Sunday, November 24, 2013

Glass Just Got Way More Interesting

from techcrunch



It feels like over the last year, Google Glass went on a roller coaster ride that spanned the first half of the infamous hype cycle. It went from rumored prototype to completely overhyped object of one of tech’s most spectacular demos to the butt of jokes on late night TV. Until this week, however, we never quite saw what Glass was really capable of because Google had purposely kept many of its capabilities back from developers. The way developers created apps for Glass until now was more akin to writing a web app than writing an app for the Android operating system Glass runs on. With the “sneak peek” release of the Glass Development Kit (GDK) this week, however, Glass can finally live up to its full potential.
While it was always fun to get alerts for breaking news, Field Trip notifications about cool stuff around you and use Glass’s built-in navigation tool, the field is now wide open for way more interesting applications. None of these apps, however, run on the device itself. As Google notes, if your app needs real-time user interaction and access to hardware, the new GDK is the way to go, while the older Mirror API will remain available for all other kinds of apps (and developers can combine both, as well).
The GDK makes augmented reality apps on Glass a reality, for example. At the GDK launch,Word Lens for Glass also made its public debut, for example, which is probably the coolest Glass app available right now. Just like Word Lens on your phone, the Glass app can take any text you look at and translate it word by word. It’s not a Google Translate-like machine translation but simply a dictionary-like experience that doesn’t take context into account, but it’s still a really cool way of using Glass and shows the potential of the technology.

I’m not much of a golfer and barely ever venture beyond par 3 courses, but SkyDroid’s GolfSight rangefinder, which also launched this week, is probably something most avid golf fans would happily pay for, while runners and cyclist will want to try the new Strava apps for Glass.
Until now, Glass was a glorified and expensive smartwatch and was often compared to them. The apps you could run on them really weren’t any more interesting (and in some ways more limited) than what Pebble owners could experience for far less. There won’t be a Word Lens for Pebble, though, and there won’t be any augmented reality games either. But now, augmented reality user manuals don’t seem all that far off and I’m sure the developers at metaio and other augmented reality firms are looking at what they can now do with the Glass platforms.

It’s not just about augmented reality, though. Virtually any cool app on your smartphone that uses advanced graphics can now run on Glass (once it’s been optimized for the small screen, of course). If Flipboard wanted to do a Glass app, it could now use its signature animations. Rovio could make a 3D version of Angry Birds where you decide the slingshot’s angle by tilting your head. But given how new the Glass platform still is, there’s room for really basic utility apps, too. Google just released a timer, stopwatch and compass app for Glass, for example. Even those kind of apps weren’t possible before.
It’s worth noting that for the time being, Google isn’t letting any of the new apps into its “Glassware” directory and you still need a Glass unit to actually start coding these new apps. Once the GDK officially moved into “developer preview” status, we’ll likely see quite a few more apps in the directory. Over time – and once Glass goes on sale to everybody – Google will surely add options for paid apps and other features as well. The company clearly wants to make sure it has a full set of interesting apps available at that time, though, and the GDK sneak peek is the first step in this direction.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Google Inc (GOOG): How It Gets Into Your Wallet

from  nextiphonenews.com



Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) recently unveiled a prepaid debit card. This card will enable consumers to purchase goods at stores and to withdraw cash from ATM machines. This card will be available to Google Wallet users free of cost and be acceptable at places that generally accept Mastercard. Cardholders will not be charged any monthly or annual fees.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)
The debit card will enable consumers to access the funds stored in their Google Wallet accounts. Google Wallet is a smartphone app and online payment service that lets consumers buy goods and transfer money.
The introduction of this card implies that a phone is no longer essential to make payment at stores. Instead customers can directly swipe their cards at POS (point of sale) terminals to make the necessary payments.
The newly launched prepaid debit card is expected to play a major role in Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s expansion into the world of commerce. It should also provide valuable information about the shopping habits of consumers that can be used, in turn, to target ads.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is a market leader in online advertising and it has been trying to explore various ways to diversify its revenues and fight competition. Google continues to acquire smaller companies with specialized technology to boost its different offerings. In Feb 2013, it acquired Channel Intelligence for $125 million to boost its e-commerce business. Earlier this year, it acquired an infrastructure startup company, Talaria Technologies, to boost its cloud offerings. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) also acquired a mobile mapping and navigation company – Waze Inc. – for about $1.1 billion.
Google reported gross revenue of $14.89 billion in the third quarter of 2013, up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis.  The company has expressed its intention to increase investment in its core products in the future.
Currently, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) and Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP), all with a Zacks Rank # 2 (Buy) offer attractive investment options.
Disclaimer: This article is written by Zacks Equity Research and originally published at Zacks.com.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Android 4.4 KitKat lets you say 'OK Google' to activate touchless search

from engadget.com


"Okay Google." Those Touchless Controls aren't just for the Moto X anymore -- they're now part and parcel of the Nexus 5. With today's unveiling of Google's (terribly leaked) Nexus 5, we're getting a first look at Android 4.4 KitKat on the handset, and that OS update comes with some significant tweaks to Search and Now. For starters, Nexus 5 users will have the ability to set hot keywords as a means of activating or "waking up" Now voice search. So, presumably, this means you'll be able to link any word you'd like to start barking voice commands at Now. Just don't be surprised if Now talks back to you: KitKat also apparently allows for a dialogue of sorts between users and the handset to refine search queries. This could be especially useful when directing Now to access contacts by first name. For example, saying "Text Jennifer" could result in it asking you to specify, "Which Jennifer?" It's smart control made smarter.
But that's just the tip of the improvements Google's made to its Now and Search product. Overall, speech recognition is said to have been made 25% more accurate and manual access to Now can be triggered by a swipe to the left (Nexus 5-only, for now) -- no longer a swipe from the bottom of the screen up. Now has also been outfitted with a wider array of "contextual cards." It's yet another step in making Google's digital assistant even more prescient, as it will now display information based on a user's current activity, like Fandango for ticket listings if you're at a theatre, or even updates on a favorite TV show you've searched for previously. And going even further, Google Now will also provide "deep links" to applications you've installed on the handset. In the use case Google provided, this means that a recipe search won't just display link results, but will also ping up the AllRecipes app or even OpenTable, if you're on the hunt for a restaurant. Though all of these Search tweaks are bundled into the Nexus 5 for now, they should soon rollout to other Nexus devices as Android 4.4 KitKat is made more widely available.
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