Chromecast streaming will be supported by Google TV: Can both platforms coexist?

The technology behind Chromecast, Google’s tiny $35 dongle that allows viewers to stream content to their regular TV from a smartphone, tablet or laptop, is also coming to Google TV.

Warren Rehman, a Google employee who works on “secret stuff and Google TV”, said on Google+ yesterday: “I’m still gainfully employed working on Google TV – no it isn’t dead, and yes it will support Cast.”

Chromecast seems like an effortless solution for watching content stored online by high-profile streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube. Similar to Apple TV though, Google TV has a much wider range of apps and services built right into the box – no secondary device required – and acts as an intermediary for users’ existing cable or satellite TV hardware. A bit like what Microsoft is planning with the Xbox One.

Chromecast will therefore not replace Google TV. At least not yet. Sundar Pichai, Google’s SVP for Android, Chrome and Apps, emphasized how the two would co-exist in an interview with AllThingsD yesterday. He said Google TV would soon “be a full-fledged Android for television” and expected to announce new partners at the CES industry trade show next January.

Bundling Chromecast’s streaming technology into Google TV will make the latter a far more compelling product and also appease existing owners. It likely won’t be enough, however, to make Google TV the breakout success that the technology giant has always dreamed of.

The true test will be if and when Apple launches its much rumored and highly anticipated Apple TV successor. Google will need to be able to offer a solid counter-argument; Chromecast support should be but one part of its marketing artillery.

WSJ: Google working on a set-top box with a video camera and a motion sensor

On the heels of the unveiling of Google’s new Chromecast TV dongle, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the company is developing a more feature-rich set-top box that would include a video camera for Hangouts and a motion sensor.

According to the newspaper’s sources, a prototype of the device was showed off behind closed doors at CES earlier this year.

It was clear from Google’s event this week that Chromecast is just one piece in the puzzle to occupy the living room. The company confirmed that the Google TV platform will get support for the Chromecast streaming technology.

Google SVP for Android, Chrome and Apps Sundar Pichai told AllThingsD on Wednesday that Google TV is soon to be a “full-fledged Android for television”. He also teased that more partners would be announced at next year’s CES.

The Journal went on to note that it was unsure whether Google has continued work on the set-top box prototype, which was said to have access to Android games and the Google Play Store. At the least, the overwhelming customer response to the Chromecast, which originally came with a generous Netflix promotion that quickly sold out, should help validate the Chrome and Google TV teams’ efforts to augment the TV.

With Microsoft billing its next-generation console as an “all-in-one entertainment system” and Apple tinkering with its Apple TV hobby, Google will find itself up against serious competition next year as it moves forward with Google TV. Still, it’s a trillion-dollar market, so it’s not likely to get too crowded soon.

Headline image credit: iStockphoto

Google Street View Climbs the Eiffel Tower

Google has extended its Street View imagery to the top two viewing decks of the Eiffel Tower for the very first time, giving users a breathtaking view of the Parisian skyline from the famous French monument. The Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument globally – some 7 million people visit and ascend the monument each year – but Google is now opening the iconic structure up to absolutely everyone on the Web. Google employees took the Street View trolley, an image capturing device that looks exactly as you would expect, to both the second and top floors to capture the entire circumference of the viewing decks with all-new 360-degree photographs. The results are breathtaking and still trigger an inevitable sense of awe; it was the highest monument in the world for 40 years, although that title is now held by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai – a building which Google has also scaled for its Street View image library.

Read the full story at The Next Web.

Google Drive is Testing Encryption to Protect Your Files From the NSA

Google has begun experimenting with encrypting Google Drive files, a privacy-protective move that could curb attempts by the U.S. and other governments to gain access to users’ stored files. Two sources told CNET that the Mountain View, Calif.-based company is actively testing encryption to armor files on its cloud-based file storage and synchronization service. One source who is familiar with the project said a small percentage of Google Drive files is currently encrypted. The move could differentiate Google from other Silicon Valley companies that have been the subject of ongoing scrutiny after classified National Security Agency slides revealed the existence of government computer software named PRISM. The utility collates data that the companies are required to provide under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – unless, crucially, it’s encrypted and the government doesn’t possess the key.

Read the full story at CNET.

A new invention by Google for high-density urban centers

For high-density urban centers Google is building an experimental wireless network. As we know that Google is best in providing advertising and search related services which combine together to contribute in the world’s information. The web based products of Google are free mostly. We can say that it’s a strong source of information. People mostly are waiting for the experiments that are building by the Google as we all know that the results of Google’s experiments can be earth changing.

The latest project by Google is a building of experimental wireless network for the high-density urban centers at it’s headquarter in mountains view. The range of the small scale network is not much. And this invention would be not compatible with most of the current iOS and also with the Android smartphones and tablets. But this wireless network is going to work very good in the urban centers.

It is expected in the coming future that such devices will be made that will be able to work on these networks. The reason behind this is that already China, Brazil and Japan are busy in building the same frequencies. And if Google is building small scale version of such networks this will be taking advantage of other things as well. Google refused to share its more information with the WSJ related to the network that is building. The application filled by Google with the FCC includes some of the information related to the launching of this network.

Along with building an experimental wireless network for urban centers it will eventually also be offering Google Fiber users by wireless service. This will expand the coverage of area to the entire metropolitan area when the users are outside their home. Google has always wished to build its own wireless network. The news revealed that Google was also looking for the partner in order to build a wireless network service for its customers. The scope of this invention seems very bright.

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Google applauds White House push for public access of federally-funded research

Following the release of a memorandum by the White House directing federal agencies with research and development budgets of over $100 million to “develop plans to make the published results of federally funded research freely available to the public,” Google today published a short missive praising the decision.

The information, made free inside of a year of its initial publication, will “accelerate” the original intention of funding the research, which in Google’s eyes is to “advance science, accelerate innovation, grow our economy, and improve the lives of all Americans.”

Google itself has been a paragon of openness throughout its life, as its core search function helps to dissemeniate information to any who seek it. So free is Google with this capability it has found itself at odds with various parties the world around for perhaps being too free with content that it has indexed.

Still, the equation here is simple: the more information that exists in the public domain, the more information that Google can index and serve, bettering the service that it can deliver to its users.

Interestingly, the White House directly cited a ‘We The People’ petition as partial impetus for the decision. The initial response to that petition can be found here.

The impact of the policy will take time to accumulate, but the dispersal of more information can’t be anything less than a positive. And, since we taxpayers funded the damn stuff to begin with, having access to the results feels fair in its own right.

Top Image Credit: schindler_project