Make free international calls from Google Hangouts

In a bid to attract new customers, Google Hangouts has started a new promotion where it’s offering users a free international voice calling facility. As good as this may sound, there is one small catch involved – You won’t be charged for calls placed overseas as long as it’s under a duration of one minute.

Just so you know, this feature, like placing normal calls from Google Hangouts, is only available in the select countries. It currently applies to 25 locations over the globe including India, the UK, Australia and Japan amongst others. Head over to this link for an entire list of countries that falls under this promo.

There are a few things you’ll need to do in order to avail free calling. Firstly, you’ll need to add credit to your Google account. Calls can only be placed through the Hangouts mobile application and only one will be accepted at a time. In cases of multiple connections, there will be a charge in place expect for one call.

Google notes that you’ll see the words ‘First minute free’ when making a call. This basically means that you’re under the promo and if the message isn’t visible, you’ll be charge for that session. Additionally, the search giant doesn’t want you to abuse its offering, so some calls might not be free if there are a large number of calls each day.

Calls made to the US and most of Canada is absolutely free and Google is also offering low rates for international locations. This promo will be a limited time deal and it’s valid for this year only.

For reminder’s sake, the first minute of calls to any of the 25 countries is free. Once you cross that limit, you’ll automatically be charged for the rest of the session.

10 Surprising Facts About Google

Google Autocomplete censors The Pirate Bay

Gooogle Censored Pirate Bay

You will no longer be able to see Auto-complete suggestions or use Google Instant when you type in 'The Pirate Bay' in Google. Google started censoring pirate websites back in January 2011 by adding piracy–related search terms to its list of censored search terms. This disables the censored search terms from appearing on Google’s Instant and Auto-complete suggestions. The Pirate Bay’s domains were previously left uncensored, but Google has now added Pirate Bay domains to its censored search terms list too, TorrentFreak reports.

The censored search terms list is used by Google to control what it suggests to users. Search terms related to piracy, adult content, sexual organs, censored content, etc. also are part of the list. If you enter 'rapidshare', 'utorrent', 'torrent', etc. in Google’s search box, you won’t see any suggestions.

Can Apple, Amazon and Google's new mini-tablets revive the news industry?

Any news executives confident that the answer to falling print sales is more people using tablet computers should be delighted by the next six weeks or so. On Thursday, Amazon's Jeff Bezos is expected to unwrap a new version of the 7in Kindle Fire tablet, and even to extend sales beyond the US into Europe – after opening up its app store here last week. Google has been selling its 7in Nexus 7 tablet since July in the US and Europe. And early in October Apple's Tim Cook will unveil a 7.85in version of the iPad, according to rumours whose detail lacks only a price.

So that's a dramatic change from 12 months ago: we will go from having zero big-name small-size tablets at the start of the year (ignoring those from Samsung and RIM, neither of which has grabbed the market's attention) to three by the end of it, and all around the £150 mark. Suddenly, tablets will be affordable and portable.

Russia claims Android-like OS is hack-proof

The Russian Defence Ministry recently showcased its very first smart prototype of what it calls the encrypted version of Google's Android operating system. Reports convey that this slimmed down, encrypted version of the Android OS has the latter's familiar feel. According to researchers, this essentially means that the OS is capable of performing all functions as the Android OS, but does away with the hidden features of the Android OS, which send users' private data to Google.

In fact, the OS in a computer tablet form will go on sale by the end of this year for 15,000 rubles ($460 or Rs 25,540 approximately). Its developers claim that despite the tablet's consumer appeal, its main client is, and will probably always be, the state and its top-line officials.

Google Project Glass - Jumping Video

The ability to digitize a part of our world for accessing all kinds of data based on location and what you’re actually looking at, i.e. augmented reality is no longer science fiction. While mobile applications have been available for some time now, based on AR technology, we as consumers are always “looking” for something more advanced and that’s where Google’s Project Glass (PG) comes into the “pictures” (pardon the puns).

Project glass has been an intriguing concept, since Google’s fascinating advertorial video for the prototypes made it out, about a month ago. The idea that we could have mobile technology combined with AR tech in a lightweight, wearable module naturally piqued the world’s curiosity. Within the span of its ‘debut’, test results of the Project glass prototypes have been making the rounds as Google employees take the technology to the field. There’s nothing like a field test to give you the right perspective.

Google's official 7-inch tablet ready, to ship in June : Asus MeMO ME370T

Google’s got their official mobile handsets that have been co-developed with various handset manufacturers. Now, an official Google tablet is also on the way. We heard about the existence of such a device quite some time back. Digitimes now has a report that states that Google is quite definitely going to start shipping the device, as early as June. The tablet, which will sport a 7-inch display is being developed, along with Asus. Apparently some 600,000 tablets are being manufactured by Asus and these should hit markets soon after they are shipped. Digitimes expects the product to hit stores in July. When Digitimes asked Asus about it they refused to comment. 

Google Chrome Overtakes Internet Explorer

Google’s Chrome is now the most popular Web browser worldwide, surpassing Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for the first time, according to the latest figures from StatCounter. After years of slowly chipping away Internet Explorer’s market share, Chrome took the lead with 32.76 percent share, while IE dipped to 31.94 percent.

Just a year ago, Internet Explorer was leading the Web browser market share with 43 percent, followed by Mozilla Firefox with 29 percent, and Chrome was third with 19 percent. Twelve months later, IE has lost 12 percent of the browser market share while Chrome gained 13 percent to the detriment of IE and Firefox, which also lost about 4 percent of its users and now comes in at just over 25 percent.

China approves Google-Motorola deal, wants Android to remain open

Authorities in China have approved Google Inc.'s bid to buy phone maker Motorola Mobility, clearing the way for the $12.5 billion deal to close early next week.

But Chinese regulators attached a big condition: That Google's Android operating system for mobile devices remain available to all at no cost for the next five years.The approval brings the Internet search giant closer to sealing its biggest acquisition ever. Buying Motorola allows Google to expand into manufacturing phones, tablet computers and other consumer devices for the first time. The deal also gives Google access to more than 17,000 Motorola patents. The Chinese government approved the deal on Saturday, Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick said. "We look forward to closing the deal," she said.

The deal was announced last August and had received all necessary regulatory approvals except in China, where Google's government relations have been strained since it moved its search engine out of the country two years ago in a dispute over censorship and computer security.

Google's Android software powers more than 250 million mobile devices made by a variety of manufacturers, including Motorola Mobility. The latest versions must be made available free of charge for the next five years, apparently in response to concerns that competition could be hurt if Google gives updated versions to Motorola Mobility and withholds them from others. Google doesn't currently charge for Android.

Google earlier had pledged to make Android available to all its mobile partners. Even if Google were to discriminate, cellphone makers still could rely on mobile software from Microsoft Corp., Research in Motion and Hewlett-Packard Co., among others.

Google prizes Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.'s patents as a crucial weapon in the intellectual arms race with Apple, Microsoft and other rivals maneuvering to gain more control over smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

Earlier, the U.S. Justice Department found no evidence that Google's ownership of Motorola Mobility would lessen competition in a mobile device market that is becoming increasingly important as more people connect to the Internet on smartphones and tablet computers instead of desktop and laptop computers.

The union with Motorola Mobility will open new opportunities and pose potentially troublesome challenges for a management team that so far has concentrated on Internet search, ad sales and other software-driven online services.

Motorola Mobility's expertise in mobile devices and set-top boxes for cable TV will allow Google to play an even more influential role in shaping the future of hand-held computing and home entertainment.

The $12.5 billion price paid by Google is more than the combined amount that Google has paid for the 185 other acquisitions that it has completed since going public in 2004.

Google is based in Mountain View, California, while Motorola Mobility has its headquarters in Libertyville, Illinois.

Google vs. Facebook: A comparison by numbers

Facebook is the hottest Internet company to hit the stock market since Google went public in 2004. The Silicon Valley companies, located seven miles apart, also happen to be locked in a bitter battle for Web surfers' allegiance and online advertisers' money. The duel is likely to intensify now that the IPO has provided Facebook Inc.'s social network with the means to pay for efforts to battle Google Inc.'s dominant search engine. 

 

Here's the two rivals stack up, based on the latest available data:

7-year old wins Doodle for Google 2012

 

114,000 submissions and millions of public votes later comes the announcement for the winner of 'Doodle for Google 2012'. Dylan Hoffman, a second grader hailing from Caledonia, Wisconsin has been declared this year's U.S. Doodle for Google National winner.

According to the announcement via Google's blog, the young doodler, a student of Prairie School in Racine, Wisconsin doodled a beautiful pirate scene featuring a vibrant parrot, a swashbuckler and a treasure chest filled with jewels and gems adding the letter 'e' to Google's logo.

26/11 attacks planned using Google Earth, says U.S commander

Technology s Tragedy

Although a lot of water has flown under the bridge, the scars of the 2008 terror attacks Mumbai experienced still remain fresh in the minds of many. Post the attacks, however, several theories came in - each trying to decode the nature of the attack in their own way. One such question that undoubtedly must’ve crossed the mind of anyone who heard of the attacks, or worse was a survivor of it was the capabilities of the gunmen and the kind of technology at their disposal. Speaking at the sixth annual 2012 Joint Warfighting Conference at Virginia Beach, this week, Marine Corps Lt Gen George J Flynn discussed the current trend of democratisation of technology and its repercussions, and his reference was the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, reports The Times of India. Flynn pointed out that the heavily-armed terrorists used Google Earth to aid themselves during the planning of the mission. “All the mission planning was done via Google Earth. There was no investment in technology of [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] platforms or anything like that,” he was quoted as saying at the conference. 

Google News updated with deeper Google+ integration

Google News has been updated and now you will be able to see the changes when you access the U.S edition of the page. Google News is designed to provide relevant articles for breaking stories from a variety of sources, be it from local outlets, national or international outlets. Google has updated News to include three new features. The first is an aesthetic update. They've provided larger thumbnail images, which dynamically expand when you click on topics. The second update that Google News has integrated is coverage in real time. Their new real time coverage page is available for every news story as soon as they become available for Google News. So when you go to the real time page, you'll see news articles for the story listed on top with the articles being listed chronologically. Underneath that list of articles, you will see in-depth articles, opinion pieces and highly-cited posts which are listed under their own headlines.

Google to launch online storage service for consumers

Google Inc is preparing to roll out a service to let consumers store photos and other content online, a source familiar with the matter said, pushing into a market now dominated by the likes of Dropbox and Box. The service, to be called Google Drive, could be announced as soon as Tuesday and would be offered with both free and premium for-pay versions, the sources said.

Google's "cloud storage" offering will incorporate search capabilities and allow users to store pictures, notes and other documents on the Internet and access them from any Web-connected device. Consumers will get 5 Gigabytes of storage for free with Google Drive, while various versions with incrementally more storage capacity, topping out at about 100 Gibabytes, will be available for monthly fees, the source said. It was not immediately clear how much Google will charge for the premium versions.

Google shuts down some more services

Google has its resources plugged into several places but not all of these services and projects perform in the same way as some of the successful ones. Google decided that it was a good idea to shut these and focus the resources on more popular projects. There have been several projects that were shut in the past and the next round of cleanup has arrived. Getting the axe are One Pass, Google Flu Vaccine Finder, Google Related, Google Sync for BlackBerry, as well as the mobile web applications for Google Talk this time around. The Patent Search site now redirects to Google’s home page. 

Oracle probes Google engineer about key email

A Google engineer, testifying in a high-stakes trial pitting Oracle Corp against Google Inc, denied that he referred to Oracle or any other company when he wrote in an email that Google should take a license to use the Java programming language.

The trial entered its fourth day on Thursday, with Google engineer Timothy Lindholm taking the stand to answer questions about a 2010 email that has become a critical piece of evidence in the case. Oracle sued Google in August 2010, saying Google's Android mobile operating system infringes its copyrights and patents for the Java programming language. Google countered that it does not violate Oracle's patents and that Oracle cannot copyright certain parts of Java, an "open-source," or publicly available, software language.

Lost Indian boy finds family 25 years later using Google Earth

If there is ever to be another movie based on an Indian boy for whom 'destiny' works out (hint: Slumdog 2), it might take inspiration from this story. According to the BBC, the boy, named Saroo had gotten lost when he was five years old. At the time, he and his brother were working as sweepers on a train. He said that it was late at night and he had just gotten off the train and fallen asleep on one of the seats at the train station. He thought his brother would wake him up but when he did finally wake up (on his own), his brother was nowhere to be found. Thinking his brother to be on a train, he got on the train in hopes of meeting him. He did not meet his brother on the train and eventually fell asleep on the train. When he woke up, he was in Kolkata, then Calcutta. Of course, he was scared and did not know what to do. He became a beggar and had to be very careful of people and he learned not to trust anyone.

Google Drive expected next week, app details leaked

News of Google’s cloud based storage service called ‘Drive’ has been making the rounds for a while now. After months and months of rumours and speculations of the launch, it now appears that it is coming out soon. Almost definitely next Tuesday is the day, according to a news covered by The Next Web. The news comes to them through sources and partners who are working closely with Google. As expected, the service will launch with 5GB of free space being given to each user with the option to upgrade the space by paying for it. 

Google search to change

Google will be changing how it searches the web for you in the near future. Google's SVP, Amit Singhal wrote in a blog post on Google+ that the search company is working on improving search results for users as fast as possible. He said, "we convert raw data into knowledge for millions of users around the world. But our ability to deliver this experience is a function of our understanding your question and also truly understanding all the data that's out there. And right now, our understanding is pretty darn limited. Ask us for “the 10 deepest lakes in the U.S,” and we'll give you decent results based on those keywords, but not necessarily because we understand what depth is or what a lake is." Upgrading Google Singhal also wrote in a post on Mashable that it takes more than just keywords to actually answer a question and factors like entities, attributes and relationships between two entities need to be taken into consideration. When Google first started out, they essentially provided search results based on keyword content. Then, when the World Wide Web hit, they changed over to link surrogates, i.e. on content links and the authority of those links.

Google Assistant - Siri-competitor, coming later this year

Google has been taking the popularity of Apple’s voice assistant quite ‘Siri’ously. Late last year, Google’s Project Majel was revealed in which it is said to be much more than just a voice assistant, and obviously a competitor to Apple’s Siri. Reportedly, the Siri competitor could possibly launch in the fourth quarter of 2012. However, it is yet uncertain and the release date could be changed. The company is working on Artificial Intelligent technology christened the ‘Google Assistant.’