Google CEO Larry Page, who rankled investors with his disappearance over the past few months from the company’s public events because of a vague medical condition affecting his voice, re-emerged Tuesday for an interview at Google’s Zeitgeist Americas conference in Arizona. Those who have heard Page speak before will notice his voice is higher and he speaks in more measured tones. (For a comparison, see the video below.) Officially, the company has noted that the CEO lost his voice and has chronically delicate vocal cords. Nevertheless, Page’s appearance should reassure skeptics. It’s unclear, however, if Page will be speaking during the company’s third-quarter earnings call, which is scheduled for Thursday. During his close-to-40-minute talk, Page made a cheeky reference to Apple’s recent trouble with Maps: “We’re excited that other people are starting to notice that we worked hard on [Google Maps] for seven years.” Page also defended the company’s new privacy policy and discussed Google’s self-driving cars and Google Glass. “It’s an amazing device,” Page said. “Every time I use it, I feel like I’m living in the future.” Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/17/google-larry-page-public-appearance/
Google’s taking on an ambitious global initiative — using technology to expose, map and disrupt illicit networks of drug smugglers, arms dealers and human traffickers. The tech giant is hosting its second annual summit, this time called the Illicit Networks: Forces in Opposition (INFO), in Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday. The INFO summit will focus on how technology can expose and disable these illegal networks. In attendance will be tech leaders, Googlers, government officials and survivors. Google says it’s been working with frontline fighter groups to gain an understanding of how these criminal trades function. The summit is part of Google Ideas — the “think/do tank” the company launched in Oct. 2010 to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems. The search giant wrote in a blog post Tuesday that it plans to take on illicit networks, expanding from its first challenge, counter-radicalization. Included in the conversations of these networks, are organ harvesting, arms trading and drug smuggling. Google hosted a Summit Against Violent Extremism one year ago, bringing together former right-wing extremists, jihadists, gang members, militants and survivors. The illegal trade of goods is no small problem, representing a trillion-dollar industry and claiming hundreds of thousands of lives annually. This year’s summit is a joint initiative from Google, the Tribeca Film Festival and the Council on Foreign Relations. Google cites a 2003 U.N. estimate that the illegal drug trade alone is worth $320 billion, totaling more than the gross domestic product of 88% of countries. It also points to the more than 50,000 causualties of the ongoing drug cartel war in Mexico over the past five years. As for specific ways Google plans to use technology to disrupt illicit networks, we’ll have to wait until the conference concludes to find out. Google doesn’t highlight any particular technologies it’s using to try to bring an end to criminal business activities. Do you have any ideas about how Google can use technology to expose illegal practices? What would you like to see come out of this summit? Let us know in the comments. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/17/google-drug-cartels/
The final 13 contestants on American Idol’s season 13 celebrate becoming finalists.Image: Jordan Strauss/Associated Press Fox’s singing competition American Idol is joining forces with search behemoth Google to give viewers a new way to vote for their favorite contestants, starting on Wednesday. Looking up “American Idol” or “Idol” via Google Search on desktop or mobile during voting time periods now allows users to vote for multiple finalists as frequently as 50 times. Image: Fox Broadcasting/Mashable Composite Viewers already could vote by phone call, text message or American Idol app as well as on Idol‘s website using a Facebook account — a method Fox added in 2011 for season 10. Rival shows The Voice and X Factor have also toyed with fresh social media-driven voting methods. In 2011, for example, The Voice became the first televised singing competition in the U.S. to allow iTunes sales to count as votes. Meanwhile, X Factor began allowing votes to come in from direct messages on Twitter in 2011. Also new to Idol‘s season 13 is Harry Connick Jr., who is Idol‘s eleventh judge since the show debuted in 2002. This year, Fox also brought back former judge Jennifer Lopez, who was on the panel for seasons 10 and 11. The network replaced Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj to join the only returning judge from season 12’s panel, Keith Urban. Randy Jackson, who had been on the judges’ panel for seasons 1 through 12, returned as a behind-the-scenes mentor. BONUS: 20 Songs Turning 20 in 2014 20 Songs Turning 20 in 2014 1. “Buddy Holly” by Weezer Video: YouTube, WeezerVEVO 2. “I Swear” by All 4 One Video: YouTube, VIETNAMESEPORKROLLS 3. “Gin & Juice” by Snoop Doggy Dogg Video: YouTube, hemoglobian 4. “Crazy” by Aerosmith Video: YouTube, AerosmithVEVO 5. “Come Out and Play” by The Offspring Video: YouTube, EpitaphRecords 6. “I Wanna Be Down” by Brandy Video: YouTube, Atlantic Records 7. “All I Wanna Do” by Sheryl Crow Video: YouTube, Matias 8. “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men Video: YouTube, BoyzIIMenVEVO 9. “Sabotage” by Beastie Boys Video: YouTube, turboEF 10. “Back & Forth” by Aaliyah Video: YouTube, Aaliyah Shakur 11. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” by Elton John Video: YouTube, WaItDisneyWorId 12. “Zombie” by The Cranberries Video: YouTube, TheCranberriesVEVO 13. “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden Video: YouTube, SoundgardenVEVO 14. “Basket Case” by Green Day Video: YouTube, greenday 15. “Turn the Beat Around” by Gloria Estefan Video: YouTube, GloriaEstefanVEVO 16. “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb Video: YouTube, LLOnline 17. “I’ll Stand By You” by The Pretenders Video: YouTube, Javipy3 18. “Come to My Window” by Melissa Etheridge Video: YouTube, melissaetheridge1988 19. “Hold My Hand” by Hootie and the Blowfish Video: YouTube, Atlantic Records 20. “Cotton Eye Joe” by Rednex Video: YouTube, RednexVEVO Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/02/26/american-idol-google-search-voting/
Now you can learn about 42 important historical events from the last century on your home computer through the Google Cultural Institute. The product of a partnership between Google and a number of museums and cultural foundations, the online exhibit combines letters, first-hand video testimonials, manuscripts and more into a multimedia historical journey. “The historical collections are the latest chapter in the work of the Google Cultural Institute, following the Art Project, World Wonders and the Nelson Mandela archives, “ Mark Yoshitake, product Manager for the Google Cultural Institute said in a blog post announcing the exhibitions. “We’re working closely with museums, foundations and other archives around the world to make more cultural and historical material accessible online and by doing so preserve it for future generations.” Wednesday’s release includes a look back at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, D-Day, and the Holocaust, amongst others. Much like other archives brought to the web by Google, you can zoom in on photos in the exhibition to check out details, and search through the archives for something specific such as a particular person or date. Each exhibition also includes a narrative that links the archive material together, such as the story of Steve Biko. The 15-year-old had a political awakening in the midst of the Apartheid movement. Learn how to navigate the archives in the video below. Let us know about your favorite exhibition included in the project in the comments. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/10/google-brings-history-to-life-with-online-exhibitions/
Google unveiled its new lineup of Nexus devices Monday, as well as the first video spot promoting them. The lineup includes a Nexus 4 smartphone, a 7-inch Nexus 7 tablet and a 10-inch Nexus 10 tablet. The one-minute ad, developed in collaboration with Boston-based ad agency Mullen, touts the devices’ educational — or rather explorative — capabilities. Various individuals are shown using the new Nexus devices to run voice and text-based searches, to navigate a street using augmented reality and to investigate a famous landmark (the Coliseum) via satellite imagery. The devices were scheduled to be unveiled at a press event in New York City Monday, which was cancelled on account of an impending storm. Google decided to go ahead with the announcement online. All three devices run Android 4.2, which Google describes as “a new flavor of Jelly Bean.” The Nexus 4 smartphone is priced at $299 for the 8GB version and $349 for the 16GB version (unlocked). The 7-inch Nexus 7 is priced at $199 for 16GB of storage, and $249 for 32GB; an HSPA+ version with 32GB of data is also available for $299. The 10-inch Nexus 10 tablet is available in a 16GB version for $399 and a 32GB for $499. Both tablets will be available beginning Nov. 13 in the U.S., UK, Australia, France, Canada, Spain, Germany and Japan. Google’s New Nexus Lineup Google Nexus 10 Starting at $399 (for 16GB), the Nexus 10 has an ultra-high-res 10-inch display, with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 — even more pixels than the Apple iPad. Google Now on the Nexus 10 Nexus 10, Back Nexus 4 Made by LG, the Nexus 4 costs $299 and runs Android 4.2, which includes new features like 360-degree panoramas and gesture typing. Clock on Nexus 4 Gesture Typing on Nexus 4 Updated Nexus 7 Google’s Nexus 7 tablet, which now starts at $199 for 16GB, is also getting an upgrade to Android 4.2. Gesture Typing on Nexus 7 Navigation on Nexus 7 Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/29/google-nexus-ad-video/
A leaked LG manual for the next-generation Google Nexus 5 smartphone has surfaced online, boasting more than 200 pages of details from wireless charging and camera specs to new design features. According to Android Police, the draft service manual for the LG-D821 smartphone (also known as the Nexus 5) is dense in technical information, charts, diagrams, line drawings and disassembly images. The phone is expected to launch and go on sale later this month, possibly as early as Oct. 14. The Nexus 4 is no longer available for purchase via the Google Play store, which indicates the next-generation device is coming very soon. Although the tech site originally posted the document, it has since been removed following a request from LG. VentureBeat was quick to download and embed the manual before it was removed. You can check it out below: LG D821 manual draft The manual revealed a lot of what has already been speculated about the device, including a 4.95-inch 1080p display, 16GB and 32GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 800 (2.3 GHz) processor. Other listed specs are a 8MP OIS rear camera, 1.3 MP front camera, 2300mAh battery, a MicroSIM slot and NFC technology. Bluetooth 3.0 is listed as a feature, but Bluetooth 4.0 appears in other places throughout the document. A photo, which has also been removed, includes what appears to be a circular earpiece or speaker. The document doesn’t detail which mobile operating system will come with the device, but there’s a good chance it could be the first smartphone to ship with Android 4.4 (KitKat). Image: Flickr, JD Hancock Read more: http://mashable.com/2013/10/07/nexus-5-leaked-lg-manual/
