Google

Google has Nest, Apple has HomeKit and Samsung has…SmartThings, we’re hearing. The deal was completed for around $200 million dollars, though it might have been less according to one source. (Update: The deal is not done yet, says another.) SmartThings is in the home automation space, and allows you to connect devices like lights and Continue Reading →

Google announced on Tuesday that it is launching Project Zero, an internal team of security specialists tasked with finding vulnerabilities in third-party software — not to exploit them, but to alert the developers and avoid the next Heartbleed. The Heartbleed bug put the whole software industry on heightened alert, and Google, Facebook, Microsoft and many Continue Reading →

Samsung, ARM, Nest and four other companies have gotten together to build a new radio standard for the smart home. Dubbed Thread, it is a low-power, mesh network protocol that also supports IPv6. The standard is built on the existing radio hardware used by ZigBee devices (802.15.4), which means that a company could update its Continue Reading →

With Glass and Android Wear, Google has already invested a lot of time and resources into developing the next-generation of wearables, but it’s another of its eye-focused projects that has on Tuesday received its first major boost. The search giant’s secret Google[x] team has confirmed that it’s licensed its smart eyewear to healthcare specialist Novartis, Continue Reading →

Google is on track for mobile search queries to overtake those on desktop this year, and on Tuesday it took one more step forward in how it is will control that experience on behalf of its users — for better or for worse. The company has announced that it will now flag to its users Continue Reading →

We’re entering a new age of artificial intelligence. Drawing on the work of a clever cadre of academic researchers, the biggest names in tech—including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple—are embracing a more powerful form of AI known as “deep learning,” using it to improve everything from speech recognition and language translation to computer vision, the Continue Reading →

Microsoft is aiming straight for Google’s Chromebooks this holiday season. At the company’s partner conference today, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner revealed that HP is planning to release a $199 laptop running Windows for the holidays. Turner didn’t provide specifications for HP’s “Stream” device, but he did detail $249 laptop options from Acer and Toshiba. Acer’s Continue Reading →

Google Glass has made a name for itself (somewhat infamously) as head-mounted hardware that you can control with your voice and a sliding finger. Now, a team based out of interactive studio This Place in London, is launching a new app that it hopes will kickstart an even more seamless way of interacting with the Continue Reading →

Google is popping down the bureau de change and changing $100 million to euros to try and find the next Spotify or Skype. The search engine giant is establishing a London office for the Google Ventures investment fund to back European companies. Founded in 2009, Google Ventures is an arm of the Big G that Continue Reading →

If you think that Google has got enough of your personal data, think again. In an interview with the New York Times, Larry Page has said that he wants access to your medical records, but don’t worry, it’s all for your own good. In describing how Google’s services frequently outrage privacy advocates before their potential Continue Reading →