Available for Android only at first, the service will actually be rolling out via Waze, the GPS-powered, crowdsourced, traffic-thwarting company acquired by Google more than two years ago. According to a report in Reuters, the new app will launch as a pilot only in Tel Aviv, Israel, but as with most beta projects, there will be scope for opening it to new markets depending on the outcome of the tests.

Source

American toy manufacturer Mattel collaborated to deliver that virtual environment to its youngest customers. The classic View-Master — the handheld photo viewer to display custom images from corresponding color slide reels — has gotten a digital makeover.

Kids will replace the thin cardboard disks with their Android devices to view 3D-projected content, which Mattel believes “extends and enhances the play experience allowing kids to feel like they are immersed in an interactive and imaginative learning environment.”

The new View-Master integrates Google Cardboard technology, but keeps similar design concepts of the iconic toy. The vintage tools with a modern treatment has the power to capture nostalgia for adults while engaging kids in an immersive learning environment. Users look through the finder of the digital View-Master to see images from movies and TV shows, famous destinations, nature, cultural landmarks and more.

For instance, kids select from different subjects in the “Experience Reels,” and sport the hardware to transport to a far-off destination. Users can travel to San Francisco, tour the Bay by boat, walk across the Golden Gate bridge and learn about the history of Alcatraz from their living room through new age elements such as light enhancement, animation and sound. Mattel is also developing several more experiences for launch, including “dinosaur and solar system experience reels.”

The developers plans to republish old View-Master content, as well as develop unique content to better suit the digitally-entranced audience.

The View-Master will work with a custom Mattel App, and up to 200 Google Cardboard apps, offering younger generations a novel opportunity to experience great inventions of the past.

View-Master

Google announced its Google Fiber service is coming to 18 new cities across four metro areas: Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, andRaleigh-Durham. This is in addition to the existing Google Fiber areas of Kansas City, Provo, and Austin.

That’s not all. Google says it is still exploring the option of bringing Google Fiber to five additional metro areas: Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and San Jose. These potential cities will be getting news about whether they made the cut “later this year.”

While the announcement may be official today, Google has been working with city leaders over the past year to prepare. Here is how the company outlined its plans:

Our next step is to work with cities to create a detailed map of where we can put our thousands of miles of fiber, using existing infrastructure such as utility poles and underground conduit, and making sure to avoid things like gas and water lines. Then a team of surveyors and engineers will hit the streets to fill in missing details. Once we’re done designing the network (which we expect to wrap up in a few months), we’ll start construction.
Google has also been very busy with growing Fiber in its existing cities. In November, for example, it promised free Internet to Austin’s public housing residents, and kicked off its Google Fiber for Small Business option in select areas of Kansas City.

As it moves forward, Google’s pitch has naturally been transforming from “this is an experimental project” to “gigabit broadband is the future.” Today, the company referenced last week’s U.S. President Obama’s State of the Union speech calling for faster networks, research showing gigabit networks are contributing billions of dollars in economic growth, and U.S. communities in general demanding more speed for their homes and businesses.

Rumors of Google’s plan to expand its Google Fiber service to more cities have been ongoing since at least February 2014. In fact, they continued right up until yesterday, when The Wall Street Journal reported on the upcoming news.

Bobby Hundreds got to check out their new Playa Vista, CA offices which were once home to aviation tycoon Howard Hughes.

Many of us use Google services each day but very few of us ask the question, “How BIG is Google?” Obviously this question cannot be answered directly, however, the sheer size of Google can be realised by the hard facts and figures shown in this short film.
Please enjoy and don’t be evil.

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At the 2013 CES Show in Las Vegas, Vuzix announced that for a little less than $500, users will be able to connect wirelessly to their smartphone (iOS or Android) or other compatible devices, as well as the Internet on the M100 which has a virtual display with integrated camera and powerful processing engine, running the Android OS.

Answering the phone with a visual address book, enabling apps from texting and email to visual navigation (via an integrated GPS and head tracker), and features like video recording and image capture will all be possible. Its understood how they won CES Best of Innovation Award this year.

So the word we heard is that the tech giant has begun to let a few more details leak about the Augmented Reality glasses that have been in the works-

Today the NY Times reported

In a post shared on Google Plus, employees in the company laboratory known as Google X, including Babak Parviz, Steve Lee and Sebastian Thrun, asked people for input about the prototype of Project Glass. Mr. Lee, a Google product manager and originally worked on Google mapping software Latitude, mobile maps and indoor maps, is responsible for the software component and the location-based aspects of the glasses.

“We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input,” the three employees wrote. “Please follow along as we share some of our ideas and stories. We’d love to hear yours, too. What would you like to see from Project Glass?”

From the images snatched off of their Google+ page I wont be surprised if these begin popping up soon-