20
Mar
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Google Keep has once again popped back into existence. It had previously gone live for about a half hour on St. Patrick's Day before Google took it down. We managed to snag a full set of screenshots before it went down.

Update: Hands-On With Google Keep For Android: Notes, Checklists, Voice Notes, Pictures, Widgets, And Voice Actions Integration

So if you'd like to check out Google's new note-taking app, I suggest you hurry and head on over to https://drive.google.com/keep/. Until we see some kind of official launch post from a Google blog, I don't expect it to be there for long.

18
Mar
2013-03-18_22h05_26

I am vaguely aware of the iPad. I know that my Galaxy has Google stuff in it and my nerdy friend tells me about his Next Us that is cool. I am the target audience for this new ad for the Nexus 10. Why? Because my friend who reads tech blogs already knows about it and doesn't need to be convinced. I do. And you know what? It's doing a pretty good job of convincing me.

Here is what I've learned watching this video: the Nexus 10 can be shared with my family, is used to post photos online, can read books, watch movies, coordinate calendars, have video chats, and has voice commands.

18
Mar
2013-03-18_15h03_33

Have you ever wanted to scale a giant mountain? It's a really cool thing to do that challenges you to reach your peak physical condition, invest heavily in gear, and the payoff is joining a tiny percentage of the population that can say they've seen the world from one of its highest points. Or you could just go to Google Maps, now that the company has added images taken from the peaks of the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.

The company sent several of its engineers to scale some of the highest mountains in the world and bring back Street View (can we really even call it that at this point?) data that you can now explore.

15
Mar
fiber

Two things for Kansas City residents who have Google Fiber: one, I still hate you. Two, Google just released its Fiber app for more devices that the lone Nexus 7 you received as part of the Fiber package. You know, just in case you're tired of reaching for one of the best Android tablets on the market just to change your TV channels. It's a hard-knock life.

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According to the Play Store listing, the app should work on any 4.1+ device, but Fiber's Google+ post tells a different story, stating that it requires 4.2. Hard to say, really – you'll just have to install it on a 4.1 device and see if it works.

14
Mar
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Update: Oops! Looks like Google classified this one as dead just a bit too early – it's back for a thirtieth go in the Play Store. If you want one, you should probably buy it now before they really do disappear forever.

Shortly after slimming down the Play Store's selection of Nexus 7 cases, it looks like Google has brought out the axe again, this time aiming it at the Nexus 4 Bumper. The bumper, which enjoyed an absolute roller coaster ride during its tenure, finally ended its on-again-off-again relationship with the Play Store today, with no warning at all.

14
Mar
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As a cycle enthusiast, I've often used My Tracks to keep track of distance traveled, route, and time spent on each ride. And while we all thought it was a dead project for a long while (it was one of the first Android apps, after all), it received a much-needed facelift back in September of 2012, which brought a new record interface, better widget, and pause/resume functionality. Fast-forward to today, and another small-but-useful update has been pushed to the app.

Screenshot_2013-03-14-11-09-13 Screenshot_2013-03-14-11-08-54 Screenshot_2013-03-14-11-09-35

Today's update is more about function than form, as it brings improved sync and sharing features:

What's in this version:

- sync with Google Drive
- share via Google Drive
- view tracks shared with me
- import kml files
- add lock screen widget
- send Google feedback

The biggest addition here has to be Drive sync, as it keeps all tracks and other relevant info stored in one place.

13
Mar
reader

"We're living in a new kind of computing environment," says Urs Hölzle, SVP Technical Infrastructure and Google Fellow in a new post to Google's official blog. The search giant has resolved to make a second sweep at spring cleaning that began two years ago. After this round of cleaning is complete, the total number of features and services Google will have closed will number 70.

In the post, Google announces the closure or deprecation of eight features and services, but buried four items deep is the one that will probably affect the most users: Google Reader.

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13
Mar
so many androids

Imagine, if you will, that every man, woman, and child in Europe owned an Android device. That still wouldn't account for every device that's been made, sold, and activated, according to the latest blog post from Google CEO Larry Page. In the same message that revealed Andy Rubin would be leaving his position as the head of Android development, Page mentioned almost in passing that Android had surpassed 750 million activated devices, including smartphones, tablets, and various other gadgets.

The pace of innovation has never been greater, and Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world: we have a global partnership of over 60 manufacturers; more than 750 million devices have been activated globally; and 25 billion apps have now been downloaded from Google Play.

12
Mar
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You don't really need my commentary for this one. Just kick back for 2 minutes, watch, and see if this humorous take on Google Glass by stuntbear cracks a smile on your face. These will never get old.

Warning: As you've already probably guessed, some interesting language some might call French indeed found its way into the video. Consider using your headphones if watching at work.

Source: Youtube

11
Mar
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The hype surrounding the concept of Google's much-talked-about Project Glass may have hit its first peak during last year's Google I/O conference when stuntmen jumped out of a plane wearing the device, but the demonstration left many people wanting an explanation of what else Glass can do besides first-person photo/video recording.

Since then, we've seen a few admittedly awesome videos, including a DVF fashion show through glass, and more recently the brilliantly-executed "How It Feels" which went a bit further toward showing real-world use, but at SXSW today, attendees were given what might be the most informative (and exciting) demo we've seen yet.