. For many, it’s just another example that the sky is truly the limit when dealing with the functionalities of Google Glass.

Google Reveals Latest Nexus 5 Phone

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googlenexusGoogle recently revealed the new Nexus 5 smartphone this Thursday. The release marks Google’s determination to make the competition more challenging for Apple’s iPhone, especially in some of the latest emerging markets.

The new Nexus 5 device features a 5-inch display and Google Now, which is the company’s own personal assistant technology. It has also has a strong integration of Google search and many of the company’s other tools that have come to the market. Nexus 5 was developed with LG and features a new camera that minimizes the hand movements known to cause blurring in images. The software used for the camera also assists users with taking better photos in difficult situations, such as fast-moving subjects or low light.

The device is available in white or black. It costs $349 for a 16GB unlocked version and $399 for 32 GB. That’s cheaper than most of Apple’s recent iPhones. In example, the iPhone 5c, which HGH is considered to be the cheaper out of the two newest iPhones, costs $549 for a 16GB version that comes without a wireless contract. As a result, Google is marketing the Nexus 5 as cutting edge technology that’s available at an actually affordable price. This price difference is very important in developing markets that are continuing to grow at a faster rate.

One of Google’s major goals for the upcoming year is to get the Android mobile operating system into the hands of another billion users. Earlier this year, Google announced that it had achieved its one billionth Android activation. The company already leads based on the amount of units that have been shipped. However, a spokesman for the company has said that Google wants to get to a point where the number of people using Android and Google products is so large, developers would have no choice except to develop for Android first.

River Thames to Join Google Street View

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For the first time ever, 360 degree views will be able to appear on Google Street View. It will join other well-known and hard to capture sites around the world, such as the Grand Canyon and the South Pole. The River Thames is the first river in Europe and the UK to be mapped with Google’s Street View technology. It provides a 360-degree panoramic view to people around the world via the use of the popular tool, Google Maps. The announcement has already gained the attention of many Google Map users on a worldwide scale.

This announcement arrives after the Port of London Authority approached Google to map the river to offer a new perspective to Internet users throughout the globe. Being able to achieve this unique 360 degree view provides internet users with a more realistic image of what the River Thames is actually like from a 1st person perspective. In comparison to some of the traditional photos that have been provided of the River Thames in the past, Google Street View will show users exactly what this famed area looks like, making it ideal for those who are curious or even as an educational tool.

To achieve the 360 degree view, Google UK sent its Trekker camera down the river. The Trekker camera is a 40 pound backpack which features a 15-angle lens camera that is able to take 360-degree photographs every 2.5 seconds down the river. The camera was attached to the PLA’s hydrographic surveying vessel, Yantlet. It traveled almost 30 miles up the river and back from Woolwich to Richmond in order to ensure that it was able to capture every angle possible of the beautiful River Thames. Google first used the technology of the Trekker camera to capture the images of the Grand Canyon and then started capturing the canal network throughout the UK.

Google Releases New Crisis Map

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googlecrisismapEarlier this week, Google publicly launched a Google Crisis Map application that will provide information about bushfires throughout five Australian territories and states. The goal for the project is to provide easy to access, reliable information about the location of fires, their severity, their size, and listings of various warnings in the area. The application would also provide alert messages to users. Bushfire management is said to be one of Australia’s most important environmental challenges and affects the lives of thousands of people on a regular basis.

Google’s Crisis Map will provide other data to users as well. They will be able to have access to information about how they can stay safe in areas where a fire is a prominent threat, as well as information reflecting whether or not fires in the area are under control. The application will additionally provide any details about regional emergency response agencies that are responding to fires in the area as well. This can help to prevent a possible overload of individuals calling to report the same fire repeatedly since they will now be able to have access to determining whether or not a fire is being acknowledged and help is on the way.

The Crisis Map can be accessed from any device that is connected to the internet, allowing for people to check for updates from their tablet, smartphone, or any other device capable of accessing the internet. Google already has announced that they have plans to extend and improve the application over time, so it will include information about road closures, traffic conditions, and many other related circumstances. As time continues, it will be able to identify tropical storms, floods, cyclones, landslides, and many other natural threats on a global scale, providing people with a platform to protect themselves and their loved ones in even the most unexpected circumstances.

Google Self-Driving Car Proven Safer Than Human Driver

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New data now shows that Google’s self-driving cars such as their Lexus and Prius models are safer and more reliable drivers than humans themselves. According to the leader of Google’s car project, the data reveals that the Google cars are smoother and safer when steering themselves in comparison to a human driver. Results from two studies of data based on thousands of miles that were logged from the Google vehicles were presented at a recent robotics conference in Santa Clara, California. The vehicles themselves have been logging miles throughout public roads in Nevada and California.

One of the studies showed that when a human was driving, the Google cars braked and accelerated more sharply than they did when they were steering themselves. Another portion of data revealed that the cars’ software was better at maintaining a safe distance from vehicles ahead than human drivers were. These factors combine to produce less time that is spent in near-collision states when driving on the road. Furthermore, it was also revealed that Google had hired professional drivers to base their comparisons on, further illustrating the fact that their cars were able to drive more smoothly and reliably than a trained driver.

During the conference, project leader Chris Urmson led the attendees through a brief presentation of a new dashboard display that Google has developed to help individuals understand the role of the autonomous car, as well as situations where they might want to handle the various responsibilities of driving. He explained that Google has been focusing on different ways that they can make the human element of driving work well with the rest of the experience of owning an autonomous car.

Although the development might suggest to people that Google is getting ready to introduce the car to motorists, Urmson seemed to avoid the question and indicate otherwise, claiming that he couldn’t reveal any more information at the moment and that Google is still considering different ways to provide the relevance of the autonomous car to the market.

Google Announces New Proxy Tool Uproxy

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google-uproxyGoogle has announced a new tool that is being anticipated as a means to bypass internet censorship and government monitoring across the globe. Developed by one of Google’s facilities in New York City, uProxy is a peer-to-peer service that will allow individuals to establish an encrypted internet connection with other individuals they trust online.

Working together with Brave New Software and University of Washington, Google provided funding to the project in hope that the new technology would be able to outsmart invasive governments around the world who have been responsible for tightening the grip on internet censorship for the past few years.

uProxy works similarly to another popular peer-to-peer internet connection client, Tor. It relies on the use of a basic browser extension that is able to find a user’s friends on Facebook. The service differs from Tor in the sense that it does not provide an anonymizing network.

However, it provides an individual internet connection that is indistinguishable from other encrypted conversations and experiences online. In terms of traffic, if someone is using uProxy, there are no specific marks that will define that any traffic coming from the user is specifically being sent by uProxy.

Google Ideas is planning on introducing uProxy in an upcoming New York City conference titled “Conflict in a Connected World.” That same event will also be the debut of Project Shield, which is an effort to help human rights groups, media organizations, and individuals around the world fight off the distributed DDoS attacks which frequently happen during times of concern or terrorism.

Internet privacy advocates and activities that are currently living under repressive government regimes may find that uProxy may become the next Google tool to help them get in contact with friends, loved ones, and individuals around the world in an effort to encourage free speech.