Google

When Apple Music first launched in 2015, playing it on anything other than an Apple device was impossible. Thankfully though, over the years Apple has made its streaming service available to access through third-party devices and speakers, including Amazon Echo and Google-owned speakers. This article focuses on Google devices. If you have a Google Home mini or a newer Nest-branded smart...

Google includes a Live Captions transcription feature in version 89 of its Chrome browser for desktop. Live Captions uses machine learning to create a real-time transcription for videos or audio played through the browser, which can make online media more accessible for members of the Deaf community and other people with hearing loss. Once enabled, Live Captions appear in a box in the bottom ...

If you buy a new iPhone to replace your existing one and you use the Google Authenticator app to access online accounts protected by two-factor authentication (2FA), you should transfer those accounts to your new phone as soon as possible, because without the 2FA codes close at hand, you could find yourself locked out of your online accounts. 2FA adds an extra layer of security to your...

Google Lens can now recognize over a billion items in the world around us, the search engine giant announced this week. That's four times as many things that the AI-powered feature could identify when it was first launched last year, thanks partly to a huge number of Google Shopping products which have been added to its knowledge base. While its optical character recognition engine has...

In Chrome 66, rolling out now for Mac and iOS, Google has added a password export option to the web browser so that you can easily migrate your login details to another browser via a third-party password manager app. In this article, we'll show you how to export your passwords from Chrome on Mac and iOS. At the end of the process, you'll be left with a CSV file containing all your login...

Earlier this week, Google released a new app called Motion Stills, designed to turn Live Photos captured with the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE into GIFs or videos. Over the past couple of days, we spent some hands-on time with Motion Stills, and have been really impressed with the way it transforms Live Photos into a more useful, shareable medium. Motion Stills isn't just an app...

Just hours after Apple announced plans to implement App Store revenue sharing changes that will see developers getting an 85/15 revenue split for subscriptions maintained for longer than a year, Re/code says Google is planning on implementing a similar change for Android. According to unnamed sources, Google is going to implement the same 85/15 split, but unlike Apple, Google will make the new ...

Google today announced the launch of a new app called Motion Stills, which is designed to create unique GIFs from Live Photo images captured with the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE. According to Google, the app was built by the Google Research Team and uses the company's video stabilization technology to freeze the background into a still photo or create cinematic panoramas. Multiple ...

Tony Fadell, widely known as the "father" of the iPod and the creator of the Nest Learning Thermostat, today announced he is leaving Nest and Nest parent company Alphabet. Fadell, Nest's founder, has been with Google since it acquired Nest for $3.2 billion in 2014 and has worked on projects like Google Glass in addition to continuing to run Nest Labs. In a blog post, Fadell says he has...

Google has updated its My Account service to include a feature that helps iPad and iPhone owners locate their lost or stolen iOS device (via TechCrunch). Previously only available to Android owners, the new feature now appears when users sign into their Google "My Account" page under the section "Find your phone", where options exist to locate a device, lock it remotely, call it, secure an...

Google hosted its annual I/O developers keynote at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California today, announcing multiple new products and services related to Android, search, messaging, home automation, and more. Google Assistant Google Assistant is described as a "conversational assistant" that builds upon Google Now based on two-way dialog. The tool can be used, for example,...

Google this morning announced a new app called "Spaces" for iOS, Android and desktop, that combines Google Search, YouTube, and Chrome together into one app to easily share and discuss content amongst friends. Similar to Gboard launched last week, Google is hoping to lessen the amount of time needed to jump between apps by streamlining multiple features into one application. To start off,...

With Apple shares dipping below $90 this morning, Google's parent company Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world's most valuable company hitting a market cap of $498 billion compared to Apple's market cap of $494 billion. Apple and Google shares continue to fluctuate and the two companies are neck-and-neck for the top valuation, but Google remains in the lead. Apple's stock has seen...

Google today announced "Gboard," a new third-party keyboard application for iOS devices that directly integrates the company's search capabilities into an iPhone or iPad's keyboard. With the new Google button in Gboard, users can search for information, send what they find, discover GIFs, emojis, and more, without having to exit a messenger app to visit Safari or Chrome. In its blog post,...

Google's Google Translate app was today updated to version 5.0.0, adding a new feature that allows users to translate words and phrases even when offline in 52 of the 103 languages available in the app. With the offline update, the app remains useful when no cellular or Wi-Fi connection is available, making it ideal for traveling. Today's update also adds instant camera translation between...

Google has updated its Hangouts app for iPhone and iPad with a native iOS Share Sheet extension and support for Low Power mode. Google Hangouts for iOS enables users to send and receive instant messages and group messages, share photos, and make video and voice calls using the company's cross-platform communication service. Users can also connect up to Google Voice via the service to link...

Google's Chrome browser has long supported push notifications, but it's always used its own notification center instead of relying on the OS X Notification Center that was built into Apple's operating system in 2012. That may change in the near future, as Google is experimenting with the built-in OS X Notification Center. Available to all Chrome users as an experimental feature, OS X...

Google today announced the launch of a Cardboard SDK for iOS developers, allowing them to more easily create native iPhone apps and experiences that will work with the Google Cardboard virtual reality viewer. The Cardboard SDK for iOS includes all of the features that are already available in the Android Cardboard SDK. For those unfamiliar with Google Cardboard, it is a low-cost viewer...

Google is working on a third-party keyboard designed for iOS devices that would incorporate search functionality, reports The Verge. Citing people familiar with Google's plans, The Verge says the keyboard, which has been in development for several months, "incorporates a variety of search options" to attract more Google search users on iOS devices. The keyboard is said to feature gesture-based ...

Apple has signed a deal with Google that will see the Google Cloud Platform providing some of the cloud infrastructure for iCloud and other cloud-based Apple services, reports CRN (via Business Insider). Apple reportedly established a $400 to $600 million deal with Google last last year and has, as a result, "significantly" cut down on its reliance on Amazon Web Services (AWS). According to...

Google today announced a pilot program for its "Hands Free" payment service, allowing customers in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area to pay for goods and services over Bluetooth using a photograph for confirmation. Hands Free, as the name implies, is aimed at allowing people to make purchases without the need to pull out a phone or a wallet. It requires customers to create a...

Google today announced an incoming update to its Google Maps for iOS app that will let users add pit stops onto their trips without leaving navigation mode. First introduced on Android last fall, the company said that the pit stop feature will be available in any country where Google Maps navigation is offered, which is "more than 100 worldwide." From navigation mode, users will just need to...

This morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook published an open letter declaring the company's intention to oppose an order from a U.S. federal judge that would require Apple to give the FBI the tools to bypass the passcode on an iPhone owned by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Since then, dozens of government officials, members of the media, and tech company leaders have weighed in on the issue,...

As rumors circulate about Apple's secret work on virtual reality headset prototypes, Google is developing a standalone virtual reality headset, reports The Wall Street Journal. Google's virtual reality headset is not reliant on a smartphone, computer, or game console, unlike existing virtual reality products like the Oculus Rift, which requires a powerful computer, or its own Google Cardboard...

Google's parent company, Alphabet, is encroaching on Apple's status as the most valuable company in the world, reports CNN. While Apple is currently on top, a surge in Alphabet shares today gave it a market valuation of $533.4 billion, briefly surpassing Apple's valuation of $532.7 billion on a 1 percent stock drop. Alphabet shares dropped shortly after, leaving Apple at a higher valuation,...