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Project Ara's death is bad news for the weird side of Google
Last week, Google announced that it was killing Project Ara, the company's modular smartphone initiative. Ara was easily one of the coolest and strangest things Google was working on, but the project always felt like a bit of a longshot. In this world of carefully-built, sealed-up iPhones and Galaxy devices, it didn't feel like there was much room for Ara's intriguing but bizarre swappable hardware modules. But Ara was one of the best examples out there of "Weird Google," and Ara's death is the latest clue that the experimental side of the company might be in trouble.
Google's Fiber rollout isn't going as planned
Google Fiber may have just gone live in Salt Lake City, but the process of laying all that fiber optic cable is reportedly making Alphabet's homebrewed ISP the company's most expensive unit outside of the core Google business. According to a new report from The Information, those costs have prompted Larry Page and Sergey Brin to push Google Fiber away from its original plan and more towards a cheaper wireless standard.
Google teams up with GSK to develop 'bioelectronic medicines'
By forcing startups like Google X, Fiber and Nest to behave like companies and take financial accountability, Alphabet believes that its subsidiaries are more likely to invest in projects that will ultimately make it money. Being in the expensive healthcare business, Verily -- formerly Google Life Sciences -- often needs to speculate to accumulate, but for its latest venture, the company is dreaming big. It's teaming up with British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop bioelectronic medicines that can "harness electrical signals in the body to treat chronic disease."
'Pokémon Go' sponsored locations will let brands in on the fun
While you're trying to catch 'em all with Pokémon Go, the developers are figuring out how to make (more) money from the white hot augmented reality (AR) game. Along with the existing in-app purchases from "PokéCoins," developer Niantic says it will use sponsored locations as another way to cash in, according to the Financial Times. "There is a second component to our business model at Niantic, which is this concept of sponsored locations," Chief Executive John Hanke told the FT.
Sidewalk Labs' smart city kiosks go way beyond free WiFi
The details of an ambitious plan from Google's sister company Sidewalk Labs to create entire "smart neighborhoods" just got a little clearer. According to Sidewalk Labs' pitch deck, which was obtained by Recode this week, the plan goes far beyond those free WiFi kiosks that are already on the streets of New York City. The kiosks will monitor everything from bike and pedestrian traffic to air quality and street noise.
Alphabet proposes scrapping buses in favor of Ubers (updated)
Sidewalk Labs, Alphabet's smart cities think-tank, wants governments to scrap buses and other forms of public transport. That's the headline stat coming out of a cache of documents obtained by the Guardian that reveals the firm's plans for the city of Columbus, Ohio. The 15th largest city in the US recently won a Smart City challenge, complete with $50 million in extra funding from the Department of Transportation. One of the pillars of the proposals is to do away with the remnants of vital public services and scrapping subsidized travel for low-income workers. Instead, these people would be given discounted travel on certain ride-sharing services like Uber.
Google Fiber buys a gigabit ISP that uses fiber and wireless
Hoping Google Fiber will come your way soon? The Alphabet subsidiary just made an acquisition that could help it roll out high speed internet faster. It agreed to purchase Webpass, a company that currently has "tens of thousands" of customers for high speed internet in the Bay Area, San Diego, Chicago, Boston and Miami. Webpass is notable because it's used high-speed point-to-point wireless technology as well as fiber to link up apartment buildings and businesses without having to wait for a physical link, and offers its customers speeds of up to 1Gbps.
Nest co-founder and CEO Tony Fadell steps down
The CEO of Google's home automation company, Nest, is leaving. Tony Fadell made the announcement today in a blog post, saying he will remain as an advisor to Alphabet and CEO Larry Page. Marwan Fawaz, a former exec with Adelphia, Charter and Motorola Mobility and chairman of CableLabs, will step in as the new CEO. Fadell is most well known for leading the engineering team that developed the iPod, before he left Apple to co-found Nest with Matt Rogers in 2010, which focused on home devices like its connected thermostat. Google bought the company in 2014 for $3.2 billion before Nest itself acquired Dropcam a few months later.
Toyota is the top bidder for robotics pioneer Boston Dynamics
Over the past couple of months, Google's parent company Alphabet has been looking to offload its robotics division, Boston Dynamics, as it seeks to divert its attention to self-driving cars. Toyota's Research Institute was thought to interested in picking up the company from the start, but Nikkei is now reporting that the car maker's R&D arm is close to signing a deal for not only Boston Dynamics, but also Google's Japanese robotics company, Schaft.
Google won't get a deal on French taxes
If Google was hoping that France would give it a UK-style tax break, it's going to be in for a rude surprise. The country's Finance Minister Michel Sapin informs Reuters that there won't be any negotiations with Google over the €1.6 billion in back taxes (roughly $1.76 billion) the company reportedly owes. The French "don't do deals," Sapin says. He adds that the recent raid on Google's Paris office over alleged tax fraud was really just the next step for investigations that started a few years ago.
Google reportedly faces a record antitrust fine in Europe
It's growing increasingly likely that Google will face European Union fines for allegedly abusing its dominance of internet search, but just how big will the penalty be? Huge, if you ask the Telegraph's sources. They claim that the European Commission expects to fine Google "in the region of" €3 billion ($3.4 billion) -- that's an all-time high for an EU antitrust payout, and far larger than previous record-setter Intel (which paid the equivalent of $1.4 billion). The massive sum would reflect the length of Google's perceived abuse, and might even "make an example" out of the company for supposedly implementing changes that made it even harder for competitors to get noticed in search results.
Google is hiring autonomous car testers in Arizona
If you're in Arizona, Google is hiring for a gig that could be a good alternative to doing Uber. The job entails test driving an autonomous car around the state for $20 an hour, six to eight hours a day. You'll still need to know how to actually drive to be able to take the wheel if needed. But since your role is testing out the big G's new technology, you're expected to provide the engineering team "concise written and oral feedback," submit daily reports and document any test or procedure performed.
Nest opens the networking code for its smart home devices
Nest already has a bunch of companies lined up to use its Thread network protocol in their devices (over 30 submitted right now), but it's not content with what's on deck. The Alphabet-owned company has created an open source version, OpenThread, that lets anyone implement the smart home-oriented technology in their connected gadgets. In theory, it doesn't take much work -- Thread is already an IPv6 protocol, so any device that handles the 802.15.4 standard (used for low-rate personal networks) should only need a few tweaks to play nicely.
Google's self-driving tech goes into Chrysler minivans this year (update: official)
That rumored deal between Google and Fiat Chrysler for self-driving car technology? It's reportedly happening... if not quite in the way you'd expect. Bloomberg sources claim that the arrangement will put some of Google's autonomous tech into the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan sometime this year. Just how deep this integration would go isn't clear, but it's not believed to be an exclusive arrangement -- either side could cooperate with other partners. If the leak is accurate, the deal could be signed as soon as May 3rd (if you're reading this in time, today).
Google and Fiat Chrysler are reportedly partnering on autonomous cars
Google parent company Alphabet has been on the lookout for established automakers to help its self-driving car initiative for some time now, and it looks like the company is close to announcing a major new partnership. First reported by auto blog AutoExtremist.com and backed up today by The Wall Street Journal, Alphabet is working on a "technical partnership" with Fiat Chrysler. The talks have been described as ongoing for several months now, but apparently they're now in the late stages, which means we could hear about a deal sooner than later if these reports are accurate.
Google sister company wants to build smart city districts
Forget just providing internet access on city streets -- Google's sister firm Sidewalk Labs wants to create whole smart neighborhoods. Wall Street Journal sources hear that Sidewalk is about to propose to Alphabet that it should design whole city districts with technology in mind. It wants to revamp existing areas (likely in declining cities) with everything from higher-tech electrical grids to self-driving cars. It's even hoping to get city regulation waivers so that it can experiment with elements as basic as street design.
Google is creating a startup haven to prevent staff from leaving
It's hard to swing a stick in Silicon Valley without hitting startups created by ex-Google employees determined to bring their clever (though only sometimes successful) ideas to light. That's good for innovation, but lousy for Google -- and the search giant now appears bent on doing what it can to keep those curious minds in-house. The Information's sources understand that Google is creating Area 120, a startup incubator that would let some employees pursue their "20% projects" (those personal projects Google allows in a fifth of your working hours) full-time. Anyone wanting to sign up would submit a business plan and, if accepted, spend several months working solely on that idea. You could scratch that inventor's itch without worrying that you'll lose your cushy Google job if it it doesn't pan out.
Schaft's latest robot looks positively interstellar
Alphabet's intent to get rid of Boston Dynamics hasn't affected its other robotics programs, from the looks of it. On Japan's New Economic Summit stage, the Alphabet X lab (formerly Google X) subsidiary SCHAFT unveiled a new bipedal unit that's capable of climbing stairs, carrying a loaded barbell on its "head" unit, laterally stepping through a row of seats at a soccer stadium and even maintaining balance when a section of pipe is placed under its feel. IEEE Spectrum writes that this was part of former Google exec Andy Rubin's keynote at the event, but that the debut wasn't part of a product announcement or "indication of a specific product roadmap."
Google's self-driving cars to face their toughest test yet
Google is taking its self-driving cars to a fourth city in an expansion of its ongoing development. The latest location for testing is Phoenix, Arizona, which is significantly more arid than any city previously used as a proving ground. Speaking to Reuters, Jennifer Haroon, Google's head of business operations for the self-driving car project, noted that the desert conditions will further the company's understanding of "how our sensors and cars handle extreme temperatures and dust in the air." Modified Lexus SUVs have already begun to map the Phoenix area, checking for street layouts, lane markers, traffic signals and curb heights.
Google is reportedly working on an Amazon Echo rival
Nest might not be building a challenger to the Amazon Echo, but that doesn't mean its sister company Google is standing idle. The Information's sources claim that Google is building its own voice-controlled "personal assistant device" to beat Amazon at its own game. Just how it would work isn't clear (though it would likely rely on Google's existing voice search tech), but the search giant is believed to be working alone -- unlike Google's OnHub line, you won't find any hints of Nest technology inside.
