June 27, 2012

The Nexus 7 Tablet Announced At Google I/O

June 27, 2012/ Bobby Zhang

Seems like everyone is hopping on the tablet train before it's too late. Google announced their latest entry into the tablet market today at their developers conference, Google I/O. The new 7-inch Google Nexus 7 tablet will run the freshly released version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Priced at a mere $199, identical to that of Amazon's own tablet, the Kindle Fire, we should expect promising results from Google's latest release.

Featuring a 1.3 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset with quad-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, the Google Nexus 7 plans to pack a punch when it comes to its functionality. To display all of that will be a 1280-by-800 IPS display with scratch-resistant Corning glass. To top everything off is 1 GB of RAM, a micro-USB port, and a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera. This potential "Kindle Fire killer" weighs in at 0.7 pounds and measures out to be 10.45mm thick. As for connectivity you can come to expect the usual GPS, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and NFC capabilities. Google promises up to 8 hours of content consumption from a 4325 mAh battery.

Alongside with Google's latest and greatest hardware, they announced enormous updates to their software features as well. Google Play will now become the central hub for all of your entertainment content, ranging from music, movies, games, books, and much more. Using your Google account, Google Play will be able to store everything in one place, similar to an Apple ID account. By taking advantage of the cloud, all of your purchases and data can synced wirelessly throughout all of your devices as well.

You can preorder your Nexus 7 today on Google's website for $199 for the 8GB version and $249 for the 16GB version. While this tablet does not plan to challenge what Apple has created with the iPad, the Nexus 7 looks to take a grab at what the Kindle Fire has started. Catch the video after the jump!

September 30, 2011

Google Opening First Retail Store In October

September 30, 2011/ Nir Schneider

Is it Google's turn to open up shop? After all Apple, Microsoft and Sony have their own retail stores across the world. Instead of setting up shop in its home town of sunny California, Google plans to open up its first retail location in Essex, England on October 7 with more to follow. Google will call its retail store the "Chromezone" store which will be designed in Google themed colors with similar hip employees as Apple's and Microsoft's have inside their own respective retail stores.

With that much money, Google has said that opening up a few retail stores of its own is only a part of a pilot program. As we know, Google loves experimenting. It isn't clear what Google plans to sale, if anything at the Chromezone, but it wants to educate consumers with hands-on experience on its Chromebooks and Chrome OS while supposedly also selling Chromebooks made by Samsung and Acer, as well as accessories such as headphones.

September 21, 2011

Google + Open For The Public

September 21, 2011/ Jordan Fox

Google +, Facebook’s new competitor, went public yesterday to the happiness of people around the world. Ironically, within 3 hours Facebook rolled out a new update to its own social network service that received an enormous negative response. Google + has been in beta testing for the last 3 months and touts its ability to have group video calls (Facebook does not offer this), ‘group’ sharing, and many more features.

August 15, 2011

Motorola Mobility Acquired By Google

August 15, 2011/ Nir Schneider

An unexpected major purchase has been announced today by Google that it has acquired Motorola Mobility, one of the biggest mobile phone maker in the world, for a mind blowing $12.5 billion. Google has plans to "supercharge" the Android ecosystem out of this purchase. Google CEO, Larry Page, had this to say:

The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences. I am confident that these great experiences will create huge value for shareholders. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.

July 31, 2011

Logitech Revue Price Cut To $99

July 31, 2011/ Sean Donohoo

Logitech Revue is never really took off along with Google TV and its starting to hurt. Logitech has slashed Revue price from $299 to $99. What a steal for such a little device. Logitech has promised that when Android 3.1 update comes that customers can experience a smoother platform and more access. Hopefully this doesn't kill Google TV all the way as the platform is nice, but needs a lot of work.

May 10, 2011

Google's Free Music Streaming Service Goes Live

May 10, 2011/ Nir Schneider

Google has released all kinds of new goodies today at their I/O keynote today in San Francisco, this time Google has announced a new music streaming service called Music by Google. It's currently in beta and on invitation only basis. The whole point of Music by Google is to let you upload your music collection to Google's cloud storage and then you will be able to stream and listen to your music online and on your Android device using the Android Music app, for free. Songs that you've already fully played will be cached on your device and will be available for offline listening. Possibly the best thing off all is the ease of use, users will be able to directly upload their music library straight from iTunes or any music folder. What are you waiting for? Go request a Music by Google invite, it's free!