March 28, 2024

Web and Technology News

Bird, Lime use Google’s ARCore to power scooter parking solution

Bird and Lime are launching new tools to help alleviate the problem of shared electric scooters parking inappropriately, and both are powered by Google. Both Bird and Lime’s systems, named Bird Visual Parking System and Lime Visual Positioning Service (VPS times two!), respectively, rely on Google’s ARCore Geospatial API, allowing the companies to geo-locate parked […]

Google debuts Cloud Run jobs for containerized, scripted tasks

During a developer keynote at Google I/O 2022, Google unveiled Cloud Run jobs, an extension of Google Cloud’s service for developing and deploying containerized apps using languages including Go, Python, and Java. Cloud Run jobs are designed for containers that run to completion and don’t serve requests, such as data processing and administrative jobs, and […]

Google Play targets emerging markets with prepaid app subscriptions and more

At the Google I/O developer conference today, the company introduced several changes designed to make it easier for Android app developers to generate revenue via subscriptions, particularly when trying to reach users in emerging markets. Most notably, the company said it will now allow developers to offer users the ability to subscribe via prepaid plans […]

Google Play adopts App Store-like features including in-app events and custom product pages

At Google’s I/O developer conference, the company rolled out a series of updates for Android app developers who publish to Google Play. Among these were two high-profile changes to its Google Play app marketplace, custom store listings and in-app events, which follow updates Apple made to its own App Store just last year. Google had […]

Google updates its Firebase Backend-as-a-Service to make app development faster

At its I/O developer conference, Google today announced a number of updates to Firebase, Google’s popular Backend-as-a-Service platform. The focus here is mostly on deeper integrations with the rest of Google’s developer tools and platforms, as well as the overall developer ecosystem, as well as a number of updates that will help developers better secure […]

Android 13 Beta 2 is rolling out today with new user controls, privacy features and more

At Google’s I/O developer conference, the company announced that it’s releasing the second public beta of Android 13 today. The beta comes with a number of new features and user controls, along with updates to privacy and security. With Android 13, Google says it’s giving users more control over what personal information they share and […]

Google’s Flutter 3 adds support for macOS and Linux desktop apps

At its I/O developer conference, Google today announced the launch of Flutter 3, the latest version of its open-source, multiplatform UI development framework for building natively compiled applications. It’s been about four years since the company first launched a beta of Flutter 1.0. At the time, the team’s focus was mostly on helping developers build […]

Here’s everything you need to know from the Google I/O 2022 keynote today

It’s Google I/O keynote day! Once a year Google kicks off its developer conference with a rapid-fire stream of announcements, finally unveiling so many of the things they’ve been working on behind-the-scenes lately. Didn’t have time to tune into the whole two-hour presentation? We get it — that’s why we’ve packaged the biggest news up […]

Google and Samsung team up to make sharing data between health and fitness apps easier

At its Google I/O developer conference, Google and Samsung today announced Health Connect, a new initiative that will simplify the connectivity between health and fitness apps to allow users to share their data across apps. Currently, accessing and syncing this data this relatively difficult for developers, so Health Connect will give them a series of […]

Google’s Android Studio IDE gets live edits to speed up development cycles

It’s Google I/O today and as is tradition, the company is using the event to introduce the latest releases of its Android Studio development environment. Launching today are a new beta of Android Studio Dolphin with features like View Compose animations and Wear OS emulators, as well as a preview of Android Studio Electric Eel, […]

Google Cloud launches AlloyDB, a new fully-managed PostgreSQL database service

Google today announced the launch of AlloyDB, a new fully-managed PostgreSQL-compatible database service that the company claims to be twice as fast for transactional workloads as AWS’s comparable Aurora PostgreSQL (and four times faster than standard PostgreSQL for the same workloads and up to 100 times faster for analytical queries). If you’re deep into the […]

Google is opening its second physical store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

At Google’s I/O developer conference, the company announced that it’s opening its second physical store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The company says the new store is the first of its “neighborhood stores” and will offer shoppers a similar hands-on experience to its first-ever physical retail store, which opened in Chelsea, Manhattan last year. The new Williamsburg […]

Google will allow users control how ads are personalized on Search, YouTube and elsewhere with new tool

At Google’s I/O developer conference, the company introduced a new tool that, later this year, will allow users more control and visibility over how their ads are personalized across Google’s apps and sites, including Google Search, YouTube, and the Discover feed in the Google app. From a new three-dot menu that will appear on all […]

Google launches Google Wallet to help you store your credit cards, tickets and more

At its I/O developer conference, Google today launched Google Wallet, a new Android and Wear OS app that will allow users to store things like credit cards, loyalty cards, digital IDs, transit passes, concert tickets, vaccination cards and more. That’s pretty straightforward, but from here on out, it gets a bit confusing. Google, after all, […]

Google is implementing a new 10-shade skin tone scale across several of its products

Google announced today at its I/O developer conference that it’s incorporating a 10-shade skin tone scale in several of its products over the coming months. The scale was created in partnership with Harvard professor and sociologist Dr. Ellis Monk. The new Monk Skin Tone (MST) scale is designed to be more inclusive of various skin […]

Google Chrome adds virtual credit card numbers to keep your real ones safe

Google today announced that its Chrome browser will now offer users the ability to use a virtual credit card number in online payment forms on the web. These virtual card numbers allow you to keep your ‘real’ credit card number safe when you buy something online since they can be easily revoked if a merchant’s […]

Google launches a 9 exaflop cluster of Cloud TPU v4 pods into public preview

At its I/O developer conference, Google today announced the public preview of a full cluster of Google Cloud’s new Cloud TPU v4 Pods. Google’s fourth iteration of its Tensor Processing Units launched at last year’s I/O and a single TPU pod consists of 4,096 of these chips. Each chip has a peak performance of 275 […]

Google’s new ‘multisearch’ features hint towards an AR glasses future

In April, Google introduced a new “multisearch” feature that offered a way to search the web using both text and images at the same time. Today, at Google’s I/O developer conference, the company announced an expansion to this feature, called “Multisearch Near Me.” This addition, arriving later in 2022, will allow Google app users to […]

Google’s new ‘multisearch’ features hint towards an AR glasses future

In April, Google introduced a new “multisearch” feature that offered a way to search the web using both text and images at the same time. Today, at Google’s I/O developer conference, the company announced an expansion to this feature, called “Multisearch Near Me.” This addition, arriving later in 2022, will allow Google app users to […]

Google Maps challenges Apple’s 3D mode with a new ‘immersive view’ for cities

In the face of increased competition from Apple Maps and its 3D city views, Google today introduced its own vision for its next-generation Google Maps with a preview of its new more “immersive” viewing experience. The enhancement, presented during Google’s I/O conference keynote, leverages a combination of computer vision and A.I. technology to fuse together […]

Google Maps challenges Apple’s 3D mode with a new ‘immersive view’ for cities

In the face of increased competition from Apple Maps and its 3D city views, Google today introduced its own vision for its next-generation Google Maps with a preview of its new more “immersive” viewing experience. The enhancement, presented during Google’s I/O conference keynote, leverages a combination of computer vision and A.I. technology to fuse together […]

Google Translate adds 24 new languages, including its first indigenous languages of the Americas

In addition to improving Google Assistant’s ability to communicate with users in a more natural way, Google today also announced improvements to its Google Translate service. The company said it’s adding 24 new languages — including its first indigenous languages of the Americas with the additions of Quechua, Guarani, and Aymara. Other new additions include […]