Google was founded in 1996 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page. The company started off as a new search engine that became very popular and is the most commonly used to this day. Google began expanding its services by acquiring many companies such as Keyhole, Inc. and YouTube. In September 2008, the G1 was released, made by HTC the G1 was the first smartphone running Google's own Android operating system. Google continues to expand and innovate in several areas with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) being Google's first operating systems designed for tablet computers. Read on for the latest Google news, reviews and videos:
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by Stephen Schenck | May 24, 2013 12:18 PMRead OnDespite Google not announcing it at I/O 2013, it's been clear that Android 4.3 has been under development, leaving many of us wondering just when Google might hope to finally make it official. While most of the 4.3 evidence has come from the likes of server logs, today we get a first-hand look at the software in action, with a number of images appearing to show Android 4.3 running on a Nexus 4. Supposedly snapped at a Thai mobile expo, these shots show Android 4.3 build JWR45B in action, prepared just a little earlier this month. We don't get anything close to an exhaustive look at the ...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 24, 2013 10:57 AMRead OnIn the days following Google I/O 2013, we've been seeing Google distribute updates to a number of its Android apps; Drive and Google+ saw such updates land over the past week. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that more are on their way, and today we get what could be an early look at one of them, upon the discovery of what looks like a screenshot of an upcoming Gmail refresh used in a Google I/O presentation. The talk about Structure in Android App Design touched on Google's design for a navigation drawer, and the visual demo used shows that drawer present in a new look for Gmail. ...
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by Anton D. Nagy | May 24, 2013 8:27 AMRead OnRumors about the next Google Nexus 7 are piling up. It's normal given the fact that the first Google-tablet is turning one-year-old in just a few weeks. According to the latest report based on information from "supply-chain sources", the Next Nexus 7 tablet, the second-generation, will start shipping around the end of the second quarter. It should land on shelves the third quarter. Same sources claim knowledge about a certain LTPS -- low-temperature poly-silicon -- screen of seven-inches, produced by AU Optronics. Like its predecessor, the second-generation Nexus 7 will also be a ...
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by Joe Levi | May 24, 2013 7:29 AMRead OnGoogle introduced some very cool things at I/O 2013, primary among them was a renewed focus on services. In addition to talking a lot about new Google Play Services which will bring a whole new set of features and functionality to every Android handset and tablet from Froyo on up, we were also shown "Auto Awesome" and Hangouts (the replacement for Talk). Auto Awesome "Auto Awesome" is a set of utilities built in to the latest version of Google Plus -- the website, not the app. It can automatically select the best pictures from your vacation and organize them into a scrap book for you. It ...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 23, 2013 3:23 PMRead OnWe've still got over a month to go until Google starts selling its own special edition of the Samsung Galaxy S 4, ditching the familiar TouchWiz and Samsung software touches for a stock Android experience. While nothing new is happening with the phone's hardware, we've nevertheless been curious to learn about just how it will arrive, and a new listing over at the Bluetooth SIG site looks like it's ready to help clue us in. The model in question is Samsung's GT-I9505G. Now, the regular old GS4 is the GT-I9500, and the international version with LTE support (and dropping the Exynos 5 Octa ...
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by Michael Fisher | May 22, 2013 6:45 PMRead OnIt's become a trope in mobile tech: write an article about Nokia, and someone will leave a comment suggesting that all the beleaguered company needs to do to return to prominence is build an Android phone. Mark my words: it'll even happen on this article, despite the contravening headline. And, fanboys being fanboys, a flame war (or at least a small brush fire) will erupt. As Emperor Palpatine might say, "it is unavoidable." You don't know the power of the (nonexistent) Nokia Android phone. While I disagree with the premise that a Nokia-Droid would save the company, I understand its ...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 22, 2013 5:21 PMRead OnIn case you haven't been following, Microsoft and Google have gotten themselves into a minor tiff over YouTube. It started earlier this month when Microsoft updated its YouTube app for Windows Phone. This brought a lot of new functionality, but as was quickly pointed out, seemed to violate some YouTube policies, specifically with how it allowed downloads and didn't display advertisements connected to clips. Then Google got all leagal-threateny with Microsoft, which both caused Microsoft to call Google out on hypocrisy following some of Larry Page's comments at Google I/O in regards to ...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 22, 2013 4:48 PMRead OnGoogle is on a bit of a tear lately, updating apps and services across the board. We follow up the recent changes to Google+ with an update for the Android Drive app, giving the program a new look. The Now-ification of Google apps continues with Drive's new card-based layout. You can swipe these around to navigate through your shared files, and there's a new quick preview mode. For those of you who like to work with documents on your phone – and not just view them – the new Drive gains some additional editing tools. When working with spreadsheets, you can now adjust cell alignment and ...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 22, 2013 7:03 AMRead OnA lily white version of Google's Nexus 4 has been teasing its existence for months now. We've had the chance to look at it from seemingly every angle under the sun, and it's pretty darn attractive. Of course, the big problem is that, now half a year since the Nexus 4's retail launch, this white version has yet to go official. As such, the white Nexus 4 has been tied to any number of rumors of refreshed Nexus 4 hardware, the idea being that Google would use the phone as an instrument by which to introduce some other new Nexus 4 feature, like proper LTE support (as opposed to any radio ...
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by Jaime Rivera | May 21, 2013 7:00 PMRead OnWatch today's Pocketnow Daily as we talk about Sony's launch of the Xperia Tablet Z, price points and the reason why it's worth your money. We then move into Apple territory as reports call the next-generation iPad ready for trial production. Later it's HTC in the news as we talk about a Google HTC One in the works and when we assume it might be launched. Then we talk about Nokia and their LiveSight technology reaching their Here Maps application for almost every other device that supports it. We end today's show talking about Samsung's possible project to bring Galaxy fingerprint scanning ...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 21, 2013 2:59 PMRead OnShortly after we learned of the special Google edition of the Galaxy S 4 running stock Android, we started hearing rumors about the HTC One getting the same sort of treatment. It wasn't long before HTC took the air out of those claims, announcing that it was "not currently planning a 'Nexus Edition' of the HTC One." In spite of this, the rumors refuse to fully dissipate, and yet another round has sprung up, looking to an end-of-summer release window. The info comes from developer/occasional tipster LlabTooFeR, who has been posting about a "Senseless HTC One" on Twitter. He claims his ...
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by Joe Levi | May 21, 2013 10:45 AMRead OnOne of the announcements at Google I/O this year was somewhat unexpected. We'd heard a few scattered rumors of another Samsung-made Nexus based on their new Galaxy S 4 platform, but I don't think anyone was ready for what we actually got: an unlocked, cross-carrier version of the Galaxy S4 -- the Galaxy S4 Google Edition. Earlier today Pocketnow's Stephen Schenck wrote about this new but "not quite-a-Nexus" phone, and why it's a "slightly" bad deal. His points are fair and accurate, and I can't say that I disagree with any of them. Why is the "Google Edition" of Samsung's latest flagship ...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 21, 2013 7:05 AM
Read OnThose of you who watched along with the Google I/O keynote last week got to witness the debut of what's essentially a Nexus Galaxy S 4. Everything was going great at the time: "it's Google's take on Android – on the Galaxy S 4" *cheers* "it's bootloader unlocked" *cheers* "it will get prompt updates with every Android platform update" *big cheers* "it will go up for sale on June 26 in Google Play for $649" … … *silence*. We're talking pin-drop, cricket-chirping stuff here. Yup, there are no two ways about it: that's a very un-Google, un-Nexus price tag. At the time, I wasn't too ...
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by Adam Doud | May 21, 2013 7:00 AMRead OnMicrosoft has made a lot of noise recently with their “Scoogled” campaign, accusing Google of taking every bit of information they can get their hands on – your searches, your emails, your IM's, etc and storing it and using it. They use it to give you ads; they use it to track your interests; they use it to "turn you into the product", to use the accepted phrase of the day. Microsoft's counter is to try and turn your fears into Google-phobia. They're trying to scare you away from Google. And it's kind of...what's the word? Oh yeah, stupid. Because what Microsoft doesn't address in ...
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by Jaime Rivera | May 20, 2013 7:00 PMRead OnWatch today's Pocketnow Daily as we uncover the GS4 Active leaked photographs. Then we talk about AT&T and their new commitment to remove restrictions for video chats over cellular data, but you know there's always a catch. Then we talk about smaller versions of Windows 8 tablets as the Acer Iconia W3 leaks a product that's ready for the market. Later we go through Google I/O's teasers on Key Lime Pie all through the presentations. We end today's show talking about the first Jolla smartphone running their Sailfish OS and what this means to the smartphone industry. All this and more ...