Ron Amadeo, writing for Ars Technica:
According to a report from Crain’s New York Business, Google has scrapped plans for a flagship retail store in New York City.
Interesting logic behind the plan change.
Android development is 30% more expensive than iOS. And we have the numbers to prove it!
This detailed analysis is from a firm that does both Android and iOS development. Read the blog post, draw your own conclusions.
Inside YouTube Red
YouTube Red is very similar, structurally, to Apple Music. The Verge digs into the details of YouTube’s new ad-free video/music service. Terrific read.
Google hides math joke in stock buyback
Perfectly geeky. Love it!
Google’s digital library wins Court of Appeals ruling
Alexandra Alter, writing for the New York Times:
A United States appeals court ruled on Friday that Google’s effort to build a digital library of millions of books was “fair use” and did not infringe on the copyrights of authors.
Google scans books, puts them on line in some form. Authors Guild has fought this, next stop Supreme Court. More details in my post.
This is why we can’t have nice things
M.G. Siegler worries that Amazon’s move to ban Apple and Google streaming devices is the start of a war of walled ecosystems.
Porsche: Apple Play in, Google data collection out
Two different core approaches to privacy, now playing out in the marketplace.
How I ended up purchasing & owning Google.com via Google Domains
Really interesting.
YouTube using ad-free video viewing to sell its music service
YouTube is going to offer a $10 per month service that bundles music and ad-free YouTube viewing.
MarketWatch: Apple widens gap between iOS, Android use in US
This is a big year-over-year change, showing people moving from Android to iOS.
To hack an Android phone, just type in a really long password
Wow. Just, wow.
This should be the rule, not the exception
Google Fiber gives you 1,000 Mb/s (that’s crazy fast) for about $70 per month. This should be the rule, not the exception.
Google animates new logo in place
Google has a new logo. Fascinating how much love and hate this change is bringing out.
On Siri, other voice-assists and humor
A nice look at the difference in humor between Siri and counterparts from other tech companies. Very interesting.
YouTube is the sleeping giant of Live-streaming
Periscope, Meerkat, Twitch and others are making their bones in live-streaming. But the big dog, YouTube, has very quietly been honing its tools in the background.
This site may be hacked
I got a disturbing text a few days ago. Seems that when a business associate looked up my business name in Google, they saw a message, just below the main site URL, that said “This site may be hacked”.
Here’s how I dealt with it.
BBC interview with Tony Fadell [VIDEO]
The embedded video is short and (to me) well worth watching, especially the part about privacy.
Apple Music and the stark contrast with Google and Microsoft
Daniel Dilger, writing for Apple Insider, captures an essential difference between Apple, Microsoft, and Google’s music efforts. The difference is the need for music to be a profit center.
Apple and Twitter are betting on human editors, Facebook and Google aren’t
Can an AI make better news/music curating choices than a human? No doubt, that day is coming.
Google eavesdropping tool installed on computers without permission
Some folks are calling this evil. I don’t think there’s any evil intent here, at least not on Google’s part. But the use of this approach to do evil is obvious.
Apple vs Google and the battle over personalization and privacy
Om Malik, in a terrific piece for the New Yorker, lays out the modern battle between Apple and Google.
Google’s response to privacy issue in Photos licensing language
A Google spokesperson gave a statement in response to my complaint about the privacy issue in the Google Photos license agreement.
Why Android Pay isn’t really about payments at all
Karen Webster, writing for PYMNTS.com, digs into the headwinds facing Android Pay.
The backstory of Google’s plunge into VR
Sometimes the best ideas just walk in the front door.
An Apple customer’s thoughts on Google I/O 2015
Rene Ritchie lays out the new stuff from Google I/O.
Why the Google Photos license agreement is keeping me out
Why the Google Photos license agreement is keeping me out.
Google’s big bet on Cardboard
At last year’s Google I/O conference, Google introduced Cardboard, their inexpensive virtual reality viewer made out of parts you can get for about $20. Now they’ve invited Apple users to the party. There’s more to this than meets the eye.
Google’s self driving cars will hit public roads this summer
A big step for self driving cars. Google self-driving cars hit the roads. This is us, standing at a big precipice of change.
An Android fan’s take on Google vs Apple
Take a look at what is buried on Google Maps in the north-east corner of Pakistan.
!!!slooF lirpA
Google really did it this time. They broke the internet.