Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts

Sunday 1 April 2018

Chromebook Tablets for Versatile Learning

Chromebook
Google has introduced Chromebook tablets which can be used even by students in the third grade itself. The Chromebook tablets are for the low cost Chrome OS devices.

The Acer Chromebook Tab 10 is the first Chromebook tablet that has been revealed by Google. The Acer Chrome book Tab 10, will be the first tablet to run on Chrome OS.

Features 

The Acer Chromebook Tab 10 has a 9.7 inch, 2048 x 1536 display with front and rear facing cameras. It comes with an OP1 processor, 4GB RAM, 32 GB storage and a USB-C port. It has a microSD card slot and a headphone jack. The Chromebook tablet has about 9 hour battery life. The Chrome book tablets come with an in-built stylus that does not require a battery or any additional charging and touchscreen. The Chrome book tablets will be priced at $329.

The students of third grade, at a school in California were the first to test the device. The Chromebook tablets are a great device for them because of the technology and touchscreen.

The Chrome book tablet is first targeting the schools and later will be available for the consumers as well.

In classrooms, the teacher will give each student a device and the session begins. The student then logs in with their name and password, complete their work or even play on the Tab and when they are done, can log out. All the user information on the Chrome book tablet has been encrypted. Each time the device is booted, the verified boot checks the security of the device.

The Chromebook tablet comes with an in-built stylus which does not require charging or pairing to function.

The Chrome book tablets are light in weight with touch and stylus features. It is the ideal device for students to create multimedia projects and the user gets an engaging and absorbing experience. The Acer Chrome book Tab 10 supports many of the learning apps that can be obtained from a wide range of apps from the Play Store.

The first Chrome book tablet which is the Acer Chrome book Tab 10 is slated to be made available by the end of this year.

Advantages of Chromebook tablets 

The Chromebook tablets come with support, management and an in-built access to educational content. Google provides continuous support, updates and ensures security. Hence it becomes convenient and hassle free for the teachers and students using the Chromebook tablets.

The price of these devices is lower than laptops and hence they are more affordable even for personal use.

The Chromebook tablets can be set up within minutes. A Chromebook management license enables you to access the web-based management console. From there you can configure and manage 10 or 10,000 devices across the institution, local education authority or even across the entire region.

The students can share a single device and can even get a personal learning experience by just logging in. Each student can access his or her own work, apps, books and videos.

Friday 23 March 2018

8 of the Best Google Chrome Extensions to Make Your Life Easier

Google Chrome

Digital Gadgets – Google Chrome

Various digital gadgets are available in Chrome’s web store thus making web browsing experience besides being simple and fruitful, also pleasant. The following are some worth mentioning which can be downloaded at no cost within a few minutes-

LastPass

It means that the user needs to recall one password in order to keep the login details secured in one place. Moreover the gadgets could also be beneficial in keeping the other accounts secured by creating a secure password which would be filled in automatically whenever the need arises. An area for notes for offline details which can be secured is also available and can be installed if needed.

Colorzilla

Eyedropper of Colorizilla tends to check any pixel and can inform the user when you desire to know the exact hue of online matter. The data of the colour can then be pasted into another programme or the values adjusted and saved within the extension for reference in the later stage. These gadgets could be an important extension for the purpose of digital design work.

TinEye

TinEye’s reverse image search is said to be the best gadgets while locating the source of an image which seems complex. It targets the nearest match rather than the similarity which makes it advantageous in locating the originals, higher resolution versions or checking online replicas. The extension makes the possibility of search available within a couple of clicks and can be installed with ease.

Unpaywell

Users interested in reading academic papers without subscription fees could utilise Unpaywall gadgets. This free extension navigation is beneficial for those looking for research andis a probable saver on time as well as money.

Instapaper/Save to Pocket

Any ofthese extension gadgets would enable the user to save web pages as well as the articles to read later on synced devices without an internet connection. They have premium version if the user needs to support the developers and obtain additional features

The Great Suspender

To open illogical amount of tabs in the browser is a simple task. Here the Great Suspender gadgets are supportive in handling the performance of the computer by restricting abandoned tabs till the clicks back on them. Plenty of space is available for configuration and the extension enables in keeping certain sites open for an indefinite period of time or unloads the other after a shorter duration of time.

Backstop

One wrong key press could take you back to the earlier page and at times some of the information edited could get erased. This can take place with any one. These simple extension gadgets tends to stop the backspace key from moving to the previous page thereby saving the user from wasting time and inconvenience.

Wunderlist

These are amazing gadgets in helping the user in tracking and sharing to-dos. This extension available as an app helps in creating as well as saving the to-do lists ranging from work project to the things needed to be brought from the grocery store to the items for reading during your journey back home. Moreover it also enables you to share the list with several co-workers. These can be saved across several devices and on accomplishment,the same can be termed as completed.

Friday 2 March 2018

Google Embrace the eSim Technology with Its New Pixel 2 Devices

eSim is all set to become the new standard in the mobile industry and t is being actively promoted by the GSMA which is an association of the popular network operators in the world. As the name suggest the eSim will come in form of the integrated SIM chop which certainly can’t be removed from the device. This move is also appreciated by the consumer electronics manufacturers as they wish to give a major push to the connected device with their very own Internet of Things devices. Google happens to be first to adopt the built in eSim technology with its Pixel 2 devices.

Advantage of having eSim in Google mobile devices


Google will be making use of the eSim in order to authenticate the cellular account. But it will be applicable for those consumers who are active Project Fi subscriber under the Google. It is worth noting that no other Smartphone in the history has made use of the eSim standard every on the planet. For the time being this technology is only being reserved for the LTE equipped devices like Smartphones, tablets and SmartWatches apart from few wearable gadgets.

With new Pixel devices users will get the option to make use of the eSim by simply connecting it to the Fi network. Upon powering up the device users are simply required to give a tap on the SIM free option during the setup and Google will take care of rest of the process to ensure you get the necessary operator coverage on your device.

How it works? 


The best thing about the eSim is that the information placed on it is compliant and can easily be rewritten by any operator. A user will be able to change the operator by placing a simple phone call. There is no need to get a new SIM or any kind of unwanted delay in switching the eSim on purpose. In order words there are simply now physical swapping of SIM cards are required by the user when they change the operator.

This is the usability advantage of the eSim. Secondly, it allows the Smartphone manufacturer to go for the revolutionary smaller Smartphone design. Because they are no longer needed to place the SIM card tray in the devices and it will be certainly quite beneficial for the wearable products in the long run.

Google isn’t the only one to bring products with eSim technology as Apple and Samsung are in talks with a number of major network providers globally to adopt this technology. Samsung has also started using the GSM enabled eSim on the Gear S2 Classic 3g device similarly Apple has went ahead and brought the eSim on the Apple Watch Series 3. Esim is not bringing a wide range of advantages to the device manufacturers but it is also bringing the similar advantages to the user as well. In future we are likely to see Smartphone more compact and smaller in footprint with the adoption of eSim technology.

Monday 5 February 2018

Google Pixel 3 Release Date Rumours: This Could Be 2018’s Best Phone

Google Pixel 3

Rumor Has it: All We’ve Heard so Far about the new Google pixel 3



Since Google’s pixel first released in 2016, it has been one of the best phones that is out there. Google then repeated its spectacular performance with pixel two the year after. It will be no surprise now when Google pixel 3, which is slated to be released this year, will repeat that same performance.


As a major contender to Apple’s IPhone, The Google pixel 3 is a highly anticipated release. With a face id, doing away with the annoying bezel or reducing it and debuting with android’s latest release in the maybe department, the phone is also slated to have much more.

When can we expect the Google pixel 3?



Taking an educated guess, we would say that Google is all set on an October launch or to be specific, A launch date of October 4th with the Google pixel 3 coming on shelves somewhere between 16th to 19th of the same month.

Google has been fairly consistent when it comes to launching its phones. The first pixel came out on October 4th 2016 and pixel 2 came out on 4th October the following year, with both phones hitting the shelves on the 25th and 19th of the same month (different year naturally) respectively.

But keep in mind predicting the exact site of sale is not possible as or again you can take an educated guess as the Google pixel 3 has not actually been announced yet.

Rumor about the design of the Google pixel 3 and its features:



Based on an expert website, the Google pixel 3 is rumored to be coming out in 3 models codenamed albacore, crosshatch and blueline. These names are a part of Google’s tradition of naming all their products after species of fish.

As for the specs that the Google pixel 3 will have is anyone’s guess. There has not been much leaks regarding the Google pixel 3’s specs, but based on competing with other phones in the market, some of the latest specs might be seen on the Google pixel 3.

The Google pixel 3 is said to be coming with Qualcomm’s snapdragon 845 processor which is supposed to make the Google pixel 3 25% faster than its predecessor which runs on a 835 snapdragon chip.

Coming at the premium end of the market, all phones have started reducing the bezel surrounding the phone. It may come as no surprise if Google does the same as well.

Another feature the Google pixel 3 is rumored to have is the Face id that has become so popular with Apple’s IPhone. Besides this an under screen finger print scanner and wireless charging also seem to be in the specs list of the Google pixel 3 based on various experts in the field.

What we do know for certain based on past experience with pixel phones is that Google will launch their newest offering with the latest android OS which is the Android 9.0.

How much will the Google pixel 3cost?



Since Apple has launched IPhone X, prices of smartphones in the premium end of the market have increased so it may mean that the Google pixel 3 is likely to burn not only a huge hole in your pocket but also in your bank account.







Friday 26 January 2018

Article: Augmented Reality on the Web, for Everyone

Article
Google wants to bring augmented reality to browsers and web pages

Google seeks to bring augmented reality technology (AR) to a web platform in the name called 'Article'. On Monday, the company published advances in the performance of a 3D prototype in both mobile device browsers and desktop computers. The objective of this series of tests is to expand access to this technology and advance the development of browsers that in the future are enabled to support AR.

According to a publication on the official blog, millions of Android and iOS devices will be able to provide AR experiences from their browsers in the coming months. This means that to experience this technology a user would not need a specific application but with the browser open you can visualize digital objects pointing to real places through your cell phone. Through Google's 'Article', the user could access a page with AR contents and view them from their desktop computer, in the office or at home.

Until now to use a game or watch a content in augmented reality had to pass two assumptions: that we had an app pre-installed on our mobile or download a specific way to see it. We also have the disadvantage that not all AR experiences work the same, so we can easily install a few of them.

Google wants to break that barrier with a very good idea: to introduce this function in a web browser. In this way, all we need is to have a Chrome app, open a web page, click on a button and have the camera open so we can see the object in question. At the moment it is a project in development but as a proposal to make this technology more accessible it can be very successful.

Article, as Google has called it, is a 3D object viewer that will be integrated into the browser. When we see 'Article' we can interact with it and spin it, for example, to see how 'Article' looks on each side. This is not all, we will have a dedicated button in 'Article' to take us to the camera and we can place the model in question in front of our eyes.

So explain the Mountain View when we activate the option of augmented reality in 'Article' will take us to the camera and we will see a white ring where a few seconds later the object in question will appear. In the demo of 'Article' that they have shown in the blog it is seen that this function is very intuitive and easy to use.

For augmented reality it will be an important step because of the agility it will bring to use it without any intermediary in the form of additional application. In addition, with the quality they have today any Android phone is enough to offer a basic but satisfactory experience.

At the moment, the 'Article' is only a prototype and it seems that we will soon see it integrated into the browser that we use daily to visit web pages. What they have facilitated are the tools to encourage content developers to create their own objects and test Article's capabilities.

Sunday 14 January 2018

What Can Your Google Assistant Do?

Google Assistant can do a lot of stud which you can’t even think of

Since the launch of the Google Assistant year ago it has been improved and enhanced to a great extent. Google wanted to place its digital assistant as the direct competitor to the popular Apple’s Siri and the rising star in the Amazon’s Echo. Google Assistant has made it way from the Pixel Smartphones to every other Android Smartphones as well as to the Internet of Things devices. In short Google AI powered assistant has made the plunge from Smartphone to smart home products and much more. If you are wondering what makes so sought out then just keep in mind you can almost anything by simply assistant do so for you.

Talk to any app of your choice with Google Assistant

Google Assistant allows you open and use any app by simply "Open" command followed by the App name. But in some cases you can smartly say "Talk to Healing sounds" and this will result in the app playing the sounds for next two minutes. If you wish travel back in time and get to know the history then say "Talk to Ancient Times". It is worth noting that the command is "Talk to" followed by the app name.

Let’s get information about the health and medicine with Google Assistant

Google Assistant is smarter and more humane than the robotic appeal of other digital assistant and AI available in the tech arena. Herein you can use command like Ask, Talk or Open or even go ahead frame your questions to get necessary information related to the health and medicine in a smart way. This can help you in communicating with app like Virtual Nurse – to know what to do in panic situations, Baby Stats – to monitor the baby health by adding poop and pee data and Fitness Tips – to get necessary health tips.

Boost your productivity with it

Checking time and other weather updates are as simple as it can get. Just assistant for time, temperature, sunrise, sunset and other details and it will relayed back to your instantly. Users can even perform unit conversions along with have a look at the stock or bitcoin prices on the go without the need of typing everything in the web browser. Similarly calendar app can be called up and upcoming appointments and other agenda can be checked or added right in it.

Control everything around you with new age Google assistant

You can control lightning, appliances, fixtures, home security, temperature, air, entertainment systems, home electronics, computer and other peripherals. With Google HomePod you get a chance to the assistant in the best way possible wherein it gets connected with all your smart devices having support for the assistant and you get overall control on it. While cooking food you can turn on music or TV, check the temperature, get notified if someone comes into the home or even turn on appliances to get the things ready for dinner in time. The prospects of using Google Assistant are immense and limitless by your imagination and your appliances support for it.

Tuesday 19 December 2017

Google Wants You to Experiment With Its New Photo Apps

Google launches three Photo Apps to take photographs

As part of its new 'experimental' program, the technological giant has launched the applications that is one of the best photo apps. Storyboard, Selfissimo! and Scrubbies.

Google does not want to limit photography to the capacity of mobile cameras. As an introduction to its "appsperimental" program - one of the best photo apps, it has launched three photographic applications: Storyboard (only for Android), Selfissimo! (for iOS and Android) and Scrubbies (only for iOS).

These photo apps have been developed in the laboratories of Google. That's why the company asks all users if they try the applications, take a minute to evaluate them and write a comment with their opinion and with ideas for new photo apps.

The first application is Storyboard, available for Android. This app creates comic pages with the frames of a video. It works as follows: the user records a short video and uploads it to Storyboard. The application automatically chooses some frames.

Then he places the images in a way that looks like a comic and applies a filter. If you like the result you can save it on the reel, and if you do not like it you can create a new comic page from the same video. According to Google, with each video there are more than a trillion possibilities.

This is the first trial of a new way to test more experimental functions to see how users respond, the company explained in a post on its Google Research blog. The "appsperimental" program - one of the best photo apps is inspired by the Motion Stills app, whose video stabilization system allows converting short videos into cinemagraphs (moving pictures), time lapses or GIFs. The photo apps involve various technologies that Google is developing:

They are based on object recognition, people segmentation, stylization algorithms, efficient image coding and decoding technologies and, perhaps most importantly, fun!

Many of the functions of these photo apps are the newest features that manufacturers include in the camera of mobile phones. The technological giant is asking for feedback and ideas from people, so we can expect to see the most popular photo apps adapted to other types of applications. This will also help Google develop an AI capable of working on virtually all facets of photography, not just in areas such as image quality and portrait effects.

Storyboard takes video clips and automatically takes out six frames, which you set in a comic style template. The app can be updated to obtain new designs and frames. Google states that there are more than 1.6 billion combinations.

On the other hand, Selfissimo! It's like a black and white photo booth. When you touch the screen to start a session, take a photo each time you pose. The idea is that you make different poses and that the app takes your photo every time you stop moving. Finally, Scrubbies allows you to remix DJ-style videos, creating video loops when passing and fast rewinding through a clip.

Wednesday 13 December 2017

Paper Signals: Cute Voice Experiment Lets You Track World

Google experiment allows the construction of interactive paper signals

Have you ever thought about building your own functional and interactive speech recognition device? Know that Google is turning this unlikely possibility into reality. And most interesting of all, the objects are practically all made out of paper which is called as interactive paper signals. Google surprises us from time to time with very curious experiments demonstrating that technology can be used in very different ways and without the need for many resources. A recent example: cardboard glasses for virtual reality. Now they surprise us with a nice application to take advantage of Google Assistant.

This is an experiment of the company that besides having a rather unusual proposal, visually it is quite curious. They are paper structures that respond physically to voice commands. Paper Signals is a kit that allows us to make paper cutouts, connect them to Adafruit and move them when we do a specific search through Assistant. For example, we can create an umbrella-shaped one that opens when we ask if it's going to rain, a rocket that takes off when NASA launches a real one or see if there are variations in the Bitcoin's price.



Among the possibilities of utensils that can be built we have a weather alert, timer, signal for pauses, alert for low or high Bitcoin, or even a warning that shows when NASA is launching a rocket into space. All paper signals can be checked in the video below.

For the assembly of the paper signals it is necessary the Paper Signals starter kit, which includes an Adafruit plate, all necessary cables and the servo motor that gives life to the structures. Added to that, there will also be a need for a device that has access to Google Assistant - it has gained a function to find services like plumber and electrician recently - a printer and a lot of patience.

This is a great design to pass the time and have fun with the montage. We cannot fail to mention that Google kept the experiment code open, meaning anyone can create any kind of wizard. Do you have any favorite Paper Signals? Do not stop commenting.

Saturday 9 December 2017

Santa’s Village is Back in Business

Santa’s Village

Santa-Tracker: Google's Interactive Advent Calendar is Back

Google has built the Santa's Village and now The Santa Tracker is back: As every year, Google has again gathered a series of entertaining games in Santa's Village an interactive Advent calendar. This time kids can even program visually.
 

Santa-Tracker: From a misprint in 1955 into the Internet age

 
This Santa's Village has a long tradition at Google. Already in 2004, the search engine showed for the first time children on Google Maps the supposed course of Santa's journey from Santa's Village on Christmas Eve. The tradition is actually much older and was long before Google or the Internet. In fact, the Santa Tracker was created by a misprint in 1955.

At that time, the US mail order company Sears printed an advertisement that asked children to call Santa Claus from Santa's Village. However, instead of connecting to Sears, the number led to the North American Air and Space Defense Command (NORAD). In order not to disappoint the calling children, the local soldiers were ordered to give them the alleged position of Santa Claus. This is how a tradition emerged that, in cooperation with Google, spilled over into the Internet from 2004 onwards and it created Santa's Village.

In 2012, however, NORAD decided to monitor Santa Claus no longer with Google but with Microsoft's help. Obviously, after eight years, the search giant did not want to break with tradition anymore, so there are now two Santa trackers: Santa from Santa's Village created by Google and the original NORAD.
 
Google's Santa Tracker 2017: This year too with Coding Games
 
Google's Santa from Santa's Village has long been more than a preparation for Santa's fictive itinerary. It's now an interactive Advent calendar, featuring a range of Christmas games and informational materials. Kids learn, for example, how the Christmas traditions in different countries of the world look like.

In this beautiful Santa's Village, we particularly like the Coding game available since December 2nd. Here children have to program a virtual plotter so that a snowflake comes out of it. This is done using a visual programming language modeled on Scratch. This Santa's Village from Google is available as in previous years as a website and Android app.
 
The original: Santa Tracker by NORAD supports Alexa and Cortana
 
NORAD's original Santa tracker will also be available again in 2017. Here, too, children can learn about Christmas celebrations from all over the world. There are also different games. Unlike Google, however, the NORAD site makes no effort to deduce the desired language from your source. Children therefore have to manually switch to the various languages via a drop-down menu.

Interestingly, the Santa Tracker makers have not overslept the current hype about voice-controlled assistance systems. On Dec. 24th, according to the creators, you can ask Alexa and Microsoft's Cortana where Santa is currently in, and then get an answer from Santa's tracker.

Sunday 3 December 2017

Google Can Tell If Someone is Looking at Your Phone over Your Shoulder

Android 8.1
Android 8.1 is all set to make its debut in December of this year. While the Beta version of the OS is already out, android is bringing out an update to 8.1 Users are encouraged to get the update onto their beta versions or in case of no beta version, they will be able to get the update only once they download it. This is in order to make a seamless transition from the old Android version to the new one.

Besides all the bug fixes and security patches, the update to android 8.1 also makes enhancements to Goggle Go which is meant for mobiles running on 1GB or less of memory space and also enhancements to Neural networks API which will basically enhance mobile intelligence.

8.1 Update and Pixel Phones: 


All the pixels, coming December will run on android 8.1. With the update all pixel phones will be close to the final version of the OS. The phones will get all the latest in neural networks API, which is at level 27, and all the latest updates besides the usual bug fixes and security patches.

With the 8.1 update, Pixel 2 users get Pixel Visual Core which is an additional processor for images that works alongside a third party app. So apps using Android camera API, can take HDR+ pics.

TensorFlowLite and 8.1: 


The update to 8.1 creates enhancements to Neural Networks API and accelerated performance to Google’s intelligence framework, TensorFlowLite.

All developers can now get their hands on TensorFlowLite download. Neural Networks API allows TensorFlowLite to run models such as Smart Reply, Inception V3 and MobileNets.

8.1 Update for App Developers: 


Developers are encouraged to get their apps tested before the official release of android 8.1 in December. With the new update, developers can test their apps from Google play. For phones that are not pixel or nexus, developers can get their apps tested on an emulator for android 8.1

Speeding up App Development: 


Developers can speed up the process of developing apps by using android studio 3.0. Android studio 3.0 allows developers to not only speed up app development but also has features like Instant Apps, XML Fonts, adaptive icons and more

A side Note…

Google recently presented a project, which they call electronic screen protector. All Google pixel phones will have this feature whereby the front facing camera on the phone and its artificial intelligence show if someone is looking into the phone without permission.

This new intelligence temporarily pauses apps to inform the user that someone is peeking at their screen. It is said that this feature works in all types of light settings and all poses. The peeping tom can be identified within 2 milliseconds.

One of the major reasons for this feature to run fast is that all processing is done on the phone itself and not from a remote server.

A major encouragement to Developers is the invention of GoogleFlowLite. Developers can now develop apps using artificial intelligence more quickly and with more computing power and less storage than its former GoogleFlow.

Tuesday 21 November 2017

Google Cloud Natural Language API

Cloud Natural Language API
Google’s Cloud Natural Language API

Cloud Natural Language API, established by Google is said to provide customers with language analyser which according to the company `reveals the structure as well as the meaning of your text. The public beta launch of Cloud natural language API is a new service giving developers access to Google-powered emotion analysis, entity, recognition together with grammar analysis.

 Some of this tends to gauge believing some words positive and the others negative. When observed by Motherboard it was found that the analyser of Google interpreted some words like homosexual to be negative. This is evident that the API that tends to judge depending on the information it has been fed, now seems to give out partial analysis. The tool has been developed to provide companies with a preview on how their language would be expected.

Editing complete sentences would provide predictive analysis on each word and as the overall statement on a negative to positive scale, respectively. AI systems have been trained in utilisation of texts, media as well as books given to it.

Whatever Cloud Natural Language API consumed to form its criteria in assessing English text for sentiment, it influenced the study to negative attribution of certain descriptive terms. No confirmation has been provided by Google to Motherboard as to the body of the text fed to the Cloud Natural Language API.
 
API Connects Other Pre-Trained Machine Learning API
 
Once it begins to engage content from the outside world even if begins with a remote set of contents to comprehend sentiments, it tends to get polluted with the negative word connections found in it. A confirmation had been given by Google to Motherboard that its NLP API had produced biased results in a statement.

There had been clear parallels with the ill-fated as well as impressionable AI chatbots Tay of Microsoft, which had been rapidly, pulled offline by the company in March 2016 after the users of Twitters had taught it to be a shockingly racist as well as sexist conspiracy philosopher.

In July, Google had tried once again with its bot Zo which had learned the same horrible habits form human and had to be quickly shut down. The new API connects the other pre-trained machine-learning API of Google such as the Cloud Speech API which has been made available in public beta, together with the Vision API and the Translate API.
 
Assist Text in English/Spanish/Japanese
 
The latest Cloud Natural Language API presently tends to assist texts in English, Spanish and Japanese. The purpose of Google here is to provide a service which could meet the scale as well as the performance essential for developers and enterprises in a comprehensive range of industries. Providing API for sentiment analysis and entity recognition is not new where services like Thomson Reuters Open Calais have been providing assistance for entity recognition for around ten years now. Sentiment analysis is also not a new concept. On the other hand, grammar analysis API which tend to classify parts of speech and develop dependency analyse trees are not as extensively available still. It would be interesting to know how developers would be utilising these apps though it is easy to see how the same could be utilised to power chat bots for instance and support them in comprehending incoming request.

Wednesday 15 November 2017

Google Introducing Certified Kubernetes

Kubernetes

Since its launch three years back, Kubernetes has gained a lot of popularity over the years, with many vendors even developing their own offerings. What makes the Kubernetes software so successful is that it is programmed to run anywhere and its consistency.

There are roughly 60 new Kubernetes platforms and distributions out there.
 

What is a Kubernetes Certification program?

 
One of the main concerns to users of the Kubernetes program is that it should be consistent and reliable anywhere and at any time. This issue is compounded with the fact that there are many vendors out there who are now offering Kubernetes, so consistency over platforms does become a major concern for any client.

In order to address this issue, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation or more commonly known as CNCF in partnership with the Kubernetes community, have recently introduced the beta version of Kubernetes conformance certification program.
 

The Kubernetes Certification Program:

 

With this certificate in mind, vendors are able to reassure their clients that the software they are using conform to standards and will be reliable in any of the platforms they use it on.

Besides conforming to standards, the Kubernetes certification also gives users confidence of a high level of common functionality of the Kubernetes software over all platforms.

Basically clients can be sure that their software will work as expected.

 

How to get the Kubernetes conformation Certificate?

 
Cloud Native Computing Foundation in partnership with the Kubernetes community are requesting all Kubernetes vendors to run the conformance test and then send the results to the CNCF for review and to give the certificate.

All vendors that have been tested and certified during the beta version of the program will have their names published when the actual version of the program is released.

 

Changes to the Kubernetes certificate:

 
Kubernetes certification standards will receive updates as and when there are software developments to the Kubernetes program itself.

This is done in order to ensure that the updated version of the Kubernetes software conforms to updated standards and a new certificate will be issued in effect.

Every vendor has to get recertified each year in order to provide their clients with the reassurance that not only are they getting a software that complies with uniform standards but is also updated with all the latest and newest in the Kubernetes software.

Once the vendors have their certification in hand they will be able to display the Kubernetes certified logo on all marketing and packaging material.
 

Advantages of Kubernetes Certification:

 
One of the main advantages with a Kubernetes certificate is that there will be smoother flow of data between cloud environments and local operations. The workload can also be split over multiple platforms.
Another advantage is that there will be consistent updates and access to support resources and community software.

Friday 10 November 2017

Why Google is Reading Your Google Docs

Google Docs
Most of the users of the online word processing service by Google, known as Google Docs, were in for a surprise on Tuesday when their documents faced a block as a result of violating the policies. Many users were reported saying they lost access to either their wedding vows or academic researches, for example, receiving notifications saying that their documents had violated the terms of service of Google Docs. This error was reported by dozens of users on the product forums of Google.
While Google acted quickly and put the blame on an erroneous update that locked its users out of their own documents by mistake, the whole incident disclosed what many people did not notice, that Google is scrutinising the apparently personal files stored in Google Docs.

While Google was under pressure to keep a better watch on the kind of videos that were being uploaded on YouTube, deleting content that was illegal from its search results and better monitoring of its advertising network, hardly few people were aware that Google Docs was also being watched. Google Docs is not only used by people for their day-to-day works but also by many businesses across the globe with possibly classified information. Rachael Bale, a journalist at National Geographic, wrote that she found this kind of monitoring creepy. Another user, Kelly O’Mara, who is writer, stated that people really need to take into consideration how much information they have been feeding into Google Docs.

While hardly few will actually read it, the terms of service of Google Drive forbid spam, hate or violent speech, pornography, the spread of private information, etc. Only shared files are subjected to these rules, so the files that are kept private are apparently an exception.

A spokesman for Google stated that Docs and other files in Google Drive are regulated by an algorithm that keeps a watch on the abuse of its policies and if they are found to supposedly be a violation then it automatically blocks those files. Unlike a few systems, where the supposed matter is escalated to a moderator, here there is no human evaluation involved.

The spokesman also said that the primary reason its algorithm scans the files is for the prevention of computer viruses or spam from spreading. It is not clear if Google’s algorithm is utilised to keep a check on pornography or other types of misuse, or if the policy is equally applied to work as well as personal accounts.

After many users were locked out of their vital documents, the company stated that they made a code push that mistakenly marked a small percentage of Google Docs as abusive, which resulted in those documents getting blocked automatically. They also mentioned that a fix was already in place and all users will soon regain full access to their private docs. They issued an apology for the disruption while maintaining that their main focus is user safety.

While Google provides free of charge access to its “G Suite” of programs to its corporate users, Google Docs is available to consumers for free same as Gmail, Maps and its other services. Its company privacy policy mentions that it collects information from Google Docs along with other services, but it is not clarified whether this information is used for adverts.

Wednesday 8 November 2017

Resonance Audio: Multi Platform Spatial Audio at Scale

Sound is a part of the world around us, without it or the ability to hear it we feel an emotional disconnect with the world. The way we experience things and the world around us is all dependent on our senses and how we perceive it.

Google’s new product Resonance Audio brings 3D sound to our ears just from using headphones. This venture opens up new possibilities for VR, AR and 360- degree videos.

When we listen to music from our phones or any other device we always hear sound as it is, meaning no account is taken of the distance between sounds, the directionality, frequency of sounds or the way we are facing some sounds. But with Resonance Audio we will be able to establish distances between sounds and more. Basically it means that we would feel as if we were in the same place the sounds are transmitting from.
 
What is Resonance Audio?
 
Resonance Audio is a tool that brings 3D sound to our ears in other words it is a tool that gives us the feeling of being in the exact location the sound is transmitting from. It can be used over all platforms and is said to be even compatible with IOS, android and Linux.
 
What brought about Resonance Audio?
 
Resonance Audio was initially thought of for VR, AR and 360-degree video. In VR, bringing realistic sounds to the platform was difficult as it put a lot of pressure on the hardware and the results were never up to the mark. With Resonance Audio, there are no problems on hardware and it can still deliver performance in the interactive environments.
 
How is Resonance Audio made?
 
Resonance Audio uses Ambisonics technique to create the realistic 3D sound Quality. What this technique really does is to bring in sounds coming from all directions while at the same time taking account of their frequency, distance, space, the individual’s position with respect to the sound and timing of the sounds. You can then hear all this from your headphones. It basically performs the analysis of the brain in discerning and analyzing sounds.

Ambisonics brings in sound from all directions without compromising on quality.
 
How is Resonance Audio different from 3D Spatialization?
 
Resonance Audio is different from 3D Spatialization in the sense that it not only takes in to account the directionality of sounds but also their frequency, distance, position of the individual in relation to the sound and more. 3D spatialization takes in to account only the different directions in which sounds come.

Resonance Audio is likely to be a game changer for musicians, software developers, gamers, music enthusiasts and more. Its ability to be used across all platforms from IOS, Android and Linux also gives it an additional quality. If it really proves to be as processor friendly as Google claims and is really capable of providing quality 3D sounds to users, It could mean its wider adoption in all systems and technologies.
 

Thursday 2 November 2017

Watch YouTube TV with a New App for Your Big Screen

YouTube TV: New App for Big Screen

In the next few days Youtube TV will come to Xbox One, a new television service with which Google has been trying for a few months to compete against others such as Netflix or Amazon Prime. At the moment the bet of Youtube TV had focused on mobile devices and the use of Chromecast, however now the service will expand to more platforms through their corresponding applications, such as smart TV or Xbox One.

At the beginning of this year we echoed the arrival of YouTube TV, a bet of the internet giant for television programs. But for a bet for and for television to prosper, the logical thing is that it does not focus on mobile devices.

Finally, YouTube TV has presented an application for smart televisions, specifically for Android TV, with what you can use it in TV Boxes and televisions that have such a system. And within a few weeks you can enjoy it on more sites, such as Xbox One, Apple TV, Roku devices and Samsung, Sony and LG TVs.

The Youtube TV offer is focused on cable television channels such as ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, AMC, ESPN, Disney Channel, Fox News or Bravo. To this must be added the inclusion of musical and sports events, or the possibility of accessing movies and television series. Its price is $ 35 per month, and allows access to up to 6 devices at a time. The negative note for now is that it seems that the service will not be available in some European companies, but hopefully it will arrive soon, as little by little other similar ones are doing, such as Netflix, HBO (from which we continue to wait for the Xbox application One, by the way) or Amazon Prime.

When you reboot the application you will go back to the place where you left it. In case you want to see new things, there is a menu with three categories: Home, library and "live" in three tabs within the new application.

The YouTube Home page focuses on five content shelves, customized for each user taking into account their playback history and the programs they have recorded to their DVR in the cloud. Regarding sporting events, YouTube TV allows the selection of certain teams, which will make sports events of your favorite colors prioritized.

In the YouTube Home tab we will also have recommendations on all the contents and summaries of those programs that we have begun to visualize but that for some reason we have not finished seeing them.

The YouTube"live" tab shows a traditional list of channels that are currently broadcasting and the content they offer. You can scroll to the right to see what will be broadcast next and record the programs you want.

The YouTube library tab will save those broadcasts that you have recorded as programs, movies, sports, etc. You can also search for films by specific actors, shows similar to those you usually attend, etc.

Finally, next to the launch of the YouTube TV application, its interface and some features will be renewed to offer an experience more akin to the new platforms for which it will be oriented. And the truth is that it seems a very complete platform in terms of multimedia content and features. It remains to be seen when the service is also available in our region and if its price can compete with others.
If you have never tried YouTube TV (I have not done it yet), the company offers seven free trial days.

Friday 27 October 2017

Google Photos Now Recognizes Your Pets

Google Photos Now Recognizes Your Pets

Google Photos now automatically recognizes pets and knows their names

Google has a new feature for its Google Photos app. The app recognizes the faces of your friends and family members and automatically groups them into groups.

Corresponding was now also for your pets retrofitted!

If you open the app after the update, Google Photos generally asks you if you want to give a name for the animal photos found just like the person recognition. Now, Google Photos recognizes your pet's face. Images that Google recognizes the animal can then be found through the Google Search. It has only been possible to search directly for people or certain animals, now we can also search for the name of our pet.

With this innovation, Google Photos scores with a number of pet lovers: Google Photos now also creates their own albums for your pets. The innovation is to be available promptly to all users. As a result of these extensions, creating albums, slideshows, or movies with your pets photos becomes easier. The assistant included in the Google Photos app also takes into account the extended possibilities and prepares video animations for the four-legged friends, provided the material is adequate. Already for some time now Google Photos has the possibility to search specifically for dog or cat breeds if it must be also by entering Emojis.

The automatic tagging according to terms such as "dog" or "cat" is an old hat and is dominated by Google's photo app as well as by Apple photos. However, a face recognition for pets is a novelty. Google Photos offers the like now and sorts the dogs and cats that you have clicked together with recognized human faces in the extended section "People and Pets", where you can also name the new albums.

Animal update for the "Google Photos" app: From now on, not only people but also the four-legged householders with their own label are displayed in the gallery overview. Thus the search for the pictures of the hairy favorites is clearly simplified.

What did Mr. Schnuffmann look like when he was still sitting small and tender in the basket before he became that grown-up Giant Schnauzer? Where are the pictures showing Kitty Cat after her walk around the neighborhood? If you search for the photos of your hairy favorites in the "Google Photos", you had to type "dog" or "cat" into the search field or cross the gallery.

With the new update in the latest app version 3.7.0, the management of the animal photos is much easier, a contribution to the Google blog reveals. To the galleries of the friends, which are also provided with the names of the depicted on request, now also galleries of the four-, eight- or how many-also-always-beers join. Are separated from each other under their own label. These albums can also be named.

The software also recognizes the breed of the animals. So if you're looking specifically for a poodle, you can enter this in the Google Photos search field. Already all Poodle pictures are displayed. Also new: the label "People & Pets", which lists the pictures of the owners and their favorites together.
Also the recently introduced search by dog or cat Emoji is possible, as well as the creation of a video by Google Assistant. How this might look, Google shows in this small sample clip:

Wednesday 25 October 2017

Pay with Google and Speed Through Checkout

Pay with Google

Now shop easily on Android by using ‘Pay with Google’

If you love shopping online or offline shopping then dealing with cash will be a thing of past with availability of more and more mobile based payment options. Mobile based payment systems saw a surge in last couple of year with the launch of Apple Pay, Android Pay & Samsung Pay which brought the cashless future into reality. This was enabled by the launch and availability of the near-field communications in the modern smartphones. Google has announced that it will be launching very own way of paying on mobile devices with the ‘Pay With Google’ option. This will allows users to make use of their card to purchase any product or service using the application like Google Play, Chrome, Android Pay or Youtube.
 

Now pay easily on your Android devices

 
The ‘Pay With Google’ option will help in bringing together all the saved payment option within a single interface and it can be done by the app makers and retailers by implementing very few lines of code. Google has made use of the Google Payment API which made its debut during the I/O developer conference in May to give final shape and power the new payment method.

The aim behind ‘Pay with Google’ is to make the checkout process speedier for the users so that it can help in increasing the conversions for the retailers. This has been made possible by the tapping into any payment card of customer present in the file on Google rather than saving them onto the Android Pay specifically. This feature will also make it simpler for the users to shop on their Android devices using the Google powerful digital assistant called Google Assistant.
 

Google Wallet was Google’s first attempt

 
This isn’t the first time Google has forayed to make extensive use of the NFC-based systems. Just a while ago we had Google Wallet which was released in September 2011. Using the Google Wallet users were to make purchase online or even in the store as well as it can be used for sending money to the family and friends. During the initial phase this service found huge popularity and it was touted to leave the Apple Pay way behind in the adoption and active usage but sadly it didn’t happened.
 

A new era of and easy mobile transactions

 
During the launch Google official stated that facilitating payments will become a key capability for the user’s Google account through implementation of ‘Pay With Google’. This option will enable the users all across the globe to pay using their Google devices regardless of the device, platform or interface. Using the ‘Pay with Google’ feature at the checkout users will be presented with a list of payments cards already saved in their Google account. Users are simply required to give a click on the card they wish to use and Google will work towards sending the information right to the merchant along with the shipping address to facilitate the transaction instantaneously. More than 40 different payment providers had already partnered with Google to make the integration simple task for the merchants who wish to make use of this new feature.

Monday 23 October 2017

Google Bug Bounty: Google Will Pay Hackers Who Find Flaws in Top Android Apps

Google’s new Security Reward Program

Google takes a lot of steps to ensure the security of their platforms. One such measure is the bug bounty reward program taken by Google. It involves the rewarding of persons who find faults or bugs in apps operating on Google play.

Google is closely collaborating with Hacker One, a company that rewards hackers for identifying bugs in a program and android apps to create a Google security reward program. This trademark initiative is said to help app developers and users alike. It will also improve the entire google play platform.

Bug bounty works like this, a hacker can identify bugs or an issue with a particular app and send a report pertaining to the issue to the developer of the app, the developer then resolves the issue/issues and then the hacker is free to contact the google play reward program.

The hacker can also work closely with the app developer to rectify the issue. The hacker can claim the bug bounty reward only once the issue is fixed. Hackers can get a bug bounty reward of up to 1000$.

There are various rules governing the bug bounty reward program. All hacker have to report vulnerabilities to the developers first. The developer should have resolved the issue before a hacker can request a bug bounty reward. If the developer does not respond to the bug report or does not show any inclination to fix the problem, the hacker does not get the bug bounty reward.

A detailed report has to be submitted along with meeting all of googles required criteria. Any issue that causes multiple problems in a program is only eligible for one bug bounty reward. If more than one hacker identifies an issue only the first report will be eligible for a bug bounty reward.

This program is right now available for only certain specific apps. Basically everyone knows that there are many apps on the play store and not all of them are up to a certain quality standard. In order to avoid giving bug bounty rewards to those apps that are sub- standard and contain a lot of bugs, google has introduced this program to only a few apps at present. Alibaba, dropbox, headspace, line,snapchat and tinder are the few apps that are included in the bug bounty reward program. As of now only these apps have opted into google’s bug bounty reward security program. In time a lot more apps mayopt in to the bug bounty rewards program.

Hackers will also be given information about the developer of the app so that they can interact directly with the developer in resolving the issue. Right now only google has reserved the right to reward hackers according to pre specified vulnerability criteria and only once the criteria has been met, only then will a hacker be rewarded. All bugs have to be resolved with a developer within 90 days to qualify for a bug bounty reward. Google has used the bug bounty program in order to improve the overall quality of apps and the google play platform.

Thursday 19 October 2017

Google Advance Protection, for Those Who Need It Most

Google Advance Protection

Google Advance protection: Secured Login Procedure

A much more secured login procedure for users who tend to be at high risk of online attacks has been designed by Google wherein the latest Google Advance protection feature is directed on defence against phishing, fraudulent access and accidental sharing of accounts.

This feature has been hosted for users keeping in mind journalist who would require safeguarding their sources or campaign staffers at the time of election. Google Advance protection program would be utilising Security Keys that tend to be small USB or wireless devices which would be essential in signing into accounts. According to Google they seem to be the most secured type of two-step verification, utilising public key cryptography together with digital signatures for confirmation on the identity of the user.

Google has stated that the security keys could be complex and could be utilised for users who do not mind taking them around, utilising the Chrome browsers on desktop and Google apps, since the keys would not function with the mail, calendar together with the contact apps of iPhone. Alphabets’ Google had mentioned that it would be rolling out this program to offer stronger mail security for users like government officials, political activists besides journalists who may be the object by refined hackers.

Google Advance protection with Physical USB Security Keys

Google users would have the advantage of choosing in to security settings focused on protecting Gmail, YouTube data and Google Drive from phishing attacks.Google Advance protection features comprises of physical USB security keys for connecting to a desktop computer before every login for the purpose of identifying the user.

Mobile logins would need a Bluetooth wireless device. Google Advance protection users would have their data confined from access by any of the non-Google third-party applications like the Apple iOS mail client aapl or Microsoft Outlook msft. The program is said to comprise of a much more laborious as well as detailed account recovery procedure in order to avert fraudulent access by the hackers who may tend to obtain access by playing that they have been locked out.

Users, who tend to be part of Google Advance protection, would have extra steps put in order, at the time of account recovery comprising of extra reviews together with request on why a user seemed to have lost access to their account. Moreover Google Advance protection feature tends to automatically restrict full access to Gmail as Google Drive for particular apps.

Google Advance protection: Upgrade Two-Factor Authentication Tool

As of now, Google Advance protection would be made available for consumers of Google Accounts and in order to offer comparable protection on G Suite Accounts, G suite admins would look into Security Key Enforcement together with OAuth apps whitelisting.

Earlier this year, Google had mentioned that it intends to upgrade its two-factor authentication tool after numerous high-profile hacks inclusive of the Gmail account of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in 2016. U.S. Intelligence agencies believed that those hacks comprising of a breach of John Podesta’s personal Gmail account had been done by Russian as part of a broader cyber campaign to assist Donald Trump, to win the White House.

Google has stated that it would update the security of accounts on a continuous basis which has been signed up for the program and the same is made available to users having a regular account. While Google had earlier supported the utilisation of security keys for two-factor authentication, Google Advance protection users would not be having backup log-in system available should they lose their keys other than the fuller account recovery procedure. Google has not specified what the recovery practice would involve.

Friday 13 October 2017

Google X and the Science of Radical Creativity

Google X

Google X is empowering invention with bust of radical creativity

 

Google parent company Alphabet has a very special wing which is working on developing highly influential and quite unbelievable technology, product or service for all. This special wing is called Google X wing which brings together highly powerful minds in varied fields that have a common shared goal of developing solutions to the crucial problems plaguing modern society. In simple words this wing is a kind of Moonshot Factory whose solutions are nothing less than the science fiction.
 

What makes Google X so different from others?

 
Google X will comes as simply one such company where members are encourages to perform regular investigation in the absurd ideas which are permitted anywhere in the world. In this case ‘absurd ideas’ are limited to the science fiction and their task is to investigate whether it is possible to implement in modern day and how feasible will it be. Over the this wing has quietly investigation space elevators and cold fusion which are remarkable absurd ideas in reality but so much in the field of science fiction.

This Moonshot factory has tried and even abandoned wide range of projects over the years which ranges from the developing hoverboards with magnetic levitation technology to extremely cheap fuel from the sea weed. It has met with varied degree of success in different projects and one of its most notable and widely reported projects is self-driving cars. Apart from it it had made drones which can deliver aerodynamic packages and even designed such contact lenses which can measure glucose level from the diabetic person’s tears.
 

Google X is the need of the hour

 
The ideas followed or made into by Google X might appear to be farfetched or too random to show any worth to usual reader. But the engineers and brightest minds at this Moonshot factory adhere to a very simple and potent three part formula. At the very beginning they address a huge problem, secondly they do it by offering a radical solution and thirdly this is achieved by employing a feasible technology.
It is worth noting that Google has created the Google X wing to solve its own problems as there is already massive workforce to deal with it. Rather the Google X division is literary made with the aim of creating such companied which helps in changing the world we live in and become the next age- Google. This wing considers more than 100 such absurd ideas every year which encompasses varied areas like artificial intelligence, clean energy and much more.
 
Innovation powered by secrecy
 
The Google X wing innovation is powered by the highest level of secrecy. Google doesn’t ever share the allotted budget or the number of employees working in the Google X wing even to the investors. Journalists simply has no clue what’s happening behind the closed doors of the Google X wings but it is worth noting that this Moonshot Factory is led by the finest mind in their respective field who knows what they doing or dealing with.