Google

Apple and Google team up for $500 million bid on Kodak patents

Back in August, a report popped up claiming that Apple and Google had teamed up to put a bid in for Kodak's patents. The company, once a staple in the photography industry, declared bankruptcy this year and is selling off its IP to help pay its debts.

Well the story resurfaced tonight, with a follow-up report from Bloomberg confirming that Google and Apple are indeed working together to buy Kodak's IP. The two are said to be offering more than $500 million to buy 1,100 of Kodak's imaging patents...

Google updates Shopper app: GoodGuide ratings, nicer UI, promotions, nearby sales

As I whined recently, the Android version of Google's free of charge Shopper app was updated with new holiday shopping features on November 8. Today, at last, the iOS build has received some way overdue love. Just like Tuesday's Gmail and YouTube updates, the refreshed Shopper app represents a major overhaul. It boasts a faster and cleaner interface focused on bigger product photos and has a few enhancements that will help you survive the holiday shopping frenzy.

There's an all-new screen listing sales promotions, GoodGuide ratings, an improved search with image-centric results, the new sales screen that lists special offers and sales promotions in your area and support for push notifications for new content and features...

Eric Schmidt on Google’s relationship with Apple

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO and now executive board member, recently sat down to talk with Jessica E. Lessin of The Wall Street Journal. During the interview, he fielded several interesting questions about a variety of things including Google's current relationship status with Apple, their continuous run-ins with patent litigation, and more...

YouTube app goes iPad, adds AirPlay, iPhone 5 support

Following up on its sweet Gmail refresh earlier today, Google's just announced with a post over at the official YouTube blog a long-expected update to its nice YouTube iPhone app. For starters, the program finally runs on the iPad natively, which means you can now search for kitten videos using your beloved tablet and enjoy them in high-definition on that beautiful 9.7-inch Retina display.

The software also takes full advantage of the iPhone 5's bigger display and lets you stream YouTube clips to your badass TV through the Apple TV hockey puck and using AirPlay, a wireless media streaming technology from Apple. Accessibility, video playback improvements and other perks come included with the package. But first things first...

Google I/O 2013 slated for May 15-17 at San Francisco’s Moscone West

Save the date for Google I/O 2013: today, the search giant confirmed its upcoming annual developer conference will run in San Francisco from May 15 through May 17, 2013. The three-day pilgrimage, just 162 days away, is bound to garner media interest with updates to Google's key consumer products, namely Android, Nexus gadgets and the Chrome browser.

And what technology conference would it be without a few surprise announcements here and there? Curiously enough, with Google I/O 2013 the company is back to holding its biggest yearly event ahead of Apple, whose WWDC normally runs in June or July...

Gmail updated: sleek UI, multiple accounts, search predictions, infinite scrolling

Google has just updated its Gmail iOS app with multiple account support, a way overdue feature which finally allows you to set up, use and switch between up to five different Google accounts with just a few taps.

Gmail version 2.0, a major overhaul, in addition to a much cleaner and sleeker look has learned a few useful new tricks, like infinite scrolling inbox, threaded conversations, profile pictures, search predictions and auto-complete contact names, to name a few.

But the list of enhancements doesn't end there. Numerous new animations from swivels to transitions will dazzle you. Plus, you can now respond to Google Calendar invites inline, set up real-time notifications for new mail or take advantage of the interactive Google+ posts support to +1 and comment on Google+ posts inline. There's also a new app icon and a redesigned welcome experience. Do any of these features ring a bell? Profile pictures? Multiple accounts? Threaded conversations?

Yup, seems Google made good on its promise to leverage May's Sparrow acquisition towards improving the Gmail mobile experience. The search firm occasionally refreshes Sparrow with maintenance updates, like last month when the Sparrow app gained iPhone 5 and Passbook support...

Apple: we knew nothing of jury foreman Hogan’s background

Apple and Samsung are scheduled to once again duke it out in the courtroom on the eve of Pearl Harbor Day, Thursday, December 6. And as the South Korean conglomerate last month alleged jury misconduct, claiming a foreman in the Apple v. Samsung lawsuit concealed information during the jury selection process, Apple is adamant it knew nothing of the foreman background.

Samsung is hoping to overrule the jury verdict which resulted in a $1.05 billion penalty on the grounds that it would have never approved jury foreman Velvin Hogan had it known of his prior involvement in litigation with a former employee Seagate, with which the Galaxy maker has a “substantial strategic relationship”...

Google’s Chrome iOS browser gains Passbook support, better PDF handling

Hot on the heels of rolling out the improved Drive app with spreadsheet editing capabilities, Google today also refreshed its excellent Chrome browser for the iPhone and iPad. Google Chrome version 23.0.1271.91 (seriously? what's up with the versioning scheme?) is now available for download, bringing with it support for Apple's Passbook app on iOS 6 devices, better handling of PDF documents in external applications, new text encoding setting and more. Jump past the fold for your changelog and more tidbits...

Apple’s tablet lead over Android could be shrinking faster than earlier thought

Remember the days when analysts and Wall Street observers believed the iPad would continue to lead tablet sales for years, and Android competitors still needed work? Funny how time flies. Although Apple isn't laughing, there is talk Google could overtake Apple in 2013. The problem is the iPad's lead over a pack of Android alternatives is shrinking to that when the Apple tablet was introduced in 2010.

Also, remember all those non-Android slates from HP and RIM? Yeah, neither does anyone else. That's the other problem...

IDC: Android and iOS to surpass BlackBerry in enterprise this year

According to a new study by market research firm IDC, the iPhone will combine with Android handsets to overtake BlackBerry's enterprise marketshare for the first time ever this year. This is a major threat to RIM's struggling mobile platform, which has been using its popularity in the enterprise market to stay afloat as its consumer sales have plummeted...

Google Voice finally updated for iOS 6 and iPhone 5

Google Voice users will be happy to hear that Google has finally updated its iOS client to support iOS 6 and the new 4-inch display on the iPhone 5 and 5th generation iPod touch. The update comes more than 2 months after Apple released version 6 of its mobile OS to the public. So needless to say, this was long overdue...

5 excellent jailbreak tweaks to improve search on iOS

Searching is something we do day in and day out. It's an integral part of the desktop experience, so it only makes sense that it's something we do often on mobile devices as well.

Searching on the iPhone, while adequate, has always left a little something to be desired when compared to competing operating systems like Android. It only makes sense, considering Android is the product of Google — the creator of the world's best and most popular search engine.

If you're jailbroken, however, you have many more choices when it comes to search on iOS. There are search improvements for Spotlight, voice search enhancements, Notification Center search options, and much, much, more. Jailbreaking is a great way to get more out of your device, and that's why we've taken the liberty to compile a list highlighting some of the best jailbreak tweaks for search...