Category: Gooooogle

Google acquires Waze for $1 billion

Louie Diangson Leave a comment

You know that social traffic app with a logo of a smiling chat bubble with wheels? Yep, that’s Waze. And Google has confirmed that it has already closed its acquisition for a reported $1 billion plus.

Waze is an Israeli community mapping and navigation app that provides users with real-time traffic updates in about 190 counties. It has a strong user base of 50 million and has a 4 and a half star rating on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

waze

With the acquisition of the 5-year-old company, Google is aiming to enhance Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhance Waze with Google’s search capabilities. Peter Cohan wrote at Forbes.com that one of the possible reasons why Google bought Waze is to keep it away from competitors like Apple.

As for the Waze development team, according to Google they will remain in Israel and operate separately for now.

{sources: 1, 2 & 3}

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HTC One Nexus materializes, available on June 26

Bob Freking Leave a comment

After Google and Samsung launched the Galaxy S4 Nexus this month, HTC denied that it was working on a Nexus version of their flagship phone, the HTC One. We guess you can’t trust everything the company says, can we? The Nexus version of the HTC One is real folks.

HTC ONE

Just like all other Nexuses, this one runs on stock Android and is expected to receive the software updates as soon as possible with every version release. Like what we’ve said with the launch of the GS4 Nexus, this will have pros & cons; in exchange for clean & unadulterated Android, you will lose BlinkFeed, Zoe and all of HTC’s software.

It’s senseless.

HTC One Google Edition specs:
4.7-inch 1080p full HD display @ 1920×1080 pixels, 468ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 1.7GHz quad-core
2GB RAM
4 megapixel UltraPixel Camera
32GB internal storage
WiFi
Bluetooth
IR Blaster
4G LTE connectivity`
2,300mAh battery
Android 4.2.2 (upgradable to future versions)
137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm
143 g

The HTC One Google Edition will be sold at 32GB unlocked through the Google Play Store on June 26 for $599 (US first, “initially”). Its main competitor, the Galaxy S4 GE will also be available on the same date for $50 higher.

{source}

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Samsung Galaxy S4 Nexus to retail for $649 on June 26

Bob Freking Leave a comment

Google is re-introduing the Samsung Galaxy S4 and will package it as Nexus-like variant running on vanilla Android OS. That means there is no TouchWiz, just plain stock Android UI. This confirms our earlier report of the Galaxy S4 Google Edition.

On the short side of things, that also means less features (or gimmicks, depending on how you view it). No gestures, eye-tracking, camera add-ons and all of Samsung’s wiz.

SGS4Nexus

However, if you’re not into S-Health & all of Samsung’s extra software, you should definitely consider it. After all, on the plus side, you will get fast version updates and more memory since there is no extra Samsung software.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Nexus Edition specs:
4.99-inch display full HD Super AMOLED @ 1920x1080p, 441ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 1.9GHz quad-core
Adreno 320 Graphics
2GB LP-DDR3 RAM
16, 32GB, 64GB
Up to 64GB microSD
HSPA+, LTE 100Mbps (6 bands)
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, dual-band WiFi Direct
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS w/ aGPS support
NFC
IR Blaster
13MP autofocus, rear camera with LED flash
1080p video recording @ 30fps
2MP front-facing camera
1080p video recording @ 30fps
7.9mm
Li-Ion Battery 2600mAh
Android 4.2.2 Jellybean (upgradable to future versions)

This Google Edition Galaxy S4 will have LTE and uses Qualcomm’s quad-core chip. It will be available in the US starting June 26 for a price of $649 plus tax (more or less Php29k) in the Google Play Store.

{via}

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Hangouts: Google’s reply to BBM, iMessage & More

Bob Freking Leave a comment

Say goodbye to Google Talk & G+ Messenger. Google Hangouts is getting updated big time, and it will absorb all of the company’s shortcomings on messaging.

Viber is taking on the desktop, Microsoft has Skype, Apple has iMessage, BlackBerry has BBM – then there’s still a lot more in the picture such as WhatsApp, Yahoo & the rest. What does Google have? Voice, Talk, G+… and all of them are integrated with one service after another. It’s honestly messy.

hangouts

Google simplifies and enters the messaging game with Hangouts. It’s basically an app that you can download too – and it will be available on Android, iOS & the web.

The company tries to simplify everything by placing your recent conversations in front of you. The focus here is simply hanging out since your convos with people are labeled and put forward rather than displaying a bunch of chats with contacts. It still features a lot of personal touches by Google, and of course, video chat is available up to 10 people.

We guess it won’t be called Babel or Babble after all.

With so many Android users across the globe, you can only imagine how many people use Google’s services. The question is, however, will the consumers adapt to Hangout? Or will they use other messaging services that are more matured in the market?

The app will be available soon, so feel free to try it out and leave a comment down below.

{via} {Google Hangouts}

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Google unifies Drive, Gmail Google+ Photos storage

Louie Diangson Leave a comment

Instead of having 10GB for Gmail and another 5 GB for Drive and Google+ Photos, you’ll now get 15GB of unified storage for free to use as you like between Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos.

google1

This new combined storage space makes it easier for Google users to manage their files online. So whether you’re heavy on emails, documents, or photos, you don’t have to worry about how much you’re storing and where.

google2

Google will also make updates on their Google Drive storage page to give you stats on how you’re managing your storage space. If you need more space you can upgrade your storage plans starting with $4.99 for 100GB up to $799.99 for 16TB.

These changes to Google Drive storage will roll out over the next couple of weeks.

{source}

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