Google

Google Now-like conversational search goes live in latest Chrome build

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 22, 2013

Google Now-like voice search in the desktop Chrome browser is definitely one of the easily overlooked Google I/O 2013 announcements. There's no denying that it makes a hell of a lot of sense to unify Google's voice search experience, no matter what device or operating system people happen to be using.

Having recently added Google Now to its native Search app on iOS devices, the Internet giant has now enabled very similar conversational voice search capabilities in the latest build of its Chrome desktop browser for Mac and Windows...

Apple remains most valuable brand

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

You might have thought all the punishment Apple has taken on Wall Street would show up in how consumers view the company's brand - and you'd be wrong. A new survey again ranks Apple as the most valuable brand, easily outdistancing its arch rival Google. Indeed, Apple is still seen as the 'gold standard' when it comes to brands, according to market research firm Millward Brown...

Turkish PM visits Apple, Google and Microsoft ahead of tablet tender

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 20, 2013

After Apple back in January flew its vice president for education John Couch to Turkey who meet with the country's president Abdullah Gül to discuss Turkey's $4.5 billion modernization program in which textbooks will be replaced by tablets and chalkboards by electronic whiteboards, a report Monday notes that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan has now visited Apple, along with Google and Microsoft, in order to explore options ahead of the country's impending decision to purchase 10.6 million tablets for education...

Siri vs. Google Now video faceoff

Cody Lee ∙ May 19, 2013

Siri was all the rage when Apple unveiled it alongside its iPhone 4S in the fall of 2011. The digital assistant was highlighted in a number of commercials for the handset during its 11-month life cycle. But since then, we've seen a number of competitors arise.

One of those competitors is Google Now, which launched in the summer of last year. And a lot of folks believe that it's superior to Siri—both in speed and accuracy. But is that really the case? Find out in this new head-to-head comparison video of the two...

Tough negotiations could see iRadio miss WWDC launch

Cody Lee ∙ May 17, 2013

It feels like the summer of 2011 all over again. Both Apple and Google were rumored to be working on a music service, and Google has beaten Apple to the punch by announcing theirs well in advance. Back then it was cloud storage. This time it's streaming.

Earlier this week, Google unveiled its new 'All Access' streaming music service. And according to a new report, unless Apple can reach a deal with the remaining hold-out record labels, it's going to again have a several month head start on Apple's release...

iOS and Android gamers spend 3X as much as handheld console owners

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2016

I still remember vividly how industry heavy-weights Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft initially laughed off gaming on the iPhone. It was right after Apple slashed the iPod touch to the sweet $199 price point that it became clear to me that gaming on high-end smartphones and tablets would eventually outgrow that on dedicated handheld consoles such as Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS family.

Enter a new report by research firm IDC and analytics service App Annie which reveals just how far along mobile gaming has come. According to the study, users of smartphones and tablets spend nearly three times as much purchasing games on Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store as handheld device owners.

If these numbers are anything to go by, smart mobile devices will soon relegate dedicated handheld consoles to a niche market, if not eventually kill the category altogether...

IDC: Apple, Android own 92% smartphone volume, Windows Phone beats BlackBerry

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 16, 2013

Just days after rival research firm Gartner released quarterly sales for iOS and Android, rival IDC today announced similar numbers for shipments of smartphones. Combined, iOS and Android maintained their stranglehold on the smartphone market, accounting for more than an astounding 92 percent of shipments during the first quarter of 2013.

In a surprising move, shipments of the Windows Phone smartphone operating system surpassed the BlackBerry OS, putting Microsoft in third place behind Android and iOS. I bet you didn't see that one coming...

How Apple and Google tabulate app downloads

Sébastien Page ∙ May 16, 2013

Two big numbers were coincidentally dropped yesterday. First, Google announced 48 billion applications had been downloaded from the Google Play Store. Shortly after, Apple announced that its App Store had seen 50 billion downloads so far. Big numbers indeed, but how exactly do Apple and Google count app downloads? The Next Web Managing Editor Matthew Panzarino asked both companies and this is what he found:

Both Apple and Google tabulate unique downloads of apps per user account. This means that they count only one download of an app no matter how many devices that you install that app on after you purchase it. Neither company counts updates in its app download numbers. These are purely single downloads from their stores.

Read the full article at The Next Web.

Try Google’s new Hangouts app now

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

Previously code-named Babel, Google yesterday announced its new cross-platform unified messaging product called Hangouts. Shortly after, the software surfaced on Apple's App Store and Google's Play store for Android.

In replacing Google Talk, Hangouts supports one-on-one and group chatting across desktop, Android and Apple devices and includes photos, emoji, and video calls.

In a nutshell, the app integrates messaging from Google’s GTalk, Google+ Messenger, Hangouts and Voice products. But that's just scratching the surface as Google obviously has big plans with the product...

Google updates Play Books with support for user uploaded files

Cody Lee ∙ May 16, 2013

Google kicked off its annual I/O developers conference yesterday with its customary keynote. The search giant used the nearly 4-hour long affair to announce new software and services, including Spotify-like Play Music All Access and Hangouts messaging.

Additionally, Google also took the opportunity yesterday to update some of its apps. It gave Gmail some new action buttons, showed off a preview of its upcoming Maps update, and released a new version of its Play Books app for both iOS and Android...

Google previews next major Maps update, coming to iOS this summer

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

You know, it wouldn't be a Google I/O keynote without some kind of talk about Maps. Larry Page and company have made it very clear that its mapping technology is a big part of its future. And they gave us a bit of a glimpse of that future today.

Google will be releasing a big update for its Android and iOS Maps app this summer. And among several new features and updates, we're happy to see that the software will finally be landing on the iPad. More details on the update after the fold...

Google takes on Spotify and iTunes with $9.99 music streaming service

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 6, 2020

The Internet giant kicked off its annual Google I/O developer conference with a three-hour long (!) keynote at San Francisco's Moscone West, the same venue Apple reserved for its own five-day event next month. During the keynote, Google executives announced a much-rumored streaming music service that's bound to give headache to the likes of Spotify, Rdio and Pandora.

Dubbed somewhat confusingly Google Play Music All Access, Google's Android executive Chris Yerga noted on stage that "music unites us" and is "universal". And with computing and mobile devices intertwined into our lives "there's potential to bring that joy together." Go past the fold for full details...