Last updated on March 15, 2017
While Google started out as a search company, it’s no secret that it has branched out into all sorts of other tech, including driverless cars, phones and operating systems. However, for the past month, it seems that multiple new developments have been coming out of the Googleplex in Mountain View, almost simultaneously. Google is taking on Slack (one we’ll be watching carefully, since we use Slack here at OPLIN’s office). Google is also partnering with Levi’s for smart clothing for consumers. Then it’s bringing a popular TV trope to real life. To finish up, Google has finally made reCAPTCHA a whole lot less annoying. When do these people sleep?
- Google goes after Slack and splits Hangouts into Chat and Meet [TechCrunch] “Google is splitting Hangouts into two: Hangouts Chat, which is clearly gunning for Slack, and Hangouts Meet, which is all about video and audio communications.”
- The Levi’s Commuter smart jacket has a ton of promise [Engadget] “There’s a companion Android app, called Project Jacquard, that lets you select what you want each gesture to bring up — and the UI is mostly drag and drop, making it extremely easy to set up. Levi’s says it’s working to add support for additional gestures later on, which could enable more ways for you to interact with its first smart jacket.”
- Google Brain super-resolution image tech makes “zoom, enhance!” real [Ars Technica] “Google Brain has devised some new software that can create detailed images from tiny, pixelated source images. Google’s software, in short, basically means the “zoom in… now enhance!” TV trope is actually possible.”
- Google has killed off CAPTCHA as you know it [Business Insider] “Google has removed irritating “I’m not a robot” reCAPTCHA tests, instead releasing a new version which can invisibly detect whether someone is a real human or not.”
From the Ohio Web Library:
- Google’s Project Jacquard wants to make wearables truly wearable. (Higginbotham, S. (2015). Google’s Project Jacquard wants to make wearables truly wearable. Fortune.Com, N.PAG.)
- Meet Dean, the man behind Google Brain. (DAMON KITNEY, T. E. (2016, November 19). Meet Dean, the man behind Google Brain. Australian, The. p. 28.)
- Are you a robot? Google says it can tell with one click. (Ward-Bailey, J. (2014, December 3). Are you a robot? Google says it can tell with one click. Christian Science Monitor. p. N.PAG.)
