Airtel to join Google’s Android One plan

BL 14 Sep 14

 

Telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel, and e-commerce firms such as Flipkart and Amazon, are expected to be part of Google’s Android One devices strategy, which will be unveiled today.

Airtel is expected to offer free data plans bundled with handsets, adding to Google’s efforts in making mobile Internet more affordable.

The devices will be marketed by Micromax, Lava and Spice. The handset makers will sell the devices exclusively through e-commerce sites, such as Amazon and Flipkart.

Low-cost smartphones

Google had first talked about the Android One strategy in June. The Internet giant’s objective is to make quality smartphones at lower costs for emerging markets. It has picked India to launch these devices first as the smartphone market here is growing at a record pace.

While the phones are expected to be priced below ₹6,000, the tie-up with Airtel will ensure tariffs do not hinder Internet access.

Under the Android One programme, handset brands will be given a standardised hardware and software design, which until now was available only on expensive phones. Users will also get faster updates of the operating system.

One of the biggest criticisms of Android has been the lack of standards at the lower end. But with the Android One programme, device makers will make phones with minimum specifications.

Google is also bringing multi-lingual capabilities on the devices to enable users from different parts of the country use text or Internet browsing in local languages.

How Google benefits

The Android One plan will help Google reach the next billion users. The more users it gets for its services built into smartphones, the more its ad revenues will rise. Other Internet companies such as Facebook are also strategising to enable cheaper data access.

For instance, Facebook has the Internet.org platform under which it is partnering with telecom firms, device makers and developers to make Internet services affordable. In India, Facebook is offering free access even to users with feature phones.

According to research firm IDC, smartphone sales in India grew almost three-fold to over 44 million in 2013. In the second quarter of 2014, 18.42 million smartphones were shipped. Though Samsung is the leader with 29 per cent market share, Micromax (18 per cent), Karbonn (8 per cent) and Lava (6 per cent) are closing in. The Android One devices could propel the Indian brands further up in the market.

While Android is the dominant OS, the challenge could come from newer platforms such as Firefox. Intex recently launched a phone with the Firefox OS, for ₹2,000. It will be interesting to see how Google responds to this challenge.

Google 15....Happy Birthday Google !

A Google-themed birthday cake is seen at the house where Google was founded on the company’s 15th anniversary in Menlo Park, California. Google turns 15 today. Stephen Lam/Reuters

FP : Reuters :28 sep 2013

It’s been 15 years since Google turned our online lives 

upside down. It’s hard to imagine any work getting done 

these days without a quick trip to the many Google 

services.

 Here are pictures from Google's birthday celebrations.



Amit Singhal, senior vice president of search at Google, introduces the new ‘Hummingbird’ search algorithm at the garage where the company was founded on Google’s 15th anniversary in Menlo Park, California. Stephen Lam/Reuter



A logo of Google’s ‘Hummingbird’ search algorithm is pictured at the garage where the company was founded on Google’s 15th anniversary in Menlo Park. Stephen Lam/Reuters

Susan Wojcicki, senior vice president of Ads and Commerce for Google, speaks at the garage where the company was founded on Google’s 15th anniversary in Menlo Park, California. Stephen Lam/Reuters

Google celebrates 15th birthday with animated piñata doodle, overhauls search engine

ABHISHEK LAW/ PTI :BL  :SEPT 27:2013

    

Tom Hanks character Forrest Gump is know to say: Life is a box of chocolates. You never know what you are gonna to get.

Similarly, Google doodles are a surprise. One never knows what to get unless they log in to the search-engine's home page.

It's Google's 15th birthday today and what better way to celebrate than a playable doodle.

A children's favourite and a must at every birthday party; today's doodle is a swinging piñata that needs to be hit to score candies (read points).

For PC and laptop users, the swinging piñata is hit with the space bar. Touch phone and tablet PC players need to swipe the screen from left to right to play, rather hit the piñata.

Google is celebrating its 15th birthday with a piñata doodle appearing on its home page.

September 27 is celebrated as Google's birth date, even though the company was incorporated a few weeks ago. It was founded at a garage in Menlo Park, California by Larry Page and Sergey Bin.

The company is today headquartered in Mountain View in California. The co-founders’ landlord was Susan Wojcicki, Brin's sister-in-law.

According to international media reports, Wojcicki sold the home to Google in 2006 and it is now maintained as a mark to Google's beginnings.

A Google+ page meanwhile included a photo album of the original home search page, and collected dozens of birthday wishes.

Cleaner, simpler Google Search

The US-based search engine has already announced that it has updated its search algorithm in order to make it more responsive.

Since 1998, the tech world has changed dramatically and Google said its search engine has been constantly improved.

“The world has changed so much since then: billions of people have come online, the web has grown exponentially, and now you can ask any question on the powerful little device in your pocket,” said Google Search chief Amit Singhal in a blog post.

“You can explore the world with the Knowledge Graph, ask questions aloud with voice search, and get info before you even need to ask with Google Now.”

Singhal said the change includes “a simpler, more unified design on mobile devices.”

“You’ll also notice a new look and feel for Google Search and ads on your phones and tablets,” he added.

“It’s cleaner and simpler, optimised for touch, with results clustered on cards so you can focus on the answers you’re looking for.”

Danny Sullivan of the tech blog Search Engine Land said the upgrade of main search engine is based on a new algorithm with the code name “Hummingbird,” which he said is “especially designed to handle complex queries.

Google rolls out free SMS service via Gmail in India

Zeenews : Thursday, October 11, 2012, 09:51

New Delhi: Here is some good news for all those in India who love to chat. Internet search giant Google has rolled out a free SMS chat service for its Gmail and paid email service Google Apps customers in India. 

With the introduction of this new service, users will be allowed to send text messages or SMSes to mobile phones using Gmail chat. Google initially provides a user with a free SMS credit of 50 messages. This credit is increased by five every time someone responds to the text message by sending a return message. 

According to the company’s website, when the SMS credit limit slashes down to zero, one credit will increase automatically after 24 hours. 

In India, this feature is available with nearly eight cellular operators except Airtel, including Vodafone, Reliance, MTS, Tata, Idea and Aircel. 

This feature was launched for Indian users on October 10. 

Google unveils platform to bring Internet to TV set

SOURCE :AFP, May 21, 2010, 12.38am IST


SAN FRANCISCO: Internet giant Google unveiled an ambitious new service on Thursday that aims to bring the Internet into the living room by allowing television viewers to surf the Web on their TV sets.

"Google TV is a new platform that we believe will change the future of television," Google group product manager Rishi Chandra said while demonstrating the product at a developers conference in San Francisco.

Google TV, developed in partnership with Sony, Intel and Logitech, can be accessed using upcoming Internet-enabled televisions from Sony or digital set-top boxes from Logitech that route Web content to existing TV sets.

Google TV, which seeks to extend the Internet search and advertising giant's reach into the lucrative TV ad market, "combines the best of what TV has to offer and the best of what the Web has to offer," Chandra said.

"The transition from TV to Web is totally seamless," he said during the demonstration for thousands of software developers, which featured a few awkward glitches as Google tried to get the service up and running.

"To the user it doesn't matter where I get my content, whether it be live TV, DVR, or the Web. They just want access to it," Chandra said.

Google TV product manager Salahuddin Choudhary said in a blog post that Google TV will allow TV viewers to get "all the (TV) channels and shows you normally watch and all of the websites you browse all day.

"You can access all of your favorite websites and easily move between television and the Web," Choudhary said.

"This opens up your TV from a few hundred channels to millions of channels of entertainment across TV and the Web," he said.

"With the entire Internet in your living room, your TV becomes more than a TV -- it can be a photo slideshow viewer, a gaming console, a music player and much more," he added.

Google is not the first technology company to attempt to unite the TV set and the Internet and a number of electronics manufacturers are already offering Web-enabled televisions or digital set-top boxes.

Choudhary said the Internet-enabled televisions, Blu-ray players and companion boxes from Sony and Logitech, which are powered by Intel Atom computer chips, would be available this fall through Best Buy stores.

A wireless computer keyboard and box were used during the on-stage demonstration here of Google TV, which uses traditional search to find TV channels or websites.

Sony chief executive Howard Stringer described it as "a very big deal."

"I can't stress that enough," Stringer said on stage. "When you put all this, as we've done for the fall, into the world's first Internet television, the opportunites are, in a sense, just mind boggling."

Google did not announce pricing for the TV sets or the set-top boxes.