Google Spam

After reinventing Gmail with Google Inbox, Google is about to release a new invite-only service that will change the way you manage your mail. It's called Google Spam and it shows the most popular spam messages sent to Gmail users. That's right, Google Spam will go beyond your inbox and show what you've been missing all this time: the spam messages received by other people.

To protect user privacy, Google Spam will only show messages received by at least 10,000 Gmail users. You'll be able to star your favorite spam messages, label them, forward them to your friends and even find their true meaning.

Gmail will highlight important spam messages, so the next time you receive messages from "the office of the US Ambassador to Nigeria", "Mr. Lee Kun-hee of Samsung Group chief and the Hyundai chaebol" or from Gmail Security Maintenance, you'll know if they're featured in Google Spam.

Google Play Store Adds Fire Warning Icon

The latest version of the Google Play Store app brings a new feature for those who own a Snapdragon 810 phone. Many people complained about the overheating issues of Qualcomm's flagship SoC, so Google decided to add a fire warning icon next to the apps and games from the Play Store that require a lot of resources.

The good news is that the new icon will only be added for HTC One M9 and other Snapdragon 810 devices, so those who use older phones and tablets won't see the warnings.

Google even considers releasing a special version of Android optimized for Snapdragon 810, which disables advanced features like OpenGL and the new Android runtime (ART), so that the octa-core CPU doesn't overheat. It will be called "Lollipop Ice Cream", as it will try to cool down the latest Android devices, while also bringing back the features from Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Google April Fools' Day 2015

April Fools' Day is here, so it's time to list all the pranks, hoaxes and funny Google features that make this day so special.

Google Japan announces Google Panda (translation), a cute toy that answers your questions using the power of Google Search.

There's also a "keyless" keyboard for Japanese (translation). Piropiro uses a party horn and measures your breath to convert it into words.

Google Maps lets you play Pac-Man. "Play the classic arcade game PAC-MAN in Google Maps with streets as your maze. Avoid Blinky, Pinky, Inky, (and Clyde!) as you swerve the streets of some famous places around the world."

You can also play Pac-Man in the real word using Ingress, Google's augmented reality game.

Google Australia found that Australia is at risk of becoming a Northern Hemisphere country by 2055. "Over the past two months, Google Maps engineers in Sydney have discovered that the Earth's equator is slipping south at rate of 25km per year — much faster than previously thought."

Gmail launched Smartbox by Inbox, "a better, smarter mailbox that fuses physical mail with everything you love about the electronic kind".

Chrome for mobile added a new feature that lets you share reactions about the pages you visit. "With #ChromeSelfie you can share sites with your family and friends on social media and via instant messages, along with a handsome selfie instead of cumbersome text."

There's a self-browsing extension for Chromebooks. "With just one click, you're off surfing the web — no input needed. Just lean back, and we'll take you there - quickly, simply, and securely." The extension also writes emails automatically, sends roses to your significant other on Valentine's Day, buys and sells stocks and plans your vacations. "This new functionality has been tested for weeks, browsing the whole web from classifieds to news, music to cat photos - and now, these Chromebooks are responsible for the majority of ALL CAPS comments on the web," says François Beaufort.

Google launched a new domain: com.google, which is just like google.com in the mirror. Similar to elgooG, the entire content of the page is flipped around. "We're always thinking about what's ahead, but sometimes it's important to look backwards. In that spirit, we're proud to introduce http://com.google, available today. Made possible by new gTLDs," informs Google.

YouTube's player has a new button you can use to play some music. Just click "add music" and YouTube starts to play Darude's Sandstorm for a few seconds. Click again for more.

If you enable "Auto-Darude" in the settings, the AutoPlay feature will only play Sandstorm.

YouTube search results also include suggestions like this one: "Did you mean: Darude - Sandstorm by Darude".

Google Fiber added the dial-up mode, just in case you want to go back in time. "As we've rolled out Google Fiber in Kansas City, Provo and Austin, we've learned that Fiber has been impacting our subscribers in ways that we didn't expect. Loading bars used to give people an opportunity to pause and take care of the little things — like making a cup of coffee, taking a bathroom break or playing with the dog. We've been told that Fiber’s seemingly instant connections have taken away that precious time."

Google Italy made an experiment (translation): "50 gamers, comedians, designers, beauty experts and many others have exchanged their respective channels, working together to bring the spirit of April Fool's on YouTube."

Google Actual Cloud Platform is "the world's first public cloud running on servers in the troposphere. Drawing on charges from electrical fields during thunderstorms, we're able to supercharge read/write performance on all persistent disks and offer 50% higher IOPS."

Play Pac-Man in Google Maps

Google Maps has a cool Easter Egg for April Fools' Day: a Pac-Man mode. Just click the Pac-Man icon at the bottom of the Google Maps window if you're using a computer. You can also search for a place you think Pac-Man might be, especially if you use a mobile device. Google offers some hints like: "Chomp your way to independence down seven lanes of July" or "Previous PAC-MAN lives don't get to rest in a white marble mausoleum".

"You can now play the classic arcade game PAC-MAN in Google Maps with streets as your maze. Avoid Blinky, Pinky, Inky, (and Clyde!) as you swerve the streets of some famous places around the world. But eat the pac-dots fast, because this game will only be around for a little while," explains Google.

{ Thanks, Ken Drori. }

Chrome Selfie: Share a Reaction

Angelo Giuffrida, a reader of this blog, noticed a new feature in Chrome for Android. There's a new menu item that lets you "share a reaction". You're supposed to take a selfie, Chrome adds a screenshot of the page you were reading and then you can share the #ChromeSelfie with your friends.

This looks like a special feature for April Fools' Day. In fact, you can enable this feature by changing the date of your Android phone or tablet to April 1st.

Update: Chrome's blog announced the new feature. "With #ChromeSelfie you can share sites with your family and friends on social media and via instant messages, along with a handsome selfie instead of cumbersome text."

{ Thanks, Angelo. }

Google Releases Windows Phone App for Google Reader

Google is about to launch its second Windows Phone app. This time, Google picked a service that was used by a few million users until it was discontinued last year: Google Reader.

While the new app won't be able to show the latest news from your feeds, it's a clear sign that Google started to embrace Microsoft's mobile platform. Apparently, Google was about to launch the app in January 2013, but developers were busy updating Google's apps for Android and iOS. A week ago, someone found the app and decided it's a good idea to release it. The application lets you login to your Google account and shows this message: "Google Reader has been discontinued. We want to thank all our loyal fans. We understand you may not agree with this decision, but we hope you'll come to love these alternatives as much as you loved Reader."

It's simple, minimalist and pretty late, just like Windows Phone.

Gmail, Back to 2004

To celebrate 10 years of Gmail, Google will launch a special Gmail interface that takes you back to 2004, when Gmail was launched. The retro interface doesn't include a contact manager, drafts, a rich text editor and other advanced features. Gmail will only show the most recent messages, since the storage is limited to 1GB.

Source: Kevin Fox

Update: This is a joke for April Fools' Day 2014.

NS5, Free Phone From Google

Google is about to launch a free phone that will be called NS5. It's a free 8GB version of Nexus 5 ("Nexus Special 5") that will only be available in the US. You'll still have to pay $50, but you'll get $50 Google Play credit, so the phone is actually free.

NS5 will only be available online at the Google Play Store. It comes with a special version of Android KitKat that installs some new software, adds new features and restricts a few options. Chrome's data compression proxy is now used at the OS level, so all the traffic is routed through Google's servers and you can't disable this feature. Your phone is associated with a Google account, you can no longer disable location services or Google+ Auto Backup and there's a new sponsored card in Google Now that shows personalized recommendations. You'll also hear some relevant audio ads when calling companies or when you play your music.

It's a great opportunity for Google to test new software, find new ways to monetize its services and capture the value of free hardware. Building a platform that makes mobile phones accessible for everyone has always been at the heart of Android.

Update: This is a joke for April Fools' Day 2014.

Google Maps for Android Adds Feeling Lucky Button

The latest version of Google Maps for Android adds an "I'm Feeling Lucky" button that automatically picks the destination when searching for directions. This only works when "my location" is selected as the starting point and Google has enough information to offer relevant recommendations.

The "I'm Feeling Lucky" option works especially well when it's obvious where you are going, for example when you're heading home from work. Google uses information from Gmail, Google Calendar, Google+, Google Search history, Google Maps history, Google Trends, Google Drive, Chrome and even Google Reader. The power of Google Reader's data is yet to be fully unlocked, but there's a lot of potential.

Update: This is a joke for April Fools' Day 2014.

Google April Fools' Day 2014

It's that time of the year: the day when Google's teams from all over the world come up with so many hoaxes that it's hard to list all of them. It's Google April Fools' Day.

Google Japan found an innovative input method for smartphones: the Magic Hand. "Once you have set in front of this device a smartphone on hand, just hold the lever afterward. Instead of you, magic hand takes care of operating the smartphone. Problem of the touch panel of the past, I can solve all. Operability of comfortable buttons and levers, will make for some of the space further, the mobile life of you." (machine translation) More details here.

Gmail celebrates its 10th anniversary by adding a new feature: Gmail Shelfie. "You all love setting selfies as your custom theme in Gmail, but you've told us there's one major problem: there isn't a way to share your selfie with others. As the pioneering platform for selfies, Gmail is committed to being at the forefront of innovation in the selfie space. Today, we're proud to free your selfies by launching Gmail Shelfie, the SHareable sELFIE. Gmail Shelfie is built on the idea that you shouldn't be selfish with your selfie. With just a few clicks, your mom, your aunt, or that girl you have a crush on can set your Shelfie as their Gmail theme so they can enjoy checking, reading, and writing emails while seeing your friendly face in the background."

This feature is rolling out over the next few hours. Just enable the "Trending Shelfies" Gmail theme to see some funny Shelfies.

Google Maps lets you find Pokémon. "If you think you're up to the challenge, grab your Poké Ball and the newest version of Google Maps for iPhone or Android. Then tap the search bar, 'press start,' and begin your quest. Leave no stone unturned or city unzoomed as you seek out wild Charizards and Pikachus to add to your Pokédex. Be vigilant — you never know if a wild Steelix will appear in Tokyo, Japan or New York City, USA."

Nest "teams up with Virgin America to reinvent the way people fly. Watch as Tony Fadell and Sir Richard Branson introduce Total Temperature Control, the newest product from Nest."

Google introduces Auto Awesome Photobombs, so that anyone can get a celebrity photobomb. "We're starting with surprise appearances by David Hasselhoff, everyone's favorite crime-fighting rockstar lifeguard. Upload a new self-portrait, or a group photo with friends, and leave some room for The Hoff. He might just make your photo a little more #Hoffsome."

Google Chrome announced "Google Translate support for Emoji, built directly into Chrome for Android and iOS. You can now read all your favorite web content using efficient and emotive illustrations, instead of cumbersome text. To view webpages in Emoji today on your Android and iOS devices, make sure you have the latest version of Chrome for Mobile from the Play Store or App Store. Then simply tap on the menu icon and select the 'Translate to Emoji' option. Tap 'Reload' to view the original page. This feature is currently only available in English.

There's also Chromecast for squirrels. "A new era of squirrel entertainment is upon us. No longer will squirrels be restricted to watching human music and videos on TV."

Waze announced "the acquisition of Israeli social enterprise software SingleSpotter, and the subsequent launch of its most social feature yet: WazeDates. After a successful limited beta in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, the feature will launch as an expanded pilot to all Wazers mid-April 2014, allowing drivers to take the same hands-on approach to their personal life as they do to fighting traffic. WazeDates, powered by SingleSpotter, alerts drivers to other likely singles on the road nearby. Wazers can adjust preferences to search for drivers based on age, sex, orientation and more. Once a desirable driver is found, users simply invite them to a destination by sharing their ride, or use Map Chat to say hello."

Google Play Signature Edition adds support for a new way to distribute Android apps. "With Signature Edition, you can bring back the physical connection to your users. App delivery is completed via USB drives shipped in carefully crafted boxes, each proudly bearing your signature. This not only gives your users the very latest version of your app, but also adds a personal touch that is so often missing in our modern digital age."

AdSense shows a list of the top planets and moons:

YouTube announces the upcoming viral video trends: clocking, baby shaming, Glub Glub, elaborate divorces, kissing dad and more.

Chrome can now detect cat input using the Qwerty Cats extension. "We've designed a cat-friendly on-screen keyboard, based on extensive Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) research. You or your cat can install the kitty keyboard and try these features: four pawing modalities using your trackpad or touchscreen, mouse mode, cat translation technology (beta)."

AutoAwesome can make your resume stand out:

There's even a dogengineer job at Google. You need to "write much web-based code, very programming, so participation in code review, much scary, no cry pls, type type type on computer, very building, much system OS/corn, such complicate."

Google also launched "a full translation of Blockly in Klingon". This version of "Blockly has no syntax errors. This reduces frustration, and reduces the number of computers thrown through bulkheads. Debugging and bug reports have been omitted, our research indicates that in the event of a bug, they prefer the entire program to just blow up." Apparently, "less than 2% of Google engineers are Klingon". You can try a demo here.

Google Helpouts lets you "increase your pirate vocabulary". "Ahoy mateys, if ye wanta' speak like a pirate this be yer ship. From 'ahoy' t' 'yo-ho-ho,' ye'll sound like seven seas marauders faster th'n a scalawag gits scurvy".

{ Thanks, Mark Stead, François Beaufort and Scowlin' Guideon Scabb. }