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Google Archive

Google edition adopts ‘Palestine’

"Internet giant Google has changed the tagline on the homepage of its Palestinian edition from 'Palestinian Territories' to 'Palestine'. The change, introduced on 1 May, means google.ps now displays 'Palestine' in Arabic and English under Google's logo. Using the word Palestine is controversial for some. Israeli policy is that the borders of a Palestinian state are yet to be agreed." Good but daring move.

Google Now comes to iOS

"With an update to the Google Search application, Google Now is available on iOS. Compatible with both the iPhone and iPad, the update brings almost all of Google's information cards across from Android. The look and feel of the app is virtually identical on both platforms, a testament to Google's newfound ability to make well-designed apps on iOS. The main differences between Android and iOS are few, mainly in that iOS can display fewer different kinds of cards." Google's iOS applications look better than anything Apple itself has pushed out over the years.

Review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

Scoble on Glass. "This week I gave five speeches while wearing it. I passed through airports four times (two more in a couple of hours). I let hundreds of people try my Google Glass. I have barely taken it off since getting it other than to sleep." The basic takeaway? "I've been telling people that this reminds me of the Apple II, which I unboxed with my dad back in 1977. It was expensive. It didn't do much. But I knew my life had changed in a big way and would just get better and better. Already this week I've gotten a new RSS app, the New York Times App, and a Twitter app. With many more on the way. This is the most interesting new product since the iPhone and I don't say that lightly."

Google is testing Android 4.3

"As everyone is trying to guess whether the next big Android update is going to be Key Lime Pie or not, and whether the release will be Android 5.X or 4.X, we have yet to hear anything concrete. After getting a tip from an eagle-eyed reader (thanks, deepayan!) and digging deeper, I can definitively tell you that Google is currently working on Android 4.3, and it is still Jelly Bean." Great detective work by Artem Russakovskii.

Google Glass already jailbroken

Some cool new stuff about Google Glass. Jay Lee has confirmed it runs Android 4.0.4, and that it runs on an OMAP 4430 processor, with an unknown core configuration and speed. It's got 628MB RAM, but Lee thinks it's actually 1GB of which the remainder is reserved for something else. Also, and this is good news, Suarik has already jailbroken his Google Glass. He details what he had to do - and the limitations of his work so far - in a comment.

Does anyone know why Google bought Motorola?

"Why did Google spend $12.5 billion to purchase Motorola Mobility? It's been nearly two years since the deal was announced and close to a full year since it closed, and the questions keep piling up while the answers keep getting worse. The biggest problem is that Motorola's patent portfolio doesn't appear to be worth anything close to what either company assumed: the judge in the Microsoft v. Motorola patent case ruled yesterday that Redmond owes a paltry $1.7 million in annual royalties for using Motorola's standards-related Wi-Fi and video-encoding patents in every Xbox 360 and Windows 7 PC sold, rather than the $4 billion Motorola had originally demanded."

More ‘BadNews’ for Android

"The family of Android malware that slipped past security defenses and infiltrated Google Play is more widespread than previously thought. New evidence shows it was folded into three additional apps and has been operating for at least 10 months, according to security researchers." Google removed most of it, but not before it was installed anywhere between 2 to 9 million times - finally some figures from Google itself, and not scaremongering by antivirus companies. At 9 million, that's 1.2% of all Android devices sold.

Glass runs Android

I never really realised this, but it wasn't actually known what operating system powered Glass. "We suspected it from the outset, but up until now, we haven't actually heard it confirmed from the mouth of a Google honcho: Google Glass runs on Android. The tidbit was dropped on today's earnings call, with CEO Larry Page uttering: 'Obviously, Glass runs on Android, so has been pretty transportable across devices, and I think that will continue.' The response was given to a question regarding engagement increment, but Page stopped short of divulging details about version type."

Motorola plans stock Android phones, sized ‘just right’

"The first Google-influenced Motorola phones will start to appear in the second half of 2013, Wicks said, and if you like smaller form-factor devices or stock Android, you're going to be excited." This is exactly what the market needs, to be honest. Stock Android phones straight from Google that aren't Nexus devices. Nexus devices are nice, but are available in a limited set of countries only, and the Nexus 4 is continuously out of stock. Hopefully Motorola will do a better job on the availability front.

Android up to 1.5 million activations per day

Eric Schmidt has done a talk at Dive Into Mobile today, and knowing Schmidt, we're in for quotable stuff. First, Android activations are up to 1.5 million per day now - which is insane. That's one The Netherlands every eleven days. Or, what takes Windows Phone a holiday quarter, Android does in four days. Schmidt also touched upon Facebook Home; a journalist asked him a question about it, referencing a Microsoft statement about Google most likely wanting to block Home, and in reply, Schmidt called Home a "tremendous endorsement" of Android's Play Store strategy.

What is FairSearch and why does it hate Google so much?

"Beneath the sheen of do-gooder ideology, FairSearch can be most charitably described as a Google watchdog. It seeks to fan the flames of disapproval where they've started organically, originate them where they haven't, and generally disseminate negativity toward the Google brand. Think of it as a PR firm working to destroy rather than create goodwill." To make matters worse, FairSearch' work isn't even very good.

Google unveils tool to manage your data after you die

"Not many of us like thinking about death - especially our own. But making plans for what happens after you're gone is really important for the people you leave behind. So today, we're launching a new feature that makes it easy to tell Google what you want done with your digital assets when you die or can no longer use your account." Trailblazing. If you ever wonder why people tend to be favourable to Google - despite its many failing - it's stuff like this. While others are running cringe-inducing marketing campaigns or planning yet another patent lawsuit, Google gives users an immeasurably important feature like this. If you recently lost somebody, you will understand.

Google forks WebKit, unveils Blink

It's apparently browser engine day today. After Mozilla and Samsung announcing Servo, Google has just announced it's forking WebKit into Blink. Like WebKit, Blink will be open source, and it will also be used by other browser makers - most prominently, Opera has already announced it's not using WebKit, but Blink. Update: Courtesy of MacRumors, this graph illustrates how just how much Google contributed to WebKit. Much more than I thought. Also, Chrome developer Alex Russell: "To make a better platform faster, you must be able to iterate faster. Steps away from that are steps away from a better platform. Today's WebKit defeats that imperative in ways large and small. It's not anybody's fault, but it does need to change. And changing it will allow us to iterate faster, working through the annealing process that takes a good idea from drawing board to API to refined feature."

Google changes the way it counts Android version adoption

Google has changed the way it's counting devices running particular Android versions. "Beginning in April, 2013, these charts are now built using data collected from each device when the user visits the Google Play Store. Previously, the data was collected when the device simply checked-in to Google servers. We believe the new data more accurately reflects those users who are most engaged in the Android and Google Play ecosystem." The change does actually make sense - reflecting the kind of usage developers are interested in - but the fact that this also makes Jelly Bean jump from 16% to 25% surely played an important role here too. This means that Ice Cream Sandwich and later now account for about 54% of Android devices in use.

Sweden axes new word after Google intervenes

The Swedish Language Council wanted to list 'ungoogleable' as a new word. Google didn't like it. "The word was to be used to describe something 'that you can't find on the web with the use of a search engine', according to the Language Council. However, Google was less than thrilled that a word based on its name had been highlighted by Sweden's 'official language cultivation body'. Google wanted the council to specify that the word's definition only covered searches performed using Google, and not searches involving other search engines." Sadly, the Council decided to scrap the word altogether. Google, get your filthy paws off our languages. It seems like large corporations love to exert pressure on language - Apple tried something similar a few years ago with the abbreviation 'app', something which I exposed for the idiocy that it was. I will use whatever words I damn well please, and so should everyone else. The Swedish Language Council shouldn't even have acknowledged Google's ridiculous request with a response.