Google

Dropcam, the popular home monitoring camera startup, will be acquired by Nest, maker of smart thermostats and smoke detectors. The deal is worth $555 million in cash. Nest itself was just purchased by Google just four months ago for $3.2 billion. But the company says it is undertaking this acquisition on its own, outside of Continue Reading →

With Google I/O coming up in just a few days, it’s time for a second edition of The Google Tracker, what we hope will be a bi-yearly look at what’s going on at Google HQ. Just like last time, we’ll have a potent mix of news, (good) rumors, and a bit of informed speculation thrown Continue Reading →

On Tuesday, news broke that YouTube would begin blocking videos from artists on indie labels that had not signed on to its new terms, a set of contracts it’s making partners agree to before it launches a paid streaming service later this year. Fans and artists were understandably upset, but YouTube insisted that the majority Continue Reading →

Google has announced that it will provide up to $50 million for organizations that can help encourage more girls to take an interest in computer science at an early age. Revealed as part of its newly launched Made with Code initiative, the cash will be used for things like “rewarding teachers who support girls who take CS Continue Reading →

There’s been some brouhaha about YouTube blocking a huge swathe of music videos before launching its paid Spotify rival. The truth, however, is a little more nuanced. Labels who haven’t signed up to the website’s new terms, the majority of which are independents like XL Recordings, will have their artist channels blocked in the next Continue Reading →

YouTube will launch a new subscription music service, the company acknowledged Tuesday after being dragged into a public dispute over royalties that will result in the blockade of some independent artists’ music videos. The Google Inc.-owned video site said in a statement that it is “adding subscription-based features for music on YouTube” and that “hundreds Continue Reading →

As part of the ever expanding feature list in Google Hangouts, you can now call businesses straight from their Google search results page on PCs. Calls are free to shops in the U.S. and Canada, while calls to international numbers are charged at Hangouts standard charge rates. Google added outgoing Google Voice calls to Hangouts Continue Reading →

It’s official: Google is about to ruin YouTube. A company exec told the Financial Times it will start blocking videos from record labels that refuse to sign licensing deals for its forthcoming premium service, YouTube Music Pass. This is the dumbest thing Google could do, and it threatens the very heart of what has always Continue Reading →

In April, Google announced a new Glass at Work program and on Monday it announced its first partners in the program. APX, Augmedix, Crowdoptic, GuidiGO and Wearable Intelligence are the initial five certified to deliver enterprise software for Google’s wearable device. Google also shared a case study of Dignity Health, whose health practitioners wear Google Continue Reading →

For more than three years now, Microsoft has held to the line that it has loads of patents that are infringed by Google’s Android operating system. “Licensing is the solution,” wrote the company’s head IP honcho in 2011, explaining Microsoft’s decision to sue Barnes & Noble’s Android-powered Nook reader. Microsoft has revealed a few of Continue Reading →