Google

Google’s YouTube has reached a deal to buy Twitch, a popular videogame-streaming company, for more than $1 billion, according to sources familiar with the pact. The deal, in an all-cash offer, is expected to be announced imminently, sources said. If completed the acquisition would be the most significant in the history of YouTube, which Google Continue Reading →

As predicted back in March based on an APK teardown, Google Now has received bill reminder integration via your Gmail account. The level of detail for some billers seems fairly basic at the moment: Google Now identifies emails in your Gmail account as bills, and a card will show up with the name of the Continue Reading →

Google has acquired Word Lens, the mobile app that can translate text in real time using your smartphone’s camera, along with its development team at Quest Visual. The impressive technology will now make its way into Google Translate. Word Lens and its various language packs have been made free on both iOS and Android “as Continue Reading →

Google Maps now features elevation profiles for bike routes. Google added biking directions to Google Maps and specialized maps that highlight bike routes a few years ago. If you are weak like me, though, and learned to bike in Holland, where the biggest obstacle is a dike, you don’t just want to know what streets Continue Reading →

Google expanded the payment options for the Google Play Store on Android devices on Thursday. In addition to a credit or debit card, billing to a carrier, or using a gift card, users can now purchase apps, books, songs, TV shows, and movies from the Google Play Store with a PayPal account. In-app purchases can Continue Reading →

Ready to become a Google Glass “explorer?” You’ve once again got the chance. One month after putting a limited stock of Glass on sale for a single day, Google said Tuesday that the face-mounted computer is available to consumers once again. Last month was the first time Glass was made available to the general public. Continue Reading →

It’s an all too frequent dilemma. You get one of the best high-end Android phones out there–maybe it’s a Galaxy S5, or maybe it’s an HTC One–and the hardware is impeccable. But the software experience is all mucked up from carrier add-ons and skinning. While you can root your phone to get the true stock Continue Reading →

Google has updated its iOS search app to version 4.0, which introduces a variety of new and useful changes. The app now recognizes new voice search cues and conversational input similar to the way Siri works. For example, Google says you can ask the app “What’s the weather like?” and follow up with “How about Continue Reading →

No stranger to rolling out services in extended beta and temporary projects, Google on Tuesday unveiled its latest “experiment” for Chrome: Spell Up, a browser-based game that uses voice recognition and speech synthesis to help people learn to spell English better. Users can start at any level they want and the point is to build Continue Reading →

Google’s products are constantly tested behind the scenes for potential new features, and since Gmail is just about as high as you can get on that list it makes sense that there’s no shortage of potential updates being explored at any given time. Recently we explored a series of new features for the mobile Gmail Continue Reading →