Google

Google updates Wallet app with new Orders feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 12, 2014

Google last month introduced some nice new features for its mobile Wallet app, namely the ability to scan your loyalty cards using the iPhone's iSight camera and receive notifications for offers from local merchants.

According to a post Wednesday on the Google Commerce Blog, the Internet giant is rolling out a new version of Wallet for iPhone which uses receipts from Gmail to track your online purchases.

The refreshed software is currently being rolled out to US-based customers so keep an eye on the App Store as the app goes live in the course of this week...

Google announces Android SDK for wearables releasing in two weeks

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 9, 2014

After becoming the world's top mobile operating system for smartphones and tablets, Google's Android software wants to become the leading platform for wearable devices.

CNET's Daniel Terdiman, reporting from the SXSW conference, has just tweeted that Google's Sundar Pichai confirmed that the Internet giant will be releasing its own Android software development kit (SDK) for wearable devices in the next two weeks.

The move indicates the search company's interest in the emerging wearable devices market, which has not exploded yet but is being closely watched in part due to Apple's rumored iWatch wearable project. Google itself is thought to be working on a smartwatch of its own...

Google+ gains pinned posts, new location reporting and history settings, more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 7, 2014

It's been a while since the Internet giant Google updated the Google+ client for the iPhone and iPad, available free of charge in the App Store. Last we heard, Google+ was refreshed more than three months ago with such new features as full-resolution photo and video backup, inline translations and the ability to share your location, to mention but a few.

In today's Google+ update, the app has gained the ability to pin posts to the top of a community stream while allowing you to adjust your history settings and location reporting...

Gmail updated with iOS 7 Background App Refresh, streamlined sign in experience

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 5, 2014

Google's free Gmail app for the iPhone and iPad is being continuously improved and that's a good thing.

Now, I myself am a Mailbox convert so the only reason for keeping Gmail on my device is to occasionally check out new features. If anything, today's Gmail update gives me two new reasons to reconsider handling my email in Gmail more frequently. Now available, Gmail 3.0 brings out two major improvements.

Firstly, the app now uses Background App Refresh, a new iOS 7 technology which lets apps ask the operating system to retrieve new content even if they're not running. As a result, switching from one app back to Gmail immediately serves up-to-date inbox, negating the need to manually refresh content.

And secondly, it improves the experience by signing you in automatically using the same Google Account defined in Google's other iOS apps, such as Maps and Google+...

Pocket picks up Google Account login support, offline sharing to Evernote

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 28, 2014

The popular read-later service Pocket (formerly Read It Later) has been bumped to version 5.1. The new build adds a pair of useful features and squashes a few bugs (and likely introduces new ones). Now available free in the App Store, the new Pocket 5.1 lets you use your Google account to sign up and log in to Pocket.

This tremendously useful feature allows new users to start using the app without too much hassle.

Previously, you had to create an account with Pocket before you could use their service. I wish all apps supported standard logins via Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. There's nothing worse than being prompted to create a brand new account with a service - that's yet another username and passwords to worry about.

I've included additional information about the other new feature right after the break...

Google Hangouts 2.0 is out with iOS 7 redesign, full iPad support, video messaging and more

Cody Lee ∙ February 27, 2014

Google updated the iOS client for its popular messaging platform Hangouts today, bringing the app to version 2.0. The update brings about a number of improvements including full optimization for the iPad and iOS 7 and more.

A few new features have also been added, such as the ability to share animated stickers and record and send video messages up to 10 seconds long. Additionally, you can send a map of your current location to other Hangouts users...

Vote for your favorite American Idol contestants right from Google Search

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 27, 2014

Google has struck an interesting partnership with FOX allowing fans of American Idol, the popular reality-singing competition series, to vote for their favorite performers right through the Google.com search engine and inside the official Search app for iOS and Android. On-air voting is as easy as searching for 'american idol' or 'idol' during the voting window and selecting from your fav finalists.

You can cast up to 50 votes for each contestant and vote for as many contestants as you want, Google explained yesterday...

Google admits Android wasn’t designed to be safe

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

In the wake of numerous reports that all point to the same conclusion - that malware infestation is running amok on Android - the Internet giant made an unusually open statement through the mouth of its Android lead, Sundar Pichai, who finally admitted that Android wasn't built for security.

"If I had a company dedicated to malware, I would also be targetting Android", Pichai allegedly said to a stunned audience at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. When your own platform lead starts making such frank statements about Android security, it's high time you considered taking these security reports at face value...

EU demanding ‘concrete answers’ from Apple and Google regarding in-app purchasing concerns

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 16, 2022

Reuters is reporting that The European Commission has invited Apple and Google to discuss a flurry of user complaints surrounding in-app purchases. The move follows numerous media reports that center on disgruntled parents who were shocked to find that their children racked up vast credit card bills by making content purchases in free-to-play games.

The Commission is arguing that it's Apple's and Google's responsibility not to misleading consumers. The Commission also called upon greedy app creators to provide "very concrete answers" in respect to in-app purchasing concerns...

Photos of alleged prototype for Google smartwatch surface

Cody Lee ∙ February 26, 2014

Both Apple and Google are believed to be working on wearable devices right now with plans to release them before the end of the year. And while we've seen zero physical evidence of Apple's iWatch project, some photos of an alleged Google smartwatch prototype just surfaced.

Android Police has posted photos of what appears to be a Motorola-branded smartwatch in an early development stage. The site says the device would have debuted with the "Google Watch" moniker as part of the Nexus family, but believes Google chose to go a different route...

Report: Google smartwatch made by LG, has Google Now, runs slimmed down Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 24, 2014

After Sarah Perez and Darrell Etherington over at TechCrunch ran a story last night detailing some of the aspects of Google's rumored smartwatch project, The Wall Street Journal and CNET on Monday reported that the device will probably be manufactured by LG Electronics. Google should detail its operating system in March and release a software development kit for third-party developers in June.

Apple is of course, rumored to be hard at work on its own wearable device, dubbed by the press the iWatch. A number of medical expert hires indicate that Apple's device may also include health-sensing capability such as tracking blood glucose and hydration levels, although not as advanced as previously speculated...

New report says Google is preparing to release its own smartwatch this year

Cody Lee ∙ February 23, 2014

If you're still in the camp of folks who believe that there won't be a market for wearables, you might want to take a look around. Pebble just launched a new smartwatch, Samsung just announced a new Gear watch and Apple reportedly has one in the oven.

Google is also believed to be working on a smartwatch, and according to insiders, it's almost finished. TechCrunch is reporting this weekend that the search giant is putting the finishing touches on a watch that runs Android and houses a full-color display...