'Over 1 million Google accounts breached by Android malware Gooligan'

A new variant of an Android malware called "Gooligan" is believed to have breached the security of over one million Google accounts.

According to security firm Check Point Software Technologies, the malware roots Android devices and steals email addresses and authentication tokens stored on them.

This can give attackers access to users' sensitive data from Gmail, Google Photos, Google Docs, Google Play, Google Drive, and G Suite, it said.

"This theft of over a million Google account details is very alarming and represents the next stage of cyber- attacks. We are seeing a shift in the strategy of hackers, who are now targeting mobile devices in order to obtain the sensitive information that is stored on them," Check Point's head of mobile products Michael Shaulov said.

No immediate comment could be received from Google on the matter.

Check Point's report said the malware campaign infects 13,000 devices each day and that Gooligan targets devices on Android 4 (Jelly Bean, KitKat) and 5 (Lollipop), which represent nearly 74 per cent of Android devices in use today.

About 40 per cent of these devices are located in Asia and about 12 per cent are in Europe.

After attackers gain control over the device, they generate revenue by fraudulently installing apps from Google Play and rating them on behalf of the victim, the report said.

"Every day Gooligan installs at least 30,000 apps on breached devices, or over 2 million apps since the campaign began," it added.

The infection begins when a user downloads and installs a Gooligan-infected app on a vulnerable Android device, or by clicking on malicious links in phishing attack text messages.

Check Point said it has reached out to the Google security team immediately with information on this campaign.

"We appreciate Check Point's partnership as we've worked together to understand and take action on these issues. As part of our ongoing efforts to protect users from the Ghost Push family of malware, we've taken numerous steps to protect our users and improve the security of the Android ecosystem overall," Google's director of Android security Adrian Ludwig was quoted as saying.

Among other actions, Google has contacted affected users and revoked their tokens, removed apps associated with the Ghost Push family from Google Play, and added new protections to its Verify Apps technology.

Check Point?s Mobile Research Team first encountered Gooligan's code last year and in August this year, the malware reappeared with a new variant and has since infected at least 13,000 devices per day.

Check Point is offering a free online tool that allows users to check if their account has been breached.

"If your account has been breached, a clean installation of an operating system on your mobile device is required. For further assistance, you should contact your phone manufacturer or mobile service provider," Shaulov said.

New Google phone comes with suite of 'smart' technology

Google has unveiled its new smartphone along with a suite of new hardware products that work together and make use of the company's personal assistant software.

At a product launch in San Francisco on Tuesday, the company officially announced the Pixel phone, the Daydream View virtual reality headset, the Chromecast Ultra streaming device and the Google Home smart speaker.

None of these devices are unique to Google, and the tech giant faces stiff competition from established companies like Apple and Sony.

But Google is gambling that the deep well of data it has accumulated about people through its search engine and online software puts it in the best position to leverage emerging technologies for individual consumers.

"Our goal is to build a personal Google for each and every user," CEO Sundar Pichai said. "We want to build a Google for each user."

Pixel phones

The Pixel phone marks the company's most aggressive challenge yet to Apple and Samsung.


Google has released a series of its own phones, dubbed Nexus, since 2010. Those phones had limited distribution and were typically embraced by Google purists. Now, the company is casting aside the Nexus name as it aims to become an even more prominent player in the mobile market.

Described as "the first phone made by Google inside and out," it comes with a voice-activated, built-in personal assistant.

Assistant, Google's answer to Apple's Siri, listens to voice commands and performs tasks, such as playing music or making restaurant reservations. It links directly to a user's Google account so it can access things like email and calendars to provide a personalized experience. 

Pixel is available for preorder in Canada for $899 or $1,149 for the larger version.

Google Home

Google is ready to start selling its echo of Amazon's Echo.

Googe Home is an internet-connected speaker that uses Assistant to transform your abode into a smart home.

It will be able to perform many of the same tasks as Echo, including playing music and fielding questions about everything from the weather to what's playing at the local theatre.

But Google is betting that the knowledge that it has gained while running the world's dominant search engine will make the computer-powered assistant in Home smarter than Echo's Alexa, which has been on the market since 2014.

Amazon Echo challenges Toronto's Ubi voice assistant

Home will also be able to control lights, appliances and other devices around the house, assuming you've installed "smart" versions of them.

And like most of Google's new hardware, Home will work closely with other Google devices. For example, if you have a Chromecast streaming device, you can use Home to control video on your TV.

Home will cost $129 US ($170 Cdn).

Daydream View

The company also gave us a look at its virtual reality headset Daydream View, which comes with a small remote and slate of exclusive content.

The new wireless motion controller for Daydream can function like a fishing rod, a steering wheel or a pointer to permit more sophisticated VR experiences.

The headset is paired with any Daydream-ready phone. For the time being, that exclusively means Pixel, but Google says more compatible phones will roll out. 

Daydream is a challenge to more sophisticated systems from Facebook's Oculus business, HTC and Sony.

Google says 50 partners are bringing apps and games to Daydream, with more on the way. Google services such as photos, YouTube and Street View maps will also come to Daydream.

The Daydream View will hit shelves in November for $79 US ($104 Cdn).

Chromecast Ultra

Google is updating its Chromecast video-streaming device for watching Netflix and other online video on big screens.

The new device, Chromecast Ultra, will support a higher-resolution format called 4K and work in concert with Google Home. 

Google is facing competition with low-end devices. Roku just announced a $30 Express model that's about the size of a finger, while Amazon just updated its $40 Fire TV Stick. Both of those devices come with a remote, making them suitable stand-alone gadgets. But neither streams in 4K.

What you need to know about 4K TV

Wi-Fi router

The new Google Wi-Fi system will be modular — just add new components based on how your home and rooms are shaped. Software will help manage the various access points for you as you move around.

It will cost almost $130 ($171 Cdn) for the main device. A three-pack for larger homes will cost about $386 Cdn.

New devices could help Google keep its services front and centre in the battle for consumers' attention, said analyst Julie Ask at Forrester Research.

Unlike a new mobile app or other software, she noted, it can be an expensive gamble to build and ship new hardware products. "But if you're Google, you can't afford to stop placing bets."​

Everything you need to know about Google Allo

The very best by Google is here! If you have been jostling to find one resource that provides consolidated information about the newly launched Google Allo, Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered messaging app that was announced alongside Duo, during its annual I/O event in May, this year, here we are.

There are several apps connecting people to their contacts – ranging from the most popular, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, to Hike, Hangouts and Viber, to name a few, Google decided to enter the market with its revolutionary and more personalized new messaging app that boasts artificial intelligence system, as well as other new features such as end-to-end encryption, voice messages, and sticker packs.
So, what is the app all about and how it is different from existing messenger applications that you have on your smart devices? Let’s find out:

Google Allo signup and account creation

Just like our very own Whatsapp, the process to sign up on Allo is pretty simple. It uses your mobile number, so you can use it to send instant messages to anyone in your phonebook, along with other Allo users. You can also sync your Gmail account with the app, and keep track of mails and important meetings with built-in AL powered by Google Assistant, the assistive technology. This feature makes it unique.

App interface and design

Google is known to keep the interface of all their products user-friendly. Regular Google users would not take long to figure out app’s interface, settings and features. The overall interface is pretty basic and seamless for any user to get acquainted to.
"Allo is a smarter messaging app, with machine intelligence and our natural language processing advances from search," explains Fulay. "Smart reply – which we first built for Inbox gives real time suggestions to quickly reply to a message based on your responses, and it learns over time."

Security

You can also use Allo in incognito mode, where your text messages will not be logged and the chat gets fully encrypted. However, this also restricts some smart features. To combat this problem, Allo plans to keep only temporary message logs, in order to improve the Google Assistant and Smart reply features. Allo offers an Incognito Mode, which means you get to access not only end-to-end encrypted messages but also value added features like expiring chats and private notifications. Benefit? You can keep all yours messages safe, as well as control how and when to permanently delete them from your device. Basically, you get additional controls over the privacy of your chats.

Smart Reply

One of the well-noted, distinctive features of Allo is its ability to send smart replies. "I actually miss this when I'm not using Allo," adds Fulay. "If I use any other messaging app I miss this because it really keeps the conversation going."
However, smart replies can take a week of training for someone to make the most of this feature. Fulay also demonstrated smart replies to show how they work effectively. He shows us how it responds to a picture and a number of common messages by offering a suitable and quick response.

Google Assistant

Finally, Siri like experience for Android users! If you have used chat bots like Slack, it won’t take you much time to get acquainted with the in-built virtual assistant that Allo has to offer.  You can call on Google Assistant at any time just by typing "@google" in Allo. For example, if you and your friend are making plans to visit a Chinese restaurant in your area, you can simply type in your query in the chat window to bring up these results. Google Assistant will proactively suggest options to your queries at the bottom of the app's messaging window. That means you no longer have to leave your messaging app to do a quick Google search for your favourite restaurants, Coldplay concert details, movie time and so on. You can simply copy the information from the bottom window to your chat window and share it with your friends. Allo's Google Assistant can get everything done in the app itself. During the launch of the app in May, Sundar Pichai, Google CEO said, “Think of the assistant, we think of it as a conversational assistant, we want users to have an ongoing two-way dialogue.”

Why would you use Google Allo?

You might want to give it a try for the amazing set of new and powerful features that this messaging app has to offer. Most distinctive features have been described above…and all of it is available totally free of cost.

Google Glass 2.0 is real, and here are photos to prove it

The next generation of Google Glass, Google's head-mounted wearable display, is the real deal.

A filing to the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. government body that must review and approve personal electronics like phones and wearables, reveals photos of the device's external design, along with internal circuitry (see below) and also a basic user manual. The filing also includes a statement on company letterhead authorizing a third party to help get Google through the FCC's authorization process.

A new edition of Google Glass signals a possible new direction for the company's stalled and stagnant wearable, especially if it winds up in use as a business tool rather than as product for everyday buyers, as blog 9-to-5 Google reports.

Named as model GG1 on the FCC documents, the device appears to hew closely to the original Google Glass Explorer Edition. In other words, it will look like a set of eyeglass frames with a screen floating above your eye.

A previous patent from November depicts a version of Glass that looks like a squiggle of a device that would hug only half your head. Google apparently isn't ready for that future of Glass yet.

Unconfirmed rumors from 9-to-5 Google and The Wall Street Journal suggest that the new edition of Google Glass will have a larger prism, a sturdier design and include an Intel Atom processor. It could sell directly to businesses.

Google Glass has had a rough ride so far. Launched in 2012 for developers and then in 2013 for buyers, Google Glass was widely received as expensive and invasive, the latter because people feared they were being photographed or recorded without knowledge or permission. Google stopped selling its first Glass edition in January 2015.

Allo and Duo news: what we know about Google’s all-new communication apps

Google has two apps on the way that have been highly anticipated since the search giant announced them at its developer conference in May: Allo and Duo. Duo is already out, and Allo should be out this summer. Seeing as summer is now in full swing, rumors have begun to spread about some additional features and Google’s messaging strategy.
But just what will the new apps look like? And how will they function in the grand scheme of Android? Google Duo, of course, has now been released, and for more information about it, head here.

Related: Google transparency report: Government asks for more user data each year

Google Assistant integration

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Google Assistant will be a big part of Allo. You will, for example, be able to treat Assistant like a chatbot to find out information from the web and do things like order food. A recent report from Android Police also suggests that you’ll be able to use Allo to interpret voice messages into text. That is to say that when you’re chatting with Allo, you’ll be able to either type things to the assistant, or tap the microphone and chat to it like you would in any other Allo chat. Assistant will then transcribe your message into text, then do what you asked it to. That’s especially helpful for times when you’re not connected to the internet — Allo will hold on to what you asked it, and then answer it when you’re finally reconnected to the internet, so you won’t forget about what you were asking. No more “can’t reach Google at the moment.”

Allo is also highly anticipated for its encryption methods. Another recent report suggests that the app’s incognito chats will have disappearing messages that work like Snapchat. Chats in incognito mode will be end-to-end encrypted, and each participant will get unique identification keys. There is, however, a drawback to using incognito mode — you won’t be able to use Google Assistant. Part of the mode also includes private notifications. Instead of a preview of the message appearing in the notification, the notification will simply say that “you have a new message.”

Will Allo actually be called Allo?

Before these new reports, we heard from Reddit user LTNGNX on the Android subreddit claiming to be an “experienced Google tester” says he has been testing Allo and Duo since before Google I/O when they were announced. LTNGNX says he is breaking his nondisclosure agreement by discussing the apps, but he isn’t offering proof via screenshots since “that’s actually how companies discover who’s leaking stuff they shouldn’t.”


Another Redditor going by therdav3 says after tearing through the app’s APK, Allo is actually a code name for the app’s real name — “Messaging.” This makes sense if it’s going to be a default app, but we cannot verify the user’s claims. Therdav3 also says Allo offers SMS support and “will determine whether or not your message can be sent via SMS or their proprietary system based on whether the other person is online.”

Allo and Duo could eventually be the death of Hangouts and Messenger

Google has a number of messaging apps out right now, and with two more on the way many suggest that there are simply too many un-deletable communications apps on Android. If rumors are anything to go by, however, Allo and Duo may be the only ones you’ll need.


Reddit user LTNGNX says that Allo and Duo will end up being the default communications apps in Android Nougat, and that the “messenger app” will eventually be phased out. Therdav3 says this means Google Messenger will be replaced — an odd move considering that app is less than two years old. The two apps are directly competing with iMessage and FaceTime.

With Allo being such a high priority, what happens to Hangouts? LTNGNX says the video conferencing and messaging app will be “phased out little by little on mobile devices,” but it will still be around because it’s used by businesses.

There’s a chance that’s won’t be the case, though. A report from Android development forum and blog XDA refutes LTNGNX’s claims. “Neither Hangout nor Messenger will be going anywhere,” a source told the website. “Allo only supports Allo messages at this time. There is no cross-app messaging, Google Voice or SMS support.”

Will Allo have Google Voice and SMS integration?

There are conflicting reports about whether or not Allo will include integration for Google Voice and SMS integration.

“[These] two apps are very important for Google and things will be done little by little mostly to avoid even more drama with the [European Union] and their shenanigans,” Reddit user LTNGNX writes. “How do I know all this? I’m a third level beta tester, breaking an NDA and risking a lot trying to bring some facts and hopes to r/Android.”

LTNGNX claims that multiple versions of Allo are reportedly being tested by beta testers. Some testers may have Google Voice integration built into their version of Allo, while others may have different features. So if this information is true, the ultimate decision lies with Google as to which variant tests the most positively.

Related: Hands on with Android Nougat Developer Preview 5

LTNGNX claims that Allo will have SMS and Google Voice support, and “Allo will be associated to one device only, at least at first. It will be, eventually, expanded to web and more devices” — meaning Allo will be attached to only one phone number at launch, like WhatsApp. It seems as though based on LTNGNX’s claim, the lack of multi-device syncing is due to issues with Incognito Mode. Google Voice features, LTNGNX says, will come to Allo and Project Fi, but it may be a while. We may also see a web and Chrome OS version of Allo over time, and there is reportedly a tablet version being tested as well.

Users will be able to switch between Allo and Duo within the app to instantly video chat and vice versa, LTNGNX claims. Allo and Duo also may gradually roll out before Android 7.0 Nougat so that Google can get early feedback.


We shouldn’t have to wait too long to see whether any of this information is true — Duo has already been released, and Allo should be out before summer ends in mid-September. We will update this post if we learn more, and when we hear back from Google. If you want to read more about the Google Assistant-powered Allo messaging app, you can read our post about it here.

Android N Developer Preview 2 Includes New Vulkan 3D Rendering API

Among the top new features of the recently released Android N Developer Preview 2 is Vulkan, a new 3D rendering API which Google helped to create as a member of the Khronos Group.  

Vulkan is a new generation graphics and compute API that provides high-efficiency, cross-platform access to modern GPUs used in a wide variety of devices from PCs and consoles to mobile phones and embedded platforms. 

For developers, it offers a significant boost in performance for draw-call heavy applications. Vulkan’s reduction of CPU overhead allows some synthetic benchmarks to see as much as 10 times the draw-call throughput on a single core as compared to OpenGL ES. 

Combined with a threading-friendly API design, which allows multiple cores to be used in parallel with high efficiency, this offers a significant boost in performance for draw-call heavy applications.

Vulkan support is available now via the Android N Preview on devices which support it, including Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P.  According to a recent blog post, the Android team reports there are many similarities between OpenGL ES and Vulkan, but Vulkan offers these new features for developers:

- Application control of memory allocation: Vulkan provides mechanisms for fine-grained control of how and when memory is allocated on the GPU. This allows developers to use their own allocation and recycling policies to fit their application, ultimately reducing execution and memory overhead and allowing applications to control when expensive allocations occur.

- Asynchronous command generation: In OpenGL ES, draw calls are issued to the GPU as soon as the application calls them. In Vulkan, the application instead submits draw calls to command buffers, which allows the work of forming and recording the draw call to be separated from the act of issuing it to the GPU. By spreading command generation across several threads, applications can more effectively make use of multiple CPU cores. These command buffers can also be reused, reducing the overhead involved in command creation and issuance.

- No hidden work: One OpenGL ES pitfall is that some commands may trigger work at points which are not explicitly spelled out in the API specification or made obvious to the developer. Vulkan makes performance more predictable and consistent by specifying which commands will explicitly trigger work and which will not.

- Multithreaded design, from the ground up: All OpenGL ES applications must issue commands for a context only from a single thread in order to render predictably and correctly. By contrast, Vulkan doesn’t have this requirement, allowing applications to do work like command buffer generation in parallel -  but at the same time, it doesn’t make implicit guarantees about the safety of modifying and reading data from multiple threads at the same time. The power and responsibility of managing thread synchronization is in the hands of the application.

Mobile-friendly features: Vulkan includes features particularly helpful for achieving high performance on tiling GPUs, used by many mobile devices. Applications can provide information about the interaction between separate rendering passes, allowing tiling GPUs to make effective use of limited memory bandwidth, and avoid performing off-chip reads.

Offline shader compilation: Vulkan mandates support for SPIR-V, an intermediate language for shaders. This allows developers to compile shaders ahead of time, and ship SPIR-V binaries with their applications. These binaries are simpler to parse than high-level languages like GLSL, which means less variance in how drivers perform this parsing. SPIR-V also opens the door for third parties to provide compilers for specialized or cross-platform shading languages.

- Optional validation: OpenGL ES validates every command you call, checking that arguments are within expected ranges, and objects are in the correct state to be operated upon. Vulkan doesn’t perform any of this validation itself. Instead, developers can use optional debug tools to ensure their calls are correct, incurring no run-time overhead in the final product.

Other new functionality with the Android N Preview 2 include:

- Launcher shortcuts: Now, apps can define shortcuts which users can expose in the launcher to help them perform actions quicker. These shortcuts contain an Intent into specific points within your app (like sending a message to your best friend, navigating home in a mapping app, or playing the next episode of a TV show in a media app).

An application can publish shortcuts and launchers can be expected to show 3-5 shortcuts for a given app.

- Emoji Unicode 9 support: Google is introducing a new emoji design for people emoji that moves away from a generic look in favor of a more human-looking design. If you’re a keyboard or messaging app developer, you should start incorporating these emoji into your apps. The update also introduces support for skin tone variations and Unicode 9 glyphs, like the bacon, selfie and face palm.

API changes: This update includes API changes as Google continue to refine features such as multi-window support (you can now specify a separate minimum height and minimum width for an activity), notifications, and others.

Stable Release of Android Studio 2.1 Supports Android N Developer Preview

The stable release of Android Studio 2.1 is now available and includes updates to the platform’s IDE wizards, build system and Android Emulator. The Android Studio development team says that the latest release provides access to new features and APIs of the developer preview including the new Jack compiler and Java 8 language support. Android Studio 2.1 includes performance improvements to Instant Run which provides faster edit and deploy build speeds.

Highlights of the new features to Android Studio 2.1:



N Developer Preview Support

For developers who want test and validate an app with the Android N Developer Preview, Android Studio 2.1 is the suggested IDE to do so. Developers can access the latest versions of the preview SDK, learn the functionality of new Java 8 support, and utilize the official Android Emulator able to run N Developer Preview Emulator System Images to help in with testing.


The Android Studio 2.1 release includes support for the new Jack compiler and support for Java 8. With the Jack compiler, lambdas, method references, compile-time type annotations, intersection types and type inference are available on all versions of the Android platform. Default and static methods and repeatable annotations are available on Android N and higher. To use Java 8 language features when developing with the N Developer Preview, developers need to use the Jack compiler.

Instant Run

Developers can access fast edits, builds and deploy cycles with Android Studio 2.0 as Instant Run now can now update incremental changes to app code much faster. Instant Run and general build speed are now faster due to two new features - incremental Java compilation and in-process dex.

In previous versions of Android Studio, a single line of Java code change will cause all the Java sources in the module to be recompiled. Now in Android Studio 2.1, incremental Java compilation is enabled by default to reduce compilation time by compiling only what is needed.


Build times are now faster by using in-process dex, which converts class files to dex files within the Gradle daemon process. This avoids the processing operation of creating separate dex processes. To use this feature, developers will need to increase the amount of memory available to the Gradle daemon to at least 2GB (1 GB is the default). This feature will help speed up both incremental and full builds.

Read More: https://developer.android.com/studio/intro/index.html

5 Ways to Boost the Value of Your Personal Brand

Building a personal brand and creating a more valuable ‘you’ can have a positive effect on both your personal and professional life. Think about the ways that companies do this. Highly caffeinated marketing teams sit in rooms, poring over logo design, advertising collaterals and their next tweet, so that they can present their company in an attractive, effective and appealing way.

In every message and every visual, customers need to see the brand’s identity shining through. So, why should it be any different for you?

Consumers trust individuals more than brands; the level of trust and integrity that you can get from an individual can seem lost within a massive, global conglomerate. If you want to freelance, consult or increase sales for your company then creating an investible personal brand will help you stand out.

Let’s look at 5 ways you can do this.

Authentic

No-body likes a fake. If you’re fake then you’ll get found out, similar to the bad guy at the end of every Scooby Doo episode.

Creating a brand identity based on something you’re not or on someone wildly different from yourself will be tough to maintain and almost impossible to do on a consistent basis.

Do some soul searching or ask a friend which traits you have that are attractive (we can’t be held responsible for any friend break-ups). Humor's a great trait and if you’re known for making people chuckle, it’s a very marketable attribute. People will connect with you because you’re being authentic and building a presence around the ‘real’ person that you are.

Play to your strengths and try to bring through your personality; it’ll be noticeable and people will invest in your integrity.

Research

Look at your sector, niche or area of expertise and try to identify things that you think could be done better or communicated more effectively.

For example, maybe you’re part of a complex field with lots of expertise, but the overall marketing strategy is stale and boring. It’s important to understand the tone of your niche and what people are looking for, but identify something you think you can do better at. And then do it.

What do your target audience want to hear? Demonstrate ideas in a more personable, human way if you think people are turned off by traditional, boring methods - you’ll instantly stand out because you’re providing something different.

Be Consistent

When you’ve decided on your key ideas and personal branding focus, you need to integrate it into everything you do. 71% of CEOs note that human capital is a key source of economic value, which basically means your personality can be one of your best business assets.

If you’re going heavy on humor then be consistent with it. Weave it into your email marketing, social media presence, your networking and content. You can’t always anticipate the entry-point people will use to access a brand, so you need to ensure that wherever they first encounter your personal brand, they can grasp who you are and what you’re about quickly.

Social Media

Your social media platforms play an essential part in personal brand building. Creating content is also an important element, but your social media profiles will help push and pull content towards your audience.

Make sure that on all of the platforms you use, that you're adopting your personal brand voice. You can also show that there’s more to you than selling or talking about the product you represent.

Social media gives people a chance to see the person you are. If you’ve just watched a great show on Netflix, tell people about it. The more you tweet, the more followers you’ll have. People can be attracted by shared interests and you can build relationships from there.

Connect with other influencers and network; it’s important to engage with people and see what’s going on, listen to others and start a conversation.

Monitor

So you’re moulding your personal brand and making changes, brilliant. But, in order to do that, you need to monitor the effectiveness of your personal brand.

Is your approach connecting with your audience? Are you getting lots of new traffic, making more sales? Whatever markers you’re measuring your success by, you need to monitor whether you’re making progress.

If you’re not, make some tweaks, do some more research and try and work out why your personal brand isn’t resonating the way you need.

Key Takeaway to Create Value

You’re a brand, I’m a brand, we’re all brands, so make yours a good one. Be honest and authentic about the ‘you’ that you present and people will notice.

It takes a lot of effort to build your personal brand and give yourself more value, but it can be really worthwhile in a crowded marketplace. So, stay committed, never stop learning and be prepared to adapt.

YouTube for Android Testing New Comment UI With Likes, Dislikes and Replies

HIGHLIGHTS

• It also allows users to reply to a comment through the app
• The feature is still in the testing phase
• YouTube has also launched mobile live streaming recently

YouTube is looking to revamp the way comments look on its Android app. The company is testing a new UI, which will show likes, dislikes, replies, and even lets you sort them.

A few select users are seeing a new comment UI in YouTube for Android. The new interface now supports likes and dislikes. Essentially it supports all the features that are available on the desktop, including the number of replies a comment has got, and the ability to expand those replies on a separate page.

YouTube for Android currently only shows comments in the order of the time it was posted in - and that's about it. The only thing users could do was add their own comment to the video.

However, Android Police reports that few users are seeing an improved interactive comment UI. It also has a switch that sorts the newest comments on top. The new comment interface is not yet ready for general release, and is just in its initial server-side test phase. If testing is successful, we can expect it to become the norm for all YouTube for Android users.

Just to compare, YouTube for iOS supports likes, and replies. It doesn't have the option to dislike, but does have the sorting toggle to let users choose between newest comments and top comments.

YouTube recently also announced its plans to bring live streaming to Android and iOS. For starting a live video on the smartphone, users will have to tap the big red capture button in the corner, select an image to use as a thumbnail, and then broadcast live to followers. YouTube is already testing this with few YouTube channels like AIB, and plans to do a mass rollout soon.

Google Maps update brings different colour schemes and a cleaner appearance

NEW DELHI: Google has rolled out an update to its Maps service on all major platforms including Android , iOS and Web. The update brings a cleaner and more user-friendly appearance, in addition to introducing a tweaked topography and removing the road outlines. Also, the update brings more points of interest, train stations and other spots.
New areas of interest are now highlighted with new shades to depict different districts. "The world is full of information, which means highlighting necessary info on the map without overcrowding it is a balancing act. So as part of this update, we've removed elements that aren't absolutely required (like road outlines). The result is a cleaner look that makes it easier to see helpful and actionable information like traffic and transit," said the search giant.

The updated Maps app shows points of interest in Orange colour. Users would simply need to open the app and look for areas shaded in Orange.

"We determine "areas of interest" with an algorithmic process that allows us to highlight the areas with the highest concentration of restaurants, bars and shops. In high-density areas like NYC, we use a human touch to make sure we're showing the most active areas," said Google.
Different colour schemes in Google Maps will also let users differentiate between man-made or natural features and also easily identify hospitals, schools or highways.

The search giant recently rolled out Wi-Fi only mode to its Maps app through an update. Along with this, the update also included new notifications for mass transit related delays. Few weeks ago, it also sent out updates with sharper and more seamless imagery , using photos from Landsat 8 observation satellite developed through collaboration between NASA and the United States Geological Survey.
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Google Releases Google Cast SDK for Android and iOS

At Google I/O, The new Google Cast SDK was announced at Google I/O this year with the stated goal of making development for Google Cast quicker, more reliable, and easier to maintain. Included was the introduction of full state management that helps developers implement the right abstraction between an app and Google Cast.

Google has now announced it has released the SDK for Android and iOS Senders, including an introductory video, full documentation, and reference sample apps and codelab tutorials for both platforms.

Among the new functionality for Cast announced at Google I/O in May include:

- Google Cast Remote Display APIs (Beta)
- Autoplay and Queuing APIs
- Game Manager APIs for Google Cast

Read More: https://www.youtube.com/embed/QZ6scX0NPDk

NASA Selects Five Mars Orbiter Concept Studies

NASA's Mars Exploration Program includes two active rovers and three active orbiters. Concept studies have begun for a potential future Mars orbiter mission. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS

› Full image and caption

NASA has selected five U.S. aerospace companies to conduct concept studies for a potential future Mars orbiter mission. Such a mission would continue key capabilities including telecommunications and global high-resolution imaging in support of the agency's Journey to Mars.

The companies contracted for these four-month studies are: The Boeing Company in Huntington Beach, California; Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver; Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California; Orbital ATK in Dulles, Virginia; and Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California.

"We're excited to continue planning for the next decade of Mars exploration," said Geoffrey Yoder, acting associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

The concept studies will address how a potential new Mars orbiter mission could best provide communications, imaging and operational capabilities. They also will assess the possibilities for supporting additional scientific instruments and functionalities, in addition to optical communications. The orbiter concept under study would take advantage of U.S. industry's technology capacities by using solar electric propulsion to provide flexible launch, mission and orbit capabilities.

The Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group, an organization designed to provide input to NASA from the Mars research science community, published a report six months ago on recommended science objectives for a Mars orbiter. These studies will provide input for assessing the feasibility of addressing these objectives. NASA also is pursuing partnership interest in contributing to this potential mission.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is managing the concept studies under the direction of the agency's Mars Exploration Program.

NASA is on an ambitious Journey to Mars that includes sending humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s. The agency's robotic spacecraft are leading the way, with two active rovers, three active orbiters, the planned launch of the InSight lander in 2018, and development of the Mars 2020 rover.

For more information about NASA's Journey to Mars, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/journeytomars


News Media Contact

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.w.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov

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Google Launches Android Skilling and Certification Programme in India

In a fillip to government's Skill India initiative, technology giant Google on Monday launched its "Android Skilling and Certification" programme to help make the country a global hub of high-quality mobile developers.

The programme aims to train two million mobile developers by offering a slew of initiatives to train and certify talented students and developers in Android development.

"With nearly four million developers, India is expected to have [the] largest developer population globally by 2018. But today, only 25 percent of them are building for mobile," Caesar Sengupta, Vice President (Product Management) at Google, told reporters in New Delhi.

India is uniquely placed to innovate and shape the internet experience of billions of users "who are and will come online on the mobile platform," he added.

Google also launched an instructor-led training programme on Android fundamentals to provide an in-person training to students in universities.

In addition to all public and private universities and training institutes of the National Skill Development Corporation of India, the course will be available free of charge on NTPEL (an initiative of IITs and IISc) as part of its online "Mobile Computing" course, starting from July 18.

Google has tied up with training partners like Edureka, Koenig, Manipal Global, Simplilearn, Udacity and UpGrad who will operate as authorised Android training partners in India to help Google train the trainers and update Android courseware to prepare students for Android certification.

"By building a world-class curriculum and making it easily accessible to the students, we want to contribute to the Skill India initiative and make India the global leader in mobile app development," Sengupta added.

Google also announced the launch of its globally recognised job-oriented "Associate Android Developer Certification" exam that will help candidates get an entry-level Android developer job.

After training, the aspiring candidates can log on to the Google Developer training website and take the certification exam priced at Rs. 6,500.

"We introduced the Android Nanodegree programme in India last year with Udacity and today, we have over 11,500 students in India enrolling every month in our courses," said Peter Lubbers, Head of Google Developer Training.

Google will also open-source all Android Developer Fundamentals practicals and courseware and make these available to everyone for free.

Malware hits millions of Android phones

Up to 10 million Android smartphones have been infected by malware that generates fake clicks for adverts, say security researchers.

The software is also surreptitiously installing apps and spying on the browsing habits of victims.
The malware is currently making about $300,000 (£232,000) a month for its creators, suggests research.
The majority of phones that have been compromised by the malicious software are in China.

Remote control
A spike in the number of phones infected by the malware was noticed separately by security companies Checkpoint and Lookout. The malware family is called Shedun by Lookout but Hummingbad by Checkpoint.

In a blogpost, Checkpoint said it had obtained access to the command-and-control servers that oversee infected phones which revealed that Hummingbad was now on about 10 million devices. China, India, the Philippines and Indonesia top the list of nations with most phones infected by the software.
Hummingbad is a type of malware known as a rootkit that inserts itself deep inside a phone's operating system to help it avoid detection and to give its controllers total control over the handset.
The ability to control phones remotely has been used to click on ads to make them seem more popular than they actually are. The access has also been used to install fake versions of popular apps or spread programs the gang has been paid to promote.
"It can remain persistent even if the user performs a factory reset," wrote Kristy Edwards from Lookout in a blogpost. "It uses its root privileges to install additional apps on to the device, further increasing ad revenue for the authors and defeating uninstall attempts."
Ms Edwards said the recent spike in infections could be driven by the gang behind the malware adding more functions or using their access to phones for different purposes.
The malware gets installed on handsets by exploiting loopholes in older versions of the Android operating system known as KitKat and JellyBean. The latest version of Android is known as Marshmallow.
In a statement, Google said: ""We've long been aware of this evolving family of malware and we're constantly improving our systems that detect it. We actively block installations of infected apps to keep users and their information safe."
Google released the latest security update for Android this month and it tackled more than 108 separate vulnerabilities in the operating system. So far this year, security updates for Android have closed more than 270 bugs.

Will your phone get Android Nougat? Fat chance!

It's that time of the year again. The time when Google announces, with much fanfare and a new statue, the formal name of the next version of Android. This year's Android is going to be called Nougat, perfectly keeping in line with tradition of borrowing a name from a popular sweet. But as sweet as the Nougat is, just like Marshmallow before it and the Lollipop before that, the question most Android users will have is this: When will my phone get it?

The answer, as depressing as it always has been, probably never! Unless you are among the handful of users who have a recent Nexus phone or a high-end Android phone, chances are that the Nougat update will not come to your phone.

Let's talk about some numbers first. Over a year after it was first unveiled and nearly nine months after it reached consumers, Android Marshmallow is right now running on just 10 per cent Android phones. However, do note that this 10 per cent is largely made up of the phones launched after October with the Marshmallow inside them. The number of existing phones that have been updated to it is even lower.

The story was same for Android Lollipop and versions before that and it would be same for the Nougat.

Also Read: Nougat is the next version of Android

The reasons why your phone most likely is not going to get Nougat are many. The fault primarily lies with the way Android ecosystem has been structured. Google provides the core Android code but it doesn't guarantee that this would reach all the supported phones. The pushing out of updates is the responsibility of phone makers. Google only concerns itself with the current Nexus phones. But the phone makers have their own reasons to push out or withhold updates.

First of all, there are just too many Android phones. Samsung, which is the world's biggest Android phone makers, sells tens of different models of Android phones. The same is true for other companies, including even India-based companies like Micromax and Lava. Now, even as these companies are selling all these phones, they don't have the resources to validate, test, and modify the Android to suit their needs for each of these phones.

Second, even if they can support a number of phones -- Samsung, for example, can try it -- they don't want to do because either they are more interested in selling a new phone with latest Android to consumers or they see it as a differentiating factor for the their high-end phones. For example, Samsung and HTC make a lot of effort to bring latest updated Android to their phones because those are premium phones but won't do the same for their more budget offerings.

Third, Android phone makers love to modify Android before they put in their phones. In some cases, Xiaomi for example, they just totally change the look, feel and features of Android. All of this is done to ensure a degree of control on the phones these companies are selling for several reasons. But this whole process makes pushing out Android updates very hard because it just takes that much extra time to modify the new version of android.

Fourth, the consumers themselves are at fault. Most of them don't care about updates, In fact, recently Samsung was so fed up of people not updating their phones to the latest software that it partnered with Dominoes and started offering 20 per cent discount on pizza if they did. The consumers also don't look at the software update as a feature. Instead in their phone, when they are looking to buy one, they seek better processor, better screen, more RAM etc but rarely clean and upgradable software.

The fault also lies with Google. Since very beginning it has not emphasised the Android update as something that should be taken for granted. Even now, the company doesn't support its own Nexus phones the way Apple does for the iPhone. It supports every Nexus phone for 18 months and chances are that this year even the Nexus 5, which remains a wonderful phone, may not get Nougat.

So, as a consumer what can you do? Two things: Next time when you buy your phone find out whether that phone will get the Android update next year or not. The Nexus devices and the new Motorola Moto phones always get the updates, at least for 12 to 24 months. The high-end phones like the Galaxy S7 and the One A9 from companies like Samsung and HTC also get the updates. But support for every other phone out there is suspect. Now, that may not look like a big deal when you are buying the phone and are in love with its design, hardware, camera or whatever, but in a year or so when Google brings out next version of Android, you will be probably out of luck. Just the way many are this year as they wait for the Nougat update that won't come. 

Google is adding recent earthquake data to search results

Google is making it easier to find out useful information in the event of an earthquake. Searching for terms like "earthquake" or "earthquakes near me" will show a card with data like the magnitude and epicenter of the relevant quake, as well as other recent tremors to put it into context.

This mapping information will be particularly useful for finding out whether a seemingly minor earthquake was actually a major one further away; it'll show how strong the quake was in various areas. Google will also display tips for how best to stay safe in the earthquake's aftermath.

Living in Japan, earthquakes are a pretty frequent occurrence for me, and the first thing I usually do after feeling one is check Twitter to see other people's real-time reactions and make sure it's not too serious. If this Google feature works well, however, it could be a more reliable and easily parseable way to get the most important information fast.

Google Expeditions App for Virtual Reality Field Trips Now Available to All

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Expeditions app is now available to all
• Google Cast for Education was also introduced
• Google also launched Quizzes in Google Forms

Google first introduced the Expeditions Pioneer Program in September last year, to encourage teachers to teach students with the help of Cardboard VR. Now, the search giant has opened up the Expeditions app to all, in order to make more people aware about the initiative, and take advantage of it. It has even announced new tools like Quizzes and Cast for Education aimed to elevate the teaching experience.

The Expeditions app consists of many VR trips to exotic locations like the Great Barrier Reef and Machu Picchu. Google claims that the app consists of more than 200 virtual trips to many places around the world. With this move, teachers will not have to go through the lengthy sign-up process for the Expeditions Pioneer Program in order to get access to the app. Now, the Expeditions app can just be downloaded onto multiple devices, and then the teacher can choose which location he/she wants to take their class. The app is available for Android via Google Play, however Google claims that it will arrive on iOS soon.

(Also see: Google Unveils Virtual Tour of Buckingham Palace)

The teacher can serve as a tour guide, while students follow through VR, learning about historical places and events in the process. For those classrooms that do not have the technology to do these VR trips, Google had even introduced Expeditions kits. The company claims that more than a million students from 11 countries have taken virtual reality trips so far.

The search giant is now making these kits available on Best Buy for $9,999, so that anyone can purchase without going through the lengthy sign-up process. These kits contains 30 smartphones, 3 chargers, a tablet for the teacher to direct the tour, a router that allows Expeditions to run without an Internet connection, and 30 Google Cardboard viewers that turn phones into virtual reality headsets.

Furthermore, Google even announced a new Google Cast for Education Chrome app that lets students and teachers share their screens wirelessly. The search giant has also launched Quizzes in Google Forms, to ease the work of the teacher. Quizzes will enable grading for multiple choice and checkbox questions automatically. Teachers will now be able to pre-select answers in quizzes, so that the students get results immediately, while also reducing the grading work for teachers.

Lastly, Google also introduced three creative apps - Explain Everything, Soundtrap, and WeVideo - for Chromebooks. The apps let students create animation, music, and videos, and can be purchased from the Play Store.

7 Ways Blogging Can Boost Your Business

Starting a blog for your website can open up a range of new opportunities for your business, in a range of different ways. When used properly, a blog can help increase awareness, showcase your expertise, answer customer queries and establish your business as the go-to brand in your niche.

Put simply, starting or upgrading your company blog can improve your business’s marketing power.

Here are seven ways a business blog can help boost your brand.

1. Improve your website’s SEO

If you use the right titles and descriptions in your blog, you can improve your Google search rank for ideas that your potential clients might be looking for. This will bring them to your website and, ideally, lead to more business for you.

You can also boost the SEO power of your posts by sharing link juice by linking to other websites and even your previous blog postings.

2. Create credibility with your clients

The best way to approach your business blog is to center your content around ways to use your product or the ways your industry has changed or is evolving. In doing so, you can showcase not only the functionality of your offerings, but also your industry expertise, which will improve brand reputation, trust and credibility.

3. Create great posts for your social media pages

Coming up with interesting content to post on social media can be tough, yet maintaining an active presence is essential. If you generate your own blog content for this purpose, dry spells in posting can be eased, alleviating the struggle when searching for content.

Creating researched, relevant blog posts will also help boost engagement on your social media profiles and website.

4. Showcase how your product (or service) is useful to clients

Your can write your blogs based on ways to use your products and best practices your company takes. While these are often searched topics, they also give you a chance to share information and comment on it.

If you're a service based business, this will show your potential clients that you value being educated in your field.

5. Help establish brand voice

Whether your business has a fun-filled tone or a conservative one, you can use your blog to express that. It brings life to your company and helps you create a consistent branding that can help draw in more leads from people who respond to your business’s style.

6. Keep Google happy

The more activity you have on your website, the higher it's likely to rank in searches. If you have a couple of blog entries per month on your page, you'll have enough activity to keep Google's crwalers coming back to your page regularly, ideally helping to increase and maintain your search engine rankings.

7. Give you a chance to write a call to action (CTA)

At the end of your blog, leave your potential lead with a specific way to contact you if they want more information about your product or service. Remember to use your preferred method of contact in that CTA. Also, remember to include why they might want to work with your business.

By following these rules you can improve your chances of having your leads contact you the way you want. Plus, more often than not, people who are considering using a service or buying a product are more likely to follow through when they're given direct instructions to do so.

Maintaining a business blog can create a range of opportunities for your business. However, the best piece of advice I can give you is to have fun.

Why You Need to Optimize for Voice Search Now

Do you know how searchers are finding your business online? Chances are, consumers are using voice search to find a business like yours right now - if you aren't optimizing for voice search, you're risking missing out on those potential customers. So, do you know how to optimize for voice search, or why you should?

What is Voice Search?

In case you’ve never tried it, voice searches happen when a smartphone or computer user speaks to the device they are using to search for a particular topic.

For instance, let's say I’m driving home and I want to find a coffee shop - I can’t safely take my attention away from the road long enough to unlock my screen, open Google search, and type “coffee shop”. Instead, I’ll say “Okay, Google, where can I get coffee?” and let the voice search do the work.


But when we use voice search, we're more likely to use a conversational tone - you don't use the same language as you do when you type out a text search. The main difference here is a short keyword term and a long-tail keyword that, aptly enough, sounds more like something you would say out loud.

Why should small businesses optimize for voice search?

The use of voice search is increasing, especially among teens. In fact, one study found that 60% of the people who use voice search started using it within the last six months.

And voice search isn't just for smartphones and other mobile devices. Consumers can use voice search on their laptops, tablets and PCs too.

Not convinced? Here are some additional, compelling facts which underline the rise of voice search.

• Earlier this year, Northstar Research found that 55% of teens use voice search every day
• 20% of all Google searches are now conducted via voice query
• Google's data also shows that 45% of teens and 36% of adults want to be able to place a pizza delivery order using voice search - while that’s not yet possible, it shows how important it is for restaurants to optimize for voice search. 
• 25% of all Bing searches are voice searches
• According to ComScore, voice search will account for half of all searches by 2020

The research shows that voice search optimization should be a part of your local search marketing strategy, particularly if you want to attract 'on the go', nearby customers who are searching for your product or service on their smartphones.

How to Optimize for Voice Search

The important thing to know about optimizing for voice search (and local search in general) is that in order for your business to appear in search results, the search engine needs to think your business is a good match for the search query - search engines only want to give searchers the best, most relevant results for their queries.

According to Google's local search document, Google determines whether your business is a good match for searches by taking into account three things for each search:

1. Prominence

Prominence has to do with how well-known your business is. Think number of reviews and star ratings, as well as inbound links and amount of directory listings.

2. Distance

Your business will have a better chance of ranking high in local searches if you're located near where the searcher is searching.

Never underestimate the power of consistency in your business’s citation information (name, address and phone number) - some 40% of voice searchers are looking for directions, so make sure your citation information is consistent and correct across directories.

3. Relevance

Everything the search engines know about your business will have to match the search query in order for your business to rank high in local searches. This is where your voice search optimization will come into play. You'll need to give search engines the information they need so they can understand when your business is relevant for certain voice search terms.

So if your business is prominent and you're in close proximity to the searcher, the only thing left to do is be relevant for the search query.


If you own a pizza shop, you really don’t want to show up in a search for “children’s clothing” but you do want to make sure you show up for any relevant pizza-related queries. So to be relevant for voice searches that are related to your business, you need to do some long-tail keyword research and then make sure you’ve plugged a few of those into your website’s content.

Long-Tail Keyword Research

As we mentioned earlier, voice search often involves longer spoken phrases - “find me a pizza restaurant nearby” v. just “pizza.”

These longer phrases are called “long-tail keywords", and in order for businesses to optimize for voice search, they'll need to research long-tail keywords related to their industry and location. We've a few favorite (free) keyword research tools, including Keyword Tool, Google AdWords Keyword Planner and Ubersuggest.

Using these tools, you can learn which terms consumers are using to search for businesses like yours. For instance, if you own a salon in Columbus, you might search for “Pedicure Columbus” and find that users are using voice search to ask “Where can I get a pedicure with fish in Columbus?”

Often, the search results for these two queries will differ.

Once you know what your long-tail keywords are, you can add them to your website's content - but remember that voice search usually uses more natural language than text searches, so the long-tail keywords will also need to look natural on your website. In order for your long-tail keyword to be effective, it will need to closely match the voice search query.

Another voice search optimization tactic that incorporates long-tail keywords and natural language is to answer questions your customers might pose. When a searcher uses voice to ask a question and your website's content answers that question, you'll be more likely to appear in the search results for their query.

You could answer questions in your blog posts or in your FAQ section so that search engines can find your business when consumers use voice search to ask questions related to your industry. But, as always, don't just optimize for search engines. Make sure you tailor your content to the people who are using the search engines to find your business by using natural language.

Voice search optimization is another way for small businesses to show up in local search results and get more customers, but don't neglect the rest of your local search marketing just to optimize for voice search. Make sure you have a well-rounded digital marketing strategy so you have the best chance possible at being found online.