Google unveils its first built-from-scratch self-driving car

Google has unveiled the first fully working road-legal prototype of its self-driving car. The original plan was to create a car that was completely driverless, but California introduced some new rules this year that stipulated that test cars must also have manual controls (steering, pedals) so that a human driver can take over if needed. If all goes to plan, Google hopes to partner with a real car maker to bring a self-driving vehicle to market in the next five years. Whether the commercialized driverless car will look like the overly cutesy Google prototype remains to be seen.

For the last few years, Google’s self-driving efforts have been focused on retrofitting existing cars (primarily the Toyota Prius and Lexus 450h) with the necessary hardware and software to autonomously drive a few towns and highways in California and Nevada. Now, after hundreds of thousands of accident-free miles, Google is confident enough in its self-driving tech that it’s taking the next steps towards commercialization. In May it unveiled a semi-functioning prototype (and a very cute promotional video, which is embedded below), and today it is unveiling a completed, fully functioning prototype that is road-legal.

At first glance, this new prototype looks almost identical to the model shown off in May, but if you look closely there are quite a few significant changes. Perhaps most notably, the new prototype actually has working headlights (previously they were drawn on), and the hump on the roof of the car (which houses the LIDAR hardware) is a lot more svelte. Some people will be upset to see that the smile has been removed, too, replaced by a couple of indicators. (The front of the prototype still looks a bit like a face, but it looks a bit more… strained or serious, perhaps.)

The biggest changes, though, aren’t visible from the outside: To comply with new legislation in California, this new prototype has a full set of manual controls — a steering wheel, pedals, etc. Basically, to prevent the roads being flooded with (potentially) dangerous self-driving cars, test vehicles must allow for “immediate physical control” — i.e. there has to be a driver in there that can slam on the brakes if the car’s software misbehaves. Google had previously hoped that its prototype self-driving car would have just a single button — a big stop/go button in between the two passenger seats — but for now, its self-driving cars will need to have the usual manual controls as well.

Google says it’s going to spend the next few weeks and months zipping around its test track, and then if all goes to plan we should see the cute little car on the streets of California “in the new year.” Eventually, Google hopes to produce around 200 of the prototype cars — which might seem like a lot, but for something as risky and bleeding-edge as autonomous driving, trust me when I say that there’s no such thing as too much testing.

Long-term, Google is hoping to find industrial partners (i.e. car manufacturers) that can bring its self-driving tech to the mass market within five years. It’s funny — a few years ago, it seemed like Google was light years ahead of the competition, but now, with companies like Tesla, Mercedes, and Audi all getting very close to fully autonomous driving, it feels like Google might be slipping to the back of the pack.

Source : Extreme Tech

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Google Chromecast Review: Simple Streaming, Now in India

A couple of weeks ago, at the start of the Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF), Google finally launched the Chromecast wireless streaming accessory in India at Rs. 2,999. When it first launched last year, the Chromecast was seen as a geeky curiosity, though as long term owners of the HDMI dongle, we can testify it's seen more and more use off late. At the same time, we've seen alternatives such as Teewe, which was really easy to set up and worked well too, and Esycast, whose UI could definitely stand some improvement, but which is still a good alternative, launch in India. So how does the Chromecast measure up and who should be buying it?

The first, and most obvious question is what a Chromecast is, and what you'll use it for. The Chromecast is a small gadget, a little bigger than your thumb, and it connects to your TV using the HDMI port. On the back, there's a Micro-USB port which is used to power the Chromecast, and the charging cable and an optional HDMI extender cable (for hard to reach ports) are also included in the box.

Its design and build quality is well ahead of the competition - despite the low price, it feels like a premium gadget, and this continues even when you're using it, thanks to a well-made, sleek and easy to use interface which is better than any of the Indian efforts we've used.

The Chromecast connects to your home Wi-Fi network through a simple pairing process - the steps are neatly explained when you first connect it to the television and are very simple to follow. Once you've done that, you can "cast" videos from other devices on the same Wi-Fi network to the Chromecast - this works in a couple of different ways.

For one, there are videos being streamed off the Internet - so for example, if you go to YouTube on a connected phone or PC, and press the cast button - the video is downloaded to the Chromecast directly, instead of being downloaded to your device and then streamed to the Chromecast locally.

This is also used for apps like Eros Now, and like Popcorn Time, so while we might lack some of the "channels" you have in the US such as Netflix and Hulu, there is a pretty big selection of content available now. However, not all video sites are supported and for these you can use the mirroring option via Chrome (see below).

Then, there's screen mirroring. This only works on phones that have Android 4.4.2 or later. If your phone meets that requirement, then the process of mirroring is pretty simple - just launch the Chromecast app and tap the "Cast Screen" button and it'll mirror your screen on the TV.

This allows you to duplicate anything from your phone to your TV screen - whether you're browsing Facebook or want to show your friends your games. Actually playing the games on the big screen isn't a great idea incidentally, unless you're playing a turn based board game style game, where quick reactions don't matter. That's because there's a small amount of lag - a consistent half second or so delay - between your mobile screen and the TV screen.

This is also how you can send content from your PC to your TV - install the Chromecast extension in your desktop Chrome browser, and you get a "Cast" button on top of the page. If you're on a site like YouTube and you click the cast button, it will simply play the video from your Chromecast. Otherwise, it mirrors the webpage you're on to your Chromecast.

Playing the video has a couple of benefits - for one thing, it usually looks better. On a webpage, there are often elements on a page that are needed for navigation, which don't look good when you're watching a video on your TV screen.

The other difference is that casting a tab requires more power from your computer, affecting its performance and also in the case of laptops - battery usage.

In this way, the Chromecast becomes a pretty good way to send content from your devices to your TV, without having to keep a computer (even a small HTPC) hooked up to the television all the time. The Chromecast is a lot smaller than any computer, and if your TV comes with USB ports, you can even power the dongle directly from the TV, so there's nothing sticking out from it at all.

You can also use the Chromecast to watch videos you've saved on your HDD - and it's made really simple with Plex. You'll need to set up a Plex server on the device that holds all your content, and then you can use the Plex app on iOS or Android to play the videos on your Chromecast. The mobile then acts like a remote - you can control playback, change the video or even use the phone for other apps once the video is playing. VLC is also supposed to get Chromecast support for Android and iOS soon, and MX Player is also apparently working on this.

Finally, Google has also rolled out some Chromecast games, where each player can use his or her phone as a controller. These family-friendly multiplayer games include titles like Wheel of Fortune, Hasbro's Monopoly Dash, Scrabble Blitz, Connect Four Quads and Simon Swipe. You can see all the Chromecast apps here.

If you've got a smart TV; or if you keep a video game console hooked up to your television; or use a HTPC or a smart box like the Amkette Evo TV or Apple TV, then you probably won't have much use for a Chromecast. It doesn't really allow you to do anything you can't accomplish with any of those devices.

But if you've ever wanted an easy way to get content from your phone or laptop to your TV, then the Chromecast is a great, and cheap option. In our case, it gets used first and foremost as a YouTube jukebox. Queuing up videos is simple, and when friends come over, creating a playlist on the fly is easy. We use the PlayStation 3 connected to the home theatre setup for larger groups, while the Chromecast gets used with the TV in smaller groups.

Apps like VLC, Popcorn Time, and others will also find more use in India, where services like HBO Go and Netflix aren't easily accessed. Screen mirroring of Android devices can be a lot more useful than it sounds too - imagine if you want to show people a Word document stored on your phone, for example.

All things considered, it's hard to describe the Chromecast as a must-have gadget. But it's cheap enough that you can buy it just to play around with something new, and its value emerges over time, as you find it fitting into your routine.

Teewe is a full Rs. 1,000 cheaper, while the Esycast is available for approximately Rs. 2,600. The Chromecast is definitely more expensive, but your favourite third-party app is more likely to add support for Chromecast than any of the others, and the build quality is significantly better. At the end of the day, you have to decide if that's something you're comfortable paying extra for.

Source : NDTV

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Google plans to open own campus in Hyderabad

Internet giant Google plans to open its own "permanent and big" campus in Hyderabad and is set to sign an MoU with Telangana government shortly to take up the venture. 

"We are likely to sign MoU with Google. They are likely to open their campus here in Hyderabad. It will be the third campus they will have after the US and the UK," Telangana IT, electronics and communications secretary Harpreet Singh told PTI here.

Google currently operates from rented premises here but wants to move to a "permanent campus", he said, adding the tech major would sign an MoU with the state government shortly.

He, however, declined to go into further details of the proposed venture, saying a press conference is scheduled to be held shortly on this but added that it would be a "big campus".

Singh also said Cisco, Airtel, Vodafone and a Taiwanese company, among others, have responded to the expression of interest floated by the government on proposed venture to make Hyderabad a Wi-Fi enabled city. "

Many of them are partnering and coming," Singh said, adding the Taiwanese firm, in fact, was behind making Taipei a Wi-Fi enabled city.

But he said the companies that have evinced interest have sought information such as detailed maps of the city, including roads, and some clarifications with regard to certain specific points. "So, we are preparing the replies; we will give it to them".

"It will take time (to make the city Wi-Fi enabled) because business model is the critical issue. Making Wi-Fi is not a big problem ... but how to monetise it ... is the key issue," he explained.

Singh, however, said the contract for this venture is expected to be awarded in the next three-four months after floating the request for proposals and the bidding process.

After that, the successful bidder is expected to take six months to roll out the infrastructure, he said, indicating that the city is likely to be Wi-Fi enabled only towards the end of next year.

On the proposed Rs 30 crore incubator facility for technology start-ups, he said its designs have been completed and the process of tendering is in progress.

The 70,000 square feet facility will have 800 seats, housing an expected 500 start-ups in different stages of growth, he said.

"We are planning to formally inaugurate this building on June two (on the first anniversary of Telangana State's formation)."

As for software exports from Hyderabad, he noted that it was Rs 57,000 crore or roughly ten billion dollars in the year 2013-14. "This year (2014-15), I think it's (going to be) 12% (more). We may do slightly better (better than 12% growth)," Singh added.

Source : Times of India

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Google Plus Now Automatically Make Videos Look Better

Google Plus Video Auto Enhancing

For almost two years now, Google has been automatically enhancing the photos you upload to Google+; starting today it will do (almost) the same with videos,

It won’t do this automatically, though. Instead, whenever Google now thinks it can improve a video you upload, a banner will appear in the Google+ web app that asks you if you want to preview the potential changes. You can also opt to apply these automatic enhancements to any other video you upload to Google+ Photos (either directly or through Auto Backup) on a case-by-case basis.

As Google engineer Tim St. Clair writes today, the new Google+ feature will be able to automatically enhance lighting, color and stability. Coming soon, it’ll also enhance speech in videos.

The new feature is now available in Google+ on Mac, Windows and ChromeOS (you can find it behind the ‘More’ menu, as well as in the Google+ Photos app.

Google automatically renders a low-res, side-by-side preview of your improved and unimproved videos once you opt to give it a try. At a rather blurry 240p (see above), that’s not necessarily the best way to preview these changes, but given that these enhancements take a bit of compute power, it’s likely the only way to show them to you in a reasonable time.

While Google hasn’t prompted me to auto-enhance any videos yet, I’ve tried it on a few videos I’ve uploaded to Google+ over the last few months and it does indeed make a difference.

Reasonable people can argue about the success of Google+ as a social network, but there can be little doubt that Google+ Photos has always been one of the most interesting and innovative aspects of the service.

As more and more people now also take videos with their smartphones, it makes sense for Google to bring some of the technologies it has developed for photos (and YouTube) to these private videos, as well. Google has long offered a similar feature for YouTube users, so there is likely some overlap between the two systems here. While YouTube offers the option to “auto-fix” videos, though, it doesn’t automatically prompt its users to do this for them. YouTube also offers a number of manual tools for changing contrast, saturation and color temperature that Google+ doesn’t currently offer.

Google’s announcement today comes only a few days after Facebook announced that it now also started auto-enhancing images that its users upload to its servers. That face that Google announced this new feature today is likely a coincidence, but it’s an interesting one.


Source : TechCrunch

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Gmail Now Protects Your Inbox From Malevolent Extensions

A popular service like Gmail inevitably becomes a target for hackers. Over the years, Google has made quite a few security improvements, such as requiring HTTPS connections to prevent others from getting access to your email.

Today the company announced that it has implemented support for Content Security Policy (CSP) to prevent cross-site scripting attacks and malevolent browser plug-ins from messing with your inbox and (potentially) stealing your data.

Content Security Policy in the way Google has implemented it is a blacklist/whitelist system for stopping sites from loading unsafe code from third-party sites and preventing cross-site scripting attacks. It uses the HTTP header to instruct the browser to only execute and render code from trusted sites. So if an attacker tries to trick the site into loading any other code, the site will simply throw an error.


Google notes that most popular extensions for Gmail have already been updated and should continue to work as usual. In case one of your favorite extensions in Chrome or Firefox stops working, though, Google recommends updating to the latest version.

Chrome, Firefox and Safari currently support CSP. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer only has limited support for an older version of it.

Source : TechCrunch

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See What World Searched in Google for Year 2014

Popular search engine google has declared data about people what they searched in google for 2014. Google Search Data 2014.

Google is most popular search engine across worlwide and providing best services. Google declared country wise search data, Trending search and Most Searched.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on Second Position for Google Most Searched People in India.


IRCTC, Flipkart, SBI Online, Snap Deal, PNR Status, HDFC NetBanking, CricBuzz are on top for most  Searched in google 2014.

Ebola, ISIS, Malasiya Airlines, Crimea/Ukraine etc. are on top on Google Global Trending News Search.

iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S5, Nexus 6, Moto G, Samsung Note 4 are on top of Global Google Trending Consumer Electronics Search 2014.

Trending on Youtube

Google Search Trends 2014

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Google Launches Hindi Advertisement Service on its Display network

Online search giant Google has launched Hindi ads on its display network to allow advertisers reach out to 500 million Hindi speakers across the world.

The move is part of Google's effort to stimulate the growth of Indic languages and extend support to more languages around the world, Google said in a statement on Monday.

"Starting today, marketers will be able to advertise to India's booming online population in the most widely spoken local language - Hindi," it added.

It is estimated that there are over 500 million Hindi speakers globally.

"Extending the ability to support Hindi ads will enable global advertisers to connect with one of India's fastest growing online audiences," it said.

With the introduction of Hindi ads, AdWords advertisers will now be able to build campaigns reaching Hindi language sites on the Google Display Network using text, image, rich media, and video display ad formats, it added.

"We hope that this launch will give a boost to the growth of Hindi web and will encourage the creation of a whole new wave of online Hindi content that will not only be useful to the burgeoning Hindi Internet audience, but also make it easy for advertisers to market to this very important consumer base," Google Head Partner Business Solutions - India and Southeast Asia Dushyant Khare said.

In November, Google had announced the launch of Indian Language Internet Alliance (ILIA), a group committed to promote the growth of Indic language content online.

Through its efforts, the ILIA aims to enable 300 million Indian language speakers to become highly engaged Internet users by 2017.

Google already offers voice search in Hindi and a website called www.hindiweb.com, a repository to discover Hindi content across websites, apps, videos and blogs for Hindi speaking Internet users.

Source : Zee News India

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Google Nexus 5 Production Discontinued

A Google spokesperson has revealed that the company has discontinued production of the 2013 Nexus 5.

Speaking to Tech Radar, the company's representative said, "Once they are gone, they're gone, so we'd suggest people get them while they can". The comment from the Google spokesperson indicates the Nexus 5 might soon not be available to buy.

However, Google will continue to sell the Nexus 5 via Google Play and selected retailers in first quarter of 2015. The company in an emailed statement told The Verge, "Nexus 5 will continue to be available for sale on Google Play and through selected retailers in first quarter 2015."

Google has also quietly removed the Red and White colour versions of the Nexus 5 from Google Play, first reported by Tech Radar. Interestingly, the Google Play India also lists the Nexus 5 in just Black colour.

At the time of writing, the Nexus 5 was listed as 'out of inventory' on Google Play India with no word on when the stocks will be replenished. The Google Nexus 5 went on sale in India same time last year and has been available in two storage variants - the 16GB model and the 32GB. The handset was the platform lead device for Android 4.4 KitKat.

Some of the specifications of the Nexus 5 include a 4.95-inch full-HD IPS display; a 2.26GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor; 2GB of RAM; 8.0-megapixel rear camera; 1.3-megapixel front camera, and a 2300mAh battery.

Google started rolling out the Android 5.0 Lollipop  OTA update for older Nexus devices including the Nexus 5.

Whether production is being stopped or not of google the Nexus 5, it's natural for the company to want to steer customers to the latest model of Nexus. Nexus 6 will available soon why people buy Nexus 5.

The Nexus 6 improved features and specification over its previous model, including display, resolution, processor power, storage capacity and among other features. The Nexus 6 screen with a 5.96-inch screen as compare to the Nexus 5's 4.95-inch screen.

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Google Nexus 9 launched in India at Rs 28,900

NEW DELHI: While Google has still not made the all-new Nexus 9 tablet available for purchase on its Play Store website in India yet, HTC (which manufactures the tablet) has released the device in the country via Amazon.in.

Amazon.in is giving away a gift card worth Rs 2,000 with Nexus 9 purchased till December 12.

Nexus 9 has an 8.9-inch screen with 2048x1536p resolution and is powered by the 64-bit quad-core Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, clocked at 2.3GHz. It is the first tablet to run on Android 5.0 (Lollipop), the latest version of Google's mobile operating system. The latest Nexus tablet comes with 2GB RAM. Only the 16GB variant is available on Amazon.in.

The tablet has an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and a 1.6MP front camera. According to Google, its 6,700mAh battery lasts up to 9.5 hours on a single charge. In terms of design, Nexus 9 is made of plastic but features metallic trims on the sides. It also has front-facing speakers.

Among the chief competitors of Google Nexus 9 in India are Apple iPad Air 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet.

Google's Play Store website still lists Nexus 9 as 'Coming Soon', without giving a concrete launch date. The company had earlier posted that both 16GB and 32GB storage options will be available in the country, but has since removed the 32GB variant from the web page.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Google’s ‘location history browser’ can tell you where you were last Monday at specific hrs

Google’s location history browser reportedly tells a users their exact location from past along with the specific time through an interesting map. The browser isn’t something new and has been there for years and uses a person’s location data that the company prompts during the initial setup asking users if Google could transmit their location data back to the mothership.

According to TechCrunch, this data is then collected by the company, for more targeted ads or simply to let users go back in past and revisit their last trip to another city. The service is opt-in and users can also delete the history on a day-by-day basis or clean the entire location slate in one attempt.

Google shows up the entire location history in a graph form and once a user scrubs the mouse pointer at the bottom, the map plays back the selected day, movement-by-movement, the report added.

Here is the link to the location history browser.

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Updated Google Glass lets you wink to snap a photo

Google’s highly-anticipated wearable computing device Glass’s updated feature reportedly allows users to take a picture with just a wink of an eye. The controversial wink to snap a photo feature had been enabled via an app called Winky before drawing flak from privacy advocates who viewed its potential misuse.

However, drawing a positive picture of the feature, Google said that the feature begins with pictures, but its future use could include stuff like winking at the cab’s meter to pay the fare or winking at a pair of shoes and getting the perfect size delivered at one’s doorstep, hands-free and no-fuss, Mashable reports.

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This is what India Googled in 2013

With two weeks till the end of the year 2013, Google takes a look back and reveals the top searches and trends this past year in its annual Zeitgeist. Globally, people like Nelson Mandela, Paul Walker and gadgets like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5S topped the Google charts, while in India Bollywood took precedent over others. Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan were the top searched celebs and in movies, Chennai Express and Aashiqui 2 came up top.

If you are interested about what people searched on a city-by-city basis, Google’s created a 3D map of the globe that lets you see the top five daily search trends in major cities around the world.

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Google to serve images in Gmail from its own servers to enable automatic display of photos in Gmail

Google had disabled automatically displaying images inside emails to protect users from phishing and other malicious stuff that could be hidden in photographs. Instead, Gmail used to prompt users whether they wanted to display pictures from a sender and also an option to always show pictures from a particular sender. However, starting today, Gmail will display all photos by default in the desktop version and will bring the feature to its mobile apps in coming months.

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Twitter, Facebook and Google workers are among tech’s happiest

A couple of months ago, a group of current and former Apple employees revealed what it’s like to work in the stressful yet rewarding environment that is the Apple Campus. Now that the year is coming to a close, Glassdoor has released its annual list of “Best Places to Work,” and although Apple did make the list, the Cupertino company fell behind some of the other giants in the industry.

According to Glassdoor, Apple received an average rating of 3.8, good enough for 35th place.

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LG G Pad 8.3 Google Edition launched in the US

Yesterday, a @evleaks tweet about a device codenamed LG V510 being a Nexus device created quite a bit of buzz as many, including us, thought it was the forthcoming Nexus 10. Turns out it isn’t, but what it is, is the Google Edition of LG’s G Pad 8.3. The device is now available on the US Google Play Store for $349 (Rs 21,400 approximately), but unfortunately there’s no word on when it could come to India.

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Now Google lets users create their own Street View

With the release of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, Google introduced a new feature called Photo Sphere, which is a Panorama app using Street View’s technology. Now users can click pictures using Photo Sphere and connect those pictures to create 360-degree view of a place. The next step is to share these photos on the Google View community and from there the company will add them to its Maps. One can also click photos using a camera, but will need to stitch them together using Google’s tools (seen in the photo above), before sharing it on Street View.

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Google Nexus 4 starts getting Android 4.4 KitKat update in India

Google has finally released the Android 4.4 KitKat update for Nexus 4 users in India, a few days after it hadupdated the Nexus 7 (2012 edition and 2013 edition) and Nexus 10 models to the latest Android version. This is an OTA update, which can be triggered from the ‘About Phone’ option in the settings menu. If you are unable to get it, we suggest you wait for a bit longer as Google is rolling it out in phases.

Google was expected to bring Android’s KitKat flavor to both of the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 3G variant, however there is no information if the update is available for the latter as well.

This update will bring a number of new as well as improved features including an improved Google Now interface, message integration with Hangouts, and better device data backup.

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Doodle 4 Google winner’s entry hits Google homepage to celebrate Children’s Day

On Children’s day today, Google has put up a very interesting doodle that was designed by a Pune-based girl, who was the winner of Google’s annual doodle-based competition held in India. The doodle, titled as the “Sky’s the limit for Indian women”, was designed by Gayatri Ketharaman for the fifth edition of Doodle4Google competition, and is dedicated to all the Indian women from different walks of life. This Google doodle is painted in a variety of colors, with each of its letter portraying women working in different fields and playing various roles.

Gayatri Ketharaman explains it saying, “Each letter of the doodle depicts the trait of Indian women. She is graceful and elegant, adept at balancing work and home. She is a go-getter and also personifies motherhood.”

The initial letter ‘G’ of the doodle is portrayed as a classical dancer, followed by ‘o’ as a musical instrument. The rest of the letters depict various segments and professions ranging from an academician to motherhood to an astronaut, indicating how women have mastered all traits.

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YouTube plans to take on Spotify with subscription-based music service

The music streaming market has become especially crowded with the addition of Apple’s iTunes Radio, but another major player in the online world is supposedly preparing its own service to complicate matters even further. Billboard reports that YouTube is close to launching its own premium music streaming service, complete with a subscription-based model and a free component, similar to Spotify.

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Google’s Hotel Finder now lets you book hotels in India

Last year Google made an entry into the hospitality sector by introducing a new tool called ‘Google Hotel Finder’, which as the name suggests, shows all available hotels in a region right on the homepage. The tool, which was introduced in the US and the European countries, has now come to India.

The Hotel Finder landing page is quite Spartan in terms of design; much like many of Google’s other websites. As seen in the photo above, one can find, compare and book hotel rooms based on price, location and user ratings. Clicking on a hotel takes you to a page that shows user reviews, photos, location on Google Maps and websites where you can make a reservation.

Frequent travelers will surely appreciate the availability of all the data at one place, instead of having to visit each site looking for the best price.

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