latest
Google invests $4.5 billion in Jio, plans to co-develop entry-level smartphone
Optimized versions of Android and the Play Store are also planned
Reliance’s Jio Platforms has been on a funding spree over the past few months with some sizable investment coming from Facebook, Qualcomm, and other global names. Joining this extensive list is Google, which will pick a minority stake in India’s biggest telco to create custom software and hardware solutions for India’s growing appetite for smartphones, particularly in the lower-end segment.
Google bets big on localized products in India with $10 billion investment
Digital push planned for largely untapped business and education sectors
Google for India is the annual event where many company executives, including Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, take the stage to announce what’s next for Google in the country. This year’s digital event was a little different and focused more on education — a sector that has been badly hit as a result of recent lockdowns — in addition to small businesses. The biggest takeaway from today's event was the billion investment parent company Alphabet is committed to the development of its Indian business.
Many people take legal residences and their significance for granted, but in a lot of places around the world, some individuals don't have or use proper addresses. This makes it hard to access banking and emergency services, let alone receive mail. In a blog post dedicated to Google Maps' 15th birthday today, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has shared his vision on how these people may someday be able to use the company's open-source plus codes as an alternative.
Back in 2015, Alphabet was established as the parent company to Google and its many project divisions. Amidst restructuring, Google's co-founder and then-CEO, Larry Page, moved to oversee Alphabet while the SVP of Products, Sundar Pichai, was promoted as the new CEO of Google. Today, the company has signaled another monumental shift in Alphabet's business structure by announcing that Pichai will be succeeding Page as the CEO of both Google and Alphabet.
Over the past few weeks, details have emerged about Google's upcoming products for China. After largely exiting the country eight year ago, Google is now working on a censored news application and search engine for Chinese users. Many have spoken out against Google's cooperation with the Chinese government, and Google/Alphabet executives have responded to those concerns in an internal meeting.
This morning, Google was hit with an enormous $5.06 billion fine for what the European Commission considers to be anti-competitive practices — specifically, those that push users toward Google's own apps and services. CEO Sundar Pichai has penned a response that outlines where the company disagrees, pointing out the ease with which users can install alternatives to Google's pre-loaded apps, and making clear that the company plans to appeal the Commission's decision.
Last week, a tweet from a Danish media analyst contrasting Google and Apple's hamburger emoji designs set the internet ablaze. Google's take on the emoji, which places the cheese below the patty, drew the ire of many. Less than 12 hours later, Google CEO Sundar Pichai responded, reassuring everyone that the company would address the matter immediately. While the world waits to see whether Google changes (some would say, corrects) the architecture of its Android hamburger emoji, there is one update to share: Googlers were served "Android Burgers" on Friday – and, yes, the cheese was kept below the beef patty.
Read update
Google's Duo video calling application has been out for about a week now. It was released on August 16, but it took 2 days to propagate globally. That's also how long it needed to make its way to the top of the free new apps on the Play Store.
Sundar Pichai, lately the CEO of Google and a huge figure in the world of Android, is apparently considering the advice of his dear mother when it comes time to name the next release of Android. That's according to a question and answer session Pichai gave at Delhi University, where topics such as football (soccer) and cricket were also broached. But he won't be considering his mother's input alone.
Google announced a new feature of Google Now at I/O this year called Now on Tap. It hasn't been available in any of the Android M developer previews, but it looks like one of the more exciting things to happen to Now since its introduction in 2012. Most of the original Google Now developers won't be around to see it, though. According to Re/code, many engineers that helped make Google Now a reality left in the months before I/O.
Right now a mobile payment system is kind of like a pair of Crocs in the mid-2000s: everyone has to have one and it isn't clear why. Of course Google Wallet has been around for years, but now that Apple Pay (and Samsung Pay, and apparently everyone is paying everything) is around Google needs something a little more competitive, perhaps using those newly-acquired Softcard assets. We've known about Android Pay, a new mobile payment API, for a few weeks. Google's SVP of Android, Chrome, and Google Apps spoke briefly on Android Pay at Mobile World Congress, officially confirming the service.
The Czar has spoken. After his anointment as Google's Senior Vice President of Products last October, which put him in charge of Chrome, Android, search, ad technology, Google+, Maps, social, commerce and infrastructure, Sundar had been operating in incognito mode, occasionally letting loose a few tidbits of information, like Inbox' deployment to Apps users. In a recent interview with Forbes, the man behind most of the things we talk about here on Android Police has answered some interesting questions regarding his vast portfolio of products, tried to put an end to a few concerns, and remained mum about other issues.
According to Re/code, an organizational reorganization will see Sundar Pichai, head of Chrome and Android, appointed as "czar" of all Google's major products. This includes ads, Search, research, Google+, Maps, commerce, and infrastructure. These duties previously fell on CEO Larry Page. Page will retain his leadership positions, though, at Nest, Calico, Google X, corporate development, finance, and business. Page will also most likely retain final say in most decisions he chooses to be involved in, being CEO and all.
At the Google I/O 2014 keynote, Google SVP Sundar Pichai announced that Android is now being used by more than a billion people every day. But in order to gain customers in the emerging market, Google has a new initiative: Android One. This program will be centered around affordable hardware with essential features, but it will also have an exciting software component.
In an interview with Sundar Pichai, head of Chrome and Android at Google, Businessweek managed to extract a truly exciting tidbit: the next major version of Android will be demoed at Google I/O ahead of its fall release.
It's no mystery that Google has been poking around wearable gadgets for quite some time. The list of projects seems to keep growing as we hear about rumors of an LG-made smartwatch, another prototype watch designed by Motorola, and of course, Google's own Glass. Earlier today at SXSW, Sundar Pichai took to the stage to announce plans to release a brand new SDK for Android-based wearable devices in about two weeks.
Google may have just sold Motorola Mobility to Lenovo, but it seems the giant may have kept one of the manufacturer's juiciest pieces (besides patents) to itself.
Wall Street Journal reporter Amir Efrati has let it slip that none other than Chrome/Android head Sundar Pichai has divulged the existence of a next-generation Samsung-made Nexus 10 tablet. If Pichai related more details to Efrati, he's keeping them under his hat. Still, Samsung is more or less confirmed as the OEM for Google's next 10-inch slate.
Google has just started sending out invites to an event scheduled for next Wednesday morning – that's July 24th. It's being billed as "breakfast with Sundar Puchai," the head of Chrome and Android. It's probably going to be Android-related, but details were not provided.
Head Of Android Sundar Pichai Talks Google I/O, Android, And Chrome - Confirms Focus On Developer Tools, Not A Major Android Revision
Newly appointed head of Google's Android division Sundar Pichai - who perhaps not-so-incidentally also leads the Chrome OS team - recently sat down with
Newly appointed head of Google's Android division Sundar Pichai - who perhaps not-so-incidentally also leads the Chrome OS team - recently sat down with Wired for his first interview since Andy Rubin's departure. Though he didn't speak to specifics about any mysterious Motorola smartphone or Chromebook Pixel follow-up, Pichai did shed some light on the state of Android, Google's open-source philosophy, and future projects.